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The Summer and Winter Olympic games are made up of a total of thirty-five different sports with fifty-three disciplines. Breaking it down further, the Summer Olympics is made up of twenty sports with thirty-eight disciplines, while the Winter Olympics comprise seven different sports with fifteen disciplines.

The total number of events equals 100. Each sport has it’s individual Governing Body. The greater number of participants is during the Summer Olympics, which makes sense considering how many more events there are.

The sports and disciplines are organized by the International Olympic Committee. Each sport is broken into different disciplines and each discipline is broken into events. Every sport is looked at by the International Olympic Committee who then decide whether it should be included in the Olympics or left out. To be included in the Winter Olympics a sport needs to attract men from at least 50 countries over 3 continents, and 35 women from the same amount of continents.

Included in the sports which are no longer part of modern day Olympic games, are golf, water skiing, polo, tug of war and rugby union. The reasons for discontinuing these sports is due to a lack of adequate participation, lack of interest and finally a lack of a governing body directing them. Both tennis and archery are sports which were dropped, but then regained participation in the Olympic games in 1988 and 1972, respectively. Sports that are part of the Olympic games to promote local sports of a specific region are categorized as demonstration sports. Some examples of demonstration sports that are a part of the Olympics, are baseball and curling.

1896 saw the first ‘modern’ Summer Olympics, at the time there were 9 sports. We now have a total of 28 sports in our Summer Olympics, however 2 sports, baseball and softball, have been dropped for the 2012 Olympics, which makes the total of 26 sports. To qualify for the Summer Olympics a sport must have the participation of men from at least 75 nations and 4 continents, whilst having women from 40 nations and 3 continents.

Rugby is a very popular sport throughout the world, and is played within all of the countries of the old British Empire and Commonwealth. The best countries are those that reside in the southern hemisphere such as New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. In addition to this certain British countries such as England, Ireland, and Wales, as well as France are consistently competing at the highest level. Every four years there is a Rugby World Cup is held in order to find out which is the best team in the world.

The first of these tournaments was held in Australia and New Zealand in 1987. The inaugural tournament was won by the dominant team New Zealand in a final against France where the margin of victory was 29 points to 9.

Four years later the Rugby world cup came to Europe and was hosted by Great Britain throughout different stadiums in England, Ireland, and also France across the pond. For this tournament, a qualifying tournament was used to decide the final lineup of the 32 teams that were to compete. Four years ago it had been an invite only tournament, but now some of the lesser-known countries had to go through qualifying periods in order to make sure they got into the tournament.

It was Australia who turned up as champions on this occasion, as the hosts England were defeated in the final by a very small margin of 12 to 6.

Another four years went by, the World Cup came to South Africa and it was to be the first time that all of the matches in the World Cup were held in one single country. It was also the first time that South Africa were to be competing at themselves of the tournament due to the end of the boycott that was held during the apartheid era.

South Africa were relatively un-fancied as a team to win the tournament, but they had some great sporting players in the team. However with a fantastic home crowd behind them, they rose up through the tournament and managed to get the final against the powerhouse of world rugby New Zealand. In a thrilling encounter they managed to overturn New Zealand by a small margin of just three points and became the champions of rugby the first time at their first attempt.

In 1991 the World Cup once again returned to the shores of Europe with whales being the host and matches played all over the five Nations. In a great upset, a fantastic semi-final saw the dominant New Zealand beaten by France, who then stepped up against Australia in the final. However, France could not repeat the correct efforts, and Australia became the first team to win the World Cup for a second time.

As such had become the first side to win the World Cup twice, but by 2003 the World Cup would finally make an appearance in the winners circle on European shores. Australia once again battled their way to the final against the odds by beating New Zealand in the semis. However, they came up against an England team that had dominated world rugby for a couple of years and were defeated by the trusty boot of Jonny Wilkinson in the most famous final that has ever been played.

The most recent World Cup was paid in 2007 in France, and South Africa became the second team to win it twice defeating England the holders in the final. We now look forward to 2011 with a World Cup will return to New Zealand. Will they finally be able to defeat their daemons and with it for a second time? Time will tell.

Very few people look forward to February, a month that falls in the thick of winter and often leaves us feeling as if the cold weather will never end.

On the positive side, there are some exciting events that should help to pass the time during this month. It’s also the shortest month there is, as the 28 days should help to bring an end to February more quickly than with other months.

Here are a few things that should help to make February more interesting if you can’t stand the thought of this month. Keep busy with these, and you’ll enjoy yourself as the time passes.

There are a few holidays during the course of the month, and holidays always help to make things interesting. While Groundhog’s Day, the first one to hit during February, isn’t too interesting, anyone who hates winter will appreciate it since it truly marks the impending arrival of spring.

If there’s someone special in your life, Valentine’s day will give you the opportunity to do something fun and romantic with your loved one. Maybe you can even plan a weekend getaway for the two of you, as the holiday falls on a Sunday this year.

A week after that, President’s Day comes. Students love this for the fact that a day off or an extended break may come with it, but many employers offer the day off to their workforce too. Enjoy your free time if you don’t have to work on this holiday.

Now that we’ve covered the annual holidays, let’s take a look at some of the exciting developments in the sports world that are primed to take place during the course of the month. It all starts with the winter Olympic games in Canada, as the best athletes from around the world will convene to compete with one another for two weeks.

There’s also the beginning of the 2010 NASCAR season, as the Daytona 500 marks the beginning of the NASCAR year on February 14th. If you’re a fan of the sport, you’ll surely want to tune into this high profile race.