Tagged Sports
Flying High: History of Football in Philadelphia
Every Sunday in households across the United States, families gather around the television to watch the most popular sport in the country: football. It has become like a religion for those who watch football from home and enjoy the…
Collection Spotlight: Highlights from the Negro Leagues
Baseball: for over a century, the game has been known as "America’s favorite pastime." During the early parts of the 20th century, tuning in to a baseball game on the radio after a long day at work became a…
10 Free Library Podcast Episodes Perfect for Thanksgiving
In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, we present a curated collection of podcasts from our Author Events series archive. Thanksgiving is often traditionally associated with America’s indigenous peoples, but what is the real…
Fly, Eagles, Fly! 5 Ways to Celebrate the Big Game with the Free Library
Are you ready for some football?! We are! We can't wait to watch our Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. While you wait out the last couple…
National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD)
Today is the 36th annual celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) , started in 1974 by the Women’s Sports Foundation . The purpose of the foundation is to provide support, resources, and communities for young…
Local Athletes Competing in the Summer Olympics
After the postponement of the 2020 Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the torch will be lit once again this year as the rescheduled Summer Games will take place in Tokyo, Japan starting today, Friday, July 23, and run through…
Who Said It: Shakespeare, Milton, or Shake Milton?
The Rare Book Department has some true treasures within its collections, but perhaps one of its most special collections is the First Folio of William Shakespeare . What is the “First Folio”? It contains the collected works…
Toni Stone: The First Female Player in the Negro League
Have you seen the movie A League of Their Own ? This famous movie highlights the early years of the Women’s Baseball League in 1943. However, if you were a Negro woman during the 1940s, segregation laws forbid you from playing.…
Digital Media Spotlight: Olympic Memories of the Past
The 2020 Olympic Games were supposed to be starting today in Tokyo, Japan, but the Olympic flame will not be lit this summer . This year's Olympics were postponed back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, delayed until July 23 -…
Queer Comics About Sports!
I never would have pegged myself as someone who wanted to read about "the sports", but there are some sweet and dramatic comics and graphic novels that have changed my mind about that in the past few years. If you too are…
Fall 2019 Author Events: Cultural Connections
During this fall season of Free Library Author Events , we’re seeing a lot of cultural connections between our authors and speakers. Let’s talk about the events taking place two days in a row, both off-site at the same…
Rah! Rah! Sis Boom Bah!: Let's Hear It for Sports Comics and Manga!
If you had told me a few years ago that I would be fully obsessed with either ice hockey or fencing by way of comics I would have laughed SO HARD. I’m barely into watching baseball or football – and those have snacks readily…
Celebrating the Trivia Nerd in All of Us
I have a confession to make—I am that friend who always wants to get a trivia team together on a Tuesday night. I’m also that kid who read Trivial Pursuit cards for fun to see if I could guess the answers. And I ask Santa…
The 25th Annual Philadelphia Marathon Weekend Is Here!
Completing a marathon is a huge accomplishment! Months of training and hard work culminating with one exciting day – running a mind-boggling 26.2 miles and testing the limits of the human body and spirit like almost nothing else…
Celebrate the Return of Your World Champion Philadelphia Eagles with the Free Library!
Tonight at 8:20 p.m., the world champion Philadelphia Eagles officially open their 2018 season against the Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field. We don’t know about you, but we’re still amped up about last…
A History Minute | The Fortunes of Philadelphia - Let's Play Ball!
In these days of big bucks baseball, with the top players making over $30 million a year and the top clubs valued in the billions, it’s hard to imagine a time when America’s Pastime was an amateur endeavor and players not…
Local Athletes Competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics
We know all of Philly is still excited over the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl win, but there is another monumental sporting event to also get fired up for that begins at the end of this week: the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang,…
A History Minute: The Fortunes of Philadelphia - The Kellys
Chances are you have driven, biked, run, walked, or partied on Kelly Drive, but have you ever wondered where it got its name? No, it’s not named for Grace Kelly , movie star and princess. It’s named for her brother, John B.…
NFL Draft Not Your Thing? Check Out These Worldly Alternative Footballs!
The NFL Draft is coming to Philadelphia! And it is happening on the front lawn of the Parkway Central Library —the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. But perhaps the American football craze isn’t your thing, in which case you may be…
Going for the Gold with Simone Biles
So, I have a confession to make: up until the beginning of this year, I had no idea who Simone Biles was. I'm not big on sports and had no interest in watching the Olympics this past year. Admittedly, it's kind of hard to get…