The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – UCONN Womens Basketball Steak Ends at 90 Wins

Posted on January 3, 2011 by thesportsarchives

The University of Connecticut women’s basketball team is truly an amazing organization with a consistent record of success.  Coached by Geno Auriemma, the Huskies have won 7 NCAA Division I national championships.  They have advanced to the Final Four eleven times and have won over 30 Big East Conference Championships.

Some of Huskies most notable achievements are their recent 70 and 90 game winning streaks executed in the decade of 2000 to 2010.    They would win 70 straight games after losing to Notre Dame in March 2001.  It wasn’t until March 2003 when the Huskies would see their next loss, this time at the hands of an underdog Villanova team.

Stanford doused UCONN hopes in the 2007-08 season beating them 82-73 in the NCAA semifinals.  This was after UCONN lost only 1 game all season.  The Huskies would not see another loss until December 30, 2010, winning 90 straight games, a new NCAA record, until Stanford would once again burst their bubble.

The streaks exemplify how well the fundamentals are executed by the UCONN women’s basketball program.  Joe DiMaggio can probably relate to the amount of concentration and ability required to come out to play every day and to keep putting that ‘off-day’ off until later!

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UFC Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell Retires

Posted on December 30, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Chuck Liddell known as “The Iceman” has announced his retirement from the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 29, 2010. Liddell, along with Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture, was instrumental in introducing MMA (mixed martial arts) into American sports and entertainment culture.

Liddell earned the UFC light heavyweight title when he knocked-out Randy Couture in the first round of a bout on April 16, 2005. This victory avenged an earlier defeat to Couture in 2002 and Liddell would go on to defeat Couture again in 2006.

Liddell’s final match was against Rich Franklin on June 12, 2010 in which Franklin fractured his arm blocking a Liddell kick, but managed to knock out Liddell with his other arm in the first round.

Liddell also worked in front of the camera performing on “Dancing with the Stars” and in many movies, including “Drillbit Taylor” and “The Death and Life of Bobby Z”. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on July 10, 2009.

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Football and Baseball’s Ernie Nevers

Posted on December 28, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Ernie Nevers played professional football as a fullback for the Duluth Eskimos and Chicago Cardinals of the NFL.  He started his sports career as a professional baseball player for the St. Louis Browns.  In 1927, he overlapped sports by playing for baseball’s Browns and football’s Eskimos in the same year.

Nevers had better success playing football.  He would play both offense and defense and in every minute of all games.  This is unheard of in today’s game.  He once set a record for most points in a game by a single player when he scored 6 Cardinal touchdowns and kicked 4 extra points; a total of 40 points against the crosstown-rival Chicago Bears.

At Stanford University, in a 1925 battle against the University of California, Nevers ran the ball on every Stanford offensive play except for three.

In baseball, Nevers gave up 2 home runs to Babe Ruth during Ruth’s record-setting 60 home run season.  Nevers soon made people forget those home runs when he turned his sight to the NFL!

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Boxing Legend Henry Armstrong

Posted on December 27, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Henry Jackson Jr., better known as Henry Armstrong, was one of the greatest fighters of all times.  He won titles in three divisions (Featherweight, Lightweight, and Welterweight)  during the years 1937-1940 when there weren’t many weight divisions.

He won over 75% of his bouts by knockout and he only stood 5 feet and 5 and one-half inches.  His reach was 67 inches.

He was known in the ring as ‘Hurricane Hank’, ‘Homicide Hank’ and ‘Hammering Hank’.  During a stretch between October 9 and October 30, 1939, he accepted five welterweight title defenses and won them all!

Read more about Armstrong here.

Henry Armstrong

Henry Armstrong (right)

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Stanley Cup Playoffs Closed Due To Flu

Posted on December 26, 2010 by thesportsarchives

The year was 1919 and the Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) were a very talented hockey team.  They became the first American based team to win the Stanley Cup by beating the Montreal Canadiens (then of the NHA) in 1917.

They were all set to repeat the feat in 1919 and were tied 2-2-1 going into the sixth game when the Spanish Flu epidemic struck.  Due to the mass illness, the decision was made to cancel the playoffs and the championship that year.  Probably most disappointed was Seattle’s Frank Foyston who scored 8 goals in the first 4 games.

Seattle Metropolitans

Seattle Metropolitans

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Duke’s 1992 Overtime Win Over Kentucky

Posted on December 25, 2010 by thesportsarchives

In one of the most amazing games ever played, the Duke Blue Devils came away with 104-103 overtime victory against the University of Kentucky Wildcats in the 1992 NCAA tournament.

Number 2 Kentucky had just taken the lead with 2.5 seconds left on the clock after Kentucky’s Sean Woods hit a running one-hander and seemed in control of the elite eight match-up. Duke took a timeout with just 2.1 seconds left in the overtime. Trailing by one, Duke’s Grant Hill put the ball into play by throwing it three quarters down court only to be caught by none other than Christian Laettner. If you follow Duke, you know that Laettner denied the University of Connecticut Huskies just two years earlier when he hit a 15-footer just before the buzzer in overtime. Laettner did it again, hitting a turn-around jumper at the top of the key just before the buzzer with Kentucky players in his face.

The pass and the jump shot which sunk Kentucky is one of the greatest moments in college basketball history.

See it here.

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Montreal Canadiens Overtime Playoff Victories

Posted on December 24, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Who better than the Montreal Canadiens to represent the NHL in the most playoff overtime victories on route to the Stanley Cup?

It was 1993 and the Canadiens battled through every post-season series despite ending up with a 16-4 playoff record. What is hidden behind that playoff won-loss record is the fact that 10 out of those 16 victories were won in overtime. To win 10 OT victories is quite a feat, but to do it consecutively, which is what the Canadiens did, deserves special honors.

Montreal came back from 2 down in the initial series against the Quebec Nordiques, winning 2 overtime games in that series.   They never looked back and swept the Buffalo Sabres, winning 3 in overtime.  After that came the New York Islanders who went down 4 games to 1 and 2 in OT.  Finally, after winning the first game, the Los Angeles Kings went down 4 straight, 3 of which were OT losses.

The Canadien’s goalie Patrick Roy was instrumental in Montreal’s overtime win streak and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy accordingly.

It may be a while before another NHL team breaks this one!

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Hockey’s Bobby Orr Stanley Cup Winning Goal

Posted on December 23, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Bobby Orr joined the NHL Boston Bruins in 1966 at a time when the Bruins had not won a Stanley Cup since 1941.  Orr was one of the greatest players to ever play the game and remains the only defenseman to win the league scoring title.

It was May 10, 1970 and the Bruins were on the verge of winning the cherished cup after 29 years of disappointment.  Boston and the St. Louis Blues were tied after regulation which set the stage for young Orr to perform his magic.  Just 40 seconds in, Orr took a pass from behind the net and put it past the Blue’s goalie who was reaching to deflect it.  Just after Orr saw it go into the net, he lunged in the air, his body parallel to the ice and about 4 feet above it.  His teammates mobbed him and the video and photos became known as one of the greatest moments in Hockey history.

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Football’s Four Downs

Posted on December 17, 2010 by thesportsarchives

It was 1881, and there were no football rules established to mandate the amount of gained yards required for a team to renew their offensive set of ‘downs’ in an effort to reach the goal.  In fact, the word ‘down’ was not used in collegiate or professional football the way it is interpreted today.  The ball carrier would announce ‘Down’ to effectively stop play which is similar to the terms ‘Held’ and ‘Have it Down’ in 19th Century rugby.

In that same year, Yale played Princeton in a match that is known as “The Block Game”.  The matched earned this name because during the entire first half, Princeton possessed the ball without an attempt at scoring.  The second half was owned entirely by Yale which effectively did the same thing.

“The Block Game” inspired the rule change that required the offensive team to attempt to gain at least 5 yards in 3 tries or ‘downs’ or consequently, give up the ball!

Credit: Sports Know it All by Andrew Postman and Larry Stone.

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Baseball’s Bob Feller

Posted on December 16, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Bob Feller was a great baseball pitcher that played 18 years for the Cleveland Indians.  He was born and raised in Van Meter, Iowa and became know as “The Heater from Van Meter” for his high velocity fast ball.

He was one of “The Big Four” Indian pitchers, along with Bob Lemon, Early Wynn and Mike Garcia, to strike fear into the hearts of the batters they faced.  Feller’s fast ball was once clocked at 107.6 mph.   He threw a no-hitter on Opening Day of the 1940 season striking out 18 Detroit Tigers.

Feller grew up on a farm and his mother was a registered nurse and teacher.  On Mother’s Day in 1939, Feller was pitching against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago and his family drove from Iowa to see the game.  Mother’s Day was going well until Feller threw a pitch that was fouled off by Chicago batter Marv Owen and hit Feller’s mother breaking her glasses and cutting her face.  Feller asked for time so that he can tend to his mother.  After seeing everything was alright, he struck out Owen and went on to win the game.

Bob Feller moved on to that great baseball diamond in the sky at the age of 92.

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