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The First Time News Was Fit To Print, XVIII: Sports
Every week, mental_floss wanders into the archives of The New York Times to find the first time The Times covered a particular subject. This installment is of the greatest hits variety, with a focus on the world of sports. If you have a suggestion for a future edition, leave us a comment.
Lance Armstrong
Armstrong May Not Win, But Watch This SpaceLance Armstrong is a boy doing a man's job, a 19-year-old American amateur racing against some of the world's best professional bicycle riders. He will not win the 11-day Tour Du Pont, which stopped here today for a circuit race. At the end of the 1,100 miles, however, he may be among the leaders. But he will certainly leave an impression. He has already. He is the star of the United States national amateur team, one of the 15 international teams in this race. * * * Many racing people liken Armstrong to Greg LeMond, the American who has won three of the last five Tour de France races. Not Armstrong. "I'm not the next Greg LeMond," he said. "I'm the first me."
Keep reading for Kobe Bryant, Gatorade, George Steinbrenner, Jackie Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and more. Plus Twister, which is sort of sporty, I guess.
Gatorade
Chocolate-Flavored Soft Drinks And Slush Are Selling Briskly Perhaps the most unusual soft drink to be announced in some years is a lemon-lime- flavored product called Gatorade, which will be produced by Stokely-Van Camp, Inc., food packer of Indianapolis. The new product, not yet on the market, is a water solution of glucose, inorganic salts and flavorings and was designed to quench thirst, particularly during periods of physical exertion. It has been tested in Florida by the University of Florida athletes to quench their thirst in training periods and during actual competition. It is said by Stokely-Van Camp to be absorbed by the body 12 times faster than water.
Jackie Robinson
UCLA Triumphs Over Oregon Two spectacular plays marked UCLA's 16-6 victory over Oregon before 40,000 in Memorial Coliseum today. The game knocked the Webfoots out of the undefeated group in the Pacific Coast Conference. A 45-yard forward pass by Kenny Washington to Jackie Robinson, good for 66 yards, brought one touchdown, and Robinson broke the Oregon spirit with an 82-yard spring for the second Bruin tally.
George Steinbrenner
Wildcats Dismiss Saban And Staff The new broom swept clean today at Northwestern as Stu Holcomb, hired as athletic director three days ago, dismissed the head football coach, Lou Saban, and his entire staff * * * * * The 34-year-old Saban was let out along with the line coaches, Bud Svendsen and Nathan Johnson; the backfield coach, Al Pesek, and the end coach, George Steinbrenner. All were told their one-year contracts would not be renewed when they expire March 1.
January 4, 1973
(the first mention after buying the New York Yankees)
CBS Sells The Yankees For $10 Million "We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned," Steinbrenner said. "We're not going to pretend we're something we aren't. I'll stick to building ships."
Nerf
Toy Industry is not Child's Play Topper's Dawn doll was one of the year's best sellers in toys, as were other toys heavily advertised on television like Mattel's Hot Wheels (miniature cars), Parker's Nerf ball (an "indoor" ball), Remco's Dune Buggy Wheelies, Marx's Big Wheel (tricycles) and Kenner's SSP Racers.
Kobe Bryant
A High School Star Ponders His FutureMuch of the anticipation was for a slender, 6-foot-6-inch, 17-year-old senior for Lower Merion, Kobe Bryant. Bryant is the highest scorer in the history of southeastern Pennsylvania preps, recently passing Overbrook's Wilt Chamberlain, among others; a player whose coach said could become the next Michael Jordan, and one who, the school's athletic director said, has attracted as many pro scouts to his games as college scouts. * * * Will he become the next Kevin Garnett? Last season Garnett, a 6-11 forward, went directly from Farragut High School in Chicago to the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association, one of only a handful of players to make such a leap over the past 20 years"¦.Garnett failed to make the requisite 700 score on the Scholastic Assessment Test and would have been forced to sit out a year if he had decided to go to college. That, he said, was the reason he turned pro. And now, at age 19, and after some uneasy early going, he is averaging 23 minutes a game and appears to be adjusting nicely in the pros.
New York Jets
Titans Get A New Coach (Ewbank) And A New Name (Jets)Wilbur (Weeb) Ewbank, as expected, was appointed yesterday as coach and general manager of New York's American Football League team for three years. But the name he will be expected to cover with gridiron glory was, unexpectedly, announced as the Jets. It used to be the Titans. The Jets, which rhymes with Mets, was selected from more than 300 possible names submitted by friends, enemies and advertising agencies. * * * * * The Jets symbolizes the site of Shea Stadium (where the Jets think they'll play this fall) between two major airports, the spirit of modern times and the speed and eagerness of all concerned. Gothams, Borros and Dodgers were other leading contenders. Dodgers was discarded because the baseball people were not in favor. Borros (a pun on boroughs) was discarded because there was fear the team would be called the jackasses, and Gothams was dismissed because someone said that it would be shortened to Goths "“ "and you know they weren't such nice people."
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Biggest Name in NBA: Jabbar For Oscar Robertson, it will be a chance to "listen and learn"; for Lew Alcindor, a "return to the fountainhead." These were the terms in which the two basketball stars today described their upcoming tour of six African countries on behalf of the state department. * * * * * Twice during the short news conference Alcindor asked to be called by his Muslim name, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. "I first used the name in 1969," he said, "but now that I am going overseas to represent my country, I would appreciate that courtesy.""¦.Alcindor said he didn't expect the [Milwaukee] Bucks to change his name in their advertising "because I've become famous with it. I do expect people to use my Islamic name when they're talking to me."
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium to Seat 80,000 FansThe structure will represent the most recent "“ in fact, the up-to-the-minute "“ discoveries and developments in stadium construction, with drawbacks noted in other stadia eliminated. Particular attention will be given to looking after the convenience of women patrons and making them as comfortable as possible. The tribe of female fans is expected to increase speedily as soon as the new park is thrown open. * * * * * All around the outside of "Yankee Stadium," which is to be the official name of the place, an areaway seven feet in width will be left in order to provide for future development of stores and storage places. This is a novel feature in such plants.
Don Mattingly
Yankee Hopefuls Face Crossroad At GreensboroDon Mattingly, a 19-year-old outfielder from Evansville, Ind., hit in the vicinity of .370. He has a knack for turning fastballs into line drives. Mattingly's fielding has been questionable, but he improved after working with Ken Berry, the two-time Gold Glove winner who is now a Hornet coach. * * * * * Kim Mattingly, 17, left high school to marry Don"¦.Being married to a minor league player is lonely, Kim says. There are so many bus trips and so many days with nothing to do. Some of the wives look forward to the games as much as the players do. Kim Mattingly likes to get out and walk around the stadium and talk to fans and the wives and girlfriends of other players. She says she realizes that hers is strictly a supporting role to her husband. "When he's happy, I'm happy," she says. "When he goes 0 for 8, then he gets grumpy and he's grumpy to me too."
Twister
Advertising: Liquor and Games "Twister," by Milton Bradley, described as "a rather zany stocking-feet, body-action game for adults," is about to become involved in a nationwide tie-in with Seagram's 7-Crown, and you know what that is. Into 15,000 liquor stores are going 48,900 pieces of display material that will include a "Quick As A Flash Party Book" and recipes based on the Twister theme. This is reputed by the first tie-in between game maker and distiller. Next step "“ hotels on Park Place, Boardwalk and Skid Row!
Our Archives
"¢ Volume I: Barack Obama, Jon Stewart, iPod
"¢ Volume II: Hillary Clinton, Starbucks, Donald Trump
"¢ Volume III: JFK, Microwave Oven, the Internet
"¢ Volume IV: Larry David, Drudge Report, Digital Camera
"¢ Volume V: Walkman, Osama bin Laden, Iowa Caucuses
"¢ Volume VI: Times Square, Marijuana, Googling
"¢ Volume VII: Lance Armstrong, Aerosmith, Gatorade
"¢ Volume VIII: Bob Dylan, New York Jets, War on Terror
"¢ Volume IX: Hedge Fund, White Collar Crime, John Updike
"¢ Volume X: E-mail, Bruce Springsteen, George Steinbrenner
"¢ Volume XI: RFK, the Olsen Twins, Digg
"¢ Volume XII: Jerry Seinfeld, Lee Harvey Oswald, Don Mattingly
"¢ Volume XIII: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Taxicab, Hippies
"¢ Volume XIV: Digital Watch, Prozac, David Hasselhoff
"¢ Volume XV: George Clooney, Golden Gate Bridge, Toyota Prius
"¢ Volume XVI: Woody Allen, The Titanic, The Beastie Boys
"¢ Volume XVII: New York Edition
"¢ November 3, 2007: Appearance on NPR Weekend Edition Saturday
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