It's time now for this week's edition of On This Date in Swagger - a celebratory look back at some of sport's great moments in vainglory.
October 1, 1932 George Herman Ruth, Jr. gestures toward the center field bleachers in the top of the fifth inning of Game 3 of the World Series then yells to Cub pitcher Charlie Root, "Hey Chuckster, I'm thinking Row 32, Seat 16 in that section right there," before driving the next pitch 440 feet to Row 32, Seat 16 of the centerfield bleachers...for his second home run of the game. The Yankees completed the sweep the following day.
March 24, 1954 Coach Norman Dale of the Hickory Huskers during a timeout with 18 seconds remaining and the score tied in the Indiana High School Championship game against Muncie Central, tells Jimmy Chitwood that he'll be a decoy while the team runs its picket fence play in which his teammate is assigned the final shot. When the unsuspecting player gives his coach a look of horror, Chitwood says to Dale, "I'll make it," which he does with no time left on the clock on a double reverse super fly two handed scissor dunk.
January 9, 1969 In the lead up to Super Bowl III between the underdog AFL Champion New York Jets and the NFL champion Baltimore Colts, Jets quarterback Joe Namath appeared at the Miami Touchdown Club and made what many believe to be the most audacious sports predictions off all-time, "Make no mistake fellas, I'm gonna be knee deep in lady business after we win on Sunday. I guarantee it." Jets 16, Colts 7.
February 22, 2006 At the height of his domination of golf, Tiger Woods faced Stephen Ames in the first round of the World Match Play Championship. When asked of his chances against Tiger, Ames said with a smile, "Anything can happen ... especially where he's hitting the ball." Woods apparently hit the ball well enough as he would win every hole on the front nine - seven of them with birdies - and eliminated Ames as early as mathematically possible, 9 and 8. As he climbed into a van behind the 10th green, reporters asked Woods if he had read Ames' comments. "Yes," he said, adding nothing further. Did they motivate him? "Yes." Asked if he cared to elaborate, Woods smiled. "No."
September 11, 2010 Iowa Hawkeyes Offensive Coordinator Ken O'Keefe scripts 15 straight quarterback sneaks for the opening drive against arch rival Iowa State, as the Hawkeyes go 71 yard on 21 plays and score the first of five straight touchdowns on the way to a 35-7 victory. Said Kirk Ferentz after the game, "McNutt was a little out of position on the 17th sneak, so we'll need to clean that up going forward."
That's all for this week On This Date In Swagger.