6 (number) - in Sports

In Sports

• 6 entities in a grouping:
  • The National Basketball Association and National Hockey League have six divisions
  • The Original Six teams in the National Hockey League are Toronto, Chicago, Montreal, New York, Boston, and Detroit. They are the oldest remaining teams in the league, though not necessarily the first six; they comprised the entire league from 1942 to 1967
  • In American college football, there are six conferences that automatically qualify for Bowl Championship Series games
• Number of players:
  • Six-man football is a variant of American or Canadian football, played by smaller schools with insufficient enrollment to field the traditional 11-man (American) or 12-man (Canadian) squad
  • In football (soccer), the number of substitutes combined by both teams, that are allowed in the game.
  • In ice hockey, the number of players per team, including the goaltender, that are on the ice at any one time, excluding penalty situations.
  • In volleyball, 6 players from each team on each side play against each other
• Scoring and related terminology:
  • In some sports, 6 goals is known as a double-hat-trick, but is very hard to accomplish
  • In American and Canadian football, a touchdown earns 6 points
  • In Australian Rules football, six points are received for a goal
  • In cricket (See cricket terminology):
    • a "six" or "sixer" is a shot in which the ball clears the boundary without bouncing, scoring six runs
    • there are six balls to an over
• Jersey number 6 and car number 6:
  • In football/soccer:
    • Is the number of AC Milan's legendary centre back and captain Franco Baresi; the shirt was retired in 1997
    • Is the number of Arsenal's legendary centre back and captain Tony Adams; the shirt was retired in 2002 on his retirement but has recently been passed on to Philippe Senderos
  • In NASCAR:
    • The number 6 is currently owned by Roush Fenway Racing. Since the 2007 season, the first year in which Roush Racing was merged with the Fenway Sports Group that owns the Boston Red Sox, the Cup Series version of the car has been driven by David Ragan. From 1988 to 2006, Mark Martin drove the #6 in the Cup Series for what was then Roush Racing.
  • In the NBA, number 6 is worn by several players, most notably Julius Erving.
  • In rugby:
    • In rugby union, the starting blindside flanker wears jersey number 6. (Some teams use "left" and "right" flankers instead of "openside" and "blindside", with 6 being worn by the starting left flanker.)
    • In most rugby league competitions (but not the European Super League, which uses static squad numbering), the jersey number 6 is worn by the starting stand-off half (Southern Hemisphere term) or five-eighth (Northern Hemisphere term).
  • The jersey number 6 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats or other key figures (or, in two cases, a team's fans):
    • In Major League Baseball:
      • The Atlanta Braves, for manager Bobby Cox
      • The Boston Red Sox, for Johnny Pesky
      • The Detroit Tigers, for Hall of Famer Al Kaline
      • The Minnesota Twins, for Tony Oliva
      • The St. Louis Cardinals, for Hall of Famer Stan Musial
      • The San Diego Padres, for Steve Garvey
    • In the NBA:
      • The Boston Celtics, for Hall of Famer Bill Russell
      • The Orlando Magic, for their fans (the "sixth man")
      • The Philadelphia 76ers, for Hall of Famer Julius Erving
      • The Phoenix Suns, for Walter Davis
      • The Sacramento Kings, also for their fans
    • In the NFL:
      • The Kansas City Chiefs, for Warren McVea
    • In the NHL:
      • The Detroit Red Wings, for Larry Aurie
      • The Pittsburgh Penguins, for Ian Ackerman
      • The Toronto Maple Leafs, for Hall of Famer Ace Bailey. The Leafs have a unique policy of not retiring numbers unless the player honoured either died or suffered a career-ending incident while a member of the team. Bailey suffered a fractured skull during a game in 1933; while he recovered and lived for nearly 60 years after the incident, he never played again. The Leafs would issue the number to Ron Ellis in 1968 at Bailey's personal request, and Ellis wore it until his own retirement in 1981.