This Day in Sports History: March 7
March 7 has seen notable events and memorable moments involving sports legends. Let’s take a closer look at some of these.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
March 7 has witnessed some upsets and records in college basketball and the annual NBA All-Star Game:
- 1930: Georgetown High of Chicago defeated Homer 1-0 in basketball.
- 1959: In the sixth Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Tournament, North Carolina State University defeated the University of North Carolina 80-56.
- 1981: Ole Miss won the 22nd Southeastern Conference Basketball Tournament, beating Georgia 66-62.
- 1982: In the 29th ACC Tournament, North Carolina defeated Virginia 47-45.
- 1998: Connecticut beat Syracuse 69-64 in the final of the 19th Big East Basketball Tournament.
- 1999: The 46th ACC Tournament saw the undefeated Duke University team beat No. 15-ranked North Carolina, 96-73.
- 2021: In the annual NBA All-Star Game, Team LeBron beats Team Durant 170-150. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks won the MVP award.
Baseball Rules and the Hall of Fame
These remarkable baseball moments occurred on March 7:
- 1857: Baseball adopted the nine-inning format.
- 1955: Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick announced he favored the legalization of the spitter.
- 1979: The baseball exhibition season opened with semipro and amateur umpires.
- 1979: Warren Giles and Hack Wilson were elected to the Hall of Fame.
- 1988: One-handed pitcher Jim Abbott won the 58th James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States, becoming the first baseball player to win the award.
Boxing Title Fights
Some of the biggest names in boxing faced off on March 7:
- 1951: Ezzard Charles beat Jersey Joe Walcott in 15 rounds for the second time to win the National Boxing Association world heavyweight title at the Olympia in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1987: Mike Tyson defeated James “Bonecrusher” Smith by unanimous decision in 12 rounds in Las Vegas, unifying the WBC/WBA heavyweight boxing titles.
Sports History
These are some historical March 7 moments:
- 1989: The Minnesota North Stars traded Dino Ciccarelli to the Washington Capitals.
- 1996: Magic Johnson was the second NBA player to reach 10,000 career assists.
- 2016: Peyton Manning announced his retirement from the Denver Broncos and the NFL.
- 2016: Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova revealed she failed a drug test for meldonium at the Australian Open in January and got suspended for 15 months.
These March 7 statistics reveal incredible basketball moments, including an unbelievable final score of 1-0. In that game, Georgetown scored on a free throw in the first period. Homer didn’t attempt to go on offense until about three minutes remained in the game. They missed opportunities to score on two Georgetown fouls committed by Emery and Paradiso.
Among the conference basketball tournament games, North Carolina’s 1982 performance is the most outstanding. Michael Jordan was on that team, and the tournament marked the beginning of his legendary status. A few weeks later, MJ hit the iconic game-winning shot to defeat Georgetown and secure the national title.
