December 31, 1999 & January 1, 2000: The Millennium

December 31, 1999: The Millennium arrives. The people of planet Earth made it. At a terrible cost. But we hadn't destroyed ourselves. It felt like a great achievement.

January 1, 2000: As time zone after time zone turned over from 11:59 to 12:00, there was great joy -- literally, all over the world.

It didn't last. So far, the 21st Century has been a bust. In words that have been attributed to Yankee Legend Yogi Berra, then 74 years old, "The future ain't what it used to be."

December 31, 1999 was a Friday. It was the day that Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia, handing the office over to the Prime Minister -- Vladimir Putin. It was the day that Elliot Richardson died. He remains the only person to serve the President of the United States in 4 different Cabinet posts, including Attorney General, an office he resigned rather than follow Richard Nixon's unconstitutional order in "the Saturday Night Massacre" in 1973.

It was also the day that actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones announced their engagement. They had to wait to get married until Douglas' divorce was final, holding the ceremony on November 18, 2000.

And the computer problem known as "The Y2K Bug"? Not much happened. A few minor things, like scattered automatic teller machines (ATMs) at banks not quite working properly. But that was it: The computers didn't cause an apocalypse, or even an inconvenient power outage.

Why? Because changing the format from one that would have followed 12-31-99 with 01-01-00, and thus caused computers to think it was January 1, 1900, and thus confuse them into not working, into one that would recognize 01-01-2000, was a problem that human society took seriously, and properly handled. We'll never know what would have happened if we got it wrong, because we, as a people, stepped up, did what we had to do, and got it right.

And nobody stepped forward to say that the Y2K Bug was just a hoax perpetrated by liberals to take away your freedom, like gun control already had been for 20 years, and COVID-19 would be 20 years later.

Baseball was out of season, and no NFL games were played. As it turned out, no NBA games were scheduled for the day, either.

There were 2 games scheduled in the NHL. One was, by NHL standards, an ancient rivalry, going back to 1926. At the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, the host Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks played to a 4-4 tie. (There would be no shootouts in the NHL until the 2005-06 season.)

And in a matchup that had only been possible for 6 years, the Dallas Stars beat the team then known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 5-4 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

This was also the day that the American Airlines Arena opened in Miami. Naturally, the choice to open it was a New Year's Eve concert by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. The building is now named the Miami-Dade Arena. (UPDATE: In 2023, it became the Kaseya Center.)

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January 1, 2000 was a Saturday. Isis Naija Gaston was born that day, and grew up to become the rapper Ice Spice.

Still no baseball, and still no NFL games. But there were 7 NHL games, about a half-full slate:

* One team in the New York Tri-State Area was in action: The New Jersey Devils traveled to what's now named the TD Garden, and played the Boston Bruins to a 2-2 tie.

* The St. Louis Blues and the Washington Capitals played to a 1-1 tie at what's now named the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

* In a regional rivalry, the Buffalo Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 8-1 at what's now named the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

* In a regional rivalry, the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-2 at what's now State Farm Arena in Atlanta. (The Thrashers became the new Winnipeg Jets in 2011.)

* In not just a regional but an intrastate rivalry, the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-5 at what's now named the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.

* The Nashville Predators beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at what's now named the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-4 at what's currently (presumably, temporarily) named the Phoenix Suns Arena in downtown Phoenix. (The Coyotes were renamed the Arizona Coyotes in 2014.)

And 6 college football bowl games were played:

* At 11:00 AM Eastern Time, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, the Outback Bowl was played: Number 21 Georgia beat Number 19 Purdue, 28-25.

* Also at 11 Eastern, 10:00 AM Central Time, at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, the Cotton Bowl Classic was played: Number 24 Arkansas beat Number 14 Texas, 27-6. This was once an intense rivalry, but Arkansas' 1992 move from the Southwest Conference to the Southeastern Conference moved it to the back burner.

* At 12:30 PM Eastern Time, at Alltel Stadium (now TIAA Bank Field) in Jacksonville, the Gator Bowl was played: Number 23 Miami beat Number 17 Georgia Tech, 28-13.

* At 1:00 PM Eastern Time, at the Florida Citrus Bowl (now Camping World Stadium) in Orlando, the Florida Citrus Bowl was played: Number 9 Michigan State beat Number 10 Florida, 37-34.

* At 4:30 PM Eastern Time, 1:30 Pacific Time, at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, the game of the same name was played: Number 4 Wisconsin beat Number 22 Stanford, 17-9.

* And at 8:30 PM Eastern Time, at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, the Orange Bowl was played: Number 8 Michigan beat Number 5 Alabama, 35-34.

It was a bit strange for it to be New Year's Day, and see Michigan playing in a game other than the Rose Bowl, and also to see Alabama playing on the day, but not in the Sugar Bowl.

Under the format then in place, the Bowl Championship Series, the Fiesta Bowl was played on January 2, at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. Number 3 Nebraska beat Number 6 Tennessee, 31-21.

And the matchup that the BCS was intended to set up? It was hard to argue that these 2 undefeated teams weren't the top 2 teams in the country. At the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, the Sugar Bowl was played between Number 1 Florida State and Number 2 Virginia Tech. Florida State won, 46-29.