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Boxing Max Baer Football (Soccer) Alec Smith Hockey Bobby Orr Track and Field Eric Liddell | Sport has played an important part in the making of Scotland and the lives of the Scots. Not only is sports an important part of Scottish popular culture, its various histories are a part of the social history of Scotland. In terms of Victorian America, Caledonian Games, a combination of Scottish athletic events and American summer festival, were played in all parts of the country. The games were so successful that they may be, arguably, the first mass spectator sporting events in the United States. In fact, Golf, as we know it today, began in Scotland and was already popular with the people of St. Andrews by 1411, when the university was founded there. Although not terribly skilled at playing many sports, Scots have invented and developed several of the most important games played worldwide today. The pioneer of canoeing as a sport was John MacGregor born in England to Scottish parents. He paddled to many lands, writing and lecturing extensively on his travels. |