Browsing: Sports

A Brief History On April 29, 2015, the Baltimore Orioles hosted the Chicago White Sox for one of the most bizarre major league baseball games of all time, one at Camden Yards in which no fans were permitted to attend! The game was held in the afternoon behind locked doors because of the ongoing “protests” (riots) stemming from the Freddie Gray death in police custody case. Digging Deeper Coincidentally, April 29 (1992) happens to be the anniversary of the Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles, a factor that may have increased already boiling racial tensions. Freddie Gray was a career…

A Brief History On April 13, 2013, Yan Gomes, born in Brazil of Portuguese descent, hit a home run for the Cleveland Indians, his first hit as an Indian, but not his first homer ever. Digging Deeper Gomes moved to the United States at age 12, and played high school baseball and college baseball at the University of Tennessee, where he was an All-American, and later switched to Barry University after 2 years at UT. Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009, Gomes was promoted to the big league club on May 17, 2012, becoming the first Major League…

A Brief History On April 10, 1916, the Professional Golfers’ Association of America was formed in New York City. This watershed date in golf history is marked today as “Golfer’s Day.” Despite severe criticism by citizen Donald J. Trump of President Barack Obama, also known as “The Golfer in Chief,” for having golfed 306 rounds during his 8 years as President, President Trump has already raised eyebrows by going golfing 14 times in the 2 and half months he has been President. Apparently President Trump is not acquainted with Citizen Trump. Digging Deeper Although golfing is a recreational activity enjoyed…

A Brief History On March 20, 1985, 29 year old Libby Riddles from Madison, Wisconsin became the first woman ever to win the premier sled dog mushing race, the famed Iditarod. Digging Deeper Having moved to Alaska as a 17 year old, Libby became wild about mushing after watching her first race.  Proving her abilities as a dog sled racing phenomenon, Libby won the 1978 Clines Mini Mart Sprint, the first race she competed in. Moving up to the big leagues of mushing, Libby first placed in the Iditarod in 1980 and 1981 when she finished 18th and 20th respectively. …

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,…