Sports History Network August 11, 1984 – World-class sprinter Carl Lewis earned the title of the fastest man on the planet, He repeated what Jesse Owens had accomplished almost 50 years earlier in 1936, by winning a fourth Olympic gold medal as part of the US 4 x 100m relay team. That relay team set a world record of 37.83 … Read more
August 10, 1944 – Bucky Walters of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a whale of a game, allowing only 6 hits by the Boston Braves, and if it weren’t for some wacky and weird fielding by his defense he would have had a shutout. However, the opposing hurler, ironically named Charley “Red” Barrett (a former Cincy player), threw only … Read more
The multi-talented Ladd excelled at football, wrestling, and basketball. Ernie “The Big Cat” Ladd. Mention his name to any sports fan born in the 1960s or 1970s, and most folks would likely remember him as a pro wrestler. I was born in 1962, and that is how I remember him. I didn’t know at the … Read more
August 9, 1977 – The National Hockey League voted to refuse a merger of six World Hockey Association franchises. The NHL President John Ziegler reported that the NHL owners at the time rejected an offer to expand the League by absorbing 6 teams from the WHA. These 6 squads were the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, … Read more
August 8, 1870 – The very first America’s Cup boating race where the New York Yacht Club’s first defense of America’s Cup as the ‘Magic’ of the NYYC outsailed the ‘Cambria’ from the Royal Thames Yacht Club of England, who took a disappointing 8th place in the event. The website SailingScuttleButt.com says that this race opened up the … Read more
