Sports Fact of the Day 3/21-3/30/2008

Mar. 21:
3/21/1948:
Toronto center-iceman Syl Apps scores a natural hat trick in his final regular-season game to go over 200 goals for his career as the Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2, at the Olympia. He scores three straight goals bridging the second and third periods and finishes with 201 lifetime. An unusually versatile athlete, Apps placed sixth in the Olympic pole vault in the 1936 Berlin Games. Even more unusual for a hockey player of that era, Apps earned a degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and following his retirement he will become a member of the Ontario legislature. His son, Syl Jr., will play 10 years in the NHL (1970-80) and score 183 goals of his own.

Birthdays:
Tom Flores b. 1937
Jay Hilgenberg b. 1960
Ayrton Senna b. 1960
Shawon Dunston b. 1963
Al Infrate b. 1966

1964:
The UCLA Bruins defeated the Duke Blue Devils, 98-83, in the NCAA championship game. The triumph was the first of UCLA's record 11 (through the 2005-06 season) collegiate basketball titles.

"The Bruins go for long spells at a time looking mortal and vulnerable and capable of inspiring sympathy. Then they put you under with such thorough execution that a witness has to look twice to be sure that innocent-looking truck was really the one." -John Underwood, March 30, 1964

Packers Fact:
Safety Tyrone Culver plans to go to dental school when his playing days are over.

Mar. 22:
3/22/1990:
Tate George takes a length-of-the-court baseball pass from Scott Burrell and scores the winning basket with one second remaining as Connecticut survives Clemson, 71-70, in an NCAA tournament round-of-16 game at the Meadowlands. The 31-5 Huskies blew a 19-point second-half lead, committing 19 turnovers, to let Clemson back in the game. A 3-point shot by David Young gave the Tigers a 70-69 lead in the final moments before George's climactic buzzer-beater. UConn will be on the losing end of a last-second heartbreaker in the next round on this same court when Christian Laettner of Duke beats them in the Elite 8.

Birthdays:
Billy Vessels b. 1931
Flash Elorde b. 1935
Glenallen Hill b. 1965
Shawn Bradley b. 1972
Marcus Camby b. 1974

1991:
The London Monarchs beat the Frankfurt Galaxy, 24-11, in the opening game of the new World League of American Football.

"Nobody was sure whether the World League was football or something held over from the Wilson Administration. The WLAF was sort of like Jerry Lewis-very big in France but couldn't get arrested in the States. That made media access to the players ridiculously easy." -Rick Reilly, June 17, 1991

Mar. 23:
Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina squanders a 6-1, 5-1 lead in the semifinals of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Florida, and loses to Kimiko Date of Japan, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4). The match was not only painful for Date to finish with a strained right shoulder, it was painful for the gallery to watch with the two players combining for 148 unforced errors in the three-hour endurance contest. Date will be no match for Steffi Graf in the finals of this event, bowing 6-1, 6-4 to the German star.

Birthdays:
Roger Bannister b. 1929
Ted Green b. 1940
Moses Malone b. 1954
Jason Kidd b. 1973
Mark Buehrle b. 1979

Mar. 24:
3/24/1937:
Twenty members of a touring party of Roller Derby skaters and support personnel are killed when their bus blows a tire, crashes into a bridge abutment and explodes in flames outside Salem, Illinois. The barnstorming troupe was en route from St. Louis to Cincinnati for another performance of the increasingly popular Derby, founded in 1935 by Leo Seltzer in Chicago. The horrific inferno nearly puts the enterprise out of business, but replacement skaters will be signed and Roller Derby will prove to be a durable sporting attraction.

Birthdays:
Alex Olmedo b. 1936
Pat Bradley b. 1951
Steve Karsay b. 1972
Peyton Manning b. 1976
T. J. Ford b. 1983

1990:
Lynn Jennings became the first American woman in 15 years to win the World Cross Country Championship.

"When she was 17 [years old] and the top high school runner in the country, Jennings told a friend that she would be the best distance runner in the world by the time she was 30. The remark was curious, containing as it did the rival virtues of ambition and patience." - Merrell Noden, November 26, 1990

Packers Fact:
While a junior at Boston College in 2004, cornerback Will Blackmon became the first player in school history to return a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns in the same season.

Mar. 25:
3/25/188:
Led by Charles Barkley, the Philadelphia 7634s stage a miraculous rally to beat the Celtics, 97-93, at Boston Garden. Trailing 75-45 midway in the third quarter, the Sixers close the game on a dizzying 52-18 run, holding the Celtics scoreless over the final four minutes and scoring the last 12 point of the game to completely erase Boston's ostensibly insurmountable lead.

Birthdays:
Howard Cossell b. 1920
Ken Wregget b. 1964
Avery Johnson b. 1965
Tom Glavine b. 1966
Bob Sura b. 1973

1961:
The Cincinnati Bearcats upset the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in overtime, 70-65, to win the NCA basketball championship.

"It was a beautiful basketball game, played by both teams with the pure poise and aggressiveness that the sport demands at its finest. A champion had been beaten, but by no fluke. There would be no second-guessing or sour grapes because there was simply nothing to second-guess." -Ray Cave, April 3, 1961

Mar. 26:
3/26/2005:
Despite each ball club being down at one time by a double-digit margin, Louisville and Illinois both rally for rousing overtime victories in NCAA tournament regional play and advance to the Final Four. Once trailing by 20 points, Louisville overcomes West Virginia, 93-85, at the Pit in Albuquerque, using full-court pressure to unnerve the Mountaineers, who shot 18 for 27 from 3-point-range and still came up short. Hours later at Chicago, the Fighting Illini erase a 15-point deficit against Arizona with only four minutes left, using an 8-point burst in only 19 seconds in the final minute to even the score before prevailing, 90-89, at the Rosemont Horizon.

Birthdays:
Al Bianchi b. 1932
Eder Jofre b. 1936
Marcus Allen b. 1960
John Stockton b. 1962
Michael Peca b. 1974

1973:
The UCLA center Bill Walton led the Bruins to their seventh consecutive NCAA basketball championship with an 87-66 victory over Memphis State.

"Walton had huffed and puffed and blown apart the NCAA record book. He had made 21 of 22 shots, scored 44 points, handled 13 rebounds and sashayed away somewhere high above the lights in the arena." [Curry Kirkpatrick, April 2, 1973

Packers Fact:
In hish four years at Boston College, cornerback Will Blackmon amassed 3,211 yards on kickoff returns (2,700) and punt returns (511).

Mar. 27:
Always the aggressor, whether as a player, manager or coach, Larry Bowa proclaimed: "If you coach third base and you don't get anybody thrown out, you're definitely not doing a good job."

Birthdays:
Wes Covington b. 1932
Cale Yarborough b. 1939
Annemarie Moser-Proll b. 1953
Chris McCarron b. 1955
Randall Cunningham b. 1963

1978:
The Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Duke Blue Devils, 94-88, and won the school's fifth NCAA championship - and first title in 20 years - under new coach Joe B. Hall.

"It was never easy for Kentucky. There was never any time to sit and smile. From the very first game this season, the Wildcats were haunted by their tradition, pressured by their opponents and driven mercilessly by their coach. All of the joys of winning had to wait until they had won it all." -Larry Keith, April 3, 1978

Mar. 28:
3/28/1950:
In the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, indestructible Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings is seriously injured after he mis-times his approach on an attempted check of Teeder Kennedy of Toronto and crashes headfirst into the boards. Howe is immediately rushed to the hospital with a broken nose, a broken cheekbone, and a concussion that requires cranial surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. He'll miss the balance of the playoffs, which Detroit goes on to win with victories over Toronto and New York.

Birthdays:
Vic Raschi b. 1918
Jerry Sloan b. 1942
Rick Barry b. 1944
Len Elmore b. 1952
Byron Scott b. 1961

1992:
In the NCAA basketball East Regional final at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Christian Laettner of Duke leaped and caught a 75-foot inbounds pass and sank a last-second basket to propel the Blue Devils into the Final Four with a 104-103 overtime victory over Kentucky.

"Grant Hill whipped a pass that would have made a quarterback proud. As soon as Laettner came down with both the ball and his balance, Laettner took one dribble and wheel-faked right, then spun left and leaped up, rising into a majestic fallaway." -Alexander Wolff, December 28, 1992

Packers Fact:
Safety Tyrone Culver was a four-time Academic All-Conference choice while at Fresno State. He earned his bachelor's degree in health science with a pre-dental emphasis.

Mar. 29:
3/29/1992:
Dottie Mochrie holes a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to tie Juli Inkster, then calmly pars the first playoff hole while Inkster suffers an untimely bogey, to win the Nabisco Dinah Shore championship at Rancho Mirage, California. It's the first major title for Mochrie, who will win here again in 1999. She fires a 3-under-par 69 to force the playoff with Inkster, who had won all four of her sudden-death appearances on tour before today. Mochrie will go on to enjoy her finest summer as a professional, leading the money list and earning LPGA Player of the Year honors.

Birthdays:
Walt Frazier b. 1945
Teofilo Stevenson b. 1952
Earl Campbell b. 1955
Brian Jordan b. 1967
Jennifer Capriati b. 1976

1992:
Leaving her competitors in the cold, Kristi Yamaguchi became the first American woman since Peggy Fleming to successfully defend her world title at the World Figure Skating Championships, in Oakland, California.

"Gold medal gal Kristi Yamaguchi-ain't she a picture-defended the world title she won last year in Munich. No surprise there, since Japan's Midori Ito was back home with some sort of virus. But, man, this was Secretariat at the Belmont. No contest." -E.M. Swift,

Mar. 30:
3/30/1968:
Forward Pass jumps to the head of the three-year-old pack by winning the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park by almost three lengths over favored Iron Ruler. Ridden by Don Brumfield, Forward Pass fully controls the race before Iron Ruler draws even at the head of the home stretch. Meeting this challenge, Forward Pass recaptures the lead in the final straightaway and wins easily. The Calumet Farms colt will live up to his vast potential by winning 7 of 13 races this year, including the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. He will just miss the Triple Crown by running second in the Belmont, but he'll lead all Thoroughbreds on the money-in-purses list with well over $500,000.

Birthdays:
Ripper Collins b. 1904
Willie Galimore b. 1935
Jerry Lucas b. 1940
Lomas Brown b. 1963
Dave Ellett b. 1964