October 24, 1971: After playing their 1st home game of the season at their original home, the Cotton Bowl, the Dallas Cowboys open Texas Stadium in the suburb of Irving, Texas. They beat the New England Patriots 44-21.
They will go on to win Super Bowl VI at the end of the season. It will remain their home through the 2008 season, including 7 Super Bowl berths, winning 5 of them.
In the 1970s and '80s, they seemed to be on CBS so often, people begin to wonder if the Network's initials stood for Cowboys Broadcasting System. Like the Steelers, the Miami Dolphins, and the Oakland Raiders, the Cowboys gained a national following, because some of America's biggest TV markets didn't have much success.
Texas Stadium had a roof that covered the seating areas, but not the field. In other words, there was a hole in the roof. Cowboy fans joked it was there "so that God could look down on his favorite team." If God cared who won a sporting event, the Cowboys would never have gotten into a Super Bowl. I called the stadium "the Hole Bowl."
But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wanted more money than the revenue of Texas Stadium could provide, and so he built AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington. The last game at Texas Stadium was a 33-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on December 20, 2008. It was demolished on April 11, 2010.
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October 24, 1971 was a Sunday. Don McLean released his single "American Pie" the same day. I have a separate entry for that event.
This was also the day on which Chuck Hughes became the only NFL player to die on the field during a game. I have a separate entry for that event. In that game, the Chicago Bears beat Hughes' Detroit Lions, 28-23 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. In the other NFL games:
* The New York Giants lost to their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The New York Jets lost to the Miami Dolphins, 30-14 at Shea Stadium.
* The Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints, 28-6 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Houston Oilers, 23-16 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Cleveland Browns, 27-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 26-14 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the other Native American-themed team in the NFL, the Washington Redskins, 27-20 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Green Bay Packers, 30-13 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* The Oakland Raiders beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-27 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* The day before, the San Diego Chargers beat the Buffalo Bills, 20-3 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Baltimore Colts, 10-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
The baseball season ended a week earlier, when the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles in Game 7 of the World Series.
There were 4 games played in the NBA:
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 111-93 at the Cleveland Arena.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets, 113-103 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. Elvin Hayes had 35 points and 19 rebounds for the Rockets, but, for the Lakers, Gail Goodrich scored 31, Flynn Robinson had 23, and Wilt Chamberlain had 17. Jerry West did not play.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Phoenix Suns, 105-104 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Cincinnati Royals, 119-101 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:
* The New York Nets lost to the Memphis Pros, 111-103 at the Mid-South Coliseum. Rick Barry scored 44 for the Nets, but it wasn't enough.
* The Utah Stars beat the Pittsburgh Condors, 119-116 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* And the Kentucky Colonels beat the Miami Floridians, 116-110 at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Dan Issel scored 44 for the Colonels.
And there were 6 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 1-1 at the new Madison Square Garden.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The California Golden Seals beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
* And the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs were not scheduled.
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