Pennsylvania sports
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Pennsylvania sports includes numerous professional sporting teams, events and venues, located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Contents |
[edit] Collegiate teams
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[edit] Olympians
- Giddeon Massie of Quakertown member, 2004 Bicycling team
- John Woodruff of Connellsville Gold Medal, 1936, in 800-meters event
- Catherine "Kit" Klein of Harrisburg Gold and Bronze, 1932 Olympics, 1936 Olympics, speed skater, World Record - 1000 meters (1935), World Record - 3000 meters (1936), 1936 World Champion.
- Roger Kingdom, of Monroeville, Gold medal in both 1984 and 1988 Olympics, 110m hurdles
- Kurt Angle 1996 freestyle wrestling gold medalist.
[edit] Bicycle racing
Floyd Landis, of Farmersville won the 2006 Tour de France. The sanctioning body alleges that Landis had abnormal hormone ratios in his system, and engaged in prohibited doping, and intends to strip him of his title. Landis denies engaging in doping and is legally challenging the action.
Pennsylvania hosts the Pro Cycling Tour "Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling" bicycle races each June, with the Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic, the Reading Classic, and the The Philadelphia International Championship Bike Race. The PCT is sanctioned by USA Cycling, the national governing body for cycling in the U.S.
The Lehigh Valley Velodrome annually hosts a USA Cycling Elite Nationals qualifying event.
[edit] Motorsports
Motorsports are popular in Pennsylvania. The Mario Andretti dynasty of race drivers hails from Nazareth.
[edit] Asphalt oval tracks
Asphalt ovals in Pennsylvania include Jennerstown Speedway in Jennerstown, Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Mahoning Valley Speedway in Lehighton, Motordome Speedway in Smithton, Mountain Speedway in St. Johns, Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, and Pocono Raceway in Long Pond.
[edit] Dirt track racing
Dirt ovals include Ace High Speedway in Monroeton, Allegheny Mountain Raceway in Kane, Bedford Speedway in Bedford, Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, Blanket Hill Speedway in Kittanning, Borger's Speedway in Saylorsburg, Bradford Speedway in Bradford, Central Pennsylvania Speedway in Clearfield, Challenger Raceway in Indiana, Clinton County Speedway in Lock Haven, Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway in Schaefferstown, Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown, Eriez Speedway in Erie, Farmington VFD Speedway in Farmington, Gamblers Raceway Park in Clearfield, Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Greenwood Valley Action Track in Millville, Hamlin Speedway in Hamlin, Hesston Speedway in Huntingdon, Hill Valley Speedway in Orbisonia, Hummingbird Speedway in Falls Creek, Lake Moc-A-Tek Speedway in Lakeville, Latrobe Speedway in Latrobe, Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Linda's Speedway in Jonestown (Lebanon County), Marion Center Speedway in Marion Center, Mckean County Raceway in East Smethport, Mercer Raceway Park in Mercer, Path Valley Speedway Park in Spring Run, Penn Can Speedway in Susquehanna, Pittsburgh's Pa Motor Speedway in Imperial, Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Redline Raceway in Troy, Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, Shippensburg Speedway in Shippensburg, Silver Spring Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Snydersville Raceway in Snydersville, Susquehanna Speedway in Newberrytown, The Fairgrounds At Kutztown in Kutztown, Thunder Valley Raceway in Central City, Trail-Way Speedway in Hanover, Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicburg, and Windber Speedway in Windber.
[edit] Drag strips
Drag Strips include Beaver Springs Dragway in Beaver Springs, Lucky Drag City in Wattsburg, Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Numidia Raceway in Numidia, Pittsburgh Raceway Park in New Alexandria, and South Mountain Dragway in Boiling Springs.
[edit] Road racing
Road Courses include Beaverun Motorsports Complex in Wampum, and Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix in Pittsburgh.
[edit] Horse events
[edit] Harness racing
Ladbroke at the Meadows, in Pittsburgh, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, in Wilkes-Barre and Summerside Raceway in Summerside offer harness racing in Pennsylvania.
[edit] Thorobred racing
Penn National Race Course in Grantville and Philadelphia Park, in Bensalem which offer thoroughbred racing.
[edit] Famous horses
Smarty Jones, the 2004 Kentucky Derby winner, was owned by Roy Chapman and wife Patricia. The late Roy Chapman (he died in February 2006 of emphysema, at the age of 79) had built a chain of car dealerships known as the Chapman Auto Group in southeast and south central Pennsylvania. Smarty Jones was bred at Chapman's Someday Farm (Patricia explains the name: "Some day we were going to do this and some day we were going to do that. And my husband said, 'I think we ought to call it Someday Farm,' so we did.") near Philadelphia, and had Philadelphia Park as his home course. [1]
Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, came from Mr. and Mrs. Roy Jackson’s Lael Stables in West Grove. After suffering injuries in the Preakness Stakes on May 20, 2006, Barbaro was treated in the Intensive Care Unit of George D. Widener Hospital, at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center in Kennett Square. He was also being treated for laminitis. As of September 12, 2006, the horse was being hand-grazed daily, and his vital signs and appetite were excellent.[2] In November, his cast was removed, and his prognosis seemed good. Sadly, he developed further complications in January 2007, and after a final surgery that month, he was euthanized on January 29 after his owners concluded that his pain and suffering were too great to continue treatment.
[edit] Golf
[edit] Leading golfers
Arnold Palmer, one of the leading 20th-century pro golfers, comes from Latrobe, and Jim Furyk, one of the leading 21-century pro golfers, grew up near Lancaster.
[edit] Major tournaments
PGA tournaments in Pennsylvania include the 84 Lumber Classic, played at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, in Farmington and the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, played at Glenmaura National Golf Club, in Scranton.
[edit] Gaming
[edit] Poker
Section 5513 of the Pennsylvania Code makes it a misdemeanor of the first degree for a person to invite or allows other people to gather in a place of his or her control for the purpose of unlawful gambling. However, nothing in the Pennsylvania Code describes what unlawful gambling is, as opposed to lawful gambling.
In the 1949 case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania V. Silverman, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the "Sporadic or casual act of playing cards or betting is not an indictable offense in Pennsylvania."
In 2004, Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola was quoted as saying, "it's legal to gather with friends to play poker but it's not legal when the 'house' or an outside party profits from the game."[3]
In 2005, York County District Attorney Stan Rebert was asked about illegal poker games in the York area by the York Daily Record. He replied that he had not heard of any and that it's not something that he would worry about. "Casual gambling ... that is not illegal," he said, "It's kind of a fine line." [4]
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has published an FAQ page on the legalities of Texas Hold'em Poker for licensed establishments.
