If you’re an avid fan and bet on golf, you’ll know that Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy are currently joint-favorites to lift the Claret Jug, as the Open Championship is contested later this month, at Royal Portrush. The Open is the oldest of the four golfing majors, having been inaugurated in 1860 and this year marks the 147th edition of the prestigious tournament. With such a rich history, there are undoubtedly hundreds of memorable and iconic moments from over the years. Here, we’ve listed some of our favourites, but do let us know in the comments if there’s anything we’ve missed!
1977: The Duel in the Sun
Golf fans of a certain
generation will remember this one as Americans Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus
battled it out in the Scottish sun at Turnberry. After the second round, both
men had scored 138 (68 + 70) and found themselves T2.
Of course, they were
paired together for round three and once again matched each other’s score of
65, to end the round three-under-par and edge away from the chasing pack. The
pair played together again on the final day, as they duelled for the coveted Claret
Jug. Watson famously said to Nicklaus: “This is what it’s all about, isn’t
it?”, with the ‘Golden Bear’ responding: “You bet it is.”
It was one of the most entertaining games in the history of college basketball. The six overtime marathon of a battle between Syracuse and Connecticut in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Big East Tournament was for starters, thrilling. Adjectives are never ending in describing it. Phenomenal. Amazing. Exhausting. Climactic.
Syracuse players celebrate their thrilling six-overtime victory over Connecticut in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Big East Tournament on March 12 and 13.
Filled
with the suspense and drama on when, not to mention if, the game would ever end,
it was equally as attractive for being a
marquee matchup of two longtime Big East rivals lead by prestigious head coaches
in Jim Boeheim of the Orange and Jim Calhoun of the Huskies. The glamour and
glitz of New York City added to this game as the school’s dueled on the
national stage of Madison Square Garden, known as the world’s most famous arena.
Both teams were ranked in the AP Poll with Connecticut at No. 3 and Syracuse at
No. 18. The sixth-seeded Orange and the third-seeded Huskies were also meeting
for the fourth time in the last five seasons in the Big East Tournament with
Syracuse having won the prior three matchups from 2005 through ’07.
In
playing the longest ever game in the shot clock era, Syracuse and Connecticut
tied for the second longest game in the history of NCAA Division I college
basketball. Only two other games have ever gone six overtimes. Both those
happened in the 1950’s when Minnesota beat Purdue 59-56 in 1955 and Niagara
beat Siena 88-81 in 1953. The game was eclipsed in number of overtimes only by
a game on Dec. 21, 1981 when Cincinnati beat Bradley 75-73 in seven overtimes. That
game in 1981 tied for the most overtimes in the history of college basketball
regardless of NCAA classification.
However
overtime almost never happened for the Orange and Huskies.
Connecticut
freshman guard Kemba Walker’s offensive rebound and layup with 1.1 seconds left
in regulation tied the game at 71. Following a Syracuse timeout, Orange junior
guard Eric Devendorf gathered a long inbounds pass off a deflection and quickly
got off a 3-point shot that went in giving the Orange an apparent victory.
However replays showed that the ball was still contacting Devendorf’s
fingertips as the buzzer sounded and the basket was waived off by officials and
the game went into overtime.
Marathon runners train for years and years to not just compete against other marathoners but themselves, working tirelessly to shave even a handful of seconds off their personal best time. One marathoner put the rest to shame recently, running the fastest marathon ever and completely obliterating the world record.
The most dominant marathon runner of the modern era, Eliud Kipchoge, of Kenya, shattered the world record for marathon running in his most recent race in Berlin on September 16, 2018. He passed the finish line after only 2 hours 1 minute and 39 seconds (2:01:39). The previous world record was 2:02:57.
To put that in perspective, Kipchoge ran 26.2 miles in around a couple hours averaging 4 minutes and 38 seconds per mile. It’s one thing to run that fast. It’s another to run that fast for so long.
Granted, this wasn’t Kipchoge’s first rodeo. He is the reigning Olympic gold medalist having won the marathon in 2016 in Rio, which was just one of the 9 marathons he has won since 2013 (not including the most recent Berlin race). That is practically unheard of.
This most recent marathon was his first time, however, to inch so close to the 2-hour mark for an official timed marathon race. (He did run a marathon in 02:00:25 in 2016 for a Nike experiment, however, it was on an optimized track). Read the rest of this entry →
Hank Aaron being celebrated after hitting career home run number 715 on April 8, 1974
It was 44 years ago today, April 8, 1974, that Hank Aaron, wearing number 44 for the Atlanta Braves, broke the seemingly unbreakable home run record of Babe Ruth with his 715th career home run.
In the decades since, the home run in baseball has lost some of its individual luster as juiced balls, juiced bats and juiced people (not to mention shrunken ballparks) have made the home run a much more common occurrence than in past generations.
However, that “cheapening” of the home run has in some ways elevated the realization of just how amazing it was for Aaron to amass more than 700 home runs despite playing much of his career during a time when baseball wasn’t geared to make it easier to hit home runs.
Few players have displayed the long-term consistency of greatness that Aaron compiled during his career. From 1955 through 1973 (19 years), he finished in the top 17 in the National League MVP voting every year, including 13 times in the top 10 and winning the award in 1957.
He led the National League in home runs four times and blasted 40 or more home runs in a season eight times. He hit a career-high 47 at the age of 37 in 1971 and two years later hit 40 home runs in just 120 games.
While his total of 755 career home runs has technically been passed, Aaron is still recognized by many as the Home Run King. His 2,297 career RBIs and 6,856 total bases are still the highest totals in Major League history. Not to mention, he finished his career with 3,771 career hits and a .305 career batting average.
In celebration of the 44th anniversary of his record-setting home run, check out videos of that blast as well as Aaron’s career.
The catch by Astros outfielder George Springer in the 2017 ALCS was reminiscent of the grab by Joe Rudi of the Oakland A’s in the 1972 World Series.
When Houston Astros outfielder George Springer raced to the wall and made a crucial catch of a Todd Frazier blast in game six of the 2017 American League Championship Series it brought back memories of another great catch by the wall in a previous post season.
In game two of the 1972 World Series, Catfish Hunter and the Oakland A’s were clinging to a 2-0 lead when the Cincinnati Reds batted in the bottom of the ninth inning. Future Hall of Famer Tony Perez led off the inning with a single. The next batter, third baseman Denis Menke, hit a long blast to leftfield that looked destined for extra bases. However, lanky outfielder Joe Rudi raced to the wall and made a backhanded catch at the wall to secure the out and force Perez back to first base. At the time, the catch was considered one of the greatest postseason catches of all-time and was an iconic moment of that seven-game series.
It also proved critical, as Hal McRae eventually drove home Perez with a single, but Rollie Fingers came in to get the final out in a 2-1 Oakland victory. Had Rudi not made the catch off Menke’s blast, the Reds would have likely tied the game and had an opportunity to win it in regulation. Given that the A’s ultimately won the Series in seven games, that moment was certainly pivotal to Oakland winning the first of their three straight World Series.
While it is yet to be determined whether Springer’s catch will help propel the Astros into the World Series, it certainly was important in game six as it came with two runners on and only one out in the seventh inning. Had Springer not made the catch, Justin Verlander would likely been pulled from the game and the Yankees could have been poised for another big inning as they have done several times throughout the 2017 playoffs.
Instead, Verlander eventually finished the inning without giving up a run and the Astros went on to win 6-1 and force a decisive seventh game.
Below are videos of Rudi’s catch in 1972 and Sprringer’s in 2017. You can see that they each made a long run to grab the ball at the wall and help save victories for their teams.
Roger Staubach led the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl wins and 23 fourth quarter comebacks during the 1970s.
It seems like just about every week at least one NFL quarterback leads his team to an exciting comeback victory.
Of course, exciting comebacks are nothing new. In the 1970s, Dallas Cowboys star Roger Staubach became known as Captain Comeback for his many late miracle comeback wins.
As part of our Vintage Videos series we look back at the career of Staubach, including some great YouTube videos of one of the iconic quarterbacks in NFL history.
During his nine seasons as the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, Roger Staubach seemed to always have the uncanny knack of making the big play needed to lift his team to victory. He led the Cowboys to 23 fourth quarter game-winning drives during his career, including 15 times with his team trailing.
The Cowboys reached the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons as the starting quarterback and advanced to the Super Bowl five times.
He was named MVP of Super Bowl VI and also led Dallas to the title in Super Bowl XXII.
Staubach was a winner even before joining the Cowboys.
He spent three seasons at the Naval Academy and as a junior in 1963 won the Heisman Trophy while leading the Midshipmen to a 9-1 record and a number two national ranking.
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.
Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.
Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.
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