Which sports event was first held at Worcester, Massachusetts in 1927?
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Worcester, Massachusetts 1927 in sports Sports in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , locally also )  is a city and the historic county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States until most of Massachusetts disbanded county government in 1998. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population was 181,045,  making it the second largest city in New England after Boston. 
Worcester is located approximately 40 mi west of Boston, and 50 mi east of Springfield. Due to its location in Central Massachusetts, amidst Massachusetts' major metropolitan regions, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth", thus, a heart is the official symbol of the city. However, the heart symbol may also have its provenance in lore that Valentine's Day cards were invented in the city. 

Worcester was considered its own region for centuries; however, with the encroachment of Boston's suburbs in the 1970s after the construction of Interstate 495 and Interstate 290, it now marks the western periphery of the Boston-Worcester-Providence (MA-RI-NH) U.S. Census Combined Statistical Area (CSA), or Greater Boston. The city features many examples of Victorian-era mill architecture.

History

The area was first inhabited by members of the Nipmuc tribe.  The native people called the region Quinsigamond and built a settlement on Pakachoag Hill in Auburn.   In 1673 English settlers John Eliot and Daniel Gookin led an expedition to Quinsigamond to establish a new Christian Indian "praying town" and identify a new location for an English settlement.  On July 13, 1674, Gookin obtained a deed to eight square miles of land in Quinsigamond from the Nipmuc people and English traders and settlers began to inhabit the region.

In 1675, King Philip's War broke out throughout New England with the Nipmuc Indians coming to the aid of Indian leader King Philip.  The English settlers completely abandoned the Quinsigamond area and the empty buildings were burned by the Indian forces. The town was again abandoned during Queen Anne's War in 1702.   Finally in 1713, Worcester was permanently resettled for a third time by Jonas Rice.     Named after the city of Worcester, England, the town was incorporated on June 14, 1722.    On April 2, 1731, Worcester was chosen as the county seat of the newly founded Worcester County government. Between 1755 and 1758, future U.S. president John Adams worked as a schoolteacher and studied law in Worcester.

In the 1770s, Worcester became a center of American revolutionary activity.  British General Thomas Gage was given information of patriot ammunition stockpiled in Worcester in 1775.  Also in 1775, Massachusetts Spy publisher Isaiah Thomas moved his radical newspaper out of British occupied Boston to Worcester.  Thomas would continuously publish his paper throughout the American Revolutionary War.  On July 14, 1776, Thomas performed the first public reading in Massachusetts of the Declaration of Independence in front of the Worcester town hall. He would later go on to form the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester in 1812. 

During the turn of the 19th century Worcester's economy moved into manufacturing. Factories producing textiles, shoes and clothing opened along the nearby Blackstone River.  However, the manufacturing industry in Worcester would not begin to thrive until the opening of the Blackstone Canal in 1828 and the opening of the Worcester and Boston Railroad in 1835.  The city transformed into a transportation hub and the manufacturing industry flourished.   Worcester was officially chartered as a city on February 29, 1848. The city's industries soon attracted immigrants of primarily Irish, French, and Swedish descent in the mid-19th century and later many immigrants of Lithuanian, Polish, Italian, Greek, Turkish and Armenian descent.  Immigrants moved into new triple-decker houses which lined hundreds of Worcester's expanding streets and neighborhoods.  
  

In 1831 Ichabod Washburn opened the Washburn & Moen Company.  The company would become the largest wire manufacturing in the country and Washburn became one of the leading industrial and philanthropic figures in the city. 

Worcester would become a center of machinery, wire products and power looms and boasted large manufacturers, Washburn & Moen, Wyman-Gordon Company, American Steel & Wire, Morgan Construction and the Norton Company.  In 1908 the Royal Worcester Corset Factory was the largest employer of women in the United States.   
 
Worcester would also claim many inventions and firsts. New England Candlepin bowling was invented in Worcester by Justin White in 1879. Esther Howland began the first line of Valentine's Day cards from her Worcester home in 1847. Loring Coes invented the first monkey wrench and Russell Hawes created the first envelope folding machine.Gaultney, Bruce (2009). Worcester Memories, pp. 7. 1880s.  On June 12, 1880, Lee Richmond pitched the first perfect game in Major league baseball history for the Worcester Ruby Legs at the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds.  

On June 9, 1953 a F4 tornado touched down in Petersham, Massachusetts northwest of Worcester.  The tornado tore through 48 miles of Worcester County including a large area of the city of Worcester.  The tornado left massive destruction and killed 94 people.  The Worcester Tornado would be the most deadly tornado to ever hit Massachusetts.  
 
After World War II, Worcester began to fall into decline as the city lost its manufacturing base to cheaper alternatives across the country and overseas.  Worcester felt the national trends of movement away from historic urban centers.  The city's population would drop over 20% from 1950 to 1980.  In the mid-20th century large urban renewal projects were undertaken to try and reverse the city's decline.  A huge area of downtown Worcester was demolished for new office towers and the 1,000,000 sq. ft. Worcester Center Galleria shopping mall.  After only 30 years the Galleria would lose most of its major tenants and lose its appeal to more suburban shopping malls around Worcester County. In the 1960s, Interstate 290 was built right through the center of Worcester, permanently dividing the city.  In 1963, Worcester native Harvey Ball introduced the iconic yellow smiley face to American culture. 

In the late 20th century Worcester's economy began to recover as the city expanded into biotechnology and healthcare fields.  The UMass Medical School has become a leader in biomedical research and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Research Park has become a center of medical research and development.  Worcester hospitals Saint Vincent Hospital and UMass Memorial Health Care have become two of the largest employers in the city. Worcester's many colleges, including the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Clark University, UMass Medical School, Assumption College, MCPHS University, Becker College, and Worcester State University, attract many students to the area and help drive the new economy. 
 
On December 3, 1999 a homeless man and his girlfriend accidentally started a five-alarm fire at the Worcester Cold Storage & Warehouse Company. The fire took the lives of six firemen and drew national attention as one of the worst firefighting tragedies in the late 20th century.Gaultney, Bruce (2009). Worcester Memories, pp. 113. 1970s, '80s & '90s. President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and other local and national dignitaries attended the funeral service and memorial program in Worcester.

In recent decades, a renewed interest in the city's downtown has brought new investment and construction to Worcester.  A Convention Center was built along the DCU Center arena in downtown Worcester in 1997.    In 2000, Worcester's Union Station reopened after 25 years of neglect and a $32 million renovation. Hanover Insurance helped fund a multimillion-dollar renovation to the old Franklin Square Theater into the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.   In 2000, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences built a new campus in downtown Worcester. In 2007 WPI opened the first facility in their new Gateway Park center in Lincoln Square.   In 2004, Berkeley Investments proposed demolishing the old Worcester Center Galleria for a new mixed-used development called City Square.  The ambitious project looked to reconnect old street patterns while creating a new retail, commercial and living destination in the city.  After struggling to secure finances for a number of years Hanover Insurance took over the project and demolition began on September 13, 2010. Unum Insurance and the Saint Vincent Hospital leased into the project and both facilities opened in 2013.  The new Front Street opened on December 31, 2012. 

Geography

Worcester has a total area .   of it is land and  (roughly 2.59%) is water. Worcester is bordered by the towns of Auburn, Grafton, Holden, Leicester, Millbury, Paxton, Shrewsbury, and West Boylston.

Worcester is known as the Heart of the Commonwealth, because of its proximity to the center of Massachusetts. The city is about 45 mi west of Boston, 40 mi east of Springfield, and 38 mi northwest of Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
The Blackstone River forms in the center of Worcester by the confluence of the Middle River and Mill Brook.  The river courses underground through the center of the city, and emerges at the foot of College Hill.  It then flows south through Quinsigamond Village and into Millbury.  Worcester is the beginning of the Blackstone Valley that frames the river.  The Blackstone Canal was once an important waterway connecting Worcester to Providence and the Eastern Seaboard, but the canal fell into disuse at the end of the 19th century and was mostly covered up.  In recent years, local organizations including the Canal District Business Association have proposed restoring the canal and creating a Blackstone Valley National Park.

Worcester is one of many cities claimed, like Rome, to be found on seven hills: Airport Hill, Bancroft Hill, Belmont Hill (Bell Hill), Grafton Hill, Green Hill, Pakachoag Hill and Vernon Hill. However, Worcester has more than seven hills including Indian Hill, Newton Hill, Poet's Hill, and Wigwam Hill.

Worcester has many ponds and two prominent lakes: Indian Lake and Lake Quinsigamond.  Lake Quinsigamond (also known as Long Pond) stretches four miles across the Worcester and Shrewsbury border and is a very popular competitive rowing and boating destination.

Climate

Worcester's humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) is typical of New England. The weather changes rapidly owing to the confluence of warm, humid air from the southwest; cool, dry air from the north; and the moderating influence of the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Summers are typically warm and humid, while winters are cold, windy, and snowy. Snow typically falls from the second half of November into early April, with occasional falls in October; May snow is much rarer. The USDA classifies the city as straddling hardiness zones 5b and 6a. 

The hottest month is July, with a 24-hour average of , while the coldest is January, at . There is an average of only 3.5 days of 90 °F+ highs and 4.1 nights of lows at or below 0 °F per year, and periods of both extremes are rarely sustained. The all-time record high temperature is 102 °F, recorded on July 4, 1911,  the only 100 °F or greater temperature to date. The all-time record low temperature is , recorded on February 16, 1943. 

The city averages  of precipitation a year, as well as an average of  of snowfall a season, receiving far more snow than coastal locations less than 40 mi away. Massachusetts' geographic location, jutting out into the North Atlantic, makes the city very prone to Nor'easter weather systems that can dump heavy snow on the region.

While rare, the city has had its share of extreme weather. On September 21, 1938, the city was hit by the brutal New England Hurricane of 1938. Fifteen years later, Worcester was hit by a tornado that killed 94 people. The deadliest tornado in New England history, it damaged a large part of the city and surrounding towns. It struck Assumption Preparatory School, now the site of Quinsigamond Community College.

Neighborhoods

Gallery

File:Worcester Massachusetts.jpg|Worcester and the surrounding areas, looking north from 3700 feet (1128 m). Route 146 can be seen under construction.
File:WorcesterMA DodgeParkGazebo.jpg|Dodge Park
File:Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA - Washburn Shops.JPG|Washburn Shops, 1868
File:Cristoforo Colombo Park lion statue.jpg|Cristoforo Colombo Park
File:Cristoforo Colombo Park Belmonte Brothers memorial.jpg|Cristoforo Colombo Park

Demographics

Successive waves of immigrants have in the past formed coherent ethnic enclaves, some of which continue to contribute to the rich ethnic texture of Worcester today. Swedes settled in Quinsigamond Village and Greendale, Italians settled along Shrewsbury Street, Irish and Poles settled around Kelley Square, Lithuanians settled on Vernon Hill, and Jews built their first synagogues on Green Island and Union Hill. The African-American community has existed since colonial times. Since the late 19th century, Grafton Hill and Vernon Hill have been points of entry for immigrants from all over the world: Irish, Italians, Lithuanians, Poles, Syrians, Lebanese, Indians, Puerto Ricans, French Canadians, and more recently, Albanians and Brazilians. Other prominent groups include Russians, Armenians, Greeks, Vietnamese, Ghanaians, Liberians, and Congolese.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Worcester had a population of 181,045, of which 88,150 (48.7%) were male and 92,895 (51.3%) were female. In terms of age, 77.9% were over 18 years old and 11.7% were over 65 years old; the median age is 33.4 years. The median age for males is 32.1 years and 34.7 years for females.

In terms of race and ethnicity, Worcester's population was 69.4% White, 11.6% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 6.1% Asian (3.0% Vietnamese, 0.9% Chinese, and 0.8% Asian Indian),  The Canal District was once an old eastern European neighborhood, but has been redeveloped into a very popular bar, restaurant and club scene.
Worcester is also famously the former home of the Worcester Lunch Car Company.  The Company began in 1906 and built many famous lunch car diners in New England.  Worcester is home to many classic lunch car diners including Boulevard Diner, Corner Lunch, Chadwick Square Diner, and Miss Worcester Diner.

There are also many dedicated community organizations and art associations located in the city.  stART on the Street is an annual festival promoting local art.  The Worcester Music Festival and New England Metal and Hardcore Festival are also held annually in Worcester.  The Worcester County St. Patrick's Parade runs through Worcester and is one of the largest St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the state.  The city also hosts the second oldest First Night celebration in the country each New Year's Eve. 
  
Worcester is also the state's largest center for the arts outside of Boston. Mechanics Hall, built in 1857, is one of the oldest concert halls in the country and is renowned for its pure acoustics. In 2008 the old Poli Palace Theatre reopened as the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.  The theatre brings many Broadway shows and nationally recognized performers to the city. Tuckerman Hall, designed by one of the country's earliest woman architects, Josephine Wright Chapman, is home to the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra.  The DCU Center arena and convention holds many large concerts, exhibitions and conventions in the city.  The Worcester County Poetry Association sponsors readings by national and local poets in the city and the Worcester Center for Crafts provides craft education and skills to the community.  Worcester is also home to the Worcester Youth Orchestras.  Founded in 1947 by Harry Levenson, it is the 3rd oldest youth orchestra in the country and regularly performs at Mechanics Hall.

The nickname Wormtown is synonymous with the city's once large underground rock music scene.  The nickname has now become used to refer to the city itself.  

Sites of interest

Worcester has 1,200 acres of publicly owned property.  Notable parks include Elm Park, which was laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1854, and the City Common laid out in 1669.  Both parks are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.   The largest park in the city is the 549 acre Green Hill Park.  The park was donated by the Green family in 1903 and includes the Green Hill Park Shelter built in 1910.  In 2002, the Massachusetts Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Green Hill Park.  Other Parks, include Newton Hill, East Park, Morgan Park, Shore Park, Crompton Park, Hadwen Park, Institute Park and University Park.  As a former manufacturing center, Worcester has many historic 19th century buildings and on the National Register of Historic Places, including the old facilities of the Crompton Loom Works, Ashworth and Jones Factory and Worcester Corset Company Factory.

The American Antiquarian Society has been located in Worcester since 1812.  The national library and society has one of the largest collections of early American history in the world.  The city's main museum is the Worcester Art Museum established in 1898.  The museum is the second largest art museum in New England, behind the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.    From 1931 to 2013, Worcester was home to the Higgins Armory Museum, which was the sole museum dedicated to arms and armor in the country. Its collection and endowment were transferred and integrated into the Worcester Art Museum, with the collection to be shown in a new gallery slated to open in 2015.  The non-profit Veterans Inc. is headquartered at the southern tip of Grove Street in the historic Massachusetts National Guard Armory building.

The Worcester Memorial Auditorium is one of the most prominent buildings in the city.  Built as a World War I war memorial in 1933, the multipurpose auditorium has hosted many of the Worcester's most famous concerts and sporting events.

Sports

Worcester was home to Marshall Walter ("Major") Taylor, an African American cyclist who won the world one-mile (1.6 km) track cycling championship in 1899. Taylor's legacy is being the second black world champion in any sport. Taylor was nicknamed the Worcester Whirlwind by the local papers.

Lake Quinsigamond is home to the Eastern Sprints, a premier rowing event in the United States. Competitive rowing teams first came to Lake Quinsigamond in 1857. Finding the long, narrow lake ideal for such crew meets, avid rowers established boating clubs on the lake's shores, the first being the Quinsigamond Boating Club. More boating clubs and races followed, and soon many colleges (local, national, and international) held regattas, such as the Eastern Sprints, on the lake. Beginning in 1895, local high schools held crew races on the lake. In 1952, the lake played host to the National Olympic rowing trials.

In 2002, the Jesse Burkett Little League all-stars team went all the way to the Little League World Series. They made it to the US final before losing to Owensboro, Kentucky. Jesse Burkett covers the West Side area of Worcester, along with Ted Williams Little League.

The city will host Worcester Railers HC of the ECHL, which will begin play in October 2017. Prior to the Railers, the American Hockey League team Worcester Sharks played in Worcester from 2006 to 2015, before relocating to San Jose. The Sharks played at the DCU Center as a developmental team for the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks. The AHL was formerly represented by the Worcester IceCats from 1994 to 2005. The IceCats were chiefly affiliated with the St. Louis Blues.

The city's former professional baseball team, the Worcester Tornadoes, started in 2005 and was a member of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball League. The team played at the Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross and was not affiliated with any major league team. The team's owner ran into financial difficulties, and the team disbanded after the 2012 season.  The Worcester Bravehearts began play in 2014 as the local affiliate of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, and won the league championship in their inaugural season.  The New England Surge, a member of the Continental Indoor Football League, played their home games in the DCU Center in their two years of existence, 2007 and 2008. Candlepin bowling was invented in Worcester in 1880 by Justin White, an area bowling alley owner.  [http://www.worcestercountywildcats.com/ The Worcester County Wildcats] are part of the New England Football League, is a semi-pro football team, and play at Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium.

Golf's Ryder Cup's first official tournament was played at the Worcester Country Club in 1927. The course also hosted the U.S. Open in 1925, and the U.S. Women's Open in 1960.

Worcester's colleges have long histories and many notable achievements in collegiate sports. The College of the Holy Cross represents NCAA Division 1 sports in Worcester. The other colleges and Universities in Worcester correspond with division II and III. The Holy Cross Crusaders won the NCAA men's basketball champions in 1947 and NIT men's basketball champions in 1954, led by future NBA hall-of-famers and Boston Celtic legends Bob Cousy and Tom Heinsohn.

Religion

The Unitarian-Universalist Church of Worcester was founded in 1841.
Worcester's Greek Orthodox Cathedral, St. Spyridon, was founded in 1924.

Worcester is home to a dedicated Jewish population, who attend five synagogues, including Reform congregation Temple Emanuel Sinai, Congregation Beth Israel, a Conservative synagogue founded in 1924,  and Orthodox Congregation Tifereth Israel - Sons of Jacob (Chabad), home of Yeshiva Achei Tmimim Academy. Beth Israel and its rabbi were the subject of the book And They Shall be My People: An American Rabbi and His Congregation by Paul Wilkes.

The first Armenian Church in America was built in Worcester in 1890 and consecrated on January 18, 1891 as "Soorp Purgich" (Holy Saviour). The current sanctuary of the congregation, known now as Armenian Church of Our Savior was consecrated in 1952.

The first Catholics came to Worcester in 1826. They were chiefly Irish immigrants brought to America by the builders of the Blackstone canal. As time went on and the number of Catholics increased, the community petitioned Bishop Fenwick to send them a priest. In response to this appeal, the bishop appointed the Reverend James Fitton to visit the Catholics of Worcester in 1834. Catholic mass was first offered in the city in an old stone building on Front street. The foundation of Christ's Church, the first Catholic church in Worcester (now St. John's), was laid on July 6, 1834. 

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester was canonically erected on January 14, 1950, by Pope Pius XII. Its territories were taken from the neighboring Diocese of Springfield. The current and fifth bishop is Robert Joseph McManus. 

Media

The Telegram & Gazette is Worcester's only daily newspaper. The paper, known locally as "the Telegram" or "the T and G", is wholly owned by GateHouse Media of Fairport, New York.  WCTR, channel 3, is Worcester's local news television station, and WUNI-TV, channel 27, is the only major over-the-air broadcast television station in Worcester. Radio stations based in Worcester include WCHC, WCUW, WSRS, WTAG, WWFX, WICN and WXLO. WCCA-TV Shows on channel 194 and provides Community Cable-Access Television as well as a live stream of the channel on their website WCCATV.com. 

Infrastructure

Transportation

Worcester is served by several interstate highways. Interstate 290 connects central Worcester to Interstate 495, I-90 in nearby Auburn, and I-395. I-190 links Worcester to MA 2 and the cities of Fitchburg and Leominster in northern Worcester County. I-90 can also be reached from a new Massachusetts Route 146 connector.

Worcester is also served by several smaller Massachusetts state highways. Route 9 links the city to its eastern and western suburbs, Shrewsbury and Leicester. Route 9 runs almost the entire length of the state, connecting Boston and Worcester with Pittsfield, near the New York state border. Route 12 was the primary route north to Leominster and Fitchburg until the completion of I-190. Route 12 also connected Worcester to Webster before I-395 was completed. It still serves as an alternate, local route. Route 146, the Worcester-Providence Turnpike, connects the city with the similar city of Providence, Rhode Island. Route 20 touches the southernmost tip of Worcester near the Massachusetts Turnpike. U.S. 20 is a coast-to-coast route connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and is the longest road in the United States. 

Worcester is the headquarters of the Providence and Worcester, a Class II railroad operating throughout much of southern New England.  Worcester is also the western terminus of the Framingham/Worcester commuter rail line run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Union Station serves as the hub for commuter railway traffic. Built in 1911, the station has been restored to its original grace and splendor, reopening to full operation in 2000. It also serves as an Amtrak stop, serving the Lake Shore Limited from Boston to Chicago. In October 2008 the MBTA added 5 new trains to the Framingham/Worcester line as part of a plan to add 20 or more trains from Worcester to Boston and also to buy the track from CSX Transportation.  Train passengers may also connect to additional services such as the Vermonter line in Springfield.

The Worcester Regional Transit Authority, or WRTA, manages the municipal bus system. Buses operate intracity as well as connect Worcester to surrounding central Massachusetts communities. The WRTA also operates a shuttle bus between member institutions of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium.  Worcester is also served by Peter Pan Bus Lines and Greyhound Bus Lines, which operate out of Union Station. MAX provides intercity bus service to Fitchburg, Amherst, and Northampton with intermediate stops. 

The Worcester Regional Airport, owned and operated by Massport lies at the top of Tatnuck Hill, Worcester's highest. The airport consists of one 7000 ft runway and a $15.7 million terminal. The airport held numerous airlines from the 1950s through the 1990s, but it has encountered years of spotty commercial flights. On September 4, 2008, Direct Air announced it would begin serving Worcester to Orlando, Florida, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Punta Gorda, Florida, in the spring of 2009. On Tuesday March 13, 2012, Direct Air canceled its entire charter program (including service to Worcester) due to financial reasons, leaving the passenger terminal at Worcester Regional Airport empty.   In 2013, JetBlue announced that it would service ORH, and service began in November 2013.   It currently provides daily service from ORH to Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando, Florida.   Massport has announced plans to install a Category III landing system at ORH to combat takeoff and landing problems caused by routine fog at the airport. 

Healthcare

The Worcester State Insane Asylum Hospital (1833) was the first hospital in the United States established to treat mental illnesses.

Worcester is home to the University of Massachusetts Medical School, ranked fourth in primary care education among America's 125 medical schools in the 2006 U.S. News & World Report annual guide "America's Best Graduate Schools". The medical school is in the top quartile of medical schools nationally in research funding from the NIH and is home to highly respected scientists including a Nobel laureate, a Lasker Award recipient and multiple members of the National Academy of Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  The school is closely affiliated with UMass Memorial Health Care, the clinical partner of the medical school, which has expanded its locations all over Central Massachusetts. St. Vincent Hospital at Worcester Medical Center in the downtown area rounds out Worcester's primary care facilities. Reliant Medical Group, formerly Fallon Clinic, is the largest private multi-specialty group in central Massachusetts with over 30 different specialties. It is affiliated with St. Vincent's Hospital in downtown Worcester. Reliant Medical Group was the creator of Fallon Community Health Plan, a now independent HMO based in Worcester, and one of the largest health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in the state.

Utilities and public services

Worcester has a municipally owned water supply. Sewage disposal services are provided by the Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District, which services Worcester as well as some surrounding communities. National Grid USA is the exclusive distributor of electric power to the city, though due to deregulation, customers now have a choice of electric generation companies. Natural gas is distributed by NSTAR Gas; only commercial and industrial customers may choose an alternate natural gas supplier. Verizon, successor to New England Telephone, NYNEX, and Bell Atlantic, is the primary wired telephone service provider for the area. Phone service is also available from various national wireless companies. Cable television is available from Charter Communications, with Broadband Internet access also provided, while a variety of DSL providers and resellers are able to provide broadband Internet over Verizon-owned phone lines.

Sister cities

Worcester has the following sister cities:
* Worcester, United Kingdom (1998)
* Afula, Israel
* Piraeus, Greece (2005)
* Pushkin, Russia (1987) 1927 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

* New York Giants win National Football League title
* Rose Bowl (1926 season):
** The Stanford Indians tie 7-7 with the Alabama Crimson Tide to split the national championship
* College football national championship – Illinois Fighting Illini

Association football

England
* The Football League – Newcastle United 56 points, Huddersfield Town 51, Sunderland 49, Bolton Wanderers 48, Burnley 47, West Ham United 46
* FA Cup final – Cardiff City 1–0 Arsenal at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
* Cardiff City's FA Cup victory remains the only time the competition has been won by a club outside England.
Germany
* National Championship – 1. FC Nuremberg 2–0 Hertha BSC at Berlin.  It is the first match to be broadcast in full on German radio.
Italy
* AS Roma is founded by Italo Foschi, who initiates the merger of three older Italian Football Championship clubs from the city of Rome: Roman FC, SS Alba-Audace and Fortitudo-Pro Roma SGS.
Mexico
* Formation of the Mexican Football Federation (Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación or FMF). It is also known as Femexfut.

Australian rules football

VFL Premiership
* Collingwood wins the 31st VFL Premiership, beating  2.13 (25) to 1.7 (13) in the 1927 VFL Grand Final
** The low scores, caused by a torrential fall of rain on the day before and during the match, set many records:
# The lowest winning score since 1901 when Collingwood beat  3.6 (24) to 2.7 (19) 
# Richmond’s score is the equal fourth lowest since 1915 and their second lowest score ever, behind 0.8 (8) against St. Kilda in 1961.
# The aggregate score of 3.20 (38) is the lowest since 1900
# It is the only time since 1908 a team has won scoring only two goals
Brownlow Medal
* The annual Brownlow Medal is awarded to Syd Coventry (Collingwood)

Bandy

Sweden
* Championship final – IK Göta 5-1 Västerås SK

Baseball

World Series
* 5–8 October — New York Yankees (AL) defeats Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) to win the 1927 World Series by 4 games to 0 
Major League Baseball
* Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs, setting a major league record
Negro League Baseball
* For the second straight year, the Chicago American Giants (NNL) defeats the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, New Jersey (ECL), 5 games to 3, in the Negro League World Series

Basketball

ABL Championship
*Brooklyn Celtics win three games to none over the Cleveland Rosenblums

Boxing

Events
* In one of the most famous fights in boxing history, Gene Tunney successfully defends his World Heavyweight Championship in a return bout with Jack Dempsey at Soldier Field, Chicago.  Tunney wins in 10 rounds but the fight is remembered as The Battle Of The Long Count after Tunney was knocked down for 13 seconds in the 7th round, the count being delayed because Dempsey did not retire to a neutral corner.
Lineal world champions 
* World Heavyweight Championship – Gene Tunney
* World Light Heavyweight Championship – Jack Delaney → vacant → Tommy Loughran
* World Middleweight Championship – Mickey Walker
* World Welterweight Championship – Pete Latzo → Joe Dundee
* World Lightweight Championship – Sammy Mandell
* World Featherweight Championship – vacant
* World Bantamweight Championship – Charley Phil Rosenberg → vacant
* World Flyweight Championship – vacant

Canadian football

Grey Cup
* 15th Grey Cup – Toronto Balmy Beach 9–6 Hamilton Tigers

Cricket

Events
* New Zealand tours England with a team containing many players who will later play Test cricket for New Zealand.  However, this tour does not include any Test matches and the 1927 English cricket season is the last, apart from the Second World War years and the cancelled South African tour of 1970, in which there has been no Test cricket in England.
England
* County Championship – Lancashire
* Minor Counties Championship – Staffordshire
* Most runs – Wally Hammond 2969 @ 69.04 (HS 197)
* Most wickets – Charlie Parker 193 @ 19.94 (BB 9–46)
* Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Roger Blunt, Charlie Hallows, Wally Hammond, Douglas Jardine, Vallance Jupp
Australia
* Sheffield Shield – South Australia
* Most runs – Bill Ponsford 1229 @ 122.90 (HS 352)
* Most wickets – Norman Williams 35 @ 32.02 (BB 6–88)
India
* Bombay Quadrangular – Hindus
New Zealand
* Plunket Shield – Auckland
South Africa
* Currie Cup – Transvaal
West Indies
* Inter-Colonial Tournament – Barbados

Cycling

Tour de France
* Nicolas Frantz (Luxembourg) wins the 21st Tour de France

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships
* World Women's Champion – Sonja Henie (Norway)
* World Men's Champion – Willi Böckel (Austria)
* World Pairs Champions – Herma Szabo and Ludwig Wrede (Austria)

Golf

Major tournaments
* British Open – Bobby Jones
* US Open – Tommy Armour
* USPGA Championship – Walter Hagen
Ryder Cup
* Inaugural Ryder Cup is held at Worcester, Massachusetts: United States defeats Great Britain by 9½ to 2½.
Other tournaments
* British Amateur – William Tweddell
* US Amateur – Bobby Jones

Horse racing

Events
* The inaugural Champion Hurdle is run as part of the Cheltenham Festival.
England
* Champion Hurdle – Blaris
* Cheltenham Gold Cup – Thrown In
* Grand National – Sprig
* 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Cresta Run
* 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Adam's Apple
* Epsom Derby – Call Boy
* Epsom Oaks – Beam
* St. Leger Stakes – Book Law
Australia
* Melbourne Cup – Trivalve
Canada
* Queen's Plate – Troutlet
France
* Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Mon Talisman
Ireland
* Irish Grand National – Jerpoint 
* Irish Derby Stakes – Knight of the Grail
USA
* Kentucky Derby – Whiskery
* Preakness Stakes – Bostonian
* Belmont Stakes – Chance Shot

Ice hockey

Stanley Cup
* 4–13 April — Ottawa Senators defeats Boston Bruins in the 1927 Stanley Cup Finals by 2 games to 0
Events
* Memorial Cup – Owen Sound Greys defeats Port Arthur West End Juniors
* Allan Cup – University of Toronto Grads defeats Fort William Thundering Herd at Vancouver, British Columbia
* 14 February – Conn Smythe purchases the Toronto St. Patricks of the NHL and changes the name to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Motor racing

Grand Prix racing
* 3 July — the 13th French Grand Prix, organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF), is run at Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry over 600.00 km (12.50 km x 48 laps).  The winner is Robert Benoist (France) driving a Delage 15-S8 in 4:45:41.2.  The race is retrospectively referred to as the XXI Grand Prix de l´ACF.
* 31 July — the 2nd Spanish Grand Prix is run at Circuito Lasarte over 692.600 km (17.315 km x 40 laps).  The winner is Robert Benoist (France) driving a Delage 15-S8 in 5:20:45.  
* 4 September — the 7th Italian Grand Prix is run at Autodromo Nazionale Monza over 500.00 km (10.00 km x 50 laps).  The winner is Robert Benoist (France) driving a Delage 15-S8 in 3:26:59.7.  The race is officially titled the VII Gran Premio d'Italia and is given the honorary designation of European Grand Prix.
* 1 October — the 2nd British Grand Prix is run at Brooklands over 526.25 km (4.21 km x 125 laps).  The winner is Robert Benoist (France) driving a Delage 15-S8 in 3:49:14.6.
Indianapolis 500
* 30 May — 15th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is won by George Souders in a Duesenberg.
Le Mans 24 hours
* The 5th Le Mans 24 hours race is won by Dudley Benjafield (Great Britain) and Sammy Davis (Great Britain) driving a Bentley 3 Litre Super Sport over 137 laps and 2369.807 km.

Multi-sport events

Far Eastern Championship Games
* 8th Far Eastern Championship Games is held at Shanghai, Republic of China

Nordic skiing

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
* 3rd FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1927 are held at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

Rowing

The Boat Race
* 2 April — Cambridge wins the 79th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Rugby league

England
* Championship – Swinton
* Challenge Cup final – Oldham 26–7 Swinton at Central Park, Wigan 
* Lancashire League Championship – St Helens Recs
* Yorkshire League Championship – Hull
* Lancashire Cup – St Helens 10–2 St Helens Recs 
* Yorkshire Cup – Huddersfield 10–3 Wakefield Trinity
Australia
* NSW Premiership – South Sydney 20–11 St George (grand final)

Rugby union

Five Nations Championship
* 40th Five Nations Championship series is shared by Ireland and Scotland

Snooker

World Championship
* Inaugural World Snooker Championship is won by Joe Davis who defeats Tom Dennis 20–11

Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships
* Men's All-round Champion – Bernt Evensen (Norway)

Tennis

Australia
* Australian Men's Singles Championship – Gerald Patterson (Australia) defeats John Hawkes (Australia) 3–6 6–4 3–6 18–16 6–3
* Australian Women's Singles Championship – Esna Boyd Robertson (Australia) defeats Sylvia Lance Harper (Australia) 5–7 6–1 6–2
England
* Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Henri Cochet (France) defeats Jean Borotra (France) 4–6 4–6 6–3 6–4 7–5
* Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Lilí de Álvarez (Spain) 6–2 6–4
France
* French Men's Singles Championship – René Lacoste (France) defeats Bill Tilden (USA) 6–4 4–6 5–7 6–3 11–9
* French Women's Singles Championship – Kea Bouman (Netherlands) defeats Irene Bowder Peacock (South Africa) 6–2 6–4 
USA
* American Men's Singles Championship – René Lacoste (France) defeats Bill Tilden (USA) 11–9 6–3 11–9
* American Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Betty Nuthall Shoemaker (Great Britain) 6–1 6–4
Davis Cup
* 1927 International Lawn Tennis Challenge –  3–2  at Germantown Cricket Club (grass) Philadelphia, United States Worcester, Massachusetts is home to minor league sports teams and NCAA Division 1 college and university sports, most notably The College of the Holy Cross. Other professional teams that have moved on from the city include the New England Blazers, a Major League Lacrosse team that played at the Worcester Centrum during the 1980s, the Bay State Bombardiers of the Continental Basketball Association, who played in the Worcester Memorial Auditorium from 1984 to 1986, the Worcester Ice Cats, an American Hockey League franchise and developmental team for the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues who played in the DCU Center (originally Worcester Centrum) from 1994 to 2005, and the Worcester Sharks, an American Hockey League franchise and developmental team for the NHL's San Jose Sharks.  Many historic and local sporting events have occurred in Worcester such as the first official Ryder Cup golf tournament at Worcester Country Club in 1927.

History 

Baseball 

The Worcester Ruby Legs, an early Major League Baseball team, was one of the first teams to play in the nascent National League. This team, which operated from 1880 to 1882, is believed to be the only major league team in history not to have an attached nickname. (There are some references throughout major league history books to the team being called the "Worcester Brown Stockings", "Brownies", and "Ruby Legs".  However, the Worcester Telegram sportswriter Bill Ballou, in conducting thorough research on the team for years, has found no contemporary reference to any of those nicknames.) The team's home field, the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds was the site of the first recorded perfect game in professional baseball. Pitcher Lee Richmond achieved this feat on June 12, 1880, against the Cleveland Blues.  

In 2002, Worcester's Jesse Burkett Little League baseball team competed in the Little League World Series's U.S. Final. Though the Burkett team lost to the Little League All-Stars from Louisville, Kentucky, its second-place finish was the best in the history of Massachusetts Little League baseball.   

Professional baseball in Worcester was represented by the Worcester Tornadoes baseball team, which played its first season in 2005. Though not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team, the Tornadoes  played their games at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field on the campus of The College of the Holy Cross and were a member of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball League. The team finished its inaugural season by winning the Can-Am championship. Its last season was 2012.  The team name was chosen from among 1000 entries in a two-month-long naming contest. The "Tornadoes" refers to the deadly tornado that struck Worcester and central Massachusetts in 1953.  

The Worcester Bravehearts were founded in 2013 as the local affiliate of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.  The Bravehearts played in their first season in 2014 and won the FCBL Championship by sweeping the Martha's Vineyard Sharks in a best-of-three series. In the final game, the Bravehearts made a historic victory. 

Football

Rugby 

The Worcester Rugby Football Club (WRFC), a recognized member of the United States Rugby Football Union (USARFU), currently competes in the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) Division I league. The club was founded in 1979 by Rob Anderson, Peter Coz, and Mike Minty; joined NERFU in 1980, and was invited to join USARFU Division I league after a very successful 1999 fall season. WRFC is one of the top men's rugby clubs in the U.S., having reached the 2006 Men's Division 1 Club Final Four, before losing to eventual national champion Santa Monica in a close 20-13 match.

American Football 

Indoor football returned to the city in April 2007. The New England Surge, a member of the Continental Indoor Football League, played their home games in the DCU Center. The team was disbanded after playing only a few seasons. The team replaced an Arena Football League team called the Massachusetts Marauders which played briefly in 1994.

Hockey 

The Worcester Sharks played at the DCU Center from 2006 to 2015 in the American Hockey League as a developmental team for the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks. The Sharks were relocated to San Jose, California to play in the same arena as the San Jose Sharks as part of a major realignment in the AHL prior to the 2015–16 season. The Sharks replaced the Worcester IceCats after the franchise moved to Peoria, Illinois, in 2005.

Golf 

Golf's Ryder Cup's first official tournament was played at the Worcester Country Club in 1927. The course also hosted the U.S. Open in 1925, and the U.S. Women's Open in 1960 and is the only golf course to host the trio. The captains of the inaugural Ryder Cup where two of golfs greatest legends, Ted Ray of Great Britain and Walter Hagen of the United States. The United States won, 9 to 2.

Two years before the Ryder Cup the city hosted the U.S. Open won by Willie Macfarlane, but best known for the U.S. Open that Bobby Jones lost. Macfarlane and Jones where tied after the final round and an 18-hole playoff, the USGA officials decided to send the players out for another 18-hole playoff Macfarlane won 147–148.  The last major golf tournament in the city was the 1960 U.S. Women's Open, won by Betsy Rawls, which  made her the first golfer to win the U.S. Women's Open Title four times. A former PGA Tour event was held from 1969 through 1998 just south of Worcester. It was held under various names at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Massachusetts.

Other 

Lake Quinsigamond is home to the Eastern Sprints, a premier rowing event in the United States. Competitive rowing teams first came to Lake Quinsigamond in 1857. Quinsigamond Boating Club was the first of many boating clubs on Lake Quinsigamond who are drawn to the lake's long narrow shape, ideal for racing. Soon many colleges (local, national, and international) held regattas, such as the Eastern Sprints, on the lake. Beginning in 1895, local high schools held crew races on the lake. In 1932, the lake played host to the National Olympic rowing trials.

Marshall Walter ("Major") Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an American cyclist who won the world one-mile (1.6 km) track cycling championship in 1899, 1900, and 1901. Taylor was the second black world champion in any sport, after boxer George Dixon.  The Centrum (now DCU Center) was home to the Virginia Slims of New England women's tennis tournament for a few years in the late 1980s. Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, and Steffi Graf were some of the outstanding players who participated in the tournaments. Various boxing title bouts have been fought in Worcester. The NCAA National Division I hockey and Division I basketball early rounds have been contested here. Charlie's Surplus Road Race fielded many world-class runners before ending in the early 1990s. Candlepin bowling was invented in Worcester in 1880 by Justin White, an area bowling alley owner.

Collegiate sports 

Worcester's colleges have had long histories and many notable achievements in collegiate sports:
* The Holy Cross Crusaders, led by future basketball hall-of-famers Bob Cousy and Tom Heinsohn, were NCAA men's basketball champions in 1947 and NIT men's basketball champions in 1954. Here is a list of college athletic achievements from the many colleges and University of Worcester.
* The Holy Cross Crusaders football team played in the 1946 Orange Bowl, losing 13–6 to Miami (FL).
* Holy Cross won the 1952 NCAA College World Series, beating the University of Missouri 8–4. To date, the 1952 Crusaders remain the only college team from the Northeast to win the College World Series.
* In one of the biggest upsets in NCAA hockey history, the Holy Cross men's hockey team made history by defeating the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Division I Tournament by the score of 4–3 in overtime.

* Holy Cross's Gordie Lockbaum is widely acknowledged as the last major college football program player to regularly play both offense and defense. Lockbaum finished third in the 1987 Heisman Trophy balloting, after finishing fifth in 1986. Lockbaum's son, Gordon Lockbaum Jr., was a star player on the 2002 Worcester Little League World Series team (See above).
* The Assumption College Greyhounds lay claim to being the only college baseball team to ever have two future baseball hall-of-famers (Jesse Burkett and Rube Marquard) on its staff at the same time (1931–32).
* Worcester Polytechnic Institute's "WPI Engineers" football has had three undefeated, untied seasons (1938, 1954 and 1983) and two Freedom Football Conference (FFC) Championships (1992 and 1993).
* The 1965-66 WPI Engineers basketball team was defeated by Army 71–62 on December 8, 1965. The win marked the first career coaching victory for a young coach named Bobby Knight.
* WPI football has the distinction of being Worcester's first college football team, debuting in 1888 with back-to-back losses to Harvard of 70–0 and 68–0[http://www.phys.utk.edu/sorensen/cfr/cfr/Output/1888/CF_1888_Team_Worcester_Tech.html Worcester Tech 1888]
* The Clark University Cougars earned 10 consecutive NCAA Division III tournament berths, including two finishes as national runner-up in 1984 and 1987.
* Clark's women's basketball team earned back-to-back NCAA Division III Final Four appearances and were NCAA Northeast Champions in 1982 and 1983.
*The Worcester State College Women's Soccer team advanced to the 3rd round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007, which was the most successful NCAA appearance of any team in Worcester State history. They beat the #5 ranked William Smith College by a score of 2–0 in the first round. After not receiving a national ranking all year, Worcester State ended the season at #21.

Notes
Ryder Cup Matches Rider cup The Ryder Cup Ryder cup Ryder Cup
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