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 😃
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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
Women’s History Month
Milan Bolden-Morris is the first female graduate assistant coach for the Michigan Wolverines football team. She is the first female graduate assistant in the Big Ten. Bolden-Morris will be coaching the quarterbacks.
Hitting a buzzer beater to win a basketball game is cool, but to make TWO buzzer beaters in the same game is just downright crazy! At the girls Georgia 4A State championship game, Avery Fantucci of the Marist School made a half-court shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, then made an easy layup at the buzzer in overtime to win the game!
BusinessInsider.com came out with a list of the 36 Most iconic female athletes of the past century. Included in this list are Olympic track and field star Wilma Rudolph, swimming phenom Katie Ledecky, soccer legend Mia Hamm, and the greatest athlete in US History Babe Didrikson Zaharias. I was on the UnSung History podcast recently discussing Babe and all of her accomplishments. You can listen to it here:
Althea Gibson’s story as one of the greatest female tennis stars is similar to Jackie Robinson’s story. Breaking through the barriers of racial discrimination to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Championship, she was brave and determined to become the best player in the world. Read more about her story HERE.
Jessica Cohen of the Portland Trailblazers staff is the only female Head Athletic Trainer in the NBA.
From Forbes.com, here is the list of the highest paid female athletes. The women in the top 3 positions are Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams.
Sara Hall broke the American record for the Half Marathon, running 1:07:15. The 38 year old mother of 4 did it just an hour before Keira D’Amato broke the record for fastest marathon time by an American woman(2:19:12). What a day for running!
Want to know more about Women’s sports history? Check out this TIMELINE, which includes sport-specific dates, events and athletes. For example, in volleyball, the first YMCA national championship was held in Brooklyn, NY in 1922, while the sport was played in the Olympics for the first time in 1964.
NBA News
Congratulations to Coach Gregg Popovich (“Pop”) for becoming the winningest NBA coach in history! On March 11 he earned his 1,336 win, surpassing Don Nelson’s record. I enjoyed reading this ESPN article on Pop from former players and coaches. There are comments from my favorite player ever, Manu Ginobli (I grew up in San Antonio so the Spurs are my hometown team), Tony Parker, David Robinson and former coaches P.J. Carlesimo and Joe Prunty. My favorite comments about Pop came from former Spur and current Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan:
"I remember Pop made us watch a penguin National Geographic movie. It was very interesting. It was basically learning about teamwork. How to come together as one and go after a common goal, whatever that goal was. I thought it was going to be a day where we watch film. But we watched a full penguin movie -- and it was the most interesting s---.”
Speaking of the San Antonio Spurs, superfan Taro Kotani was there to see Pop’s history being made. The Japanese citizen has made 17 trips to San Antonio to watch his favorite team.
A new, fun game for NBA fans is named for Spurs Center Jakob Poeltl. You guess who the NBA player is based on his silhouette. Your guess tells you if you get the team correct, the position correct, etc. It is similar to Wordle but for NBA stats. Play it HERE. If you are a hockey fan, you can play Gordle or WARdle for MLB players or college football names CFBordle. For a complete list of every Wordle knockoff, read this LIST
Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves scored a season high 60 points: the most points scored by a player in any game this season. It happened on the same day that Steph Curry of the Warriors scored 47, and Towns’ teammate Trae Young, scored 46. They made NBA history since there had never been 3 players score 45+ points on the same day.
We know how awesome it would be to meet our favorite sports star! This young girl had travelled to watch Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors, but he did not play that game. The young girl was devastated but attended another game a few days later. Steph was nice enough to talk to her - these are the stories I am here for!
Inspired
The Team USA men’s hockey Paralympic team won its 4th consecutive gold medal at the Olympics. They beat Team Canada 5-0.
Watch this act of bravery by Landis Hooks. He threw himself over his son Cody to protect him from the bull that he had just fallen from in competition.
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