TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY - NOVEMBER 17TH

1869 - Englishman James Moore wins 1st bicycle race (13K Paris-Rouen).
1926 - NHL's Chicago Blackhawks play their 1st game, beat Toronto St Pats 4-1.

1930 - Bob Mathias, Tulare, California, American decathlete

(Olympic-gold-1948, 52) is born.

1940 - Green Bay Packers become 1st NFL team to travel by plane.

1944 - Tom Seaver, Fresno, California, American MLB pitcher

(NY Met, 300 game winner, Cy Young '69 '73 '75) is born.
1945 - Elvin Hayes, Rayville Louisiana, NBA star

(San Diego, Houston, Baltimore) is born.
1953 - St Louis Browns officially become the Baltimore Baseball Club Inc.
1956 - Syracuse fullback Jim Brown, scores NCAA record of 43 pts (vs Colgate).

1965 - William Eckert is unanimously elected commissioner of baseball.

1978 - James J "Gene" Tunney, Heavyweight boxing champ (1926-8), dies at 80.

1979 - Daniel Okrent sketches out 1st draft rules

for Rotisserie Baseball on a flight to Austin, TX.

1982 - Duk Koo Kim, South Korean boxer, legally declared dead.

1987 - George Bell is 1st Blue Jay ever to win the AL MVP.1989 - Bret Saberhagen signs record $2,966,667 per year KC Royal contract.
1991 - Detroit Lion Mike Utley is paralized in a game vs LA Rams.
1992 - Blue Jay Nigel Wilson is 1st pick of Marlins in expansion draft.

1997 - Mario Lemieux enters NHL Hall of Fame.

2006 - Bo Schembechler, American football coach (b. 1929).