It was on this day, July 31st, 2007, that the Boston Celtics traded Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and draft picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves.  In return the Celtics landed future hall of famer – Kevin Garnett.  The city of Boston rejoiced as Garnett was one of the top big men in the NBA – and Bostonians finally felt that they had what it took to become champion.

The trade paid off for the Celtics in the 2008 NBA season.  The Celtics advanced to the finals after defeating the Pistons 4 – 2.  In the finals, they met the Los Angeles Lakers and superstar Kobe Bryant. The key game in the series was Game 4, with Boston up 2 games to 1.  The Lakers jumped out to a 35 – 14 lead after the first quarter.  In the third
quarter, the Lakers lead went to 24 points.  However, Boston stormed back, securing the largest comeback in NBA history in 36 years.  A few days later, Boston finished off the Lakers in game 6 and the Celtics were once again on top.

It was on this day, July 30th, 1966, that England defeated Germany in the world cup final.  It would be England’s first world cup victory, and it would occur in front of a home crowd at Wembley Stadium in London.

England got down 1 – 0 early, but Geoff Hurst scored a goal 18 minutes into the game to tie it up.  Hurst would go on to score 3 goals in the game cemented his legacy in England for the rest of his life.  England would win the match 4 – 2.  Since the 66′ World Cup, England has never again reached the finals.  They have had high profile teams, but they have had disappointing performances in the world cup.

It was on this day, July 29th, 1989, that the Phillies retired #32 in honor of Steve Carlton.  No Philly would ever again wear #32 as no pitcher would be able to fill the shoes of the great Steve Carlton.

To this day, Phillies fans will talk about the amazing 1980 season.  The Phillies defeated the Royals at home to win the World Series, and Steve Carlton was the winning pitcher on record for the clinching game.  3 years later, the Phillies and Carlton would be back in the World Series, this time losing to the Baltimore Orioles.

It was on this day, July 28th, 1999, that the great Barry Sanders left the game of football.  And while many thought he would return, he never did.  #20 was one of the most exciting NFL football players ever, and the city of Detroit was crushed when he left the game.

Many people didn’t get it – and Barry wasn’t extremely open in explaining his reasons for retiring.  Barry set many NFL records, but he never played in a Super Bowl, which made many question his commitment to his team and city.  Barry Sanders is one of the best running backs ever, however had he played another 4 or 5 seasons, he would have probably been considered the greatest running back ever.

It was on this day, July 27th, 1996, that a bomb exploded at Olympic Park, killing 2 people and injuring over 100 others.  The act was committed by Eric Robert Rudolph, who would go one to commit three other terrorist bombs, before bring brought to justice.

Fortunately, the Olympic games went on, and continued without another major incident. The Olympic games were a success for the host country, with the US capturing Gold in 44 events, 18 ahead of Russia’s 26 Gold medals which were the second most of any nation.

It was on this day, July 25th, 1992, that the Summer games begun in Barcelona.  It was an outstanding Olympics competition with several impressive feats taking place. American women’s tennis player Jennifer Capriati, at young age of 16, took home the gold medal.   NBA players were allowed to compete in the Olympics forming the Dream Team with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird.

An amazing 169 countries sent players to compete in at least one Sport during the games. South Africa competed for the first time in 32 years.  Unfortunately for host country Spain, the Spaniards only took home 13 gold medals, which landed them behind 6 other nations in terms of Gold medals won.

It was on this day, July 24th, 1983, that George Brett’s game winning home run at Yankee stadium was disallowed.  After Brett was in the dugout after rounding the bases, the Umpire ruled that there was too much pine tar on George Brett’s bat.  This was an extremely rare call for an umpire to make, and it was also at a crucial moment in the game.

Brett darted out of the dugout to confront the umipre.  He had to be held back by several teammates as the rage poured out of him.  Since Brett was ruled out, he made the third out of the 9th inning, and the game ended with a Yankees victory.  However, the Royals protested, and they won the protest which meant that the game was later replayed from the point after Brett’s homerun.  25 days later, the game finally completed, with the Royals holding on to a 5 – 4 victory.  The Bat, which caused so much controversy, is currently on display at the Major League Baseball hall of fame.

It was on this day, July 23rd, 2009, that Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game.  Buehrle became the 18th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to retire 27 batters without having one reach base.

Buehlre threw the perfect game against a very solid Tampa Bay Rays Baseball team.  He threw 116 pitches and struck out 6 Tampa Bay batters.  The White Sox provided Mark with 5 runs and an unbelievable catch by Dewayne Wise in center field helped Buehrle to preserve his epic performance.

It was on this day, July 22nd, 1994, that the Seattle Mariners played a home game at Fenway Park against the Red Sox.  The ceiling had collapsed at the Kingdom on July 19th, forcing the Mariners to play several games away from home.

The Mariners won the game 6 – 3 thanks to 2 clutch hits by Alex Rodriguez.  The winning pitcher was the one and only Randy Johnson who struck out 11 batters over 6 and 2/3 innings. The Kingdome would be fixed by the end of 1994, allowing the Seahawks to play in a regular season game at the stadium.

It was on this day, July 21st, 1996, that Wayne Gretzky signed a 2 years contract with the Rangers.  It would be the final NHL team that Wayne would play for, as he decided to end his career in the bright lights of New York City at the Madison Square Garden.

Gretzky played solid for the Rangers, better than many people had predicted.  In 1997, he helped the Rangers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals where they were defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers in 5 games.  But 2 years later, on April 18th, 1999, the great career of Wayne Gretzky ended with a 2-1 regular season overtime loss to the Penguins.