The Sports Archives History Lesson – Super Bowl’s Youngest Winning Quarterbacks

Posted on January 20, 2011 by thesportsarchives

As of January 20, 2011, the sports archive for the youngest winning quarterback in Super Bowl sports history goes to Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Roethlisberger was 23 years old when he led the Steelers over the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10 in Super Bowl XL in 2006.

The 21st Century also brought to us, Tom Brady, now the second youngest quarterback to win the Super Bowl, who in 2002,  led the New England Patriots over the favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI at age 24.

Before this decade, we had to go back to 1982 for Super Bowl XVI and 1969 for Super Bowl III when Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers and Joe Namath of the New York Jets beat their opponents, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Colts, respectively, at the young age of 25 years and 227 days old.  That’s right, they were the same age when they won their first Super Bowl!

Posted in Football | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Sports Archives Greatest Rivalries – Tennis Siblings

Posted on January 19, 2011 by thesportsarchives

Who can write a sports archives blog about sibling rivalry in tennis without mentioning Serena and Venus Williams? The Williams sisters have pushed their own limits as well as each others buttons for the longest time, both growing up and in tournament play.

It seems Serena has been the underdog to her big sister Venus in the early years losing to her in a junior tournament at 9 years old and then having lost 5 of their first 6 professional matches. However, the turnabout happened in 2002 and Serena beat Venus in the French Open, at Wimbledon and the US Open. Serena ranked #1 and Venus ranked #2 in late 2002. That must have been some Thanksgiving at the Williams house!

We go back to 1884 when another pair of sisters, Lillian and Maud Watson battled each other in the first Wimbledon women’s final. Maud felled her sister in three sets. William Renshaw took bragging rights in his family having beat his brother Ernest in the Wimbledon finals of 1882, 1883 and 1889.

Posted in Tennis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Sports Archives – Venus Williams Wins In Style

Posted on January 18, 2011 by thesportsarchives

What caught fans eyes yesterday at the Australian Open was not that it was Venus Williams who was playing nor the fact that she won 6-3, 6-2, but rather the fact that so much of her talent was revealed.  Not of course by just the fact that she won when she was up against Sara Errani but rather based on the fact that her tennis outfit was even more revealing than ever.  In fact, she has come to be known for sporting such revealing outfits such as when she wore her extremely flashy dress at the New York 2010 US Open or when she wore her can-can dress last year at this same Australian Open.

But perhaps Ms. Williams believes she is entitled to wear such eye-catching outfits since she knows that she is ranked as the World No. 5 in Singles and the World No. 5 in doubles.  Clearly, despite her taste in clothes she is still known as one of the world’s top women tennis players and she clearly played up to her reputation at the Open yesterday.  In addition to this, Ms. Williams has also won three Olympic Gold Medals, one for women’s singles and two Gold Medals for women’s doubles.  She has even more brag rights, having earned more Olympic Gold Medals than any other female tennis player.

O.K. Venus.  I guess you have earned the right to strut your stuff.  Revealing outfit or not, she clearly kept true to her image at the Australian Open yesterday and showed what a truly amazing women tennis player she is.

More of Venus Williams here.

Posted in Tennis | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Sports Archives Greatest Upsets – Islanders beat Penguins in 1993 Playoffs

Posted on January 17, 2011 by thesportsarchives

It was the 1992-93 NHL hockey season and the Pittsburgh Penguins were dominating play.  Mario Lemieux was top scorer and season MVP.  The New York Islanders came into the playoffs 32 points behind Pittsburgh but upset the Washington Capitals in the division semi-finals 4 – 2.    That set the stage for an Islander – Penguin showdown for the division finals after Pittsburgh glided by the New Jersey Devils.

Pittsburgh had the big guns with Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis. However, the Islanders’ hot goaltending from Glenn Healy and a combined overall work effort from all four lines saw the Islanders tied with the Penguins going into game 7 overtime!  Then, out of nowhere, on a 2 on 1 break, unsung hero David Volek scores the winning goal at 5:16 of overtime stifling the Pittsburgh arena and the Penguins’ hopes of winning the Stanley Cup.

The Islanders fizzled out against their next opponent, the Montreal Canadiens who eventually went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Posted in Hockey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Boxing’s “The Fighter” Micky Ward

Posted on January 15, 2011 by thesportsarchives

The movie, “The Fighter”, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale is about the life and times of former junior welterweight boxer, “Irish” Micky Ward.

Ward started his career out strong, winning his first 14 fights, but then took time off after losing 4 consecutive bouts.   After surgery on Ward’s right hand, his half-brother and former boxer, Dicky Eklund (played by Christian Bale) convinced Ward to go back into the ring, during a time when Eklund was experiencing his own personal trauma.

Ward’s return to boxing was a success and it set the stage for what would become three of the most tenacious fights against evenly matched Arturo Gatti. The fights were so intense that both men required trips to the hospital.  Ward managed to win the first of the trilogy, however, Gatti was victorious in the last two.  All were won by decision despite knockdowns by both boxers!

Sugar Ray Leonard, who beat Dicky Eklund in a unanimous decision in 1978, makes a cameo appearance.

The Fighter

"The Fighter" Theatrical Poster

Posted in Boxing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Sports Archives History Lesson – Rocket Richard Riot

Posted on January 12, 2011 by thesportsarchives

The anglophone and the francophone have shared a history in Canadien hockey.  Perhaps in the 1950s, there was more of a rivalry then one cared to notice.  The francophone Maurice “The Rocket” Richard did more than score goals, he also amassed many penalty minutes for his rough style of play.  Consequently, he was handed down many fines and suspensions from the NHL President and anglophone, Clarence Campbell, as disciplinary action.

On March 13, 1955, in a game between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, Richard injures a Bruin in deliberate fashion and punches a linesman.  Campbell responds harshly, suspending Richard for the rest of the season.  This causes quite a stir because Richard was seeking to win the scoring title and the Canadiens were in first place seeking another Stanley Cup.

Well, Campbell must have had a death wish, because he goes and attends the next Montreal home game at the Montreal Forum and that was just too much for the Habs.  They throw food at him and a riot ensues inside and outside the Forum, complete with looting and tear gas.  So goes the “Rocket Richard Riot” of St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1955.

More about “The Rocket” and the riot here.

Posted in Hockey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Hockey Goals 2 Seconds Apart!

Posted on January 11, 2011 by thesportsarchives

In a game between the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues on December 19, 1987, the Blues’ Doug Gilmour scored just 2 seconds after Ken Linseman scored for the Bruins.

The Blues were up 6-4 when Linseman closed the gap to 6-5 with 10 seconds left in the game.  On the following face-off at center ice, the Bruins had pulled the goaltender for an extra skater and when the puck was dropped, Gilmour smacked it directly at the empty net which took 2 seconds to get there!    Official time of the goal was 19:52 and the Blues won the game 7-5.

Posted in Hockey | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Maradona’s Hand of God Goal

Posted on January 9, 2011 by thesportsarchives

Diego Maradona is still considered one of the greatest soccer players in the world, despite a history of misfortune.  With his deceptive style of dribbling and quick bursts of speed, he was able to lead Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986.  His ball-handling with his feet wasn’t the only thing deceptive about his play in the 1986 World Cup.   He scored the first goal in Argentina’s 2-1  quarter-final victory against England in a very deceptive style.  In what looked to be a Maradona header into England’s goal turned out to be ball deflected in by Maradona’s hand.  Replays clearly showed Maradona raising his hand and punching at the ball.  However, the goal stood.

Maradona later described the goal as coming from a little with his head and little with the hand of God.  It wasn’t until 2005 that Maradona confessed that he purposely hit the ball with his hand and immediately knew that it should not have counted.  His second goal that day against England stands out as of the greatest goals in the history of the World Cup, running half-field with the ball at his feet and blowing by five English defenders before putting it home.

After the 1986 World Cup, things turned worse for Maradona as he failed a drug test for the 1994 World Cup and was banished from the tournament.  His drug addiction, alcohol abuse and personal problems would continue until 2005 at which time his deteriorating health forced him to clean up his act.

In 2010, Maradona coached the Argentina National team in the 2010 World Cup losing to Germany in the quarter-finals.

Maradona Hand of God Goal

Maradona Hand of God Goal

Posted in Soccer | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Brandi Chastain clinching 1999 Women’s World Cup

Posted on January 7, 2011 by thesportsarchives

You could not have designed a better finish to the Women’s 1999 World Cup!  The United States and China had just battled to a scoreless draw after overtime and US goalkeeper Brianna Scurry just made a critical save which set the stage for Brandi Chastain to convert what would be the winning goal.

Chastain, a defender, was not known for her goal scoring abilities, but she did not hesitate in putting the winner into the back of net.  Afterwards,  she ran and fell to her knees, stripping off her shirt and revealing a black sports bra to the 90,000 plus crowd at the Rose Bowl, the largest audience to any women’s sporting event.

Many people thought the bra-baring incident to be tasteless and inappropriate.  I assume these people don’t watch enough men’s professional soccer.  These same people must have fainted at Janet Jackson’s breast-baring episode during the Super Bowl intermission!

Brandi Chastain 1999 World Cup

Brandi Chastain after scoring penalty kick shootout goal in 1999 Women's World Cup.

Posted in Soccer | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Pele and Brazil 1958 World Cup Victory

Posted on January 5, 2011 by thesportsarchives

Pele was Brazil and Brazil was Pele.  During the 1958 World Cup Tournament which Brazil won, Pele lead all Brazil scorers with 6 goals and all of which came in the knockout round.  He scored 1 against Wales in the quarter-finals, a hat trick against France in the semis,  2 against Sweden in the finals, and he was only 17 years old! He was the youngest player to ever score an international goal when he netted his first goal for Brazil at age 16 against rival Argentina.

After the victory, European clubs looked to recruit the superstar, however, Brazil intervened and declared Pele to be an official national treasure and any trade would be forbidden.

Pele was so recognized and internationally respected that a cease-fire to the Biafran War was declared in 1967 so that Pele could visit both sides of the front!

Pele was instrumental in starting the North American Soccer League playing for the New York Cosmos in 1975 and leading them to the 1977 NASL championship in his final season.  During his final professional game in 1977, in front of a 75,000 plus crowd at the Meadowlands, Pele led a chant of “Love! Love! Love!” and then proceeded to play the first half with the New York Cosmos and the second half with his old Brazilian team, Santos, the Cosmos’ opponent.  Pele wore his #10 for both teams.

Many people agree that nobody has meant more to a sport than Pele has meant to soccer.  Soccer is Pele and Pele is soccer!

Pele Bicycle Kick

Pele Bicycle Kick against Belgium in 1968

Posted in Soccer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment