As the sports world remains at a virtual standstill due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, let’s take a look back to see what happened on March 31 in sports history.

1928 – Gordie Howe is born – Born in rural Floral, Sask., Gordie Howe needs no introduction and every superlative said about the man is apt. The only NHL player to play in five different decades (the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s) and sole man to play in six decades of professional hockey (Howe appeared in a 1997 game for the IHL’s Detroit Vipers at the age of 69), “Mr. Hockey” is practically synonymous with the sport. Breaking into the league in 1946, Howe went on to amass an astonishing six Art Ross Trophies as the league’s leading scorer and six Hart Trophy’s as the NHL’s most valuable player to his team, as well as appear at a record 23 All-Star Games. Howe and the Red Wings captured Stanley Cups in 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955. Howe was also essential in the legitimization of the World Hockey Association as a competitor to the NHL. After a court ruled that players couldn’t be bound to the NHL through a reserve clause, Howe was one of the many players who jumped to the upstart league in 1973 with the Houston Aeros with whom he won two Avco Cups, the league’s top prize. With the dissolution of the WHA/merger with the NHL in 1979, Howe returned to the NHL for a final season as a member of the newly christened Hartford (formerly New England) Whalers to play alongside his sons, Mark and Marty, for one last time. In his final NHL season, Howe scored 15 goals and added 26 assists. For his career, Howe scored 801 goals and added 1049 assists in 1,767 games over 26 NHL seasons. To this day, Howe still holds the record for most games played. He sits second all-time in goals (behind only Wayne Gretzky) and fourth all-time in points (behind Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr and Mark Messier). Howe was named to the Order of Canada in 1971 and inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972. Howe died on June 10, 2016 at the age of 88.

1973 – Ken Norton beats Muhammad Ali – Coming into the bout just over two years since his first professional loss (to Joe Frazier, by split-decision in March of 1971), Muhammad Ali was once again on a roll. Ali claimed the vacant NABF heavyweight title with a win over Jimmy Ellis in 1971 and proceeded to win his next eight fights – including a unanimous decision win over Toronto heavyweight George Chuvalo in Vancouver – heading into the meeting with Norton at San Diego’s Sports Arena. Nicknamed “The Jawbreaker” (which would become a very apt one during the fight), the 29-year-old Norton was on a run of dominance of his own. The native of Jacksonville, Ill. (who fought out of San Diego) had won 13 straight bouts to set him on course for a shot at Ali’s title. Still, even with Norton’s impressive record, his profile remained low – none of his victories would be what you would have considered to be signature – and he entered the fight as very much an unknown commodity. His unorthodox style was able to catch Ali off-guard, with the champ quickly learning that he might have underestimated Norton. Norton found success through parrying Ali’s jab and quickly firing back with one of his own. As Norton carried the fight through much of the first half, Ali got a second wind in the eighth round, using his speed to his advantage. But Norton came back with a vengeance, taking round nine thanks in large part to a vicious barrage of body blows. By Round 12, it became obvious that a monumental upset for the ages was in the cards. Norton outlanded Ali 233 to 171 and became the new NABF heavyweight champion with a split-decision victory. After the fight it was revealed that – like his nickname promised – Norton broke Ali’s jaw. When in the fight that actually happened remains up for debate to this day. The pair would go on to fight two more times, with Ali victorious by split decision in the immediate rematch that fall and with Ali claiming a unanimous decision win at Yankee Stadium in 1976. Despite the 1-2 record against Ali, many still argue that Norton was the better fighter in all three bouts.

1975 – John Wooden says goodbye in style – On March 29, 1975, John Wooden shocked the college basketball world by announcing that his reign over the most successful program in the history of the sport would be coming to an abrupt end. Following the national title game between his UCLA Bruins and the Kentucky Wildcats (who reached the final thanks to a shocking upset of the previously undefeated Indiana Hoosiers), Wooden would retire. Then 65, Wooden was in his 27th season as head coach of the Bruins. Among the players coached by Wooden along the way included all-time icons like Gail Goodrich, Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor (who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Wooden had turned the UCLA program into the pinnacle of collegiate basketball excellence. From 1964 to 1973, the Bruins won the national title every year but 1966. Upset by eventual champion North Carolina State in 1974’s Final Four, the 1975 title game represented a chance for Wooden to go out on top. The Bruins made it to the final on the backs of victories over Michigan, Montana and Arizona State in the West region before a hard-fought 75-74 overtime win over Louisville in the Final Four. Against Kentucky, Wooden got monster games from Richard Washington (28 points and 12 rebounds) and Dave Meyers (24 points and 11 boards) to beat the upstart Wildcats, 92-85, for Wooden and UCLA’s 10th national title. Wooden would retire with a 664-162 all-time record (including two seasons at Indiana State prior to joining UCLA) for a .804 winning percentage. Wooden, the first person to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (1960) and a coach (1973) died in 2010 at the age of 99.

1994 – MJ’s baseball career begins in earnest – During spring training of 1994, fans were still reeling in the wake of Michael Jordan’s decision to retire from the NBA following the Chicago Bulls’ third-straight NBA title victory to play professional baseball. Jordan, citing the loss of his father, Jeffrey Jordan, in a carjacking-turned-murder in the summer of 1993, Jordan announced his retirement from basketball just ahead of the start of the 1993-1994 NBA season. In February of 1994, Jordan signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago White Sox, who were owned at that time by Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. At the time of his signing, Jordan said that baseball had been his father’s favourite sport and now, at the age of 31, he was going to give the sport a shot. On March 31, Jordan was reassigned from the White Sox’s major-league camp to its minor-league camp where Jordan would link up with the Double-A Birmingham Barons, who played in the Southern League and were coached by former Montreal Expos outfielder Terry Francona (what ever became of that guy?). As expected for somebody who hadn’t played baseball at a competitive level since high school, Jordan struggled mightily. In 127 games, Jordan barely crept over the Mendoza Line, batting .202 with three home runs, 51 runs batted in and an OPS of .556. In the outfield, Jordan made 11 errors. His desire to continue on in baseball took him to the Arizona Fall League that autumn, but that’s as far as Michael Jordan, baseball player, would go. With Major League Baseball’s strike still ongoing in the spring of 1995, Jordan issued a two-word press release on March 18: “I’m back.” Michael Jordan, baseball player, was no more. Air Jordan had returned.

1998 – Changes in the majors – The 1998 MLB season kicked off on March 31 and it brought with it a couple of sweeping changes for the league. For the first time ever, Major League Baseball became a 30-team league with the additions of expansion clubs, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays of the American League and the National League’s Arizona Diamondbacks. On top of that, for the first time since the inception of the AL in 1901, a team would jump to the Senior Circuit with the Milwaukee Brewers leaving the AL Central for the NL Central (the move meant that teams would now be split 16-14 in favour of the NL, so to rectify that, the Houston Astros would leave the NL Central for the AL West in 2013). Opening Day for the two expansion clubs was a sign of things to come – that is a couple of long seasons. In front of nearly 48,000 fans at the Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Buck Showalter’s D-Backs would host the Colorado Rockies. The home fans wouldn’t have much to cheer for that day, but they would get to see the first run of their new team’s existence in the sixth inning when first baseman Travis Lee took Darryl Kile deep for the Diamondback’s first-ever home run. Karim Garcia added another home run in the ninth, but the Rockies came away with a 9-2 win. It would be Arizona’s first loss of 97 that year. Over at the Trop, things didn’t go much better for Larry Rothschild’s Devil Rays. The Detroit Tigers got three runs batted in each from Joe Randa and Joe Oliver in an 11-6 victory. High-profile free-agent addition Wade Boggs did give the Tampa fans something to cheer for, though, hitting the franchise’s first-ever home run in a three-RBI performance. The Rays would go on to lose 99 games that year. As for the Brewers, they were also losers in their NL bow against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, thanks to an ugly ninth inning. Tied 1-1 in the bottom half of the frame with one out, the Brewers turned to closer Bob Wickman. Wickman immediately walked Gerald Williams and followed that up by serving up a single to Keith Lockhart that advanced Williams to third. After striking out Andruw Jones, Javy Lopez came to the plate. With Lopez up, Lockhart attempted to steal second. Rather than cede him the base with two outs in the inning, catcher Mike Matheny’s throw to second sailed into the outfield, allowing Williams to score the game-winning run for a walk-off, 2-1 victory. The Brewers would finish the season at 74-88, fifth in the NL Central.