December 13, 1996: Jerry Maguire premieres, directed by Cameron Crowe. Tom Cruise plays, the title character, an athletes' agent. Being an agent -- in either sports or show business -- is not a good way to make yourself look sympathetic. Then again, by the 2020s, neither was being Tom Cruise.
Jerry writes a mission statement for his firm, about perceived dishonesty in business and his desire to work with fewer clients to produce a better, more caring personal relationship with them. In response, the firm sends Bob Sugar (played by Jay Mohr), Jerry's protégé, to fire him. This spurs both men to race to call every one of Jerry's clients to retain them.
Jerry speaks to Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rod Tidwell, a smaller client who is disgruntled with his pay. This was the 1st time that Cuba Gooding Jr. played a football player, eventually playing O.J. Simpson. Rod gets Jerry to promise him that he will get a team to "Show me the money!" As a result, Rod remains the only client he keeps, as Bob gets all the others.
Jerry tells his ex-colleagues that he's starting his own agency, but only Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger), a single mother, agrees to join him. Jerry breaks up with his fiancée, Avery (Kelly Preston), after she becomes emotionally unsupportive. He turns to Dorothy, becoming closer to her young son Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki).
Jerry can't negotiate a good deal with the Cardinals for Rod. Without any money coming in, Dorothy knows that Jerry cannot afford payroll, so she decides to move to San Diego for a more secure job offer with health benefits. Afraid of losing Dorothy, Jerry proposes marriage to share health benefits, and she agrees.
Over the next several months, Rod and Jerry grow closer through a series of open and difficult conversations as they struggle to secure him a contract; Rod tells Jerry that he wants him to be honest, while Jerry tells Rod, "Help me, help you," convincing him to stop complaining and start playing with his heart. Rod takes Jerry's advice, playing well and advancing the Cardinals. Jerry's marriage with Dorothy struggles, however, so she suggests they amicably separate before losing too much of their lives to each other.
During a Christmas Day Monday Night Football game between the Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys, Rod catches a winning touchdown that secures the playoffs for the Cardinals, but appears to receive a serious in the process. After a few minutes, he regains consciousness and does a celebratory dance. Jerry and Rod embrace in front of the media, and show how their relationship has progressed from strictly business to a close personal one, which was a point Jerry made in his mission statement.
Triggering a realization, Jerry immediately flies home, finding Dorothy in a meeting of her sister Laurel's divorcee support group. The group watches as Jerry gives an impassioned speech telling Dorothy he needs her, to which she responds, "Shut up: You had me at 'Hello.'"
The film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor for Cruise, Best Supporting Actor for Gooding, Best Film Editing for Joe Hutshing, and Best Screenplay -- but not Best Director -- for Crowe. At the Oscar ceremony 3 months after the film's release, host Billy Crystal noted Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient, Woody Harrelson in The People vs. Larry Flynt, Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade, Geoffrey Rush in Shine, and Cruise, and said, "Look at the nominees for Best Actor: They're all damaged guys! Burned guy, paralyzed guy, mentally handicapped guy, mentally abused guy, agent! And four of the five are treatable!" But only Gooding won, as Rush won Best Actor, and The English Patient won Best Picture.
Art imitated life, twice: The Cardinals really did play the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day and on ABC Monday Night Football in 1995, at Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. But, in real life, the Cowboys won, 37-13. And on Coach, also on ABC, the fictional Orlando Breakers avoided a winless season by beating the Cardinals on Christmas and on MNF.
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December 13, 1996 was a Friday. Baseball player Gleyber Torres was born.
Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 8 games in the NBA:
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Chicago Bulls, 113-92 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. Michael Jordan scored 32 points.
* The Washington Bullets beat the Denver Nuggets, 108-104 at the US Airways Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 84-75 at the Charlotte Coliseum.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors, 101-87 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Boston Celtics, 97-94 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Phoenix Suns, 108-105 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 120-119 in overtime at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Shaquille O'Neal scored 34 points for the Lakers, while Kenny Anderson scored 34 for the Blazers.
* And the Vancouver Grizzlies beat the Orlando Magic, 95-93 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
And there were 6 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0 at the Marine Midland Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.
* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.
* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.
* The Dallas Stars beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Washington Capitals, 5-4 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
* And the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-0 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).
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