SIDEWAYS GLANCE : EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A KINGPIN.Byline: Tom Hoffarth According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a study released by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) is a trade association that represents sporting goods manufacturers, retailers, and marketers. Founded in 1906, as of 2007 it had more than 1,000 members representing over 3,000 business locations and employing more than 375,000 in North Palm Beach, Fla., these are the top three participation sports, by category, with the number of people who did them in 1997: Individual sports: 1. Bowling: 53.3 million. 2. Billiards billiards, any one of a number of games played with a tapered, leather-tipped stick called a cue and various numbers of balls on a rectangular, cloth-covered slate table with raised and cushioned edges. : 42.2 million. 3. In-line skating: 29.1 million. Team sports: 1. Basketball: 45.1 million. 2. Volleyball: 23.6 million. 3. Softball: 22.1 million. Fitness activities: 1. Free weights: 43.2 million. 2. Treadmill: 36.1 million. 3. Stationary cycling: 34.8 million. Outdoor activities: 1. Freshwater fishing: 42.1 million. 2. Tent camping: 41.2 million. 3. Hiking/backpacking: 20 million. In winter sports winter sports: see bobsledding; curling; hockey, ice; ice dancing; ice skating; skiing; snowshoes; tobogganing. , downhill skiing (12.4 million) has a large lead over snowboarding (4.2 million), and in water sports water sports Urophilia, see there , swimming (21.8 million) is far more popular than water skiing (8.4 million). The annual study tracked participation in 62 different sports and activities. It was done by American Sports Data, Inc. For the record: The staff at the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles thought it would be worth pointing out to the folks at Miller Brewing company Miller Brewing Company is the second largest American beermaker and is based in Milwaukee. It is owned by SABMiller. Miller owns breweries in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; Milwaukee, Wisconsin and that maybe they ought to doublecheck their history before sending out their next commercial. One of the latest retro-cool ads has a group of folk around the TV screen watching a boxing match. Near the end of the spot, the screen reads: ``It's time to toast whoever invented televised sports.'' The first sports event broadcast live on TV was the 1936 Berlin Olympics - 128 hours worth beamed to 25 viewing rooms throughout Berlin. Which seems to make Adolf Hitler and his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, the ``whoever'' that deserves toasting. |
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