On This Day in Sport for February 25

Events in Sport

Event of Interest

1962 Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 67 points vs NY Knicks for the second year in a row

NBA Legend Wilt Chamberlain — NBA Legend
Wilt Chamberlain

Boxing Title Fight

1964 Muhammad Ali [Cassius Clay] TKOs Sonny Liston in 7 for his first world heavyweight championship title

Heavyweight Boxing Champion Muhammad Ali — Heavyweight Boxing Champion
Muhammad Ali

Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston — Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion
Sonny Liston

1968 10th Daytona 500: Cale Yarborough driving for Wood Brothers Racing wins by less than a second from LeeRoy Yarbrough; grid set exclusively by qualifying times
1969 Pension plan for baseball is agreed to
1972 Lopsided trade, Cards trade Steve Carlton to Phillies for Rick Wise
1974 Veronica & Colin Scargill (England) begin tandem bicycle ride a record 18,020 miles around the world, completed on August 27, 1975

NBA Record

1977 New Orleans' Pete Maravich sets NBA record for a guard with 68 pts

NBA Guard Pete Maravich — NBA Guard
Pete Maravich

Event of Interest

1978 England cricket all-rounder Ian Botham scores first Test century, 103 v New Zealand in Christchurch

Cricketer Ian Botham — Cricketer
Ian Botham

1981 NHL most penalized game; Bruins vs Northstars, 84 penalties (392 mins)
1981 NY Islanders give up their most goals (11) vs Calgary Flames
1981 Exec Board of Baseball Players' Association votes unanimously to strike on May 29 if the issue of free-agent compensation remains unresolved
1987 LaMarr Hoyt is banned from baseball for 1987, due to drug abuse

Boxing Title Fight

1989 Mike Tyson TKOs Frank Bruno in 5 for heavyweight boxing title

Heavyweight Boxing Champion Mike Tyson — Heavyweight Boxing Champion
Mike Tyson

1990 Australia beat Pakistan 2-0 to win cricket's World Series Cup
1991 Andrew Jones scores twin Test Cricket tons v Sri Lanka (122 & 100*)

Event of Interest

1991 Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy buy CFL's Toronto Argonauts

Ice Hockey Great Wayne Gretzky — Ice Hockey Great
Wayne Gretzky

Actor and Comedian John Candy — Actor and Comedian
John Candy

1993 Florida Marlins introduce their mascot "Billy"
1994 Phil Rizzuto elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1995 British super middleweight Nigel Benn puts opponent Gerard McClellan in hospital
2018 Russian national team, competing under the name of Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR), wins Olympic ice hockey gold medal in Pyeongchang; beat Germany, 4-3 in overtime in the final
2018 Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen wins gold in women's 30k at Pyeongchang Winter Olympics; brings her total Games medal haul to 15, most won by any athlete in Winter Games history
2018 2-man bobsleigh champions Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis of Germany win their 2nd gold medals of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as part of the German 4-man team
2018 XXIII Winter Olympic Games close in Pyeongchang, Korea; Norway wins a record 39 medals, 14 gold
2018 Winter Olympics: Marit Bjoergen (Norway) becomes the most successful winter athlete of all time (15 medals) with gold in the 30k cross country
2019 James Harden's scoring streak of games with at least 30 points ends at 32 as he scores 28 in the Rockets' 119-111 win over Atlanta in Houston; 2nd longest mark in NBA history
2020 Memorial service for NBA star Kobe Byrant held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles

Birthdays in Sport

1855 George Bonnor, cricketer (big-hitting Aussie batter 1880-1888)
1871 Oliver Campbell, American tennis player (US Open 1890-92), born in Brooklyn, NY (d. 1953)
1895 DeBenneville "Bert" Bell, PA, NFL owner/commissioner/HOF (Eagles)
1903 King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986)
1914 John Arlott, British cricket commentator & writer (BBC), born in Basingstoke, England (d.1991)
1916 Ralph Baldwin, Canadian harness driver and trainer (11 major world records; Hambletonian Stakes 1963, 73), born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan (d. 1982)
1918 Henry Norwood Ewell, 4x100m runner (Olympic gold 1948), born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
1918 Barney Ewell, American athlete (d. 1996)

Bobby Riggs

1918 Bobby Riggs, American tennis player ("The Battle of the Sexes", US Open 1939, 41), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1995)

1919 Monty Irvin, baseball hall of famer (NY Giants)
1921 Andy Pafko, Boyceville, Wisconsin, MLB player (Chicago Cubs), (d. 2013)
1928 Paul Elvstrøm, Danish sailer (4 Olympic gold, Finn class 1948, 52, 56, 60), born in Hellerup, Denmark (d. 2016)
1932 Tony Brooks, English auto racer (F1 World C'ship third 1958, runner-up 1959; 6 x F1 wins), born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, England
1934 Tony Lema, American golfer (British Open 1964), born in Oakland, California (d. 1966)
1938 Farokh Engineer, Indian cricket wicket-keeper (1961-75)
1938 Herb Elliott, Australia, 1500m runner (Olympic gold 1960)
1938 Viktor Kosichkin, Russian speed skater (Olympic gold 1960), born in Rybnoye (d. 2012)
1940 Billy Packer, Wellsville NY, basketball sportscaster (CBS)
1940 Ron Santo, American Baseball Hall of Fame third baseman (9-time MLB All Star; 5-time Gold Glove; Chicago Cubs), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2010)
1943 Wilson da Silva Piazza, Brazilian footballer
1947 Eddie Thomson, Australian soccer coach (Socceroos 1990-96), born in Rosewell, Scotland (d. 2003)
1947 Lee Evans, Madera, California, American 400m runner (Olympic-2 gold-1968)
1951 Don Quarrie, Jamaican runner
1951 James Brown, American sportscaster (CBS News, The NFL Today), born in Washington, D.C.
1951 César Cedeño, Dominican baseball player
1952 Joey Dunlop, Irish motorcycle racer (d. 2000)
1952 Elizabeth "Libby" Callahan, American sport shooter and four-time Olympian, born in Columbia, South Carolina
1954 Steve Rixon, Australian cricket wicket-keeper (1977-85)
1956 Davie Cooper, soccer star
1958 Kurt Rambis, NBA forward (Lakers, Hornets)/Clark Kent look-a-like
1960 Glen Bishop, cricketer (S Aussie batsman, 2 ODI's for Australia 1987)
1961 Davey Allison, American auto racer (Daytona 500 1992), born in Hollywood, Florida (d. 1993)
1961 Todd Blackledge, American football player
1962 Birgit Fischer, German DR, 500m kayaker (Olympic gold 1980)
1962 Cammy Ciarelli, WPVA volleyballer (Best of Beach-2nd-1995), born in Iowa City, Iowa

Paul O'Neill

1963 Paul O'Neill, MLB right fielder (Cincinnati Reds, NY Yankees), born in Columbus, Ohio

1963 Tom McHale, NFL tackle (Miami Dolphins)
1964 Don Majkowski, NFL quarterback (Detroit Lions)
1966 Don Anurasiri, cricketer (Sri Lankan slow left-armer)
1966 Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete (d. 2003)
1967 Jenny Byrne, tennis star (1984 Futures-Wyong-AUS), born in Perth, Australia
1967 Rich Rowland, American baseball catcher (Detroit Tigers)
1968 David Hulse, American baseball outfielder (Texas Rangers)
1969 Donald Hodge, NBA center (Charlotte Hornets)
1969 Kerry Dienelt, Australian softball catcher/1st baseman (Olympic bronze 1996)
1969 Michelle Gibson, equestrian dressage (Olympic bronze 1996)
1970 Alfred Jordan, CFL cornerback (Calgary Stampeders)
1970 Brian O'Neal, NFL full back (SF 49ers)
1970 Corey Mayfield, NFL defensive tackle (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1970 Dave Brown, NFL quarterback (NY Giants)
1970 Troy Mallette, Sudbury, NHL left wing (Ottawa Senators)
1971 Konstantin Matoussevich, Israeli high jumper (Olympic 7th-1996), born in Kiev, Ukraine
1971 Andrew Hermann, US 50K walker (Olympics 1996)
1971 Byron Dafoe, NHL goalie (LA Kings), born in Sussex, England
1971 David Fox, American 50m freestyle (Olympic 6th 1996)
1971 Helen Dobson, British golfer (ANA Inspiration 1998 runner-up), born in Skegness, England
1971 Nova Peris, field hockey left halfback (Olympics 1996), born in Darwin, Australia
1972 Chris Harrison, guard (Detroit Lions)
1972 Erwin van de Looi, soccer player (Vitesse)
1972 Sean Harris, NFL linebacker (Chicago Bears)
1973 Daryl Gardener, defensive end (Miami Dolphins)
1973 Kirrily Sharpe, Bankstown Aust, tennis star (1995 Futures-Saga-JPN)
1973 Normann Stadler, German triathlete
1974 Detron Smith, NFL running back (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl 32)
1974 Tamarick Vanover, NFL wide receiver (KC Chiefs)
1975 Hercules Kyvelos, boxer (Olympics 1996), born in Montreal, Quebec
1976 Samaki Walker, NBA forward (Dallas Mavericks)
1980 Antonio Burks, American basketball player
1981 Park Ji-Sung, South Korean footballer
1982 Chris Baird, Irish footballer
1982 Anton Volchenkov, Russian ice hockey player
1982 Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player (US open 2015), born in Brindisi, Italy
1983 Eduardo da Silva, Brazilian-born Croatian footballer
1985 Benji Marshall, New Zealand rugby player
1985 Joakim Noah, American basketball player
1992 Libby [Elizabeth] Callahan, sport pistol (Olympics 1996), born in Columbia, South Carolina
1994 Eugenie Bouchard, Canadian tennis player (Wimbledon 2014 runner-up), born in Montreal, Quebec

Deaths in Sport

1919 Josef Christiaens, Belgian racing driver (b. 1879)
1934 John McGraw, American Baseball Hall of Fame infielder/manager (manager NY Giants World Series champions 1905, 21-22), dies of uremic poisoning at 60
1966 James D. Norris, American sports businessman (Chicago Black Hawks), dies at 59
1977 Billy Coutu, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (Stanley Cup 1924; Montreal Canadiens; only player banned from NHL for life, attacked referee 1927), dies at 84
1982 J K Irani, cricket wicket-keeper (2 Tests for India 1947-48), dies
1994 Hugh Tayfield, cricketer (170 wickets for South Africa in 37 Tests), dies