The Most Revered Streaks in Sports

2011 marks the 70th anniversary of Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak in 1941. Here are some of the other most revered streaks in sports.

Wayne Gretzky's 51 consecutive games of scoring at least one point, beginning on opening night of the 1983-84 season.

Jerry Rice's 274 straight games with at least one catch, from Dec. 9, 1985 to Sept. 19, 2004.

Jimmie Johnson won his first Sprint Cup Series championship in 2006 and hasn't looked back. He became the first Nascar driver to win the Sprint Cup title for five consecutive years, from 2006 to 2010. He's also the first driver to be named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, in 2009.

On Dec. 21, 2010, the Connecticut women broke the UCLA men's NCAA record of 88 consecutive wins (1971-74), demolishing Florida State 93-62 for victory No. 89. Nine days later, Stanford would usurp UConn, officially ending the streak at 90.

Byron Nelson's 11 consecutive PGA Tour wins in 1947.

Lance Armstrong's seven consecutive Tour de France victories, the final one in 2005.

Brett Favre started an amazing 297 consecutive regular season games and 321 including playoffs before missing a Dec. 13, 2010, contest with an injured shoulder.

Hall made 502 consecutive starts in goal. When you include his minor league, All-Star and playoff games beginning in 1951, the Hall of Fame netminder played a staggering, mind-boggling total of 881 straight games until 1962, covering seven full NHL (with Chicago and Detroit) and 11 pro hockey seasons. And Hall played them all without a mask, facing slap shots, frequently being run over by opposing skaters, and suffering a few pretty serious injuries, including getting hit in the mouth by a puck during the 1957 playoffs, losing some teeth and still continuing to man the Red Wings' net.

Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive games-played, stretching from May 30, 1982 to Sept. 20, 1998.

The Philadelphia Flyers went on a 35-game unbeaten streak during the 1979-80 season, chalking up a 25-0-10 mark.

The Lakers' 33 consecutive wins in from Nov. 5, 1971 to Jan. 9, 1972.

UCLA's 88-game winning streak under coach John Wooden, stretching from Jan. 30, 1971 to Jan. 14, 1974.

The Miami Dolphins' perfect 17-game season in 1972.

The Oklahoma Sooners' 47 consecutive wins from Oct. 10, 1953 to Nov. 16, 1957, the longest such streak in Division I-A history.

The Boston Celtics' eight consecutive NBA championships, beginning in 1959.

Edwin Moses' 122 consecutive wins in the 400-meter hurdles from 1977 to 1987.

The USA's 132-year domination of the America's Cup, which ended in 1983.

Orel Hershiser's 59 consecutive scoreless regular season innings, from Aug. 30, 1988 to April 5, 1989.

The Montreal Canadiens won five straight Stanley Cups from 1956 to 1960.

UCLA's seven consecutive NCAA basketball titles, from 1966 to 1973.

The defensive end played in 282 consecutive games, the most ever by a defensive player and second overall in NFL history behind Brett Favre.

The Yankees five straight World Series titles, from 1949 to 1953. Billy Martin (third from left) drove in the decisive run in the ninth inning of the '53 Series clincher against the Dodgers.

Wilt Chamberlain's seven consecutive NBA games of scoring 50 or more points during the 1961-62 season.

Johnny Unitas' 47 consecutive games of throwing at least one touchdown pass, from 1956 to 1960.

The Atlanta Braves' 14 consecutive division titles, beginning in 1991.

Brazil's and West Germany's three consecutive World Cup finals teams. Brazil won in 1994 and 2002, but lost to France in 1998. Ronaldo (pictured) was on all three squads. West Germany lost in the 1982 and 1986 finals, but beat Argentina in 1990 with Jurgen Klinsmann (pictured).

Cael Sanderson's 159 consecutive wins during his undefeated college career at Iowa State from 1999 to 2002. Also worthy of mention is Dan Gable, who won 99 in a row for Iowa State's varsity before losing the final match of his college career.

Rocky Marciano's 49 consecutive wins from 1947 to 1956, during his unbeaten pro career.

The converted starter set a major league record of 84 consecutive converted save chances between August 2002 and July 2004.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist went undefeated in international wrestling competition for 13 years (1987-2000), not even giving up a point during the last six years of the streak.

In winning four consecutive Stanley Cups and appearing in the Cup final the following year, the Islanders won 19 straight playoff series from 1980 to 1984, a record that is now widely believed to be nearly unbreakable due to the NHL's salary cap that makes it harder to keep winning teams together.

Tom Brady and the Patriots went 16-0 during the '07 regular season and helped New England set the longest winning streak in NFL history -- 21 consecutive games from 2003 to 2004.

A five-time world middleweight champion, Sugar Ray Robinson won 91 consecutive fights from Feb. 19, 1943, through July 1, 1951.

By winning its third consecutive national volleyball title on Dec. 20, 2009, Penn State made its case to be remembered as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, volleyball teams in NCAA history. Their championship victory over Texas extended the Nittany Lions' record winning streak to 102 straight matches. Penn State won seven more matches before falling to Stanford on Sept. 11, 2010. This ended the run at 109 matches -- the second-longest streak in Division I team sports, behind only the Miami men's tennis program's 137 straight victories from 1957 to '64.

Behind fearless leader Dan Gable, someone who knew a thing or two about winning streaks, the Iowa wrestling team won nine consecutive national championships from 1978 to 1986. The program continued its dominance by winning three more consecutive titles from 1991 to `93 and six from 1995 to 2000.