Arena Football League (1987�2008)
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Arena Football League (1987�2008)
The Arena Football League (AFL) can refer to one of three successive professional indoor American football leagues in the United States. The first of these was founded in 1986, and played its first official games in the 1987 season, running for 22 consecutive seasons until going bankrupt following the 2008 season. The second league, consisting largely of teams from the first AFL and arenafootball2 (a minor league majority-owned by the first AFL), purchased the first league's assets out of bankruptcy and resumed play in 2010 as a continuation of the first AFL; this second AFL ran for ten further seasons, before again going bankrupt following the 2019 season. A third AFL, which is not directly connected to the previous two iterations of the league but claiming their histories, intends to launch in 2024. The AFL played a formerly proprietary code known as arena football, a form of indoor American football played on a 66-by-28 yard field (about a quarter of the surface area of an ...
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Arena Football
Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller arena. It is distinct from traditional American or Canadian football played in larger domed or open-air stadiums, although several early college football games contested on full-sized or nearly full-sized fields at Chicago Coliseum (1890s) and Atlantic City Convention Center (1930s and 1960s) helped to show that football could be played as an indoor game. History Early history The first demonstration of football on a small field was actually played outdoors at the original open-air Madison Square Garden. Using nine-man sides, Pennsylvania defeated Rutgers 10–0 at the annual meeting of the Amateur Athletic Union on January 16, 1889. The first documented indoor football game was an exhibition between the Springfield YMCA Training Scho ...
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USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virginia. Its newspaper is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. The paper's dynamic design influenced the style of local, regional, and national newspapers worldwide through its use of concise reports, colorized images, informational graphics, and inclusion of popular culture stories, among other distinct features. With an average print circulation of 159,233 as of 2022, a digital-only subscriber base of 504,000 as of 2019, and an approximate daily readership of 2.6 million, ''USA Today'' is ranked as the first by circulation on the list of newspapers in the United States. It has been shown to maintain a generally center-left audience, in regards to political persuasion. ''USA Today ...
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Arena Football Logo 1987-2002
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators, and may be covered by a roof. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a multitude of spectators. Background The word derives from Latin ', a particularly fine-grained sand that covered the floor of ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, to absorb blood.. The term ''arena'' is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl, but such a facility is typically called a ''stadium'', especially if it does not have a roof. The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event. Football (be it association, rugby, gridiron, Australian rules, or Gaelic) is typically played ...
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SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and often shows highlights of sports from the day. Originally broadcast only once per day, ''SportsCenter'' now has up to twelve airings each day, excluding overnight repeats. The show often covers the major sports in the U.S. including basketball, hockey, football, and baseball. ''SportsCenter'' is also known for its recaps after sports events and its in-depth analysis. Since it premiered upon the network's launch on September 7, 1979, the show has broadcast more than 60,000 episodes, more than any other program on American television; ''SportsCenter'' is broadcast from ESPN's studio facilities in Bristol, Connecticut and Los Angeles, California. Overview and format As of 2022, ''SportsCenter'' normally runs live at the following times: * Wee ...
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ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen along with his son Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan. ESPN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located in Bristol, Connecticut. The network also operates offices and auxiliary studios in Miami, New York City, Las Vegas, Seattle, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. James Pitaro currently serves as chairman of ESPN, a position he has held since March 5, 2018, following the resignation of John Skipper on December 18, 2017. While ESPN is one of the most successful sports networks, there has been criticism of ESPN. This includes accusations of biased coverage, conflict of interest, and controversies with individual broadcasters and analysts. , ESPN reaches approximately ...
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United States Dollar
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color. The monetary policy of the United States is conducted by the Federal Reserve System, which acts as the nation's central bank. The U.S. dollar was originally defined under a bimetallic standard of (0.7735 troy ounces) fine silver or, from 1837, fine gold, or $20.67 per troy ounce. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 linked the dollar solely to gold. From 1934, its ...
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Rosemont Horizon
Allstate Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Rosemont, Illinois, United States. It is located near the intersection of Mannheim Road and Interstate 90, adjacent to the city limits of Chicago and O'Hare International Airport. The facility opened in 1980 as the Rosemont Horizon and seats 17,500 for basketball and 16,692 for ice hockey. The arena is home to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL) and has served as the home arena for a number of other professional and collegiate teams, most notably the DePaul Blue Demons from 1980 through 2017. History The Village of Rosemont issued $19 million in bonds to finance the cost of the arena with exclusive contracts with Araserv, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and MFG International. On August 13, 1979, the uncompleted roof of the Rosemont Horizon collapsed, killing five construction workers and injuring 16 others. The collapse was featured in the "Engineering Disasters" episode of '' Modern Marvels'', ...
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Rockford Metros
The Rockford Metros were an Arena football team formed by Arena Football League founder Jim Foster for the purposes of playing a "test game" in Rockford, Illinois in the spring of 1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ... at the MetroCentre. The team was named after the MetroCentre itself. Players were taken from different semi-pro leagues in the area or those who just finished their final years of college football. They defeated the Chicago Politicians, despite Rich Salzer's two TDs, 30–18. The test was successful, as the Arena Football League began operation the next spring with four teams and operated continuously until 2008; a successor operation bought the rights to the game and its trademarks in bankruptcy proceedings and continues to play . References E ...
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Chicago Politicians
The Chicago Politicians were a team formed in 1986 by Arena Football League founder Jim Foster to play an initial "test game" in Rockford, Illinois, at the MetroCentre. They were defeated by the Rockford Metros, 30–18. The test was deemed successful, as a four-team "demonstration season" was held the next year, and arena football has been played every year since, although the original Arena Football League itself ceased operations after its 2008 season, and the current organization of that name bought the rights to it in bankruptcy proceedings. Some Politicians players went on to play for the Chicago Bruisers and the other charter AFL teams, the Denver Dynamite, Pittsburgh Gladiators, and Washington Commandos. External linksAFL official website Defunct Arena Football League teams Politicians A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that ...
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Rockford MetroCentre
The BMO Center (formerly known as BMO Harris Bank Center and Rockford MetroCentre) is a multi-purpose arena located in downtown Rockford, Illinois. It is currently home to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs hockey team. The arena formerly served as the home of several defunct minor league sports teams, including the Rockford Lightning basketball team, the Rock River Raptors indoor football team, and the Rockford Rampage indoor soccer team. The BMO Center also secured a spot in history when it hosted the first Arena Football League test game in 1986 between the Chicago Politicians and the Rockford Metros. Due to its outdoor appearance, it is often referred to as the "Big Orange Box", although IceHogs officials refer to the arena as "the Barnyard". History The opening night gala in 1981 was headlined by Bob Hope and Lynda Carter. Certainly, the most significant event in BMO Center history occurred in the inaugural year, when The Rolling Stones made an appearance on their 1981 N ...
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Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern Illinois, northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River (Illinois), Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle County). The largest city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, Rockford is the List of municipalities in Illinois, fifth-largest city in the state and the List of United States cities by population, 171st most populous in the United States. According to 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census data, the City of Rockford had a population of 148,655 with an outlying metropolitan area population of 348,360. Settled in the mid-1830s, the position of the city on the Rock River made its location strategic for industrial development. In the second half of the 19th century, Rockford was notable for its output of heavy machinery, hardware and tools; by the twentieth century, ...
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Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago Tribune''. The modern paper grew out of the 1948 merger of the ''Chicago Sun'' and the '' Chicago Daily Times''. Journalists at the paper have received eight Pulitzer prizes, mostly in the 1970s; one recipient was film critic Roger Ebert (1975), who worked at the paper from 1967 until his death in 2013. Long owned by the Marshall Field family, since the 1980s ownership of the paper has changed hands numerous times, including twice in the late 2010s. History The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' claims to be the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city. That claim is based on the 1844 founding of the '' Chicago Daily Journal'', which was also the first newspaper to publish the rumor, now believed false, that a cow owned by Catheri ...
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