Tour de France = The Elite Race in Cycling

July 21, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

There are only a few true premiere sporting events in the world, and one of them is the Tour de France, which is held during three weeks in July. Most Americans are familiar with Lance Armstrong, the only seven time winner of this grueling event, and the long standing doping scandal surrounding the sport.

The initial research on the Tour de France turned an interesting fact – the race was basically a stunt by one Parisian newspaper to recover lost readers from a competitor. In the early 1900s, approximately thirteen newspapers competed with each other to be the biggest vendor in Paris. The biggest was Le Vélo, which benefited of the sudden rise in popularity of the cycling sport. On October 16, 1900, Desgrange founded a new paper: L’Auto-Vélo.

Le Vélo reacted by taking Desgrange to court, where they won a lawsuit forcing him to reduce the name of the newspaper to simply L’Auto. In retaliation, Desgrange made plans to organize the first Tour de France - an immense task for the cyclists (professional or amateur) those days. The detailed plans were actually drawn up by Géo Lefèvre, who announced the Tour in a small article on the front page of L’Auto, on January 19, 1903.

The reactions were mostly enthusiastic – sponsors offered prizes immediately, the race was well attended by paying spectators, and the Tour became a success. The number of copies of L’Auto (now L’Equipe) increased from 30,000 to 65,000 per day.

Please read the attached pdf posting on the origin of the Tour de France to see the results of the stunt and what happened to the newspaper competitor. Of course, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback.

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better Moment of Zen?

Jim C Quiz – Tour de France.pdf

Tennis = To Play For the Love of the Game

June 25, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

June is National Tennis Month.  This may have something to do with the opening ceremonies and matches start in June each year at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London.  After all, “The Championships, Wimbledon,” is the oldest event in the sport of tennis and is widely considered to be the most prestigious.

Around 1877 the All-England Croquet Club agreed to set aside one of its lawns at Wimbledon for tennis, which soon proved so popular a sport that the club actually changed its name.  Later that year, they decided to hold a formal tennis championship with a complete set of regulations, including:

• The size of the rectangular court — 78 feet long by 27 feet wide
• The method of scoring — 15, 30, 40, game
• Allowed the server one fault (i.e., two chances to deliver a proper service on each point)

According to most tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also derives from this period, because one of the originators, Major Walter C. Wingfield, borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of royal tennis and applied them to his new game:  

• Tennis comes from the French tenez, the imperative form of the verb tenir, to hold, which was a cry used by the player serving in royal tennis, meaning “I am about to serve!” 
• Racquet comes from raquette, which derives from the Arabic rakhat, meaning the palm of the hand.
• Deuce comes from deux le jeu, meaning “to both is the game” (i.e., the two players have equal scores).
• Love may come from l’oeuf, the egg, a reference to the egg-shaped zero symbol; however, since “un oeuf” is more commonly used, the etymology remains in question.
• The scoring convention of ”15″, “30″ and “40″ comes from quinze, trente and quarante, which to French ears makes a euphonious sequence.

For more detail on the origin of Tennis, please read the attached pdf posting.  As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better Moment of Zen? 

Jim C Quiz - Tennis.pdf 

Belmont Stakes = Third Jewel in Triple Crown

June 14, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

The Belmont Stakes is a prestigious 1.5 mile (2.4 km) thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and geldings, which is held on the second Saturday of June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.  The race is also the third and final jewel in the Triple Crown of horse racing – the first being the Kentucky Derby followed two weeks later by the Preakness Stakes.

 

The race is named for a famous New York banker and financier, August Belmont, who gained a reputation as an avid sportsman.  He was the first president of the American Jockey Club and owner of many celebrated horses, including Rock Sand, Norman III, Tracery, Man o’ War, and Ladkin. 

Stakes Race:  This type of race derives its name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay.  These fees, to which the track adds an additional amount, constitute the total amount from which prize money is paid to the first, second, third, and (usually) fourth place finishers.

The first running of the Belmont Stakes was in 1867 at Jerome Park, which makes it the oldest of the three Triple Crown events – it predates the Preakness Stakes by six years and the Kentucky Derby by eight.  The original race distance was 1 5/8 miles (2.6 km), which was reduced to 1 1/2 miles (2.4 km) in 1874.

For more detail, please read the attached pdf posting.  As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback.

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better Moment of Zen?

Jim C Quiz – Belmont Stakes.pdf 

Triple Crown = Three Straight Victories, A Rarity

June 4, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

Most of us have heard of the sports phrase, triple crown, which was originally applied in Great Britain to an English, Irish, Scottish, or Welsh national Rugby team that defeated all three of its opponents in a single season.

However, this term is primarily defined in America for three premiere thoroughbred horse races:

• Kentucky Derby (1 ¼ mi.) – first Saturday of May (5/5/07) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY; a blanket of red roses is draped over the winner
• Preakness Stakes (1 3/16 mi.) – third Saturday in May (5/19/07) at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimpore, MD; black-eyed susans are the flowers of choice
• Belmont Stakes (1 ½ mi.) – second Saturday in June (6/09/07) at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York; white carnations are the flowers for this race

Sad to say, two different horses won the first two races in 2007; therefore, there will not be a Triple Crown winner this year. This has become a pretty standard result for the past 25+ years, because the last Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978.

In fact, a Triple Crown winner is a real rarity – there have been only 11 winners in over 125 years of these three races, which means the odds are less than one in ten.

For more detail, please read the attached pdf posting. As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback.

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better Moment of Zen?

Jim C Quiz – Triple Crown.pdf

The Preakness = $1 Million + My Maryland + Black-eyed Susans

 May 18, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

Get ready for the 132nd running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of the TripleCrown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes).  It all will happen on Saturday, May 19, 2007.  

According to preakness.com, “The hostoric Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes, first opened its doors on October 25, 1870, making it the second oldest racetrack behind Saratoga, which debuted in 1864 in upstate New York.”

Since its opening in 1870, Pimlico had conducted all of its racing in the fall, but they introduced the Preakness on May 23, 1873 as its new stakes race for three-year-olds during the spring. The then Maryland Governor, Oden Bowie, named the race in honor of a colt who won the inaugural Dinner Party Stakes in 1870.

For more detail, please read the attached pdf posting. As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback.

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better “Moment of Zen?”

Jim C Quiz – Preakness Stakes.pdf

Bracketology = A Basketball Playoff System

March 26, 2007

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW A WORD, IDIOM OR PHRASE ORIGINATED IN THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE?

The NCAA Selection Committee uses a Ratings Percentage Index each year in March to seed teams into the college basketball tournament field by ranking all teams from 1st through 65^th.

Anyone who tries to guess the teams, their seeding, and placement in the NCAA Basketball Tournament is called a “bracketologist” and the method they use is called “bracketology.”

However, the original definition of bracketology has been expanded beyond the initial placement of the teams. It now applies to picking the winners through the whole tournament.

The college basketball March Madness has driven many crazed fans (both professional and amateur) to design mathematical strategies to wind their way through the more difficult early round upsets. Why, because even a novice bracketologist knows that the first-round games can flush away one’s future for success.

Although some say they do it simply for the bragging rights, most want to win one or more of the thousands of Internet and office pools that take place this time of year.

For more detail, please read the attached pdf posting. As always, I hope this stimulates your own research, and I would appreciate your feedback.

1) Did you find the posting informative?

2) How would you improve this posting?

3) Can you provide a better “Moment of Zen?”

Jim C Quiz - Bracketology.pdf