Fort Wayne's Greatest Sports Legends

06/24/2025

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06/15/2025

On this day June 12, 1978, Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky, nicknamed “The Great One,” began his professional career by signing with the World Hockey Association’s (WHA) Indianapolis Racers in a seven-year deal worth $1.7 million. Gretzky would end up scoring his first professional hockey goal for the Racers.

The Indianapolis Racers were a major league ice hockey team that played in the WHA from 1974 to 1978. They played at the now demolished Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. The Racers were known in the WHA for their sometimes-fanatical fans.

The franchise led the WHA in attendance for the 1976–77 season. The Racers won the 1975–76 WHA Eastern Division championship and swept the rival Cincinnati Stingers in the 1977 WHA playoffs.

After eight games, the Racers traded Gretzky, along with two teammates, to the WHA’s Edmonton Oilers for $850,000. After this trade and before the season ended, the Indianapolis Racers folded but Gretzky went on to win WHA Rookie of the Year.

The following year, the WHA league also folded and the Oilers and Gretzky would move to the National Hockey League, where Gretzky would continue his legendary career.

Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 22, 1999, becoming the tenth player to bypass the three-year waiting period. The Hall of Fame then announced that he would be the last player to do so.

Photo attribution: Reddit

06/15/2025

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06/13/2025

The Indiana Pacers aren't the first team from Indiana to make the NBA Finals. In 1955, the Pistons, which were located in Fort Wayne at the time, made the NB...

06/11/2025

Peyton Manning gives us a fun look at the Immaculate Reception.

From Peyton's Places: Season 1 Episode 24 - 2019: After almost half a century, Peyton tries to solve the mystery of what really happened during "The Immacula...

06/10/2025

06/05/2025

Babe Ruth took advantage of the rain which cancelled the Yankees' double-header with Washington, May 21st, and paid a visit to Lincoln Hospital, where he distributed smiles and autographed baseballs to 16 of the injured in the Sunday fatal crush at the Yankee Stadium May 19th. Babe and wife visited Leon Gassner who is suffering from a fractured skull. He was speechless, so when Babe presented him with a ball, he cried. When Ruth, with his wife, the former Claire Hodgson, arrived at the cot of Joseph Syrop, she became faint. Syrop was badly battered in the rush and his face a mass of bruises and cuts. She was taken to the hospital office where restoratives were applied. Photo shows left to right: William Mirirowsky, 13, Babe Ruth, Mrs. Ruth and Victor Schoenback, 15, in Lincoln Hospital. Does anyone know the year…..? Babe Ruth New York Yankees

06/04/2025

05/24/2025

The 1981 Indianapolis 500 ended in controversy when Bobby Unser was penalized for passing under caution, making Mario Andretti the winner—until Unser was reinstated months later. Andretti’s bad luck at Indy was relentless. Despite winning in 1969, he endured decades of heartbreak—1987 saw ignition failure, 1992 brought a crash and broken wrist, and 1993 saw his car stall while leading. The Andretti Curse continues, with the family leading over 1,000 laps but never securing another win.

Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti talk about the 1981 Indy 500 Finish. Check out indianapolismotorspeedway.com for other videos and photos for the celebration.

02/16/2025

The Marvella Girls Sports Leadership Experience will break ground this spring, honoring Marvella Bayh, whose story inspired Title IX in 1972, paving the way for women in academics and sports.

02/09/2025

🏈🎂Happy 80th birthday to Bob Griese! Griese was born on February 3, 1945 in Evansville, Indiana. After graduating from Evansville's Rex Mundi High School, Griese attended Purdue University (1963–1966). Griese pitched for the Purdue baseball team, going 12–1 one season, played guard on the Purdue basketball team, and played quarterback, kicker, and punter for the Purdue football team. There are at least four football games in which Griese was in some way responsible for all of Purdue's points. Griese was a two-time All-American at Purdue, finishing at No. 8 in the 1965 Heisman Trophy race and was the runner-up to Steve Spurrier for the 1966 Heisman Trophy. Purdue finished second in the Big Ten in 1966, and he led the school's first appearance in the Rose Bowl, where they defeated USC 14–13. Griese was then selected by the AFL's Miami Dolphins as the fourth player in the 1967 Common Draft. Widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of the 1970s, Griese led the Dolphins to a then record three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, including two Super Bowl victories in VII and VIII, the first of which capped off Miami's undefeated and untied 1972 season, the only such season in NFL history. He played his entire career with the Dolphins (1967–1980). Griese is one of three quarterbacks from Purdue to win the Super Bowl (along with Len Dawson and Drew Brees). Griese was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1984, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1992. His son, Brian Griese, also played quarterback in the NFL.🎂🏈