Pat Terrell

Birthday shoutout to former Notre Dame Safety Pat Terrell. He broke the hearts of Miami Hurricane fans everywhere when he broke up the 2pt conversion attempt during the infamous ‘Catholics vs. Convicts’ game in 1988. The stop preserved a 31-30 Irish victory during their run to a National Championship season. Pat also returned an Interception 60 yards for a Touchdown earlier in the contest.

Burn of The Week - Larry Bird Torches Hawks

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.

Kevin Johnson

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!!

Happy Birthday Bobby Bonilla!

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!

Jose Ortiz - First Puerto Rican Player Drafted In The NBA

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.