Miscellaneous Monday: Sports History and Records

[Andy Gladstone]

Yesterday, while so many in the Community were travelling to Atlassian Team '25 in Anaheim, I was home preparing our house for the upcoming Passover holiday.

At the same time, the NHL's Washington Capitals were playing against our family's favorite team, the New York Islanders. With The Great 8, Alexander Ovechkin, on the cusp of setting the NHL career records for goals, it was hard to concentrate on the cleaning and preparation for the holiday while also listening for the potential of a history making moment.

So we compromised and designated our 15 year old son to be the designated watcher on the iPad and to alert us whenever Ovi stepped on the ice.

Each time he gave us the shout we'd run from the kitchen to the living room. Finally, 7:26 into the 2nd period, we all saw The Great 8 surpass The Great One with his 895th career goal. The game was stopped for 20 minutes while celebrations and ceremonies took place honoring the feat. And 'our team' will forever be memorialized in the pictures, videos and memorabilia. 

Here are some other notable sports records and dates they were set.

Hockey (NHL): Career Goals Record: Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals became the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer by netting his 895th career goal on April 6, 2025, surpassing Wayne Gretzky's previous record of 894 goals. 

Baseball (MLB): Career Home Runs Record: Barry Bonds set the MLB career home run record with his 756th home run on August 7, 2007, surpassing Hank Aaron's previous record. ​

Football (NFL): Career Passing Yards Record: Tom Brady became the NFL's all-time passing yards leader on October 3, 2021, surpassing Drew Brees's previous record. 

Basketball (NBA): Career Points Record: As of April 2025, LeBron James holds the NBA career points record. He surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's previous record on February 7, 2023.​

Cricket: Highest Individual Score in Test Matches: Brian Lara scored 400 not out for the West Indies against England on April 12, 2004, setting the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket.

Highest Individual Score in One Day Internationals (ODIs): Rohit Sharma of India scored 264 runs against Sri Lanka on November 13, 2014, setting the record for the highest individual score in an ODI match.

Soccer: Most Goals in a Calendar Year: Lionel Messi scored 91 goals in 2012, setting the record for the most goals in a calendar year.​

Chess: Highest Elo Rating: Magnus Carlsen achieved the highest Elo rating of 2882 in May 2014.

Have you ever been to an event where a record was set? 

Are there any meaningful records that you think will never be broken? ( @Dave Liao perhaps a JAC ticket that has aged like fine wine?)

Let us know in the comments about any record, sports or otherwise, that you admire or identify with.

Dive in to the week and make it a record breaking one!

 

[Barbara Szczesniak]

Thanks, @Andy Gladstone This was very informative (and timely, as tonight is trivia night for me). 

I've never been present for a record-breaking moment. As an avid Olympics watcher, though, I have watched many occur on tv. 

[Andy Gladstone]

Good luck at trivia night!

[Marshall Walker Lee]

Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit record seems like one of the last great unbeatable sports records. 

[Andy Gladstone]

Yes! No asterisk needed for that one.