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Category Archives: History
Jets return to spot where they changed history 20 years ago – New York Post
Posted: October 24, 2021 at 11:48 am
The official play-by-play account is cold, detached, antiseptic, cold-blooded. It feels like it should have been presented in bold-face type, or all caps, given what a seminal moment in football history it was. But it doesnt work that way in real time. So when you dig through the archives, this is what you see:
5:11. 3 & 10, NWE 19. Drew Bledsoe, right end for 8 yards (tackle by Mo Lewis). Bledsoe fumbles (forced by Lewis), ball out of bounds at NWE 27.
Twenty years, one month and one day later, we know exactly what happened in that crashing, crushing instant. We know that Bledsoe came close to dying in the ambulance later on as the result of his injury (though he somehow managed to play one more series before being pulled from the game), and that doctors told him if hed simply gone home that night and fallen asleep, he might well never have woken up again.
We know that the backup quarterback who replaced him for the Patriots final drive that day at old Foxboro Stadium, Tom Brady, actually threw a little scare into the Jets, who were leading 10-3 in what had been a brutal rock-fight of a game. Brady completed six of his first seven pass attempts, beginning at his own 26, capped by a 21-yarder to David Patten that set the Pats up first-and-10 at the Jets 29 with 14 seconds to go.
Brady spiked the ball. Then he targeted Charles Johnson, Patten and Johnson again, none of them connecting. The Jets survived and moved to 1-1 on the season. New England fell to 0-2, 5-13 under their suddenly hot-seated coach, Bill Belichick.
Twenty years, one month, and one day later, the Jets will return to Foxborough, Mass., to commemorate one of two defining moments in franchise history. The first one was a happy one: Jan. 12, 1969, a 16-7 win in Super Bowl III.
This one not so much.
Maybe the laws of inertia would have taken over even if Lewis hadnt knocked Bledsoe into the hospital. There has long been a narrative that Belichick was itchy to see what he had in Brady, whom hed taken with the 199th pick in the 2000 draft. And given the prism of what has happened since, its easy to fall in line with that.
Except in reality, the Belichick who walked off the field Sept. 23, 2001, bears zero resemblance to the cast-in-stone immortal who now prowls and scowls on the sidelines at Gillette Stadium, the still-pristine football palace that stands near the old footprint of the old stadium. He was 5-13 as a Patriots coach, 41-57 overall,including five mostly pedestrian years in Cleveland.
He was already grossly unpopular among Patriots fans, the most prominent of that group being Robert Kraft, who happened to own the team and happened to have signed Bledsoe to a 10-year, $103 million contract the previous March. That was the richest deal in NFL history. And Kraft loved Bledsoe like a son.
You think he wouldve let a lame-duck coach bench his healthy son?
It was that moment that changed everything, the moment Lewis leveled Bledsoe, the moment that allowed Brady a window of opportunity that he transformed into an 11-5 record that year and a Super Bowl title and another (and another, and another, and another, and another).
The Jets had won their first post-merger division title just three years before. They won another in 2002. They are still waiting to add No. 3. They have not been completely shut out by the Patriots in the 20 years, one month and one day since that collision, theyve made two AFC Championship games, one by defeating the Pats in New England in the playoffs.
But mostly it has been an endless slog of mediocre football (interspersed with some truly deplorable football) with a huge side dish of Patriots Envy, much of it going back to Belichicks famous departure from the franchise and infamous HC of the NYJ resignation note. And that will always be part of it.
Still, before Sept. 23, 2001, it looked as if that would merely be a footnote. Twenty years, one month and one day later, as the Jets make their latest trip to Foxborough for Sundays rematch with the Pats, we know different.
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Jets return to spot where they changed history 20 years ago - New York Post
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Remember the president before Donald Trump? History definitely will – Salon
Posted: at 11:48 am
Claude A. Clegg III's book"The Black President: Hope and Fury in the Age of Obama" accomplishes various things. Foremost among them,it serves as an antidote to Donald Trump's gaslighting. Clegg, a history professor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, first explores how Barack Obama's presidency was experienced by the Black community, an issue central to any accountof the Obama era. In addition, Clegg punctures many of the myths about Obama's administration that have been endlessly repeated by Trump and hisright-wing allies.
When Obama took office in 2009, America was teetering on the verge of economic collapse. The Illinois Democrat'spolicies not only prevented another Great Depression, but saved multiple industries and put the country on a path to long-term prosperity. Trump inherited thateconomy and falsely claimed credit for it, over and over again, during his single term in office. With the unwitting complicity of the media, which obsessedover his every move, Trump then tried to erase Obama's other achievements both as policies and from the public's memory so they would either disappear forever or, if they happened to be popular, get attributed to him. Obama's recordon issues from immigration to foreign policyhas eitherbeendownplayed or revised. His presidency was virtually scandal-free, while Trump's resulted in two impeachmentsfor highly justifiable reasons,a fact no one bothers to mention. This kind of gaslighting can only succeed when thereis a narrative void, one which malicious actors operating in bad faith can takelicense to fill with self-serving revisionism.
Clegg's book is a comprehensive rebuttal to those efforts, and it comes not a moment too soon. While Obama was certainly not a perfect president, he was more successful at pushing through liberal policies than any president of the previoushalf-century. His election in 2008 and subsequent success at governing appeared to forgea viable long-term political coalition, forcing the far right to resort to literal fascist techniques in order to short-circuitan era of likely Democratic dominance. If the story of the early 21st century is going to be told correctly, Obama'sleadership needs to be remembered. He came close enough to dashing the dreams of economic and social reactionaries that theyelected a sub-Paris Hiltonreality TV startrafficking indemonstrable liesas a panicked last effort to alter the course of history.
In so manywords:Obamasucceeded, if not entirely in the way he had hoped. If liberals wantto again capturepolitical momentum, they can't allow the lessons of his presidency to be lost and distorted. I spoke to Clegg recently about his book and the Obama legacy.
This interview has been edited for length, clarity and context.
You talk about making sure that the history of the recent past is understood,because right-wing misinformation might otherwisefill that void. What lies are being told about Obama's presidency?What specific myths do you see being perpetuated that need to be debunked?
There are several.We could start with the original sin of birtherism that is, that this guy was not even born hereand thus was notlegitimate.. Of course, this gave us the rise of Donald Trump within the Republican Party.His ascendancy was based onthat lie. Even though Trump in 2016, right before the election, had this press conference and said, "Oh, I don't believe in this anymore,"hewas still peddling the whole notion that it was illegitimate to have a Black president in the first place. There is a philosophy in the Republican Partytied very closely to the whole idea that it is illegitimate to have a Black president, and that Barack Obamahad no business being in the White House at all.
That's one. Then there is the notion that once Trump comes into office, he can more or less take credit for all the good things that were happening in the economy creating jobs and employment going down and so forth which wasa trend of the Obama presidency, and a trend that was in play long before Donald Trump declared that he was running for office [in 2015], and certainly before he assumedoffice [in 2017]. This notion of a "Trump economy," which was his doing as opposed to this being years in the making over the course of the Obama years,would bethe other Big LiethatTrumppeddles.
There are several others. Immigration is another one, the idea of the Obama administration just having open borders until Trump showed up and planned to build his wall. Of course, we know that Obama was criticized as being the "deporter-in-chief" while he was in the presidency. Hedeported hundreds of thousands of people over thecourse ofhis presidency!As you stated in one of your articles,the immigration issue was never satisfactorily resolved byeither Trump or Obama, but it was not the casethat the Democrats had anopen border whereanyone could come in, and you needed to have Trumpto come in and build a wall and deport people and put them in cages.
Obama was actually harder on the immigration issuethan many in his coalition would have liked. Of course, there isDACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals], whichsoftens some of the rougher edges of his immigration policy, but there is a myththatBarack Obama was soft on immigration. Actually he enforced the lawin ways that many in his own coalition saw as problematic.His thinkingwas that if he was enforcing the law, Republicans would see it and say, "You know, this guy is not soft on immigration. Maybe we can make a deal with himand so forth."But as you know, the Republican Party was trending more and more towarda very hardcore nativismthat made any kind of deal on immigration impossible.
The zone is flooded with allthis misinformation and disinformation about Obama during the course ofthe Trump presidency. I think thatmakes it necessary for historians to reallyget on record with the fact pattern of his presidency.
You already know that I rank Obama very highly among presidents. How do you feel his presidency should be ranked? What would you say were the main narratives of his administration, in terms of his legacy?
I think history is going to be kind to him, and historians are going to be unfavorable to Trump overall. It's funny:People tend not to notice good administration or good management, but they really notice bad management andbad leadership. If you save the country from another Great Depression with the stimulus package,and save the automobile industryand other measures, people don't give you a lot of credit for that. They don't give you a lot of credit for what you prevented from happening, as opposed to giving you the blame if thebad thing actually does happen. I think he has to be given credit along withthose who voted in favor of it in the Congress for the stimulus package, which was around $800 billion. We don't talk in hundredsof billions of dollars anymore, we talk trillions, but $800 billion was a lot of money in 2009. He was able to get that through the Congress. It saved millionsof jobs in the public and private sector. It fortified the social safety netin regard tokeeping public school teachers working, in regard to investments in cleanenergy, in regardto investments in infrastructure.
RELATED:Barack Obama was an awesome president and Democrats shouldn't forget that
It was probably still too small, and it made the countrysort of have to crawlout of the Great Recession, but it was a big deal in regard to keeping the worst of the worst from happening. Itslowed downsome of the home foreclosures.It saved the banks, as noxious as that was to a lot of people.I think it was a necessary thing to savethe banking industry and themortgage loan industry and so forth, even though these guys weresome of the rogues that led us down the path of economic crash in the first place. Of course, the automobile industryhas a lot of other industries adjacent to it,so it's not just the car industry:it's the glass industry, it's the metal industry, the electronics industryand all the other industries that poolinto automobiles. This crisis started during the [George W.]Bush administration, and he did set the ball rolling in regard to an auto bailout during his administration, but it cameto fruition during the Obama administration.
There were several other thingsthat came out of this administration that were positive. There was, of course, capturing and killing Osama bin Laden. There was thewinding down of the Iraq war and some winding down of the Afghanistan war. Obama was a wartime president for the entirety of his years. Bush had been before him, and Trump was as well. Buthe did wind down those wars.
Most of the missed opportunities had to do with him having an unwilling Congress. As you know, they lost the House in 2010and the Senate in 2014. In terms of anything infrastructure, clean energy,a jobs bill,ofcourseallthose things were obstructed. Criminal justice reform, immigration. The missed opportunities and shortcomings of his administration have a lot to do with just having a Republican Congress that waseither outright uncooperative in the House or filibustering everything in the Senate.Even when it came tothe basics of governance, like lifting the debt ceiling so you can pay your bills, there was a lack of cooperation on that scoreto the point that we almost defaulted.
The Affordable Care Act has been more durable than many of us thought it would be. Itsurvived some challenges from the Supreme Court and the Trump administration and so forth. Itis more or less a middle ground between our previous system and a system that may not be single payer, but will approacha systemmore robust than anything that Obama was able to put in place. Maybe a public option ison the table. I don't know about Medicare for All, but I think he set into motionthis idea that the government has an obligation to provide health care and make it accessible to people in the richest country in the world. I think that idea, that health care is a right, has beensort of naturalized by the Obama administration. I thinkan administration in the wake of apandemic is going to push that even further.
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I want todiscuss Joe Biden for a moment because it occurs to me that Biden, like Trump, could never have become president without Obama, but fordifferent reasons. Biden is to Obama what George Bush seniorwas to Ronald Reagan,in that he was the clear successor to apolitical brand. If Biden had not been Obama's vice president, it's absurd to think he would have been nominated in 2020. He would have been anelderly former senator from a moderate state with a moderate record. People talk a lot about how Trump needed Obama to become president, but that's just as much true of Biden,if not more so. I'm curious how you feel about Biden's presidency, as part of the larger Obama story.
Great question!I remember during the campaign that Biden said that he wasan "Obama-Biden Democrat,"which is an interestingcharacterization.It's a very clearappeal to Black voters and the Obama coalition young voters, urban votersand so forth.I think that you're exactly right about that, that he neededObama's brand. Honestly, without it he looks likeall the other people who are running, but even less interestingbecause he's very much a creature of Washington. This is a guy in his late 70s. He'd be the oldest person ever elected. This is his third run for the office. Hewould almost look a bit pathetic, actually, to a lot of people, but for the fact he was aloyaland capable vice president under the presidency of Barack Obama.Obama served for two terms and was the last two-term Democratic president who had convincing margins in the House,in the popular vote and in the Electoral College vote.
At the same time, the Trump presidencywas so out there, in regard to his use and abuse of the office the inside dealing, the nepotism, the Ukraine phone call, the Russian taint that was all over his presidency from 2016 on. So the promise of Biden was also, sort of, "We're going back to the Obama presidency" as you were saying, the third term butI think even further than that,the promise of stability. What's more stable than this guy who's been in the Senate for 20 or 30 years, and thenwas the vice president for eight years?So going back to a certain sort of assumed stability and assumed competencethat Bidenseemed to promise, and that people who were exhausted by the Trump presidencyfeltthey needed.
I think we can't understand Biden's election without the pandemic as well. I think that the country facing a Depression-level unemployment and economic catastrophe, a country that was sicker and poorer than it had been inmany decades, provided an opening.I don't know if Trump is beatable without it.
The way I look at the 2020 election and I'm curious if you agree with me ispretty straightforward. It starts with the fact that Trump made it clear from before the 2016 electionthat he wouldnever accept an electionunless he is the winner. So everything that happened after Election Day was completely predictable, and it didn't matter which Democrat beat him.If Trump lost, he was going to do what he did. It didn't matter who he lost to.
I think in hindsight that's probably true. We couldn't haveactually seen that in 2016.I think if he had lost to Hillary Clinton, we could have actually seen that movie four years earlier. He was heading in that direction, that he could not lose, and if he did lose it was tainted. I don't know if he would have been able to push this as far in 2016, becausein 2020 he had the machinery of the executive branch.
In terms of why Biden won,I think it boils down to several very basic dynamics. The Democratic Party establishment was threatened by Bernie Sanders. Once he started doing well, they were going to unite behind a"moderate" alternative. Biden had tremendous advantages because of his association with Barack Obama's brand, so he won primaries and immediately emerged as the"logical" alternative. So they united behind him and he stopped Sanders. And I completely agree, I think Trumphad the incumbency advantageand had been able to suppress votes through various legislation. Hewould have been reelected withoutCOVID-19.
I thinkthat's a veryreasonable way of looking at things. I think thepandemic is vital to the collapse of Trump's reelection hopes and the emergence of a possible Democratic candidate winning, in this case being Biden. I think the pandemic and the protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and so forth, and mobilizing those folks, whether in the South Carolina primary or getting folks to come out and vote in Novemberon the promise thatnot only do you have Obama's guy,but he's saying the right sorts of things to Black voters. Biden says things that Obama himself couldn't get away with saying.I can remember him saying, "The Black community has always had my back and I'm going to have their back." Obama would never say anything like that because of the fearofhow white voters would seeit. He was allergic to the idea thathe might be construed as having a black agenda, or there might be some inside track for AfricanAmericans in his presidency. Headvocated these broad-brush race-neutralpolicies like the Affordable Care Act, raising Pell grants, saving the automobile industry and so forth. He would have never gone to the places that Bidenhas gone to, at least rhetorically, in regard to sayinghe's going tofix the police, and he's going to have the back of African-American voters, and he's going to do these special things forhistorically Black colleges and universities.
I think that, foundationally, you're right in regard to the basic part of the story that without the pandemic,we don't have the collapse of Trump's re-election prospects andBiden being an acceptable choice.I think you're right about Sanders too, insofaras he's the guy that you date, but not the guy that you marry. And I thinkthe Democratic electorate came to that realization in the midst of the pandemic and right beforethe South Carolina primary.At the same time, I thinkBiden was making the right kinds of messaging,especially to the African-American electorate. He was making moves and making commitments that were beyond Obama, really. It'sfunny. He is even furtherleftward, in regard to his embrace ofnot-quite-a-Bernie-Sanders-level ofbig government. It is certainly far beyond whereBarack Obama would have gone in regard to thechild care expenditure, health care, the stimulus packages and so forth.I think a lot of people rate him as acentrist, but he's a bit more left of center. And I think he was pushed a bit more leftby people like Bernie Sanders and so forth, in ways we didn't see Obama being pushed.
Obama,of course, is in a different time. I think Bidenhas turned out to be a bit more than just a third term of Barack Obama, probably not for reasons that he hoped.I think the politics have changed beneath his feet.
In the beginning of your book, you write that you want to discuss how Obama engaged "the aspirations, struggles and disappointments of his most loyal constituency, and how representative segments of Black America engaged, experienced, and interpreted his historic presidency." Which specific examplesdo you consider most salient?
There areseveral things that come to mind. One of the core themes of the book ishis relationship with African Americans, and one of the main arguments of the book is just how diverse "Black America" is. It really comes out during the Obama administration, even though he was, on average, somewhere around 89% job approval among African Americans for the duration of his presidency.(He had 95% of the Black vote in 2008 and 93% in 2012.) There was an array of reactions, experiences andimaginings of the Obama presidency from various coresof the Black community during thattime.
One of the tensions that really showed the diversity of Black opinion of him is this notion of what he owed, as thefirst Black president, to the larger Black community.There were those who would argue, "Well, this guy got 95%of the black vote in 2008, he owesyou.You do something for me and I'll do something for you." Even beyond that, in the face of this economic catastrophe, AfricanAmericans are atthe bottom of it. They suffered the highest poverty rates. They suffered the highest unemployment rates. They have suffered the highest home foreclosure rates. You just go across the board with every metric and statistic. And so the idea was even beyond Obamagetting such a high share of that vote, because they're at the bottom of this economic crisis, he had a moral obligation and the country had a moralobligation to address this most vulnerable group.
So there are those in academia, there are those in the clergy, there are those in the Congressional Black Caucusand others who saythatpolitically, we have a moral obligation to these folks who weathered the Great Recession so poorly.Obama's thinking was thatthestore of white guilt is more or less exhausted in this country,and the argument aboutcorrecting historical racism,historical injustice, systemic injusticeand so forth doesn't sell very well anymore, if it ever did. Soa person who is trying to get a second term, to get re-elected, cannot target remedies towards one particular group, no matter how deserving, no matter how much they've suffered, no matter about argumentsabout historical injustice and discrimination and ongoingsystemicracism and so forth.That just doesn't fly with the majority of the electorate, which is white.
Most of the folks who voted for Obama were white Americans, white voters. So instead oftargeted remedies that were designed to address the particular situation among AfricanAmericans, he instead put in place or advocated for broad-brush policies that on their face were race-neutral. But if you looked under the hood,these universalist policies promisedadditional or extra or disproportionate benefits to the most vulnerable, including African Americans. I think the Affordable Care Act is the quintessential example of that,in which you have a bill that on its face is race-neutral. Wasn't it just trying to get everyone to buy health insurance? There aremany people who itcould cover, and also it expandedMedicaid. But those who benefited most from the expansion of Medicaid andfrom the subsidies wereAfricanAmericans, Hispanics, poor people, working-class peopleand so forth.
Look at expanding Pell Grants.You're helping all students who needed this particular government assistance to afford college. Again, ifyou look under the hood, it's AfricanAmericans and others, working-class people, poor people, who are benefiting from Pell Grants disproportionately. Sothat was hiscounterargument to this notion of targeted remedies. So, yeah, the way AfricanAmericans experience this is asongoing tension over these targeted policies that folks in the Congressional Black Caucus and black academicsand others are saying, "He's not doing enough."And then Obama himself is saying, "I'm the president for the entire United States. And the re-electionmath does not work if in the midst of this economic crisis I'm viewed as picking and choosing winners and losers,especially if I'm picking and choosing winners among my own group. That just doesn't work."
Obama vs. Trump: More of Salon's coverage of these very different presidents:
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Holy cow! History: When the blackbirds called on Kentucky – Jacksonville Journal-Courier
Posted: at 11:48 am
Something about birds makes them a perfect fit with Halloweens scary vibe. Think Edgar Allan Poes classic The Raven and Alfred Hitchcocks chilling The Birds.
Nearly 50 years ago this fall, a small town had a huge problem on its hands, thanks to the winged critters. This is what happened when the blackbirds called on Kentucky.
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, is a slice of classic Americana. Located a handful of miles above the Tennessee state line, a 152-year-old courthouse sits downtown with quaint little shops and stores, stately churches, and lovely old houses scattered nearby. Its the kind of place folks are happy to call home.
Unfortunately, in the mid-1970s unwanted visitors decided to call it home, too.
Sometime in late October 1974, the skies around Hoptown (as the locals affectionately call it) grew dark. Not with clouds, but with birds. Blackbirds, to be specific. With large numbers of starlings and a healthy number of grackles and cowbirds along for good measure. When the sun went down each evening an estimated 5 million to 7 million of them filled bare tree limbs, the air, and well, basically any place they chose.
But this was no awe-inspiring natural wonder. Birds freely potty whenever and wherever they want. Hopkinsville suddenly found itself covered in millions of pounds of droppings. That created a serious health hazard. The invaders spent their days feasting on the grain farmers put out to feed their cattle. And that wasnt the worst of it.
The birds eventually settled on a 30-acre clump of pine trees for their base of operations. Which put them in direct conflict with the U.S. Army, whose 101st Airborne Division was headquartered at the nearby sprawling Fort Campbell. Now plane and helicopter pilots had to contend with a serious flying threat.
Fed-up farmers and local citizens grabbed shotguns and blasted away at the feathered pests, but to little effect. Hopkinsvilles mayor called it a pestilence and a scourge. He wasnt exaggerating. Veterinarians cautioned about gastroenteritis, which can kill infant pigs, while doctors warned humans to safeguard against histoplasmosis, an airborne disease that damages the lungs.
If all this sounds eerily reminiscent of The Birds, it was. Parents wouldnt let their children play outdoors. They couldnt anyway; their slides and swings were covered in white droppings. Just like the sidewalks, driveways, and car windshields.
By February, the birds had caused an estimated $2.6 million in damage (nearly $15 million in 2021 dollars). Desperate local officials issued an emergency SOS, and Uncle Sam responded. In early 1975, planes and choppers prepared to take off from Fort Campbell and douse the blackbirds and their buddies with Tergitol S-9, a biodegradable detergent that removes the protective oil that helps keeps them warm from their feathers.
Then, just when a strategy was in place to counter the threat, two new characters entered the drama.
First, bureaucrats from the federal Council on Environmental Quality insisted the Army come up with an impact statement. That took several weeks and $20,000 (about $102,000 today) in time and paperwork. Then environmentalists got in on the act. The New York-based groups Society for Animal Rights and Citizens for Animals sued, seeking to stop what they called a form of mass euthanasia. (Hopkinsvilles mayor semi-seriously considered seeking a retaliatory injunction to prohibit Big Apple residents from killing stray rats.)
Nature eventually solved the problem with the calendar. When the weather warmed up in spring, the birds took off for greener pastures.
There was a similar episode in 2013 when millions of unwelcome fowl again showed up and caused yet another round of months-long misery.
They say birds of a feather flock together, and folks in Hopkinsville can attest to the sayings accuracy. And then some. With leaves starting to fall off trees and temperatures beginning to grow nippy at night, you cant blame them for keeping a nervous eye on the sky and their fingers crossed that the blackbirds dont come calling again this year.
To borrow from Poe, Nevermore.
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Today in History: Today is Saturday, Oct. 23, the 296th day of 2021. – wausaupilotandreview.com
Posted: at 11:48 am
By The Associated Press
Todays Highlight in History:
On Oct. 23, 1973, President Richard Nixon agreed to turn over White House tape recordings subpoenaed by the Watergate special prosecutor to Judge John J. Sirica.
On this date:
In 1707, the first Parliament of Great Britain, created by the Acts of Union between England and Scotland, held its first meeting.
In 1864, forces led by Union Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis repelled Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Prices army in the Civil War Battle of Westport in Missouri.
In 1915, tens of thousands of women paraded up Fifth Avenue in New York City, demanding the right to vote.
In 1944, the World War II Battle of Leyte (LAY-tee) Gulf began, resulting in a major Allied victory against Japanese forces.
In 1956, a student-sparked revolt against Hungarys Communist rule began; as the revolution spread, Soviet forces started entering the country, and the uprising was put down within weeks.
In 1983, 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines, were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers.
In 1987, the U.S. Senate rejected, 58-42, the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork.
In 1989, 23 people were killed in an explosion at Phillips Petroleum Co.s chemical complex in Pasadena, Texas.
In 2001, the nations anthrax scare hit the White House with the discovery of a small concentration of spores at an offsite mail processing center.
In 2009, President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect non-infected patients.
In 2012, during a debate with Democratic rival Joe Donnelly, Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said that when a woman becomes pregnant during rape, it is something that God intended to happen. (Other Republican candidates moved to distance themselves from Mourdock, who went on to lose the November election to Donnelly.)
In 2014, officials announced that an emergency room doctor whod recently returned to New York City after treating Ebola patients in West Africa tested positive for the virus, becoming the first case in the city and the fourth in the nation. (Dr. Craig Spencer later recovered.)
Ten years ago: Libyas interim rulers declared the country liberated, formally marking the end of Moammar Gadhafis 42-year tyranny. A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey, killing some 600 people.
Five years ago: A tour bus returning home to Los Angeles from a casino trip plowed into the back of a slow-moving semi-truck on a California highway, killing 13 people. Bill Murray received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Former student radical turned California lawmaker Tom Hayden, 76, died in Santa Monica, California.
One year ago: Drugmakers AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson announced the resumption of U.S. testing of their COVID-19 vaccine candidates; each had stopped its testing after a study volunteer developed a serious health issue, requiring a review of safety data. France surpassed 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, becoming the second country in Western Europe (after Spain) to reach the mark. President Donald Trump announced that Sudan would start to normalize ties with Israel, making it the third Arab state to do so as part of U.S.-brokered deals in the run-up to Election Day. Texas country singer and songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, who wrote the pop song Mr. Bojangles, died of cancer at age 78.
Todays Birthdays: Movie director Philip Kaufman is 85. Soccer great Pele (pay-lay) is 81. R&B singer Barbara Ann Hawkins (The Dixie Cups) is 78. Former ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross is 73. Actor Michael Rupert is 70. Movie director Ang Lee is 67. Jazz singer Dianne Reeves is 65. Country singer Dwight Yoakam is 65. Community activist Martin Luther King III is 64. Movie director Sam Raimi is 62.
Parodist Weird Al Yankovic is 62. Rock musician Robert Trujillo (Metallica) is 57. Christian/jazz singer David Thomas (Take 6) is 55. Rock musician Brian Nevin (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 55. Actor Jon Huertas is 52. Movie director Chris Weitz is 52. CNN medical reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta is 52. Bluegrass musician Eric Gibson (The Gibson Brothers) is 51. Country singer Jimmy Wayne is 49. Actor Vivian Bang is 48. Rock musician Eric Bass (Shinedown) is 47. TV personality and host Cat Deeley is 45. Actor Ryan Reynolds is 45. Actor Saycon Sengbloh is 44. Rock singer Matthew Shultz (Cage the Elephant) is 38. TV personality Meghan McCain is 37. R&B singer Miguel is 36. Actor Masiela Lusha (MAH-see-el-la loo-SHA) is 36. Actor Emilia Clarke is 35. Actor Briana Evigan is 35. Actor Inbar Lavi is 35. Actor Jessica Stroup is 35. Neo-soul musician Allen Branstetter (St. Paul & the Broken Bones) is 31. Actor Taylor Spreitler is 28. Actor Margaret Qualley is 27. Actor Amandla Stenberg is 23.
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Today in History: Today is Saturday, Oct. 23, the 296th day of 2021. - wausaupilotandreview.com
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History: Venturi and Sinatra resilient in the desert – Desert Sun
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Tracy Conrad| Special to The Desert Sun
Both the temperature and the humidity hit the 100 mark in June 1964 at the final round of the U.S. Open golf championship held at the Congressional Country Club. The extreme conditions tested the mettle of a man.
Ken Venturi had worked his way up through the qualifying tournaments to even be allowed to play that day. Kathy Chenault writing in 2011 summarized, Venturi had been a top American golfer in the 1950s, but he had lost his competitive edge by 1964. When he began those final 36 holes at Congressional, he was trailing Tommy Jacobsby six strokes and Arnold Palmerby five. But by late in the final round, hed taken the lead. He knew he could blow it and become just another hard-luck guy who fell short of his defining moment at the U.S. Open. Or, he could overcome the elements and display the kind of courage that would immortalize him at a tournament known for high-pressure showdowns. Nearly a half-century later, spectators who were there that Saturday still talk about Venturis ordeal.
Chenault continued, Venturi was an amazing sight that day, too, at least in the beginning. Down by six strokes, he scorched the first nine, making the turn at 30five under par. The temperature kept climbing. Venturi ignored it. He birdied 12 to go to six under for the round. It got warmer. Venturi focused only on playing, forgetting to drink anything…. Then it caught up to him on the 17th hole.
Some accounts say the temperature reached 108. He finished the first round two shots out of the lead, and collapsed. Prostrate from heat exhaustion he was carried to the clubhouse where a physician advised him that playing on could prove fatal. After iced tea and salt tablets, with sopping wet ice-cold towels draped around his neck, Venturi persisted in going out for the afternoon round. Years later he would recount that I went back to concentrating on what I had to do.
Venturi had been the most promising of amateurs growing up in San Francisco, despite an extreme stutter that caused his family to worry if he would ever speak. He retreated into the game and endless practice, winning the California State Amateur Championship in 1951 and 1956. In the interim he served his country. Stationed in Germany, he was given permission by the commanding general to accept the invitation to play as an amateur at the Masters. After leading in each of the first three rounds, he lost by a single stroke. To this day no amateur has ever won.
Venturi turned pro at the end of 1956 and again came close to winning the Masters in 1958 and 1960 but was bested by Arnold Palmer.But by the early 1960s he was struggling.
Chenault summarized, The onetime brash phenom from San Francisco had fallen into a maelstrom of marital discord, financial difficulties and a long slump that had him questioning whether he belonged on the tour anymore. Hed once performed golf wizardry with ease, boldly taking on legends of the sport such as Byron Nelson and Ben Hoganand holding his own even as an amateur. After he turned professional, his popularity soared. He socialized with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatraand other golf-loving celebrities. By 1960, other pros described him as the man to beat…then his game inexplicably fell apart. Chenault writes he wasnt just losing, he had lost his way.
Golf writers called him a has-been. On that June day in 1964 his character and resiliency would prove them wrong. He was visibly weak, plodding through the course. Jacobs and Palmer wilted in the heat. He caught them on the ninth hole and won by four strokes in the end, securing his place in history.
But Venturi still had troubles. His marriage was disintegrating, he suffered muscle damage in a car accident that plagued him, and on a February day in Palm Springs in 1962 he was playing in the pro-amateur tournament he leaned over to pick his ball up out of the cup when something snapped in his spine creating unrelenting pain. He had carpal tunnel syndrome and the barbaric operation he underwent left him unable to grip a club.
Venturi and his friend Frank Sinatra understood struggle. Sinatra, had once been idolized then ignored by thousands of teenage fans, had reinvented himself as a movie star. Sinatra released an album in 1964 that included the tune, Heres to the Losers. The lyrics of the tune make a plea, Here's the last toast of the evening, here's to those who still believe/ All the losers will be winners, all the givers shall receive/ Here's to trouble-free tomorrows, may your sorrows all be small/ Here's to the losers, Bless them all!
Both Sinatra and Venturi would triumph in the desert creating a blessed life for themselves here.
Venturi moved permanently to Palm Springs with his two boys in 1971. Their house in Deep Well wasnt yet finished so they moved in with Sinatra in Rancho Mirage. Sinatra was godfather to Venturis son Tim, who recalls the most joyous time. Singing songs around the piano played by Jimmy Van Heusen, with Jilly Rizzo and Frankie Vale; playing cards with Bing Crosby; or a dinner party with Dean Martin, Henry Kissinger, Liza Minnelli, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford; driving around town in some pretty fabulous cars, with license plates like FAS 1, for Francis Albert Sinatra, FAS 2,3,4, etc.
Venturi and Sinatra were the best of friends. Sinatra trusted him completely. Tim illustrates his fathers character and sense of propriety with a story about how Sinatra wanted to give his godson an Italian Ghia (not to be confused with a Karmann Ghia), for his 16th birthday. The elder Venturi forbade it (the car is now worth millions).
Tim says Venturi and Sinatra would be out on the town at Rubys Dunes, Don the Beachcomber, Sorrentinos, Pal Joeys and Lord Fletchers. Tim Venturi recalls once when he was about 14 years old, Sinatra and Jilly Rizzo showed up at the Deep Well house and said they were taking Venturi out for a bit. Three days later Venturi returned home having been whisked away to New York for some fun, perhaps at Sinatras hangout Toots Shors.
Reinventing himself, Venturi became the golf pro at Mission Hills and in 1972 he was invited to become a commentator on CBS television by producer Frank Chirkinian. Overcoming his stutter, Venturi delighted fans all over the globe explaining the drama unfolding during tournaments, and in the process created a 35-year-long career for himself. Venturi would go on to raise millions of dollars for a variety of good causes and is one of the most respected figures in golf.
Writing for Sports Illustrated after Venturis win at the Open Alfred Wright noted, …it was as if everyone suddenly wanted to drive an Edsel instead of a Cadillac…It was as if they took all the guys down on Skid Row and put them in charge of the big banks. It was a day for losers everywhere, because, for the best part of three years now, Ken Venturi has been a loser's loser. Well, heres to the losers, bless them all!
Tracy Conrad is president of the Palm Springs Historical Society. The Thanks for the Memories column appears Sundays in The Desert Sun. Write to her atpshstracy@gmail.com
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The Forgotten NFL Quarterback Who Dominated the Pre-Super Bowl Era – History
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Otto Graham dominated professional football in the pre-Super Bowl era. From 1946-55, "Automatic Otto" led the Browns to 10 straight championship gamesan achievement no other player in the sport can match. Starting every Browns game during that time frame, Graham won seven titlesa record unmatched for a professional quarterback until 2021 by Tom Brady.
Yet the player who helped lay the foundation for the NFL prior to its explosion in popularity in the 1960s often is overlooked.
He won at the highest level any way you cut it, says Jon Kendle,Pro Football Hall of Fame director of archives and football information. I think he stacks up extremely well to any of the great quarterbacks throughout history and the great quarterbacks of today.
Under Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown, Cleveland deployed cutting-edge preparation methods and schematic concepts. Among the legendary coach's many innovations were game film and playbooks. But to lead the Browns' high-powered offense, Brown needed a gifted quarterback such as Graham.
[Graham] helped glamorize the sport by winning championships and elevating the role of quarterback as the NFL entered the television era, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said in 2003.
Otto Graham won seven titles as Cleveland Browns quarterback and appeared in 10 championship games.
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Offered no college football scholarships, Graham played basketball at Northwestern. But Wildcats football coach Pappy Waldorf was so impressed by Graham's play at an intramural football game that he invited him to join his team.
A single-wing tailback at Northwestern, the 6-foot-1 Graham impressed Brown by leading the Wildcats to two upset wins over the future Cleveland leaders Ohio State teams. Shortly after he became coach of the Browns, then in the All-America Football Conference, the fledgling rival of the NFL, Brown lured Graham from the National Basketball Leagues Rochester Royals. In Graham's lone season in the NBL, the Royals won the title.
In 1946, the Graham-led Browns won their first AAFC championship by beating the New York Yankees, who ran the antiquated single-wing offense. Clevelands offense ran wild in the top-heavy AAFC, which featured numerous ex-college all-stars and 15 future Pro Football Hall of Famers but did not impress NFL bigwigs.
Propelled by Graham, Cleveland compiled a 52-4-3 record in the AAFC, winning all four league titles. The Browns were undefeated in 1948, finishing 15-0 after a 49-7 championship game victory. Two days before the Browns claimed their fourth championship, however, the league dissolved. In December 1949, the NFL absorbed the Browns and two other AAFC franchises.
After Philadelphia won its second straight NFL title that season, Eagles coach Greasy Neale proclaimed his team the best assembled and wondered, Who is there to beat us? Washington owner George Preston Marshall went further, remarking the worst NFL team could beat the best AAFC outfit.
READ MORE: The Dramatic NFL Championship Game Nearly the Entire Country Missed
This backdrop gave the 1950 Browns a historic validation opportunity. In the season opener against the Eagles, dubbed the World Series of Football," Cleveland routed Philadelphia, 35-10. Graham passed for 346 yards, a dizzying figure in an era when prolific passing attacks were not the norm.
Three months later, the Browns beat Clevelands former team, the offensive powerhouse Los Angeles Rams, for the championship. In the 30-28 win, Graham threw for four touchdowns and piloted a fourth-quarter comeback. But that Christmas Eve classic wasn't nationally televised, thus limiting the lasting appeal of the Browns crowning achievement.In the modern era of major professional sports (NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball), the Browns are the only team to join a league and win a title in its first season.
Displaying what the Los Angeles Daily News described as vengeful glee, Cleveland conquered a league that mocked it.In their first six seasons in the NFL, the Browns won 82 percent of their games and Graham played in six title gamesno other quarterback in league history has played in a championship game more than four times in a six-season span.
Otto Grahams their team, New York Giants coach Steve Owen said of the Browns in 1953. Graham is the field leader; he engineers their attack downfield. He is uncanny in his passing and running calls.
Otto Graham briefly became an "insurance man" following the 1954 NFL season.
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In 1951, the Browns lost to the Rams in a championship game rematch. And, in 1953, a rugged Detroit Lions team that featured seven future Hall of Famers beat the Browns for a second straight year, extending Clevelands streak of title game losses to three. The defeats ratcheted the pressure on Graham."Emotionally, I was so far down in the dumps those three years," he later said. "I was the quarterback. I was the leader. It was all my fault."
Not long after a self-admitted lousy 1953 title game, a 17-16 Lions win, Graham announced he would retire following the 1954 season. The ensuing season changed his career trajectory.
The Browns exorcised their Lions demons in 1954, winning the second-most lopsided championship game in NFL historya 56-10 mashing that featured nine Detroit turnovers. In the rout, Graham threw for three touchdowns and ran for threethe only player in league history to do soin a playoff game.
As late as June 1955, Graham said he was done with football and would not pull a Ted Williams, a reference to the Boston Red Sox's star who came out of retirement that year.Instead, he referred to himself as Otto Graham, insurance man. The 33-year-old passer was prepared to venture into a then-more lucrative field, but he left a comeback door open, notifying Brown he would unretire if Clevelands quarterback situation proved unsatisfactory. Brown came calling and agreed to bump Grahams salary to an NFL-high $25,000.
The result: a third NFL MVP award, a seventh championship and status as the quarterback who set a remarkable standard of excellence. After the Browns' 38-14 win against Los Angeles in the 1955 championship game, first-year Rams coach Sid Gillman said Graham had a perfect day. The crowd in Los Angeles apparently agreed, sending him into retirement for good with a standing ovation.
Browns innovations, which also included scouting reports and full-time assistant coaches, aided Graham. But Graham, who died in 2003, was the clear-cut top quarterback during a period in which the near-free rein afforded to pass rushers and secondaries made passers jobs harder.
Graham's achievements dwarfed Hall of Fame contemporaries Norm Van Brocklin and Bobby Layne, also star quarterbacks.He earned four All-Pro honors to their combined one during his NFL career.In his 1953 MVP season, Graham lapped peers in completion percentage (64.7) and yards per pass (10.6).
Graham, nicknamed "Automatic Otto" for his precision passing, sits first in professional football in career yards per attempt at 9.0.The ex-running backs 44 rushing touchdowns also stood as the professional football quarterback record for 61 years.
After Graham's retirement in 1956, the Browns declined sharply, finishing 5-7 and out of the playoffs. The organization's last championship came in 1964.
"The test of a quarterback is where his team finishes," said Brown, who died in 1991, long before Peyton Manning and Brady joined the NFL. "By that standard, Otto Graham was the best of all time."
READ MORE: The Freezer Bowl: The Coldest Game in NFL History
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NBA’s 75 greatest players of all time – The complete list – ESPN
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The NBA is celebrating its 75th anniversary throughout the 2021-22 season, and part of that celebration includes the unveiling of the list of the greatest players in NBA history. It has been 25 years since the league unveiled its list of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, which tipped off a season-long celebration of the NBA's 50th anniversary in 1996. During halftime of the 1997 NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland, 47 of the 50 members of that team were honored in person. The 2022 All-Star Game is once again slated to return to Cleveland as a nod to that moment.
The NBA's 75th anniversary team was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of media, current and former players, coaches, general managers and team executives. As a result of a tie in the voting, the 75th anniversary team includes 76 players.
The complete list of players is in alphabetical order below.
Stats: 24.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.6 APG in 20 seasons with Milwaukee Bucks (1969-70 to 1974-75) and Los Angeles Lakers (1975-76 to 1988-89); NBA's career leader in total points.
Accomplishments: 19-time All-Star, 15-time All-NBA, 11-time All-Defensive Team, six-time MVP, two-time Finals MVP, 1969-70 Rookie of the Year, two-time scoring champ, four-time blocks champ, 1975-76 rebounding champ, six-time NBA champion.
Stats: 18.9 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.4 APG in 18 seasons with Milwaukee Bucks (1996-97 to 2002-03), Seattle SuperSonics (2002-03 to 2006-07), Boston Celtics (2007-08 to 2011-12) and Miami Heat (2012-13 to 2013-14); NBA's all-time leader in career 3-point field goals.
Accomplishments: 10-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA, two-time NBA champion.
Stats: 20.9 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 4.5 APG in eight seasons with Milwaukee Bucks (2013-14 to 2020-21)*.
Accomplishments: Five-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA, four-time All-Defensive team, two-time MVP, 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year, 2016-17 Most Improved Player, 2021 Finals MVP, 2021 NBA champion.
Stats: 23.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.8 APG in 18 seasons with Denver Nuggets (2003-04 to 2010-11), New York Knicks (2010-11 to 2016-17), Oklahoma City Thunder (2017-18), Houston Rockets (2018-19), Portland Trail Blazers (2019-20 to 2020-21)*.
Accomplishments: 10-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA, 2012-13 scoring champ.
Stats: 18.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 7.4 APG in 13 seasons with Cincinnati Royals/KC-Omaha/Kansas City Kings (1970-71 to 1975-76), New York Nets (1976-77), Boston Celtics (1978-79 to 1982-83) and Milwaukee Bucks (1983-84).
Accomplishments: Six-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA, 1972-73 scoring and assists champ, 1981 All-Star MVP, 1981 NBA champion.
Stats: 22.8 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 2.3 APG in 10 NBA seasons with Philadelphia Warriors (1950-51 to 1961-62).
Accomplishments: 10-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA, 1950-51 Rookie of the Year, 1952 All-Star MVP, two-time scoring champ, 1956 NBA champion.
Stats: 22.1 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.9 APG in 16 seasons with Philadelphia 76ers (1984-85 to 1991-92), Phoenix Suns (1992-93 to 1995-96) and Houston Rockets (1996-97 to 1999-00).
Accomplishments: 11-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA, 1992-93 MVP, 1991 All-Star MVP, 1986-87 rebounding champ.
Stats: 23.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 5.1 APG in 10 NBA seasons with San Francisco/Golden State Warriors (1965-66 to 1966-67; 1972-73 to 1977-78) and Houston Rockets (1978-79 to 1979-80); also played four ABA seasons with Oakland Oaks (1968-69), Washington Capitols (1969-70) and New York Nets (1970-71 to 1971-72).
Accomplishments: Eight-time NBA All-Star, six-time All-NBA, 1975 Finals MVP, 1965-66 Rookie of the Year, 1966-67 scoring champ, 1974-75 steals champ, 1975 NBA champion.
Stats: 27.4 PPG, 13.5 RPG, 4.3 APG in 14 seasons with Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers (1958-59 to 1971-72).
Accomplishments: 11-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA, 1958-59 Rookie of the Year, 1959 All-Star MVP.
Stats: 20.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 6.0 APG in 12 seasons with Detroit Pistons (1966-67 to 1974-75), Washington Bullets (1975-76 to 1976-77) and Boston Celtics (1977-78).
Accomplishments: Seven-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA, 1966-67 Rookie of the Year, 1976 All-Star MVP, 1967-68 scoring champ.
Stats: 24.3 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 6.3 APG in 13 seasons with Boston Celtics (1979-80 to 1991-92).
Accomplishments: 12-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA, three-time All-Defensive team, three-time MVP, two-time Finals MVP, 1979-80 Rookie of the Year, 1982 All-Star MVP, three-time NBA champion.
Stats: 25.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.7 APG in 20 seasons with Los Angeles Lakers (1996-97 to 2015-16).
Accomplishments: 18-time All-Star, 15-time All-NBA, 12-time All-Defensive team, 2007-08 MVP, two-time Finals MVP, four-time All-Star MVP, two-time scoring champ, five-time NBA champion.
Stats: 30.1 PPG, 22.9 RPG, 4.4 APG in 14 seasons with Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors (1959-60 to 1964-65), Philadelphia 76ers (1964-65 to 1967-68) and Los Angeles Lakers (1968-69 to 1972-73).
Accomplishments: 13-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA, two-time All-Defensive team, four-time MVP, 1972 Finals MVP, 1959-60 Rookie of the Year, 11-time rebounding champ, seven-time scoring champ, 1967-68 assists champ, two-time NBA champion.
Stats: 18.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 7.5 APG in 14 seasons with Boston Celtics (1950-51 to 1962-63) and Cincinnati Royals (1969-70).
Accomplishments: 13-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA, eight-time assists champ, 1956-57 MVP, two-time All-Star MVP, six-time NBA champion.
Stats: 17.6 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 3.8 APG in 11 seasons with Boston Celtics (1970-71 to 1979-80) and Milwaukee Bucks (1982-83).
Accomplishments: Eight-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA, three-time All-Defensive team, 1972-73 MVP, 1973 All-Star MVP, 1970-71 Rookie of the Year, two-time NBA champion.
Stats: 20.8 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 4.0 APG in nine seasons with Philadelphia 76ers (1965-66 to 1971-72; 1974-75 to 1975-76); also played two ABA seasons with Carolina Cougars (1972-73 to 1973-74).
Accomplishments: Four-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA, 1967 NBA champion.
Stats: 24.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 6.5 APG in 11 seasons with Golden State Warriors (2009-10 to 2020-21)*.
Accomplishments: Seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, two-time MVP, two-time scoring champ, 2015-16 steals champ, three-time NBA champion.
Stats: 23.9 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 2.3 APG in nine seasons with New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans (2012-13 to 2018-19) and Los Angeles Lakers (2019-20 to 2020-21)*.
Accomplishments: Eight-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA, four-time All-Defensive team, 2017 All-Star MVP, three-time blocks champ, 2020 NBA champion.
Stats: 16.1 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 2.9 APG in 12 seasons with Detroit Pistons (1962-63 to 1968-69) and New York Knicks (1968-69 to 1973-74).
Accomplishments: Eight-time All-Star, 1968-69 All-NBA, six-time All-Defensive team, two-time NBA champion.
Stats: 20.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 5.6 APG in 15 seasons with Portland Trail Blazers (1983-84 to 1994-95) and Houston Rockets (1994-95 to 1997-98).
Accomplishments: 10-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA, 1995 NBA champion.
Stats: 19.0 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 3.0 APG in 19 seasons with San Antonio Spurs (1997-98 to 2015-16).
Accomplishments: 15-time All-Star, 15-time All-NBA, 15-time All-Defensive team, two-time MVP, three-time Finals MVP, 2000 All-Star MVP, 1997-98 Rookie of the Year, five-time NBA champion.
Stats: 27.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 4.2 APG in 14 seasons with Seattle SuperSonics (2007-08), Oklahoma City Thunder (2008-09 to 2015-16), Golden State Warriors (2016-17 to 2018-19) and Brooklyn Nets (2019-20 to 2020-21)*.
Accomplishments: 11-time All-Star, nine-time All-NBA, 2013-14 MVP, 2007-08 Rookie of the Year, two-time All-Star MVP, two-time Finals MVP, four-time scoring champ, two-time NBA champion.
Stats: 22.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.9 APG in 11 NBA seasons with Philadelphia 76ers (1976-77 to 1986-87); also played five ABA seasons with Virginia Squires (1971-72 to 1972-73) and New York Nets (1973-74 to 1975-76).
Accomplishments: 11-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, 1980-81 MVP, two-time NBA All-Star MVP, 1983 NBA champion.
Stats: 21.0 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 2.4 BPG in 17 seasons with New York Knicks (1985-86 to 1999-00), Seattle SuperSonics (2000-01) and Orlando Magic (2001-02).
Accomplishments: 11-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, three-time All-Defensive team, 1985-86 Rookie of the Year.
Stats: 18.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 6.1 APG in 13 seasons with New York Knicks (1967-68 to 1976-77) and Cleveland Cavaliers (1977-78 to 1979-80).
Accomplishments: Seven-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA, seven-time All-Defensive team, 1975 All-Star MVP, two-time NBA champion.
Stats: 17.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 3.7 APG in 21 seasons with Minnesota Timberwolves (1995-96 to 2006-07; 2014-15 to 2015-16), Boston Celtics (2007-08 to 2012-13) and Brooklyn Nets (2013-14 to 2014-15).
Accomplishments: 15-time All-Star, nine-time All-NBA, 12-time All-Defensive Team, 2003-04 MVP, 2007-08 Defensive Player of the Year, 2003 All-Star MVP, four-time rebounding champ, 2008 NBA champion.
Stats: 26.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.8 APG in 10 NBA seasons with San Antonio Spurs (1976-77 to 1984-85) and Chicago Bulls (1985-86); also played four ABA seasons with Virginia Squires (1972-73 to 1973-74) and San Antonio Spurs (1973-74 to 1975-76).
Accomplishments: Nine-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, 1980 All-Star MVP, four-time NBA scoring champ.
Stats: 19.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.0 APG in 15 seasons with Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers (1958-59 to 1972-73).
Accomplishments: 10-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, 1968 All-Star MVP, 1967 NBA champion.
Stats: 25.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 6.5 APG in 12 seasons with Oklahoma City Thunder (2009-10 to 2011-12), Houston Rockets (2012-13 to 2020-21) and Brooklyn Nets (2020-21)*.
Accomplishments: Nine-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, three-time scoring champ, 2016-17 assists champ, 2017-18 MVP, 2011-12 Sixth Man of the Year.
Stats: 20.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.8 APG in 16 seasons with Boston Celtics (1962-63 to 1977-78).
Accomplishments: 13-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA, eight-time All-Defensive team, 1974 Finals MVP, eight-time NBA champion.
Stats: 21.0 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 1.8 APG in 16 season with San Diego/Houston Rockets (1968-69 to 1971-72; 1981-82 to 1983-84) and Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets (1972-73 to 1980-81) .
Accomplishments: 12-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA, two-time All-Defensive team, 1968-69 scoring champ, two-time rebounding champ, 1978 NBA champion.
Stats: 26.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 6.2 APG in 14 seasons with Philadelphia 76ers (1996-97 to 2006-07; 2009-10), Denver Nuggets (2006-07 to 2008-09), Detroit Pistons (2008-09) and Memphis Grizzlies (2009-10) .
Accomplishments: 11-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, 2000-01 MVP, two-time All-Star MVP, 1996-97 Rookie of the Year, four-time scoring champ, three-time steals champ.
Stats: 27.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 7.4 APG in 18 seasons with Cleveland Cavaliers (2003-04 to 2009-10; 2014-15 to 2017-18), Miami Heat (2010-11 to 2013-14) and Los Angeles Lakers (2018-19 to 2020-21)*.
Accomplishments: 17-time All-Star, 17-time All-NBA, six-time All-Defensive team, four-time MVP, four-time Finals MVP, three-time All-Star MVP, 2003-04 Rookie of the Year, 2007-08 scoring champ, 2019-20 assists champ, four-time NBA champion.
Stats: 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG in 13 seasons with Los Angeles Lakers (1979-80 to 1990-91; 1995-96).
Accomplishments: 12-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA, three-time MVP, three-time Finals MVP, two-time All-Star MVP, four-time assists champ, two-time steals champ, five-time NBA champion.
Stats: 17.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.5 APG in 12 seasons with Boston Celtics (1957-58 to 1968-69).
Accomplishments: Five-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA, 10-time NBA champion.
Stats: 30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG in 15 seasons with Chicago Bulls (1984-85 to 1992-93; 1994-95 to 1997-98) and Washington Wizards (2001-02 to 2002-03); NBA's career leader in points per game.
Accomplishments: 14-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA, nine-time All-Defensive team, five-time MVP, six-time Finals MVP, three-time All-Star MVP, 1987-88 Defensive Player of the Year, 1984-85 Rookie of the Year, 10-time scoring champ, three-time steals champ, six-time NBA champion.
Stats: 12.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 8.7 APG in 19 seasons with Dallas Mavericks (1994-95 to 1996-97; 2007-08 to 2011-12), Phoenix Suns (1996-97 to 2000-01), New Jersey Nets (2001-02 to 2007-08) and New York Knicks (2012-13).
Accomplishments: 10-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA, nine-time All-Defensive team, 1994-95 Rookie of the Year, five-time assists champ, 2011 NBA champion.
Stats: 19.2 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.9 APG in 10 seasons with San Antonio Spurs (2011-12 to 2017-18), Toronto Raptors (2018-19) and LA Clippers (2019-20 to 2020-21)*.
Accomplishments: Five-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA, two-time Finals MVP, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, 2020 All-Star MVP, 2014-15 steals champ, two-time NBA champion.
Stats: 24.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 6.6 APG in nine seasons with Portland Trail Blazers (2012-13 to 2020-21)*.
Accomplishments: Six-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA, 2012-13 Rookie of the Year.
Stats: 17.0 PPG, 15.6 RPG, 3.3 APG in 11 seasons with Cincinnati Royals (1963-64 to 1969-70), San Francisco Warriors (1969-70 to 1970-71) and New York Knicks (1971-72 to 1973-74).
Accomplishments: Seven-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA, 1963-64 Rookie of the Year, 1965 All-Star MVP, 1973 NBA champion.
Stats: 25.0 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.6 APG in 19 seasons with Utah Jazz (1985-86 to 2002-03) and Los Angeles Lakers (2003-04).
Accomplishments: 14-time All-Star, 14-time All-NBA, four-time All-Defensive team, two-time MVP, two-time All-Star MVP.
Stats: 20.6 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 1.3 BPG in 19 NBA seasons with Buffalo Braves (1976-77), Houston Rockets (1976-77 to 1981-82), Philadelphia 76ers (1982-83 to 1985-86; 1993-94), Washington Bullets (1986-87 to 1987-88), Atlanta Hawks (1988-89 to 1990-91), Milwaukee Bucks (1991-92 to 1992-93) and San Antonio Spurs (1994-95); also played two ABA seasons with Utah Stars (1974-75) and Spirits of St. Louis (1975-76).
Accomplishments: 12-time NBA All-Star, eight-time All-NBA, two-time NBA All-Defensive team, three-time NBA MVP, 1983 Finals MVP, six-time NBA rebounding champ, 1983 NBA champion.
Stats: 24.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 5.4 APG in 10 seasons with Atlanta Hawks (1970-71 to 1973-74), New Orleans/Utah Jazz (1974-75 to 1979-80) and Boston Celtics (1979-80).
Accomplishments: Five-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA, 1976-77 scoring champ.
Stats: 22.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 2.3 APG in 14 seasons with Buffalo Braves.
Accomplishments: Five-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA, 1974-75 MVP, 1972-73 Rookie of the Year, three-time scoring champ, two-time NBA champion.
Stats: 17.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.7 BPG in 13 seasons with Boston Celtics (1980-81 to 1992-93).
Accomplishments: Seven-time All-Star, 1986-87 All-NBA, six-time All-Defensive team, two-time Sixth Man of the Year, three-time NBA champion.
Stats: 23.1 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 2.8 APG in seven seasons with Minneapolis Lakers (1948-49 to 1955-56).
Accomplishments: Four-time All-Star, six-time All-BAA/NBA, 1953 All-Star MVP, three-time scoring champ, 1952-53 rebounding champ, five-time BAA/NBA champion.
Stats: 18.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.0 APG in 18 seasons with Indiana Pacers (1987-88 to 2004-05).
Accomplishments: Five-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA.
Stats: 18.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.9 APG in 13 seasons with Baltimore Bullets (1967-68 to 1971-72) and New York Knicks (1971-72 to 1979-80).
Accomplishments: Four-time All-Star, 1968-69 All-NBA, 1967-68 Rookie of the Year, 1973 NBA champion.
Stats: 14.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 8.5 APG in 18 seasons with Phoenix Suns (1996-97 to 1997-98; 2004-05 to 2011-12), Dallas Mavericks (1998-99 to 2003-04) and Los Angeles Lakers (2012-13 to 2013-14).
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NBA's 75 greatest players of all time - The complete list - ESPN
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Frappe: The History of Coffee That Greeks Are Obsessed With – Greek Reporter
Posted: at 11:48 am
The frappe is a lifestyle for Greek people. Credit: Robert Gourley, CC BY 2.0
Frothy, cold, and full of caffeine, nearly everyoneGreeks and non-Greeks alikeloves the classic Greek coffee drink Frappe.
Frappe coffee, or Greek frape, is a foam-covered iced coffee drink made from instant coffee, sugar, ice cubes and water. Occasionally, people add milk to the drink.
It is very popular in Greece and Cyprus, especially during the hot summer months, but has spread to other countries around the world, and especially wherever Greeks are present.
The Greek frappe became a symbol of the post-war outdoor Greek coffee culture. Although the freddo espresso, another Greek invention, has become very popular, the frappe, to this date, remains the most popular coffee beverage among the Greeks.
But what is the history of the frappe and how it came to be? After contacting Yiannis Michalopoulos, Senior Brand Manager at Nescaf of Nestl Hellas, the widely known story of the frappe being invented by accident at the 1957 Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) was confirmed.
Dimitris Vakondios, an employee of the Nestl company, invented the delicious coffee drink at the TIF. Nestl was introducing a new chocolate beverage for children that was produced instantly in a shaker.
During a break, Vakondios wanted to have his regular Nescaf Classic but he could not find any hot water, so he mixed the coffee with cold water in a shaker, and the Frappe was born.
Frappe took over its official name and became the national coffee beverage of modern Greece around 1979. Although the word frappe originates from the French word meaning shaken or stirred, the Greek invention has nothing in common with the French chilled beverage produced in a shaker, which contains milk or fruit juice instead of coffee.
Greek frappe is available in three degrees of sweetness, determined by the amount of sugar used. These are: glyks (sweet two teaspoons of coffee and four teaspoons of sugar);mtrios(medium two teaspoons of coffee and two teaspoons of sugar); andsktos(plain two teaspoons of coffee and no sugar).
All varieties of the drink may be served with or without milk. Sometimes, frappe is served without any water (besides the water used in the foam) and milk is used instead. This variation is most commonly found in Cyprus. Different kinds of liquors are sometimes used for additional variation, as well as chocolate milk or a ball of vanilla ice instead of milk.
The preparation recipe is quite easy. The coffee can be made either with a cocktail shaker or an appropriate mixer (e.g. a hand mixer). One or two teaspoons of coffee, sugar to taste and a little water are blended to form a brownish foam, which is poured into a tall glass. To this, add cold water and ice cubes, and, optional, milk typically evaporated milk. The glass is served with a straw.
Nescaf Frappe has been exported to many European countries, including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Bulgaria, the USA and Australia.
Ever since its first commercial launch in 1979, Greek Frappe has been symbolically and visually connected to the easy-going and careless summertime for Greeks.
This iconic connection and the frappes unique ability to maintain its quality longer through the heat than any other beverage, has resulted in the myth of the frapp being a symbol of a lazy day on the beach during the iconic Greek summertime.
However, Michalopoulos explained that extensive research has shown that the two key reasons why someone chooses to drink frapp are stimulation and social sharing, not laziness.
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7 of the Most Memorable World Series in Baseball History – History
Posted: at 11:48 am
Major League Baseball history is filled with memorable World Series, from the first in 1903 to the 21st century. The New York Yankees, who have won more titles (27) than any other big-league team, have played in many World Series that have captured the imaginations of sports fans and historians. Here are seven of the most memorable World Series of all time.
WHAT MADE IT MEMORABLE:It was the first World Series
The American and National leagues bickered for two seasons before they agreed to play the first modern World Series in 1903. So, the Americans' 5-3 victory in the nine-game series was hugely significant for the fledgling league, established in 1901.
"When one pauses and looks backward a few seasons at the time when the big moguls of the National League turned up their noses in scorn at the very mention of the newcomer, the despised American League infant, one cannot refrain from thinking that this glorious victory of the junior organization over the National League champions must be a bitter pill for the fathers of the grand old body to swallow, wrote Walter C. Kelly of the Buffalo Courier.
The first World Series also concluded with a rarity: praise for umpires."One particularly pleasing feature of the series just finished was the impartial and almost faultless umpiring of Messrs. O'Day and Connolly," Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss said, via the Pittsburgh Daily Post.
READ MORE: World Series History
WHAT MADE ITMEMORABLE:The "Black Sox" Scandal
In the 1919 World Series, the Cincinnati Reds won in eight games. Then a Series-related scandal rocked the game.
Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection/Chicago History Museum/Getty Images
The alleged game-fixing of the World Series was dubbed the "Black Sox" Scandal for the eight White Sox players involved.All were acquitted in court in 1920 but banned from the sport by Major League Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.Evidence pointed to the players' guilt in cahoots with gamblers, although many have debated the involvement of the White Sox's "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, one of the greatest players in MLB history.
READ MORE: Did Shoeless Joe Jackson Conspire to Throw the 1919 World Series?
By 1920, suspicions of a fixed World Series had dogged the White Sox. Contemporaneous coverage of the World Series suggested things were playing out in an unusual fashion.
After Game 5, there reportedly was a dispute between the gamblers and players over non-payment of progress money. The White Sox won Game 6, 5-4, and then Game 7, 4-1, behind the complete-game pitching of aceEddie Cicotte, one of the alleged conspirators.
Wrote C. Starr Matthews of the Baltimore Sunafter that game: For once in this mad series for the worlds baseball championship the dope ran true to form, and Eddie Cicotte, after two failures, managed to beat the Reds.
Added Matthews: "[T]here is no club in the country that had the right to believe it can trim the veteran star of the White Sox three times in succession. Cicotte led the majors with 29 wins in 1919.
WATCH: World Series Fix! The Black Sox Scandal on HISTORY Vault
WHAT MADE ITMEMORABLE:Don Larsens perfect game
The Yankees and Dodgers have met 11 times for the World Series, seven while the Dodgers were in Brooklyn and four after their move to Los Angeles. Their seventh and final crosstown meeting was the most memorable, though, because of Don Larsens historic Game 5 performance.
The teams split the first four games of the World Series. Larsen, who lasted only 1.2 innings as a starter in Game 2, more than atoned for that performance in Game 5, throwing the only perfect game in World Series history.
The imperfect man pitched a perfect game yesterday," wrote the New YorkDaily News Joe Trimble. "Don, an affable, nerveless man who laughs his way through life, doesnt know how to worry With the tension tearing at their nerves and sweat breaking out on the palms of the onlookers, Larsen seemed to be the calmest man in the place.
Appearances were deceiving. I was so nervous I couldnt think straight. [Catcher] Yogi [Berra] had to do my thinking for me, Larsen told the Daily News afterward. My arm was still strong [in the ninth inning], but my legs began to wobble. Theyre still wobbling now.
WHAT MADE ITMEMORABLE:Bill Mazeroskis Game 7, World Series-winning home run
Pittsburgh's Bill Mazeroski celebrated in the locker room after his game-winning home run.
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
It just had to happen. It couldnt have been any other way for the victory-starved, emotionally drained Pittsburgh baseball populace and its beloved Pirates.Those were the words written byPittsburgh Post-Gazette sports editor Al Abrams after second baseman Bill Mazeroskis blast, the only game-winning, Game 7 home run in World Series history.
READ MORE: The Most Dramatic Home Run in World Series History
The teams combined for nine runs in the final two innings and were tied at 9 before Mazeroski sent a 1-0 fastball from Ralph Terry over the left-field fence to win the title. Mazeroski, known more for his defense, told reporters: I made up my mind I was going for the long ball I caught it on the fat of my bat. I knew it was a good-hit ball.
The home run touched off a wild celebration at Forbes Field and throughout Pittsburgh. As Abramsput it, [Pirates fans] milled around for several hours shouting and singing: Our Pirates are going all the way. Beat Em, Bucs. It mattered not to them that their Pirates had already gone all the way and they did beat em, Yanks.
The loss was particularly galling for the Yankees and their fans. New York outscored Pittsburgh, 55-27, in the World Series.
WHAT MADE ITMEMORABLE:Carlton Fisk "waving" a home run fair
The Reds, known as the "Big Red Machine" for their 1970s dominance, were one of the best teams of all time. They won 108 games during the regular season, swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the playoffs in three games and won the World Series in seven games.
But it was a hit by Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk in Game 6 that cemented this World Series as a classic. In the eighth inning at Fenway Park, Boston erased a 6-3 deficit on a three-run homer by Bernie Carbo. In the bottom of the 12th, Fisk led off with a long drive to left field that hit the foul pole for the winning home run. En route to first base, he tried to wave the ball fairone of the sport's more iconic moments.
Of the home run, Fisk said:When youre a kid, you dream about being Ted Williams or Mickey Mantle and hitting a home run to win an All-Star game or one like this. You only dream about it. You never expect it to happen. When you think about what happened out there tonight, its like something out of a story book I mean, its almost too good to be true.
WHAT MADE ITMEMORABLE: BillBuckners big mistake
Boston first baseman Bill Buckner's error was one of the most infamous in World Series history.
Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
In the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 6, the Mets' Mookie Wilson stepped to the plate with the score tied at 5. On a full count, he hit a slow roller to first base. The ball went through first baseman Bill Buckner's legs for an errorone of the most infamous errors in World Series historyand Ray Knight scored the winning run to force a Game 7.
"It was bouncing, bouncing, bouncing...then it went under [my glove]," Buckner told reporters. "I haven't missed a grounder in two months."Boston manager John McNamara was excoriated for leaving Buckner, a poor defensive player, in the game. "If the Red Sox don't come back to win this World Series, manager John McNamara might want to move to another town," wrote Ian Thomsen of the Boston Globe.
READ MORE: 6 of the Wildest Moments from the 1986 New York Mets Championship Season
Many blame Buckner for Boston's loss, but the truth was many Red Sox were at fault for the collapse. Boston reliever Bob Stanleys wild pitch allowed the Mets to tie the score before Wilsons winning grounder.
Said Mets manager Davey Johnson: Ive never run out on the field, but when the ball got past Buckner, and I knew the run was going to score, I ran on the field. It was very emotional. This is not a club that gives up easy.
New York won Game 7, 8-5, extending the World Series misery for the Red Sox, who had not won a championship since 1918. (In 2004, Boston finally won a title, ending "The Curse of the Bambino.")
READ MORE: What Was the Curse of the Bambinoand How Was Baseball's Greatest Hex Broken?
WHAT MADE ITMEMORABLE:Arizonas Game 7 rally
The 2001 World Seriesplayed less than two months after the September 11terrorist attackswas perhaps the most emotionally charged in baseball history. It delivered on the field, too, with Yankee shortstop Derek Jeters winning home run in Game 4. That game, which started on October 31, Halloween, and ended after midnight, earned Jeter the Mr. November moniker.
In Game 7, New York held a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth. A fourth straight title World Series title seemed imminent. The Yankees turned to relief pitcher Mariano Rivera, a future Hall of Famer who had an aura of invincibility. That didnt matter to the Diamondbacks, who tied the score on Tony Womack's double and won the title on Luis Gonzalez's single over a drawn-in infield. Said Womack:I wasnt feeling nothing. Just see the ball, hit the ball. .
We knew it wasnt going to be easy against that guy. Hes pretty much automatic. But you know what? We never were going to give up. No way, Diamondbacks catcher Damian Miller said of the effort against Rivera.
Diamondbacks first baseman Mark Grace summed up the disbelief many felt watching the comeback, telling reporters, I think we just won the World Series! I think we just won the World Series!
READ MORE: World Series History
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7 of the Most Memorable World Series in Baseball History - History
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Best team in HH history ousted on PKs – The Herald
Posted: at 11:48 am
Photo by Hunter Tickel/The HeraldHeritage Hills junior defender Charlie Brentlinger (22) clears the ball during miscommunication with junior keeper Aiden Harris (1), the two collided on the sequence. The Patriots lost to Brebeuf 2-1 after a 7-6 penalty shootout on Saturday at Evansville Central in Class 2A semi-state.
By HUNTER TICKELhtickel@dcherald.com
EVANSVILLE As the match carried deeper into a deadlock on Saturday, Heritage Hills' chances of progressing to an inaugural state championship came to the forefront.
The match extended to three rounds of a sudden death shootout. However, the deepest postseason run in school history came to a close with a 7-6 loss on spot kicks in Class 2A semi-state boys soccer.
We came into the game feeling like we had a chance, Heritage Hills coach Joe Asbury said. We were confident. Even on the goal that they scored, we knew that was a possibility because of the field. We were trying to not give up corner kicks. But it happens.
Brebeuf Jesuit created the bulk of scoring chances and held possession for a longer period on Saturday at Evansville Central.
The No. 7 Patriots (19-2) surrendered just one goal and combinations created goal-scoring opportunities on the counterattack.
Making their first appearance in the state final four, the Pats got the ultimate goal against the run of play, with five minutes left in the opening half.
Junior keeper Aiden Harris launched a punt to junior target forward Geo Arias. He not only won the 50-50 ball, but his adept first touch put him in position to advance towards the goal.
He knocked the ball to the right with the outside of his boot to senior Ethan Hill, who cut inside to get around the lone defender and bury the breakaway equalizer.
Geos had a good year, Asbury said. (Today) he did a nice job, too. He did a really good job of winning balls and holding a little bit. We ask a lot out of (seniors) Jose (Lara) and Gabe (Staggs). Those guys put some miles in today. Youre not going to get many offensive opportunities if you dont have someone that can hold the ball.
It was Hills eighth goal of the season, and Arias third assist.
The moment of aplomb ignited a renewed push from the Patriots, who won 14 in a row coming into the match.
In the second half, the Pats were most threatening with Lara running toward goal or Arias with his back to the net.
I feel like we could have played better, Lara said. We were trying to force up the ball, but at the end of the day, what can we do?
The first half was another story.
The flow after the opening 20 minutes tilted to the Braves favor.
In the 22nd minute, a corner kick floated to the middle of the box that sophomore midfielder Mateo Soria redirected to the six-yard box with an outstretched touch. Sophomore midfielder Julian Bell got on the end of it to score.
Nine minutes later, senior defender Jake Rosenberg served a cross from 50 yards on the right to the other side that sophomore forward Ben Haneline volleyed wide right of the lower corner.
In the 61st minute, the Braves were gifted a golden chance. An inswinging cross into the 18-yard box was punched by Harris directly to Haneline, his wide-open nod glanced off the crossbar with the net empty.
In the final minute of regulation, the Braves sprung one of their best attacks of the match as Bell chipped a pass to the left, a teammate one-timed it to a teammate in the middle before Pats junior defender Jesus Lara snuffed out the chance with a block.
Its really heartbreaking, Arias said. I feel like we could have done better. All (weve) got to do now is keep our (heads) up and be better next year.
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