Sports History This Week

August 16th, 2023. Over the past 16 months, Sports History This Week has covered sporting events from football to baseball to roller derby to a man skydiving from outer space. It has been an absolute joy working on the show, and we've loved hearing from the listeners along the way. In this episode, you'll hear from the team who produces and writes the show: what we loved, what we learned, and what we wished we had a chance to do. Thank you all for listening, and just know that we'll be watching the next big sports history moment as it unfolds. Special thanks to the Sports History This Week team: Jonah Buchanan, associate producer: Ben Dickstein, senior producer; Emma Fredericks, associate producer; David Ingber, producer; Kaelen Jones, host; Jessie Katz, executive producer; Cooper Katz McKim, producer; McCamey Lynn, supervising producer; Hazel May, associate producer; and Julia Press, story editor.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 9, 1988: Coming off their fourth Stanley Cup win in the last five seasons, the Edmonton Oilers do the unthinkable: trade Wayne Gretzky, hockey’s biggest superstar. Just as he’s entering his competitive peak, Gretzky departs a team where he looked like the centerpiece of a budding dynasty. And his destination is the Los Angeles Kings… in a city that barely knows it has a hockey team.Today, hockey changes forever, as Canada loses its greatest son to the United States. Why would the Oilers trade Gretzky? And how does Gretzky’s move reshape the entire NHL?Special thanks to our guests: David Staples, columnist for The Edmonton Journal; Bruce McNall, former owner of the L.A. Kings and co-chair of A-Mark Entertainment; Luc Robitaille, NHL Hall of Famer and president of the L.A. Kings; and Bernie Nicholls, retired All-Star NHL center. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ll be back next week with a regular episode, but please listen to this for an important SHTW update! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 1, 2004. Before esports became a billion-dollar industry, a few college halls in Southern California hosted a video game tournament: the Evolution Championship Series. Justin Wong is facing Daigo Umehara in the semifinals in Street Fighter III. Surprisingly, Wong has Umehara on the ropes. He goes in for a game-ending move when something unimaginable happens.Today, the moment that changes fighting games forever. When EVO Moment #37 takes the world by storm, it helps revive a struggling video game franchise. How does the moment come to be? And why does it have such a huge impact on the gaming community and beyond?Special thanks to our guests: Glenn Cravens, author of “EVO Moment #37: One of the Most Famous Moments in Competitive Gaming History”; David Graham, gamer, lawyer and EVO Tournament commentator; Daigo Umehara, professional gamer; and Justin Wong, professional gamer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 27, 1999. Barry Sanders, star running back of the Detroit Lions, writes a letter announcing his intentions to abruptly retire from the NFL. At just 31 years old, one of the game’s top players is ready to hang it up and walk away — on his own terms.Today, Barry Sanders stuns his teammates, his fans, and the entire football world. How did Barry Sanders become one of his era's most dominant offensive weapons? And what factors contributed to him retiring from football, at the peak of his powers?Special thanks to our guests: Charlie Batch, former NFL quarterback; Alex Kirschner and Richard Johnson, co-hosts of the “Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast”; Pat Jones, former college football and NFL coach; and Scott Mitchell, former NFL quarterback. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 18, 2006. The owner of the Seattle SuperSonics, Howard Schultz, calls a press conference. Ever since the Starbucks chairman took over the team, he's been hemorrhaging money. Now, Schultz has run out of patience too. He's selling the team... to out-of-town buyers.Today, the SuperSonics are sold out. The franchise delivered Seattle its first pro sports championship, was a cultural touchstone, and produced superstars like Gary Payton. Fans are desperate to keep the Sonics in town. So why do they leave?Special thanks to our guests: Adam Brown, producer of the Webby Award-winning film "SonicsGate"; Chris Daniels, longtime Seattle reporter and host of the podcast “Iconic Sonics"; Loren “Big Lo” Sandretzky, Sonics superfan; and Damien Wilkins, former Seattle SuperSonic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 10, 1999. It’s 107 degrees on the soccer field in Pasadena, California, at third-ever Women’s World Cup. The US Women’s National Team is stuck in a scoreless tie against China. Just a few years earlier, these teams were playing in stadiums that looked like they belonged to the local high school. Now? They’re playing in front of 90,000 screaming fans, desperate to see the U.S. come out on top.Today, the U.S. Women’s National Team puts the finishing touches on one of the most iconic tournament runs in American soccer history. How was this team able to vault women’s soccer to a level most would have thought impossible? And how has the sport changed in the 24 years since?Special thanks to our guests: Julie Kliegman, copy chief for Sports Illustrated; Kristine Lilly, former USWNT midfielder; Briana Scurry, former USWNT goalkeeper; and Amy Shipley, former sports reporter for the Washington Post. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 4, 2010. Nathan’s Famous is holding its annual hot dog eating competition on Coney Island. But this year, one perennial champion is not taking the stage: Takeru Kobayashi. The legendary eater destroyed competition for six years in a row, launching him into international stardom. But then, things start to go wrong.Today, Takeru Kobayashi looks to make a statement. In front of thousands of spectators, Kobayashi gets arrested at the very competition he used to dominate. Why is there so much drama at a hot dog eating contest? And how does the original competitive eating superstar get to this point?Special thanks to our guests: Yukako Maggie James, Kobayashi’s former manager and wife; Takeru Kobayashi, competitive eater; Gersh Kuntzman, longtime New York journalist; Joey Chestnut, competitive eater; Ryan Nerz, author of “Eat This Book, A Year of Gorging and Glory On the Competitive Eating Circuit”; Noriko Okubo, Kobayashi’s interpreter and agent; George Shea, chair of Major League Eating. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 2, 1997. Atlanta Braves ace Greg Maddux takes the mound for a regular-season start against the defending champion New York Yankees. And in typical Maddux fashion, he starts making quick work of the Yankees lineup. In fact, he gets through the game so quickly, that Major League Baseball would eventually add a new stat into its official glossary to commemorate this, and other performances like it.  Today, Greg Maddux inspires a baseball writer named Jason Lukehart to create a statistic called “The Maddux.” So what exactly is a “Maddux”? And how did coaching and strategizing in the sport of baseball eventually lead to the abandonment of the techniques that made Maddux so successful? Special thanks to our guests: Anthony Castrovince, writer for MLB.com; Jason Lukehart, baseball writer and inventor of “The Maddux” baseball statistic; Greg Maddux, four-time Cy Young Award winner, Hall of Famer, and namesake of “The Maddux”; and Jameson Taillon, pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 19, 2005. Formula 1 is hosting its U.S. Grand Prix at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For years, F1 has desperately tried to establish a foothold in America, and heading into this race, there’s real momentum — until there’s a major problem.Today, F1’s nightmare at the U.S. Grand Prix. More than a 100,000 spectators show up to a race that becomes a disaster. How do things go so wrong? And how will this race affect F1’s future in America?Special thanks to our guests: Herbie Blash, former deputy race director of the FIA; Tony Dodgins, F1 journalist; John Howett, former president of Toyota Motorsport Germany; and Joe Saward, F1 journalist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 16, 1996. Michael Jordan leads the Chicago Bulls to their fourth NBA Championship. Many basketball fans consider 1995-96 to be Jordan’s best individual season, and that Bulls squad as perhaps the greatest in the history of team sports.But behind the scenes, Jordan is still grieving over the death of his father, a traumatic event that led to him stepping away from basketball for over a year to pursue professional baseball. Without him, the Bulls fall into chaos. Today, a look back at one of darkest and most difficult chapters in Jordan’s incredible career: Why he stepped away from the game he loved so much, and how he was able to return, triumphant.Special thanks to our guests: Terry Francona, two-time World Series champion manager; Sam Smith, writer for Bulls.com and author of “The Jordan Rules”; and Roland Lazenby, author of "Michael Jordan: The Life," and whose biography of Magic Johnson will be out in October 2023.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 11, 1999. Inside Madison Square Garden, Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals tips off between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. Hardly anyone expected this Knicks squad to be here — a lockout and a roster overhaul created a season of chaos. Yet somehow, New York stands just one win away from a shot at the title.Today, the Knicks become the first-ever No. 8 seed to make it to the NBA Finals. How do they overcome so much in-season chaos? And can they capture their first championship since 1973?Special thanks to our guest: Paul Knepper, Knicks superfan and author of “Knicks of the Nineties: Ewing, Oakley, Starks and the Brawlers That Almost Won It All.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 29, 2003. Every year, a little island off the English coast is home to the world’s most dangerous race: the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. Motorcyclists zip through the course going more than 200 miles per hour, navigating hairpin turns — all on public roads.Today, one of the greatest racers in Isle of Man TT history passes away, when nine-time champion David Jefferies becomes the event’s 206th casualty. How does the TT become such a deadly competition? And how can a race be held every year where it’s almost expected that someone will die?Special thanks to our guests: Neil Collier, filmmaker of a short series about the Isle of Man for the New York Times; Mat Oxley, a journalist, author, and Isle of Man TT winner; and Paul Phillips, head of motorsport for the Isle of Man government's Department for Enterprise, which delivers the Isle of Man TT race. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 23, 2003. Chris Moneymaker is the last amateur standing. The 28-year-old Tennessee accountant has defied the odds and outlasted over 800 of the best players on the planet at the World Series of Poker, but that’s not enough. He finds himself at the Final Table, going for poker immortality.Today, Chris Moneymaker wins the $2.5 million prize at the World Series of Poker, inspiring an entire generation of online players to join the poker gold rush. How did this amateur Internet poker player even wind up in this tournament, let alone winning it all?Special thanks to our guests: Mori Eskandani, former professional poker player and head of Poker Go; Bart Hanson, poker player, commentator, and teacher through Crush Live Poker; and Chris Moneymaker, the winner of the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 16, 2023. If you were watching TV last night, you may have seen NBA history being made. A few ping-pong balls bounced around a lottery machine, and suddenly, the San Antonio Spurs won the first pick at the 2023 NBA Draft, which they’ll almost certainly use to draft a potential superstar from France named Victor Wembanyama.Today, a look back at some of the most electrifying prospects the NBA has ever seen – from Hakeem Olajuwon to Patrick Ewing to LeBron James to Wembanyama – as well as the wild, and at times controversial, steps that teams have taken to secure their draft rights. How did the NBA come up with the current lottery system after decades of tweaking the rules? And how has tanking -- or the process of intentionally losing games -- complete reshaped the way NBA teams compete for championships?Special thanks to our guests: Jake Fischer, senior NBA reporter for Yahoo Sports and author of “Built to Lose: How the NBA’s Tanking Era Changed the League Forever”; Rohan Nadkarni, NBA writer for Sports Illustrated; Brian Windhorst, ESPN NBA insider and author of “Return of the King” and “LeBron Inc.: The Making of a Billion Dollar Athlete”; Jeremy Woo, NBA Draft contributor for ESPN; and Dave Zarum, basketball historian and author of “NBA: 75.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 11th, 1997. The eyes of the world are focused on a chessboard. It's the decisive game of one of the most highly anticipated chess matches of the 20th century. The reigning world champion, Garry Kasparov, is agitated, furrowing his brow and clutching his face while he considers his next move. His opponent—unphased by the pressure—hums loudly from a nearby room. Today, a legendary battle between arguably the greatest chess player that ever lived and a thinking machine. How does a computer master a very human game? And when they face off, who will come out on top? Special thanks to our guests: Bruce Pandolfini, veteran chess teacher, author, and consultant on the Netflix series The Queens Gambit; Tom Standage, historian and editor of The Economist series The World Ahead; Murray Campbell, A.I. research scientist at IBM and co-creator of Deep Blue; and Feng Hsiung Hsu, system architect of Deep Blue and author of Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 3rd, 2007. Oracle Arena is rocking. In Oakland, 20,000 fans, all wearing mustard-yellow t-shirts with the slogan “We Believe,” are amped. It’s so loud that the opposing players can’t even hear each other in the huddle.That’s because the 2007 Golden State Warriors are on the verge of pulling off the greatest upset in the history of the NBA playoffs.Today, the Warriors square off against the Dallas Mavericks, a 67-win team led by league MVP Dirk Nowitzki. It’s a matchup that pretty much everyone – from the media, to the fans, to the Las Vegas sportsbooks – agrees they should lose. How are the We Believe Warriors able to take down a juggernaut? And even though they don’t come close to winning a title, how is this team more impactful on today’s NBA than most championship teams?Special thanks to our guests: Adonal Foyle, 13-year NBA veteran, and center for the 2007 “We Believe” Warriors; Logan Murdock, writer for The Ringer and co-host of the NBA podcast “Real Ones”; Marcus Thompson, lead columnist covering the Bay Area for The Athletic, and author of “Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry”; and Tyler Puryear, Mike Guardabascio, and John Nichols, the trio behind the “Jenkins and Jonez” NBA podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 21, 1980. The Boston Marathon, the oldest and arguably most prestigious marathon in the world, attracts the sport’s top professional runners. So, when a completely unknown woman named Rosie Ruiz, with barely any marathoning experience, crosses the finish line first, many in the media and racing community are shocked… and more than a little suspicious.Over the next seven days, a massive investigation is launched, and eventually a story filled with some genuinely bizarre twists and turns is uncovered.Today, Rosie Ruiz becomes the most infamous cheater in marathon history. How did the race organizers eventually catch her in the act? And at a fundamental level, why did she do it?Special thanks to our guests: Chris Chavez, founder of CitiusMag.com and host of the Citius Mag podcast; Paul Clerici, author of several books on long-distance running, including “Boston Marathon: History by the Mile” and “Images of Modern America: the Boston Marathon”; and Bill Rodgers, four-time winner of both the Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 13, 1986. In honor of the Masters Invitational Tournament, we revisit two of its most famous finishes. First, an aging Jack Nicklaus attempts to become the Masters' oldest champion. Then, 11 years later to the day, Tiger Woods seeks to become the youngest ever to win the Masters' coveted green jacket.Today, two of the greatest golfers ever aim to overcome expectations in their sport's most prestigious event. Can either pull off a victory? And how do two players a generation apart cope with the pressure?Special thanks to our guests: Tom Clavin, writer and author of "One for the Ages, Jack Nicklaus in the 1986 Masters"; Armen Keteyian, co-author of the biography "Tiger Woods"; Tom Kite, former professional golfer and one-time U.S. Open champion; and Sean Zak, senior writer with Golf.com and Golf Magazine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 10, 1971. A team of ping pong players leaves Hong Kong to step across a border and become the first group of Americans welcomed to China in over 20 years. These competitors find themselves becoming unlikely diplomats at the center of a media frenzy, and at the heart of one of the 20th century’s major geopolitical shifts. How did table tennis turn into a powerful tool of foreign policy? And how did these athletes leave an impact that went far beyond the ping pong table?Special thanks to our guests: professional table tennis athletes Judy Hoarfrost, Olga Soltesz, and Connie Sweeris; Yafeng Xia, senior professor of social science at Long Island University Brooklyn, and author of Negotiating with the Enemy: U.S.-China Talks during the Cold War, 1949-1972; and Nicholas Griffin, author of Ping Pong Diplomacy: The Secret History Behind the Game That Changed the World. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.