Sports Fact of the Day 11/27-12/3/2008

Nov. 27:
11/27/1963:
Thanksgiving Eve patrons at Madison Square Garden are treated to a hockey rarity - a penalty shot pitting two future Hall of Famers against each other. Rod Gilbert of the Rangers is successful on the shot against Terry Sawchuk of the Red Wings late in the first period, and New York goes on to edge Detroit, 3-2. The Broadway Blueshirts are forced to skate a man down for the last minute and a half after Andy Bathgate is sent off for tripping, but even after the Red Wings pull their goalie for a six-on-four manpower advantage, Rangers goalie Jacques Plante is able to preserve the lead.

Birthdays:
Chick Hearn b. 1916
Mike Scioscia b. 1958
Ivan Rodriguez b. 1971
Nick Van Exel b. 1971
Jimmy Rollins b. 1978

1990:
Skier Tamara McKinney announced her retirement. The winner of the gold medal in the combined event at the 1989 World Championships was the best American ski racer ever.

"Because of leg injuries sustained over the past three years, three-time Olympian Tamara McKinney, 28, retired. McKinney, a slalom and giant slalom specialist and a member of the U.S. ski team for 13 years, had 18 World Cup victories, the most ever by a U.S. skier." -Amy Nutt, December 10, 1990

Packers Fact:
The Packers beat the Atlanta Falcons in week 16 of the 1994 seasons in the last regular-season game they played in Milwaukee. The score was 21-17.

Nov. 28:
11/28/1992:
Scoring 57 points in only 38 minutes, Reggie Miller hits 16 of 29 from the field and 21 of 23 at the foul line as he leads the Indiana Pacers to a 134-122 rout of the Charlotte Hornets at the Hive. Miller will play his entire career with the Pacers, appearing in 1,389 games in 18 seasons, second to John Stockton's 1,504 games in 19 seasons with Utah in the NBA category of most games played with only one team.

Birthdays:
Paul Warfield b. 1942
Walt Weiss b. 1963
John Burkett b. 1964
Matt Williams b. 1965
Robb Nen b. 1969

1956:
The Brooklyn Dodgers righthander Don Newcombe was named winner of major league baseball's first Cy Young Award.

"The ball spits toward the plate, leaving, it seems, a little smoking thread of white in the air behind. More often than not it whips past the batter and smacks into Roy Campanell'as mitt with an old-fashioned, soul-satisfying clap." -Robert Creamer, August 22, 1955

Packers Fact:
Defensive end Reggie White set a Super Bowl record when he posted 3 sacks in the Packers' 35-21 victory over New England in game XXXI.

Nov. 29:
11/29/1986:
UNLV outlasts Western Kentucky, 96-95, in double overtime at Madison Square Garden to win the preseason NIT. After the taller and more physical Hilltoppers jump out to a 21-point first-half lead, UNLV storms back with a barrage of 3-point shots. While WKU is only 1 of 4 beyond the arc, the Runnin' Rebels hit 10 of 27 treys, achieving a plus-27-points margin in that category. Tournament MVP Freddie Banks hits two 3-pointers in the second OT, the last one with 13 seconds left to give UNLV the victory.

Birthdays:
Minnie Minoso b. 1922
Neal Broten b. 1959
Howard Johnson b. 1960
Mariano Rivera b. 1969
Jamal Mashburn b. 1972

1974:
The Southern California football team scored 49 unanswered points in the second half of their game against Notre Dame to shock the Fighting Irish at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

"The rampaging Trojans came back from 24-0 to win going away, 55-24. In just under 17 minutes USC had scored eight touchdowns and 55 points, the dazzling Anthony Davis had accounted for 26 of them, Pat Harden had completed eight passes for 144 yards and four touchdowns, and [Irish coach] Ara Parseghian had contemplated hara-kiri with a yard-line marker." -Joe Jares, December 9, 1974

Packers Fact:
Edgar Bennet was the leading rusher for the Packers's Super Bowl XXXI champions in the 1996 season. He ran for 899 yards.

Nov. 30:
11/30/1979:
Unbeaten Sugar Ray Leonard knocks out Wilfred Benitez only six seconds shy of the final bell in the 15th round to win the WBC welterweight title at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Leonard is comfortably ahead on all three judges' scorecards before he ends the bout with a left hook in the closing moments. It's his 26th straight win as a pro after winning a gold medal at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

Birthdays:
Bill Walsh b. 1931
Paul Westphal b. 1950
Bob Tweksbury b. 1960
Bo Jackson b. 1962
Ray Durham b. 1971

Dec. 1:
12/1/2002:
Mikhail Youzhny rallies from two sets down to defeat Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the fifth and deciding rubber to clinch Russia's first Davis Cup title in the century-long history of the competition. Awash in a sea of unforced errors on the slow indoor Parisian clay at the outset, Youzhny fights back with a succession of ground-stroke winners in the last three sets to outlast Mathieu in a four-and-a-half hour struggle. The two 20-year-olds were thrust into the decisive match as replacements for faltering veterans-Yevgeny Kafelnikov or Russia and Arnaud Clement of France.

Birthdays:
Marty Marion b. 1917
Lee Trevino b. 1939
George Foster b. 1948
Larry Walker b. 1966
Reggie Sanders b. 1967

1971:
Bob Knight coached his first game as Indiana basketball coach and the Hoosiers defeated Ball State, 84-77.

"Knight-ugh-played defense. The word was spat forth as though it consisted of four letters. In Indiana everyone knew how the game shoulud be played: run and shoot. For many of the Hoosiers, Knight's coming was as welcome as broiled boar at a rabbinical clambake." -Pat Putnam, February 19, 1973

Packers Fact:
Former Packers wide receiver James Lofton was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2003. He caught 530 passes for Green Bay from 1978 to 1986.

Dec. 2:
12/2/1967:
Michigan opens its brand-new 14,000-seat basketball arena, later named in honor of longtime football coach and athletic director Fritz Crisler, but Kentucky spoils the party with a 96-79 victory at Ann Arbor. The Wildcats enjoy a big lead throughout in a game that marks the varsity debut of two sophomore stars and, later, pro standouts. Dan Issel scores 18 points for Kentucky, while Rudy Tomajnovich has 17 for Michigan.

Birthdays:
Ron Sutter b. 1963
Darryl Kile b. 1968
O.J. McDuffie b. 1969
Monica Seles b. 1973
Mark Kotsay b. 1975

1980:
The Oakland Raiders defeated Denver and became the first team in NFL history to earn 16 consecutive winning seasons.

"The Raiders are like an old land mine that lies in the sand for years and then, all of a sudden-kaboom! Their one consistent trait during the Al Davis years has been the bomb, anytime, from any place on the field." -Paul Zimmerman, December 1, 1980

Packers Fact:
Kicker Chris Jacks was the top scorer for the Packers Super Bowl XXXI champions in 1996. He scored 114 points.

Dec. 3:
12/3/1950:
Wide receivers Tom Fears of the Rams and Cloyce Box of the Lions share the headlines on a pass-happy day in the NFL. Fears sets a new single-game record for receptions with 18 as Los Angeles routs Green Bay, 51-14. Box scores four touchdowns and gainsn 302 yards on 12 receptions, just one yard shy of Jim Benton's record of 303 receiving yards set in 1945, as the Lions blast Baltimoire, 45-21. Fears' record will stand for 50 years, until Terrell Owens breaks it in 2000. Box remains one of only four receivers ever to gain 300-plus yards in an NFL game.

Birthdays:
Tom Fears b. 1923
Alberto Juantorena b. 1951
Rick Mears b. 1951
Katarina Witt b. 1965
Kwamie Lassiter b. 1969

1988:
The Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders set an NCAA single-game rushing record when he gained 322 yards in a game against Texas Tech.

"Sanders isn't the fastest back, and he's not the biggest. But he combines strength, speed, willpower and an uncanny ability to wriggle, shift and explode into high gear from a dead stop." -Rick Telander, December 12, 1988

Packers Fact:
Safety Willie Wood (1960-1971), who was inducted in 1989, is one of only seven non-drafted free agents to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.