The great Stan Mikita of the Chicago Black Hawks scored many goals in his career. But the first goal he ever scored in the National Hockey League was a freak. The puck never even touched his stick.
Teammate Bobby Hull came driving in on goal and took his shot from about 40 feet out. The puck hit Mikita’s body and ricocheted past Ranger goalie Gump Worsley, right into the net.
Miracle Hills Golf Club in Omaha, Nebraska, is aptly named. On October 7, 1965, the record for the longest hole-in-one was established there.
Robert Mittera was the lucky player. At the age of 21 he was already a very good golfer, although he was not a big man at 5-foot-6 and 165 pounds. But he could drive nearly 250 yards on occasion.
The tenth hole at Miracle Hills was 444 yards long, with a drop-off at the 290-yard mark. A 50-mile-an-hour gust of wind sprang up as Mittera drove off the tee. The wind caught the ball and carried it over the drop-off. It rolled 154 yards more directly into the cup. A group of golfers playing ahead of Mittera saw the whole thing happen.
From The Giant Book of Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
That’s how I scored goals when I played hockey. It was usually an accident. However, Stan The Man was way more talented than myself.