105-603: The Cincinnati Stuff were a professional basketball team in the International Basketball League (IBL) from 1999 to 2001. The Cincinnati Stuff were founded in March 1999, with Doug Kirchhofer as president and former NBA MVP Oscar Robertson as an advisor and part owner together with Neil Kirchhofer. The Stuff held the 1st pick of the 1999 IBL draft, which they used to select Devin Davis . However, Davis never played for
210-577: A coach, 324 wins, and 8 NFL titles as a coach or owner. His 324 victories as a head coach stood as an NFL record for nearly three decades until 1993 when Don Shula broke the record with his 325th win. Halas's 324 wins are still far and away the most in Bears history; they are three times that of runner-up Mike Ditka . He was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. In 1925, Halas tipped his hand in pro basketball when he helped to create
315-482: A combination of bad investments, careless spending, and a lack of non-athletic skills. The wear and tear of a career in professional sport, can cause physical and mental side effects (such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy , a condition that has seen a massive rise in public awareness in the 2010s) that can harm a former professional athlete's employability. In the United States, some of these problems are mitigated by
420-517: A company ( aircraft industry , food workers , tractor industry ) or organization ( KGB , Red Army , Soviet Air Force ) that sponsored what would be presented as an after-hours social sports society team for their workers . Christians in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement , which adheres to the position of first-day Sabbatarianism , oppose the viewing of or participation in professional sports, believing that professional sports leagues profane
525-575: A degree in civil engineering. He also became a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He helped Illinois win the 1918 Big Ten Conference football title. Serving as an ensign in the Navy during World War I , he played for a team at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station , and was named the MVP of the 1919 Rose Bowl . In recognition of his Rose Bowl accomplishments, Halas was inducted into
630-695: A football inscribed with the words "World Champions." The whereabouts of the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup , only given out that one time, are unknown. The legacy of two APFA franchises continues. The Racine Cardinals now play in Arizona, and the Decatur Staleys moved to Chicago in 1921 and changed their name to the Bears the following year. Ten APFA players along with Carr are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, set up in 1963 not far from
735-458: A force behind the revival of the modern Olympic Games . The tension between the two sporting practices and ideals dates from the inception of modern organized sports in the 19th century. The high political and financial stakes involved in sport have ensured that this tension has remained strong. Professional sporting organizations have often developed as "rebel" organizations in relation to established national and international federation, for example
840-476: A great deal of money at the highest levels; for instance, in 2024 the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team is set to pay 70 million dollars to its highest-paid player, Shohei Ohtani . Per Forbes 2021 ranking, the highest-paid athletes include Cristiano Ronaldo , Lionel Messi , Naomi Osaka , Tiger Woods , Serena Williams and wrestler-turned-actor The Rock . The top ten tennis players make about $ 3 million
945-508: A hip injury effectively ended his baseball career. Halas said that he was succeeded as the Yankees' right fielder by Babe Ruth , but in reality, it was Sammy Vick . Later that year, Halas played for the Hammond Pros and received about $ 75 per game. On February 18, 1922, Halas married Wilhelmina "Minnie" Bushing, to whom he remained married until her death in 1966. After one year with
1050-469: A result, more sportspeople can afford to make sport their primary career, devoting the training time necessary to increase skills, physical condition, and experience to modern levels of achievement. This proficiency has also helped boost the popularity of sports. In most sports played professionally there are many more amateur than professional players, though amateurs and professionals do not usually compete. American football (commonly known as football in
1155-594: A revolutionary concept with the T-formation offense. The complex spins, turns, fakes, and all-around athletic versatility required to execute the scheme limited the possible players available. Halas believed he'd found the perfect quarterback for his new offense in Sid Luckman , a passing star at Columbia University . Luckman was a single wing tailback; the tailback is the primary runner and passer in that scheme. Luckman launched his Hall of Fame career playing quarterback for
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#17328944406891260-744: A season in 1926. Other notable players included Bears quarterback Laurie Walquist , Robert J. Dunne , Slim Shoun and Chicago Cardinals back Ike Mahoney . Halas revived the team for four more seasons, 1939 to 1942, and played in the National Basketball League (NBL) and in the World Professional Basketball Tournament . This time around the Bruins were more successful, reaching the World Professional Basketball Tournament finals in 1940, losing to
1365-586: A series of contests against the NFL, was considered to be at least comparable in talent to the American leagues of the 1960s (its lone game against an AFL squad was a victory). Because Canada has a tenth of the population of the United States, the ability to make money from television was much lower, and although some of the cities of Canada were comparable to the major markets of the U.S., teams in places such as Saskatchewan and Hamilton were in markets quite small compared to even
1470-635: A significant profit, the second-highest American football league in the United States, the United Football League , consistently struggled to pay its bills and has continually lost money despite allotting its players only US$ 20,000 a year, and television networks made the league pay for television airtime instead of paying the league, making the league's business model unworkable. In the United States and Canada, most lower-end professional leagues run themselves as affiliated farm teams , effectively agreeing to develop younger players for eventual play in
1575-458: A total of seven points, the champion in spite of protests by the one-loss teams in Decatur and Buffalo, who each had tied Akron and had more wins, thanks in part to Akron's owner presiding over the meeting. The victors received a silver loving cup donated by sporting goods company Brunswick-Balke-Collender. While players were not given diamond-encrusted rings, they did receive golden fobs in the shape of
1680-544: A traditional object of criticism by proponents of the amateur philosophy of sport, according to which the central ethos of sport is competition performed for its own sake and pure enjoyment rather than as a means of earning a living. Examples of amateur philosophy include the muscular Christianity movement that informed the promotion of sports in the English public school system, and the Olympism advocated by Pierre de Coubertin ,
1785-489: A year on average. Much of the growth in income for sports and athletes has come from broadcasting rights ; for example, the most recent television contract for the NFL is valued at nearly US$ 5 billion per year. Women tend to earn considerably less than men in such sports as basketball, golf, football (soccer), softball and baseball. The exception is tennis where women tend to have salaries comparable to those of their male counterparts. The highest-paid female athlete in 2019
1890-477: Is $ 70,250 for most players, and for players on the reserve roster (slots #25-28) the minimum salary is $ 56,250. In 1970, the average salary in Major League Baseball in the U.S. and Canada was $ 20,000 ($ 156,915 inflation-adjusted). By 2005, the average salary had increased to $ 2,632,655 ($ 4,107,103 inflation-adjusted) and the minimum salary was $ 316,000 (adjusted: $ 492,979). In 2012 the average MLB salary
1995-578: Is nothing new. According to Cooky, female athletes need more visibility to ensure their access to necessary resources and financial security, which has an impact on their professional development. Outside the highest leagues, however, the money professional athletes can earn drops dramatically, as fan bases are generally smaller and there are no television revenues. For instance, while the National Football League 's teams can afford to pay their players millions of dollars each year and still maintain
2100-613: The 2000 NBA draft Soumaila Samake, who averaged 9.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the 36th pick: he is the only player drafted from the IBL to the NBA. On July 1, 2000 the franchise announced Mike Frink (former assistant coach of the Brazil national basketball team during the 1992 and 1996 Olympics ) as the new head coach. In their second season
2205-741: The Akron Bears of the American Football League as the Chicago Bears' minor league affiliate. The launch was an attempt to interfere with the territorial rights of the Cleveland Browns , a team in the NFL rival All-America Football Conference (AAFC); Akron is located just 30 miles from Cleveland . The team was coached again by Ronzani and had notable players like quarterback George Gulyanics , Ed Ecker , Lloyd Reese , Raymond Schumacher and Jack Karwales . The Bears were successful on
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#17328944406892310-643: The Harlem Globetrotters 31–29. Notable players were Wibs Kautz , Bill Hapac and Ralph Vaughn . In their second incarnation, the team played in the Chicago Coliseum . In 1939, Halas followed Tim Mara 's footsteps who purchased the Stapleton Buffaloes in 1937 and obtained the rights to a former NFL club Newark Tornadoes (now in the American Association ) from Piggy Simandl , changed
2415-581: The Houston Texans in October 2020, aged 73 years and 115 days. Halas was born in Chicago, Illinois , into a family of Czech- Bohemian immigrants. His parents, Barbara (Poledna), who ran a grocery store, and Frank Halas, a tailor, were migrants from Pilsen , Austria-Hungary . He was the brother of Walter Halas . George had a varied career in sports. In 1915, Halas worked temporarily for Western Electric, and
2520-643: The Negro leagues . Starting in the late 1950s, major league baseball expanded its geographical range. Western cities acquired teams, either by luring them to move from eastern cities or by forming expansion teams with players made available by established teams. Until the 1970s, because of strict contracts, the owners of baseball teams also virtually owned the players; the rules then changed so that players could become free agents within certain limits, free to sell their services to any team. The resulting bidding wars led to players becoming increasingly wealthy. Disputes between
2625-469: The "Chicago Bears." Years later, he recalled that he wanted to find a way to choose a name that would give a nod to the Cubs. Reasoning that football players were far bigger than baseball players, he concluded, "if baseball players are cubs, then football players must be bears!" Halas was not only the team's coach but also played end (wide receiver on offense, defensive end on defense) and handled ticket sales and
2730-546: The 1920s, when Babe Ruth led the New York Yankees to several World Series titles and became a national hero on the strength of his home runs (balls that cannot be played because they have been hit out of the field). One of the most noteworthy players was the Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson , who became the first African-American player in the major leagues in 1947; until then black players had been restricted to
2835-580: The 1930s. A competing league has historically arisen to attempt to challenge the NFL's dominance every 10 to 15 years, but none managed to maintain long-term operations independent of the NFL and only two—the All-America Football Conference of the late 1940s and the American Football League of the 1960s—were strong enough to successfully compete against the league before the NFL subsumed their operations. Minor league football, although their leagues' memberships were unstable, began to arise in
2940-463: The 2009–2010 Bundesliga season. The highest-paid player for the 2010–11 Bundesliga season was Franck Ribéry of Bayern Munich who received a salary of €6.3 million after income tax. In the Italian top league, Serie A , the average salary was about €5 million for the 2010–2011 Serie A season, up from €1 million in the 2005–2006 Serie A season. The highest-paid player for the 2010–2011 Serie A season
3045-401: The 2010 season. The highest-paid player for the 2011 Chinese Super League season was Dario Conca of Guangzhou Evergrande who received an annual salary of ¥67.4 million ($ 10.5 million) after income tax, putting him among the highest-paid players in the world. The highest-paid player for the 2011–2012 Russian Premier League season was Samuel Eto'o of Anzhi Makhachkala , who at the end of
3150-483: The 2011–12 season was expected to receive a total salary of RUB 900.2 million (£35.7 million) after income tax, making Eto'o the second highest-earning athlete in the world and the highest-paid footballer in the world followed by Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimović . The average salary of a player in the German Bundesliga was about €3.3 million (£2.5 million) for the 2010–11 season, up from €2.5 million in
3255-590: The American Professional Football Association (now the NFL) in 1920, and in 1963 became one of the first 17 inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Halas was the oldest person in NFL history to serve as a head coach, aged 72 years and 318 days when he coached the final game of his career in December 1967, a record that stood for over 50 years until Romeo Crennel became the interim head coach of
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3360-403: The Bears from 1939 to 1950. Halas was not satisfied with other players who succeeded Luckman under center. During this coaching stint, he had on the Bears roster two future Hall of Fame players, Bobby Layne in 1948 and George Blanda from 1949 to 1958. Other notable players included Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack from 1948 to 1951 and Zeke Bratkowski from 1954 to 1960. Blanda played in
3465-399: The Bears from 1963 until his sudden death at age 54 in 1979. One of Halas's final significant ownership acts was to hire Mike Ditka as head coach in 1982 (Ditka had been a Halas player in the 1960s). He had won 6 NFL championships before retiring. In the 1971 made-for-television film Brian's Song , about the friendship between Chicago Bears players Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers , Halas
3570-515: The Bears to an astonishing 73–0 victory over the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL Championship Game —still the most lopsided margin of victory in NFL history. Every other team in the league immediately began trying to imitate the format. The Bears repeated as NFL champions in 1941, and the 1940s would be remembered as the era of the " Monsters of the Midway ". Halas and Shaughnessy had created
3675-459: The Canton automobile dealership that gave birth to the NFL in 1920. The APFA, by 1922 known as the National Football League , has remained the predominant professional American football league in the United States, and, effectively, the entire world. The evolution from a haphazard collection of teams in big and small cities to the much more rigid structure it is in the present was gradual. With most of
3780-620: The Cincinnati Stuff finished with a record of 43-21 and won the East Division, qualifying for the playoffs, where they lost 2-0 in the conference semifinals against the Richmond Rhythm . In 32 regular season games, the team had an average attendance of 3,615 (the league average was 3,072). In June 2000 Joby Wright announced that he would not return to coach the Stuff for the 2000-01 season. In
3885-715: The NBA views with carrying the Chicago Bulls to six titles in the 1990s. In the 1920s some cricketers from the Caribbean played professional cricket in Britain. After World War II , professional cricketers from the Indian subcontinent were enlisted in British teams. Ice hockey was first professionalized in Pittsburgh , U.S. in the first decade of the 20th century. Because Canadians made up
3990-684: The NFL in 1970); the NFL expanded coast-to-coast, the first of the four major leagues to do so, in 1946 with the Los Angeles Rams and admitted the San Francisco 49ers four years later; the NFL did not enter the Southern United States until admitting the Dallas Cowboys , Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints in the 1960s. A championship game was established in 1933, a draft was established in 1936, and schedules were standardized in
4095-555: The NFL title in 1932. Halas returned as coach in 1933 to eliminate the additional cost of paying a head coach's salary. He coached the Bears for another ten seasons. His 1934 team was undefeated until a loss in the championship game to the New York Giants . In the late 1930s, Halas—with University of Chicago coach Clark Shaughnessy —perfected the T-formation system to create a revolutionary and overwhelming style of play which drove
4200-476: The NFL until 1975; Bratkowski moved on the Los Angeles Rams before signing with Vince Lombardi 's Green Bay Packers in 1963, where he played an important role as "super sub" to starter Bart Starr in winning three straight NFL championships in 1965–'66–'67; and Bobby Layne quarterbacked the Detroit Lions to three NFL championship games between 1952 and 1954, winning two. Halas entered the Navy again after
4305-506: The NHL in 1979, but had to give up most of its players, as they were still under NHL contract and had to return to their original teams. The NHL made its last pronounced realignment in the 1990s, moving most of the WHA teams out of their markets and establishing a number of new teams in the southern United States. In Europe, the introduction of professionalism varied widely, and the highest-caliber league on
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4410-600: The Pros (also known as the All-Stars), Halas moved to Decatur, Illinois to take a position with the A. E. Staley Company , a starch manufacturer. He served as a company sales representative, an outfielder on the company-sponsored baseball team, and the player-coach of the company-sponsored football team the Decatur Staleys . Halas selected his alma mater's colors—orange and navy blue—for the team's uniforms. In 1920, Halas represented
4515-587: The Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2018. On a team which included Paddy Driscoll and Jimmy Conzelman , Halas scored a receiving touchdown and returned an intercepted pass 77 yards in a 17–0 win over the Mare Island Marines of California; the team was also rewarded with their military discharges. Afterward, Halas played minor league baseball , eventually earning a promotion to the New York Yankees , where he played 12 games as an outfielder in 1919. However,
4620-693: The Sabbath , compete with a Christian's primary commitment to God, exhibit a lack of modesty in the players' and cheerleaders' uniforms, are associated with violence and extensive use of profanity among many players, and encourage gambling, as well as alcohol and other drugs at sporting events, which go against a commitment to teetotalism . Laestadian Lutherans , who belong to the Pietistic Lutheran tradition, likewise teach that "Competitive sports are not acceptable, but we should maintain fitness through various forms of exercise." Professional sportsmen can earn
4725-628: The Spanish La Liga , the average salary for the players of Lionel Messi's club FC Barcelona was €6.5 million for the 2010–2011 La Liga season, up from €5.5 million for the 2009–2010 La Liga season. The average salary of a player in the English Premier League was about £2.6 million in the 2017–18 season, compared with about £1.2 million in 2007–08 and £676,000 in 2006–07. Even as early as 2010–11, top players such as John Terry and Steven Gerrard could make up to £7 million per year with
4830-628: The Staleys at the meeting which formed the American Professional Football Association (which became the NFL in 1922) in Canton, Ohio . After the Staleys' season ended, Halas and teammates George Trafton , Hub Shoemake , and Hugh Blacklock joined the Chicago Stayms for a December 19 match against the Chicago Cardinals , marking the only time Halas would be an NFL team's opponent for another team besides
4935-477: The Staleys/Bears. The game ended in a 14–14 tie. Despite a 10–1–2 record, the Staleys ended the season awash in red ink. The Staleys' financial troubles didn't dissuade Halas from significantly upgrading the roster, to the point that it was a works team in name only. After the first game of the 1921 season, company founder and namesake Augustus E. Staley turned over control of the team to Halas so he could move
5040-546: The Stuff signed Billy Thomas , who they had drafted in 1999, and finished the season with a 27-24 record (.529). The franchise ceased operations after the IBL folded in 2001. Professional basketball In professional sports , as opposed to amateur sports , participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations or teams can command large incomes. As
5145-641: The United States) was professionalized in the 1890s as a slow, and initially covert, process; Pudge Heffelfinger and Ben "Sport" Donnelly were the first to secretly accept payment for playing the game in 1892. Regional leagues in Chicago, Pennsylvania , Ohio and New York had coalesced in the 1900s and 1910s, most of which gave way to the American Professional Football Association in 1920. By 1920, pro football remained overshadowed by
5250-528: The WHL a contract, the NHL doubled in size in 1967 , beginning a period of expansion that lasted through much of the 1970s. The last major challenger to the NHL's dominance was the World Hockey Association , which successfully broke the NHL's reserve clause in court, drove up professional hockey salaries, and continued to pressure the older league into expansion. The WHA merged four of its remaining teams into
5355-637: The advent of World War II in 1942, with the rank of lieutenant commander . He served overseas for 20 months under the command of Admiral Chester Nimitz . His duties were supporting the welfare and recreational activities of the Seventh Fleet . He was awarded the Bronze Star during his recall and released from duty in 1946 with the rank of captain . While Halas was in the Navy, the Bears won another title in 1943 under Hunk Anderson and Luke Johnsos . Returning to
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#17328944406895460-468: The amateur rules of the International Olympic Committee to retain their amateur status and compete in the Olympics . The modern-day descendant of the Soviet league, the Kontinental Hockey League , is fully professional and has some teams outside Russia, to the point where it has the resources to sign NHL veterans. Other European countries including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, and Austria have prominent professional leagues. Rugby union
5565-415: The best Japanese players often emigrate to the U.S. by way of the posting system . Other countries where the game is important include South Korea (where their league has its own posting system with Major League Baseball), Taiwan, Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean states. Basketball was invented in 1891 and the first professional leagues emerged in the 1920s. The Basketball Association of America
5670-492: The best players to be stacked onto certain teams), and restricting its players' salaries through reserve clauses . This stagnation allowed other leagues to arise: the Western Hockey League soon became the de facto major league of the western states and provinces, and the second-tier American Hockey League emerged in a number of midwestern markets the NHL had neglected, in addition to a handful of small towns. Amid pressure from television networks that were threatening to offer
5775-423: The business of running the club. Named to the NFL's all-pro team in the 1920s, his playing highlight occurred in a 1923 game when he stripped Jim Thorpe of the ball, recovered the fumble, and returned it 98 yards—a league record which would stand until 1972. In 1925, Halas persuaded Illinois star player Red Grange to join the Bears; it was a significant step in establishing both the respectability and popularity of
5880-458: The college game. The first game involving an APFA team took place on 26 September 1920, at Douglas Park in Rock Island, Illinois, as the hometown Independents flattened the St. Paul Ideals 48–0. The first head-to-head battles in the league occurred one week later as Dayton topped Columbus 14-0 and Rock Island pasted Muncie 45–0. Forward passes were rare, coaching from the sidelines was prohibited and players competed on both offense and defense. Money
5985-467: The conclusion of the season there were no play-offs (that innovation, although New York's regional league had used it, did not arrive until 1933) and it took more than four months before the league even bothered to crown a champion. Much as college football did for decades, the APFA determined its victor by ballot. On 30 April 1921, team representatives voted the Akron Pros, which completed the season undefeated with eight wins and three ties while yielding only
6090-566: The continent, the Soviet Championship League (proven to be at least equal to or better than the NHL in the 1970s), was officially populated with ostensibly amateur players who were actually full-time sportspeople hired as regular workers of a company ( aircraft industry , food workers , tractor industry ) or organization ( KGB , Red Army , Soviet Air Force ) that sponsored what would be presented as an after-hours social sports society hockey team for their workers. In other words, all Soviet hockey players were de facto professionals who circumvented
6195-443: The elder McCaskey was forced to fire her own son. In the 1985 season when the Bears won their only Super Bowl (and post-merger NFL championship), they recorded a song called " Super Bowl Shuffle ." In the song, backup quarterback Steve Fuller rhymes "Bring on Atlanta , Bring on Dallas / This is for Mike [then-current coach Mike Ditka ] and Papa Bear Halas." Super Bowl XVIII was dedicated to Halas. The pregame ceremonies featured
6300-417: The fact that the college sports system ensures most professional athletes receive a college education with no student debt, a legacy that provides them with a career path after their sports career ends. In the NFL average annual salaries by position in 2009 were: The average salary of a player in the Chinese Super League was about ¥ 10.7 million (£1 million) for the 2011 season, up from ¥600,000 in
6405-422: The field in 1946, he coached the club for a third decade, again winning a title in his first year back as coach. That same year, Halas met with the Army Chief of Staff , General Dwight Eisenhower , the Navy Chief of Staff , Admiral Chester Nimitz, and the Air Force Chief of Staff , General Carl Spaatz , and offered to set up an annual charity football game, with the Bears as hosts, whose proceeds would go to
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#17328944406896510-411: The field, Halas made the Bears the first team to hold daily practice sessions, to analyze film of opponents to find weaknesses and means of attack, place assistant coaches in the press box during games, place tarp on the field, publish a club newspaper, and to broadcast games by radio. He also offered to share the team's substantial television income with teams in smaller cities, firmly believing that what
6615-420: The field—including reaching the league final before losing 14–13 to the Jersey City Giants—but lost at the box office a sum of $ 52,000, partly because they had large traveling expenses as most of the league team were located on the East Coast. The team did not return for a second season. In both 1963 and 1965, Halas was selected by The Sporting News , the AP and the UPI as the NFL Coach of the Year. In 1997, he
6720-437: The first professional baseball league was created. By the beginning of the 20th century, most large cities in the eastern United States had a professional baseball team. After several leagues came and went in the 19th century, the National League (founded in 1876) and American League (recognized as a major league in 1903) were established as the dominant leagues by the early 20th century. The most victorious team in each league
6825-472: The first professional basketball league in the United States – the American Basketball League – as the owner of the Chicago Bruins . The team played six seasons before folding following the 1930–31 season because of the Great Depression. The Bruins struggled during their existence, failing to reach the playoffs in every season, but featured several notable names, including two Hall of Famers in player-coach Honey Russell and Nat Holman who played for half
6930-426: The franchise, and the final roster for the first season was announced in late November 1999: the first players were Roderick Blakney , Lenny Brown, Allen Edwards , Damon Flint, Damon Frierson, Phil Hickey, Courtney James , Chris Kingsbury , Soumaila Samake , Alex Sanders, Eric Taylor and Wayne Turner . The head coach was Joby Wright , with Greg Herenda and Scott Spinelli as assistant coaches. In their first season,
7035-476: The highest average salaries in 2017–18, with players for both Manchester United and Manchester City averaging over £5.2 million. Players in lower divisions make significantly less money. In 2006–07 the average salary of a player in the Championship (the second tier of the English football pyramid) made £195,750 while the average salary for League One and League Two (tiers 3 and 4) combined were £49,600. The highest salary in Major League Soccer in 2019
7140-408: The late 1930s and remained viable as a business model up into the 1970s. A major factor in the NFL's rise to dominance was its embrace of television early in the sport's history. As college football heavily restricted the rights of its teams to broadcast games (a policy eventually ruled to be illegal in 1984), the NFL instead allowed games to be televised nationwide, except in a team's home city ;
7245-412: The league did not maintain official standings. The inaugural season was a struggle. Games received little attention from the fans, and even less from the press. According to Robert W. Peterson's book "Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football," APFA games averaged crowds of 4,241. The association bylaws called for teams to pay a US$ 100 entry fee, but no one ever did. The season concluded on 19 December. At
7350-403: The league's retrenchment to six markets: Boston, New York City, Chicago and Detroit in the U.S., and Toronto and Montreal in Canada. These Original Six cities were the only cities with NHL franchises from 1935 to 1967. During this time, the NHL was both stagnant and restrictive in its policies, giving teams territorial advantages, having teams with multiple owners in the same family (thus allowing
7455-451: The league, which had previously been viewed as a refuge for less admirable players. After ten seasons, Halas stepped back from the game in 1930, retiring as a player and handing coaching duties to Lake Forest Academy coach Ralph Jones ; but he remained the team's owner, becoming sole owner in 1932. However, severe financial difficulties brought on by the Great Depression put the Bears in dire financial straits even though Jones led them to
7560-482: The major leagues in exchange for subsidizing those players' salaries; this is known as the minor league system and is most prevalent in professional baseball and professional ice hockey . Otherwise, the league may be required to classify itself as semi-professional , in other words, able to pay their players a small sum, but not enough to cover the player's basic costs of living. Many professional athletes experience financial difficulties soon after retiring, due to
7665-537: The players of Premier League club Manchester City F.C. receiving an average salary of £2 million in that season. Premier League salaries have boomed in more recent years thanks to massive television deals and wealthy new investors in clubs. Terry's and Gerrard's 2010–11 salaries would not have placed them among the top 25 earners in 2017–18. In that season, more than 20 players earned more than £10 million, led by Alexis Sánchez (£21.5 million) and Mesut Özil (£20.9 million). The Premier League's two Manchester clubs had
7770-455: The players' union and the owners have at times halted baseball for months at a time (e.g., 1994–95 player strike ). A prominent professional baseball circuit known as Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) also developed in Japan. Founded in 1934, the league emerged as an international force after World War II. NPB is considered to be the highest caliber of baseball outside the U.S. major leagues, and
7875-400: The relief agencies of the armed forces. By mid-1957, proceeds from this game were $ 438,350.76 and proceeds from all games the Bears participated in between 1946 and 1957 were over $ 2 million. After a brief break in 1956–57, he returned as head coach for a final decade from 1958 to 1967. Despite winning his sixth and last league title in 1963, he did not enjoy the same success as he had before
7980-436: The rest of his life. Although he nominally ceded the general manager's post in 1963, he continued to make the franchise's football decisions until hiring Jim Finks as general manager in 1974. He continued to take an active role in team operations until his death. He was honored in 1970 and 1980 as the only person involved in the league throughout its first 50 and 60 years of existence. His son George, Jr. served as president of
8085-480: The restriction was softened in the early 1970s, by which point the NFL had secured broadcast deals with all of the major television networks , another major factor in the inability of any competing league to gain traction since then. The related sport of Canadian football was eventually professionalized by the 1950s with the evolution of the Canadian Football League . The CFL, despite losing all games in
8190-548: The schism which created the code of rugby league. Arguments against amateurism often appeal to the argument that amateurism in sport favors the classes who can afford not to be paid to play, and is thus a covert form of prejudice against lower classes. Another argument is that amateur players are often de facto professionals who retain their amateur status by earning allowances instead of salaries. For example, all Eastern bloc countries were populated with amateur players who were actually full-time athletes hired as regular workers of
8295-619: The small markets of the NFL, thus the CFL pays significantly less than other major professional leagues, though enough to be considered fully professional. Europe, Japan, Mexico also have American football leagues of varying levels that sign professional players. The top leagues are the German Football League , Austrian Football League , the new European League of Football and the X-League . There are over 60 countries that have leagues throughout
8400-580: The small-market teams except the Green Bay Packers squeezed out of the NFL by the time of the Great Depression , multiple attempts at teams in the major cities of Washington , New York , Detroit , Cleveland, and Philadelphia failed before, eventually, their current representatives took root (though Boston proved particularly problematic until the New England Patriots were accepted into
8505-504: The sport to be viable in smaller cities than other sports. Professional basketball leagues of varying caliber can be found around the world, especially in Europe and South America. Basketball mainly became popular in the early 1980s when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird joined the NBA and lead their teams to multiple NBA titles. They are considered two of the best players of all time usually underneath Michael Jordan . Michael Jordan also gained
8610-466: The support and appreciation of female athletes in professional sports. Female athletes struggle to obtain the same degree of visibility and sponsorship opportunities as male athletes, whose accomplishments frequently dominate mainstream sports coverage. According to Cheryl Cooky's TEDx talk, a professor in American studies, gender, and sexuality at Purdue University, the marginalization of female athletes in mainstream sports media and sponsorship opportunities
8715-747: The team in 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ushered in the United States’ participation in World War II . It would later be revived for one more season ( 1946 ) as the Newark Bombers under Halas ownership (not as a farm team ), but was folded altogether at the end of the season, and was substituted by the Bloomfield Cardinals . In 1946, after he returned from service in WWII, Halas also launched
8820-624: The team to Chicago, where the team had attracted its biggest gates of the 1920 season. Staley gave Halas a $ 5,000 bonus for the move to Chicago provided that he keep the Staleys franchise name for the 1921 season. Halas then took on teammate Edward "Dutch" Sternaman as a partner. The newly minted "Chicago Staleys" set up shop at Cubs Park, soon to be known as Wrigley Field ; Halas had a good relationship with Chicago Cubs owner William Wrigley Jr. and president Bill Veeck Sr. The Staleys maneuvered their schedule to win their first NFL championship that year. The following year, Halas renamed his team
8925-403: The team's name to Bears and stocked with talent that did not make the Chicago roster. He used the club to incubate talent and for easy return for injured players, thus making it pro football's first true farm team. Newark's most notable names included Joe Zeller as coach and Gene Ronzani who led them to the 1939 championship (with a little help in the playoff from Sid Luckman ). Halas folded
9030-576: The then-independent Stanley Cup . The NHA's teams reorganized as the National Hockey League in 1917, and the West Coast circuit died out by the mid-1920s. By 1926, the NHL had expanded to ten teams in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States. However, the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s and Canada's entry into World War II, greatly reducing the league's player pool, led to
9135-576: The vast majority of hockey players, early American professional leagues imported almost all of their players before Canadian leagues began to form in the wake of a mining boom, depriving the U.S. leagues and teams of talented players. Two distinct circuits formed: the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in western Canada and the northwestern U.S., and the National Hockey Association of central Canada, both of which competed for
9240-525: The war, and officially retired on May 27, 1968. He did win his 200th game in 1950 and his 300th game in 1965, becoming the first coach to reach both milestones. His six NFL Championships as a head coach is tied for the most all time with Green Bay's Curly Lambeau and later, New England's Bill Belichick . In 40 years as a coach, he endured only six losing seasons, three of which came during his final stint. Assistants under George Halas who became college or professional head coaches: A pioneer both on and off
9345-528: The world. The rise of indoor American football from the late 1980s allowed smaller-scale professional football to be viable. Baseball originated before the American Civil War (1861–1865). First played on sandlots in particular, scoring and record-keeping gave baseball gravity. "Today," notes John Thorn in The Baseball Encyclopedia, "baseball without records is inconceivable." In 1871,
9450-551: The year by the Newspaper Enterprise Association . The Chicago Bears retired number 7 in his honor, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located on George Halas Drive. The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign inducted Halas into the Engineering Hall of Fame in 2016. After the 1967 season, Halas—then the oldest coach in league history—retired as coach. He continued as the team's principal owner for
9555-442: Was Serena Williams with a $ 29.2 million annual income; the highest-paid male player was Lionel Messi with a $ 127 million annual income. In association football, the average wage for women worldwide is $ 35,000, while for men it is $ 410,730. Attendances in women's leagues also tend to be lower than in men's, and there are fewer corporate sponsors, as well as less money from broadcasting rights. Widespread gender discrepancies hamper
9660-413: Was Zlatan Ibrahimović of A.C. Milan who received a salary of €25.9 million after income tax and which also includes Ibrahimović's bonuses and endorsements . Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona is the world's second highest-paid player receiving a salary of £29.6 million (over US$ 45 million) a year after income taxation and which also includes the incomes of Messi's bonuses and endorsements . In
9765-679: Was $ 3,440,000, the median salary was $ 1,075,000, and the minimum salary had grown to four times the inflation-adjusted average salary in 1970 ($ 480,000). In the Indian Premier League in 2019, players earn an average of $ 101,444, and a median salary of $ 72,450, per week. The top-paid players in international cricket in 2017 across the (at the time) 10 Test cricket nations earned anywhere from $ 90,000 to $ 1,470,000 (when looking only at contract and match fees). George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed " Papa Bear " and " Mr. Everything ",
9870-516: Was an American professional football end , coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), and served as his own head coach on four occasions. He was also lesser-known as a player for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the namesake for the NFC Championship trophy . Halas was one of the co-founders of
9975-670: Was awarded the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award , which is the Navy's highest civilian award. There are two extant awards named for Halas: the George Halas Trophy (awarded by the NFL to the National Football Conference champion) and the George S. Halas Courage Award (Pro Football Writers Association). From 1966 to 1996, a George Halas Trophy was also awarded to the NFL defensive player of
10080-482: Was established in 1946 and three years later became the modern National Basketball Association . The NBA was slower to establish dominance of the sport than other sports in the United States, as it would not do so until 1976, when it absorbed four teams from the American Basketball Association . Professional basketball has the advantages of much smaller rosters than other professional sports, allowing
10185-477: Was featured on a U.S. postage stamp as one of the legendary coaches of football. He has been recognized by ESPN as one of the ten most influential people in sports in the 20th century, and as one of the greatest coaches. In 1993, Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula finally surpassed Halas' victory total. From the 1984 season onward to this day, the jerseys of the Chicago Bears bear the initials "GSH" on their upper left sleeves in commemoration of Halas. In 1956, Halas
10290-439: Was good for the league would ultimately benefit his own team. A firm disciplinarian, Halas maintained complete control of his team and did not tolerate disobedience and insubordination by players. He also insisted on absolute integrity and honesty in management, believing that a handshake was sufficient to finalize a deal; few, if any, intermediaries were necessary. Halas's career ledger reads as follows: 63 years as an owner, 40 as
10395-417: Was instituted, each team had one "Designated Player" slot with a salary cap charge of $ 400,000, but no limit on actual salary paid. Since then, the number of Designated Players per team has increased to three, with each counting for $ 530,000 of cap room in 2019. The league's average salary was about $ 283,000 per year in 2015, but the median salary was then closer to $ 110,000. MLS' minimum player salary in 2019
10500-507: Was planning on being on the SS Eastland . He was running late, however, as he was attempting to gain weight to play Big Ten football and missed the capsizing, which killed 844 passengers. After graduating from Crane High School in Chicago, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , playing football for coach Bob Zuppke , as well as baseball and basketball , and earning
10605-599: Was portrayed by Jack Warden , who won an Emmy Award for his performance. Halas died of pancreatic cancer in Chicago on October 31, 1983, at age 88, and is entombed in St. Adalbert Catholic Cemetery in Niles, Illinois . At the time of his death, he was the last surviving participant of the meeting that formed the NFL in 1920. His eldest daughter, Virginia Halas McCaskey , succeeded him as majority owner, and her son Michael McCaskey served as team president from 1983 to 1999 at which time
10710-466: Was said to have won the "pennant;" the two pennant winners met after the end of the regular season in the World Series. The winner of at least four games (out of a possible seven) was the champion for that year. This arrangement still holds today, although the leagues are now subdivided and pennants are decided in post-season playoff series between the winners of each division. Baseball became popular in
10815-444: Was so tight that George Halas carried equipment, wrote press releases, sold tickets, taped ankles, played and coached for the Decatur club. As opposed to today's standard 17-game schedule, clubs in 1920 scheduled their own opponents and could play non-league and even college squads that counted toward their records. With no established guidelines, the number of games played—and the quality of opponents scheduled—by APFA teams varied, and
10920-400: Was strictly an amateur sport throughout the 19th and most of the 20th century. In 1995, the game's international administrators allowed professionals to participate for the first time. The related sport of rugby league evolved directly out of rugby union's opposition to player payments; it has allowed professionalism in its game since its inception in 1895. Professional athleticism has been
11025-454: Was the $ 14 million paid to former Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimović , who played for the LA Galaxy in that season. Ibrahimović was signed to his 2019 contract under MLS' Designated Player Rule , which was instituted in 2007 for the express purpose of attracting international stars. Now-retired English star David Beckham was the first player signed under its provisions. When the rule
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