Sports Fact of the Day 11/15-11/26/2008

Nov. 15:
11/15/1969:
Led by All-American quarterback Archie Manning, Ole Miss annihilates unbeaten Tennessee, 38-0, handing the Vols their most one-sided loss in 46 years. Manning passes for one touchdown and rushes for another as the Rebels take a giant step toward a Sugar Bowl berth. The defeat is so galling to Tennessee linebacker Jack Reynolds that he obtains a hacksaw and expends his frustration by carving a '53 Chevy in half with the jagged blade. From this day forward, into a 14-year NFL career, he'll be known as Hacksaw Reynolds.

Birthdays:
Gus Bell b. 1928
Harland Svare b. 1930
Bob Dandridge b. 1947
Otis Armstrong b. 1950
Chris Terreri b. 1964

1973:
The Boston Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr set a club record when he scored seven points in a game against the Rangers.

"One of a defeseman's primary jobs is to get the puck out of his own end and down the ice, and some players carry out this task with all the grace and ease of a starving man eating a pomegranate through a screen door. Orr does it routinely." -Jack Olsen, December 21, 1970

Packers Fact:
The Packers have had just 14 full-time head coaches in their history, but four of them are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They are Curly Lambeau (1921-1949), Vince Lombardi (1959-1967), Bart Starr (1975-1983), and Forrestt Gregg (1984-87).

Nov. 16:
11/16/1977:
In an extraordinarily diverse selection process whereby a record 11 players receive at least one first-place vote, Rod Carew of the Minnesota Twins wins the American League Most Valuable Player award. After flirting with hitting .400 for much of the year, Carew won his sixth AL batting title, finishing at .388, a career high. He also posted personal bests in hits (239), doubles (38), triples (16), homers (14), RBIs (100) and runs scored (128). Despite playing for a fourth-place club, Carew easily outpolls runner-up Al Cowens of Kansas City and third-place finisher Ken Singleton of Baltimore in the voting.

Birthdays:
Terry Labonte b. 1956
Corey Pavin b. 1959
Zina Garrison b. 1963
Dwight Gooden b. 1964
Amare Stoudemire b. 1982

Nov. 17:
11/17/1973:
Larry Harper returns the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown for the only points of the game as Miami (Ohio) completes its first undefeated regular season since 1955 with a 6-0 victory over Cincinnati. Coached by Bill Mallory, the Mid American Conference champion Redskins will improve to 11-0 and finish 15th nationally in the wire-service polls after they upset Florida, 16-7, in the Tangerine Bowl next month.

Birthdays:
Bob Mathias b. 1930
Jim Boeheim b. 1944
Tom Seaver b. 1944
Elvin Hayes b. 1945
Mitch Williams b. 1964

1991:
Dale Earnhardt clinched his fifth NASCAR driving championship hwith a fifth-place finish at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"Frequently, according to his critics, Earnhardt drives his yellow-and-blue Monte Carlo SS as if it were a bulldozer. His aggressive style has stirred the passions of racing fans-delighting many, outraging some-given heartburn to officials and infuriated his fellow drivers." -Sam Moses, September 7, 1987

Packers Fact:
Kicker Chester Marcol once won an overtime game against Chicago (1980) by running 24 yards for a touchdown after his potential winning field-goal try was blocked and bounced right back to him!

Nov. 18:
11/18/1997:
Taking advantage of a Montreal Expos fire sale of top-drawer (and h igh-salaried) talent, the Boston Red Sox obtain ace pitcher Pedro Martinez in exchange for pitching prospects Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. Martinez will give Boston seven exceptional years before leaving as a free agent. He'll go 117-37, winning two Cy Young awards and four American League ERA titles. In all four of his ERA leadership seasons, he'll also lead the AL in strikeouts-per-nine-innings and fewest-hits-allowed-per-nine-innings ratios. His final outing for Bostin is a victory in Game 3 of the 2004 World Series, putting the Red Sox on the bring of their first world title in 86 years.

Birthdays:
Warren Moon b. 1956
Dante Bichette b. 1963
Gary Sheffield b. 1968
Sam Cassell b. 1969
David Ortiz b. 1975

1978:
The Ohio State football team defeated Indiana, 21-18. It was the 238th and final victory for Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes.

"He drives his players with a ferocity that would make a Marine Corps drill instructor look like Mary playing with her lamb. The football that he coaches is about as inspiring as a radish. It has furnished the sport with a now-tired phrase-three yards and a cloud of dust." -Roy Terrell, September 24, 1962

Packers Fact:
Four former Packers were among the 17 charter enshrines into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. They were Cal Hubbard, Don Hutson, Curly Lambeau and Johnny (Blood) McNally.

Nov. 19:
A nasty on-court skirmish between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills spills into the seating area when short-tempered Ron Artest of the Pacers goes after a fan who tossed a drink on him. The ensuing melee involves several Indiana players and dozens of fans. Five Pacers will be hit with lengthy suspensions and criminal assault charges, including Artest, who is banished by Commissioner David STerm for the balance of the season. Several fans are also charged with assault, and a clearly disconcerted NBA responds with increased sefcurity measures at all its arenas.

Birthdays:
Roy Campanella b. 1921
Bobby Tolan b. 1945
Bob Boone b. 1947
Gail Devers b. 1966
Kerri Strug b. 1977

1961:
Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns rushed for 237 yards in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"Brown rose from the crash in the deliberate way he rose from all others: slowly unfolding each body part, walking haltingly back to the huddle as if pained and exhausted, all the while conserving his energy for the next collision." -Peter King, September 19, 1994

Packers Fact:
Kicker Ryan Longwell led the Packers in scoring each of his nine years with the club before signing with the Vikings in 2006.

Nov. 20:

Tony Canzoneri retains his world lightweight championship with a 15-round split decision over Kid Chocolate at Madison Square Garden. Canzoneri wins at least 10 of the 15 rounds with his purposeful attack, boring in with body blows to his elusive Cuban challenger. Chocolate is clearly the crowd favorite with his flashy style, parrying ability and round-finishing flurries. The verdict is met with a torrent of catcalls and a shower of debris from many fans in the crowd of 19,000, who were enchanted by Kid Chocolate's valiant defense against Canzoneri's clear edge in punching power. The principals must be led from the ring by a police escort for their own safety.

Birthdays:
Don January b. 1929
Louis Dampler b. 1944
Joey Galloway b. 1971
J.D. Drew b. 1975
Carlos Boozzer b. 1981

1995:
Sweden's Annika Sorenstam won the LPGA Player of the Year Award, one year after winning the Rookie of the Year Award.

"Her approach to golf is mottled. There's an English quality to her game: She has won in all types of weather and on all types of surfaces. There's an American quality: Her devotion to practice is Hoganesque. And there's a distinctly Swedish quality: For Sorenstam, golf is a science, a science of the body and the mind." -Michael Bamberger, June 10, 1996

Packers Fact:
The title Blood and Sand on the 1922 motion-picture marquee served as the inspiration for future Pro Football Hall of Famer Johnny (Blood) McNally's alias.

Nov. 21:
11/21/1989:
San Francisco Giants outfielder Kevin Mitchell earns 20 of 24 first-place votes as the National League's Most Valuable Player. Just a fourth outfielder on the 1986 world champion Mets and subsequently traded twice (first to San Diego, then to the Giants), Mitchell helped San Francisco win the NL pennant. He led both leagues in homers (47), RBIs (125), extra-base hits (87), total bases (345) and slugging percentage (.635) and is a consensus choice by the BBWAA, earning 20 of 24 first place votes. Giants teammate Will Clark finishes second and Pedro Guerrero of St. Louis is third.

Birthdays:
Stan Musial b. 1920
Earl Monroe b. 1944
Troy Aikman b. 1966
Ken Griffey Jr. b. 1969
Michael Strahan b. 1971

1987:
Ferdinand nosed out Alysheba at the wire and won the Breeders' Cup Classic in a stirring photo-finish.

"Ferdinand took the lead, but Alysheba came bounding up alongside, nibbling at his margin with each stride [until] finally they were nose and nose. They hit the finish line in tandem, as if harnessed to the same chariot." -William Nack, November 30, 1987

Packers Fact:
Don Hutson once scored 29 points in a single quarter. He scored 4 touchdowns and kicked 5 extra points in the second quarter of a 57-21 romp over Detroit in 1945.

Nov. 22:
11/22/1958:
On the same day that baseball Mel Ott is buried in New Orleans following a tragic automobile accident, unbeaten and top-ranked LSU shows no mercy to Tulane at Sugar Bowl Stadium, routing the Green Wave, 62-0. Johnny Robinson scores four touchdown for the Chinese Bandits of head coach Paul Dietzel, and All-American Billy Cannon adds three more. Over 85,000, the largest crowd ever to see a football game in the South (to date), watch their local Tulane eleven get obliterated by the eventual 1958 national champions.

Birthdays:
Lew Burdette b. 1926
Yvan Cournoyer b. 1943
Billie Jean King b. 1943
Greeg Luzinski b. 1950
Boris Becker b. 1967

1992:
Mia Hamm scored three goals to lead the North Carolina Tar Heels to a 9-1 drubbing over Duke for their seventh straight NCAA title.

"Forceful yet lithe at 5'5" and 125 pounds, the 20-year-old Hamm inherited some of her nimbleness from her parents - William, a former fighter pilot, and Stephanie, a former ballerina. The rest she developed while playing on boys' teams after she began her career in earnest at age five." -Sally Guard, December 14, 1992

Packers Fact:
Rudolph Valentino starred in the 1922 filijm version of Blood and Sand, the motion picture title that inspired Johnny (Blood) McNally's alias. Valentino's character, Juan, starred in bullfighting. He was a toreador.

Nov. 23:
11/23/2002:
The Georgia State Panthers rout North Carlina A&T, 76-44, giving Coach Lefty Driesell the 783rd victory of his career and 100th at Georgia State. He becomes the first coach in NCAA history to have at least 100 wins at four different schools, having recorded 176 wins at Davidson, 348 at Maryland and 159 at James Madison. Only six weeks from now, in early January, Driesell will tire of the daily coaching grind and retire with 786 lifetime wins, fifth on the all-time list (at that time), and a .666 winning percentage in 41 years on the bench.

Birthdays:
Lew Hoad b. 1934
Luis Tiant b. 1940
Andrew Toney b. 1957
Vin Baker b. 1971
Saku Koivu b. 1974

Nov. 24:
After using a brand-new driver for an entire round and hitting just one of 14 fairways, Tiger Woods refused to blame the equipment: "The driver is fine. It's the dude hitting it."

Birthdays:
Ducky Medwick b. 1911
Yale Lary b. 1930
Oscar Robertson b. 1938
Dave Bing b. 1943
Keith Primeau b. 1971

1994:
The hapless Los Angeles Clippers won their first game of the season after 16 straight losses to avoid tying the NBA record for the worst start ever.

"For the better part of 14 years now, skinflint owner Donald T. Sterling has imbued his Clippers with all the dignity of those rotary nose-hair clippers. Yet with this current team he has unwittingly assembled a club to love." -Steve Rushin, December 19, 1994

Packers Fact:
Kicker Ryan Longwell (1997-2005) scored in all 144 games in which he played for Green Bay. That's the longest streak in club history.

Nov. 25:
11/25/1977:
Trailing 104-76 after three quarters at the Omni in Atlanta, the Milwaukee Bucks stage an incredible rally, outscoring the Hawks, 41-11, in the final 12 minutes to escape with a 117-115 victory. Junior Bridgeman and Alex English combine for 41 points off the bench for Milwaukee as the Bucks peel off a 17-0 streak at the start of the final period to get back within striking distance. Marques Johnson's two free throws with one second left complete the comeback before a stunned Hawks home crowd.

Birthdays:
Joe DiMaggio b. 1914
Bernie Kosar b. 1963
Cris Carter b. 1965
Anthony Peeler b. 1969
Donovan McNabb b. 1976

1971:
In one of the greatest college football games ever played, the unbeaten No. 1-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers edged the unbeaten No. 2-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, 35-31.

"There had been scads of games in the past with equal pressure and buildup. Games played in a brimming-over stadium for limb, life and a national championship. But it is impossible to stir the pages of history and find one in which both teams performed so reputably for so long." -Dan Jenkins, December 6, 1971

Packers Fact:
1994 was the last season that the Packers annually played three of their home games in Milwaukee.

Nov. 26:
11/26/1982:
In a battle of 9-1 teams and bitter regional rivals, Penn State beats Pittsburgh, 19-10, at Beaver Stadium, setting up a New Year's night showdown with Georgia for the national championship at the Sugar Bowl. Nittany Lions running back Curt Warner (22-118) eats up huge chunks of yardage and Nick Gancitano boots four field goals to ensure Penn State's win. Coached by Joe Paterno, PSU will get their long-awaited national title in New Orleans when they upend top-ranked Georgia, 27-23.

Birthdays:
Lefty Gomez b. 1909
Harry Carson b. 1953
Chuck Finley b. 1962
Mario Elie b. 1963
Shawn Kemp b. 1969

1978:
The Houston Oilers' rookie running back Earl Campbell rushed for 100 yards in a game for the seventh time, tying an NFL single -season rookie record.

"Rarely has one player given so much so often to so many. His n ame is Earl Campbell, and what the Longhorn from Tyler, Texas, has given the Earl-ers, as they are now called around Houston, is a running game and some respect." -Ron Reid, December 4, 1978

Packers Fact:
Defensive end Reggie White, who had 198 sacks in 15 NFL seasons (including six with Green Bay from 1993 to 1998), was known as the "Minister of Defense."