Tribute: Father's Day thank you's to all

In honor of Father's Day, it seemed like a good time to say thank you to the fathers of some sports, and in those cases in which the founding of the sports was by numerous people or shrouded in mystery because of father time, some sporting events.

So, let's begin with a big thank you to...

* Alexander Cartwright of the New York Knickerbocker Club, who began the formalization of the rules of baseball in 1845, even though legend has it that Abner Doubleday did the same in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York. Either way, both men should get a big thank you. (Baseball)

* Dr. James Naismith, who in 1891, while working at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, developed the original 13 rules of a sport that became known as basketball. (Basketball)

* Henri Desgrange, editor of the French paper L'Auto. It seems there were two papers at the time, LeVelo and the L'Auto-velo. Well, LeVelo came first, so they sued and won the right to use that name, while Desgrange's paper had to rename itself L'Auto. Fearful that people would no longer recognize his paper and that it would fold, he decided to hold a publicity event. His cycling reporter, George Lefevre, suggested a six-day bicycle road race. Desgrange thought it a good idea. The race was announced on January 19, 1903 and then held on July 1, 1903, and it went on to be called the Tour de France. (Cycling -- Tour de France)

We should also thank...

* Pete Rozelle and the owners of the American Football League and the National Football League. With the merger of the two leagues, thanks to the hard working Rozelle, there came about the AFL-NFL Championship Game. The first one was between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs on January 15, 1967, which Green Bay won 35-10. It went on to become the Super Bowl, and thanks to Joe Namath and his guarantee that his New York Jets would defeat the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III on January 12, 1969 (they did, 16-7), the Super Bowl has become the great sports event that it is today. (Super Bowl)

* Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts for deciding to hold an annual golf tournament, which was first played in 1934 and called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. In 1939, it was renamed The Masters and has become one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world. (Golf -- The Masters)

* Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., the builder of Churchill Downs, who wanted to hold an annual race to rival England's Epsom Derby. On May 17, 1875, the Kentucky Derby was born. However, it was just another race until 1902, when Colonel Matt J. Winn took over the track and saved it from bankruptcy. Then it began to grow in stature, and by 1920, Winn was getting the best horses in America to run in the race each year. (Horse Racing -- Kentucky Derby)

In addition, we should thank...

* J.G.A. Creighton, a student at McGill University in Canada, who formalized some rules in 1875 and created the game we all know today as ice hockey. While the roots of the game were in Northern Europe (Great Britain and France) over 500 years ago, Creighton's rules helped put the game on the sporting map, as organized games began to be played on the frozen ponds around the school in Montreal. (Ice Hockey)

* Bill France, Sr., who after promoting auto races on the sands of Daytona Beach for a number of years, decided to take it one step farther. In 1947, he organized the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and NASCAR as we know it was born. (NASCAR)

* William Webb Ellis, who changed the English "kicking game" forever. You see, in 1823, while a "kicking game" was in progress, Ellis caught the ball as the school bell rang. Then, according to the web site all-sports-posters, "for whatever his reason, instead of marking the ball for one last free kick, he took off like a frightened cat and, to the horror of all, RAN across the goal! Today his name is immortalized at the Rugby Boys School in England by a plaque that says -- to 'William Webb Ellis, who with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive feature of the Rugby game.'" (Rugby)

Also, thanks to...

* Jules Rimej, the president of the World Football Federation, who in 1926, planted the seeds of what is considered by many today, the greatest sporting event in history -- the World Cup. (Soccer -- World Cup)

* Walter Wingfield who introduced lawn tennis to the All-England Croquet Club in the mid-1870s. In 1877, the club became known as the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club and they held their first tournament. It was the tournament that would become known as Wimbledon. (Tennis -- Wimbledon)

* William C. Morgan, who in 1895, as the Director of Physical Education at the Christian Association of Young Man in Holyoke, Massachusetts, began looking for an alternative to the game of basketball for his members. He ended up creating a game called Minonette, which went on to be known as volleyball. (Volleyball)

* Last, but not least -- and most important of all to me -- a big thank you to my father, Felix, for making me pay attention in school. As a result, I was able to get a good job and have the time to be able to enjoy writing articles like this one.

Thanks Dad! Happy Father's Day!