July 14, 1985: The Last USFL Game

Kelvin Bryant carrying the ball for the Stars

July 14, 1985: The Baltimore Stars defeat the Oakland Invaders, 28-24, in the United States Football League Championship Game, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (the Meadowlands). The Stars' head coach was Jim Mora Sr. On that night, it was okay to talk to him about Playoffs.

It rained. In 49 years of Super Bowls, the NFL has gotten rain only once, and it wasn't that hard. Indeed, there hasn't been truly bad weather for an NFL Championship Game since the Ice Bowl in 1967 -- for a true world championship game since the 1958 Giants-Colts thriller.

No one knows it at the time, but this will be the last game ever played under the USFL banner. The league's team owners, and its Commissioner, Harry Usher, were bullied into announcing they were switching to a Fall schedule for 1986, to directly compete with the NFL, by the owner of the team in the New York market, the New Jersey Generals. He had already led an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL.

On July 29, 1986, a federal grand jury found in favor of the USFL in its antitrust suit against the NFL. However, the USFL was only awarded $1.00 in damages This was tripled to $3.00 under antitrust law, and, with interest, it eventually became $3.76. Let me spell that out: Three dollars and seventy-six cents.

The jury foreman explained that, while they agreed the NFL was a monopoly, they could not agree on the size of the award. As a result, the jury misinterpreted the law and decided on the $1 award, feeling it would be changed by the presiding judge. However, the judge was not able to increase the amount once it was stipulated by the jury. As a result, the league suspended operations a day later, never to return.

So the Generals' owner sank the entire league, mainly to feed his own ego. For the first time, he looked like an idiot in front of the entire country. His name was Donald Trump.

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July 14, 1985 was a Sunday. Darrelle Revis, Hall of Fame defensive back, was born on this day.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 7-1 at Yankee Stadium. It was not quite a rematch of the 1978 World Series: Ron Guidry went the distance for the win, while Burt Hooton, a Dodger in 1978, didn't get out of the 2nd inning. Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk. Don Mattingly went 0-for-3 with a walk. Rickey Henderson did not play.

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 1-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Dwight Gooden pitched a 5-hit shutout, striking out 11, to outpitch Bob Knepper. The only run came in the top of the 8th inning, when Kelvin Chapman grounded to 3rd, leading to a botched double play that allowed Ronn Reynolds (backup catcher to Gary Carter) to score.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Tom Seaver outpitched Mike Boddicker, for his 297th career win. Ozzie Guillén, later to manage the White Sox to the World Championship, went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. George Brett went 2-for-5.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Cincinnati native Dave Parker went 2-for-5, including singling César Cedeño home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Reds player-manager Pete Rose went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Walt Terrell got into the 8th inning having allowed just 1 hit, a double by Tom Brunansky in the 7th, outpitching Frank Viola, but he walked 2 batters. His manager, Sparky Anderson, who got the nickname "Captain Hook" for being so quick to remove, or "hook," pitchers while managing in Cincinnati, hooked Terrell for Willie Hernández, who was perfect the rest of the way.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Reggie Jackson went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Rod Carew went 1-for-2 with a walk before leaving the game with an injury.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Robin Yount went 2-for-5. Paul Molitor went 3-for-5.

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle.