https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1248-unsolicited-sports-histor-55011295/enSportsCopyright Fox Sports Radio 97-9 Hartfordhttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/2567f1b60a8db336d00de5271fe1feb2.jpghttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/1248-unsolicited-sports-histor-55011295/Mon, 06 Oct 2025 17:55:56 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordFox Sports Radio 97-9 Hartfordfeeds@spreaker.comHistory of sports you did not need or even ask for. Ben Darnell takes up your time by telling you the great sports stories of the past that have been forgotten by time.cleanepisodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/merkle-s-boner--68033743https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68033743Mon, 06 Oct 2025 17:25:41 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 Hartford869cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/presidential-ceremonial-1st-pitches--66538973https://api.spreaker.com/episode/66538973Thu, 12 Jun 2025 21:26:44 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 Hartford997cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/bob-joyce-when-the-whale-left--56105916https://api.spreaker.com/episode/56105916Fri, 14 Jul 2023 21:32:17 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 Hartford994cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/princeton-and-the-first-cheer--50865121https://api.spreaker.com/episode/50865121Tue, 09 Aug 2022 17:40:42 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordEver wanted to know where cheerleading came from? The Rob Dibble show take you back to where and how it started784cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-bill-russell-shoe--50789796https://api.spreaker.com/episode/50789796Tue, 02 Aug 2022 15:17:49 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordDYK: After Chuck Taylor & before NIKE, there were dozens of shoe manufacturers for basketball players. It was Bill Russell who was the first real basketball star to get a shoe deal.600cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/preakness--49926783https://api.spreaker.com/episode/49926783Tue, 24 May 2022 17:41:38 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordThe name of the race is a story within itself.334history,horse,preakness,racingcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/peach-baskets--49691041https://api.spreaker.com/episode/49691041Fri, 06 May 2022 15:19:18 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordThe story of the first basketball game ever played is the story of how basketball was invented. Students beat teachers 5-1 using peach baskets as rims (no backboards). Where was the game actually played?956cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/1-vs-5--48930686https://api.spreaker.com/episode/48930686Thu, 03 Mar 2022 02:18:19 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordGrowing up in Indiana, basketball is somewhat your identity. It's March and I found a great story that reminds me of playing with my best friend. West Coast Christian beat Santa Cruz 1v5.721cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/222-0-biggest-college-fb-blowout-ever--46872312https://api.spreaker.com/episode/46872312Thu, 07 Oct 2021 20:51:40 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordGeorgia Tech destroyed Cumberland College into nonexistence.1126blow,cumberland,football,heisman,mercy,outcleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-british-open--45770145https://api.spreaker.com/episode/45770145Tue, 20 Jul 2021 12:38:12 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordThe origin of the Open Championship is a major turning point for the game of golf and its popularity. It is the era where golf went from private to public.738cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/how-the-red-sox-created-our-national-anthem--45595570https://api.spreaker.com/episode/45595570Tue, 06 Jul 2021 13:45:55 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordBefore you go spouting off your national anthem opinions, maybe you should learn a bit of the history of how it all started.713cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/tour-de-france-cheating--45553407https://api.spreaker.com/episode/45553407Fri, 02 Jul 2021 16:57:34 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordBen's only friend that rides religiously and follows the Tour de France is Tommy Gunn from NC. After a mysterious mishap of stage 1, Ben does not think it was all a mistake... especially after knowing the history of this race. USH school's Tommy on...1008cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/gerald-ford-and-how-football-shaped-america--44257152https://api.spreaker.com/episode/44257152Thu, 08 Apr 2021 14:16:52 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordI tell my favorite Michigan football story to one of my favorite Michigan-native teammates. The 1934 Michigan Wolverines' 1-7 record is more than meets the eye.537cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/big-east-mascots--43896704https://api.spreaker.com/episode/43896704Mon, 15 Mar 2021 13:53:05 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordThe Mascot's history is a sneak-peak of the athletic department's history. I school Mike Crispino, voice of UCONN, on Big East Mascots before he starts broadcasting the MSG spectacle.823cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-vinoy-cooperstown--41632636https://api.spreaker.com/episode/41632636Sun, 25 Oct 2020 16:49:48 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordThe ghosts of baseball are my favorite. They are a lot friendlier than the others.840cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/small-college-haunting--41632604https://api.spreaker.com/episode/41632604Sun, 25 Oct 2020 16:45:19 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordNext time you want to take in some New England college hockey, beware! You may be in the presence of a ghost.508cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/el-futbol-ghosts--41632593https://api.spreaker.com/episode/41632593Sun, 25 Oct 2020 16:42:39 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordOf course the oldest sport in the world has ghosts hanging around.702cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/football-ghost-stories--41632572https://api.spreaker.com/episode/41632572Sun, 25 Oct 2020 16:40:44 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordPro-College-High school. The haunting is across the board in the game of Football in America.661cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/80-s-90-s-playgrounds--40885257https://api.spreaker.com/episode/40885257Sun, 13 Sep 2020 19:25:47 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordCOVID-19 has to be challenging for elementary schools to deal with. I argue that these kids are actually living in much safer times. I call my 1st grade teacher out of the blue to discuss the history of playground equipment and how deadly it use to be.1243cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/sir-barton-s-crown--30978247https://api.spreaker.com/episode/30978247Mon, 15 Jun 2020 21:40:58 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordWho won the first triple crown? Was it a crown? Why those races? Who is Sir Barton?771cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/1995-opening-day--29322719https://api.spreaker.com/episode/29322719Thu, 04 Jun 2020 16:40:47 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 Hartford25 Years ago, MLB had to come back and face the fans after denying them baseball in 1994. Here is how it went down.511cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-history-of-uconn-s-jonathan--27621702https://api.spreaker.com/episode/27621702Mon, 18 May 2020 00:29:34 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordIt took stealing another school's mascot to come up with one of their own. This is the story of how UCONN got Jonathon.780cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/my-dad-was-a-pinball-addict--26020520https://api.spreaker.com/episode/26020520Fri, 24 Apr 2020 17:34:54 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordA short history of illegal pinball and how my dad got caught up in it.644cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/dummy-silk--24303016https://api.spreaker.com/episode/24303016Wed, 25 Mar 2020 18:43:09 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordWhy do Umpires do the things they do?443cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-sign-stealing-dark-blues--24100016https://api.spreaker.com/episode/24100016Fri, 20 Mar 2020 16:23:17 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordWhere did sign-stealing in baseball begin? Hartford, CT435cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/abe-saperstein-s-harlem-globetrotters--23188784https://api.spreaker.com/episode/23188784Tue, 25 Feb 2020 23:30:56 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordHow the Harlem Globetrotters came to be and integrate basketball in the NBA, USA, throughout the world.737cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/class-of-1937-hof-morgan-bulkely--22130782https://api.spreaker.com/episode/22130782Mon, 27 Jan 2020 19:25:23 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordHartford, CT residents may have no idea they're walking on top of baseball history. Bulkely Bridge, Bulkely High. You ever wonder who that Bulkely guy was?518cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/bubba-smith-sb3--21605230https://api.spreaker.com/episode/21605230Sun, 12 Jan 2020 12:14:14 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 Hartford731cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/my-mom-s-a-zamboni-driver--21237988https://api.spreaker.com/episode/21237988Wed, 01 Jan 2020 02:41:03 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordZamboni, high school dropout turned ice-making genius.645cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-snow-game-of-1948--21168786https://api.spreaker.com/episode/21168786Sun, 29 Dec 2019 17:48:11 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordA foot of snow at kickoff, the NFL championship on the line, 12,000 in attendance. One of the greatest snow games ever played.510cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/thanksgiving-football--21168737https://api.spreaker.com/episode/21168737Sun, 29 Dec 2019 17:43:47 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordThanksgiving football in America is almost as old as Thanksgiving in America.451cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/spooky-sports-tales-with-gallo-pt-2--21167918https://api.spreaker.com/episode/21167918Sun, 29 Dec 2019 17:00:52 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 Hartford3 sports ghost stories that are TRUE. Listen at your own risk.698cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/spooky-sports-tales-with-gallo-pt-1--21167893https://api.spreaker.com/episode/21167893Sun, 29 Dec 2019 17:00:23 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 Hartford3 sports ghost stories that are TRUE. Listen at your own risk.350cleanfullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-hartford-blues--21167869https://api.spreaker.com/episode/21167869Sun, 29 Dec 2019 16:54:10 +0000Fox Sports Radio 97-9 HartfordFor 1 year, Hartford had an NFL team.713cleanfull