Are you a Sports Junky

The Chennai Super Kings, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils are well challenged by the versatility and international team participation by the other four teams within the IPL concept. The other four include the Deccan Chargers captained by VVS Laxman and sponsored by the media giants from the Deccan Chronicle. The sixth IPL team is the Kolkata Knight Riders, who are co sponsored by actors Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, under the captaincy of Saurav Ganguly.

The Kings XI Punjab team is captained by Yuvraj Singh and co sponsored by actor Preity Zinta and business magnate Ness Wadia. Last but not the least, the eight IPL team is the Rajasthan Royals sponsored by media persons Emerging Media Group and captained by Shane Warne. The IPL teams are expected to thrash it out on the field to add to the cricket mania worldwide and the league concept has worked like magic to the slipping audiences the game witnessed in test matches and one day games. The 20 over matches are quick and exciting and there is never a dull moment, irrespective of the outcome of the toss.

Cricket is now experiencing a new high. There are eight teams created in cricket crazy India as participants in the Indian Premier League Tournaments. This fever has just begun and at the very inception has made celebrities out of cricketers from all over the world. The Mumbai Indians are backed and sponsored by the business magnate Mukesh Ambani and captained by the very versatile Sachin Tendulkar. The sponsorship of debonair Vijay Malya and the captainship of Kolkata King Rahul Dravid lead the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Further down south, the Chennai Super Kings are led by the sponsorship of the business house India Cements and captained by Mahindra Singh Dhoni. The well established business house, the GMR group, has sponsored the Delhi Daredevils and the team is captained by Virendra Sehwag. Even before the league games have kick started, sponsors and players are household names and the whole nation is running wild with the cricket fever hitting an all time high!

Women have been active participants in sports since ancient times. They have been a part of amateur and professional competitions in virtually all the different sporting events played all over the world. The participation of women in sports increased dramatically in the latter half of the twentieth century, when modern societies began to emphasize gender parity. There is no denying that the level of participation and performance of women in different sports and their ability to draw in the audience still varies greatly by country and by sport.

However, the participation of women in sports is now broadly accepted in every country. In fact, in the arenas cut out for figure skating and tennis throughout the world, women have rivaled and even exceeded their male counterparts, especially in popularity. The modern woman is participating in every sport competitively. In competitions that involve brute strength or contact, the level and extent of competition between women have decreased, but not to eliminate the possibility of future participation at all. There are quite a few dedicated training schools that offer women’s programs in football, boxing or wrestling.

The county of Iran is as unique in its choice of sports as it is in its politics and geographical terrain. The hardy Iranians are known for their versatility and hospitality, but on the sports field, they are real hard-hitters. In Iran, the preference is for freestyle wrestling. It is a traditional and the national sport of Iran. The people here harbor a preference for all kinds of combat sports and martial arts.

They are diehard fans of Taekwondo, Greco Roman Wrestling, Kung Fu and Karate. Another very popular sport in Iran is association football. The game plans of volleyball and Futsal are also widely practiced by the young and old alike. The wrestling and weight lifting championships are regular events in Iran. It is interesting to note that men and women take an active part in sports and make a great audience. In Iran, sport is a medium of release of energy and ability. There is great respect attached to the world of sport here.

A number of sports have gone on to being associated closely with certain nations as their national sports. Some of them are listed below:

* In Afghanistan, Buzkashi is a traditional sport and this variation of polo comfortably co-exists with association football, cricket and boxing.

* In Albania, the national sport is association football.

* In the, the national sport is cricket

*Bahrain has association football as its national sport.

* In Bangladesh, the national sport is ‘Kabaddi’, a variation of the tug-of-war and it co-exists with the recent interest developed in cricket and field hockey.

* Barbados has cricket as its national sport.

* In Iceland, the national sport is Glima.

* India celebrates hockey as the national sport, while the cricket fever continues day in and out.

Different countries and people have their individual preferences and certain games stir their sentiments. Sports have played a major role in uniting people all through history

The Olympic Games is an international event. There are many multi sport events that are professionally categorized and subdivided into summer and winter events, held separately. The Olympic Games, both summer and winter, are held every four years and this is referred to as the Olympiad. In fact, until recently, both, the summer and winter games were held in the same year; however, the International Olympic Committee decided to hold the events over a period of consecutive years.

The International Olympic Committee was founded in 1894, two years prior to the first of the International Olympic Committee or IOC’s Olympic Games in 1896. The overall participation in the Olympic Games has increased and now includes athletes from all over the world. Every citizen, of every nation worldwide, is now a part of the Olympic Games with the improvement of satellite communication and global telecast. The events at the Olympics are consistently gaining supporters and adding to the existing number of games being played.