Yet Even More Little-Known Beantown (and Foxborough) Sports Facts!
Note: Patrick Scartelli has taken this week off from Cleaning Out the Sports Junk Drawer. In his place is a submission from good friend of The15net dot com, sportswriter Mr. Stanislas Tecumseh Darden, Jr., with an excerpt from his book, ‘406 Little-Known Beantown (& Foxborough) Sports Facts!’
The then-New England Whalers won their first and only World Hockey Association Avco World Trophy at the Boston Garden in 1973!
Pick #199 in the 2000 NFL Draft was a compensatory pick granted to New England after punter Tom Tupa signed with the New York Jets! New England used that pick to draft Michigan QB Tom Brady!
From 1997 to 2007, giant Coke Bottles were attached to a left field light tower for advertising purposes at Fenway Park!
Boston Globe writer Jerry Nason in 1936 coined the term, ‘Heartbreak Hill’ for that stretch of the Newton Hills of the Boston Marathon!
The Boston Celtics and the Boston Red Sox both won their last championships at home!
Boston Garden’s first sporting event was on November 17, 1928, a boxing card headlined by Boston Native “Honey Boy” Dick Finnegan’s defeat of Andre Routis!
The New England Revolution was the last franchise in Major League Soccer to adopt a new logo!
No one knows what happened to the Isobel Cup!
In December of 1995 five fans were electrocuted when a goalpost removed from Foxboro Stadium by jubilant fans came in contact with power lines!
The George R. White Memorial Stadium would be a great potential site for a women’s soccer league team to play!
For several years, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz had no idea what teammate Dustin Pedroia’s first name was!
The Bruins’ Stanley Cup finals appearances in 1988 and 1990 were both disrupted by power outages!
The late Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Art Donovan played his college football with the Boston College Eagles!
In 1939, a financial dispute between Ice Follies figure skater Sonje Henie and her managers led Boston Garden General Manager Walter Brown and eight other arena managers to found the Ice Capades!
At Fenway Park, there is a big concourse called The Big Concourse!
The New England Free Jacks are defending three-time Major League Rugby Champions!
Fenway Park’s first night game took place on June 13, 1947, when the Boston Red Sox played under the new lights for the first time!
The Beanpot is neither a bean nor a pot, but rather, it is a college hockey tournament between four Boston-area colleges & universities!
The Boston Braves played at Braves Park, (which is now Nickerson Field) from 1915 until 1952!
Three generations of McNeeley’s (Thomas Senior, Tom, and ‘Hurricane’ Peter) boxed professionally at Boston Garden!
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology athletics mascot is a beaver named Tim, which is MIT backwards!
The TD Garden has never hosted an NBA All Star Game! The last one in Boston was played in 1964!
Fenway Franks are made by Everett-based Kayem Foods Inc.!
Joan Benoit won the Woman’s Division of the Boston Marathon in 1979 and 1983, setting a record that would last for 11 years!
Star Cambridge Rindge and Latin hooper Patrick Ewing shocked Beantowners by signing a letter of intent to play for Georgetown instead of a local school!
Fenway Park is the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball!
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