SPORTS MARATHONS
The Dolphins, Titans and fans at Hard Rock Stadium are shaking off cobwebs after that seven-hour marathon marred by two lightning delays Sunday. It was the longest game in league history since at least the AFL-NFL merger and takes its rightful place among other epic marathons in sports history.
Some of our favorites:
BASEBALL
■ Braves vs. Mets - July 4, 1985 The locals around Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium were calling 911 to say their city was under attack. The War of the Worlds, this wasn’t. The Braves had promised fans a postgame fireworks display. They just didn’t know that the game would go 19 innings and wouldn’t end until 3:55 a.m. Included were two hours of rain delays — something the Dolphins and Titans sneer at today. The Mets won 16-13.
■ Pawtucket Red Sox vs. Rochester Red Wings - 1981
The host Paw Sox needed 33 innings to win baseball’s longest game 3-2. It began on April 18, 1981, but was mercifully stopped at 4:09 a.m. by the league. “When we walked off the field at 4 o’clock in the morning, it was like, ’You mean we’re not done with the game yet?’ “Pawtucket catcher Rich Gedman told MLB.com. They decided to resume the action on June 23, by which time a big crowd of 5,800 turned out to see history. What they saw was just 18 minutes of play. Trivia: In the 33rd inning, the Red Sox’s Bob Ojeda allowed a single to Cal Ripken Jr. before getting out of the jam.
TABLE TENNIS
■ Alex Ehrlich vs. Paneth Farcas - 1936
Legend has it these guys went at it for 59 hours, which happens when two defensive players meet. One account says their opening rally lasted two hours. There apparently was no winner because the match referee’s neck locked up after looking left, looking right, looking left ... too darn many times.
WRESTLING
■ Alfred Asikainen vs. Martin Klein - 1912 Olympic semifinals
Klein, representing Russia, defeated Asikainen, of Finland, but it took 11 hours, 40 minutes. The actual victor is open to debate. Klein was so tired he forfeited the final the next day. When Asikainen returned home, he was hailed as a hero.
TENNIS
■ John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut - 2010
It took Isner more than 11 hours over three days to finally put away Mahut 70-68 in the final set at Wimbledon. The last set alone took 8:11. The match set records for aces (216), points (980) and consecutive services games held (168). Isner’s racket ended up in the Smithsonian and Isner himself landed on David Letterman’s show. On the top 10 list of things that went through his head during the match: “No. 9: We’ve been playing so long I’ve forgotten — am I Isner or Mahut?” Isner later told The Palm Beach Post, “I was just glad to be a part of it. I know my name will obviously be in the record books forever.”
FOOTBALL
■ Dolphins vs. Chiefs - 1971
What is it about the Dolphins and marathons, anyway? Their first-ever playoff victory came on Christmas
Day 1971, beating the host Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 after 82:40 in what remains the NFL’s longest game (in terms of actual playing time). One Chiefs player was so tired he showered in full uniform. Amid bedlam at the Miami airport when the Dolphins landed, coach Don Shula discovered his car wouldn’t start, so he and son David hitchhiked home. “Some fans recognized me so I got a ride right away,”Shula told The Miami News.“I invited the people who brought me home in for a drink.”
HOCKEY
■ Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Maroons - 1936
Sixty scoreless minutes of regulation sent this playoff game into overtime ... but five more 20-minute periods later, it still was 0-0. Leave it to the Wings’ Modere “Mud” Bruneteau, two weeks into his pro career, to score 16 minutes into OT No. 6. It was 2:25 a.m. Perhaps it was a just result since the Maroons were sipping coffee and brandy between periods.
MARATHON
■ Shiso Kanakuri - 1912-1967 You’re probably wondering what’s up with the typo in the year Kanakuri ran his marathon. It’s no typo. The Japanese runner began the marathon in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics but got tired and went missing. In 1967, Swedish Olympic officials issued an invitation to Kanakuri, then 75, to participate in celebrations marking the 55th anniversary of the Olympics. This explains why Kanakuri needed 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds to finish the race. He was a tad shy of a podium finish.
BOXING
■ Harry Sharpe vs. Frank Crosby - Feb. 2, 1892
Any bettors who had Sharpe winning in the 77th round were in luck. The bout lasted more than five hours, highlighted by the ref passing out in Round 65. No matter. These guys kept pounding each other with no officiating. Time magazine reported that Sharpe’s rewards were: “1) the Missouri lightweight championship, 2) a side bet of $500, 3) 11 months in jail for violating an anti-prizefight law.”