Winter Olympics Close At Squaw Valley

On Feb. 28, 1960, the eighth winter Olympic games close at Squaw Valley in Tahoe, Calif.

The Olympic Rings are still proudly on display at Squaw Valley ski resort in Tahoe, Calif.

Over 660 athletes from 30 nations participated at the Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, in 27 events in four sports.

The Soviet Union took home the most medals with 21, and the most Gold medals with seven. They also earned five Silver medals and nine Bronze medals.

The United States finished second in total medal count with 10, with three Gold medals, three Silver medals and four Bronze medals.

The Germans finished tied for the third most medaling country with Finland, but had the second most Gold medals behind the Soviet Union as the Germans took home four Gold medals. The Germans would also earn three Silver medals and one Bronze medal.

Finland also earned eight medals, including two Gold medals, three Silver medals and three Bronze medals.

The 1960 Winter Olympics were special because for the first time women were allowed to compete in speed skating. The Soviet Union had requested the inclusion of women's speed skating events in the program for the 1956 Games, but the IOC rejected the request.

The issue was revisited for the 1960 Games, and since women had been competing internationally since 1936 and there was a World Championship for women's speed skating, the IOC agreed to four events; 500, 1,000, 1,500, and 3,000 meters.

The events were held on the Squaw Valley Olympic Skating Rink, which was an outdoor skating oval, and featured artificial ice, a first for the Olympic speed skating competition. Given the altitude and the artificial ice, the rink was the fastest in the world, as evidenced by Norwegian Knut Johannesen’s world record in the 10,000-meter event. At 15:46.6 he was the first skater ever to break the 16-minute barrier, and eclipsed the previous world record by 46 seconds.

Despite Johannesen's victory, the Soviets dominated the speed skating events, winning all but two of the races. Yevgeny Grishin won both the 500 and 1,500-meter races, though he shared the 1,500 meter gold medal with Norwegian Roald Aas.

Lidiya Skoblikova from the Soviet Union was the other double gold medalist, when she won the 1,500 and 3,000-meter events. Polish skaters Helena Pilejczyk and Elwira Seroczyńska placed second and third in the 1,500-meter event, earning Poland's only medals of the Games and becoming just the second and third Poles ever to win Winter Olympic medals.

The ice hockey tournament took place at Blyth Arena and the Squaw Valley Olympic Skating Rink. Controversy over the amateur status of some of the players overshadowed the event. Canadian Olympic officials began to protest the use of "professional amateurs" by Eastern Bloc countries, and especially the Soviet Union.

They alleged that the Soviets were giving their elite hockey players phantom jobs in the military that allowed them to play hockey full-time, which gave Soviet teams an advantage that they used to dominate Olympic hockey tournaments for nearly 30 years.

This issue started coming to light during the 1960 Games and would culminate in a Canadian boycott of Olympic hockey tournament at the 1972 Winter Olympics. The team from the United States won an improbable gold medal, defeating the favored Canadian and Soviet teams, who took silver and bronze respectively.

This was the first Olympic gold medal in ice hockey for the United States and it would mark the last time a Soviet team would not win the Olympic tournament until the United States victory at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

San Francisco Giants Play 'American Idol'

On Feb. 28, 2006, the San Francisco Giants in an impromptu chemistry building exercise, made members of the ball club dress up as hosts of 'American Idol'.

Members of the San Francisco Giants during Spring Training in 2006. Barry Bonds (center) as Paula Abdul from American Idol.

Then second baseman, Ray Durham, impersonated Randy Jackson, pitcher Jeff Fassero, dressed up as Simon Cowell, then shortstop Omar Vizquel acted as Ryan Seacrest and left fielder, Barry Bonds, posed as Paula Abdul.

Bonds who had been in a bad way with media after the Balco performance enhancing drug case, finally caught some positive light with the media. Since then Bonds went back to being in a negative light with the media, as the Balco issue has risen again.

Yankees Name Mattingly Captain

On Feb. 28, 1991 that first baseman Don Mattingly was named captain of the New York Yankees.  Mattingly became the thirteenth captain in Yankees’ history.

Donnie Baseball earned the honor prior to his tenth year with the team.  He began his career with the Yankees in 1982, playing for them his entire career before retiring in 1995. He stepped in to fill the roll after the position had been vacant during the previous two seasons.

New York Yankees first baseman and captain Don Mattingly.

Since Mattingly’s departure, Derek Jeter is the only member of the Yankees to serve as captain. He was awarded the position in 2003, and has served it well over the course of the past nine seasons. It appeared as though Jeter’s tenure as captain would come to an end last off-season when he became a free agent, but the Yanks were able to reach an agreement with their All-Star shortstop, signing him to a three-year deal with an option for a fourth year.

Before Mattingly was the Yankees captain 12 others preceded him including in chronological order; Clark Griffith, Kid Elberfeld, Hal Chase, Frank Chance, Roger Peckinpaugh, Babe Ruth, Everett Scott, Lou Gehrig, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph and Ron Guidry.

Mattingly would have a great career on the Yankees putting up a .307 batting average, 222 home runs, 1,099 RBI’s. He would earn six consecutive All-Star appearances, win the Gold Glove at first base nine times, win the Silver Slugger Award three times. He won the 1984 American league Batting Title and was crowned the 1985 American League RBI Champion as well the 1985 American League MVP.

The Yankees retired “Donny Baseball’s” no. 23 jersey on Aug. 31 1997.

Since his retirement, Mattingly got back into baseball, wearing a uniform, but playing a new position. He began coaching with the New York Yankees from 2004-2007, then moved to the West Coast to coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2008-2010. Currently Mattingly is managing the Dodgers, and entering his third season at that position. In his three plus years of managing he has accumulated a 260 wins and 225 losses, good enough for a .536 win percentage. This could potentially be Mattingly's breakout season as the Dodgers are once again touted as a World Series contender, in part to the fact the franchise has spent a lot of money on such players as Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez.

New York Yankees Dawn Pinstripes

On Feb. 27, 1912, the New York Yankees dawned pinstripes for the first time in franchise history.

The 1912 New York Yankees uniforms, which are still very similar to the uniforms the team wears today.

The Yankees have won 27 World Series titles, starting in 1923 with the first in the franchises history. The 27 titles are the most of any team in Major League Baseball.

The Yankees also are owners of a World Series record, winning four consecutive World Series titles from 1936-1939, a feat which has never been broken or tied. 

It must all be in the pinstripes.

New York Yankees Sell Babe Ruth To Boston Braves

On Feb. 26, 1935, Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth was sold from the New York Yankees to the Boston Braves.  In addition for playing for the Braves, Ruth would also be the assistant manager as well as the teams vice president.

Babe Ruth on the Boston Braves in 1935.

By 1935 the Babe’s ability and talent had dwindled dramatically and he was in fact interested in managing the Yankees rather than playing for them.  However, owner Jacob Ruppert had no intentions of firing manager Joe McCarthy.  Ruppert would offer the head-coaching job of the Yankees top minor league affiliate the Newark Bears to Ruth but Babe’s wife and business manager at the time recommended that he reject the offer, which he did.

Babe Ruth without question was one of the best hitters of all time.  If you include his high quality of pitching in his early years, there is no doubt that he is the greatest all around baseball players of all time.

Before Ruth’s decline, he was hands down the best player during his era in the Major Leagues. He still holds records for .690 career slugging percentage and 1.164 career on base plus slugging percentage, and still ranks top 10 in over 15 offensive categories.

Ruth was the first player to 60 home runs, and he did so in a time when the next best player was hitting in the low teens. He was a seven time World Series Champion with the New York Yankees, he was voted 1923 American League MVP and was a two-time All-Star. He led the American League in home runs 12-times, and was a six-time American League RBI Champion.

“The Sultan of Swat” as often named was the American League Batting Champion in 1924, but only after he gave up as an honored pitcher who won the American League ERA title in 1916.

During his career “The Great Bambino” hit for a .342 career average, with 714 home runs, 2,873 hits, 2,213 RBI’s. He also pitched for an amazing 94-46 record with a 2.28 ERA.

The Yankees retired his no. 3 jersey and Major League Baseball has honored Ruth’s legacy by named him the All-Century and All-Time teams.

“The Babe” was elected into Cooperstown Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1936 with 95.13 percent of the vote.

Ruth has been named the greatest baseball player of all time in various surveys and rankings. In 1998, The Sporting News ranked him number one on the list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".

In 1969, he was named baseball's Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100-year anniversary of professional baseball.

In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Muhammad Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athletes in America.

In a 1999 ESPN poll, he was ranked as the second-greatest U.S. athlete of the century, behind Michael Jordan.

The Babe Ruth Award is an annual award given to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player with the best performance in the World Series. The award, created by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) in honor of Babe Ruth, was first awarded in 1949, one year after Ruth's death.

The Babe Ruth Home Run Award is an annual award presented to the leading home run hitter in MLB. Ruth’s daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, or her son, Tom Stevens, usually presents it to the recipient.

Michael Jordan Sets Chicago Bulls Scoring Record

On Feb. 26, 1987, Michael Jordan's 58 points sets a new Chicago Bulls record for most points in a single game. While not his highest point total of his career for a single game, as he scored in the 60’s multiple times, including a 69-point game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1990.

Chicago Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan in the 1987 NBA Dunk Contest.

This was however a highlight in Jordan’s career, which had many including winning six NBA Championships, being named the NBA Finals MVP all six times. He would win the regular seasons MVP five times, be named an All-Star 14-times, being named the MVP of the All-Star game three times. He was a 10 times NBA scoring champion, and three time NBA steals champion, being named to the All-NBA First team 10 times, NBA All-Defensive First team nine times and All-NBA Second team once. He was nominated to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and won the NBA Slam Dunk contest in back-to-back years in 1987 and 1988.

In 1988, Jordan was honored with the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award and became the first NBA player to win both the Defensive Player of the Year and MVP awards in a career (since equaled by Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Kevin Garnett; Olajuwon is the only player other than Jordan to win both during the same season).

In addition he set both seasonal and career records for blocked shots by a guard, and combined this with his ball-thieving ability to become a standout defensive player.

He ranks third in NBA history in total steals with 2,514, trailing John Stockton and Jason Kidd.

Jordan finished his career with 32,292 points, 6,672 rebounds and 5,633 assists.

The NBA selected Jordan to the NBA’s 50 Anniversary All-Time Team, and his no. 23 jersey was retired by the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year – 1991 Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 Ranked No.1 by SLAM Magazine's Top 50 Players of All-Time

In International play Jordan earned two Gold Medals with the “Dream Team” in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He also won Gold on United State’s team in the 1992 FIBA Americas Championship and the 1983 Pan American Games.

In a 1999 ESPN poll, Jordan was ranked the greatest U.S. athlete of the Century.

Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history. He has been a major spokesman for such brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonald's, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Wheaties, Hanes, and MCI. Jordan has had a long relationship with Gatorade, appearing in over 20 commercials for the company since 1991, including the "Like Mike" commercials in which children wishing to be like Jordan sang a song.

Jordan’s legacy went outside of basketball as Nike created a signature shoe for him, called the Air Jordan.

One of Jordan's more popular commercials for the shoe involved Spike Lee playing the part of Mars Blackmon. In the commercials Lee, as Blackmon, attempted to find the source of Jordan's abilities and became convinced that "it's gotta be the shoes.

The hype and demand for the shoes even brought on a spate of "shoe-jackings" where people were robbed of their sneakers at gunpoint. Subsequently Nike spun off the Jordan line into its own division named the "Jordan Brand". The company features an impressive list of athletes and celebrities as endorsers. The brand has also sponsored college sports programs such as those of North Carolina, Cincinnati, Cal, St. John's, Georgetown, and North Carolina A&T.

Jordan also has been associated with the Looney Tunes cartoon characters.

A Nike commercial shown during the 1993 Super Bowl XXVII featured Jordan and Bugs Bunny playing basketball against a group of Martian characters. The Super Bowl commercial inspired the 1996 live action/animated movie Space Jam, which starred Jordan and Bugs in a fictional story set during his first retirement. They have subsequently appeared together in several commercials for MCI.

In June 2010, Jordan was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 20th most powerful celebrity in the world with $55 million earned between June 2009 and June 2010. According to the Forbes article, Jordan Brand generates $1 billion in sales for Nike.

Maravich Nets 68 Points

On Feb. 25, 1977, “Pistol” Pete Maravich, while playing for the New Orleans Jazz, scores a career-high 68 points against the New York Knicks, giving him the eighth-highest single game score total in history to that point.

New Orleans Jazz guard Pete Maravich (right) in a game against the New York Knicks.

Maravich fouled out with a minute to play and missed the opportunity to score 70-points, a feat that only Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain had accomplished to that day. It was also the most points a guard had scored in a single game to that day.

Maravich was a good playing in the NBA, but basketball critics never thought he amounted to the player he was in college at LSU, however Maravich had a 24.2 point per game average in the NBA.

Though Maravich was known for his no-look passes and crazy shot attempts, the 68-point game was the highlight of his pro-career.

Team Canada Wins Gold

On Feb. 24, 2002, that the Canadian men’s ice hockey team won a gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. Team Canada beat Team USA by a score of 5-2 in the finals to capture their first Olympic gold medal in men’s ice hockey in 50 years.

Team Canada, poses with their flag and Gold Medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Assistant captain Joe Sakic was named the tournament MVP, finishing third in scoring with 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists).  Sakic did his best work in the finals, burying two goals and setting up another two for a total of four points.  “Burnaby Joe” scored the eventual game-winner to break a 2-2 tie with a laser of a wrist shot, which beat Mike Richter late in the second period.

They would score two more from there and listen to the Canadian fans in attendance sing “O Canada” as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

Once again Team Canada won the Gold Medal in this years Winter Olympics, taking down Sweden at the 2014 Sochi games. While the Americans fell to Finland in the Bronze Medal game after falling to Team Canada in the semi-finals.

The United States has the most medals of any team in men’s Olympic Hockey play with 22, but the Canadians and Swedish are tied in second with 21 medals. 

 

However, the Canadians have the most Gold medals of any team in Olympic history with nine, seven more than both Sweden and the United States. 

 

The United States has the most Silver medals with eight, four more than Canada who is second with four. Sweden has the most Bronze medals in Olympic competition with four, tied with Czechoslovakia.

Chicago Cubs Install Lights

On Feb. 23, 1988, the city of Chicago gives the MLB team the Cubs the right to install lights and play up to 18 night games a season.

The Chicago Cubs were the last team in Major League Baseball to get lights installed to play night games.

Wrigley Field was a holdout against night games, not installing lights until 1988 after baseball officials refused to allow Wrigley to host any post-season games without lights. Before then, all games at Wrigley were played during the day. Night games are still limited in number by agreement with the city council.

In 1942, then-owner P.K. Wrigley had planned to install lights, but instead, the lights and stands were scrapped for the war effort. Though Wrigley was the last Major League ballpark to get its lights, the first night game was scheduled for August 8, 1988; a 91-year-old Harry Grossman flipped a switch and Wrigley Field joined the modern era in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, but the game was rained out after three and a half innings.

A snapshot of Wrigley Field in Chicago after the lights had been installed in 1988.

The first official night game at Wrigley was held the following day, August 9. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League's first All-Star Game during the 1943 midseason, was played under temporary lights at Wrigley Field, between two teams composed of South Bend Blue Sox and Rockford Peaches players versus Kenosha Comets and Racine Belles players. It was also the first night game ever played in the historic ballpark (July 1, 1943).

Currently the Cubs are one of only a few teams in baseball that do not have a video board as part of their in-game festivities.

Along with Fenway Park, Wrigley is one of the last parks to maintain a hand-turned scoreboard. Unlike the home of the Red Sox, the scoreboard at Wrigley is mounted above the center field bleachers, rather than at ground level, making it harder to hit during play. No players have hit the current scoreboard, although several have come close. The scoreboard was installed in 1937, when Bill Veeck installed the new bleachers. The scoreboard has remained in place ever since, and has only seen minor modifications. The clock was added in 1941, a fifth row of scores was added to each side in 1961 and later a sixth. A set of light stands facing onto the scoreboard was added in 1988 with the introduction of night games. An electronic message board was also added below the scoreboard.

The scoreboard is still manually operated, with scores coming in through a computer (a ticker tape machine was used in the past); a number turner watches the score changes closely, and updates scores by manually replacing the numbers from within the scoreboard. The scoreboard is made out of sheet steel. The numbers that are placed into the inning windows are steel, painted forest green, and numbered with white numerals. The box for the game playing at Wrigley uses yellow numerals for the current inning. The clock, which sits at the top center of the scoreboard, has never lost time in its 71-year existence. Standing over the clock are three flagpoles, one for each division in the National League. There are 16 flags, one for each National League team, and their order on the flagpoles reflects the current standings. The entrance to the scoreboard is a trap door on the bottom. On the reverse of the scoreboard, visible from the CTA elevated trains, is a blue pennant, with the words "Chicago Cubs", in white outlined in red neon. The scoreboard was extensively rehabilitated for the 2010 season.

In 2010, the Cubs toyed with the idea of adding a video screen to the stadium, but the presence of the hand-turned scoreboard (which cannot be moved due to the park's landmark status, which also prohibits even simple facelifts such as adding two more games on either side 15 teams (seven games on each, plus the one interleague game), respectively, in the leagues; the 12-game, 24-team scoreboard reflects MLB from 1969 to 1976, so up to three games (one NL, one AL, and the inter-league) each day cannot be posted) has hampered efforts to do so. Most Cubs players support the addition of a Jumbotron, but it is unknown whether the team will proceed with plans to add one.

Those games may eventually be part of the auxiliary video board currently on the right field that may also be added in left field also.

The Cubs have not won the World Series in 104 years, the longest championship drought of any major North American professional sports team, and are often referred to as the "Lovable Losers" because of this distinction. They are also known as "The North Siders" because Wrigley Field, their home park since 1916, is located in Chicago's north side Lake View community at 1060 West Addison Street (as opposed to their cross-town rivals, the Chicago White Sox, who play on the city's South Side).

The club played its first games in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings. This makes the Cubs, along with the Braves who were founded in 1871, one of the two oldest active teams in major North American sports. There is an argument as to whom is actually older because although the Cubs are a full season "older" they lost two seasons to the Great Chicago Fire, thus the Braves have played more seasons.

The Cubs have won two World Series titles in 1907 and 1908. They have won 16 National League pennants, their last being in 1945. They have won two National League Central Division Titles in 2003, 2007 and 2008.

Before the rezoning of teams in the National League the Cubs had won two East Division Titles in 1984 and 1989.

The Cubs have also earned one Wild Card berth in 1998, since the inception of the Wild Card.

NBA Trade Deadline; Sochi Olympics; Spring Training Podcast

Scratch Hit Sports creator Stephen Langsam talk about the NBA All-Star Weekend with former co-host of the Sporting Hangover, Ryan Hilton, and dive in head first to talk about what we did and did not like about the All-Star Weekend, and what we thought about the trades made at the trade deadline.

After that we talk about the Sochi Olympics and finish up with some spring training talk with the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants.

LINK: SCRATCH HIT SPORTS PODCAST

Yamaguchi Wins Olympics Gold

On Feb. 21, 1992, figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi won an Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating. It would be the first, and only, Olympic medal won by Yamaguchi during her figure skating career.

Going into the ’92 Albertville Games, the United State’s Tonya Harding and Japan’s Midori Ito held the advantage of being able to consistently land their triple axels, while Yamaguchi decided to concentrate on her artistry and her triple-triple combinations. That turned out to be a great decision, as she went on to win the competition, despite a couple of slip-ups during her free program. That was largely due to the fact that neither Harding nor Ito were able to land their triple axels.

United State figure skating star Kristi Yamaguchi on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1992 after winning the Gold Medal at the Albertville Winter Olympics.

After successfully defending her World title later that year, Yamaguchi would turn professional and tour with Stars on Ice for several years.

Yamaguchi also won another World Figure Skating Championships in 1991 and a U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1992. She won one junior world title in 1988 and two national titles in 1989 and 1990 as a pair’s skater with Rudy Galindo.

Yamaguchi was a local commentator on figure skating for San Francisco TV station KNTV (NBC 11) during the 2006 Winter Olympics. In 2006 Yamaguchi was the host of WE TV Series Skating's Next Star, created and produced by Major League Figure Skating, then in 2008, Yamaguchi became the celebrity champion in the sixth season of Dancing with the Stars.

Yamaguchi received the Inspiration Award at the 2008 Asian Excellence Awards. Two days after her Dancing with the Stars champion crowning, she received the 2008 Sonja Henie Award from the Professional Skaters Association.

Among her other awards are the Thurman Munson Award, Women's Sports Foundation Flo Hyman Award, and the Great Sports Legends Award. She is also a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Olympic Hall of Fame, World Skating Hall of Fame, and the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

In 2010 Yamaguchi worked as a daily NBC Olympics skating broadcast analyst on NBC's Universal Sports Network. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Kristi was also a special correspondent for the Today Show.

Yamagucci has also seen the silver screen as an actress in both the 1994 film D2: The Mighty Ducks and 2005 film Go Figure. In both movies she acted as herself.

She also has graced the pages of novels, authoring three books including Figure Skating for Dummies, PURE GOLD and Always Dream.

Connors Fined $20,000

On Feb. 21, 1986, tennis legend Jimmy Connors was in the midst of a semifinal match against Ivan Lendl in the Lipton International Players Championship in Boca Raton, Florida when he took his criticism of the umpire just a little bit too far.

In the sixth game of the fifth set, Connors loudly protested what he thought was a bad line call. After a series of warnings, the umpire penalized Connors a point. But this just made things worse for Connors - as did the game penalty that followed after further protest. Past the point of no return, Connors was ultimately defaulted for refusing to continue play. Meanwhile, an unfazed Lendl would continue on to win the tournament.

Following Connors’ outburst, the Men's International Professional Tennis Council conducted an investigation and concluded that his conduct constituted "aggravated behavior." The Council then suspended Connors for 10 weeks and fined him $20,000. Connors would later miss the French Open, becoming the first player to be suspended during a Grand Slam tournament.

Former professional tennis great Jimmy Connors on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1974, more than a decade before his outburst at the Lipton International Players Championship.

Connors would go on to have a brilliant tennis career including eight Grand Slam singles titles and two Grand Slam doubles titles with Ilie Năstase. He was also a runner-up seven times in Grand Slam singles, a doubles runner-up with Năstase at the 1973 French Open, and a mixed doubles runner-up with Chris Evert at the 1974 US Open. He held the top ranking for a then record 160 consecutive weeks from July 29, 1974 to August 22, 1977 and an additional eight times during his career for a total of 268 weeks.

In 1974, Connors became the second male in the open era to win three or more Grand Slam singles titles in a calendar year (Rod Laver being the first in 1969 and having been joined since by Mats Wilander, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic). Connors is also the only person to win U.S. Open singles championships on grass, clay, and hard courts.

Connors won a record 109 ATP tournaments, 15 more than Ivan Lendl, and over 30 more than Roger Federer and John McEnroe. His career win-loss record of 1243–277 (81.77%) is third after Björn Borg (82.7%) and Ivan Lendl (81.8%), and he holds the record for total number of wins for a male player.

Connors won three year-end championship titles, including two WCT Finals and one Masters Grand Prix. He also won 17 Championship Series titles (1973–1984). He was the first male player to rank no. 1 for more than 200 weeks in total and the first male player to be no. 1 for more than five years in total. He is the only male player in the open era to win more than 100 singles titles during his career and also holds the record for most major quarterfinals (41) reached. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time due to his many records in the game.

In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, ranked Connors as one of the 21 best players of all time.^[

Connors won more matches (1,337) than any other male professional tennis player in the open era. His career win-loss record was 1,337–285 for a winning percentage of 82.4. He played 401 tournaments and through many years it was a record until Fabrice Santoro overcame it in 2008.

Connors was the only player to win the US Open on three different surfaces: grass, clay, and hard. Connors was also the first male tennis player to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces: grass (1974), clay (1976), and hard (1978).

Connors reached the semifinals or better in one of the tennis majors a total of 31 times, a record recently surpassed by Roger Federer. Connors' achievement is particularly remarkable considering that he entered the Australian Open Men's Singles only twice and that he did not enter the French Open Men's Singles for five of his peak career years. Of the 31 major semifinals Connors contested, he managed to win 15 of them and progress to the final. Roger Federer holds the record for most consecutive semifinal appearances at these events.

Connors was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1998 and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame in 1986.

At a time when most other tennis pros played with wooden rackets, Connors pioneered the "Wilson T2000" steel racket, which utilized a method for stringing that, had been devised and patented by Lacoste in 1953.

"The T2000 set the wood racquet traditionalists on their ears with its lightweight steel construction. It didn't need a racket-press (it didn't warp), and its slender framework meant less wind resistance."

He played with this chrome tubular steel racket until 1984, when most other pros had shifted to new racket technologies, materials, and designs. The T2000 in the eighties "had the aura of a dinosaur – it had been introduced in 1968."^[

In 1984, Connors switched to the new Wilson ProStaff that had been designed especially for him. But 1985 again found Connors playing with the T2000. Not until 1987 did he finally switch to a graphite racket when he contracted with Slazenger to play their Panther Pro Ceramic. In 1990 Connors signed with Estusa.

Connors also used lead tape, which he would wind around the racket head to provide the proper "feel" for his style of game.

Connors did commentary with NBC-TV in 1990 and 1991, during its coverage of the French Open and Wimbledon tournaments. During the Wimbledon tournaments of 2005, 2006, and 2007, Connors commentated for the BBC alongside John McEnroe (among others), providing moments of heated discussion between two former archrivals. Connors has also served as a commentator and analyst for the Tennis Channel since the U.S. Open tournament of 2009.

On July 24, 2006, at the start of the Countrywide Classic tournament in Los Angeles, American tennis player Andy Roddick formally announced his partnership with Connors as his coach. On March 6, 2008, Roddick announced the end of that 19-month relationship.

USA Hockey Team Thrashes Nagano

On Feb. 19, 1998, that the United States Men’s Olympic hockey team was found responsible of thrashing their hotel rooms at the Olympic Athletes Village in Nagano.  The damage to the room was done just a few hours after the team was ousted from the tournament by the Czech Republic by a 4-1 score.

A few members of Team USA hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

Although the vandalism was minor (broken chairs, dented walls and doors, emptied fire extinguishers) it was a senseless and childish act by the sore loser Americans.  None of the players ever came forward and confessed and therefore no one was ever punished, however, Chris Chelios the captain of the team did write a check for $3000 out of his own pocket to cover the damages.

The 1988 Olympics also saw the Fifty-seven nations and 1,423 athletes participated in the Games, with five countries making their debut in the Winter Olympics. Super-G made its Olympic debut, while curling, freestyle skiing, short track speed skating and disabled skiing were demonstration sports. Speed skating was held in an indoor rink for the first time and the Games were extended to 16 days.

The other sports involved with the Olympic Games were Apline Skiing, Biathalon, Bobsleigh, Cross-country skiing, Figure Skating, Luge, Nordic Combined and Ski jumping.

As at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the only previous Games hosted in Canada, the host country failed to produce any gold medals.

The Soviet Union won the most medals of any country with 29 total, including the most Gold medals with 11, nine Silver medals and nine Bronze medals.

The East Germans won the second most amount of medals, with 25 total, including nine Gold medals, the most Silver medals of any country with 10 and six Bronze medals.

Switzerland rounded out the top three countries with medals earning 15 total, tallying five of each Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.

The United States tied for eighth most medals with six, earning two Gold medals, one Silver medal and three Bronze medals.

Matti Nykänen won all three ski jumping events. Yvonne van Gennip won three gold medals in speed skating, setting two world records. Alberto Tomba won two gold medals in alpine skiing.

Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards and the Jamaica national bobsled team entered with little experience but gathered massive media attention, resulting in qualification rules for later Games.

“Cool Runnings” the movie starring John Candy was about the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team.