Sports History Network July 13, 1930 – The first-ever football (soccer) World Cup competition begins in Uruguay. When soccer was dropped as a competitive sport for the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, FIFA President Jules Rimet decided to organize an international tournament for 1930. European football fans were disgruntled when, Uruguay, the winner of back-to-back gold medals at the … Read more
July 12, 1931 – Crowd control or crowd in control? It was an odd occurrence indeed caused by the fan placement. When the hated Chicago Cubs came to St Louis to play the Cardinals 45,715 fans paid and entered into the 35,000 seating capacity stadium of Sportsman Park. The throng of onlookers started arriving at 5 … Read more
For nearly twenty years (1966-85), the Baltimore Orioles were a team to be reckoned with. But those 1966-71 teams were, well, something to behold, and here’s why. It’s quite a story–from losing big to winning big. The losing part came at the beginning; from their first year as a Major League baseball team in 1901, … Read more
A former running back for the 1972 Undefeated Miami Dolphins spoke to me recently about his team’s efforts to win Super Bowl VII back at the conclusion of the 1972 NFL season. As it turned out, it took losing the biggest game of the year to enable them to win the biggest game of the … Read more
July 11, 1950 – In Chicago at good ole Comiskey Park, the 17th All-Star Baseball Game took place. This was the first televised MLB All-Star game and it brought quite a good contest, filled with drama and star power into American living rooms across the country as it was also the 1st extra-inning All-Star Game. It … Read more