October 24, 2004: The Boston Red Sox take a 2-games-to-0 lead in the World Series with a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park. Curt Schilling, again wearing the Bloody Sock, gets the win. Orlando Cabrera‚ Mark Bellhorn‚ and Jason Varitek each drive in a pair of runs.
But, as disgusting as the Red Sox cheating their way to another win was, that wasn't the most disgusting sporting event that happened on this day. Not by a long shot.
Arsenal Football Club, of North London, had gone 49 straight Premier League games without a loss, a record streak for top-flight English "football" dating back to the founding of The Football League in 1888. Arsenal F.C. hadn't lost since Yorkshire team Leeds United beat them on May 7, 2003 -- 536 days. That included the entire 2003-04 season, making Arsenal the only "Invincibles" of the modern era.
But, as disgusting as the Red Sox cheating their way to another win was, that wasn't the most disgusting sporting event that happened on this day. Not by a long shot.
Arsenal Football Club, of North London, had gone 49 straight Premier League games without a loss, a record streak for top-flight English "football" dating back to the founding of The Football League in 1888. Arsenal F.C. hadn't lost since Yorkshire team Leeds United beat them on May 7, 2003 -- 536 days. That included the entire 2003-04 season, making Arsenal the only "Invincibles" of the modern era.
Making it 50 straight games without a loss would have been great semantically, but more important was who they were playing in Game 50: They went into Old Trafford, home of the other dominant team of the era, Manchester United. Either Arsenal or Man U had won the last 9 League titles, and 13 of the last 16.
The game was scoreless going into the 72nd minute (out of 90, so, 80 percent done), mainly because
The game was scoreless going into the 72nd minute (out of 90, so, 80 percent done), mainly because
United's players, particularly the Neville brothers -- right back Gary and midfielder Phil, not the singing Neville brothers of New Orleans -- were kicking Gunners forward José Antonio Reyes into oblivion, rendering him too timid to shoot. He was, literally, intimidated.
In addition, United's Dutch striker, Ruud van Nistelrooy -- nicknamed Van Horseface due to an uncanny facial resemblance to Seattle Slew -- had a challenge on Arsenal defender Ashley Cole that was clearly worthy of a straight red card. So the Red Devils should have been down to no more than 10 men, possibly as few as 8.
But the referee for this game was Mike Riley, and he hates Arsenal. He gave only 2 cards to United throughout the match, a yellow each to the Neville brothers. Indeed, van Nistelrooy was retroactively given the punishment he would have gotten if, in fact, he had received a straight red during the game: 3 domestic games. (2 yellows, which equal 1 red, would have been a mere 1-game suspension.)
In that 72nd minute, United's young striker, Wayne Rooney, on his 19th birthday, executed a blatant dive in the 18-yard box, going down without being touched, in an attempt to be awarded a penalty kick. Instead of properly giving him a straight red card and sending him off, Riley called a foul on Arsenal defender Sol Campbell, who never even touched Rooney. It was a completely bogus call, and Riley awarded a penalty, which van Nistelrooy converted. Rooney added another goal that he didn't deserve to even be on the pitch for, in the 90th minute, and United had unfairly won, 2-0.
The fireworks for this most dubious of games in the long and fractious history of Arsenal-Manchester United matches were hardly over at the final whistle. Despite being teammates on the national side, Campbell refused to shake Rooney's hand, a deserved mark of disrespect. Entering the tunnel to head to the locker rooms, United manager Alex Ferguson was hit in the face by a slice of pizza from the postgame spread in Arsenal's locker room.
In addition, United's Dutch striker, Ruud van Nistelrooy -- nicknamed Van Horseface due to an uncanny facial resemblance to Seattle Slew -- had a challenge on Arsenal defender Ashley Cole that was clearly worthy of a straight red card. So the Red Devils should have been down to no more than 10 men, possibly as few as 8.
But the referee for this game was Mike Riley, and he hates Arsenal. He gave only 2 cards to United throughout the match, a yellow each to the Neville brothers. Indeed, van Nistelrooy was retroactively given the punishment he would have gotten if, in fact, he had received a straight red during the game: 3 domestic games. (2 yellows, which equal 1 red, would have been a mere 1-game suspension.)
In that 72nd minute, United's young striker, Wayne Rooney, on his 19th birthday, executed a blatant dive in the 18-yard box, going down without being touched, in an attempt to be awarded a penalty kick. Instead of properly giving him a straight red card and sending him off, Riley called a foul on Arsenal defender Sol Campbell, who never even touched Rooney. It was a completely bogus call, and Riley awarded a penalty, which van Nistelrooy converted. Rooney added another goal that he didn't deserve to even be on the pitch for, in the 90th minute, and United had unfairly won, 2-0.
In contrast to the 2 yellow cards on United, Riley had actually given Arsenal 3 yellow cards -- and the alleged penalty foul by Campbell wasn't one of them.
The fireworks for this most dubious of games in the long and fractious history of Arsenal-Manchester United matches were hardly over at the final whistle. Despite being teammates on the national side, Campbell refused to shake Rooney's hand, a deserved mark of disrespect. Entering the tunnel to head to the locker rooms, United manager Alex Ferguson was hit in the face by a slice of pizza from the postgame spread in Arsenal's locker room.
The game became known as "The Battle of the Buffet" -- a 1990 match between the teams, featuring a fight, had already been given the name "The Battle of Old Trafford" -- and, as it turned out, the Arsenal player who threw the slice was 17-year-old Spanish midfield wizard Cesc Fàbregas. As it also turned out, this, not anything he did on the field from 2003 to 2011, was the best thing Fàbregas did in an Arsenal uniform.
In 2009, Mike Riley was appointed the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the governing body for English soccer referees. Arsenal have not won the Premier League since 2004. That is not a coincidence, although Riley's influence over such corrupt referees as Mike Dean, Howard Webb, Phil Dowd, Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver is just one reason. (UPDATE: He stepped down in 2023.)
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October 24, 2004 was a Sunday. The NBA season didn't start for another 9 days. The NHL players were locked out by the team owners, and, eventually, the entire 2004-05 season was canceled. These NFL games were played that day:
* The New York Giants lost to the Detroit Lions, 28-13 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
* The New York Jets lost to their arch-rivals, the New England Patriots, 13-7 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Buffalo Bills, 20-6 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the Carolina Panthers, 17-6 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Chicago Bears, 19-7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the St. Louis Rams, 31-14 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Cleveland Browns, 34-31 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field). Jeff Garcia sent the game to overtime with a 4-yard quarterback draw for the Browns, but David Akers kicked a 50-yard field goal with 5:02 left in overtime to win it for the Eagles.
* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Indianapolis Colts, 27-24 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Josh Scobee kicked a 53-yard field goal with 38 seconds left to win it.
* The Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 41-20 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Tennessee Titans, 20-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Atlanta Falcons, 56-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Yes, you read that right: Fifty-six to ten.
* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Seattle Seahawks, 25-17 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.
* The New Orleans Saints beat the Oakland Raiders, 31-26 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Denver Broncos, 23-10 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.
* And the Houston Texans, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins had a bye week.
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