Interesting Rarely Known Sports Facts/Tidbits Thread

[strummer]

Ha was just going to post that!

They had been 0-12

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Inside the Worst Team in NBA History - ESPN Daily

ESPN Daily: The Worst Team in NBA History

pca.st

A look back at the ‘72-‘73 Philadelphia 76ers? Yes please!

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1681706817435443200

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Yesterday was the first time in 96 series that the Washington Nationals have swept their opponent. Previous MLB record for most consecutive series without a sweep was 89.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Prince Fielder had more career inside the park home runs (2) than Rickey Henderson (1)

 

[alkeiper]

From June 11 1906 to June 27, 1907, the Chicago Cubs compiled a record of 127 wins and 32 losses.

The Philadelphia Athletics in a 162 game span in 1915-16 went 31-129.

 

[BruiserBrody]

How the Packers missed out on Alphonse Dotson, Santana Dotson’s dad

Why weren’t the Packers compensated when Vince Lombardi left?

www.packers.com

Question:When Vince Lombardi went to Washington, why didn't the Packers push for compensation? The Redskins and Lombardi put themselves into an untenable bargaining position, which the Packers could have easily used to their advantage.

A:

Here was the answer given by team president Dominic Olejniczak when he was asked about it following the evening meeting of the Packers' board of directors on Feb. 5, 1969, when it voted 30-0 to release Lombardi from his contract: "It is difficult to measure the true value of compensation. Very seriously, I think if anyone would have offered me 15 players on any one club for Vince Lombardi, I would have turned him down. If I had been offered a million dollars for Vince Lombardi, I would have turned it down. That is how we feel about him. I would not cheapen this deal by measuring his worth to us in dollars or a couple of players. I think our goodwill and stature in the league in years to come, as the result of our action tonight, will far surpass any compensation we might have received."

Makes the next 23 years of sucking feel worthwhile.

 

[strummer]

The New Orleans Saints started play in 1967. They did not have a winning record in a season till 1987. That year was also their first ever playoff appearance.

Arguably the worst run for a team in league history (or since the merger) The Bucs at least made the NFC Championship in 1979 and the equally horrible Jets, Giants, and Falcons had some playoff runs during that span. Seahawks were bad as well but again had made the playoffs and had winning seasons.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Last time the New York Yankees were under .500 this late into the season was September 5th, 1995. Current manager Aaron Boone was in Double A.

 

[alkeiper]

The Baseball Hall of Fame posted a tweet

Honus Wagner wasn't a power hitter, but he had the muscle to pull the occasional home run. On this date in 1912, he hit for the cycle off fellow Hall of Famer Rube Marquard.

When Honus retired, he was MLB's all time leader in extra base hits.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

The Baseball Hall of Fame posted a tweet



When Honus retired, he was MLB's all time leader in extra base hits.

It's also kind of disingenuous of the HOF to post that Honus wasn't a power hitter in an era when ballparks had lines that were 330+ and CF was 425+ at a minimum usually. It also wasn't uncommon for power alleys to be 375+ if not farther too.

"Barney Dreyfuss "hated cheap home runs and vowed he'd have none in his park", which led him to design a large playing field for Forbes Field.[30] The original distances to the outfield fences in the left, center, and right fields were 360 feet (110 m), 462 feet (141 m), and 376 feet (115 m), respectively.[30]"

 

[strummer]

The 1996 Baltimore Ravens lost 10(!) games in which they had a lead in the second half

They finished 4-12 on the season

 

[alfdogg]

Kevin Garnett is the only player to play against the 1996 Bulls and the 2016 Warriors.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Derek Jeter has one more postseason hit than the Colorado Rockies have as a franchise.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Rooney turned down trade offer for top pick in 70

Long-time NFL personnel guru Gil Brandt says his trade attempt to Pittsburgh for the top pick in the 1970 NFL Draft was turned down by Art Rooney. His target was Steelers Hall of Fame QB Terry Bradshaw.

www.behindthesteelcurtain.com

By the time Bradshaw was truly ready, Stabach would have been ready to come in from the Navy and we'd have seen NFL history change with a HOF QB traded...
--
Still love the fact that the Steelers drafted Unitas in '55 and cut him without giving him reps. Then 2 years later they drafted Len Dawson. Dawson wasn't an instant sensation so the Steelers traded for Bobby Layne, and eventually dumped Dawson off on the Browns, who would eventually cut him.
--
Similar story with the Packers drafting Daryl Lamonica in 1963, but he chose the Bills offer instead. He wound up being traded to the Raiders and playing the Packers in Super Bowl 2.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Lucas Giolito has become the first pitcher to allow 8 or more runs in a game for three different MLB teams in the same season since Bill Magee did in 1899 for the Phillies, Washington Senators and Louisville Colonels.

 

[MFer]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1692999635336364376

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

In the past 20 years, Villanova had lost to the eventual champion in the NCAA Tournament six times. 2005 to North Carolina (Sweet 16), 2006 to Florida (Elite 8), 2008 to Kansas (Sweet 16), 2009 to North Carolina (Final Four), 2014 to UConn (Round of 32) and 2022 to Kansas (Final Four).

 

[strummer]

The Giants have won 4 Superbowls. Each win airing on a different television network.

1986- CBS

1990- ABC

2007- FOX

2011- NBC

2000 loss to Ravens aired on CBS.

 

[Hawk 34]

So when Amazon gets the Super Bowl rights, we all know what to do.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1704302771372019897

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Don’t want to interrupt the Curt Schilling hate fest in the MLB thread

This month the Houston Astros are 8-4 against teams that are mathematically alive in the playoff race and 2-10 against teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention.

 

[BruiserBrody]

1977 Atlanta Falcons season - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Falcons' 129 points allowed led the league and established an all-time NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 14-game NFL season.[2] Atlanta's 3,242 total yards allowed were second-fewest in the league,[3] and the Falcons' 1,384 passing yards allowed was by far the best in the NFL in 1977.[4] The defense surrendered only 9.2 points per game, which is as of the 2022 season, remains an all-time record in a 16 game season.[5]

Yet their offense was such crap that they went .500 and missed the playoffs!

 

[BruiserBrody]

Leon Burns - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Leon Keith Burns (September 15, 1942 – December 22, 1984) was an American football running back who played for two years in the National Football League (NFL). After attending Laney College and California State University, Long Beach, he was drafted in the first round of the 1971 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. Burns later played for the St. Louis Cardinals, as well as the Portland Storm of the World Football League.[1]

In 1969, while playing for Long Beach State, Burns led all college football players in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.[2] He was named a College Football All-American in 1970.[3] Burns holds the school records for career carries, rushing yards, points, and touchdowns of the now defunct Long Beach State 49ers football program.[4]

Burns was first noticed in 1965 by Don Kloppenburg, the football coach at Laney College, when he brought his team to San Quentin Prison to play a game against a team of inmates, one of whom was Burns.[6] After his release, Burns joined the Laney College football team and played there for two years.[1][5][6] He transferred to Long Beach State in time for the 1969 season.[1]

In 1969, Burns recorded the most rushing yards (1,659) and rushing touchdowns (26) of any college football player.[2]

Leon Burns: The 29 Year-Old Running Back That Was Drafted In the First Round by the San Diego Chargers

The curious case of Leon Burns, the 29 year-old rookie running back out of Long Beach State that the San Diego Chargers took in the first round of the 1971 Draft.

www.sports-king.com

 

[BruiserBrody]

Bert Jones - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In 1990, Jones participated in the first NFL Quarterback Challenge. He finished first in the retiree category and third in the regular competition (The regular competition taking the top three finishers from the alumni competition and adding them to the regular field of current quarterbacks). Given his strong performance, Bobby Beathard, then the general manager of the Chargers, wanted Jones to come out of retirement,[13] but Jones was 38 at the time and chose not to try a comeback.

 

[alfdogg]

This is the first decade in NBA history which has started off with 4 different teams winning championships (Lakers, Bucks, Warriors, Nuggets).

If you include the Raptors in 2019, it is also the just the second five-year stretch in which 5 different teams have won championships. It first happened from 1976-80 (Celtics, Blazers, Bullets, Sonics, Lakers).

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

View this content on Instagram

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Different era

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

MLB, NHL, and NBA all had franchises win their first championship in 2023
Bengals/Bills/Jaguars fans:

 

[alkeiper]

Not really, Super Bowl is in January (or February).

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Sure but it’d still technically be the 2023 iteration of the team even though the NFL has regular season games in January now. It’s dumb but the 2023 Bills/Bengals/Jaguars can absolutely win a Suprr Bowl in February 2024.


If you want to do more mental backflips, I guess you could liken it to how the Oscars honor the previous year’s best movies. I guess this is a good argument for how baseball is the best cause all of the action is contained in a singular calendar year! Unless you count the hot stove as action, I guess.