They say we should use this time to learn something new – so we thought we’d offer up a history lesson free of charge!
We’re going to be recapping all the important sporting moments each and every day as we look to fill the void our beloved sports and teams have left behind.
So if it’s AFL, NRL, Basketball, Cricket, Golf or even Wrestling, be sure to return each and every morning as we take a trip back through the history books to relive some of sports‘ greatest moments.
2010 – Melbourne Storm Gets Busted
Today marks the 10 years since one of the biggest stories and biggest punishments ever to hit Australian sport with the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal.
This was the day that revealed Melbourne Storm had blatantly flouted the NRL’s strict salary cap rules by $1.7 million over a five year period.
In one of the most dramatic press-conferences ever staged, then NRL boss David Gallop announced that Storm would be stripped of their 2007 and 2009 premierships, three minor premierships, made to repay $1.5 million in prize money along with a $500,000 fine.
To add more salt into Storm’s wounds – the club was stripped of all premiership points gained in the first seven rounds of the 2010 season and would play the remainder of the year in dead-rubbers and zero premiership points.
1978: VFL Footy Flashback – Round 4
Another classic Saturday arvo of Footy occurred on April 22nd with all six games played at the radical time of 2:10 pm as Round 4 of the 1978 VFL season got underway.
The Football Record for the round expressed its sorrow for the loss of Richmond legend Jack “Skinny” Titus who tragically passed away from a heart attack at the age of 70 during the week.
Along with this, the League was promoting the fact that carnival rides would be available for the kids heading to VFL Park for the Anzac Day match between St Kilda and Geelong and that all youngsters would receive a free Big M on entry to the ground.
The Record also featured a piece on the various improvements of facilities of grounds such as Princes Park, Victoria Park, Arden Street, Kardinia Park and Arden Street to ensure maximum comfort for all fans attending games in the future.
There was also a feature on how the MCG was exploring drop-in pitch technology – the same used at VFL Park for World Series Cricket.
In a segment you could only get away with in 1978, the Football Record during the 1978 season featured a segment called the “Ampol VFL Girl of the Week” where one of their photographers would take a snap of a woman at the footy and if they published their photo the lucky lady could claim some fabulous prizes from VFL House during the week.
As for the footy, there was much interest about the matchup between high-prized West Australian recruits Gary Sidebottom from the Saints and North’s Ross Glendenning as they faced against each other at Moorabbin.
The Roos won the game by 19 points.
In the other matches, Carlton went down to Essendon by 27 points at VFL Park.
Over at the MCG, Footscray who were trailing by 34 points at half-time managed to snatch a seven-point win over the Demons after kicking 13 goals to the Dees seven in the second half of the match.
Collingwood and Hawthorn fought out a thriller at Victoria Park with the Hawks winning by two points.
Over at the Junction Oval, Fitzroy defeated cross Albert Park lake rival the Swans.
The Roys came back from six goals down midway in the third quarter to eventually win the game by 19 points.
To finish off the round, Richmond travelled down to Kardinina Park and lost to Geelong by 27 points.
1915: The Yankees first play in Pin-Stripes & Bat In The Hat Caps
Arguably the most famous uniform and logo in World Sport, the iconic New York Yankees bat-in-the-hat logo, along with the pinstripe uniform was worn for the first time together on this day 105 years ago.
For all the regular kit changes we see in a lot of sporting codes these days, the Yankees (and most Major League Baseball teams for that instance) have stuck with their simple, tried and true yet beautiful uniforms for years and years.
The New York Yankees have had relatively the same uniform and logo ever since.
The only radical change to the Yankees uniform came in 1995 when Assistant to the Travelling Secretary, George Costanza brought in cotton uniforms for the players.