Athletics (physical culture)

Athletics is a term encompassing the human competitive sports and games requiring physical skill, and the systems of training that prepare athletes for competition performance. Athletic sports or contests, are competitions which are primarily based on human, physical competition, demanding the qualities of stamina, fitness, and skill. Athletic sports form the bulk of popular sporting activities, with other major forms including motorsports, precision sports, extreme sports and animal sports.

Athletic contests, as one of the earliest types of sport, are prehistoric and comprised a significant part of the Ancient Olympic Games, along with equestrian events. The word "athletic" is derived from the Ancient Greek word άθλος (athlos) meaning "contest". Athletic sports became organized in the late 19th century with the formation of organizations such as the Amateur Athletic Union in the United States and the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques in France. The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the NCAA) was established in 1906 to oversee athletic sports at college-level in the United States, known as college athletics.

Track and field

Track and field is a sport which combines various athletic contests based on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sport's typical venue: a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take place. It is one of the oldest sports. In ancient times, it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece.

The running events, which include sprints, middle and long-distance events, and hurdling, are won by the athlete with the fastest time. The jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who achieves the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus and hammer. There are also "combined events", such as heptathlon and decathlon, in which athletes compete in a number of the above events. Most track and field events are individual sports with a single victor, but a number are relay races. Events are almost exclusively divided by gender, although both the men's and women's competitions are usually held at the same venue.

The Elder Scrolls

The Elder Scrolls is a series of action role-playing open world fantasy video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series is known for its elaborate and richly detailed open worlds and its focus on free-form gameplay. Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim all won Game of the Year awards from multiple outlets. The series has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.

Development history

Before The Elder Scrolls

Prior to working on The Elder Scrolls series, Bethesda had worked predominantly with sports and action games. In the six years from its founding to Arena's 1994 release, Bethesda had released ten games, six of them sports games, with such titles as Hockey League Simulator, NCAA Basketball: Road to the Final Four ('91/'92 Edition), and Wayne Gretzky Hockey, and the remaining four adaptations from other media, primarily the Terminator series. Bethesda's course changed abruptly when it began its first action role-playing venture. Designer Ted Peterson recalls: "I remember talking to the guys at Sir-Tech who were doing Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant at the time, and them literally laughing at us for thinking we could do it." Ted Peterson worked alongside Vijay Lakshman as one of the initial designers of what was then simply Arena, a "medieval-style gladiator game."

Fairview (Spotsylvania County, Virginia)

Fairview is an historic home located near Fredericksburg, Virginia at 2020 Whitelake Drive. It is the largest of the historic homes in Spotsylvania County. The house was built in 1837 by Samuel Alsop, Jr. (1776-1859). Alsop was an architect and builder who designed a number of buildings in Spotsylvania including the Old Berea Church and Kenmore Woods (1829), which he built for his daughter.

After building homes for his daughters, Fairview was designed and constructed for Alsop himself. The Federal-style home is double-pile construction (meaning that there are two rooms between the front façade and the rear wall of the house). The site on which the home was built was originally 1,200 acres (490 ha). In the 1970s the land was subdivided for residences.

Fairview was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1993.

References

Further reading

National Register of Historic Places registration form for Fairview

Fairview, Vancouver

Fairview is a neighbourhood on the west side of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It runs from 16th Avenue in the south, to Burrard Street in the west, to Cambie Street in the east, and to False Creek in the north.

Central Broadway is an important commercial and employment centre focused around Vancouver General Hospital and other health-related institutions, including the BC Cancer Agency, BC Cancer Research Centre, BC Healthy Living Alliance, and the BC Centre for Disease Control. Other shopping areas in the neighbourhood are South Granville Rise, City Square Mall, and Granville Island.

Some city offices are located on the eastern fringe of Fairview, across Cambie Street from Vancouver City Hall.

Education

Emily Carr University of Art and Design is found in the neighbourhood, on Granville Island.

Fairview is served by Kitsilano Secondary School and Eric Hamber Secondary School, as well as L'École Bilingue, Emily Carr Elementary School, Edith Cavell Elementary School, False Creek Elementary School, Henry Hudson Elementary School, Shaughnessy Elementary School, and Trafalgar Elementary School, although only False Creek and L'École Bilingue are physically located in the neighbourhood. The private schools Madrona School and Blessed Sacrament School also find their home in the neighbourhood.

Fairview (Delaware City, Delaware)

Fairview is a historic home located near Delaware City, New Castle County, Delaware. It was built in 1822, and was built a two-story, five-bay rectangular brick dwelling with a Georgian style, center hall plan. It was modified in 1880 by noted architect Frank Furness to add a shingled third story, four notable corbeled chimneys, and an addition.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

References