In this edition of the Sports Break, we cover the top events in sports history along with the players and athletes that were a part of them on December 21. As a bonus, we also place the jersey number worn at the time with the athlete.
21 December in Sports History
Article: Sports History » Sports Jersey Memories » December » 21
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Daily Digits December 21
Sports history is made every day of the year. We will preserve at least a small sampling from some great athletes every day based on the uniform number they wore.
57 - 60 - 17 - 25 - 20 - 11 - 7
December 21, 1891 - 1st game of basketball, based on rules created by James Naismith, played by 18 students in Springfield, Massachusetts
December 21, 1937 - Chicago Black Hawks left wing Paul Thompson became the first player in NHL history to score a goal against his brother. That goal he scored was on goaltender Cecil Thompson of the Boston Bruins with just 9 seconds left in regulation; Bruins win though, 2-1
December 21, 1941 - Chicago Bears Number 57, Ray McLean made the last NFL drop kick for an extra point
December 21, 1948 - 1949 NFL Draft: University of Pennsylvania linebacker/center Number 60, Chuck Bednarik was selected first by Philadelphia Eagles
December 21, 1979 - Atlanta Flames Number 17, Garry Unger’s NHL record for consecutive games ends at 914, as the Flames lose 5-1 to the St Louis Blues and he is benched by coach Al MacNeil; record eventually broken by Washington Capitols Number 25, Doug Jarvis (964)
December 21, 1980 - Philadelphia Eagles future Hall of Fame receiver, Number 17, Harold Carmichael had his NFL streak of 127 consecutive game receptions come to an end
December 21, 1997 - Detroit Lions Number 20, Barry Sanders became the 3rd NFL player to run for 2,000 yards in a season
December 21, 1999 - Ballon d'Or: FC Barcelona's Brazilian midfielder Number 11, Rivaldo was named best soccer player in Europe ahead of Manchester United midfielder Number 7, David Beckham and Milan striker Number 7, Andriy Shevchenko
Credits
A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: On This Day Sports, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com.
Banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of James Naismith (6 November 1861 – 28 November 1939), the inventor of basketball from user Evdcoldeportes on a photo of a Minquan Sport Park Basketball Court overlay backgorund.
Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer
We invite you to take a ride through 1920's sports history in the audio drama that takes the listener through the sounds and legendary events of the era through the eyes of a young newspaper journalist. You will feel like you were there!
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Please note, that we include affiliate links to support the maintenance and development of this site and to help promote our guests and fellow sports historians. Your support is appreciated!
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Hut! Hut! Hike! Book
Historian Timothy P. Brown has released another excellent book to help fill our football minds with knowledge. His latest is called Hut! Hut! Hike!: A History of Football Terminology.[/br]more information
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