His career as a standout pitcher is often cited as one of the keys to Scott Burrell’s famous full-court, inbounds pass to Tate George in the 1990 Sweet 16, but don’t discount his days as a football standout at Hamden High, either.

Burrell, after all, had to hit George on an out pattern.

“I had to get Tate on his outside,” Burrell recalled. “I knew what I had to do. We didn’t really work on that play. With one second left, you usually don’t have many plays. I couldn’t let (Clemson’s) Elden Campbell tip the ball, because the game’s over. Tate had Sean Tyson on his back, so I had to throw it to the corner where Tate could catch it.”

The rest, of course, is history: George caught Burrell’s heave, spun around and swished a 15-footer at the buzzer, sending UConn to the East Regional finals and the program on a course of success that hasn’t stopped yet.

Read Chip Malafronte's complete story.

An overflow crowd estimated at 11,000, around 3,500 over capacity, jammed into Hamden’s Weiss Park on May 17, 1928.

The occasion? An exhibition game between the minor league New Haven Profs and the team widely considered one of the greatest ever assembled — the “Murderer’s Row” New York Yankees.

Mind you, the Yankees had played in the city before. This time around, just months removed from the 1927 World Series championship, their arrival created all-out hysteria. New Haven fans flocked to catch a glimpse of Babe Ruth, now the biggest celebrity in the world, and Lou Gehrig

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Associated Press File Photo

 From left to right are (first row): Jack McCarten; Herb Brooks, Weldy Olson, Paul Johnson, Richard Meredith, Harry Batchelder, Larry Palmer; (second row) Jim Claypool, manager; Rod Paavola, Harry Berg, Bob McVey, Roger Christian, William Christian, Ben Bertini, trainer, Jack Riley, coach; (third row) Tom Williams, Bob Owen, Dave Outerbridge, Bob Depuis; Gene Graziam; Larry Alm; Jakc Kirrane

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The “Miracle on Ice” performance by USA Hockey in 1980 gets the notoriety. Often forgotten by the mainstream is the fact that the 1960 U.S. Olympic team pulled off the same feat first.

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was on the verge of disaster in 1960 when the countries met on the ice in Squaw Valley, Calif. Hamden’s Bob McVey was a second-line left wing that day, helping Team USA to a monumental 3-2 upset victory.
Read Chip Malafronte's complete story.

McVey's Olympic profile page

USA Hockey Magazine looks back to 1960 team (with photo of McVey)

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Two videos from YouTube on the 1960 Forgotten Miracle team