On February 19, 1996 the Sporting World lost one of the more colorful characters ever to own a Major League sports franchise. Charles Oscar Finley passed away in Chicago just days before what would have been his 78th birthday. The Alabama born Finley packed alot into his almost 78 years of life. After hitting hit big in the insurance business after World War II he set his sights on making it big as a baseball owner. He tried in 1954 to buy the Philadelphia Athletics from the Mack family. Several attempts later just after losing out on a chance to buy the Los Angeles American League expansion franchise that went to Gene Autry, his chance finally came when the then Kansas City Athletics went up for sale again.
Those began one of the stranger eras in sports history. Many of his innovations did not go over real well. They are too numberous to have any kind of discussion in this forum. His choice of uniform colors was not the first choice of many of the players, however many of them took him up on the offer of a $300 bonus to grow a moustache. Finley must of had some sort of an itch to move the club away from Kansas City as he courted as many as six other cities before settling on Oakland, California as the new home of the club, after he was denied a chance to move to Louisville, Kentucky.
What many people do not realize was that the A's were not his only team. In 1970, he purchased the Oakland Seals of the National Hockey League and owned them for 4 years. Two years later the Seals were moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1972 he purchased the Memphis Club of the American Basketball Association and renamed them the TAMs (Tennessee-Alabama-Mississippi). He would own the team for two years. He also tried to start his own football league in 1987.
The stories about Finley during his 20 year tenure as owner of the A's would fill volumes. The battles he had micromanaging players and his own field managers were frequent. He was the owner they loved to hate.
He will probably never great elected to any hall of fame but, he did leave quite a legacy of stories behind.
We move now to the answer of yesterdays trivia question. The question should have been an easy one for frequent readers of this blog as I took it from the one post of the blog that has been read the most the December 30, 2010 "A Forum First", the answer being the Kings Hockey team played before the Lakers. Todays trivia question is what is the name of the league where the Baltimore Ravens franchise originated. The answer will be in tomorrows post about the third baseball league ever formed. Have a great day!!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
A Few Soccer Games
Many Soccer games end with very little or no scoring at all. Not all Soccer games are played this way. As I stated yesterday, when two countries get together for a sporting event scores can get out of hand, even in Soccer. We start today on February 18, 1882 at Knock Ground in Belfast, Ireland. The English were playing only their 14th international match and playing the Irish for the very first time. The English had only played the Scottish or Welsh teams before this match. The English scored a 13-1 win over the Irish. Their previous record for most goals was 7 in a match against Scotland in 1878. The leading scorers for the match were Howard Vaughton and Arthur Alfred Brown, both of whom were making their international debuts with the team. Vaughton who scored 5 goals, was just 40 days past his 21st birthday. He would only play in 5 matchs in just over two years, he would score only one more career goal. Brown who scored 4 goals, was a month shy of his 23rd birthday. He would play in only three career matchs with the English National team over the course of the next month, he would not score another goal. Both played for the Aston Villa Club from Birmingham.
Before the 19th Century was done the two clubs would play each other many times. The last time was on February 18, 1899 at Roker Park in Sunderland during the British Home Championships. If guessed that the English tied their record for most goals in a single match with 13, you would be correct!! They did win the match by a score of 13-2, leaving the Irish still waiting for their first win over the English. The English lead the game at halftime by a score of 5-2. They were led this time by their captain Gilbert Oswald Smith and Jimmy Settle. Smith scored 4 of his career 11 goals in the match, was considered the best soccer player of the century. Settle was like Brown and Vaughton made his international debut against Ireland in a blowout scoring 3 of his career 6 goals in the game. Settle would play only 6 international matchs with half of them against Ireland.
The English and the Irish are not the only teams that can play a blowout game on February 18th. We move forward into the present century all the way to 2006. The teams for this game at Cap d'Ail, France were Monaco and Chechnya. The club from the breakway Russian Republic of Chechnya scored only one goal. If you guessed that the club from the tiny country of Monaco scored 13 goals, once again you are correct. Three soccer games, three teams scoring 13 goals. The number 13 cant be unlucky for everyone!
For those of you looking for the answer to yesterdays trivia question here it is: Of the ten Major League ballparks in history that are at 10 feet in altitude or less the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum has hosted the most games by far with 3413. The ballpark sits at sea level and is the lowest MLB ballpark in elevation ever. My thanks to the folks at Seamheads.com for that question. Todays trivia question is The Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and the Los Angeles Kings hockey team shared the Forum in Inglewood, California from the end of 1967 until their seasons ended in early 1999. The question is which team played their first game in the new facility first? Tomorrow the answer to todays question and a look at one of baseballs more interesting owners ever.
Before the 19th Century was done the two clubs would play each other many times. The last time was on February 18, 1899 at Roker Park in Sunderland during the British Home Championships. If guessed that the English tied their record for most goals in a single match with 13, you would be correct!! They did win the match by a score of 13-2, leaving the Irish still waiting for their first win over the English. The English lead the game at halftime by a score of 5-2. They were led this time by their captain Gilbert Oswald Smith and Jimmy Settle. Smith scored 4 of his career 11 goals in the match, was considered the best soccer player of the century. Settle was like Brown and Vaughton made his international debut against Ireland in a blowout scoring 3 of his career 6 goals in the game. Settle would play only 6 international matchs with half of them against Ireland.
The English and the Irish are not the only teams that can play a blowout game on February 18th. We move forward into the present century all the way to 2006. The teams for this game at Cap d'Ail, France were Monaco and Chechnya. The club from the breakway Russian Republic of Chechnya scored only one goal. If you guessed that the club from the tiny country of Monaco scored 13 goals, once again you are correct. Three soccer games, three teams scoring 13 goals. The number 13 cant be unlucky for everyone!
For those of you looking for the answer to yesterdays trivia question here it is: Of the ten Major League ballparks in history that are at 10 feet in altitude or less the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum has hosted the most games by far with 3413. The ballpark sits at sea level and is the lowest MLB ballpark in elevation ever. My thanks to the folks at Seamheads.com for that question. Todays trivia question is The Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and the Los Angeles Kings hockey team shared the Forum in Inglewood, California from the end of 1967 until their seasons ended in early 1999. The question is which team played their first game in the new facility first? Tomorrow the answer to todays question and a look at one of baseballs more interesting owners ever.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Basketball Oddities and Facts
Today we are going to take a look at some of the more interesting games in Basketball history. These games are not all going to be the high scoring games that are frequently discussed on this blog, we are going to look at some of the other records that could be set during the course of a game.
Today we start at February 17, 1955 with the New York Knicks-Fort Wayne Pistons game at Miami Beach, FL. The Knicks won the game 93-86, the interesting thing here was that both clubs registered only 6 assists in the game!!
Two years later at the Minneapolis Auditorium in the game between the Lakers and the Saint Louis Hawks things got real ugly. To say a couple people got in foul trouble would be an understatement. If the object of the game was to have one of your players foul out, then the Lakers would have won the game by a score of 5-4. Thats right 9 players in all fouled out of the game!! The Lakers attempted 69 of the games 136 free throw attempts. Oh, yeah the Hawks won the game where it counted by a score of 118-115.
The Lakers-Hawks game was exactly 9 years to the day before the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opened at Springfield, Massachusetts. This event in 1968 was nine years after the first class of inductees were announced. Today 295 people and 8 teams are members of the Basketball Hall of Fame. If you noticed I said 295 people, not 295 men. Many of the Hall of Famers are women who contributed to the game just as much as the men have.
We close today with the Boston Celtics-Vancouver Grizzlies game at the GM Place in Vancouver that was played on February 17, 1999. This game went to triple overtime before the Celtics took a 131-129 win over the home club.
Today I am starting a new feature on this blog in an effort to get readers to spend a little more time on the site and encourage you to comeback more often. This feature will be at the end of each of the daily blogs, it will be the daily trivia question. Some of the answers will be found in the blogs archives, some of the answers will found on the companion website, some of the answers will be found on other websites. If you think that your website may contain some great information that I could use, please let me know.
Here is todays question: 10 ballparks that have hosted at least 15 Major League Baseball games sit an altitude of 10 feet or less, which one of the 10 parks has hosted the most Major League Games? I will reveal the answer in tomorrows daily blog which will take a look at three soccer games.
Today we start at February 17, 1955 with the New York Knicks-Fort Wayne Pistons game at Miami Beach, FL. The Knicks won the game 93-86, the interesting thing here was that both clubs registered only 6 assists in the game!!
Two years later at the Minneapolis Auditorium in the game between the Lakers and the Saint Louis Hawks things got real ugly. To say a couple people got in foul trouble would be an understatement. If the object of the game was to have one of your players foul out, then the Lakers would have won the game by a score of 5-4. Thats right 9 players in all fouled out of the game!! The Lakers attempted 69 of the games 136 free throw attempts. Oh, yeah the Hawks won the game where it counted by a score of 118-115.
The Lakers-Hawks game was exactly 9 years to the day before the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opened at Springfield, Massachusetts. This event in 1968 was nine years after the first class of inductees were announced. Today 295 people and 8 teams are members of the Basketball Hall of Fame. If you noticed I said 295 people, not 295 men. Many of the Hall of Famers are women who contributed to the game just as much as the men have.
We close today with the Boston Celtics-Vancouver Grizzlies game at the GM Place in Vancouver that was played on February 17, 1999. This game went to triple overtime before the Celtics took a 131-129 win over the home club.
Today I am starting a new feature on this blog in an effort to get readers to spend a little more time on the site and encourage you to comeback more often. This feature will be at the end of each of the daily blogs, it will be the daily trivia question. Some of the answers will be found in the blogs archives, some of the answers will found on the companion website, some of the answers will be found on other websites. If you think that your website may contain some great information that I could use, please let me know.
Here is todays question: 10 ballparks that have hosted at least 15 Major League Baseball games sit an altitude of 10 feet or less, which one of the 10 parks has hosted the most Major League Games? I will reveal the answer in tomorrows daily blog which will take a look at three soccer games.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Thats Alot of Scoring
As I have stated before in this blog, in international sporting events scores have a bad habit if getting out of hand. Any give day of the year can easily prove this. Take February 16th for example, just in Ice Hockey, I have found four games betweeen the Olympics and the World Championships where scores got out of hand. I have also found 8 league games with the same type of results, half of them in the NHL. For today lets focus on the International contests.
We start on February 16, 1947 at Prague, Czechoslovakia and the World Championships. The Swedish and the team from Belgium played one such game. The Swedes averaged eight goals per period and the team from Belgium only scored 1 in losing 24-1. The Swedes finished with a strong 9 goal third period. If things were not bad enough for the Belgium team, they were defeated five days later by the Czechoslovakians by a score of 24-0.
At the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, they had twice the fun. When the Switzerland-Finland game went into the third period with the Swiss leading 4-0, things were alot closer to being normal. Then the Swiss tripled their score in the final 20 minutes scoring 8 goals to finish off the Finns by a score of 12-0. The Swedes went into the second period of their game with the Poles with a slim 1-0 lead. A 9 goal second period went a long way towards a 17-1 win.
Not all the games had two countries facing each other. On February 16, 1959 in a Western Hockey League game at the Winnipeg Arena, the last place Winnipeg Warriors blasted the Edmonton Flyers by a score of 11-0.
If the team from Finland knew their history, they made sure that February 16, 1988 would not end the same way the day did 36 years earlier. They took out any frustations on the French beating them 10-0 at Winter Olympic games at Calgary. One never knows when the next game of this type will take place, my guess is it just might be at a hockey rink near you.
Tomorrow we will look at some interesting events in Basketball history.
We start on February 16, 1947 at Prague, Czechoslovakia and the World Championships. The Swedish and the team from Belgium played one such game. The Swedes averaged eight goals per period and the team from Belgium only scored 1 in losing 24-1. The Swedes finished with a strong 9 goal third period. If things were not bad enough for the Belgium team, they were defeated five days later by the Czechoslovakians by a score of 24-0.
At the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, they had twice the fun. When the Switzerland-Finland game went into the third period with the Swiss leading 4-0, things were alot closer to being normal. Then the Swiss tripled their score in the final 20 minutes scoring 8 goals to finish off the Finns by a score of 12-0. The Swedes went into the second period of their game with the Poles with a slim 1-0 lead. A 9 goal second period went a long way towards a 17-1 win.
Not all the games had two countries facing each other. On February 16, 1959 in a Western Hockey League game at the Winnipeg Arena, the last place Winnipeg Warriors blasted the Edmonton Flyers by a score of 11-0.
If the team from Finland knew their history, they made sure that February 16, 1988 would not end the same way the day did 36 years earlier. They took out any frustations on the French beating them 10-0 at Winter Olympic games at Calgary. One never knows when the next game of this type will take place, my guess is it just might be at a hockey rink near you.
Tomorrow we will look at some interesting events in Basketball history.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A Wild Day in the NBA
February 15, 1970 was no ordinary Sunday in the National Basketball Association. Five league games were played on that Sunday many years ago. The Philadelphia '76ers led by Jim Washington scored a monster 159-125 win over the Phoenix Suns. Washington led the '76ers with a game high 34 points. The '76ers also used a 47 point fourth quater to put the game out of reach, this gave them an 85 point second half. The two clubs combined to score an amazing 89 points in the fourth quarter at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The '76ers 36 point first quarter was their weakest quarter of the game.
In that the facts of the game at Philadelphia were impressive to say the least, the '76ers were not the only league club to score a 47 point performance in their final quarter. The San Diego Rockets duplicated the feat in their game against the Cincinnati Royals at the San Diego Sports Arena. The Rockets used an 88 point second half performance, 36 points by Stu Lantz and 31 points by Elvin Hayes to beat the Royals 150-123. The Royals even outscored the Rockets in the second quarter and matched them in the third quarter with 41 points.
If these two games were not enough scoring for you, then at Atlanta there was the Hawks 146-125 win over the Boston Celtics. The Hawks were lead by Lou Hudson who scored 36 points. The Hawks however scored only 31 points in the final quarter in joining the Rockets and the '76ers as big winners in the night.
The biggest individual scorer of the night, did not appear in any of these games. Dave Bing of the Detriot Pistons led his team to a 126-119 win over the Chicago Bulls, with 38 points. The Pistons team total was good enough to take fourth place on the night and would have barely beaten out the forementioned losers of the night. There was however, a game that night where neither team even cracked a 100 points. The Los Angeles Lakers led by the great Jerry West scored a 98-96 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee. The Bucks were handicapped by a league low 18 points in the third quarter. West scored 28 points in the game.
Many fans would love it if games like this were to happen everyday. There are a couple of leagues currently operating that do regularly feature games with scoring like that, however further reading in this blog is one of several ways to find out which leagues I am referring to. I will not tell you the secret tomorrow, however we will take another look at international Ice Hockey.
In that the facts of the game at Philadelphia were impressive to say the least, the '76ers were not the only league club to score a 47 point performance in their final quarter. The San Diego Rockets duplicated the feat in their game against the Cincinnati Royals at the San Diego Sports Arena. The Rockets used an 88 point second half performance, 36 points by Stu Lantz and 31 points by Elvin Hayes to beat the Royals 150-123. The Royals even outscored the Rockets in the second quarter and matched them in the third quarter with 41 points.
If these two games were not enough scoring for you, then at Atlanta there was the Hawks 146-125 win over the Boston Celtics. The Hawks were lead by Lou Hudson who scored 36 points. The Hawks however scored only 31 points in the final quarter in joining the Rockets and the '76ers as big winners in the night.
The biggest individual scorer of the night, did not appear in any of these games. Dave Bing of the Detriot Pistons led his team to a 126-119 win over the Chicago Bulls, with 38 points. The Pistons team total was good enough to take fourth place on the night and would have barely beaten out the forementioned losers of the night. There was however, a game that night where neither team even cracked a 100 points. The Los Angeles Lakers led by the great Jerry West scored a 98-96 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee. The Bucks were handicapped by a league low 18 points in the third quarter. West scored 28 points in the game.
Many fans would love it if games like this were to happen everyday. There are a couple of leagues currently operating that do regularly feature games with scoring like that, however further reading in this blog is one of several ways to find out which leagues I am referring to. I will not tell you the secret tomorrow, however we will take another look at international Ice Hockey.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Madison Square Garden IV
In the City of New York, sports arenas named Madison Square Garden have been a part of the citys sporting culture since 1879. In 1968, the current arena to hold the name opened. On February 14, 1968, the first National Basketball Association games were played in the new arena. The new arena was opened with a doubleheader. The Boston Celtics took on the Detroit Pistons, beating them by a score of 118-96. In the second game the Knicks took on the San Diego Clippers, beating them by a score of 114-102.
Across the country in Seattle, the Philadelphia 76ers attempted to steal the thunder away from the opening of the new arena by taking a 149-125 win from the SuperSonics. The most interesting thing there was it was the second time in three seasons that the 76ers scored 149 on the date of Valentines Day. The scored a 149-123 win over the Pistons in 1966.
The Garden has hosted many events every year since. It currently ranks as the third busiest indoor arena in the world. It is the busiest arena in all of North America. There is no talk of replacing the current arena, even if it is the oldest NHL arena and the second oldest NBA arena. In addition to the Knicks and the Rangers the Garden has hosted the Liberty of the WNBA since 1997, the Titans Lacrosse team for three seasons and several Arena Football League teams.
Tomorrow we will look at a high scoring NBA day.
Across the country in Seattle, the Philadelphia 76ers attempted to steal the thunder away from the opening of the new arena by taking a 149-125 win from the SuperSonics. The most interesting thing there was it was the second time in three seasons that the 76ers scored 149 on the date of Valentines Day. The scored a 149-123 win over the Pistons in 1966.
The Garden has hosted many events every year since. It currently ranks as the third busiest indoor arena in the world. It is the busiest arena in all of North America. There is no talk of replacing the current arena, even if it is the oldest NHL arena and the second oldest NBA arena. In addition to the Knicks and the Rangers the Garden has hosted the Liberty of the WNBA since 1997, the Titans Lacrosse team for three seasons and several Arena Football League teams.
Tomorrow we will look at a high scoring NBA day.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Mr Foster's League
Although the Cities of Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, OH; Detroit, Michigan and Saint Louis, Missouri had six Major League Baseball teams between them and the fact that Kansas City, Missouri and Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana both had successful teams in the American Association, it did not discourage Rube Foster from putting together a league of his own to share fans in these cities. It also did not discourage Mr. Foster that several attempts had been made to put together leagues such as the one he was about to propose, that quickly ended in failure.
On February 13, 1920 Foster got team owners from across the Midwest to meet with him and put a new league together. The name they gave their league was the Negro National League. On that day Baseball's Jim Crow era formerly began. Late that spring another Negro League came forth, that being the Negro Southern League. Together the Negro Leagues provided regular jobs for Negro baseball players for the next 30 years.
Foster placed two clubs in Chicago and one in Dayton, Ohio in addition to the other previous mentioned cities. Foster's Chicago American Giants were a very long time league member playing in one of the cities that saw cooperation between regular Major League owners and Negro League owners. The American Giants frequently played at Comiskey Park in Chicago and hosted the annual East-West All-Star Game every year for many years. The Kansas City Monarchs and the Indianapolis ABCs enjoyed similar long term success with the cooperation of white counterparts, who owned the local ballpark. The league did slip in the early 1930s with the depression, however it used the 1932 season to take a one season break and retool itself for the hard times ahead.
From the 1933 season on the league slowly moved East and such clubs as the Homestead Grays (Suburban Pittsburgh), New York Black Yankees and the Baltimore Elite Giants became league members. Although the league enjoyed the performances of its many stars through the years, league officials knew that in 1947 with Jackie Robinson experiencing a year like no one else ever had or ever will, knew the writing was on the wall. After the 1948 season, league officials gave up the ghost and signed off on a merger with the Negro American League. The NAL kept the torch burning through the 1961 season, even after the knew the Jim Crow era was gone. Today many of the Nego Leagues stars have been rightfully given their place in the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you would like to know more, please contact the Negro League Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research at http://www.sabr.org/.
Tomorrow we will look at the great Madison Square Garden in New York.
On February 13, 1920 Foster got team owners from across the Midwest to meet with him and put a new league together. The name they gave their league was the Negro National League. On that day Baseball's Jim Crow era formerly began. Late that spring another Negro League came forth, that being the Negro Southern League. Together the Negro Leagues provided regular jobs for Negro baseball players for the next 30 years.
Foster placed two clubs in Chicago and one in Dayton, Ohio in addition to the other previous mentioned cities. Foster's Chicago American Giants were a very long time league member playing in one of the cities that saw cooperation between regular Major League owners and Negro League owners. The American Giants frequently played at Comiskey Park in Chicago and hosted the annual East-West All-Star Game every year for many years. The Kansas City Monarchs and the Indianapolis ABCs enjoyed similar long term success with the cooperation of white counterparts, who owned the local ballpark. The league did slip in the early 1930s with the depression, however it used the 1932 season to take a one season break and retool itself for the hard times ahead.
From the 1933 season on the league slowly moved East and such clubs as the Homestead Grays (Suburban Pittsburgh), New York Black Yankees and the Baltimore Elite Giants became league members. Although the league enjoyed the performances of its many stars through the years, league officials knew that in 1947 with Jackie Robinson experiencing a year like no one else ever had or ever will, knew the writing was on the wall. After the 1948 season, league officials gave up the ghost and signed off on a merger with the Negro American League. The NAL kept the torch burning through the 1961 season, even after the knew the Jim Crow era was gone. Today many of the Nego Leagues stars have been rightfully given their place in the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you would like to know more, please contact the Negro League Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research at http://www.sabr.org/.
Tomorrow we will look at the great Madison Square Garden in New York.
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