November 18, 1973: Like a boxer who can't quit the ring, Frank Sinatra ends his retirement after 3 years, releasing his album Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. Gordon Jenkins arranged it, and Don Costa conducted the orchestra.
Ol' Blue Eyes was up to date: The songs included compositions by Joe Raposo, Teddy Randazzo, Paul Anka, Paul Williams and Kris Kristofferson. The best-known song, although his was not the best-known version, was Stephen Sondheim's "Send In the Clowns." Give that he was about to turn 58 years old, one line was especially poignant: "Isn't it rich, isn't it queer, losing my timing this late in my career?"
The night of the release, NBC aired the special Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra. Over 40 million people watched it. Nearly a year later, on October 12, 1974, Frank had a live album recorded at Madison Square Garden. With his love of boxing, it was titled The Main Event.
Eventually, Frank's 4th and last wife, Barbara, began calling herself "Lady Blue Eyes."
In 1991, Brent Spiner, who played the android Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation, recorded an album of standards. On the cover, he was in makeup, but wore a 1950s-style suit. The title was Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back.
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November 18, 1973 was a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. These games were played in the NFL:
* The New York Giants beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 24-13 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. The Giants moved there after Yankee Stadium was closed for renovation. They wanted to use City-owned Shea Stadium until their new stadium was ready in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but Mayor John Lindsay, angry at the Giants for leaving the City, wouldn't let them use it. So they played the rest of their 1973 home games and all of 1974 at Yale. In 1975, new Mayor Abe Beame let them use Shea, and Giants Stadium opened in 1976.
* The New York Jets lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-14 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The New England Patriots beat the Green Bay Packers, 33-24 at Schaefer Stadium (later Sullivan Stadium and Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
* The Washington Redskins beat the Baltimore Colts, 22-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills, 17-0 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-13 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 30-7 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Houston Oilers, 38-14 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the New Orleans Saints, 17-14 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).
* The Los Angeles Rams beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, 31-13 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* The Cleveland Browns beat the Oakland Raiders, 7-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Atlanta Falcons beat the Minnesota Vikings, 20-14 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).
Baseball was out of season. There were 4 games played in the NBA:
* The Buffalo Braves beat the Capital Bullets, 112-101 at the Cole Field House, on the campus of the University of Maryland, in the Washington suburb of College Park. The Bullets had been the Baltimore Bullets from 1963 to 1973, but had moved to the D.C. area. They were waiting for the Capital Centre to open in suburban Landover, Maryland. The following season, they renamed themselves the Washington Bullets. Bob McAdoo scored 43 points for the Braves.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 104-102 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 102-100 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics, 95-91 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Utah Stars beat the San Antonio Spurs, 83-80 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.
There were 4 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-0 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Atlanta Flames, 5-2 at the Boston Garden.
* The California Golden Seals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-0 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-4 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
And there were 6 games played in the World Hockey Association:
* The New York Golden Blades beat the Chicago Cougars, 5-3 at Madison Square Garden. A few days later, the Blades, formerly the New York Raiders, moved down the New Jersey Turnpike to the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, and became the Jersey Knights. They played out the 1973-74 season there, and moved across the country, becoming the San Diego Mariners.
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Houston Aeros, 8-3 at the Colisée de Québec.
* The Toronto Toros beat the Winnipeg Jets, 6-2 at Varsity Arena in Toronto.
* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2 at the Edmonton Gardens.
* The New England Whalers beat the Los Angeles Sharks, 5-2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
* And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Cleveland Crusaders, 8-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
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