Sports in the 1920sand how they were affected by the Depression

By: Cole Campi

Sports in the 1920s

• NFL

• NNL

• Babe Ruth

• Jack Dempsey

• Caroline Gertrude Ederle

• Notre Dame football

• 1924 Winter Olympics

• 1294 Summer Olympics

1920The National Football League

(NFL) formed•The NFL was formed on August 20, 1920 as the American Professional Football Conference.

•It was founded at Ralph Hay's Hupmobile dealership in downtown Canton, Ohio.

•Changed its name to the National Football League on June 24, 1922.

•First Super Bowl wasn’t until they merged with the American Football League (AFL) in 1967.

•League's first president was Jim Thorpe.

NFL Teams

• Some of the first teams were called the Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Tigers, Columbus Panhandles, and Detroit Heralds.

• Only two of the franchises still exist today. • The Decatur Staleys moved to Chicago in 1921

and were renamed the Bears one year later. • The Chicago Cardinals franchise is now the

Arizona Franchise.

NFL continued…• A major problem with the 1920's NFL was

that most teams played in small cities and lost money.

• While most small-city teams faced big money problems, some, like the Canton Bulldogs, were winners on the field.

• The Bulldogs won back-to-back NFL titles in 1922 and 1923.

1920The National Negro League formed

• The first successful organized Negro League in baseball was established February 14th in 1920.

• It was formed at an YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri.

• Andrew "Rube" Foster was the driving force behind the organization of this league and served as its first president.

• As a result of his leadership role in the early years of the leagues, Foster is known as "the father of Black baseball."

• It consisted of teams in the South and the Midwest.

NNL continued…• Three years after the founding of the NNL, the Eastern

Colored League was formed on December 16, 1923.• Edward H. Bolden served as the chairman of the league.• In 1924, the very first Negro World Series was played

between the ECL and the NNL champions.• The ECL collapsed in the spring of 1928 but the member

teams reemerged in 1929 as the American Negro League.• The depression years were especially difficult times for

black baseball. • The NNL operated successfully until 1931, when the

league could no longer survive in our country’s economy.

Babe Ruth • 1919 - The New York Yankees sign Babe Ruth.• 1920 - Babe hits a record fifty-four home runs in

one season.• 1926 - In one World Series game, Babe hits a

record three home runs.• 1927 - Babe hits sixty home runs in one season. • 1933 -As America sank into the Great

Depression, Ruth's muscle turned to fat and his legendary power began to fade

• Fun Fact: The Baby Ruth candy bar is actually named after Babe Ruth.

Caroline Gertrude Ederle• Caroline Gertrude Ederle was an American

swimmer born in in New York City.

• She was the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

• She began swimming as a young child and started competing as a teenager.

• From 1921 to 1925 she broke many American and world swimming records.

• At the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France, Ederle won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay and bronze medals in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyle races.

• She was the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

1920Notre Dame football

• Notre Dame College football becomes most popular team in the country.

• Knute Rockne became head coach in 1918.

• With Rockne as head coach the Irish had a record of 105 wins, 12 losses, and five ties.

• During his 13 years the Irish won:• three national championships, • had five undefeated seasons, • won the Rose Bowl in 1925

1924 Winter Olympics

• The first Winter Olympics began in 1924, on January 25th.

• The Winter Olympics first took place in in Chamonix, France.

• A total of 16 nations sent athletes, totalling 258 (247 men and 11 women).

• The Games were actually called "The International Winter Sports Week" and went on for 11 days.

• The number of events that took place was 16.

1924 Winter Olympics Events

• 4-man bobsled

• Biathlon

• Curling

• Figure skating (men's, women's, pairs)

• Hockey

• Cross country Skiing (18k, 50k)

• Ski jumping

• Nordic combined skiing

• Speed skating (500m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, combined)

1924Summer Olympics

• The number of participating National Olympic Committees jumped from 29 to 44, signalling the advent of the Olympic Games as a major event with widespread appeal.

• These Games introduced the Closing Ceremony ritual as we know it today. This involves the raising of three flags: the flag of the International Olympic Committee, the flag of the host nation and the flag of the next host nation.

• Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi won five gold medals to add to the three he had won in 1920.

• His most spectacular performance occurred on 10 July. First, he easily won the 1500m and then, a mere 55 minutes later, he returned to the track to win the 5,000m.

• http://www.olympic.org/videos/paris-1924

1924 Summer Games continued…

• American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller won two golds. He got two more golds at the 1928 Games and went on to become famous playing Tarzan of the Apes in 12 movies.

• There were:• 44 Countries

• 3,089 Athletes (135 women, 2,954 men)

• 126 Events

• 1,000 journalists for the media

1924 Summer Olympics continued…

Paavo Nurmi• Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi won five gold medals to add to

the three he had won in 1920.

• His most spectacular performance occurred on 10 July.

• First, he easily won the 1500m and then, a mere 55 minutes later, he returned to the track to win the 5,000m.

• Watch Paavo Nurmi’s Golden Olympic History here:

http://www.olympic.org/videos/paris-1924

1927Golf’s Ryder Cup

• The 1st Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Worcester Country Club In Worcester, Massachusettes.

• The very first competition was dominated by the United States who won by the then landside score of 9½–2½ points.

• USA Captain Walter Hagen became the first winning captain to lift the Ryder Cup.

Overview

Sports were a rapidly developing phenomenon that still are to this day. Baseball is viewed as “America’s Past time” due to its immense popularity. The growth of sports was rapidly expanding in the early 1900s up until the Depression hit. The Depression had a very negative impact on sports and athletes throughout America, but it allowed us to understand how much we like them and how much they can continue to grow. Sports in the 1920s were impacted by 1929, but they continued to develop after World War II.