This Date In Sports

April 6 1896 — The first modern Olympic Games begin in Athens, Greece. James B. Connelly wins the first event — the hop, step and jump. 1936 — Horton Smith edges Harry Cooper by one stroke to win the Masters. 1941 — Craig Wood beats Byron Nelson by three strokes to win the Masters. 1947 — Jimmy Demaret wins the Masters for the second time with two-stroke victory over Byron Nelson and Frank Stranahan. 1952 — Sam Snead wins his second Masters, beating Jack Burke Jr. by four shots. 1973 — Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees becomes the first major league designated hitter, in an opening-day game against Boston. 1987 — Sugar Ray Leonard returns to the ring after a three-year layoff to upset Marvelous Marvin Hagler in a 12-round split decision for the middleweight title, becoming boxing’s 10th triple champion. 1992 — Duke becomes the first team in 19 years to repeat as NCAA champion with a 71-51 victory over Michigan’s Fab Five freshmen, the youngest team to vie for the title. 2004 — Connecticut’s championship sweep is complete. Led by Diana Taurasi, UConn beats Tennessee 70-61. The victory by the women — their third straight and fourth in five years, makes Connecticut the first Division I basketball school to sweep both men’s and women’s titles. 2008 — Teenager Graham Rahal, making first IRL IndyCar Series start in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, holds off veteran Helio Castroneves to become the youngest winner in major open-wheel history. At 19 years, 93 days, Rahal breaks the age record set two years ago in Sonoma, Calif., by Marco Andretti, who was 19 years, 167 days old. 2008 — Keith Tkachuk becomes the 41st player in NHL history to score 500 goals, and adds an assist to help the St. Louis Blues beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 in the season finale. 2009 — Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and North Carolina win a national championship, ending Michigan State’s inspirational run with a 89-72 rout. 2010 — Maya Moore scores 23 points to help Connecticut rally from a horrible first half to beat Stanford 53-47 for its second straight undefeated championship season and its seventh national title. UConn (39-0) won its 78th straight, extending its women’s NCAA record for consecutive victories, although this one is the closest. All of the Huskies’ previous wins in the streak were by double digits.