Search: tournament etymology
Why: How are everybody's brackets doing? I am 24-4. Thanks for nothing, Villanova.
Answer: It comes from French! Torneier means "to joust or tilt," and a torneiement was a "contest between knights on horseback." In the 1300s, that word came to mean something about a "medieval martial arts contest," and we started using it how we do now - regarding games of skill - around 1761.
Source: EtymOnline
The More You Know: What's the origin of "seeding" in basketball? First used in tennis (1924), it comes from the idea of spreading certain players or teams apart - like seeds - so they will not meet too early in a tournament. Barry O wants all of the #1 seeds in the Final Four. OK!
