A Brief History On March 4, 1990, the sporting world was shocked when Hank Gathers, age 23, died during an NCAA Division I basketball game between Loyola Marymount University (his team) and the University of Portland. Digging Deeper Gathers was a blue chip basketball player, and in the 1988-1989 season had become only the second player in NCAA history (Xavier McDaniel and Kurt Thomas being the only other 2 players to have achieved the feat) to lead the nation in both scoring (32.7 points per game) and rebounding (13.7 rebounds per game). Originally enrolled at the University of Southern California,…
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A Brief (And we mean Brief!) History On February 22, 1983, the Eugene O’Neill Theater (230 West 49th St., New York, although considered a “Broadway” theater) was the scene of perhaps the biggest fiasco in the History of Broadway Plays, the opening and closing night of the Arthur Bicknell play, Moose Murders. Digging Deeper Not only did this miserable play only have the one night, its very name has become the archetype for lousy plays, those which open and close after only one show. Moose Murders is the low standard by which crumby plays are compared. Frank Rich, Broadway critic…
A Brief History On February 18, 2001, a nation of racing car fans was stunned when the biggest current star of NASCAR stock car racing, Dale Earnhardt, died in a high speed crash into a wall at the Daytona 500, the premier race of NASCAR. Digging Deeper Known as “The Intimidator” for his aggressive racing style, Earnhardt was born Ralph Dale Earnhardt (later Sr.) in 1951. Winner of the 1998 Daytona 500 and tied with Richard Petty with a record 7 Winston Cup Championships in 1994 (later tied in 2016). Dale Sr. also added 4 IROC Championships to his list…
A Brief History On February 13, 1954, Franklin Delano Selvy, shooting guard/small forward for the Furman University (South Carolina) basketball team scored an NCAA Division I record 100 points in a game against Newberry College (South Carolina), a feat never matched in Division I play. Digging Deeper The 6’ 3” Selvy, known as Frank, hailed from Corbin, Kentucky and was born in 1932, presumably the reason he was so named. (Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the 1932 US Presidential election the same month Selvy was born.) In a story right out of a book of Fairy Tales, Selvy was being honored…
A Brief History On February 8, 1960, the Hollywood Walk of Fame was officially opened with the placement of the first 8 brass and terrazzo stars in the famous sidewalk. The Walk of Fame would almost immediately become a tourist favorite and a treasured honor to have one’s name placed in the sidewalk at Hollywood Blvd. and Vine St. in Hollywood, California. Digging Deeper Administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the attraction gets about 10 million visitors per year. Now having over 2500 stars (no, we are not going to list them!), the inaugural class of 8 plaques included…