Monday, November 14, 2005
The winningest coach of all-time...
One of pro football's most cherished records was erased from the NFL record books on this date in 1993 when the Miami Dolphins defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 19-14 on the road in Philadelphia...
The Dolphins win gave coach Don Shula his 325th win, moving him past the Bears' George Halas and it took him 9 years less than Papa Bear Halas to accomplish the feat. For the record, Shula's 325 wins in 31 years gives him an average of more than 10 wins for each season he coached in the NFL...
Shula would only coach 2 teams during his tenure, the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins. He would retire after the 1995 season with a regular season mark of 328-156-6. That combined with his post-season mark of 19-17 would give the legendary coach a career mark of 347 wins, 173 losses and 6 ties...
Shula's career coaching record for wins should stand the test of time and may never be broken. More of Shula's accomplishments in my commentary...
More November 14 Memories...
1832) The first streetcar goes into service in New York City. It was horse-drawn with room for 30 (the ride cost a whopping 12 cents and ran on Manhattan's 4th Avenue between Prince and 14th Streets)...
1851) Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick" is published...
1889) New York World reporter Nellie Bly a.k.a. Elizabeth Cochrane begins an attempt to surpass the fictitious journey of Jules Verne's Phineas Fogg by traveling around the world in less than 80 days. Bly succeeds by finishing the journey in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes in January...
1943) Leonard Bernstein makes his debut with the New York Philharmonic filling in for the ailing Bruno Walter prior to a nationally broadcast concert (Lenny was 25 years old and was an assistant conductor at the time)...
1961) Ray Charles tops the charts with "Georgia On My Mind"...
1961) Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii" premieres...
1968) Yale University announces it will go co-ed...
1970) Santana's "Black Magic Woman" is released...
1972) The Dow Jones closes above 1,000 (1,003.16) for the 1st time...
1972) Johnny Nash tops the charts with "I Can See Clearly Now"...
1973) Britain's Princess Anne marries commoner, Capt. Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey (they will divorce in 1992 as the Princess re-marries)...
1981) It's "Australia-mania" as 4 of the top 10 singles are by artists from down under, led by Olivia Newton-John's #3 hit "Physical". The other Aussies are the Little River Band, Air Supply and Rick Springfield...
1982) Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes are #1 with "Up Where We Belong" (the single from "An Officer and a Gentleman" will win an Academy Award)...
1986) The Doubleday Publishing Company agrees to sell the Mets to Nelson Doubleday & Fred Wilpon for $80.75 million (the company had purchased the World Champions for a then-record $21.1 million in 1980)...
1986) A record $100 million penalty is imposed against Ivan F. Boesky for insider trading...
1987) Sonny and Cher reunite on the David Letterman Show and sing "I Got You Babe"...
1990) From the "more than we need to know" file: The Who's Pete Townshend confesses his bisexuality to "Newsweek"...
1993) Don Shula becomes the winningest NFL coach (feature story)...
1996) Michael Jackson "marries" Deborah Rowe (how did that work out ?). The couple will have 2 children before divorcing in 1999...
1997) Disney's "Lion King" sets a Broadway record of $2.7 million in one-day sales...
1998) From the "another marriage made in heaven" file: Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman (who wore the bridal gown ?) marry in Las Vegas (where else ?)...
Happy Birthday To...
1940) Freddie Garrity (Freddie & the Dreamers)...
1947) Buckwheat Zydeco...
1948) Britain's Prince Charles...
1951) Stephen Bishop...
1954) Yanni...
1954) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice...
1966) Curt ("bloody sock") Schilling...
Commentary...
Just some of Don Shula's career highlights as a coach:
Don Shula's 1st win as a coach: September 22, 1963. A 20-14 win over the 49ers...
Shula was the coach when Miami finished with a perfect 17-0 record in 1972...
Shula won Super Bowls VII and VIII and is the only coach in NFL history to have teams in 6 Super Bowls...
When he replaced Weeb Ewbank as coach of the Baltimore Colts in 1963, he was the youngest (at 33) head coach in the NFL's modern era...
Don Shula retired following the 1995 season and is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame...
