1968 - Sports

Sports

Green Bay beats Oakland 33 to 14 at Miami January 14 in Super Bowl II.

Former golf champion Lawson Little dies at Pebble Beach, Calif., February 1 at age 57; golfer Tommy Armour at Larchmont, N.Y. September 11 at age 72.

Joe Frazier wins the world heavyweight boxing crown March 24 at age 24 by knocking out Buster Mathis in the 11th round of a title bout at New York, nearly 10 months after the World Boxing Association (WBA) took the title away from Muhammad Ali for refusing to accept induction into the U.S. Army (see Cassius Clay, 1964). Jimmy Ellis, 28, wins an eight-man title tournament staged by the WBA, defeating Jerry Quarry, 22, in a 15-round decision April 27 at Oakland, but Frazier will gain undisputed right to the title early in 1970. Former world heavyweight champion Jess Willard dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at Los Angeles December 15 at age 86.

Rod Laver wins in men's singles at Wimbledon, Billy Jean King in women's singles; Arthur Ashe, 25, wins in men's singles at Forest Hills (the first black to do so), Margaret Smith Court in women's singles. Ashe wins the first U.S. Open men's singles, (Sarah) Virginia Wade, 22, (Brit), the women's singles.

Onetime Wimbledon singles champion (1907) Sir Norman Brookes dies at his native Melbourne September 28 at age 90.

The Olympic Games at Mexico City attract 6,082 contestants from 109 countries. Olympic swimming champion Duke Paoa Kahanamoku has died of a heart attack at Honolulu January 23 at age 77. U.S. athletes win the most gold medals, but sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith give black-power salutes when accepting their awards, winning condemnation from some but approval from sportscaster Howard Cosell. San Jose, Calif.-born figure skater Peggy Fleming, 19, has won the gold medal in the winter Olympics at Grenoble, France (and gone on to win the world title March 2 at Geneva).

Veteran jockey Earl Sande dies of arteriosclerosis at Jacksonville, Ore., August 18 at age 69 (he won three Kentucky Derbies).

The Kansas City Athletics become the Oakland As (Athletics).

The Detroit Tigers win the World Series, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3.

Harvard faces Yale November 23 at Harvard Stadium, both teams being unbeaten and untied for the first time since 1909. Yale's backfield includes Calvin Hill, and Yale leads 29 to 13 in the fourth quarter with only 42 seconds remaining on the clock, but Harvard substitute quarterback Vic Champi passes to Vic Gatto for a touchdown that is followed by a two-point conversion to make the score 29 to 21. Harvard recovers an on-side kick, Champi passes to Pete Varney for a final touchdown as the clock runs out, and a two-point conversion ties the final score at 29-29.