April 11, 2000, 25 years ago today: The San Francisco Giants, after 40 years in the wind tunnel known as Candlestick Park, open their sparkling new downtown stadium with a 6-5 loss to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, but that hardly put a damper on Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park).
Boise State hoops is going to be a rebuild job next season. One particular Bronco to enter the transfer portal, Emmanuel Ugbo, makes it quite apparent. There was a lot of playing time there for the taking moving forward, but Ugbo wants to give it a shot elsewhere.
April 8, 1975, 50 years ago today: Baseball’s first Black manager, Frank Robinson, makes his debut a winning one—both in the dugout and on the field. The Cleveland Indians’ player-manager hit a first-inning home run, and Cleveland went on to a 7-5 win over the New York Yankees.
We’ve done this a lot over the past four years, but here goes with a final rundown of a big game by Tyson Degenhart. He tried to will Boise State to victory in the Crown semifinals against Nebraska Saturday, but his Broncos career ended in a 79-69 loss.
April 4, 2005, 20 years ago today: In coach Roy Williams’ first trip to an NCAA championship game, North Carolina beats Illinois 75-70 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
April 3, 1989: A year after Boise State fell to a talented young Michigan team in their tense first round NCAA Tournament matchup, the now senior-laden Wolverines win it all—nipping Seton Hall in overtime 80-79 in the national championship game.
About the time Boise State fell to 1-for-11 from the field eight minutes into the game on Monday, KBOI Radio analyst Abe Jackson said, “This is hard to watch.” He wasn’t wrong. It was Clang City on offense.
April 1, 1985, 40 years ago today: Author George Plimpton pulls a fast one on the readers of Sports Illustrated. Plimpton wrote an article about Sidd Finch, a New York Mets pitching prospect who could reportedly throw a baseball a phenomenal 168 miles per hour.
March 31, 2018: One of the more remarkable runs in NCAA Tournament history ends in the Final Four when Loyola Chicago, a No. 11 seed, falls to Michigan 69-57. The Ramblers, in tandem with their chaplain, 98-year-old Sister Jean, captivated fans with their clutch play.
March 28, 1977: Two back-alley scrappers, Sylvester Stallone and Al McGuire, walk away with big prizes. In a storybook ending to his coaching career, McGuire won the NCAA championship when his Marquette Warriors beat North Carolina 67-59.