Sports

The story goes that in 1823, a 16-year-old school boy named William Webb Ellis, was playing soccer when he decided to pick it up and run to the opposing goal line. His teammates were so enamored by this revelation that they devised a set of rules and decided to play this new game instead. When thinking about what to call it, they named it after their school: Rugby.

Over the next 72 years, the rules changed as the game evolved, but there was basic unity within the sport until the great rugby schism of 1895. This schism was, as many things still are today, over money. Northern English rugby clubs felt that their players should be compensated for their time, whereas Southern English rugby clubs wanted to preserve the amateur principle of the game. Thus Rugby League became the predominant sport in the North of England, and Rugby Union the sport of the South.

Under the Rugby League code a game lasts for 80 minutes. Each team is comprised of 13 players and four substitutes. Unlike in soccer, a substituted player can return to the field of play as part of another substitution later in the game.

Whenever a team gains possession, they are allowed 6 tackles (similar to downs) to advance their team down the pitch. Upon a 6th tackle, the ball is immediately turned over to the opposing team (which is why many times the ball will be kicked down field following the 5th tackle). Unlike American Football, the ball can only be passed backwards to a teammate, and...

Does winter make you yearn for the friendly trails of summer? Do you miss hiking through the hills or getting in shape with a good trail run?

Don't let winter stop you. You can go for a great walk, a run or a hike, on snowshoes. You don't even have to own a pair; many outdoor shops and resorts rent snowshoes for about ten bucks a day. The best thing about running through the mountains on snowshoes is that it's a great aerobic workout, and a big burner of calories. A stroll along a level path burns about 400 calories an hour. A strenuous hike up hilly terrain can burn a thousand calories an hour, almost a third of a pound. Snowshoeing is a fantastic way to lose weight.

Expert snowshoer Paul Vernon is a sales specialist at outdoors store REI in Salt Lake City, Utah. On his days off, he heads for the snowy hills, hiking the isolated backcountry. "When I go snowshoeing, I tend to do more technical, steeper terrain," he says.

Paul's snowshoes are 'aggressive' models, with heavy traction cleats on the bottom that are almost like crampons. Walking or running snowshoes would have lighter traction cleats. Paul says the kind of snowshoes you should rent or by would depend on what you would normally hike. He explains, "The wonderful thing about snowshoes, it's literally walking on the snow. There's a resiliance, because the snow gives slightly underfoot, so it's like walking on a cloud. One the fun things...

 "Snooker loopy nuts are we

Me and him and them and me
We'll show you what we can do
With a load of balls and a snooker cue"

So went the 1986 hit UK song by Chaz N' Dave. But how exactly do you play snooker?

The first thing you need is a snooker table, the dimensions of which are typically 12' x 6'. As with a pool table, there are pockets in each corner, and one in the middle on each side. Next are the balls, you'll need 15 red balls, and one each of white (cue ball), yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black.

To start the game the balls are placed in predetermined positions on the table. The yellow and green are placed at either end of the D (a semicircle at one end of the table), with the brown directly between them. The blue is positioned in the exact center of the table, directly across from the 2 middle pockets. At the other end of the table the 15 reds are placed in a triangle formation, with the pink ball in front of the tip of the triangle, and the black slightly behind the rear of the triangle. The initial position of the cue ball is anywhere within the D.

Each player takes turns to attempt to pot a red ball into a pocket, once they've done that they can then attempt to pot a colored ball. Should they succeed in potting a color, they then return to the task of attempting to pot another red. Should the player not manage to pot the color, then the next player takes control

...

 Yorkshire, land of cricket, dales, flat caps, puddings, and more cricket. Over the years Yorkshire County Cricket club has seen its share of success (a record 30 county cricket championships) and failure (relegation from the top tier of county cricket in 2002), but throughout there's always been a prevailing sense of pride surrounding the team.

Herbert Sutcliffe made his debut for Yorkshire back in 1919 (he would have started sooner were it not for the war) and his debut for England in 1924. All in all he payed for an astonishing 26 years, and ended his career with the 4th highest test batting average in history (for players with completed careers) of 60.73 runs per innings.

As Herbert Sutcliffe's career was coming to an end, Len Hutton's was just beginning. At the tender age of 17 he made his first-class debut for Yorkshire in 1934, and followed that up with his England debut 3 years later. In 1938 he scored 364 in a test match against Australia to break the previous record of 336 scored by Wally Hammond in 1933. Unfortunately for Len, WWII meant that his career took a break, and unfortunately so did his left arm. The break was so bad that he had to have bone grafts which left his left arm 2" shorter than his right. This didn't curtail his career, and when he retired in 1960 he had a very respectable 55.51 batting average.

The team of the late 50's and 60's was comprised of many great players, such as Brian Close...

 From time to time, a sport will throw up a player who is far ahead of his contemporaries. Jahingir Khan won 555 consecutive games of squash between 1981 and 1986, and Edwin Moses won 122 consecutive 400 metre hurdle races between 1977 and 1987. Phil "The Power" Taylor is one such competitor.

Prior to 1988 Taylor played darts part time in the Stoke-on-Trent area of England, while working full time making ceramic toilet roll handles. Five times world Darts champion Eric Bristow saw Phil play and decided that there was enough raw talent to turn for Taylor to turn pro, so he loaned him £10,000, with the proviso that he practice full time and start to enter tournaments.

Two years later, in 1990, Taylor qualified to play in the World Championships for the first time. As an unknnown 125/1 shot, Phil powered his way to the final where he came up against his mentor, Eric Bristow. In the best of 11 set match, Phil "The Power" Taylor dominated and defeated Bristow 6 sets to 1 to win his first title.

In 1991 he lost at the quarter final stage, but returned in 1992 to win his second world title. In 1993 he fell at the second round, in what would be his last BDO (British Darts Organization) world championship. Distraught at the lack of television coverage, low sponsorship, and therefore monetary compensation, sixteen of the top players decided to break away from the BDO and form their own league - The World Darts...