Historically Speaking: 2-13-09

The never-ending re-releasing of these movies is really quite amazing. For nearly 20 years, I haven't paid one lick of attention to them. Sure, I had that brief middle-school obsession where I rented every "Friday the 13th," "Halloween," and "Nightmare on Elm Street," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," among others. And then I was done with those flicks. So, I typically chuckle when I see the new "13ths" coming out, but they've really gone overboard with the advertising this time around. Are folks interested in seeing this one? Is it supposed to be better? I mean, how many times can you do kids hacked-up at camp by scithe wielding, decomposing revenge guy, mixed in with a healthy dose of boobs, of course? Anyway, I don't mind that they make them. I just remember hearing rumors back in the day that they would make 13 of these movies, and now they aren't giving this one a number? What is this? A re-make of the original? That's freakin' dumb. What's not, though, is your handful of Friday-the-13th anecdotes. You know. The ones after the jump.

* In 1920, the National Negro Baseball League was organized.

* Three years later, the first pro black basketeball team, "The Renaissance," was organized.

* In 1974, James "Cool Papa" Bell was named to baseball's Hall of Fame.

* Three years later, Julius "Dr. J" Erving was named MVP in his first NBA All-Star game. He had 30 points and 12 rebounds in the contest.

* There's only one man who could bring all that blackness to a statistical screeching halt: Larry Bird. In 1990, the long-time Boston Celtic ended an NBA free-throw streak of 71 games.

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



...former Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan. In 1992, Jordan was aked his reaction to being named to the NBA all-interview team. His reaction: "No comment."