Sports
San Diego has several sports venues. Qualcomm Stadium hosts football and soccer games. Three Super Bowls have been held there. Baseball can be seen at PETCO Park and Tony Gwynn Stadium. iPayOne Center, formerly the San Diego Sports Arena, hosts basketball, which is also hosted at Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl. Jenny Craig Pavilion at the University of San Diego hosts basketball and volleyball games.
The San Diego State Aztecs (MWC) and the San Diego Toreros (WCC) are NCAA Division I teams. The UCSD Tritons (CCAA) are members of NCAA Division II while the Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions (GSAC) are members of the NAIA.
San Diego has been the home of two NBA franchises, the first of which was called the San Diego Rockets. The Rockets represented the city of San Diego from 1967 until 1971. After the conclusion of the 1970-1971 season, they moved to Texas where they became the Houston Rockets. Seven years later, San Diego received a relocated NBA franchise (the Buffalo Braves), which was renamed the San Diego Clippers. The Clippers played in the San Diego Sports Arena from 1978 until 1984. Prior to the start of the 1984-1985 season, the team was moved to Los Angeles, and is now called the Los Angeles Clippers.
Unfortunately, San Diego has the dubious distinction of being the largest United States city to have not won a Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals or any other Major League sports championship.
Other sports franchises that represented San Diego include the San Diego Conquistadors of the American Basketball Association, the San Diego Sockers (which played in various indoor and outdoor soccer leagues during their existence), the San Diego Spirit of the Women's United Soccer Association, the San Diego Mariners of the World Hockey Association, and the San Diego Gulls who were in different hockey leagues during each of their three incarnations.
The annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in the city draws 20,000 participants annually.
The city's biggest sporting event on the world stage, however, is in a sport that draws very little attention in the United States. PETCO Park hosts the USA Sevens, an event in the annual IRB Sevens World Series for international teams in rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union with seven players per side instead of 15. The USA Sevens moved from the Los Angeles area to San Diego in 2007.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
