Missoula Prep Sports Network

Today In Sports History 3/31

Our past has shaped present by many things in history including sports, here is how sports marked our history.

Baseball

  • 1909 – American Major League Baseball rules that players who jump contracts are suspended for five years.
  • 1968 – Seattle’s American League club is named Pilots.
  • 1970 – US Federal bankruptcy court allows Seattle Pilots to be sold to Milwaukee.
  • 1994 – Walkway from Cleveland’s Tower City to Jacobs Field officially opens.
  • 1995 – First game at Coors Stadium, Colorado (replacement Colorado Rockies beat New York Yankees 4-1).
  • 1995 – Federal judge orders injunction to end US baseball strike.
  • 1996 – First baseball Opening Day in March takes place in Seattle.
  • 1998 – Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ first game; they host Detroit Tigers.

Basketball

  • 1975 – 37th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Kentucky 92-55; this is John Wooden’s final game and UCLA’s 10th NCAA championship in 12 years.
  • 1976 – Cleveland Cavaliers clinch their first ever NBA playoff berth.
  • 1985 – 4th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Old Dominion beats Georgia 70-65.
  • 1986 – 48th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Louisville beats Duke 72-69.
  • 1987 – 49th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Indiana beats Syracuse 74-73.
  • 1991 – 10th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Virginia 70-67.
  • 1996 – 15th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Georgia 83-65.
  • 1997 – 59th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Arizona beats Kentucky 84-79 (overtime).

Boxing

  • 1973 – Ken Norton defeats Muhammad Ali in a 12-round split decision.
  • 1980 – Larry Holmes TKOs Leroy Jones in 8 rounds for WBC heavyweight boxing title.
  • 1980 – Mike Weaver knocks out John Tate in 15 rounds for WBA heavyweight boxing title.

Golf

  • 1968 – Mickey Wright wins LPGA Palm Beach County Golf Open.
  • 1991 – 20th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Amy Alcott.
  • 1996 – 25th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Patty Sheehan.

Hockey 

  • 1923 – Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators (NHL) sweep Edmonton Eskimos (WCHL) in two games.
  • 1973 – Philadelphia Flyers score 8 goals in one period vs New York Islanders, on 60 shots.
  • 1991 – Saint Louis Blues’ Brett Hull scores his 86th goal.