Here is the first of many articles to come looking back at the history of the upcoming week.
January 12
1966 – Red Auerbach, coach of the Boston Celtics, records his 1,000th career victory with a 114-102 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
1969 – New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath, who guaranteed a victory before the game against the 17-point favorite Baltimore Colts, leads the AFL to its first Super Bowl victory, 16-7. The Colts had lost only once in 16 games all season.
1971 – Lenny Wilkens of Seattle scored 21 points in the West’s 108-107 win over the East in San Diego. He was named All-Star Game MVP.
1975 – The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense shut down Minnesota’s offense, handing the Vikings their third Super Bowl defeat, 16-6.
1986 – The Chicago Bears become the first team to have consecutive shutouts in the NFL playoffs with a 24-0 win over the Los Angeles Rams. The Bears beat the New York Giants a week earlier 21-0.
1991 – Princeton beats Cornell 164-71 in an unusual swimming meet. Due to a blizzard making transportation to Ithaca, N.Y., a problem, the schools agree to compete by telephone. Both teams swim in their own pools and the results are exchanged by fax.
1992 – The Washington Redskins reach their fifth Super Bowl and their fourth under coach Joe Gibbs with a 41-10 rout of the Detroit Lions.
2012 – Dwight Howard breaks Wilt Chamberlain’s nearly-50-year-old NBA record for most free throw attempts in a game. Howard made 21 of 39 in the Orlando Magic’s 117-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Chamberlain shot 34 for the Philadelphia Warriors against St. Louis in 1962.
2013 – Colin Kaepernick rushes for a quarterback playoff record 181 yards and two touchdowns. He also throws two touchdown passes to receiver Michael Crabtree in San Francisco’s 45-31 win over the Packers.
2015 – Ezekiel Elliott rushes for 246 yards and four touchdowns as Ohio State wins the first national title in College Football’s playoff era. They beat Oregon, 42-20.
Birthdays
1960: Dominique Wilkins – NBA
1981: Dan Klecko – NFL
1982: Dontrelle Willis – MLB
January 13
1998 – ABC and ESPN negotiate to keep “Monday Night Football” for more than $1 billion per season.
1999 – Michael Jordan announces his retirement from the NBA.
Birthdays
1961: Kent Hull – NFL
1962: Kevin Mitchell – MLB
1972: Bam Morris – NFL
January 14
1973 – The Miami Dolphins beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII, officially becoming the first only team to complete a perfect season.
Birthdays
1980: Byron Leftwich – NFL
January 15
1967 – The first official Super Bowl was played, featuring a matchup between the NFL’s Green Bay Packers and AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs in Los Angeles. The Packers, led by head coach Vince Lombardi, were the heavy favorites. The Packers went to the locker room with a 14-10 lead at halftime. The Chiefs wouldn’t score again, and Green Bay went on to win, 35-10.
1990 – 41-year-old George Foreman, who once again came out of retirement, fought Gerry Cooney in the ring in Atlantic City, N.J.
1997 – Chicago Bull Dennis Rodman kicked a cameraman in the groin during a game in Minnesota. He was fined $25,000 and suspended without pay for 11 games.
Birthdays
1953: Randy White – NFL
1965: Bernard Hopkins – Boxer
1969: Domino Deshields – MLB 1979 Drew Brees – NFL
1980: Matt Holiday – MLB
January 16
Birthdays
1966: Jack McDowell – MLB
1969: Roy Jones, Jr. – Boxer
1980: Albert Pujols – MLB
January 17
1988 – A year earlier, John Elway and the Broncos defeated the Cleveland Browns in the AFC Championship Game. This game would come to be known simply as “The Fumble.” The Browns and Broncos met for a rematch in the AFC Championship Game, and Cleveland found themselves trailing 28-10 early in the third quarter. But the Browns scored 28 unanswered points in just over 15 minutes, tying the game at 31. After Elway and Broncos re-gained the lead, on what could have very well been the game-tying drive, Cleveland’s Earnest Byner was stripped of the ball. The Broncos recovered, smashing Cleveland’s dreams of payback.
Birthdays
1960: Chili Davis – MLB
1970: Jeremy Roenick – NHL
1974: Derrick Mason – NFL
1982: Dwyane Wade – NBA
January 18
2013 – Cyclist Lance Armstrong sat down with Oprah Winfrey and finally admitted to doping in all seven of his Tour de France victories. He had previously denied the allegations for years.
Birthdays
1961: Mark Messier – NHL
1964: Brady Anderson – MLB
1980: Julius Peppers – NFL
2 Responses
Nice idea and concept. But the read was a cluster.. you know what. No way to see what happened on what day. Good thing I know sports..
What the hell is this??? This was the hardest thing I read since my first book. Does this site not have editors? What day is what?