Historically Speaking: 2-11-09

We are the HoG, bloggin' crew, postin' on occasion, doin' it for you. We're so bad, we know we're good, doin' bare minimum, like you knew we would. We didn't come here to start no trouble, we're just here to start a House O' Georges scuffle...

* Today in 1966, Cecil's boy Willie Mays became the highest-paid player in baseball when he signed a two-year, $260,000 contract with the San Francisco Giants.

* The city of New York saw the fourth Garden open as the new 20,000 seat Madison Square unveiled in 1968.

* In 1973, the Philadelphia 76ers completed a Kansas City Royalsesque losing streak by dropping their 20th contest in a row.

* Wayne Gretzky set an NHL record 11 short-handed goals in 1984.

* And two years later, the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew saw their single "SuperBowl Shuffle" hit gold.

And your Sports Illustrated quote of the day comes from the mouth of...



...former Pittsburgh Panther basketball player Clyde (redacted) Vaughan, who underwent hypnosis from psychologist Gerry Chesin. Vaughan's consultation regarding his injured thumb left him with this remark: "He told me I don't have any pain so I don't have any pain. But for someone who doesn't have any pain, I'm in pain."