April 16, 2007: A massacre occurs on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a.k.a. Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, in the Shenandoah Mountains of western Virginia. (Not to be confused with West Virginia.)
Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old Korean immigrant and Tech student, shot 49 people, killing 32 of them, before killing himself. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in American history. In 2016 and 2017, it was surpassed by mass shootings in Orlando and Las Vegas, respectively.
Naturally, in the face of a heinous and preventable crime, the American federal government, led by George W. Bush, did nothing.
The Tech community rallied around the victims' families, and the New York Yankees even played a fundraising Spring Training game on campus. On March 18, 2008, the Yankees beat Tech, 11-0, in a game stopped after 7 innings. Oddly, the Yankees did it without hitting a home run. Attendance: 5,311.
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April 16, 2007 was a Monday. There were 10 games played in Major League Baseball on that day. Neither of the New York teams played in them:
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 7-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-7 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-6 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 12-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Houston Astros beat the Florida Marlins, 4-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-0 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Football was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:
* The New Jersey Nets beat the New York Knicks, 104-95 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat, 91-89 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (It's now named the Kaseya Center.)
* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the San Antonio Spurs, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns, 120-117 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Tracy McGrady had 39 points for the Rockets.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 122-107 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (It's now named the Ball Arena.)
* The Utah Jazz beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 130-93 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (then named the EnergySolutions Arena).
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 102-96 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
* And the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets -- a situation forced by the rebuilding of the Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina -- beat the Sacramento Kings, 125-118 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. (It's now named the Sleep Train Arena.)
And these games were played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, all in the 1st Round:
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. (It's now named the Benchmark International Arena.) The Lightning took a 2-1 lead, but the Devils took the next 3 to win the series.
* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum. The Sabres took a 2-1 lead, and won the series 4-1.
* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators, 3-1 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. (It's now named the SAP Center.) The Sharks took a 2-1 lead, and won the series 4-1.
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