Sports began the 1960s with working class quarterback Johnny Unitas leading the Baltimore Colts and setting records. It ended with the poetry of Muhammad Ali. Baseball was the national pastime, but football was on the rise. It was the era of miracles, protests and the first Super Bowl. The sad days of the fifties were over for New Yorkers. They had lost not one but two baseball teams. The Dodgers left Ebbetts Field for sunny, smoggy L.A. The Giants left the Polo Grounds for San Francisco. Now happy days were returning to the Big Apple. New Yorkers were to have a second baseball team again: the Mets. They were getting what may be thought of as the worst team ever in baseball. And the fans loved them. So much so that the mantra many New Yorkers would repeat: "I've been a Mets fan all my life." In 1969, the Mets became the "Miracle Mets," by winning the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles in five games. That same year on January 12, another New York sports team, the Jets, defeated the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, giving the AFL (AFC) its first Super Bowl trophy,
Who Shot Sports: a photographic history, 1843 to the present by 
Powerful Moments in Sports by 
Elgin Baylor : the man who changed basketball by 
Finding a Way to Play: the pioneering spirit of women in basketball by 
Tall tales and short shorts : Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the birth of the modern NBA by 
Pete Rose: An American Dilemma by 
Baseball's Power Shift: how the players union, the fans, and the media changed American sports culture by 
100 Yards of Glory: The Greatest Moments in NFL History by 
Johnny U: The life and times of John Unitas by 
Boxing had a king and his name was Muhammed Ali.
The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey by 
Blood Brothers: the fatal friendship between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X by 
Game Changers: The Unsung Heroines in Sports History by 
Fastpitch: the untold history of softball and the women who made the game by 
Members of the Australian Paralympic Team, led by Team official Kevin Betts, march in the Opening Ceremony of the 1960 Rome Paralympic Games. Source: Australian Paralympic Committee.
There had been a number of athletic events for the physically impaired previously. In 1960, the First Paralympic Games, no longer limited to veterans, were held in Rome in 1960 to coincide with the Olympic Games. Initially they were open only to athletes in wheelchairs. They have continued to be held in conjunction with the Summer Olympic Games in the same location. In 1976, a Winter Paralympic Games began and the games were extended to non-wheel-chaired athletes.
A competitor during the Special Olympics Belgium at the Futurosport of Mouscron, Belgium. May 12,2018.
Author: Jamian posted on Wikimedia Commons
Can one person make a difference? It seems that Eunice Kennedy Shriver believed she could when she founded Camp Shriver in the early 1960s. Camp Shriver was built on her vision: "how through sports, the lives of people with intellectual disabilities would be transformed and public perceptions would be changed forever" (according to the website specialolympics.org). From this vision grew the the Special Olympics.
"In 1968, the first International Special Olympic Games were held in Chicago's Soldier Field....One thousand athletes from twenty-six states and Canada participated. Anyone who had below-average intellectual functioning was allowed to take part, regardless of age. Today, more than three million Special Olympic athletes train year-round, spanning 181 countries." (Schiot, p. 178.)
The Best American Sports Writing of the Century by 
From Jack Johnson to Lebron James: sports, media, and the color line by 
Howard Cosell: the man, the myth, and the transformation of American sports by In addition to the regular network programming of ABC, CBS, and NBC, there were several weekly programs dedicated to sports.
Source: A history of sports highlights: replayed plays from Edison to ESPN by R. Gamaches.
Men in Green by 
Bruce Lee : the authorized visual history by 
Wooden: A Coach's Life by Source: The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool by Stodder & Phillips.
The NHL 100 Years in Pictures and Stories by 
Orr: My Story by 
The Official History of the Fifa World Cup by 
Why Soccer Matters by Buckley, J. (2011). The World Almanac: 50 years of American sports: a decade-by-decade history. New York: World Almanac Books.
Gamache, R. (2010). A history of sports highlights: replayed plays from Edison to Espn. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
Garner, J. (2002). Stay tuned: Televisions unforgettable moments. Kansas City: Andrew McMeel.
Schiot, M. (2016). Game changers: the unsung heroines of sports history. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Strodder, C., & Phillips, M. (2007). The encyclopedia of sixties cool: A celebration of the grooviest people, events, and artifacts of the 1960s. Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press.
