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Five Top U.S. Women’s Hockey Players

• Cammi Granato

• Karen Bye

• Katie King

• Angela Ruggiero

• Krissy Wendell

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Stanley Cup Playoff Hat Trick Magic

• Wayne Gretzky

• Jari Kurri

• Jari Kurri

Three Biggest NHL Scoundrels

• Harold Ballard

• Bruce McNall

• Alan Eagleson

Top Five Penalty Kings in the NHL

Here, with their combined career regular-season and playoff penalties, are five of the orneriest blokes ever to lace on skates.

• Dave “Tiger” Williams

• Dale Hunter

• Marty McSorley

• Tie Domi

• Chris Nilan

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What is the origin of soccer?

Soccer-like games that involved the kicking of a ball across a playing pitch have existed for eons in regions from China to Meso-America to the Arctic tundra. But modern soccer, as it evolved in Great Britain, has its roots in a medieval European game called “mob football,” which was played between rival villages at times of celebration and festivity, especially on Shrove Tuesday. Played in England, Normandy, Brittany, Picardy, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, mob football saw teams of unlimited size trying to force a ball (often an inflated pig’s bladder) into an opponent village’s main square or onto its church’s steps. The rules were vague and play was often extremely violent, leading to broken limbs, internal injuries, and even the occasional death.