Looking back: this week in sports history January 28 – February 3


January 28, 1960: The day the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings were born. On January 28, 1960, the league announced the foundation of the two expansion teams. Dallas played its first season already that year, losing their first game to the Steelers (they were 0-11-1 for the season), while Minnesota played its first season in 1961, winning their first ever game against the Chicago Bears (and finished the season 3-11-0).
January 28, 1969: The 1969 NFL Draft took place from on January 28 and 29. With the first overall pick, the Buffalo Bills selected a running back out of USC, O.J. Simpson.
January 28, 1984: On January 28, 1983, the LA Kings were finally able to stop Wayne Gretzky. The Great One was flying high on a 51-game point streak, the longest in NHL history. The Kings kept Gretzky off the score-sheet and beat the Oilers 4-1, putting an end to his streak.
January 28, 2017: Right before announcing she is pregnant and taking a break from tennis to become a mom, Serena Williams made history in the Land Down Under. Williams beat her older sister Venus, winning her seventh overall Australian Open title and, even more, winning Grand Slam title no. 23, breaking a tie with tennis legend Steffi Graf for the most in the Open Era of the sport. Williams also regained the No.1 world ranking.

January 29, 1936: On January 29, 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY announced the election of the first ever members of the Hall of Fame: Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and  Ty Cobb.
January 29, 1980: During Magic Johnson’s rookie season in LA, the basketball legend took part in one of the most dramatic games in the league’s history. The Cleveland Cavaliers and LA Lakers found themselves playing a four overtime game that was determined by a single point for the home town Cavs. Cleveland beat LA 154-153, with three different players scoring 30+ points. Magic scored 30 of his own and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led all scorers with 42.
February 1, 2015: On February 1, 2015, New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko became the youngest golfer in both men and women’s golfing history to become the No. 1 player in the world, she was just 17 years and 283 days old. The previous record was held by non-other than Tiger Woods, who became the No. 1 at 21 years and 167 days.

February 1, 2004: On February 1, 2004, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII. It was the second of Brady’s five (so far, stay tuned this weekend) rings, and the GOAT was named Super Bowl MVP.
February 2, 1970: Pistol Pete Maravich is known as one of the greatest scorers in college basketball. On February 2, 1970, Maravich became the first ever player to score 3,0000 career points. Maravich spent three seasons at LSU, scoring 3,667 points overall. He was named All-American three times and was the Naismith Award winner.
February 3, 2002: The day the legend of Tom Brady was born and the GOAT won his first ring. Brady, in just his second season in the NFL and first as the starting QB, threw for 145 yards and a touchdown. The Pats survived a fourth quarter push from the “Greatest Show on Turf” and scored a Super Bowl-winning field goal with just seconds remaining the game.
February 3, 2008: Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are clutch in the Super Bowl, we all know that. But there also seems to be a duo that is their kryptonite on the sport’s biggest stage: Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin. On February 3, 2008, Coughlin, Manning and the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII, ruining New England’s perfect season.

 

Notable birthdays

January 28, 1949 Longtime San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was born in East Chicago, IN
January 28,1984 NBA Champion and Golden State Warrior Andre Iguodala was born in Springfield, IL
January 29, 1985 Memphis Grizzlies star Marc Gasol was born in Barcelona, Spain
January 30, 1973 Former NBA point guard and current analyst Jalen Rose was born in Detroit, MI
January 31, 1919 Legendary, barrier-breaking MLB star Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, GA
January 31, 1931 Former MLB shortstop “Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks was born in Dallas, TX
January 31, 1947 One of the greatest (if not the greatest) MLB pitchers of all time, Nolan Ryan was born in Refugio, TX
February 1, 1987 MMA fighter and UFC Champion Ronda Rousey was born in Riverside, CA
February 2, 1895 NFL pioneer and former owner and founder of the Chicago Bears, George Halas, known as “Papa Bear” was born in Chicago, IL
February 2, 1987 Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué was born in Barcelona, Spain
February 3, 1940 Former NFL great Fran Tarkenton was born in Richmond, VA

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