November 5, 2021: Disaster strikes the Astroworld Festival, at NRG Park in Houston, to the west of the complex which includes NRG Stadium, the Astrodome, the NRG Arena (formerly the Astroarena), and the NRG Center (the convention center formerly known as Astroworld).
Rapper Travis Scott, born Jacques Bermon Webster II in Houston in 1991, founded the festival in 2018, to promote music in his hometown. The 2021 show was sold out, over 50,000 tickets. Scott's girlfriend, cosmetics mogul Kylie Jenner, and her sister, supermodel Kendall Jenner -- daughters of Kris Jenner and Caitlin (formerly Bruce) Jenner, and half-sisters of the Kardashian sisters -- were in attendance.
Scott is known for hyping up crowds, writing in his song "Stargazing," "It ain't a mosh pit if ain't no injuries." At this show, chaos ensued as the crowd rushed forward, creating one big mosh pit.
People were packed together so tightly that they were slowly being crushed. Many could not breathe properly. Some concert-goers fainted and suffered heart attacks. It became a rap version of the 1979 Who concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.
Scott noticed that one fan was in trouble, so he called medics to come in and assist. However, as they were taking away the unconscious victim, Scott continued to sing. There were over 300 people admitted to hospitals with injuries, and 10 died, 1 fewer than in the Riverfront concert in '79. The Jenner sisters were not among the injured.
In spite of his efforts to help one victim, Scott did not find out about any of the deaths until the next morning. He fully cooperated with the authorities, and was not charged with any crime. He offered to pay for the funerals of the victims. All 10 families turned him down.
Chuck D of the legendary rap group Public Enemy released an open letter defending Scott, and criticizing concert promoters Live Nation: "I’m not buying 'The Young Black Man did it.' He's being blamed for a crime, while the old white men running the corps that Travis and his fans trusted with their lives stay quiet in the shadows, counting their money and watching their stock prices go up and up."
Nevertheless, Scott saw many of his endorsement deals vanish quickly, and his appearance at the 2022 Coachella Festival was canceled. He has yet to recover commercially. As of November 5, 2022, no one has been charged with any crime in connection with the disaster, while civil lawsuits have been filed, and have yet to go to trial.
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November 5, 2021 was a Friday. The baseball season had ended 2 days earlier, with the Atlanta Braves beating the Houston Astros in the World Series.
Two college football games were played. Boston College beat Virginia Tech, 17-3 at Alumni Stadium outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. And Utah beat Stanford, 52-7 at the new Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California.
There were 9 games in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 113-98 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Detroit Pistons, 96-90 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
* The Washington Wizards beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 115-87 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Orlando Magic, 102-89 at the Amway Center in Orlando. (It's now named the Kia Center.)
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Rapotors, 102-101 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-84 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 126-85 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
* The Sacramento Kings beat the Charlotte Hornets, 140-110 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Indiana Padcers, 110-106 at the Moda Center in Portland.
And there were 5 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Edmonton Oilers, 6-5 at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Leon Draisatl scored the winning goal with 1:33 left in overtime.
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Alex Iafallo scored the winning goal, 42 seconds into overtime.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-1 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.
* The Anaheim Ducks beat the Arizona Coyotes, 3-1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
* And the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver. (Not to be confused with Rogers Place in Edmonton, or the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Rogers SportsNet is a Canadian TV network.)
And in the New Jersey high school football playoffs, in Central Jersey Group V, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, lost to Toms River North, 28-14 at Mariner Field in Toms River, Ocean County.
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