I generally try to use my Ithacan blogging powers for good. I’ll write about sports I’m not neccessarily keenly interested in if there’s something interesting going on with them, I try to avoid writing only about the sports I do like, especially ice hockey and since I’m not much of an athlete myself, I try to write about what actual athletes are doing. But since today’s my 21st birthday, I thought it might be interesting to vary things up a bit and look up some of the big sports events that have happened on my birthday over the years. Here goes.

• Turns out I share my birthday with Heisman Trophy and Super Bowl-winning Stanford and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders QB Jim Plunkett, Washington Redskins Pro Football Hall of Fame WR Art Monk, former MLB outfielder Cliff Floyd, Pittsburgh Steelers backup QB Charlie Batch, Calgary Flames center Olli Jokinen and Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith. I also share it with former New York Knicks center Eddy Curry but the less said about that, the better.
• The Stanley Cup was stolen on this day in 1970 when burglars snatched it from the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Needless to say, it was quickly recovered.
• The Seattle Seahawks formed in the NFL in 1974 on this date, though they didn’t begin play until 1976. They also didn’t have a good debut season, finishing 2-12 in 1976 but at least they fared better than the other new NFL team that year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who at 0-14, became the first modern day NFL team to have a winless season.
• The University of Pittsburgh became the first school to have its football players wear numbers on their uniforms on this day in 1908.
• Ron Santo of the Chicago Cubs became the first MLB player to veto his own trade on this date in 1973. Fittingly enough, Santo was finally, albeit posthumously, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame today (2011).