Welcome to this biweekly newsletter, written by me, Corye Perez Beene, Ph.D. I am a United States History Professor and certified “sports nut.” I find the sports stories from the past to the present that celebrate the Awesomeness of American Sports (without any politics!)
Thank you for your support! I am so appreciative of YOU being here 😃
Follow me on Twitter: @HistoryBeene or LinkedIn: coryebeene
Personal note: My family and I just moved so I resigned my Tenured Full-Time Professor Position. I am looking for remote work in the Digital Media or Digital Sports media space. I can edit, proofread, write, curate stories, etc. Do you need someone to write your newsletter? If you are hiring or know of someone hiring for this type of work, would you reach out to me? Historybeene@gmail.com Thanks so much!
Gold Medal
When professional athletes retire, it is nice to see them go out at the top of their game. USWNT star Carli Lloyd, age 39, scored 5 goals in Team USA’s win over Paraguay. Four of those goals came in the first half! It ties the single game scoring record. She will be ending her professional career later this year.
Congratulations to Patrick Mahomes (did I mention he is on my Fantasy team!)
TIME Magazine’s annual list of the “100 most influential people in the world” was released; 6 athletes made the cut:
Simone Biles:
Sunisa Lee:
Allyson Felix:
Naomi Osaka:
Tom Brady:
Shohei Ohtani:
Congratulations to the 2021 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductees:
Val Ackerman
Rick Adelman
Chris Bosh
Bob Dandridge
Cotton Fitzsimmons
Howard Garfinkel
Yolanda Griffith
Lauren Jackson
Clarence Jenkins
Toni Kukoc
Pearl Moore
Paul Pierce
Bill Russell
Ben Wallace
Chris Webber
Jay Wright
Maia Chaka became the first African-American female to referee an NFL game. She worked last week’s Carolina Panthers vs. New York Jets game.
Silver Medal
Make sure and set your DVR for Ken Burns PBS documentary series on Muhammad Ali. The four-part series starts tonight. Here is the trailer:
HBO’s Hard Knock series will follow its first NFL team through the regular season: the Indianapolis Colts. For the past 16 seasons, the show has highlighted a team through training camp. This year, the Dallas Cowboys were showcased. The show will air November 17.
Congratulations to Lisa Byington, who will become the first female play-by-play announcer for a major men's professional sports team. She will call games for the Milwaukee Bucks. Earlier this year, she made more history when she became the first woman to do play-by-play for men's NCAA Tournament games.
Podcast recommendation:
Looking for more podcasts on sports history? Check out THIS WEBSITE that gives you some terrific options, organized by sport. It is called the Sports History Network. They have podcasts on football, basketball, and boxing. I enjoy listening to podcasts on the treadmill or while I am checking emails. They also have their own newsletter for updates on more podcasts that get added to their ever-growing list.
I love it when I can see information shared visually through a graph or chart. Here is a chart of each NFL team and their opponent for this season:
Bronze Medal
I know the NFL is cutting down on Taunting this year, but lets hope they will continue to allow the players to have some fun TD dances in the end zone, like this one from Miami Dolphins’ Preston Williams:
https://www.nfl.com/videos/preston-williams-dance-moves-on-point-after-td-grab
Looking for a challenge the next time you run a marathon? This PE teacher broke a Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon while dribbling a basketball with a time of 2:50:33
Cornhole an Olympic sport? The American Cornhole League hopes so…They have 120,000 players & have organized over 30,000 tournaments.
Ever wondered why golf balls have dimples? This article from Mental Floss tells us why:
The dimples facilitate aerodynamic optimization, or the ability of the ball to travel longer distances by influencing the lift and drag of an object in the air.
Tommy Smith plays football for Vanderbilt University as a Tight End. What makes him special is that he is a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy and is 32 years old. He served three tours in the Middle East and is using his last year of eligibility to play for the Commodores. Smith plans to serve again after finishing his MBA.
The sports collectibles and memorabilia business has seen quite a year! This Tiger Woods putter sold for $393, 300 and a 1974 Masters Trophy went for over $523,000!
This is a list of the most valuable baseball cards, all purchased within the last year - Read it HERE Which is the most expensive? I wrote it about it in one of my last newsletter issues: the Honus Wagner 1911 American Tobacco Company T206, which sold for $6.606 million last month!
Thank you for reading! Are you looking for a speaker for your next event or conference? Email me at historybeene@gmail.com