Historically Speaking: 3-25-09

No time for savvy intros today. Get to learnin'...

* A number of NCAA men's basketball championships have taken place on March 25th. The first was in 1947 when Holy Cross beat Oklahoma 58-47. In 1961, Cincinnati needed overtime to defeat Ohio State 70-65. Six years later, UCLA downed Dayton 79-64. They would take the title again in 1972, this time knocking off Florida 81-76, marking their sixth consecutive championship.

* Today in 1958, Sugar Ray Robinson defeated Carmen Basilio to become the first boxer in history to win a championship five times.

* In 1982, Wayne Gretzky became the first NHLer in history to tally 200 points in a season.

* In 1985, an Illinois judge ruled that state and city laws banning night games at Wrigley Field were constitutional. In the previous year's NLCS, the Cubs had been forced to give up a home game, and threatened with playing future post-season games elsewhere in order to accommodate network television's prime-time schedules. As a result, the team sued to overturn the laws.

* And in 1997 -- a very sad day indeed -- the Hartford Whalers announced that they would leave Connecticut after the conclusion of the 1996-97 season. They became the Carolina Hurricanes.

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



...former New Jersey Nets forward Buck Williams, who, circa 1982, was asked why he averaged one assist a game that season. His response: "I knew those guys were out there. I just didn't know where."