January 8, 1947: Rookie Howie Meeker Scores 5 Goals And Sets A New Record

On January 8, 1947, Toronto Maple Leafs right winger set a rookie record when he scored 5 goals in 10-4 romp of the Chicago Blackhawks. The accomplishment by Meeker was highlighted that he had been wounded when he served during World War II and after fighting his way back from the injuries and serving out his enlistment he laced up the skates and pursued his lifelong dream of playing professional hockey. It was a dream that would be realized during that '46-'47 season when he found himself on the roster of the Maple Leafs. He quickly proved he belonged as he put together a solid season that ended with him not only winning the Stanley Cup but also taking home the Calder Trophy as the league's best rookie. The game that he scored 5 goals in came in front of a home crowd in Toronto, the Leafs had found themselves trailing 2-0 early before they tied things up in the second period. They added two more goals in the second period then added six more in the third while holding the Chicago offense to just two. The 5 goal performance by Meeker was the spark that caused the offensive inferno. The crowd in Toronto didn't even realize that Meeker had scored 5 goals, originally his first two were credited to Wally Stanowski but after the second period came to an end the officials got together and came to the conclusion that both of the goals were deflected into the net by Meeker. The press was informed of the change but the fans had to wait until an announcement that came after the game. To date, only one other rookie has tallied 5 goals in a single game with that being New York Rangers wingman Don Murdoch who accomplished the feat in October of 1976. Meeker finished that game with 16 goals on the season, he would add 11 more before season's end. He then capped things off by holding Lord Stanley's Cup above his head. Meeker spent 8 seasons on the ice, he scored 102 goals and finished with 185 points. That rookie season was his finest statistically but that did not stop him from being a very productive member of the team for 6 of those 8 seasons. Meeker's first three seasons ended with the Maple Leafs as Stanley Cup Champions as they proved to be one of the most dominant teams of the era. Following his playing days he spent some time coaching, jumped into politics, then finally found a spot in the broadcast booth. Meeker would make himself known as a broadcaster with a personality like no other. His broadcast career began in the mid 70's and would continue until he retired from 1998. Following his retirement he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a broadcaster. Today Meeker is a 90 years old and living in Ontario. Nearly 70 years after he scored his record setting 5 goals as a rookie the record remains intact. Only 44 players in NHL history have scored 5 or more goals in a game and with only two rookies having the feat on their resume it is likely that the record will remain intact for many years to come.

You can read about Murdoch's record tying performance here: http://onthisdayinsports.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-12-1976-don-murdoch-becomes.html 

January 7, 1950: The First Ever Senior Bowl Is Played

On January 7, 1950, with a two touchdown performance Auburn quarterback Travis Tidwell led the Southern collegiate all stars to a 22-13 victory over the Northern squad in the first ever Senior Bowl that was played in front of 20,000+ in Jacksonville, Florida. This marked a beginning of an annual event that would shine a light on the greatest college players in the nation with many of them set to embark on professional careers in the NFL. Tidwell would always be remembered for leading Auburn to their first victory over Alabama in more than 40 years one season earlier and he would always be held in high regard among the Auburn faithful. As a freshman he led the country in total offense which was something he would do again in his senior season which led to the invitation to the inaugural event. Tidwell had to contend Southern Methodist running back Doak Walker who suited up for the North. The "North" squad was made up of players from all sections of the country besides the Southeastern conferences and the most southern conferences in the nation. Walker helped the North jump out to an early lead before Tidwell was able to answer back with a touchdown pass late in the second quarter. The first score came after Walker ran a punt back 67 yards, it was said that he cut back across the field twice as he danced around defenders on his way to giving his squad great field position. With the efforts of Doak and Pacific quarterback Eddie LeBaron the North moved quickly on a scoring drive that was finished off by Michigan State running back Lynn Chandnois. In the second quarter LeBaron connected with Oklahoma's Jim Owen on a 46 yard bomb that extended the North's lead to 13-0 after Walker missed on the extra point. Charley Justice out of North Carolina  provided a much needed spark for the South when he broke off a 33 yard return on the ensuing kickoff. Tidwell followed it up with a 52 yard touchdown pass to Herb Rich of Vanderbilt and suddenly the score was 13-7 and the South was on the way back into the contest. It took two grinding drives for the South to take the lead, the first was an 80 yard drive that ended in disappointment as Texas' Ed Price fumbled the ball at the goal line. The second drive would end much better than the first for the South, it began with an excellent punt return by Herb Rich that had the ball sitting on the 50, then Tidwell passed and ran his way down the field before finding Wake Forest's Red O'Quinn on a quick pass from the 15, O'Quinn found it in his hands at the 10 and saw daylight in front of him as he dashed tot he endzone. When Tulane's Dick Sheffield converted on the extra point the South had a lead that would not be relinquished. With the slim one point lead intact Tidwell and company needed a little insurance so the foot was kept on the gas pedal. After another solid punt return by Justice positioned the South at the North 40, Tidwell nearly picked up his third touchdown of the day when he connected with Rich once again on a 40 yard hookup that ended with the ball sitting at the two yard line. Price made up for his earlier error by punching the ball in and adding the score that would provide some breathing room. In the last 5 minutes of the ballgame Wake Forest's Jim Duncan provided the last two points with a blocked punt in the endzone that gave the South a safety and capped off the scoring in the first ever Senior Bowl. Many of the young men that played in that game would go onto have long professional careers and some of them would even end up in the Pro Football Hal of Fame. Some of them most definitely increased their draft stock in their last opportunity to shine as a member of the collegiate ranks. One of those men that benefited by his stellar performance was the game's MVP Travis Tidwell, he was taken by the New York Giants 7th overall. His NFL career was short, after just two seasons in New York he headed North and played in the CFL. After his playing days ended he coached briefly before turning his attention to business ventures. He would go onto have children and make many more memories during his life before he passed away in 2004. Some of his fondest memories had to have come when he was taking snaps with that Auburn helmet on.

After the 1950 Senior Bowl did not reach expectations in attendance it was moved to Mobile, Alabama where it is still played today.

January 6, 1964: Charlie Finley Seeks To Move The A's To Louisville

On January 6, 1964, the owner of the Kansas City A's Charlie Finley signed a two year deal that would shift the club to Louisville, Kentucky. The deal would have the Athletics playing ball at Louisville's Fairgrounds Stadium with the city and state guaranteeing that the stadium would undergo a renovation that would raise the seating capacity from 20,100 to 30,632. The 2 year agreement gave Finley flexibility that if attendance expectations were not met the A's would have the opportunity to look elsewhere. The City of Louisville hadn't seen a major league ballclub since the American Association's Louisville Colonels dissolved in 1892 as the National League emerged onto the scene and because of opposition to Finley's plan to move they would not see major league baseball in the city. Before the ink could dry on the deal that Finley signed the other owners of the American league ballclubs made it be known that they were not going to support the move. He needed to get approval by the other owners to make it final and it was a hurdle that he could not jump. It seemed that Finley was intent on moving the team out of Kansas City the moment he purchased the team in December of 1960 even though he promised the fans in K.C. that he wanted to keep them there. Six weeks after he signed a deal to move the team to Louisville the owners voted again, this time it was a proposed move to Oakland which was shot down as well. Finley finally got his wish to move the team in 1967 when a deal was approved to move the club to Oakland, this came after the city of Kansas City had approved a brand new stadium that would be completed in 1973. I guess it was a little late for Finley who had already made up his mind that the Athletics would no longer call Kansas City home. It didn't take long for Kansas City to get a new ballclub, in 1969 they were granted an expansion team that would be known as the Royals and by 1973 they would be playing ball in that stadium that was originally planned for that A's team who had headed west.

January 5, 1964: Keith Lincoln Carries The Chargers To A Title

On January 5, 1964, in front of more than 30,000 fans at Balboa Stadium in San Diego, Chargers fullback Keith Lincoln put together the single greatest postseason performance in the history of professional football when he recorded 329 yards from scrimmage in a 51-10 victory over the Boston Patriots in the AFL Championship game. Lincoln scored two touchdowns and help set up another two as he rumbled for 206 yards on 13 carries, caught 7 passes for 123 yards, then he capped things off with a halfback pass that was good for a 20 yard gain. The Chargers scored two touchdowns before Boston had an answer. The first score came just 1 minute and 29 seconds into the game, it was a 2 yard run by quarterback Tobin Rote, it was set up by  a 56 yard run by Lincoln. The next touchdown came from a 67 yard run from the fullback who was on his way to making history. While Lincoln was the story of the game, his teammates around him shined as well. After the Chargers saw their lead cut in half on a 7 yard touchdown run from Boston's Larry Garron, they responded with another long touchdown run. This time it was Paul Lowe who burst through the Patriots defense as he capped off the first quarter scoring with a 58 run that ended with 7 more points on the scoreboard to bring the total to 21-7 after one period of play. With the solid running game behind him Rote was able to dominate through the air, he owned the second and third quarters firing two touchdown passes. The the first came on a 14 yard hookup with Don Norton in the second, then he found Lance Alworth in the third on a 48 yard bomb for his second of the day. In the fourth Lincoln added to his totals with his second touchdown run of the day, a 25 yard run that opened the lead up to 44-10. Late in the game, John Hadl drove the last nail in with a 1 yard touchdown run that completed the dominant effort and the Chargers were Champions.

To date, this is the only professional championship title that the City of San Diego has held. The 206 rushing yards was a playoff record at the time and it stood until Los Angeles Rams back Eric Dickerson rumbled for 248 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in 1986. Lincoln sits third on the list today, Miami Dolphins back Lamar Smith bested him by three yards in 2000 with a 209 yard effort in win against the Indianapolis Colts. With that said, no man other than Lincoln has ever come close to the all around performance that he produced in that title game in '64, the next closest contender in postseason yards from scrimmage was Minnesota's Anthony Carter who picked up 257 total yards in a 36-24 win over the 49ers. You can view the list here: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/yds_from_scrimmage_single_game_playoffs.htm That game by Lincoln was truly like no other. It was a surprise to many. The Patriots had allowed just 79 yards rushing per game during the regular season but on that day in San Diego they allowed 318 yards on the ground and gave up a grand total of 610 yards of total offense. This sparked a conversation about the NFL and the AFL potentially having a "World Series" of football. It was a notion that Pete Rozelle the commissioner of the NFL quickly shot down. Just three years later the Packers and the Chiefs would take the field in Super Bowl I.

Here's the box score: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/all_purpose_yds_single_game_playoffs.htm

January 4, 1986: Dickerson Runs Over The Cowboys And Into The Record Books

On January 4, 1986, in a divisional playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys in Anaheim, Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson turned in the playoff performance of a lifetime when he rumbled for 248 yards on 34 carries in a 20-0 win. The victory pushed the Rams onto the NFC title game against the Chicago Bears. Dickerson's 248 yards is a still standing playoff record for rushing yards in a postseason game. The Rams held a 3-0 lead at the half and it looked like it could be anybody's ballgame. That was until Dickerson took his first handoff of the second half and bolted 55 yards to open the lead up to 10-0. The running back who had set the single season record in 1984 with 2,105 yards on the season would once again prove that he was one of the best in the game as he put the Rams offense on his back and would carry them to the next round. After Mike Lansford kicked his second field goal of the day in the third, Dickerson busted out a 40 yard run in the fourth that would seal the deal. While Dickerson was the story of the day the Rams defense should definitely be mentioned as well. The Cowboys offense threatened only once, midway through the fourth quarter they got as far as the Rams 20 before Danny White was sacked Gary Jeter who had three sacks on the day. When it was all said and done the Cowboys quarterback had been sacked 5 times and picked off three times. Their running back Tony Dorsett was held to just 58 yards which extended the Rams streak of not allowing a 100 yard rusher to 10 games. Unfortunately for that Rams team they encountered a team of destiny in the next round with the Bears who beat them 24-0 then went onto win Super Bowl XX. While the playoff run ended earlier than Dickerson and his teammates would have wished they would not forget that day that Dickerson ran like a man possessed against the Dallas Cowboys. Rams guard Dennis Harrah said that he would remember the 55 yard touchdown run when he was old and gray, the call was "45 man" which was a quick hitter to the running back and when Dickerson got the ball into his hands he cut right behind Harrah then found daylight and was off to the races. An ordinary back would have gotten a yard or two, Dickerson was no ordinary back. Dickerson himself said "It's been awhile since I hit a home run." It's safe to say he knocked it out of the park that day.

This is a highlight reel from the historic game:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Ijp2N9K2s

Here's the box score from the game: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198601040ram.htm and here is the list of all time single game playoff rushing leaders: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/rush_yds_single_game_playoffs.htm

January 3, 1993: The Buffalo Bills Pull Off The Biggest Comeback In NFL History

On January 3, 1993, in front of a home crowd in Orchard Park, New York down 28-3 at the half then 35-3 early in the third quarter, Buffalo Bills backup quarterback Frank Reich led his team to an improbable 41-38 overtime victory in the first round of the playoffs. It was and still is the biggest comeback in the history of the NFL. It seemed that Murphy's law was in full effect for the Bills, they had lost their starting QB Jim Kelly in the last game of the season, all-pro linebacker Cornelius Bennett was out due to injury, and their starting running back Thurman Thomas suffered an injury in the second half. Facing the insurmountable deficit Reich and the Bills just wanted to put together something that gave them respectability as they were being embarrassed by Warren Moon's squad out of Houston. Reich was no stranger to the huge comeback, in 1984 he led the Maryland Terrapins to a 42-40 victory over the Miami Hurricanes after being down 31-0 and he was about to make history once again. In the first half Moon built the Houston lead with four touchdown passes from 3,7,26, and 27 yards out as he was torching the Bills secondary. After the half it seemed as if the Oilers drove another nail into the proverbial coffin when Reich was picked off by Bubba McDowell who took it 58 yards into the endzone and opened up the lead to 35-3. It might have looked like the nail driven but Reich and company came storming back with four touchdowns in the third quarter to cut the lead to 35-31. It all started with a one yard run by Ken Davis, then Steve Christie recovered his own onside kick and 56 seconds later Reich found Don Beebe on a 38 yard hookup and the Bills were in business. The Buffalo defense found a way to stymie the Houston offense and Reich finished off the four touchdown quarter by connecting with Andre Reed on touchdowns from 26 and 18 yards out to cut Houston's lead to 35-31.  Reed was also the recipient of the touchdown that gave the Bills a 38-35 lead in the fourth, it was a 16 yard catch and score and the comeback looked to be complete. Warren Moon had other ideas, he helped drive his team 63 yards before Al Del Greco booted a 26 yard game tying field goal with just 12 seconds to go in regulation. It was gonna take overtime to determine a winner and on this day Buffalo would not be denied. Houston won the toss and took over on the 20, two plays later Moon was picked off by Nate Odomes which setup the game winning field goal by Christie, a 32 yarder that put the icing on the 41-38 cake. The Bills came into the game as two time defending AFC Champions, after the unbelievable comeback Reich would lead them to another win over the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-3 before Kelly and Thomas returned to the field and helped lead the team to a 29-10 over the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Title game. Their run would end in Super Bowl XVII when the Bills were knocked off 52-17 but that road to the Super Bowl would not be forgotten, especially that one game. It will be talked about for many years to come.

The comeback win was one for the ages. You can check the box score out here: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199301030buf.htm I remember watching it and I can tell you this I'm glad I didn't turn the channel. At the time I didn't root for either team so the comeback was just an absolute great game in my eyes. I'm sure the fans of the Bills were besides themselves while the fans of the Oilers were shocked and stunned by the turn of events. I bet there were quite a few fans that either left the game or turned off the television as they couldn't bear watching the beatdown they were witnessing. One lesson that can be taken from that is to not give up even when the chips are down. Stay tuned because you might just witness something great.

January 2,1986: Mike Bossy Scores His 500th Goal

On January 2, 1986, in a 7-5 comeback win over the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders legend Mike Bossy became just the 11th man in NHL history to score 500 goals. The milestone came on a night that the Islanders organization had set aside to honor defenseman Denis Potvin who had surpassed Bobby Orr's record of 915 points just a few weeks earlier. Down 3-1 in the third, a Potvin slapshot deflected off the stick of Bryan Trottier and straight into the Boston net. The offense had found a spark but they would still have a battle on their hands as the Bruins would not go down without a fight. In fact, it was a barn burner that saw the two teams lighting the lamp and with time winding down in regulation they found themselves knotted at 5. Bossy had come into the game sitting on 498 career goals and with just two minutes left in the game he scored the go ahead goal to come within one of the historic mark. It was setup by Trottier and Bossy finished the job as he got it past the Boston goalie Doug Keans. With time winding down and the Islanders up 6-5 the Bruins yanked their goalie as they were desperate to score the equalizer. The strategy failed, with just 17 seconds to go Bossy put the puck in the back of the empty net after a quick breakaway. It was not the way he pictured #500, but it was a glorious moment nonetheless. At the time Bossy was 28 years old and he had just become the fastest to ever reach the 500 goal mark as he did it in 647 games. He had come a long way since his first goal against Buffalo's Don Edwards in October of 1977. The 4 time Stanley Cup Champion would finish his career with 573 goals and would be immortalized among the greatest to ever to take the ice when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.

Watch the goal with a few words from Bossy here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59zY6NnRevM
To date, 42 men have reached the 500 goal mark. If you think of all the men that have taken the ice in an NHL sweater being in the 500 goal club is an elite club to say the least. Bossy is currently ranked 20th on the all time list. You can view it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NHL_players_with_500_goals