Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 145
Sport
Hello Everyone
The last time it snowed heavily in Rocky Bay the Rocky Bay Primary School was closed and Bill and Bob my nephews couldn’t go to school. Although they do like school they thought that playing in the snow was probably even better!
They made two snowmen in the garden – they were twin snowmen of course. Then they played with their toboggan until their socks inside their wellington boots were so wet they decided they had to go inside to dry them off. While they were there they had some hot chocolate with whipped-cream topping. 
After that they went upstairs to look for their dad who was in the attic. He was making sure that no snow had blown in under the tiles – snow has a habit of getting into places that rain never does. lf the roof needed attention, he was going to get in touch with the Rocky Bay builders Reckitt and Stackett.
While they were up there, Bill and Bob found a stack of books that their dad had had when he was a little boy. One of them was about the history of sport.
Now Bill and Bob love playing football, (that is soccer to some of you readers) and they like watching other sports on television as well, so they found this book very interesting.
They found out some very interesting things. Let me tell you about some of them…
They found out that the Olympic Games were started in Greece in the 8th century AD. Only men were allowed to compete in them, and an even stranger fact was that they didn’t wear any clothes!
Nowadays, athletes represent their countries, but in these first Olympic Games the athletes represented the city in Greece that they came from. There were no stopwatches noting their times. The winners were given a wreath made out of laurel leaves.
The events were sprinting, long jump, javelin, discus and wrestling. These sports were designed to improve the men’s athletic skills in order to make them better soldiers.
The idea to hold these types of games again came in 1894, and nowadays, there are many more sports that competitors participate in – over 200 events. Women started to compete in 1928.
Everybody thinks the football team they support is the best. We support the Rocky Bay Rovers. lt is an amateur team.
Football started thousands of years ago – as soon as people started to kick anything about with their feet in a way which needed a degree of skill. lt was recorded in England as far back as 1170, and the teams tended to comprise men of the same trade or profession.
Early games were pretty rough and weren’t guided by the modern rules we have today. Fights often broke out and people were injured and even killed.
The goals could be several miles apart so the games went on for some time! The balls could be leather or wood.
ln fact, the game of football was so dangerous that men were told in 1835 they would be fined if they annoyed people whilst playing it in the street. Some matches were so violent they needed soldiers to break up the mob!
By the mid 18th century it was also being played in public schools.
These were schools that rich children went to. Football was rough, tough and considered to be ‘character building’. Each school had its own rules. This of course made it very difficult for schools to compete against each other. When the teams came together it was very confusing because each side was using different rules!
ln 1863, the Football association was formed and they wrote a list of rules for everyone to observe. These rules allowed players to touch the ball with their hands; so you can see they are not the rules we use today.
The football clubs of today were often originally formed out of men who worked in factories. For example, the first Arsenal Football Club players were workers from the Woolwich Arsenal which was an armaments (weapons) factory.
Sheffield Wednesday was firstly a cricket club that met on a Wednesday. They decided they should play sport all winter to keep themselves fit for when the summer cricket season returned, and they chose to play football to do it.
Football became more popular as a spectator sport when people started getting Saturday afternoons off from work. This was about a hundred years ago. They started to work five and a half days a week instead of six.
Football is now the most watched sport in the world.
The Rocky Bay Rovers play on a Saturday afternoon or a Wednesday evening, but they don’t always play when there is heavy snow on the pitch!
Bill and Bob were wondering if there were any snowman building championships that they could enter – but in any case they thought it was a really cool day!
Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!
lf you like my blog, please support it by telling all your friends and followers about it.
Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: Which is the nicest smelling part of a football pitch?
Bob: l don’t know. Which is the nicest smelling part of a football pitch?
Bill: The scenter spot!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
The first Olympic Games
Laurel
A wreath
Football games out on the street were rough
A cannon is on the Arsenal badge
Sheffield Wednesday’s ground is in Owlerton
Royal tennis was played by Henry VIII
This version of tennis was different from the one we mostly play today
A royal tennis court has markings down the wall
The London Olympics
The London Olympics of 2012
The Olympic Flame had been transported from Greece
The Olympic crucible of 2012 housed the Olympic Flame for the duration of the Games in London
There was an individual part for each team that came –
204 countries in total
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
Bill and Bob went to visit their cousins last weekend.
When they go on long journeys they love looking for funny names on shops and businesses as they go past.
They have started making a list and these are some of the ones in their collection:
Hairdressers: Curl up and Dye Streaks Ahead Ali’s Barbers
Hair Goes Shear Lock Combs
Hair today gone tomorrow
Launderettes: Inner Spin Wash the World Go Round
Washin Well
Bakers: Say it with Flour
Florists: Heaven Scent Scent with Love
Fabric Shops: Sew What!
Pet Shops: Paws for Thought
Sports Shop: The Merchant of Tennis
Flooring Shops: Vinyl Frontier
Bathrooms Shops: Gone Potty
Furniture shops: Sofa So Good Beds are Uzzzzzzzzzzzz
Fish and Chip Shops: A Salt and Battery
Restaurants: Chinese Food by Soon Fat
Do you have any others?
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Quick Quiz
Do you know what these phrases mean?
- the ball is in your court
- to decide off your own bat
- to be on the ball
- to play ball with
- it’s not cricket
- par for the course
BLOW MY FOGHORN!!!
PLUS
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lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO KNlT MY TRACKSUlT PYJAMAS
These track suit pyjamas fit your Salty Sam toy. Just the thing to go jogging in first thing in the morning – I won’t even need to change when I get out of bed!
You will need one 100g ball for the main colour of the tracksuit but extra for the head band.
BACK (KNIT ONE)
Using 3½mm and mauve dk yarn cast on 56 stitches and knit 4 rows of
2 x 2 rib
Change to 4mm knitting needles and continue in stocking stitch
Increase 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row, knit 1 row
Increase 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row, purl 1 row (60 sts)
Knit 28 rows of stocking stitch
Change to yellow dk yarn
Knit 16 rows of garter stitch
Cast off 12 stitches in the next 2 rows (36 sts)
Change to 3½mm knitting needles and mauve dk yarn
Knit 12 rows of rib as follows:
Knit 3 (purl 2, knit 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, knit 3
Purl 3 (knit 2, purl 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, purl 3
Cast off rib-wise
FRONT (KNIT ONE)
Using 3½mm knitting needles and mauve dk cast on 56 stitches
Knit 4 rows of rib as follows:
Knit 3 (purl 2, knit 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, knit 3
Purl 3 (knit 2, purl 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, purl 3
Change to 4mm knitting needles
Increase 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row – knit 1 row
Increase 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row – purl 1 row (60 sts)
Knit 18 rows of stocking stitch
Knit 30 stitches and put the other stitches onto a stitch holder
Turn and for the next 9 rows work as follows
Slip 1, knit 2, purl to end
Knit 1 row
With the right side of the work facing you change to yellow dk yarn
Knit 16 rows of garter stitch
Cast off 12 stitches and knit to end of row
Change to 3½mm knitting needles and mauve dk yarn
Knit 12 rows of rib as follows:
Knit 3 (purl 2, knit 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, knit 3
Purl 3 (knit 2, purl 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, purl 3
Cast off rib-wise
Join mauve dk yarn onto the 30 stitches left on a stitch holder
Work the next 10 rows as follows:
Slip 1 knit to end
Purl to last 3 stitches, knit 3
Change to yellow dk yarn and knit 17 rows of garter stitch
Cast off 12 stitches and knit to end
Change to 3½mm knitting needles and mauve dk yarn
Knit 12 rows of rib as follows:
Knit 3 (purl 2, knit 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, knit 3
Purl 3 (knit 2, purl 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, purl 3
Cast off rib-wise
SLEEVES (KNIT TWO)
Using 3½mm knitting needles and mauve dk yarn cast on 40 stitches
Knit 4 rows of rib as follows:
Knit 3 (purl 2, knit 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, knit 3
Purl 3 (knit 2, purl 2) repeat these last 4 stitches until the last 3 stitches, purl 3
Change to 4mm knitting needles
Increase 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row – knit 1 row
Increase 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row – purl 1 row (44 sts)
Change to yellow dk yarn
Knit 1 row
knit 1 row
Change to mauve dk yarn
Knit 24 rows of stocking stitch
Cast off loosely
TO MAKE UP
Sew along the shoulder seams.
Sew the tops of the sleeves to the shoulders.
Sew under arm and side seams.
Crochet 160 chains into a length of yellow yarn and run this chain through the base of the ribbing of the collar then attach a bead to each end to neaten.
TROUSER LEGS (KNIT TWO)
Using 3½mm knitting needles and mauve dk yarn cast on 50 stitches
Knit 4 rows of 2 x 2 rib
Change to 4mm knitting needles
Increase 1 stitch at the beginning of the next row – knit 1 row
Increase 1 stitch at the beginning of the next row – purl 1 row (54 sts)
Knit 24 rows of stocking stitch (26 rows)
Cast off 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row, knit 1 row
Cast off 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row, purl 1 row (50 sts)
Knit 22 rows of stocking stitch
Change to 3½mm knitting needles
Knit 4 rows of 2 x 2 rib
Cast off rib-wise
TO MAKE UP
Using Swiss darning stitches embroider 2 ‘go faster’ stripes up the outer sides of the legs – find the centre line and leave two lines of stitches between the yellow stripes.
Sew the trouser legs together up the inside of the legs and the front and back of the body part.
SWEATBAND
Using 4mm knitting needles and mauve dk yarn cast on 80 stitches
Knit 20 rows of garter stitch cast off and sew up the back seam
We support the Rocky Bay Rovers whose colours are lavender and lemon. Not many football teams have lavender and lemon as their strip, so if you want to knit these track suit pyjamas in your team’s colours, of course you can.
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- the ball is in your court –
- to decide off your own bat –
- to be on the ball –
- to play ball with –
- it’s not cricket –
- par for the course –
- it is your turn to make a decision (from racquet sports like tennis)
- to make a decision without asking permission from anyone else (from cricket)
- to be quick, alert and capable (from football/soccer)
- to co-operate and work with other people
- not behaving in a fair way
- typical, what you would expect (from golf)
Footballers today
