The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Attitude Change for Golf’s Tommy Bolt

Posted on November 23, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Tommy Bolt won the National Open Golf Championship in 1958.  Prior to that, Bolt missed the championship a couple of times allegedly due to his terrible temper.   Often called the “terrible tempered  Mr. Bolt”, he would at times, break all his clubs after missing a putt.

Although a great golfer, fans were beginning to follow him around more for entertainment than his golf skills.   Fans would yell for him to miss the putt just so that can see him throw one of his tantrums!  All this was causing Bolt to lose focus as to why he was out there in the first place.

Bolt desperately wanted to succeed, so not only did he practice hitting golf balls, he practiced changing his attitude, namely from negative and ill-tempered to positive and even-tempered.  He transformed his thinking and success came knocking!

Credit:  The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking – Norman Vincent Peale

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Football’s Brian “B.D.” Dowling

Posted on November 22, 2010 by thesportsarchives

The character in Gary Trudeau’s “Doonesbury” comic strip that wears a football helmet and goes by the name B.D. was inspired by Trudeau’s Yale University classmate Brian Dowling.

Dowling was quarterback for Yale in the late 1960s and later for the New England Patriots in the NFL.  Dowling was 16-1-1 in his junior and senior years at Yale.  He later went on to become a sportscaster.

Brian B.D. Dowling

Brian "B.D." Dowling

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Olympic Harold “Odd Job” Sakata

Posted on November 17, 2010 by thesportsarchives

We all remember the bulky, treestump-looking, James Bond villain, “Odd Job” who was bodyguard to Auric Goldfinger and notorious for decapitating people by throwing his steel brimmed top hat in the same motion as one would fling a frisbee.

“Odd Job” was portrayed by the 1948 Olympic Silver medalist, Harold Sakata who was born on Hawaii from Japanese descent.  He won silver for light-heavyweight weightlifting and went on to become a wrestler named Tosh Togo.

But, of course, his favorite role was “Odd Job” and that name stuck to him beyond the Goldfinger movie.  He went on to play in other movies and commercials.

Sakata died of cancer on July 29, 1982.

Odd Job

Harold Sakata as Odd Job

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Ben Hogan Golf Tip

Posted on November 12, 2010 by thesportsarchives

We all know that Ben Hogan was one of the greatest golfers that ever played the game.  Maybe what we don’t know is to the degree of  extensive practice exercised by Hogan to find favor with the Gods of golf.

Hogan would apply a technique called muscle memory.   He would practice over and over the very same swing until his muscles “memorized” the exact pattern and motion.  Naturally, when he played in tournaments, he probably swung that club as easily as using a fork to feed himself!

I often wonder if Babe Ruth or Ted Williams applied the same technique with a baseball bat.

Source: The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale; Simon & Schuster Publishers

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Boxing’s Chuck “Rocky Balboa” Wepner

Posted on November 11, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Former heavyweight boxer and US Marine, Chuck Wepner, had his 15 minutes of fame back in 1975.  Actually, to put it more accurate, it wasn’t 15 minutes, it was 15 rounds of fame.

1975 was the year that Wepner, also known as the Bayonne Brawler and Bayonne Bleeder,  fought heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali and went 15 rounds with the champion.  Despite cuts above both eyes and a broken nose, Wepner was able to withstand Ali’s onslaught until 19 seconds left in the 15th round at which time Wepner finally hit the mat.

Sylvester Stallone modeled his character, Rocky Balboa, of the movie “Rocky” after Wepner and his bout with Ali.  The movie was very successful and sequels to “Rocky” were later produced.

Ali called his bout with Wepner, one of the toughest fights in his career!

Chuck Wepner

Chuck Wepner

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Baseball’s “The Natural”

Posted on November 10, 2010 by thesportsarchives

We all remember the movie “The Natural” with Robert Redford portraying Roy Hobbs, the fictional baseball player who played for a team called the New York Knights.

Did you ever wonder if there was any truth in the novel by Bernard Malamud? The story was loosely based on the life of Eddie Waitkus who played for the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies. He was known at the time as a member of the Phillies’ “Whiz Kids”.

Roy Hobbs in “The Natural” was shot by an obsessed fan but returns to play and lead the Knights. Eddie Waitkus was also shot by an obsessed fan, Ruth Steinhagen, who is quoted as saying “For two years you have been bothering me and now you are going to die.”

Waitkus did not die and was named Comeback Player of the Year helping to lead the Phillies to the pennant.  Waitkus, did however, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder because of the shooting, which impacted his career and his marriage.

Eddie Waitkus

Ruth Steinhagen

Ruth Steinhagen - woman who shot Eddie Waitkus

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Model for Heisman Trophy

Posted on November 9, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Frank Eliscu is the sculptor of the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, now better known as the Heisman Trophy.

When Eliscu was looking for a model for his cherished trophy, he didn’t have to look far. He asked a former high school classmate of his, Ed Smith, who at the time was playing football for New York University, to be the model for a project he was working on. Eliscu finished the sculpture in 1935.

It wasn’t until 1982 that Ed Smith was informed that he was the model used for the sculpting of the famed Heisman Trophy! Three years later he was awarded one of his own by the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy.

Heisman Trophy

Heisman Trophy

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Wide World of Sports “Agony of Defeat”

Posted on November 8, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Do you remember the theme song of ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” and the video of the tragic ski jump that narrator Jim Mckay announced as the ‘Agony of Defeat’?

Ever wonder who that jumper was and where the event occurred?

It was during the 1970 World Ski Flying Championships in Oberstdorf, West Germany that Vinko Bogataj from Yugloslavia, attempted a ski jump that was so tragic, it made it to the Wide World of Sports Highlight video in the worst way!

Wide World of Sports - Agony of Defeat

Wide World of Sports - Agony of Defeat

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Football’s Taunting Rule

Posted on November 6, 2010 by thesportsarchives

Excessive gyrations, spiking the football, and wild celebrations after scoring a touchdown were considered unsportsmanlike by the NFL. Consequently,  the league decided to install the “Taunting Rule” which prohibited teams and players to exhibit this type of behavior.

It is said that the sack dances by New York Jets‘ Mark Gastineau (one of the key members of the Jets’ “New York Sack Exchange” along with teammate Joe Klecko during the 1980s),  performed after his dramatic quarterback sacks, were what prompted the league to establish the “Taunting Rule”!

Mark Gastineau Sack Dance

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Baseball Umpire’s Hand Signals

Posted on November 5, 2010 by thesportsarchives

In the late 19th century there was a DEAF baseball player in the Major Leagues named Dummy Hoy who was unable to hear the umpire calls of pitched balls, strikes and outs.

This paved the way for the use of hand signals by baseball umpires to accompany their calling of the play. It probably also aided players out in the field who could not hear the call, that is before electronic scoreboards were used!

By the way, Dummy Hoy was one of the greatest players of the game and should have been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Read all about Dummy Hoy here.

Dummy Hoy Baseball Card

Dummy Hoy Baseball Card

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