The greatest of all sports trilogies begins...
A trilogy is a set of three works of art, usually literature ("Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", the "Dune" trilogy or Philip Roth's "American Trilogy") or film ("The Godfather", "The Lord of the Rings" or "Star Wars", now a double trilogy) but it can also happen in sports as it did on the night of March 8, 1971...
When Muhammad Ali entered the Madison Square Garden ring to face unbeaten heavyweight champ Joe Frazier, it had been four years since he raised his gloves in anger, the layoff created by Ali's refusal to serve in the military. Could Ali regain his heavyweight crown to join Floyd Patterson as the only other fighter to do so or would he become the next Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Jim Jeffries, Bob Fitzsimmons or James J. Corbett who failed in their attempt ?
Ali would fail, this time, in a classic 15-round brawl of a battle that was so intense one of the 20,455 spectators would die of a heart attack. Ali, installed as the 6-5 underdog went down by a vicious left hook thrown by Frazier in the 15th round. He would last the round but lose on a unanimous decision. Judge Bill Recht had Frazier, 11 rounds to 4, judge Artie Aidala had Frazier winning 9-6 and referee Arthur Mercante had it closest, 8-6 Frazier...
As good as this fight was, the best were yet to come. There would be 2 more (1974 and 1975) fights to complete the greatest sports trilogy of all-time...
More March 8 Memories...
1862) The Confederate ironclad "Merrimack" is launched....
1930) Babe Ruth signs a new contract with the Yankees for $160,000 for 2 years. Yankee GM Ed Barrow says, "No one will ever be paid more" (little did he know). When told he had surpassed President Herbert Hoover's salary, Ruth replies, "I had a better year"...
1948) The U.S. Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools is unconstitutional...
1965) The Dave Clark 5 make their 1st appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show"...
1968) Bill Graham opens the Fillmore East on 2nd Avenue in Manhattan...
1970) Diana Ross appears solo for the 1st time in Framingham, MA...
1973) (What's that pungent smell ?) Paul McCartney pleads quilty to growing marijuana outside his Scottish farm but claimed that a fan gave him the seeds and that he didn't know what it would grow (uh-huh). McCartney is fined $240...
1983) President Ronald Reagan calls the USSR an "evil empire" (where do you think the Red Sox got it from ?)...
1986) "Mask" premieres starring Eric Stoltz and Cher (who receives the "Best Actress") award at Cannes)...
1991) Harry Hamlin and Nicollette Sheridan swap "I do's" (truthfully, did you know this pair got married ?)...
1993) "Beavis and Butthead" premieres on MTV...
1998) Controversial Whitewater figure James McDougal dies at 57...
1999) Baseball Hall of Famer and Yankee great Joe DiMaggio dies at 84 after a lengthy illness...
1999) The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the conviction of Timothy McVeigh for the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995...
2004) Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks decks Colorado forward Steve Moore during a game and leaves Moore with a broken neck, concussion and facial cuts (Bertuzzi who would later plead quilty to criminal assault has returned to the ice while Moore is still going, "hum-a-nuh, hum-a-nuh, hum-a-nuh" 2 years later)...
To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1939) Jim Bouton (who ratted out his Yankee teammates in "Ball Four")...
1943) Lynn Redgrave...
1945) Former Monkee and briefly a radio disc jockey Mickey Dolenz...
1946) The Eagles' Randy Meisner...
1953) Red Sox great Jim Rice...
1961) Camryn Manheim...
1976) Freddie Prinze Jr...
Commentary...
Scores were moved by the passing of 2 people who died way before their time. Happy Trails to Kirby Puckett, the likeable roly-poly Baseball Hall of Famer who led the Minnesota Twins to 2 World Series titles. Done in by a stroke at 45...
And Happy Trails to Dana Reeve, a remarkable woman who devoted her life to caring for husband Christopher, raising a family and becoming an advocate for stem cell research. Dana, not a smoker died from lung cancer at the age of 44...
We thank both of you for making your lives matter and enriching ours with your deeds. R.I.P...
Today is the 67th day of 2006 with 298 days remaining in the year, 12 days until spring and 24 days until opening day...
