Sports History

Before D.C. United became a mainstay in the District's sports scene, the Washington Diplomats tried — and failed — to make soccer stick in the capital. With flashy signings, fleeting glory, and a fan base that never quite caught fire, the Dips’ story is a cautionary tale of ambition, mismanagement, and the long road to soccer success in D.C.

This year's FIFA World Cup has produced some exciting matches. But one of the most thrilling goals in World Cup history actually was scored at Washington's RFK Stadium back in 1994, when the U.S. hosted the global tournament for the first time ever. 

Spending a Sunday afternoon at the ol’ ballpark is pretty commonplace nowadays. But 100 years ago? Notsomuch. In the early 1900s, debate raged about whether it was appropriate – or, for that matter, legal – for ballclubs to suit up on Sundays. Blue laws in many states put severe restrictions on what could and could not be done/consumed/enjoyed/observed on the traditional day of rest.

In 1966 the University of Maryland's Cole Field House hosted the NCAA Final Four where Texas Western’s five-black starters upset all-white Kentucky. It was a watershed victory that helped accelerate the integration of college basketball.

The 1971 T.C. Williams High School football team rolled to the Virginia state championship and united a divided Alexandria during a contentious school consolidation process. Their championship season inspired the Disney film Remember the Titans. But was the movie accurate?

Before he broke Major League Baseball's baseball’s color barrier, Jackie Robinson stole the show as a Negro League player for the Kansas City Monarchs. In a 1945 doubleheader against the Homestead Grays in Washington, 18,000 fans at Griffith Stadium watch Robinson tie a National Negro League record by going 7 for 7.

So where do you think Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath made his professional football debut? Shea Stadium in New York? Wrong. Fenway Park in Boston? Wrong again. D.C. Stadium in Washington? Nice try, but no. The correct answer is George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia.

Thirty years before Houston's Astrodome became "the eighth wonder of the world" in 1965, Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall hired an architect to design a climate-controlled, 70,000 seat, all-weather stadium to be located in the District. Never built, the domed stadium would have featured a retractable roof made of steel and glass, tiered seating and flexibility to accommodate ice hockey, track, baseball, swimming or boxing in addition to Redskins football.