Fireside with Fury

I mentioned before that a unique hobby of mine is reading trophy cases when I go to high schools or colleges to referee.  During breaks, I'll walk around the gym or field houses and see what the particular institution has produced in terms of athletes.  This weekend, I was back in a gym after taking a good part of the summer season off.  This school is pretty famous, due to a Disney movie created in 2000...Remember the Titans.

T.C. Williams High School sits inside the beltway in Alexandria City, VA.  The school has been restored and is quite nice for a public school.  The history in the trophy case is also impressive.  Some highlights: 

•    Produced Keith Burns: LB for the Bears, Broncos and Tampa Bay
•    Produced Carl Carr: LB for the Lions
•    Produced Tony Hunt:  Solid Career for Penn State and briefly played for the Eagles after being drafted in the 3rd round
•   Produced Ratcliff Thomas: LB for the Colts
•   Produced Dean Muhtadi:  DT for the Packers

In addition to football, some other notables in the trophy case:

• Gerry Bertier.  All-American football player that was paralyzed in an auto accident his senior year at T.C.  He ended up winning some Gold Medals in the Paralympics and the gym/stadium was named after him.
• Early Lloyd.  The gym is currently named after him.  He was the first African American to play in a NBA basketball game in 1950 as a member of the Washington Capitals.
• T.C. Williams is well known for rowing.  They have their own boat house and have won many national and international competitions and had graduates represent the 2000 U.S. Olympic Rowing Team.
• In 1993, T.C.'s track team became the first high school team to defeat the Jamaican squad in the 4X100 relay at the storied Penn Relays.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.  The space program and NASA are responsible for over 1,400 innovations that we rely on 40 years later (baby formula, smoke detectors, cordless power tools ect..).  Some sporting innovations include:

• Shock resistant insoles for athletic shoes
• Drag resistance research that led to record breaking swim suits
• Robotic advancements for minimum invasive knee surgery
• MRIs
• Innovations in shock absorbing football and baseball helmets as well as other protective padding for knees, elbows and shoulders
• Race car drivers cooling suits
• Improvements to golf clubs
• Flexible ski boots
• The "super-soaker" squirt gun

Today in Sports History (July 20th):

1859:  The first baseball game in which an admission fee was charged.  It would set you back 50 cents to watch.

1947:  The NFL ruled that no professional team could sign a player that had college eligibility remaining.

1976:  Hank Aaron hits his final home run (755).  Barry Bonds' father was playing in the outfield when Hank hit the homer.

Today in History (July 20th):

1977:  Johnstown Flood of '77.  Killed 85 people and did over $300 million in damage.