Sports are usually governed by a set of rules or customs. Physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first often define the result of a sport. However, the degree of skill and performance in some sports such as diving, dressage and figure skating is judged according to well-defined criteria. This is in contrast with other judged activities such as beauty pageants and body building, where skill does not have to be shown and the criteria are not as well defined. Records are kept and updated for most sports at the highest levels, while failures and accomplishments are widely announced in sport news. Sports are most often played just for fun or for the simple fact that people need exercise to stay in good physical condition. However, professional sport is a major source of entertainment. While practices may vary, participants in many sports are expected to display good sportsmanship, and observe standards of conduct such as being respectful of opponents and officials, and congratulating the winner after having lost.citation needed Contents There are artifacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting activities as early as 2000 BC.

Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in China's ancient past. Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that a number of sports, including swimming and fishing, were well-developed and regulated several thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt.[5] Other Egyptian sports included javelin throwing, high jump, and wrestling. Ancient Persian sports such as the traditional Iranian martial art of Zourkhaneh had a close connection to the warfare skills.[6] Among other sports that originate in ancient Persia are polo and jousting. A wide range of sports were already established by the time of Ancient Greece and the military culture and the development of sports in Greece influenced one another considerably. Sports became such a prominent part of their culture that the Greeks created the Olympic Games, which in ancient times were held every four years in a small village in the Peloponnesus called Olympia. Sports have been increasingly organized and regulated from the time of the ancient Olympics up to the present century.

Industrialization has brought increased leisure time to the citizens of developed and developing countries, leading to more time for citizens to attend and follow spectator sports, greater participation in athletic activities, and increased accessibility. These trends continued with the advent of mass media and global communication. Professionalism became prevalent, further adding to the increase in sport's popularity, as sports fans began following the exploits of professional athletes through radio, television, and the internet—all while enjoying the exercise and competition associated with amateur participation in sports. In the New Millennium, new sports have been going further fro m the physical aspect to the mental or psychological aspect of competing. Electronic sports organizations are becoming more and more popular. The aspect of sports, together with the increase of mass media and leisure time, has led to "professionalism" in sports. This has resulted in some conflict, where the paycheck are more important than recreational aspects, or where the sports are changed simply to make them more profitable and popular, thereby losing certain valued traditions. Indeed, since sport by definition is a leisure activity, "professional sport" does not and cannot exist. However the term is commonplace and accepted to mean a game or other activity, regarded by the general population as sport, which is performed by persons for reward with the intent to entertain spectators.

The entertainment aspect also means that sportsmen and women are often elevated to celebrity status in media and popular culture. For this reason, many journalists have suggested that sports should not be reported by the general media but only by specialist magazines Remember those days when starting pitching meant the most in the playoffs? You know, every single year until this one? The St. Louis Cardinals' starting pitchers went 1-2 with a 7.02 ERA in six games in the National League Championship Series. The Texas Rangers' starting pitchers were 0-2 with a 6.59 ERA in six games in the American League Championship Series. So, of course, they will meet in the World Series beginning Wednesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Cardinals starter Edwin Jackson lasted just two innings on Sunday, but St. Louis punched its ticket to the Fall Classic by jumping on the Milwaukee Brewers with nine runs in the first three innings in Milwaukee The longest a team's starter went in any of the 12 games was the Rangers' Colby Lewis in Game 3 of the ALCS, going 5 2/3 innings. He, of course, was the losing pitcher that day against the Tigers. It will be the first postseason meeting between the Cardinals the Rangers, and they didn't meet during the 2011 season, either. The Rangers are the only team in the majors that's never played at the current Busch Stadium. St. Louis advanced to the World Series for the second time in five years, continuing a theme. The Cardinals won the 2006 World Series after a middling 83-78 regular season, winning a weak NL Central and getting hot in the playoffs.

This year's version went 90-72 and finished six games back of the Brewers, sneaking into the postseason as the wild card on the final night of the season thanks to a collapse by the Atlanta Braves. Whether it's overmanaging or playing to the team's strengths - or a combination thereof - the pennant-winners are riding their bullpens to October glory, to say the least. The Cardinals' pen allowed two runs in seven innings on Sunday, and that made the group's ERA rise. For the series, they were 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA. Said La Russa, to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a story before Game 6: "You've got to build confidence and strategically you're short (during the regular season). But when you wind it down and the end is in sight, the immediacy dictates you do what gives you the best shot to win. And that's more fun, actually." The Rangers' bullpen was even better, going 4-0 with a 1.32 ERA, giving up just four runs and 15

Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree of skill, especially at higher levels. Hundreds of sports exist, including those for a single participant, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. Some non-physical activities, such as board games and card games are sometimes referred to as sports, but a sport is generally recognised as being based in physical athleticism. 

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