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The year was 1970 – did you know?
• The member teams of the American Football League merged with the member teams of the National Football League (NFL). This formed a 26-team NFL made up of 2 conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC), with 13 teams in each conference. Former NFL teams the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh agreed to join the AFC with the other member teams of the American Football League so that the 2 conferences would have equal number of teams.
• NFL Commissioner, Pete Rozelle, instituted the idea of Monday night football saying that football was not only meant to be played on Sundays. This move was also a way to broaden the leagues audience nationally in prime time. The first Monday night football game was historically played on September 21, 1970 and has made last impact for over the past 40 years.
• New Orleans Saints placekicker, Tom Dempsey, put himself in the record books of the NFL by kicking a winning and record setting field goal against the Detroit Lions. The 63-yard field goal record remained in tack until 1998 when Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos tied the record.
• Jimmy Van Alen created the concept of a tiebreaker in tennis. This concept was instituted in the US Open in 1970. Previously, tennis sets could last for hours because a set had to be won by being up at least 2 games. The tiebreaker allowed a 7th game to be played and the winner had to win by 2 points and then, winning the set 7-6. The concept of a tiebreaker is still applied today but some Slams do not allow it in the deciding set.
• Margaret Court-Smith won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open all in year and captured the Grand Slam of tennis. She was the second woman to accomplish this feat.
• September 13 marked the debt of the fist New York City Marathon. 55 runners finished. The event now attacks over 30,000 runners and has become a world-wide spectator sport.
Show off your team spirit and loyalty with by displaying sports memorabilia. And, do not forget the lighting. Sports-themed lamps, touch lamps and lighting products are widely available and are perfect accents to your home lighting décor.
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