With the Rugby World Championship title in their pockets, the Springboks had every reason to be proud, not only of their physical prowess at winning the match, but because of the host of psychological tricks that they employed on the referee, Jerome Garces, to sway marginal decisions.
Basketball is one of the world’s most favourite sports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) makes hundreds of millions of dollars every year through selling tickets and merchandise to fans all over the world.
While basketball isn’t quite as old as many of the other international sports that we know and love today, it is by far one of the most popular, representing millions of fans and thousands of truly gifted players. Basketball is not an easy game to be a pro at, and requires countless years of training and dedication, and even then, only a handful of players are able to make it through to the top leagues.
A lot of people all over the world wonder why the World Series is a USA-only event. How can only teams from one country compete in a tournament to be champions of the world in baseball? The truth of the matter is, the actual world champions would be the team that wins the World Baseball Classic. This is an international tournament, where national teams compete every few years (much like a World Cup).
South African rugby is the stuff that legends are made of. According to Rugby World, South Africa has won the Webb Ellis trophy three times, which is an accolade that it only shares with New Zealand.
Talented players display their skills in the hope of helping their team claim victory every Australian Rules Football season. However, like all sports, AFL has seen some real legends come and go; players whose charisma and sporting abilities have been larger than life.
The success of the 1995 World Cup Rugby – hosted by South Africa - was the catalyst to move rugby from the amateur to the professional arena. Backed by the IRB, which declared Rugby Union club members salaried, rugby players are today some of the highest paid sports people in the world.
As one of the world’s most popular sports, rugby has millions of followers around the world, and it’s difficult to find someone that doesn't like to sit back after a long day and watch their favourite teams fighting it out. But the popularity of the sport isn’t equal everywhere, and some regions love the sport so much that it’s become something of a religion to them. These are some of the places where rugby is just as much a part of the community as the local government.
There’s no denying that being a professional athlete or sports player is fairly lucrative, with some of the most successful players of all time ending their careers with hundreds of millions in their bank accounts. Baseball is not exempt from this rule; instead some of the highest paid players of all time made their fortunes playing baseball. These are some of the most financially successful baseball players in history.
Basketball may not quite have the same reach as football, rugby, or cricket, but there’s no denying that it’s one of the most popular sports in the world. Basketball differs from other contact sports in that it isn’t quite as physical, rather relying on sheer stamina as opposed to strength.