Sports History This Week

August 16th, 2023. Over the past 16 months, Sports History This Week has covered sporting events from football to baseball to roller derby to a man skydiving from outer space. It has been an absolute joy working on the show, and we've loved hearing from the listeners along the way. 

In this episode, you'll hear from the team who produces and writes the show: what we loved, what we learned, and what we wished we had a chance...

August 9, 1988: Coming off their fourth Stanley Cup win in the last five seasons, the Edmonton Oilers do the unthinkable: trade Wayne Gretzky, hockey’s biggest superstar. Just as he’s entering his competitive peak, Gretzky departs a team where he looked like the centerpiece of a budding dynasty. And his destination is the Los Angeles Kings… in a city that barely knows it has a hockey team.

Today, hockey changes forever, as Canad...

August 1, 2004. Before esports became a billion-dollar industry, a few college halls in Southern California hosted a video game tournament: the Evolution Championship Series. Justin Wong is facing Daigo Umehara in the semifinals in Street Fighter III. Surprisingly, Wong has Umehara on the ropes. He goes in for a game-ending move when something unimaginable happens.

Today, the moment that changes fighting games forever....

July 27, 1999. Barry Sanders, star running back of the Detroit Lions, writes a letter announcing his intentions to abruptly retire from the NFL. At just 31 years old, one of the game’s top players is ready to hang it up and walk away — on his own terms.

Today, Barry Sanders stuns his teammates, his fans, and the entire football world. How did Barry Sanders become one of his era's most dominant offensive weapons? And wh...

July 18, 2006. The owner of the Seattle SuperSonics, Howard Schultz, calls a press conference. Ever since the Starbucks chairman took over the team, he's been hemorrhaging money. Now, Schultz has run out of patience too. He's selling the team... to out-of-town buyers.

Today, the SuperSonics are sold out. The franchise delivered Seattle its first pro sports championship, was a cultural touchstone, and produced superstars like Gar...

July 10, 1999. It’s 107 degrees on the soccer field in Pasadena, California, at third-ever Women’s World Cup. The US Women’s National Team is stuck in a scoreless tie against China.

Just a few years earlier, these teams were playing in stadiums that looked like they belonged to the local high school. Now? They’re playing in front of 90,000 screaming fans, desperate to see the U.S. come out on top.

Today, the U.S. Women’s Nat...

July 4, 2010. Nathan’s Famous is holding its annual hot dog eating competition on Coney Island. But this year, one perennial champion is not taking the stage: Takeru Kobayashi. The legendary eater destroyed competition for six years in a row, launching him into international stardom. But then, things start to go wrong.

Today, Takeru Kobayashi looks to make a statement. In front of thousands of spectators, Kobayashi gets arrested...

July 2, 1997. Atlanta Braves ace Greg Maddux takes the mound for a regular-season start against the defending champion New York Yankees. And in typical Maddux fashion, he starts making quick work of the Yankees lineup. In fact, he gets through the game so quickly, that Major League Baseball would eventually add a new stat into its official glossary to commemorate this, and other performances like it. 

&...

June 19, 2005. Formula 1 is hosting its U.S. Grand Prix at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For years, F1 has desperately tried to establish a foothold in America, and heading into this race, there’s real momentum — until there’s a major problem.

Today, F1’s nightmare at the U.S. Grand Prix. More than a 100,000 spectators show up to a race that becomes a disaster. How do things go so wrong? And how will this race affect F...

June 16, 1996. Michael Jordan leads the Chicago Bulls to their fourth NBA Championship. Many basketball fans consider 1995-96 to be Jordan’s best individual season, and that Bulls squad as perhaps the greatest in the history of team sports.

But behind the scenes, Jordan is still grieving over the death of his father, a traumatic event that led to him stepping away from basketball for over a year to pursue professional baseball. ...

June 11, 1999. Inside Madison Square Garden, Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals tips off between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. Hardly anyone expected this Knicks squad to be here — a lockout and a roster overhaul created a season of chaos. Yet somehow, New York stands just one win away from a shot at the title.

Today, the Knicks become the first-ever No. 8 seed to make it to the NBA Finals. How do they overcom...

May 29, 2003. Every year, a little island off the English coast is home to the world’s most dangerous race: the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. Motorcyclists zip through the course going more than 200 miles per hour, navigating hairpin turns — all on public roads.

Today, one of the greatest racers in Isle of Man TT history passes away, when nine-time champion David Jefferies becomes the event’s 206th casualty. How does the TT become...

May 23, 2003. Chris Moneymaker is the last amateur standing. The 28-year-old Tennessee accountant has defied the odds and outlasted over 800 of the best players on the planet at the World Series of Poker, but that’s not enough. He finds himself at the Final Table, going for poker immortality.

Today, Chris Moneymaker wins the $2.5 million prize at the World Series of Poker, inspiring an entire generation of online players to join...

May 16, 2023. If you were watching TV last night, you may have seen NBA history being made. A few ping-pong balls bounced around a lottery machine, and suddenly, the San Antonio Spurs won the first pick at the 2023 NBA Draft, which they’ll almost certainly use to draft a potential superstar from France named Victor Wembanyama.

Today, a look back at some of the most electrifying prospects the NBA has ever seen – from Hakeem Olaju...

May 11th, 1997. The eyes of the world are focused on a chessboard. It's the decisive game of one of the most highly anticipated chess matches of the 20th century. The reigning world champion, Garry Kasparov, is agitated, furrowing his brow and clutching his face while he considers his next move. His opponent—unphased by the pressure—hums loudly from a nearby room. 

Today, a legendary battle between arguably the greatest che...

May 3rd, 2007. Oracle Arena is rocking. In Oakland, 20,000 fans, all wearing mustard-yellow t-shirts with the slogan “We Believe,” are amped. It’s so loud that the opposing players can’t even hear each other in the huddle.

That’s because the 2007 Golden State Warriors are on the verge of pulling off the greatest upset in the history of the NBA playoffs.

Today, the Warriors square off against the Dallas Mavericks, a 67-win tea...

April 29, 1980. An upstart media company has proposed a strange idea to the NFL: broadcast the pro football draft live on TV. Nobody really paid much attention to the NFL Draft before, but with the young ESPN still finding its voice, it was a perfect opportunity.

Today, ESPN broadcasts the NFL Draft for the first time. How did a guy reading a list of names become must-see TV? And how does this experimental telecast turn the NFL ...