#31

    There’s no doubt that after my last post, with all of its local flavor and sentimentality, I now have a few extra readers of my humble blog. So now, burdened with all of the extra pressure that comes with added exposure, I am forced to present my follow-up piece. Lacking any divine providential inspiration, I decided to just keep doing what I’ve always done: present random numbers and the random statistics that go along with them. So without any further ado, I present to you our guest number of the day.
 
#31

Kenyon swimmers take a break from practice
at the $70 million Kenyon Athletic Center.

a.) When it comes to repeat championships and dynasties, you may think you’ve heard of them all. The Yankees won 5 straight World Series from 1949-1953. The Montreal Canadiens lifted 5 straight Stanley Cups beginning in 1956. Jimmie Johnson chased down 5 consecutive Sprint Cups with his last coming in 2010. John Wooden’s UCLA teams won 7 NCAA championships in a row from 1967-1973, and Red’s Celtics won 8 straight NBA titles from 1959-1966. But perhaps the most amazing dynasty of all is tiny little Kenyon College of Ohio and their swimming team. From 1980-2010, the Lords of Kenyon won 31 consecutive Division III National Championships. Individually, the swimming Lords have combined to claim 169 national event championships in addition to 114 relay event championships. Of the 18 NCAA Division III record times, 7 are currently held by Kenyon College swimmers. After claiming the 2011 title over Kenyon by 1 point, Denison University pulled off a repeat of their own in 2012. Good job, Denison, only 29 more to go!

b.) One of the knocks against professional soccer is that the games are generally very low scoring. But in a World Cup qualifier match in 2001, the Australian national team put that notion to rest. Facing an America Samoan team who lost all but one of its regulars due to passport troubles, the Australians put 31 shots in the back of the net. Since many of its Under-20 players were taking high school final exams, the American Samoan team called up players from its youth leagues which included 3 15-year olds. The average age of the American Samoan team was only 18 years, and almost none of the players had ever played a full 90-minute match. Amazingly, the American Samoans held the Australians scoreless for the 1^st 10 minutes of the match before the wheels fell off. Australia’s Archie Thompson finished with a record 13 goals to go along with David Zdrilic’s 8. Five other players tallied at least 1 goal in the victory. The 31-0 victory was enough to force FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, to change the rules by which qualifying tournaments were set up. They have since added qualification matches to qualify teams for the qualifying tournaments. Incredibly, after finishing their 4 group play matches by scoring 66 goals and allowing none, the Australians did not even qualify for the 2002 World Cup tournament.

c.) On September 14, 1968, Denny McLain became the 13^th and final pitcher of the 20^th century to win 30 games in a season. McLain then won game number 31 on September 19^th against the New York Yankees. In the 8^th inning of that game, McLain faced his idol, Mickey Mantle, who was tied for 3^rd with Jimmie Foxx on the all-time home runs list. McLain served a soft pitch over the plate which Mantle promptly deposited over the outfield wall, putting him all alone in 3^rd place with 535 home runs. As Mantle rounded the bases, McLain stood on the pitcher’s mound and applauded him. By the end of the regular season, McLain had logged 336 innings and an incredible 28 complete games. He only lost 6 games that year to go along with his 31 wins and 1.96 ERA, which was enough to earn him the AL Cy Young Award. McLain was also named the AL MVP, becoming the 1^st AL pitcher in history to win both the Cy Young and MVP awards in the same season. Because of McLain’s feat, as well as Bob Gibson’s miniscule 1.12 ERA and Don Drysdale’s 58 2/3 scoreless innings streak, 1968 became known as “The Year of the Pitcher.” In 1969, Major League Baseball would lower the pitcher’s mound by 5 inches as well as reduce the size of the strike zone to lessen pitchers’ dominance and encourage offensive production.




Secretariat in the final stretch at the
1973 Belmont Stakes.



d.) The 1973 Belmont Stakes was the 105^th running of the Belmont and was one of the most memorable races ever run. It just so happened that this race was also the final race of Secretariat’s Triple Crown run and he did not disappoint. With 31 year old jockey Ron Turcotte on mount, Secretariat would beat out 4 other horses to finish the 1 ½ mile race in 2 minutes and 24 seconds, a record which still stands today, and win horse racing’s 1^st Triple Crown in 25 years. Secretariat’s only “competition” during the Belmont was Sham who had finished 2^nd to Secretariat in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness that year. Secretariat and Sham would jump out to an early 10 length lead over the rest of the field. However, at the halfway point Sham began to tire and would ultimately finish last. Secretariat never slowed, even appearing to pick up his pace as the race went on, and finished with an average speed of 37.5 mph for the entire race. His performance prompted CBS announcer to make one of the most memorable sports calls of all time, right up there with “The Giants win the pennant!” and “Do you believe in miracles?” As Secretariat put the race clearly out of reach, Chic Anderson proclaimed, “Secretariat is widening now! He is moving like a tremendous machine!” Secretariat set another record that day, one that may never be matched. He won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by an unbelievable 31 lengths.