Fernandomania Gets Rookie of the Year

Today, in 1981, Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela won National League Rookie of the Year honors. The award didn't just cap a great year for the hurler. It capped the first season of Fernandomania.

Fernandomania was voted by the LA Times as one of the top 10 moments in Los Angelos sports history in 2011. It began on April 9, 1981. Dodgers hurler Fernando Valenzuela was getting the start on Opening Day.

Not many in the L.A. area knew what to make of the 20-year old Mexican pitcher. Nevertheless, Valenzuela showed he belonged as a Dodger starter. That Opening Day start ended in a 2-0 shutout of the Houston Astros.

The win over the Astros started what would soon be known as Fernandomania. Valenzuela pitched his way to an 8-0 record to start the season. During that span, the pitcher had pitched five shutouts and had an earned run average of 0.50.

His dominance on the mound won the hearts of Dodger fans. That love would grow, as he helped L.A. win their first World Series since '65 that season, pitching and getting the win in Game 3 against the Yankees.

Valenzuela's effort would land him the 1981 Rookie of the Year award. He pitched for the Dodgers until 1987. In 1997, he decided to retire. However, 31 years after the fact, Fernandomania is still engrained in the minds of Dodgers fans.

Sources:
Photo-http://www.truebluela.com/2009/4/25/853146/remembering-fernando-valenzuelas
http://www.todayinsport.com/day/december/2
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/12/las-greatest-sports-moments-no-9-fernandomania.html
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/1981-schedule-scores.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/valenfe01.shtml

Beasts of the East

Today, in 1966, the Washington Redskins displayed the greatest showing of offensive talent in NFL History. Today, on November 27th, 1966, the Washington Redskins defeated the New York Giants by a final score of 72-41. This set the record for most points scored in one game.

Going in to the contest, the game didn't seem very important. Washington came into the contest at 6-6 on the season. The Giants were even worse, with a dismal 1-9-1 record. Little did the fans flocking to District of Columbia Stadium know that they're about to see history.

Redskin running back A.D. Whitfield stole the show early, scoring the game's first two touchdowns, a 5 yard touchdown catch and a touchdown run of 63 yards, to put Washington up 13-0 after the first quarter.

The Redskins would score three more touchdowns in the second quarter and twice more in the third. Most teams would slow up in the fourth period in such a one-sided affair. But the Redskins are not most teams. Washington scored 24 points in the final quarter, 14 points coming off of a punt return and an interception return.

The Giants effort was not to be forgotten either An interesting fact about this game was that the Giants actually had more yards offensively than the Redskins, the Giants with 389, the Redskins with 341 yards. New York was plagued by six turnovers in the game.

The 72 points scored by Washington still stands as the record for most points scored in a regular season game. The Redskins are also involved in the record for most points in a postseason game, giving up 73 points to the Chicago Bears in a playoff shutout.

The Redskins and Giants play this coming Monday. While the likelihood of either team breaking 70 is very slim, with both teams having defenses near the bottom of the NFL, fans may be in store for another shootout.

Sources-
Photo: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/628431-braves-on-the-warpath-the-25-greatest-games-in-washington-redskins-history/page/17
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/was/1966.htm
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/196611270was.htm
http://www.todayinsport.com/day/november/27
http://www.nfl.com/history
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=2&statisticCategory=TOTAL_YARDS&conference=ALL&role=OPP&season=2012&seasonType=REG

Happy? Birthday NHL

It's the National Hockey league's birthday, but I'm not sure it's going to be a very happy one. The league is currently on day 72 of their lockout and there appears to be no end in sight.

The NHL was founded on November 26, 1917, making today it's 95th birthday. So far 422 regular season games, the winter classic and the all-star game are cancelled, which leads me to wonder if the NHL will make it the five years it needs to have its name read as a Smucker's birthday or will it even make it through the 95th year?

Like most professional sports lockouts, this one is no different. The collective bargaining agreement expired and now the players association is in a bitter dispute with commissioner Gary Bettman. The root of the debate lies in the root of most disputes ... money.

However, some are now placing the blame solely on Bettman. This is the league's third lockout since Bettman took the reins 19 years ago.

But, regardless of the Twitter threats and name calling, is Bettman really to blame? Or is the problem bigger than one man? The sad truth is, unless a commissioner puts a quick and painless end to a lockout, it will always be his fault no matter what. The fans love to make a scapegoat of a commissioner. The commissioner is nothing more than a greedy, money hungry suit in the eyes of the fans. They have no personal connection to him. And, when it comes down to it, who are you going to side with, your favorite player or a man associated with a faceless corporation?

That's both the beauty and the beast of sports. We have allegiances. Each week we open our homes and our hearts to our favorite players. Whether it be on our television screens or the jerseys in our closets or the posters on our wall. We really don't associate with the man in charge. I can guarantee you there is not a large number of kids who have Gary Bettman posters hanging on their walls right now. We aspire to be like our heroes, not the man who pays them.

So, in the case of a lockout that has resulted in half a season being cancelled, of course we're going to point fingers at the guy in charge. We'll stand behind our favorite players until the end. But, maybe we should put ourselves in the other guy's shoes. He's got a lot more to answer to. He's got stock holders and journalists and media companies and advertisers to please.

In a war between the suits and the jerseys there can be no real winner, just a lot of compromise. And, on this 95th birthday of the NHL let's all hope they get a big box of compromise. 

Sources:
CBS Sports: Eye on Hockey http://goo.gl/zVwE8
Wikipedia: 2012 NHL lockout http://goo.gl/Uh42m

Malice at the Palace: Pistons/Pacers Brawl

The date: November 19, 2004

The Location: The Palace at Auburn Hills

The Reason: Showdown between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons were the defending champion. The Pacers had a better record.

The Result: "The Malice at the Palace" It started as a fight between two players during the final minute of the game. Things turned ugly, however, when a fan threw a drink at Pacers player Ron Artest. Artest climbed into the stands and thus the brawl between players and fans was underway. At the end of the brawl 9 players had been suspended, 5 players had been charged with assault and 5 fans faced criminal charges and were banned from attending games from life.

The game not only changed basketball history but also the policies and rules for spectators. Following the brawl the league re-evaluated their alcohol policies and league commissioner, David Stern, vowed to impose lifetime, league wide bans on fans who cause trouble.

So the question stands, would stricter alcohol rules really have prevented the brawl? Probably not. Sporting venues already have alcohol rules. They try to limit serving as best they can. They stop serving as the game comes to a close. Ushers are constantly on the lookout for intoxicated, rowdy fans. Despite these policies, though, alcohol is a part of sports culture. As long as an adult is over the age of 21 there is nothing to keep him or her from enjoying an alcoholic beverage inside the confines of the stadium. While we can hope they'll be responsible for knowing their limits, that isn't always the case.

 Most people blame the lower inhibitions caused by alcohol as the reason behind the fan throwing a cup at Artest. So, if the stadium had done more to limit his alcohol intake or if he had stopped after two beers, would the brawl still occur? It may not have occurred as quickly, but the allegiance to a team or a player may have caused adrenaline charged fans to get involved. Alcohol and adrenaline are powerful forces and when you combine them, you've got a chance of malice.

Sources:
Wikipedia: Pacers-Pistons brawl http://goo.gl/EaNjc
NBA Hoopedia: Pacers-Pistons brawl http://goo.gl/aTLjX

Pedal to the Metal: Land Speed Record

November 15, 1965 flew by for Craig Breedlove. The 28-year-old had just set the land speed record in the Utah desert by traveling 600.601 miles per hour. His car was named the Spirit of America and it was powered by a Navy jet engine.

To give you a frame of reference, 600 miles per hour is  ...

• 55 times faster than the average human can run
• 9 times faster than the fastest animal, the cheetah
• the same speed as a jet airliner

So pretty impressive, right? Well, yes but there's more to the story than just a guy driving his really fast car in the salt flats. No, the biggest part of the story is the determination Breedlove exhibited to break the record. Now, I'm not just talking about the work that went into creating a car that was able to reach that level.

The first person to ever break the 400 mph barrier was a guy named Craig Breedlove. In 1963, he powered his car, named the Spirit of America to victory. Yes, two years before Breedlove broke the land speed record, he broke the 400 mph barrier.

But, like all records, they can be easily broken. The current land speed record is 760.343 set in 1997 by Andy Green. So, it looks like Craig Breedlove is out of luck for the time being.

Or, is he? Breedlove is determined to keep breaking records. Recently, he's announced he will attempt to hold the record once again. His goal? 800 mph. The date? Fifty years after he broke his first land speed record. He plans to try again in 2013 at the same Utah salt flats he broke the second land speed record.

So, I think we can all agree. Breedlove is determined and fast runs in his blood.

Sources:
ESPN Radio: http://goo.gl/yHA2K
History.com: Craig Breedlove sets new land speed record http://goo.gl/RbVvT
Fox News: Craig Breedlove going for 800 mph http://goo.gl/LDscf
Wikipedia: Land Speed Record http://goo.gl/3bfN

Sid Luckman Has The Game of His Life

Today, in 1943, Chicago Bears quarterback Sid Luckman set an NFL record when he threw for seven touchdowns in one game. Against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, Luckman was able to show signs of the success what would become of the NFL in years to come. The success of the forward pass. That's not to say that the forward pass was not used before Luckman's historic day. It was a part of professional football offenses. But to truely comprehend the impressiveness of Luckman's feat, it should be made known that outside of fellow Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh, no other quarterback in the league in '43 threw for more than 20 touchdowns. Only the top six passers in the league that season had as many or more touchdowns that season than Luckman had in that one game against the Giants. Also, take note that while other quarterbacks have throw for seven touchdowns in a game, but none since 1969. Which is also surprising, seeing as how the league has involved into more of a passing league over the years. Luckman played 11 seasons in professional football, all with Chicago. He finished his career with nearly 15,000 passing yards, with 137 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1965. And there's no doubt that the game Luckman had in 1943 against the Giants played a big role in that induction. Sources: Photo- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Luckman http://www.todayinsport.com/day/november/14 http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.aspx?PlayerId=135&tab=Stats http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1943/passing.htm http://www.nfl.com/history

On Goal

Today, in 1963, Gordie Howe tied the lifetime goal record as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. The previous record was set at a mark of 544 by Rocket Richard. Howe would go on to shatter the record, scoring another 257 goals to end his career at 801 scores. Howe played 33 seasons of hockey, a majority of those with the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. He won six MVP awards, as well as six scoring titles throughout the course of his career. He was inducted into the hall of fame in 1972. He played in nearly 2500 games, before hanging up the skates in 1980, at the age of 51. Sources: Photo-http://www.hockeychump.com/2010/04/hockey-quote-gordie-howe.html http://www.todayinsport.com/day/november/11 http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014254.html http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/h/howego01.html