October 15, 1967: Luigi "Gigi" Meroni darts into traffic on the Corso Re Umberto in Turin, Italy, and is hit by a car. The star winger for Torino F.C. was only 24 years old, and had just played in a 4-2 win over Genoa team Sampdoria.
Known as La Farfalla Granata (the Maroon Butterfly, for the color of Torino's shirts and for his fluttering around the field) and Il Beatnik del Gol (the Beatnik of Goals, for his bohemian lifestyle), Meroni was the matinee idol of Italian soccer. He became known for his stylish play, and had appeared for Italy in its ill-fated 1966 World Cup run that was tainted by a shocking loss to North Korea.
Torino, in the shadow of neighboring Juventus since the 1949 Superga Air Disaster killed most of their team, was on the rise again, and went on to win that season's Coppa Italia (and won it again 3 years later, and reached the Final the season before that). They won the Italian league, Serie A, in 1976, and finished 2nd in 1977, by which point Meroni would have been 34 and could still have been playing. They could have won more.
Known as La Farfalla Granata (the Maroon Butterfly, for the color of Torino's shirts and for his fluttering around the field) and Il Beatnik del Gol (the Beatnik of Goals, for his bohemian lifestyle), Meroni was the matinee idol of Italian soccer. He became known for his stylish play, and had appeared for Italy in its ill-fated 1966 World Cup run that was tainted by a shocking loss to North Korea.
Torino, in the shadow of neighboring Juventus since the 1949 Superga Air Disaster killed most of their team, was on the rise again, and went on to win that season's Coppa Italia (and won it again 3 years later, and reached the Final the season before that). They won the Italian league, Serie A, in 1976, and finished 2nd in 1977, by which point Meroni would have been 34 and could still have been playing. They could have won more.
*
October 15, 1967 was a Sunday. There was 1 game played in the NBA: The St. Louis Hawks beat the San Francisco Warriors, 107-102 at the Cow Palace in the San Francisco suburb of Daly City, California. The Hawks were in their last season in St. Louis. In 1968, they moved to Atlanta.
There was 1 game in the new American Basketball Association. It was the debut game of the Denver Rockets, beating the Anaheim Amigos, 110-105 at the Denver Auditorium. They renamed themselves after Denver's 1st NBA team, becoming the Denver Nuggets in 1974, and join the NBA in 1976.
There were 4 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2 at the Boston Garden.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-3 at the Long Beach Convention Center, outside Los Angeles. Their intended arena, The Forum in nearby Inglewood, wasn't ready, and didn't open until December 30.
In the NFL:
* The New York Giants beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-24 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-27 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia
* The Los Angeles Rams and the Baltimore Colts played to a tie, 24-24 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Washington Redskins and the Atlanta Falcons played to a tie, 20-20 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).
* The Cleveland Browns beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 20-16 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions, 14-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 10-7 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* And the Dallas Cowboys beat the New Orleans Saints, 14-10 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
And in the American Football League:
* The New York Jets and the Houston Oilers played to a tie, 28-28 at Shea Stadium.
* The Boston Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins, 41-10 at Alumni Stadium, on the campus of Boston College, just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The Pats played home games at Fenway Park from 1963 to 1968, so this was their 1st home game of the season after 4 away games and a bye, and they still couldn't use Fenway for practice because the Boston Red Sox were in the World Series, so the game was moved to B.C.
* The Oakland Raiders beat the Buffalo Bills, 24-20 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 45-31 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).
* And the Denver Broncos had a bye week.
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