Before getting to the April 23 ‘On This Day,’ the Standard would like to announce some interactive ways our readers can join in on the latest web feature. Last week, ‘On This Day’ looked back in the 2010s. On Sunday, voting was taken on the Warren County Sports Authority Twitter @SimmonsSaysWC to select this week’s decade. The winner was the 1980s. Each Sunday, a poll will run where readers can make their selections on what decade to feature each week (the same decade will not run on back-to-back weeks).
Also, if you want to feature your Warren County athlete in the ‘On This Day’ online feature, send a picture and their age to sports@southernstandard.com. Please send all submissions by 10 a.m. on the athlete’s birthday.
Lastly, if a business would like to sponsor ‘On This Day’ on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, please contact advertising@southernstandard.com.
On April 23, 1986, Terry Martin was signing on the dotted line to attend Cumberland University. Martin was a standout on the hardwood for coach Andy Jacobs’ squad, leading the Pioneers in scoring, rebounds, blocked shots, field goal percentage and dunks in the 1985-86 season.
Signing athletic scholarships has been trending up locally lately. This season, Warren County had three athletes sign to play college sports: Jack Keele for baseball (Trevecca), Savannah Cox for soccer (Motlow) and MaKenna Mason for softball (Motlow).
In other April 23 editions, Mark Dinwiddie occupied first base on the diamond for the Pioneers (1980), the Misfit and Koffee Kup bowling leagues recognized top rollers (1980), varsity cheerleaders were announced (1982), the Pioneer baseball team posed for a team picture (1984), Calvary Christian School introduced its Crusader basketball teams (1984) and the WCSH booster club accepted a signed football from New England Patriot Brian Ingram (1986).
Famous April 23 birthdays
1916 – Bud Wilkinson, National champion coach (Oklahoma)
1921 – Warren Spahn, MLB Hall of Fame pitcher
1943 – Gail Goodrich, NBA Hall of Famer
1943 – Tony Esposito, NHL Hall of Famer
1974 – Joey Kent, All-SEC receiver at Tennessee
1977 – Andruw Jones, 10-time Gold Glove CF
1991 – Kyle Juszczyk, four-time NFL Pro Bowler
2000 – Chloe Kim, Olympic Gold medalist in 2018 (snowboarding)
National April 23 headlines (AP)
1950 — The Detroit Red Wings edge the New York Rangers 4-3 in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup.
1950 — The Minneapolis Lakers become the first team to win back-to-back NBA championships by defeating the Syracuse Nationals 110-95 in Game 6 of the finals. George Mikan leads the Lakers with 40 points in a game marred by three fights, four Minneapolis players fouling out, and Nats coach Al Cervi being ejected for complaining about a call.
1954 — The NBA adopts the 24-second shot clock.
1969 — Jerry West scores 53 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers over Boston 120-118 in the opening game of the NBA finals.
1993 — The Dallas Mavericks avoid matching the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers as the worst team in NBA history, beating Minnesota 103-100 for their 10th triumph of the season.
1996 — An NHL single-game record crowd of 28,183 fans watch the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1. Tampa Bay set the previous single-game mark of 27,227 in its first regular-season game in the Devil Rays’ baseball stadium.
2002 — Brent Johnson of the St. Louis Blues ties an NHL record with three straight shutouts in the playoffs. That had not happened in 57 years. Johnson reaches the milestone with a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
2007 — Alex Rodriguez is the first player in major league history to hit 14 homers in the first 18 games of a season. He also ties the record for April homers, connecting in the second and ninth innings of the New York Yankees’ 10-8 loss to Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
2008 — The Chicago Cubs win their 10,000th game, joining the Giants as the only franchise to reach that mark with a 7-6 victory in 10 innings at Colorado.
2013 — West Indian cricketer, Chris Gayle, smashes the fastest century in history (30 balls).
2019— Southampton striker Shane Long scores the fastest goal in Premier League history when he nets after 7.69 seconds in a 1-1 draw at Watford.
