All-star game

An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, but sometimes dividing the players by an attribute such as nationality. Selection of the players may be done by a vote of the coaches and/or news media; in professional leagues, fans may vote on some or all of the roster. An all-star game usually occurs at the midpoint of the regular season. An exception is American football's Pro Bowl, which occurs at the end of the season.

All-star games are organized like regular games, but are often played with less emphasis on victory. Competing goals are to give many players time in the game and to avoid injury. In hockey, for example, there is no serious checking, while in football no blitzing is allowed. In basketball, there is virtually no defense played until the final quarter. However, the Australian State of Origin series does involve physicality that often leads to on-field scuffles.

All-star

All-star (also stylized as All-Star) is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. It can also be used for a group of individuals, who are popular in certain areas.

Sports

"All-star" as a sports term refers to individual players named to an "all-star" roster or team representing the top performers during and before the end of a season in a given sport, or to a list of top participants who played in individual sports such as golf and bowling. Events limited to such honorees are referred to as "all-star games" or events.

In American team sports the premier all-star games are the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Game, Pro Bowl, NHL All-Star Game, and the MLS All-Star Game. Many all-star teams, such as collegiate "all-conference" and All-America squads, are recognitions of performance only, without the connotation of those selected ever being teammates in a game.

Order of Nine Angles

The Order of Nine Angles (ONA; O9A) is a Satanic and Left-Hand Path occult group based in the United Kingdom, but with affiliated groups in various other parts of the world. Claiming to have been established in the 1960s, it arose to public recognition in the early 1980s, attracting attention for its espousal of Neo-Nazi ideologies and activism. Describing its approach as "Traditional Satanism", it has been academically identified as also exhibiting Hermetic and Neo-Pagan elements in its beliefs.

According to the Order's own account, it was established in the Welsh Marches of Western England during the late 1960s by a woman who had previously been involved in a secretive pre-Christian tradition surviving in the region. This account also states that in 1973 a man named "Anton Long" was initiated into the group, subsequently becoming its Grand Master. Several academic commentators to have studied the ONA express the view that the name "Anton Long" is probably the pseudonym of the British Neo-Nazi activist David Myatt, although Myatt has denied that this is the case. From the late 1970s onward, Long authored a number of books and articles propagating the Order's ideas, and in 1988 it began production of its own journal, Fenrir. Through these ventures it established links with other Neo-Nazi Satanist groups around the world, furthering its cause through embracing the internet in the 2000s.

NBA All-Star Game

The NBA All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted annually by the National Basketball Association (NBA), matching the league's star players from the Eastern Conference against their counterparts from the Western Conference. Each conference team consists of 12 players, making it 24 in total. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend. NBA All-Star Weekend is a three-day event which goes from Friday to Sunday. The All-Star game was first staged at the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951.

The starting lineup for each squad is selected by a fan ballot, while the reserves are chosen by a vote among the head coaches from each squad's respective conference. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own players. If a selected player is injured and cannot participate, the NBA commissioner selects a replacement.

The head coach of the team with the best record in each conference is chosen to lead their respective conference in the All-Star Game, with a prohibition against repeat appearances. Known as the "Riley Rule", it was created after perennially successful Los Angeles Lakers head coach Pat Riley earned the right to coach the Western Conference team eight times in nine seasons between 1982 and 1990. The coach of the team with the next best record serves instead.

Game

A game is structured form of play, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong, solitaire, or some video games).

Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational, or psychological role.

Attested as early as 2600 BC, games are a universal part of human experience and present in all cultures. The Royal Game of Ur, Senet, and Mancala are some of the oldest known games.