October 24, 2002: Leicester City Football Club, going into administration as the result of the costs of moving into a new stadium and a larger wage bill for players, are saved by one of their greatest players.
Gary Winston Lineker was born on November 30, 1960 in Leicester, East Midlands, England. A forward, he played for hometown soccer team Leicester City from 1978 to 1985, and helped them gain promotion to the top flight in 1980. He played 1 season, 1985-86, for Liverpool team Everton -- a year after and a year before they won the League, but he did win the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year.
He went to F.C. Barcelona, helping them win the Copa del Rey (Spain's version of the FA Cup) in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989. He returned to England, and helped North London team Tottenham Hotspur win the 1991 FA Cup -- and they haven't won a major trophy since. (UPDATE: They won the League Cup in 1999 and 2008, but those are not major trophies. Whether the 2025 UEFA Europa League counts as a "major trophy" is a matter of opinion.)
But his time at "Spurs," including helping England reach the 1990 World Cup Semifinal, made him a beloved figure in his homeland. He was the Football League's leading scorer in 1985, 1986 and 1990.
He then started a media career, mostly with the BBC, and since 1999 has anchored the network’s most popular program (or, as they would spell it, "programme"): Match of the Day. He leads the pundits in promoting classically English teams like Spurs, Everton, Leicester, West Ham United, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, and, of course, the two biggies, Liverpool and Manchester United; and trashing Arsenal, the North London team known for its foreign influence.
When Leicester City went into administration (what the British call the legal form of bankruptcy) in 2002, as a result of moving from their Filbert Street ground to the new Walkers Stadium (now the King Power Stadium), he personally bailed them out, leading a consortium that contributed £5 million (at the time, about $3.5 million), with "six figures" of it (at least £100,000) being his own money. He described his involvement as "charity" rather than an "ego trip."
He met with fans' groups to persuade them to try and raise money to rescue the club, and it was eventually saved from liquidation. He was named the club's honorary Vice President.
He has donated heavily to leukemia charities (one of his sons is a survivor) and, in 2020, £140,000 (about $187,000 at the current exchange rate) to the British Red Cross for COVID-19 research.
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October 24, 2002 was a Thursday. This was also the day that the "Beltway Snipers," who killed 7 people in the Washington, D.C. area, were arrested. I have a separate entry for that event.
Game 5 of the World Series was played. The San Francisco Giants beat the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, 16-4. Jeff Kent hit 2 home runs. The most well-known moment in this game occurred in the bottom of the 7th inning, when Giants 1st baseman J.T. Snow scored off a Kenny Lofton triple. Three-year-old batboy Darren Baker, son of Giants manager Dusty Baker, ran to home plate to collect Lofton's bat before the play was completed, and was quickly lifted by the jacket by Snow with one hand as he crossed the plate, with David Bell close on his heels. Had Snow not acted quickly, Darren could have been seriously injured in a play at home plate.
The Giants were now 1 win away from winning the World Series for the 1st time in 1954, when they were still in New York. They would have to wait. Darren Baker was later drafted by the Washington Nationals as a 2nd baseman.
(UPDATE: In 2024, he played 9 games for the Nationals. These were his only major league games through the 2025 season.)
The NFL was in midweek. Two games were played in college football. Number 12 North Carolina State beat Clemson, 38-6 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. And Colorado State beat Brigham Young University, 37-10 at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The NBA season started 5 days later. There were 9 games in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators played to a tie, 2-2 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.
* The San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators, 2-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.
* The Minnesota Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the United Center in Chicago.
* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-2 at the American West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.
* The Dallas Stars and the Calgary Flames played to a tie, 3-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1 at the Skyreach Center (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.
* And the Vancouver Canucks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim played to a tie, 2-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.)
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