Sports Then and Now

Frazier knocked Ali down for only the third time in his career in the final round of their first meeting.

Considering that the sport of boxing is known for using hype to try and turn the most mundane match into a “must see moment”, you might question the validity of a fight dubbed the “Fight of the Century.” However, when undefeated heavyweights Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali met in the ring for the first time at Madison Square Garden 40 years ago today, on March 8, 1971, there was little question that this was a special night and an important moment in the history of boxing.

Perhaps not since the second Louis-Schmeling fight more than 30 years earlier had a heavyweight fight been as anticipated.

The fight matched the controversial Ali, who had been stripped of the Heavyweight Title after refusing induction into the military, against the man who had ultimately taken his place as the Heavyweight Champion.

The 29-year-old Ali entered the fight with a career record of 31-0 (25 knockouts), including two victories in tune-ups since being reinstated after a three and a half year layoff from the sport.

The 27-year-old Frazier was in his prime with a 26-0 record, including 23 wins by knockout.

This battle of titans brought out many of the stars of the day, including Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Dustin Hoffman, Diana Ross and Woody Allen. Just to ensure they were close to the action, Sinatra served as a photographer for Life magazine and Lancaster served as a “color commentator” on the television broadcast. Read the rest of this entry →

It will take more than just the "Big 3" if the Miami Heat hope to win a championship.

The recent struggles of the Miami Heat offer another reminder that it takes more than just having great players to make a great team. Though the Heat have two of the best players in the game in Lebron James and Dwyane Wade and another All Star in Chris Bosh, they have yet to develop the chemistry needed to become championship contenders.

Through NBA history, there have been many teams with two or three superstars. However, what has helped some squads rise above the others to championship level has often been having a supporting cast specifically designed to accent the strengths of the star players.

Here is a look at five teams that had at least two superstars, but became super teams because of the supporting cast that filled specific roles and allowed the stars to be stars.

1980s Los Angeles Lakers – Arguably, the trio of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and James Worthy makes James, Wade and Bosh look like the Three Stooges. When you add to the mix players like Byron Scott, Norm Nixon, Mychal Thompson, Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, A.C. Green, Jamaal Wilkes and Bob McAdoo you have the makings of a team that won five World Championships and reached four other NBA Finals in a 12 year stretch.

1980s Boston Celtics – To compete with the great Lakers teams, the Boston Celtics of the 1980s had to have their own stable of superstars and great supporting players. While the supporting cast evolved over the decade, the trio of Larry Bird, Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale was constant. At various times during the decade, the supporting cast that helped them to three titles and five finals in the decade included Tiny Archibald, Chris Ford, Cedric Maxwell, Gerald Henderson, Rick Robey , Danny Ainge, Quinn Buckner, Dennis Johnson, Scott Wedman, Bill Walton and M.L. Carr. Read the rest of this entry →

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game on March 2, 1962.

Given his larger than life personality and talent, it is very possible that were he playing in today’s modern media era, Wilt Chamberlain would dwarf Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade, Shaq and the rest both on and off the court.

At 7-foot-1, Chamberlain was a scoring machine like no other. For much of his career, scoring as many as 50 or 60 points in a game wasn’t a “special” night, it was a routine. During the 1961-62 season, Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points per game and became the only NBA player to top 4,000 points in a season.

In fact, his career scoring average of 30.1 points is actually a point and a half higher than the 2010-11 average of the NBA’s current leading scorer (Kevin Durant averaging 28.5 ppg).

It was 49 years ago today that Chamberlain had his finest offensive night and one that will certainly never be duplicated.

As a member of the Philadelphia Warriors, Chamberlain scored 100 points on March 2, 1962 against the New York Knicks in a game played at Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The late season game wasn’t expected to be overly exciting and in fact there is no known video from the game. There is a radio broadcast that I have included below.

Chamberlain scored 41 points in the first half, which wasn’t overly exciting considering he had topped 60 points 17 times already during the season and 32 times in his three year NBA career.

However, Warriors coach Frank McGuire instructed his players to keep feeding Chamberlain the ball during the second half and the points started to pile up.

As he neared 100 points, the Knicks started fouling the other Warrior players to keep Chamberlain from getting the ball. The Warriors then started fouling the Knicks to slow down the game and give Chamberlain more chances.

He finally reached 100 points in the final minute and the game was halted for nine minutes as fans ran onto the court to celebrate Chamberlain’s milestone.

What made Chamberlain’s 100 point game possible was his uncanny free throw shooting for that game. Chamberlain converted 28 of 32 foul shots (.875), which is far greater than his career average of .511 from the line. He also connected on 36 of 63 field goal attempts in the 169-147 victory.

Below are some audio and video clips that remember Chamberlain and his record setting night:
Read the rest of this entry →

31 years ago the U.S. Olympic Hockey team performed the greatest miracle in sports history.

Thirty-one years ago today, the United States Olympic Hockey team shocked the Soviet Union in a moment that became known as the “Miracle On Ice”.

With that in mind, here is a list of the 20 most memorable miracles in sports history.

The criteria for this list is that the moment or series of moments must have “miracle” in the title.

20. Miracle on Fourth Avenue (College Football) November 13, 1982

Years before the “Music City Miracle”, there was the “Miracle on Fourth Avenue”.

With 17 seconds to go and the game tied at 27-27 after a Texas Tech field goal, the SMU Mustangs

took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown when Blaine Smith picked up a squib kick and fired a lateral across his nine-yard-line to Bobby Leach, who caught the ball after one bounce and raced down the sidelines for a 91-yard touchdown to give the #2 Mustangs a 34-27 win and kept their undefeated season alive.

SMU would finish the season with a 10-0-1 record and #2 in both major polls.

Note: The game was played at Texas Tech’s football stadium, Jones Stadium, located on Fourth Avenue.

19. Miracle on 33rd Street (NFL) Fall 1975

After a 1-4 start, it appeared that the Baltimore Colts on their way to another bad season following a 2-12 effort in 1974.

But in a remarkable turnaround, the Colts won their last nine games to finish the season with a 10-4 record and win the first of three straight AFC East titles.

This led to NFL Films titling the team’s 1975 highlight film as “Miracle on 33rd Street”.

Note: The Colts played their games at Memorial Stadium, which was located on 33rd Street in Baltimore. Read the rest of this entry →

Dorothy Hamill captured the heart of America at the 1976 Winter Olympics.

The grace and art of ladies figure skating has always been captivating to Americans. From the days of Sonja Henie, to Carol Heiss, Peggy Fleming, Katarina Witt and more recently to Tara Lipinski, Sarah Hughes and Yuna Kim, success on the Olympic stage has meant international fame and recognition for the greatest women on ice.

Perhaps no skater has quite captured the hearts and captivated the interest of both die-hard and casual fans more than a red-cheeked young lady who skated her way into the hearts of many Americans 35 years ago.

It seems difficult to believe that it was indeed 35 years ago, February 13, 1976, when Dorothy Hamill gave the performance of a lifetime to capture the Olympic Gold Medal in Innsbruck.

Not only did Hamil capture the gold medal, but her illuminating smile, beauty and hairstyle led her to be dubbed “America’s Sweetheart.”

Her trademark camel spin that turned into a sit spin became known as the “Hamill camel.” Her bobbed hairstyle created an American fad as teenage girls across the U.S. soon were sporting a similar look.

After winning the Olympic Gold, Hamill won the World Championships and then retired from competition. She spent eight years as a headliner with the Ice Capades and in the ensuing years has been involved in numerous skating ventures.

She also has been twice married and divorced and gone through bankruptcy and fought breast cancer.

Yet to anyone who saw her compete in Innsbruck, she will always be “America’s Sweetheart.”

Below is the freestyle program that won her the gold medal in 1976.

Aaron Rodgers didn't have just one great game, his play throughout the Playoffs lifted Green Bay to the title.

With his MVP performance in Super Bowl XLV, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has just completed on of the finest postseason runs in NFL history.

In light of this accomplishment and recent articles about the greatest individual performances in NFL playoff and Super Bowl history, here are the 10 greatest performances over the course of a single postseason in NFL history.

10. Thurman Thomas-1990 Buffalo Bills
Thomas showed his versatility as he gained 544 yards of total offense in three games during the Bills’ first of four runs to the Super Bowl.

Thomas run for more than 100 yards in all three games, rushing for 390 yards on 72 carries and scored four touchdowns, to go along with 13 catches for 154 yards.

But Buffalo fell short of winning the Super Bowl as Scott Norwood missed his potential game-winning field goal against the New York Giants.

9. Kurt Warner-1999 St. Louis Rams
The former grocery clerk completed his Cinderella season as he became the first quarterback as Warner completed 77 of 121 passes for 1, 063 yards, 414 of those yards coming in Super Bowl XXXIV, and threw eight touchdown passes, including the game-winning touchdown passes in the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl, to lead the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl title after nine non-winning seasons for the franchise. Read the rest of this entry →