Facts
November 18
Looking for the Pittsburgh Penguins' Miroslav Satan on yahoo.com? His player ID is 666. Same for FoxSports.com and SportsIllustrated.com.
November 13
Roberto Luongo's shutout streak ended after 242:36 last night; three full games + three periods. The Canucks haven't given up an even-stregth goal in five full games. The modern-day streak is held by Brian Boucher's five games (332:01) with Phoenix in 03-04.
November 10
Congratulations to Evan Longoria and Geovany Soto for winning MLB's Rookie of the Year honors. Longoria, the Rays first ever recipient of a major award, did so unanimously with all 32 votes. The Rays awarded the 3rd baseman a $17.5 million, 6-year contract after only six games.
November 4
For the first time in 56 games, including 51 regular-season games, someone other than Martin Brodeur started a game for the Devils between the pipes. Kevin Weekes is filling in for the injured Brodeur.
November 3
The Tennassee Titans are off to an 8-0 start in the NFL. Incredibly, they have scored on their last 26 trips to the red zone (the 20-yard-line), including 17 TD's.
November 1
The Toronto Maple Leafs scored five goals in 5:21 on the New York Rangers backup, Steve Valiquette. Trailing 2-0 with 7:24 left in the 3rd period, the Leafs won 5-2.
October 29
The Boston Bruins have only played in Vancouver twice since 2002, and their starting goalie, Tim Thomas, has never allowed a goal against the Canucks.
October 27
In England, Liverpool ended Chelsea's 86-game home unbeaten streak on the weekend, handing Chelsea their first loss at Stamford Bridge since 2004.
October 24
In Wednesday's NHL game between San Jose and Philadelphia, the Sharks pulled out a wild 7-6 victory, while 19 different players registered at least a point.
October 22
Taco Bell is giving away one free taco to every American for the first stolen base in the World Series (any player, any team, any game). And not just any taco, they're giving away a Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco.
October 18
In Nicklas Lidstrom's 17 NHL seasons, he has only missed 26 regular season games. Eight of those were healthy scratches, a coaching decision to rest him for playoff action. He's also won the Norris for best d-man in the league six of the last seven years.
October 17
Hats off to the Boston Red Sox, who rallied from a 7-0 deficit in the 7th to win 8-7 and stave off elimination, in the biggest post-season comeback since 1929.
September 9
News from the European Olympic pre-qualifying tournament for Women's hockey. After losing 30-1 to Croatia and 41-0 to Italy, the Bulgarian Women's National team lost 82-0 to Slovakia, an IIHF record. The Slovaks scored a goal every 44 seconds, on average.
September 6
Major League baseball officially introduced video replay on Thursday, August 28th. It was first used on September 3rd, to uphold a contested Alex Rodriguez home run. The review took all of 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
September 3
Fortune magazine annualy publishes a list of the 50 highest-earning athletes. This year, 26 of them were baseball players, with A-Rod leading the pack at #7 ($35 million). The top spot went to Tiger Woods, and his preposterous salary of $115 million. David Beckham ranked second, with $50 million. By contrast, the leading lady was Maria Sharapova, with $26 million.
August 29
Ana Ivanovic, ranked first overall in the Women's Tennis Association, lost in the first qualification round at the U.S. Open to 188th-ranked Julie Coin. It was Coin's first match in the WTA ever.
August 28
Michael Phelps sits second all-time with 16 Olympic medals, trailing only Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina's 18. Phelps has won more medals than 150 of the 204 National Olympic Committees (Summer & Winter Games combined). He scored a $1 million bonus from Speedo for winning eight Gold medals, and apparently eats around 12,000 calories a day, six times that of an average adult male.
August 27
Beginning in 2009, all LPGA golfers will be required to pass a basic English test or face suspension. Strangely, the LPGA holds events in Mexico, France, South Korea, Japan and Singapore. 16 of the top 20 money earners on the tour this year were born outside of the US. Smells like corporate sponsor interference to me.
August 20
Congratulations to Usain Bolt on winning two Olympic Gold Medals, the 100m and the 200m, both in world-record setting times. Bolt, the lanky 6'5" Jamaican, becomes the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win Gold in both races. Lewis won an amazing four Gold medals in Los Angeles, picking up the 4x100m Relay and Long Jump titles. Bolt, who celebrates his birthday on August 21st, will likely run in the 4x100m Relay at Beijing, and possibly even the 4x400m.
June 26
On June 24th, Seattle's Felix Hernandez became the first AL pitcher to hit a grand salami in 37 years. Unfortunately for Hernandez,
he twisted his ankle while covering for a wild pitch in the 4th, and had to leave the game before earning the W.
May 8
French Club team Lyon (Olympique Lyonnais) is one win away from their seventh consecutive Ligue 1 title, a European record.
May 3
Detroit's Johan Franzen scored an astounding 9 goals in their 4-game sweep of Colorado, the most goals ever scored in a four game series. Franzen's nine goals matched Colorado's nine goals in the series.
April 29
No NBA team has ever come back from trailing a series 0-3.
April 17
14 players on the Washington Capitals are making their playoff debut this year.
April 14
The NHL introduced a new rule on Monday, disallowing anyone from "positioning themmself facing the opposition goaltender and engaging in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face". Why? Because Rangers' agitator Sean Avery did that very thing in Game 2 of their series, standing in front of Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur. When asked about his antics, veteran Penguin Gary Roberts said; "He's an idiot."
April 8
Ari Petrof is Sweden's National Sauna Champion. He stayed in a 212 degrees Fahrenheit sauna for five hours and 10 minutes.
April 2
Alex Rodriguez makes over $6 million more than the entire Florida Marlins extended 33-man roster. Even Kevin Gregg, the biggest Marlin moneymaker at $2.5 million, makes less than the $3.15 million league average.
April 1
On April 17th, 1923 Yankee Stadium held it's first home opener, as Babe Ruth hit a three-run shot to power New York over Boston 6-3. The stadium will hold it's 84th, and final, home opener today.
March 31
This is the first time in NCAA history that all four #1 seeds have made it to the Final Four.