November 29, 1975: Auto racers Graham Hill and Tony Brise, and 4 others, are killed – not in a racing crash, but in a plane crash, going down in a fog at Arkley golf course in North London.
I had resisted adding auto racing events to this feature, because I don't like the event, and consider to not be a sport. I finally changed my mind, given how many people are interested.
Hill, a Norton London native, was a Royal Navy veteran who won 2 Formula 1 titles and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972. He was 46. Erith, from Southeast London, was a Grand Prix rookie on Hill's team. He was only 23.
Hill remains the only driver to have completed the Triple Crown in both its World Drivers' Championship and Monaco Grand Prix versions. He was F1 World Champion in 1962 and 1968. He won the Monaco Grand Prix in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1966. And he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972.
Formula 1 (F1) racing is much more popular in Britain and Europe than it is in America -- mainly because, before the rise of cable TV allowed them to watch North American sports, there was room for it, since European sports was basically soccer first and everything else second. As a result, tragedies in auto racing are felt very deeply there, and Hill's death sent the Old World into mourning.
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November 29, 1975 was a Saturday. It was the conclusion of college football rivalry week. On Thanksgiving, Number 15 Georgia beat Georgia Tech, 42-26 at Grant Field in Atlanta. And Temple beat Villanova, 41-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
On the Friday, Number 2 Texas A&M beat Number 5 Texas, 20-10 at Kyle Field in College Station. And Number 14 UCLA, the University of California at Los Angeles beat USC, the University of Southern California, 25-22 at their then common home field, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This earned UCLA the Pacific-Eight Conference title.
Number 1 Ohio State, having beaten Michigan, who fell to Number 9 that week, won the Big Ten Conference title, and the accompanying bid to the Rose Bowl. But UCLA beat them, costing them the National Championship. UCLA were coached by Dick Vermeil, who was subsequently hired by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles.
This was the 1st year that the Big 10 let a team other than its Champion play in a bowl game, a response to the 10-10 tie between undefeated Michigan and undefeated Ohio State in 1973. Michigan were invited to the Orange Bowl.
These were among the games played on that Saturday:
* Number 4 Alabama beat Auburn, 28-0 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. It clinched the Southeastern Conference title for 'Bama.
* Number 6 Oklahoma and Number 7 Nebraska were idle, having played each other the week before. Oklahoma won, clinching the Big Eight Conference title. Oklahoma went on to beat Michigan in the Orange Bowl, and were awarded the National Championship.
* Number 8 Arizona State beat Number 12 Arizona, 24-21 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. This clinched the Western Athletic Conference title for Arizona State. Arizona State then went on to beat Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl, completing an undefeated season, 12-0. But because they were only a WAC team, they finished Number 2 in the polls. After 2 more seasons in the WAC, they and Arizona joined the Pac-8, making it the Pac-10.
* Number 10 Penn State were idle. They were invited to play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. 'Bama won.
* Number 13 Florida beat the University of Miami, 15-11 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
* Number 20 San Jose State were the only Top 20 team to lose on the day, losing to Hawaii, 30-20 at the new Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.
* Boston College beat Holy Cross, 24-10 at Fitton Field in Worcester, Massachusetts.
* Vanderbilt picked up a rare win over arch-rival Tennessee, 17-14 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
* Notre Dame had finished its schedule the preceding week, in what's become known as The Rudy Ruettiger Game.
* Navy beat Army, 30-6 at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia. The other service academy, Air Force, finished its schedule the previous Saturday.
* Rutgers beat Syracuse, 21-10 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway. The other New Jersey school, Princeton, finished its schedule the previous Saturday.
The next week, Texas A&M lost to Arkansas, costing them the Southwest Conference title, a bid to the Cotton Bowl, and a shot at the National Championship. Georgia were invited to the Cotton Bowl, where they also lost to Arkansas.
Baseball was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Detroit Pistons, 115-110 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 124-108 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls, 88-85 at the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. (It's now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.)
* The Houston Rockets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 99-98 at The Summit in Houston. (It became the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns, 112-100 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Buffalo Braves, 130-115 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Bob McAdoo of the Braves led all scorers on the day with 40 points.
There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Virginia Squires, 111-106 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs, 123-112 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. David Thompson scored 37 points.
* The Utah Stars beat the Spirits of St. Louis, 136-100 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.
There were 8 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The New York Islanders beat the St. Louis Blues, 8-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-4 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 1-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Boston Bruins and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 4-4 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Kansas City Scouts, 5-3 at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Buffalo Sabres, 8-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the California Golden Seals and the Atlanta Flames were not scheduled.
And there were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:
* The Indianapolis Racers beat the New England Whalers, 3-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).
* The Toronto Toros beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 9-5 at the Riverfront Coliseum (now the Heritage Bank Center) in Cincinnati.
* The Quebec Nordiques and the Phoenix Roadrunners played to a tie, 4-4 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* And the Calgary Cowboys beat the San Diego Mariners, 5-4 in overtime at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).
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