A One Sided Championship

Just three weeks after a 7-3 beating by the Washington Redskins, the Chicago Bears went to Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC on December 8, 1940 for a rematch. This time they were meeting for all the marbles, the league championship game.
The Bears bought with them the T formation and used it quite well against the 'Skins, beating them by a score of 73-0. The Bears set numerous league records, some of which still stand today. They scored 11 touchdowns, 4 of them in the third quarter. They racked up 501 total yards and stil had to punt twice.
The game was the first NFL title game to be broadcast on coast to coast radio.

Booted

Professional league baseball as with any new enterprise got off to a rocky start. The first league was called the National Association. The league throughout its five season history was in constant flux with clubs coming and going. Part of the leagues problems were corruption. The gamblers were everywwhere. Another problem was the $10 franchise fee. With all the problems, some of the league leaders wanted more.
On February 2, 1876 8 clubs formed the National League. The clubs represented were Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Hartford, CT; Louisville, KY; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA and Saint Louis, MO. The league members were adament about running the league without scandal. At the end of the first season, the New York and Philadelphia Clubs elected not to make their final western road trip.
On December 7, 1876, many years before Pearl Harbor, at the league meeting the issue came to a head. The New York and Philadelphia Clubs were expelled by the league. The league went on for 6 seasons without 2 of the biggest markets in the league. The Boston and Chicago clubs remain in the league to this day as the Braves and the Cubs. The City of Philadelphia remained out of the Majors until 1882 when they got a berth in the newly formed American Association. The City of New York remained out of the Majors when the were allowed, with a new Philadelphia Club , to return to the National League. The Phillies remain in the league today, the Giants live in San Francisco as the World Champions.
Tomorrow we look at a very one sided championship football game.

A Triple Overtime Thriller plus

One thing that the NBA did many years ago was put together 4 team doubleheaders. One such occasion was December 6, 1958, when a four team doubleheader was played at Keil Auditorium in Saint Louis, Missouri. In the first game the Cincinnati Royals defeated the Minneapolis Lakers in a thrilling 132-128, triple overtime game. In almost seemed anti-climatic when the Saint Louis Hawks defeated the Philadelphia Warriors 107-97.
Tomorrow we look at a transaction of teams in the National League.

MCI Center

On December 5, 1997, just three days after hosting its first NBA game, the MCI Center hosted its first NHL game. The new arena replaced the U.S. Airways Arena in nearby Landover, MD as the home arena for the Washington Wizards basketball team and the Washington Capitals Hockey team, where the tow teams had played for 24 seasons.
On this date, the Caps defeated the Florida Panthers in overtime. The arena is now known as the Verizon Center in 2006.
Tomorrow we will discuss a 1958 triple overtime thriller.

Grey Cup

Today we are marking the anniversary of the first Grey Cup Game ever played. The game was played at Rosedale Field in Toronto, Ontario. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues played against the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club. The University Club won the game by a score of 26-6. The Varsity Blues put the game away with 11 points in the fourth quarter. The Parkdale Club would return but not win the game in 1913. The Varsity Blues would return to the game the next two years and then again in 1920. They won the cup each time that they played. Although the game has returned to Toronto 44 times, the game would not return to Rosedale Field.
Today the game is played between members of the professional Canadian Football League. The latest game was played last Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta between the Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Next years game will be played for an eighth time to BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, which recently hosted the Winter Olympic Games.
Tomorrow we will look at the opening of the MCI Centre in Washington, DC.

Wrigley Field, Chicago

December may seem like a strange month for Baseball history to be made, however true it may be. On December 3, 1926 The Chicago Cubs announced that they had renamed their home park "Wrigley Field" in honor of team owner William Wrigley, Jr. In changing the name of the park to Wrigley Field, the ballpark received its third official name in 14 years of hosting sporting events. The park opened as Weeghman Park in 1914 named as in honor of its builder and the owner of the Chicago Whales of the Federal League. When the league went out of business after the 1915 season, the Cubs moved in. They changed the name of the park to Cubs Park in 1920. That was done just in time for the Bears football team moving in.
The park was not the first to receive the name "Wrigley Field" as that name was already being used by the Cubs top farm club the Los Angeles Angels for their ballpark. One of the Angels most bizzarre chapters of their history was made in December as well. On December 2, 1941 just 5 days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Angels announced that they were changing their nickname from the "Angels" to the "Bears". This announcement proved to be very unpopular and was very quickly changed back.
Sports history occurs all the time and all over the calendar. Someday, I will get my book "The Biggest Book of This Date in Sports History" published and prove the point, any takers?
Tommorrow we will take a look at a historical event in Canadian Football.

Returning Soon

This Blog has been tenatively scheduled to return on Friday, December 3, 2010 with a discussion on Wrigley Field in Chicago, please return then.