Burn of The Week - Larry Bird Torches Hawks
in Basketball
Our newest installment of the Blaze ‘Burn of the Week’ honors one of the best; Mr. Larry Legend. It was back on March 12th, 1985 when Bird torched the Atlanta Hawks for a career high 60 points!! He went 22 of 36 from the field and 15 of 16 from the line while scoring a Celtics record 37 points in the 2nd half. If you come across videos of this game, it’s so funny to watch the Hawks bench going nuts while Larry was knocking down jumpers left and right.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Shoots 96% From The Free-Throw Line
in Basketball
Happy Belated Bday to our dude Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf who during the 1993-94 season recorded the 3rd highest Free Throw percentage in NBA History. He went 219 of 229 from the charity stripe for a .956 percentage. Anybody know who had the highest % of all time?
Benny Santiago
in Baseball
Blaze at St. Printersburg!!
in Blaze
Baseball
in Baseball
Kevin Johnson
in Basketball
Point Guard Kevin Johnson earned the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award for the 1988-89 season. It was KJ’s first full season in Phoenix after being traded there mid-way through his Rookie year from Cleveland. Johnson averaged 20 points per game along with 12 assists that year putting him alongside Magic Johnson & Isiah Thomas as the only other players to average those kinda numbers. Happy Birthday KJ!!
Ron Francis
in Hockey
Remember when the Hartford Whalers wore pants? Our birthday boy Ron Francis and the Whale only wore the ‘Cooperalls’ as they were called for the 1982-’83 season before they were banned by the NHL. Apparently the players slid too much when they fell to the ice. Who can name the only other NHL team to don the Cooperalls? Free Issue of Blaze to the first person who send over a DM with the answer & a mailing address. Happy Sunday Dudes!
R.I.P - Bubba Smith
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It's NFL Combine Time - Show Us What Ya Got!
in Football
Happy Birthday Rolando Blackman!
in Basketball
Birthday shout out to our dude Rolando Blackman!. The 4X All-Star became the first Panamanian born player to be drafted into the NBA when the Dallas Mavericks picked him 9th overall in the 1981 draft. Cheers!
Happy Birthday Bobby Bonilla!
in Baseball
Man I still get chills when I think about Bobby Bonilla hitting that homer in Game 7 back in the ‘97 Series. Previously struggling at the plate, Bobby Bo led off the bottom of the 7th for the Marlins and crushed the first pitch from Indians pitcher Jared Wright into the right centerfield bleachers of Pro Player Stadium. Boom!! Happy Birthday Bobby!
Charles O'Bannon Was The Coolest!
Jose Ortiz - First Puerto Rican Player Drafted In The NBA
in Basketball
Jose Ortiz became the first Puerto Rican born player to be drafted into the NBA when the Utah Jazz selected him 15th overall in the 1987 draft. Considered by many to be one of the top Puerto Rican players ever, his NBA career was rather lackluster. He played in only 64 games over two seasons with the Jazz averaging just 2.9 points & 1.2 rebounds per game.
Dave 'Smoke' Stewart
in Baseball
The Popcorn Chronicles - Constantin Popa
Birthday shoutout to our dude Constantin Popa. The tallest player in University of Miami history. He is also the Canes leader in both Blocked Shots (263) & Personal Fouls (375). I wrote about him back in Blaze # 5. Be sure to get your copy!!
Saturday Blaze!
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Yesterday's Heroes - Bill Russell
in Basketball
Blaze Avatar - Joe Lavender
in Football
Moose's Missing Helmet
in Football
Did you guys know that the Fullback position was added to the Pro Bowl roster after the 1993 season? Daryl Johnston for the NFC along with Keith Byars for the AFC were the first two Fullbacks to make the trip to Hawaii. During his 2nd Pro Bowl appearance ,the next season, ‘Moose’ was actually forced to wear a Green Bay Packers helmet because his Cowboys helmet was stolen before the game. Happy Birthday Moose!