Awesome American Sports
Just Great American sports stories
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.
Thank you for your support! I am so appreciative of YOU being here 😃
Follow me on Twitter: @HistoryBeene or LinkedIn: coryebeene
Do you need freelance help with research, writing, editing or proofreading stories for your newsletter or website? I can help! Email me at HistoryBeene@gmail.com
![I trained 4 years to run 1 only 9 seconds. are people who do not see results in 2 months, \ give up a and leave. is sought by oneself. "Usain Bolt - )](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j82X!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa4836442-85d4-44e9-a11e-ebe31fe19da3_640x634.jpeg "I trained 4 years to run 1 only 9 seconds. are people who do not see results in 2 months, \ give up a and leave. is sought by oneself. "Usain Bolt - )")
Sports History Calendar: Jan.9 - Jan.23
January 10, 1986
*Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored his 34,000th point against the Indiana Pacers when his team, the Los Angeles Lakers, won 124-102; up until that time, he was the only one to reach that total (Karl Malone and Lebron James have since hit that mark)
January 11, 1973
*The American League begins the designated hitter rule in the MLB
January 12, 1892
*the rules of the brand new game called “basket ball” are printed in Triangle Magazine by its creator, James Naismith; in 2010, the rules were purchased for $4.3 million to benefit the Naismith Foundation
January 19, 1953
*Jesse Owens becomes Illinois Athletic Commission secretary, running recreational and educational programs for kids
January 22,1984
*SuperBowl XVIII: Marcus Allen rushes for 191 yards; the Oakland Raiders defeat Washington 38-9
My recent Tweets
Making History
The Washington Football Team became the first team in NFL history to have a Black female gameday assistant coach. COVID hit several coaches on the team so Jennifer King was promoted to running backs coach.
Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Josh Giddey became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple double: 17 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds. He did it at the age of 19 years, 84 days old.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Ohio State Buckeyes had the best performance by a wide receiver in Bowl History. He had 347 yards & 3 touchdowns to help defeat Utah 48-45 in the Rose Bowl.
The NFL made quite a splash in TV ratings last year. 75 of the 100 top-watched TV programs of 2021 were NFL games. Here is a quick summary:
*11 were Tom Brady & The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (including the #1 program SuperBowl LV).
*9 were Dallas Cowboys games.
*11 were Kansas City Chiefs games.
*The NFL Championship game between the Bucs and Packers was the 2nd most watched program of 2021, while the AFC Championship game between the Chiefs and Bills was #3.
*20 of the remaining 25 top-watched shows were sports programming, including 11 from the Tokyo Olympics, 7 from College Football and 2 from the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.
Congratulations to Micah Parsons & Trevon Diggs of the Dallas Cowboys:
Congratulations to Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, the 1st player in NFL history to have 100 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns in the first four seasons of his career.
Photo credit: buffalolowdown.com
Congratulations to Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings for the most receiving yards ever by a player in his first two seasons! He broke the record on December 28, playing the LA Rams (the team that the former holder of that record plays for - Odell Beckham Jr)
Photo credit: heavy.com
Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys made history in the victory over the Washington Football Team:
And according to ESPN Stats, Prescott became the first quarterback in NFL history to complete touchdown throws to a running back, wide receiver, tight end and offensive lineman all in the same game. #ThatsMyQB #Spoke
When a hockey game saved a life
Nadia Popovici attended the hockey game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Seattle Kraken in October. She noticed a mole on the back of Brian “Red” Hamilton’s neck, the assistant equipment manager for the Canucks. She told him about her concerns with the mole. After seeing the team’s doctors, they confirmed it was skin cancer. He had it removed and wanted to thank her. The 2 teams worked together to give her a $10,000 scholarship for medical school.
Thank you for reading! Are you looking for a speaker for your next event or conference? I would love to share some sports history with your audience! Email me at historybeene@gmail.com
