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… plays from yesterday:
5. Alex Nedeljkovic surrenders an awful own goal
4. Kyrie Irving’s pull-up three to beat the first-quarter buzzer
3. Maple Leafs score two goals in 10 seconds to tie the game in the third period (they lost in overtime)
1. Miami’s buzzer beater to hold off an upset bid by Boston College in the ACC men’s tournament
On this day in 1986, NFL owners voted to institute a replay review system for the first time. Though it’s now a regular part of our sports viewing experience, the NFL’s video review was not considered a success in its early form, and the league did away with it in ’92. When replay was resurrected in ’99, how did coaches signal to the referee that they wanted to challenge a call?
Check Monday’s newsletter for the answer.
Yesterday’s SIQ: Which MLB team did Bill Veeck buy twice?
Answer: the White Sox. He was only 45 years old when he made the South Side club his third big league purchase. Buying the team from the granddaughter of franchise founder Charles Comiskey marked Veeck’s return to baseball after he was essentially run out of the league by fellow owners who were sick of his stunts.
But Veeck’s first stint as owner of the White Sox didn’t last long. He sold the team in 1961 after doctors advised him to retire as a result of mounting health issues. As his health improved, he tried to buy the Washington Senators and the Orioles in the ’70s but was denied. He ended up returning to baseball in ’75 when he spearheaded a group of investors in purchasing Chicago’s American League club. But the deal did not go smoothly. The league’s other owners voted down his bid twice due to their personal disdain for Veeck before Tigers owner John Fetzer persuaded his fellow owners to put aside their personal feelings.
Before Tom Brady seemingly conquered aging and excelled in a contact sport into his mid-40s (before Brady was even born, in fact), Gordie Howe came out of retirement and dominated the World Hockey Association at 45.
Howe played 25 seasons in the NHL with the Red Wings from 1946 to ’71. He spent two years in retirement before joining the WHA’s Houston Aeros to play alongside his two sons Mark and Marty.
Mark Mulvoy’s cover story recounts the difficulty Howe initially had in resuming his career. Mark said his dad “got red as a beet” during training camp practices and struggled to lose 12 pounds to get back to his playing weight. (Gordie’s diet consisted of “cottage cheese, fruit salad, ground round, Jell-O, hot and cold cereals and ice cream,” his wife, Colleen, told Mulvoy.) But after a slow start to the season, Howe hit his stride and finished second in the league in assists and third in points while leading Houston to the best regular-season record in the league and an Avco Cup championship.
Howe went on to play another six seasons of pro hockey—three more with Houston and three with the New England/Hartford Whalers (two in the WHA and one back in the NHL after the leagues merged). He played in every one of the Whalers’ 80 games in his final season, during which he turned 52.
Howe didn’t play that 1979–80 season like he was wrapped in bubble wrap, either. An ’80 story in Sports Illustrated celebrating Howe’s fifth decade in pro hockey relays one anecdote about Howe mixed it up with a guy 30 years younger than him.
“In a game against Winnipeg, Howe twice elbowed 6'3", 210-pound defense-man Scott Campbell in the third period. The second time, the 22-year-old Campbell went after him, challenging Howe, until the linesmen stepped between them. After the game, an amused Howe shoved a powerful forearm into someone’s collarbone, showing where he’d given Campbell his shots. ‘Those kind don’t hurt too much,’ he said. ‘They don’t count if they’re not in the face.’”
Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.
