Championship Stories

Since 1925 the Scripps National Spelling Bee has featured some of America's best and brightest students under the age of 15. For the last 20 years students of South Asian/Indian descent have dominated the event and turned it into a cultural touchstone. Harini Logan, 14, of San Antonio, Texas, won the 2022 title and built upon the Indian-American spelling dynasty.

The NBA finals in 1969, Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers, seven games for the title, is recounted by author Leigh Montville, who covered the series as a 25-year-old reporter for the Boston Globe, and wrote about it in his latest book, "Tall Men, Short Shorts."

Harry Agganis quarterbacked Lynn Classical High School to a de facto national football championship on Christmas night, 1946, at the Orange Bowl. A year later he refused to play in the same championship game as a protest against racial segregation. Agganis was a two-sport star who later played with the Boston Red Sox but whose career was cut short, tragically, by his death at age 26.

Led by a mellow, long-haired, free-thinking coach, the 1971 Macon High Ironmen represented the smallest school ever to reach the Illinois state baseball final. Against big-city teams and against the odds, the Ironmen took their "One Shot at Forever", as written by author Chris Ballard.

The 1955 U.S. Open came down to an 18-hole playoff between one of golf's all-time greats, Ben Hogan, and an obscure club pro from Davenport, Iowa, Jack Fleck. Their drama, which played out at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, captivated the golf universe.

Sophia Popov was ranked 304th among women pro golfers when she won the AIG Women's British Open in August 2020. Her first LPGA victory in 5 1/2 years as a pro came after she was laid low by a debilitating disease and almost quit golf.

The 1919 Stanley Cup final was unlike anything before or since. The Montreal Canadiens and Seattle Metropolitans were valiant opponents, but neither were a match for the pandemic Spanish Flu.

Before coronavirus, the 1918-19 Spanish Flu killed between 17 million and 50 million people, including an estimated 675,000 Americans. One who survived it was 23-year-old Babe Ruth as he led the Boston Red Sox to a World Series triumph. World War 1 shortened the 1918 season just as the second wave of deadly Spanish Flu descended.

In 1995 Major League Baseball was bruised and battered from the labor war that caused the cancellation of the '94 season. Fans were disgusted. As a prominent member of the union negotiating team, Atlanta Braves star southpaw Tom Glavine was an easy target for public anger. Glavine took his lumps and responded in Game 6 of the 1995 World Series.

In September 1964 the St. Louis Cardinals ignited a legendary run to a pennant and world championship, led by ace right-hander Bob Gibson. Delmar Givehand, 13, took an unforgettable train ride from Omaha to St. Louis to watch history unfold.