"Give it to Wilt, give it to Wilt" - the crowd at Hershey Arena (3/2/62)...
Let's put this in the proper perspective. When Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in a game against Toronto six weeks ago, it was the biggest story in sports for weeks. It made its own highlight film. Now, had he scored another 19 he would have only tied the record for most points in a game, set on this date by Wilt Chamberlain in 1962...
Do you realize what you have to do to score 100 points in a game ? How about setting an NBA record for field goals (36), free throws (28 of 32), most points for a quarter (31) and most points for a half (59) ? Done. And oh, by the way, Wilt also had 25 rebounds. And whose record did Chamberlain break ? A guy by the name of Wilt Chamberlain who scored 78 earlier in the '62 season...
The final score of the game, if anyone cares was 169-147. The 316 total points established a new NBA record. The 147 points was the most ever scored by a losing team. And who was that losing team you might ask ? Why, the New York Knicks. Some things never change...
More March 2 Memories...
1776) Americans begin shelling British troops in Boston (hand me a musket)...
1877) Rutherford B. Hayes is declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election by Congress despite Samuel Tilden winning the popular vote...
1903) The Martha Washington Hotel opens for business in New York City becoming the 1st hotel exclusively for women (Martha Washington slept here)...
1917) Citizens of Puerto Rico are granted U.S. citizenship with the enactment of the Jones Act...
1923) TIME hits the newsstands for the 1st time...
1933) The original "King Kong" world premieres at the Roxy and Radio City Music Hall theaters in Manhattan...
1939) The Massachusetts legislature votes to ratify the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. These 10 ammendments had gone into effect 147 years earlier (now let's not rush into anything people)...
1951) The 1st NBA All-Star Game is played at the Boston Garden as Easy Ed McCauley of the Celtics leads the East to a 111-94 victory over the West (10,094 were on hand to witness the game created by league publicity man Haskell Cohen and Celtic founder Walter Brown)...
1962) Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a game (feature story)...
1964) The Beatles release "Twist and Shout" on the same day they start filming "A Hard Day's Night"...
1967) The Supremes record "Reflections"...
1969) Boston Bruins center Phil Esposito becomes the 1st NHL player to score 100 or more points in a season...
1970) Pistol Pete Maravich of LSU scores 55 points against Mississippi State to bring his season total to 1,263 breaking Elvin Hayes single season scoring mark...
1981) Michael Jackson guests on Diana Ross' 3rd TV special ("Diana") on CBS-TV...
1985) The government approves a screening test for AIDS that detects antibodies to the virus, allowing possibly contaminated blood to be excluded from the blood supply...
To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1919) Jennifer Jones...
1930) John (Holling Vincoeur on "Northern Exposure") Cullum...
1931) Mikhail ("tear down this wall, Mr.") Gorbachev...
1942) Lou Reed...
1949) Eddie Money...
1952) Former SNL comedian Laraine Newman...
1956) John Cowsill (who is married to the Bangles' Vicki Peterson)...
1962) Jon Bon Jovi...
1985) Robert ("Sopranos") Iler...
Today is the 61st day of 2006 with 304 days remaining in the year, 18 days until spring and 30 days until opening day...
