In 1984: Usually in sports, if two teams don’t like each other, they’ll let the scrubs fight it out. Not on this night, as Larry Bird and Julius Erving went toe-to-toe against each other on the court. At the Boston Garden, the Celtics were pounding the Sixers, and a frustrated Erving (who was held to six points) and a red-hot Larry Bird (who had 42) began throwing punches at the end of the third quarter. Both were ejected and fined $7,500 each. Players on both teams were fined for their involvement, including a rookie named Charles Barkley, who scored 27 points off the bench up to that point. The Celtics won 130-119.
In 1961: If you thought baseball was bad, it never touched golf in terms of racism. Baseball had an “unwritten” rule that blacks were not allowed to play in the major leagues. Golf, on the other hand, actually made sure to include it in their constitution. Only in 1961 did the PGA finally remove it’s “Caucasians only” clause. Charlie Sifford was the first African-American to play on the PGA Tour, and he was soon joined by Lee Elder, Jim Thorpe, Calvin Peete and Pete Brown. Sifford became the first black player to win a Tour event in 1964 at the Greater Hartford Open. Tiger Woods is the only African-American on tour today.
