December 25, 1991: Mikhail Gorbachev Resigns, the End of the Soviet Union

December 25, 1991: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union. The next day, the Supreme Soviet dissolved, its last act being to dissolve the Soviet Union itself after 74 years.

Gorbachev had been named President in 1985, after the death of Konstantin Chernenko, the last of the old-line Communists. Born in 1931, Gorbachev was the 1st Soviet leader who did not remember the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. So he was uniquely poised to lead reforms, which he called "perestroika" (reconstruction) for domestic change, and "glasnost" (openness) for foreign relations.

That gave the West a chance to make peaceful overtures to a changing adversary. Britain's Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, said in an interview, "I like Mr. Gorbachev. We can do business together." The equally conservative American President, Ronald Reagan, met with him in 5 summits: In Geneva, Switzerland in 1985; in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1986; in Washington in 1987, signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty; in Moscow in the Summer of 1988; and in New York toward the end of the year, including President-elect George H.W. Bush.

In 1987, Time magazine named Gorbachev its Man of the Year, recognizing him as the person who had most affected the news during the calendar year. (Remember: It's not an "award" that a person "wins.") In 1989, suggesting that he deserved it again, and then som, Time named him Man of the Decade. In 1990, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

But the hardline Communists of Gorbachev's generation didn't like the changes he was making to what those of their forefathers had done. In August 1991, he was overthrown in a coup. But Boris Yeltsin, already President of the substate the Russian Federation, rallied the country, getting the Red Army on his side. With several of the Soviet "republics" having already declared their independence, the plotters could not expect help from elsewhere, and the coup collapsed. After 4 days, Gorbachev was back in power.

But he had very little support. The country had still rallied around Yeltsin, who was seen as even more of a reformer. Gorbachev become the opposite of "a man without a country": He was, in effect, a one-man country. On Christmas Day, he bowed to the inevitable, and resigned his office.

Gorbachev continued to advocate for social-democratic reform, was a critic of current Russian President Vladimir Putin, and died on August 30, 2022, at the age of 91.

The sad part is, the end of the Soviet Union was not the end of tyranny in its former lands. Putin ruled the Russian Federation with an iron fist from 2000 until 2008, when the country's Constitution term-limited him out. So his Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, became President, while Putin became Prime Minister. Before Medvedev's term ran out in 2012, the Constitution was amended to allow Putin to return in 2012, and to have no limits.

Meanwhile, some of the other former Soviet "republics" had their own dictators: Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan, 1990-2006; Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan, 1991-2016; Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan, 1991-2019; Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus, since 1994; Emomali Rahmon, Tajikistan, since 1994; and Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan, since 2003.

It's as if these countries decided, "We don't want to be a part of the Soviet Union, but we do like what the Soviets do, we just want to do it ourselves."

Following viewer demands for a battle with a Russian, a 2013 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, featured a five-man "battle royale": "Nice" Peter Shukoff played Rasputin, Vladimir Lenin and Vladimir Putin; while "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist played Joseph Stalin and Mikhail Gorbachev.

*

December 25, 1991 was a Wednesday. Baseball was in midseason. There was 1 college football game: Georgia Tech beat Stanford, 18-17, in the Aloha Bowl at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The NHL, as usual, did not play on Christmas Day. The NBA usually does, and there were 2 games. The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 121-99 at the Chicago Stadium. Michael Jordan scored 14 points; on his own team, he was outscored by Scottie Pippen (27), B.J. Armstrong (18) and Horace Grant (17). But the Celtics were crumbling, and this would be the last season for Larry Bird.

And the Los Angeles Lakers went back to their 1st home in L.A., the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, and beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 85-75.

December 4, 1991: The Fall of Pan Am

December 4, 1991: Pan American Airways goes out of business. So much for one of America's airborne "flag carriers."

It was founded on March 14, 1927 in Key West, Florida, by U.S. Army Air Corps officers Henry "Hap" Arnold, Carl Spaatz and John Jouett. Arnold would go on to become a 5-Star General of the U.S. Army, and, following the U.S. Air Force's separation from the Army in 1947, the only 5-Star General it has ever had.

Pan Am outgrew its role as a mail carrier, and in 1929, it began flying passengers up and down the Americas, North and South. In 1937, Pan Am Clipper planes began service to Europe. On March 7, 1963, the 808-foot-high, 59-story Pan Am Building opened in Midtown Manhattan. On February 7, 1964, a Pan Am Boeing 727-321, Clipper Defiance, took The Beatles from Heathrow International Airport in London to the newly-renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. In 1966, Pan Am peaked at 6.7 million passengers, going to 86 countries, and billed itself as "the World's Most Experienced Airline."

Director Stanley Kubrick chose Pan Am as the brand for the "Space Clipper" taking passengers to the Moon in his 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. No one had any idea that, in 2001, Pan Am would no longer exist, or that Americans wouldn't be going to the Moon -- or that the most prominent use of American airliners that year would be for terrorism. And in 1982, the film Blade Runner, set in 2019, showed ads for Pan Am in downtown Los Angeles.

The golden age ended with the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. As the 1970s wore on, Pan Am sought mergers with American Airlines, Eastern Air Lines, Trans World Airlines (TWA) and United Airlines, but they were threatened with antitrust lawsuits from the federal government. In 1980, with no objection from the feds, they bought the bankrupt National Airlines. This turned out to be the dumbest thing they could have done, as they assumed National's debts, too.

In 1981, they sold the Intercontinental Hotel chain, and sold the Pan Am Building to Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife), though they kept their headquarters there. Pan Am sold their Pacific fleet and their hub at Tokyo-Narita International Airport in 1985. That same month, a Transport Workers Union (TWU) strike began, costing them a lot of money.

In 1987, they bought Ransome Airline, rebranded it as Pan Am Express, and turned it into a Northeast shuttle service: New York to Washington and New York to Boston. This didn't work, either. That same year, a takeover bid by a company whose executives included financier and eventual convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein failed. The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 was a blow from which they never recovered. They tried to buy Northwest Airlines in 1989, but failed.

The airline's doom came with the rising oil costs of the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91. Delta Airlines bought Pan Am out, and phased the name out on December 4, 1991. Eastern, in operation since 1926, had also shut down that year, on January 18, its assets split between purchases by American Airlines and Continental Airlines.

In 1993, MetLife renamed the Pan Am Building the MetLife Building, even though there were already 2 other buildings with that name in Manhattan. The building has now had the MetLife name longer than the Pan Am name.

In 2011, ABC began broadcasting the drama series Pan Am, set in 1963, and based around pilots and flight attendants for the airline. Despite starring Christina Ricci and an as-yet-unknown-in-America Margot Robbie, the show failed to tap into the nostalgia for 1960s naughtiness that made AMC's Mad Men popular, was grounded after just 14 episodes.

In 2022, Pan Am's historical records and trademarks were acquired by CSX Corporation, which also holds the rights to such defunct companies as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O or "Chessie System"), the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N).

*

December 4, 1991 was a Wednesday. Reality Winner, the Air Force officer imprisoned for leaking information about Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election, was born on this day.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat, 124-97 at the Boston Garden.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 124-106 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Orlando Magic, 124-115 at the Orlando Arena. Clyde Drexler led all scorers on the day with 34 points.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Indiana Pacers, 114-108 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 108-102 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Washington Bullets, 101-74 at the brand-new Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 92-81 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

And there were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-0 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Hartford Whalers, 3-0 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-4 at the Winnipeg Arena.

November 17, 1991: The Mike Utley Game

November 17, 1991: The Detroit Lions beat the Los Angeles Rams, 21-10 at the Pontiac Silverdome. But guard Mike Utley breaks his neck on a freak play, landing on his head on the artificial turf.

The Seattle native, who was in his 3rd season in the NFL, regained the use of his arms and hands, and returned to the Silverdome a year later, as honorary captain for their annual Thanksgiving game – just 3 days before Dennis Byrd of the Jets had his temporarily paralyzing injury.

An All-American at Washington State University, Utley was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. As of November 17, 2022, he is 55 years old, and still raising money for spinal cord research. He's even gone skydiving. Told he shouldn't, he said, "What am I going to do, break my neck?"

*

November 17, 1991 was a Sunday. These other games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys, 22-9 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets beat the New England Patriots, 28-21 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxboro, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 17-10 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 43-7 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Cleveland Browns, 28-24 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-14 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 35-21 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Denver Broncos beat their arch-rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, 24-20 at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the New Orleans Saints, 24-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Seattle Seahawks, 31-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Phoenix Cardinals, 14-10 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 41-27 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Baseball was out of season. There were 2 games in the NBA. The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 101-91 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 111-89 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And there were 3 games in the NHL:

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* And the Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at the Chicago Stadium.

November 9, 1991: Memphis: Blue Pyramid, Red Ink, White Elephant

November 9, 1991: The Great American Pyramid opens in Memphis, Tennessee. The sports arena's design was somewhat appropriate, as Memphis was named for a city in ancient Egypt. At 321 feet high, it is the tallest building ever built to house sporting events in North America. For comparison's sake, AT&T Stadium outside Dallas, so big that it's been nicknamed The Death Star, is 320 feet at its peak, not quite breaking the record.

The Mid-South Coliseum had hosted college and pro basketball games, minor-league hockey games, and concerts starting in 1964, but did not have the modern amenities that sports teams now demand, making it unlikely that the city could attract an NBA team.

But since the American Basketball Association team known as the Memphis Pros in the 1970-71 and 1971-72 seasons, the Memphis Tams in 1972-73 and 1973-74, and the Memphis Sounds in 1974-75 folded, the Blues City had been without a major league sports team -- unless you count the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The 1987 announcement of expansion teams for the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons included Charlotte, Miami and Orlando, all Southern teams, and Northern team Minnesota, but not Memphis.

The Pyramid was built on the bank of the Mississippi River, just north of the Hernando de Soto Bridge, which carries U.S. Route 40 over the River, to West Memphis, Arkansas. Built in 1973 and also known as the M Bridge, because its cantilevered shape makes it look like an M for Memphis, the de Soto is sometimes called "the New Bridge." "The Old Bridge" opened in 1949, is officially known as the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, nicknamed the M&A, and carries Interstate 55. The M&A is "the Mississippi River Bridge" mentioned in Chuck Berry's song "Memphis," turned into hit covers by Lonnie Mack (instrumental) and Johnny Rivers (vocal).

The biggest team to move into the Pyramid at its opening was the men's basketball team at Memphis State University, which was renamed the University of Memphis in 1994. The NBA's 1993 announcement of expansion teams for the 1995-96 season put teams in Canada: The Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies. But the Grizzlies failed in Vancouver, and were moved to Memphis for the 2001-02 season.

In 1993, the Pyramid hosted the men's and women's basketball tournaments for the Great Midwest Conference. It hosted the Southeastern Conference's men's tournament in 1994 and 1997, Conference USA's men's tournament in 1996 and 2000, CUSA's women's tournament in 2003, NCAA men's tournament games in 1995, 1997 and 2001; and the Memphis Pharaohs of the Arena Football League in 1995 and 1996. In 2002, Lennox Lewis knocked Mike Tyson out there.

The Grizzlies are one seriously messed-up franchise. Their failure in Vancouver can be explained by playing at the same time as a hockey team in Canada. (In contrast, soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps play the other time of the year, and are doing well.) But while the Pyramid was designed to lure an NBA team to Memphis, it was considered unsuitable for 81 games a year. So a new arena was built in 2004, the FedEx Forum. The University of Memphis also moved from the Pyramid to the Forum.

Still, despite being the only major league team in town, the Grizzlies have not done well, either at the box office or on the court. Only once have they ever made the Conference Finals, in 2013, and they got swept. But they won't move, because they're all Memphis has got at the major league level. Like Nashville, their baseball team is Class AAA. And the NFL, the NHL and MLS have chosen Nashville over Memphis. It does seem to make sense, as Nashville is the larger city, with (according to the 2020 Census) 689,000 people to Memphis' 633,000, and a metropolitan area with 2.1 million people to Memphis' 1.3 million.

The Pyramid went dark after the Grizzlies and the Tigers left. In 2005, a plan was put forward to convert it into a retail complex, headed by a Bass Pro Shops store, but it took until 2010 to get it approved and for construction to start. Until then, it was unusable, an embarrassing "white elephant" for one of America's greatest cities.

Finally, the complex opened in 2015. There's also restaurants, a bowling alley, and an aquarium. It gets 3 million visitors a year.

UPDATE: The Grizzlies don't yet have a team Hall of Fame. They have retired 3 numbers: 9, for 2010-17 guard Tony Allen; 33, for 2008-19 center Marc Gasol; and 50, for 2009-17 forward Zach Randolph. They have also honored 1995-2005 broadcaster Don Poier with a banner; and announced that they will retire 11 for 2007-19 guard Mike Conley Jr. when he retires as a player.

Carter has also played for the Grizzlies, 2014-17. Gasol's brother, forward Pau Gasol, played for them 2001-08. Guard Allen Iverson played 3 games for them in 2009. Hubie Brown was their head coach, 2002-04. And Jerry West was their general manager, 2002-07. All have been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. None were involved with them in Vancouver.

Thus far, Zach Randolph is the only Grizzlies figure elected to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

*

November 9, 1991 was a Friday. Actor Anthony Ramos was born.

Baseball season was over. These were among the college football games played:

* Number 1 Florida State beat South Carolina, 38-10 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

* Number 2 Miami beat West Virginia, 27-3 at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami. The next week, they played Number 1 Florida State, one of their major rivals. Oddly, I don't remember it being promoted as "The Game of the Century." Miami won, as Florida State missed a field goal on the last play of the game. The same thing happened between the teams the next year. The games became known as "Wide Right I" and "Wide Right II," respectively, and each one cost the Seminoles a shot at the National Championship. Each time, the Hurricanes kept theirs.

Not yet members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Florida State accepted a berth in the Cotton Bowl. Miami accepted a berth in the Orange Bowl game, on their home field.

* Number 3 Washington beat USC, 14-3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Washington won the Pacific-10 Conference title, and received the accompanying berth in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 4 Michigan beat Northwestern, 59-14 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Michigan won the Big Ten Conference title, and received the accompanying berth in the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Washington.

Both Washington and Miami were 12-0. The National Championship vote couldn't have been much closer: The Associated Press (AP), the poll of college football writers, gave Miami the title by 4 votes; while United Press International (UPI), the poll of college football coaches, gave Washington the title by 9 votes. This split poll was one of the pushes forward the idea of a Playoff needed.

* Number 5 Notre Dame were upset by Number 13 Tennessee, 35-34 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Despite losing again to Penn State the next week, the Fighting Irish were invited to the Sugar Bowl, where they beat Florida.

* Number 6 Florida beat Number 23 Georgia, 45-13 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, the neutral site for their rivalry, "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." Florida went on to win the Southeastern Conference title, and accepted the accompanying bid to the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to Notre Dame.

* Number 7 University of California beat Oregon State, 27-14 at Parker Stadium (now Reser Stadium) in Corvallis, Oregon. Cal had already blown the Pac-10 title by losing to Washington, but they did go to the Florida Citrus Bowl, where they beat Clemson.

It was a typically wretched season for Oregon State, as they went 0-10, but they ended it in the best way possible, going to Eugene and upsetting arch-rival University of Oregon. They weren't much better, going in at 3-7. Cliché Alert: In this game, you can throw out the records.

* Number 8 Alabama beat Louisiana State University (LSU), 20-17 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Crimson Tide had already blown the SEC title by getting embarrassed by Florida, 35-10, but that would be their only loss. They beat Colorado in the Blockbuster Bowl.

* Number 9 Penn State beat Maryland, 47-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Penn State went to the Fiesta Bowl, where they beat Tennessee.

* Number 10 Iowa beat Number 25 Indiana, 38-21 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes had already blown the Big 10 title by getting embarrassed by Michigan, 43-24, but that would be their only loss. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl, where they played Brigham Young University (BYU) to a 13-13 tie.

* Number 11 Nebraska beat Kansas, 59-23 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Nebraska won the Big 8 Conference title, and received the accompanying berth in the Orange Bowl. But, at least for a little longer, Miami had Nebraska's number, and it was not 1.

* Number 12 Texas A&M beat Texas Christian University (TCU), 44-7 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. A&M won the Southwest Conference title, and accepted the accompanying bid to the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Florida State.

* Number 18 North Carolina State were upset by Number 24 Virginia, 42-10 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* Number 22 UCLA were upset by Stanford, 28-10 at Stanford Stadium outside San Francisco in Palo Alto, California.

* Air Force beat Army, 25-0 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado; while Navy lost to Tulane, 34-7 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* And New Jersey's team, Rutgers, lost to the University of Pittsburgh, 22-17 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.

There were 10 games in the NBA, none of them, of course, in Memphis:

* The New York Knicks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 118-113 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Detroit Pistons, 110-100 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Washington Bullets, 127-119 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Chris Mullin led all scorers on the day with 38 points.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Miami Heat, 97-93 at The Omni in Atlanta. Dominique Wilkins scored 34 points.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Dallas Mavericks, 111-95 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Orlando Magic, 107-76 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns, 96-95 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* The Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 101-84 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Karl Malone scored 31 points.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Sacramento Kings, 84-80 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Indiana Pacers, 118-111 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the Cow Palace outside San Francisco in Daly City, California.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Boston Bruins, 4-0 at the Boston Garden.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-3 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 4-4 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, beat Perth Amboy, 26-6 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.

November 7, 1991: Magic Johnson Retires Due to HIV

November 7, 1991: Earvin "Magic" Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers stuns the world: He announces that he has contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, through sex -- even though he's heterosexual. 

Along with Ryan White, the teenage boy who fought the disease for himself and others, Magic changes the face of AIDS. No longer is it presumed to be a promiscuous gay man: It could be any of us, even a straight, world-famous multi-millionaire athlete.

The announcement also makes fellow Los Angeles Laker legend Wilt Chamberlain's recently-published book, Wilt: A View From Above, containing a claim about 20,000 women, one of the most ill-timed books ever.

The next day, Magic appears on The Arsenio Hall Show, to further explain, because he doesn't want anyone else to have to go through what he's going through.

A few weeks later, Magic appears in an Ancient Egypt-themed scene in the video for Michael Jackson's song "Remember the Time." Eddie Murphy plays the Pharoah. And Eddie's pal Arsenio says, "I hope Magic lives a long time, so, someday, we can go up to him, and say, 'Hey, Magic: Remember the Time?'"

It wasn't the only way we dealt with it through laughter: People joked that Magic was the only man who had HIV and gained weight.

In a column for Sports Illustrated in November 1999, Rick Reilly mentioned 4 men who had died in the calendar year: An 84-year-old baseball player, from lung cancer; a 63-year-old basketball player, from heart disease; a 46-year-old football player, from a rare liver disease; and a 42-year-old golfer, in a plane crash: "Joe DiMaggio is dead. Wilt Chamberlain is dead. Walter Payton is dead. Payne Stewart is dead. And Magic Johnson is alive."

It has been more than 30 years. A lot of progress has been made in preventing, and treating HIV and AIDS. Many people diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s are still alive.

Magic Johnson is alive, one of the richest men in the world, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the operational part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. This means that he can tell both LeBron James and Clayton Kershaw to call him "Boss." It also means that he owned 2 World Championship-winning teams between October 27, 2020, when the Dodgers won the World Series, and July 20, 2021, when the Milwaukee Bucks succeeded the Lakers as NBA Champions.

Magic Johnson is alive... and Michael Jackson is dead. Not from AIDS.

*

November 7, 1991 was a Thursday. The baseball season was over. It was midweek for football. There were 5 games played in the NBA that day. The Lakers were not in any of them:

* The New York Knicks beat the Orlando Magic, 128-100 at Madison Square Garden. John Starks did not start the game, but still led all scorers with 30 points.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Miami Heat, 111-89 at the Meadowlands.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-86 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 88-77 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Utah Jazz, 103-95 at the new Delta Center in Salt Lake City. 

There were 5 games played in the National Hockey League: 

* The Boston Bruins and the Calgary Flames played to a tie, 4-4 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 10-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Paul Ysebaert, Shawn Burr, Jimmy Carson and Nicklas Lidstrom each scored 2 goals for the Wings, and Brett Hull did so for the Blues.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

October 29, 1991: The Tailhook Scandal Is Exposed

A demonstration after the exposure of the scandal

October 29, 1991: The Tailhook Scandal is exposed. It was one of the earliest "Me Too" stories.

A tailhook, arresting hook, or arrester hook, is a device attached to the rear of some military fixed-wing aircraft. The hook is used to achieve rapid deceleration during routine landings aboard aircraft carrier flight decks at sea, or during emergency landings or aborted takeoffs at properly equipped airports. The Tailhook Association is a non-profit organization supporting the interests of sea-based aviation, with emphasis on aircraft carriers.

The 35th Annual Tailhook Association Symposium was held at the Las Vegas Hilton from September 5 to 8, 1991. The Gulf War ad taken place earlier in the year, and over 11 hours of presentations and discussion concerning U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviation operations in the conflict were to be the central focus for the 4,000 attendees.

Before the Symposium was over aviation officers were alleged to have sexually assaulted up to 83 women and 7 men, or otherwise engaged in "improper and indecent" conduct.

This scandal broke in the immediate aftermath of the Clarence Thomas hearings, and the reaction of American women was one of disgust. Something had to be done.

Not much was done: Approximately 40 naval and Marine officers received non-judicial punishment, mainly for conduct unbecoming an officer and false official statements. Three officers were taken to courts-martial, but their cases were dismissed. No officers were disciplined for the alleged sexual assaults.

The aftermath resulted in sweeping changes throughout all military services in the Department of Defense regarding attitudes and policies toward women.

The Las Vegas Hilton was originally the International Hotel, where Elvis held court from 1969 to 1977. It's now the Westgate Las Vegas.

*

October 29, 1991 was a Tuesday. The baseball season had ended 2 days earlier, when the Minnesota Twins won Game 7, and thus the World Series, over the Atlanta Braves. Football was in midweek. The NBA season began 3 days later. There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders beat the San Jose Sharks, 8-4 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Winnipeg Jets, 7-2 at the Colisée de Québec. Owen Nolan had a hat trick.

* And the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-0 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

October 28, 1991: The Perfect Storm

October 28, 1991: A storm hits the Northeastern U.S., and Canada's Maritime Provinces. It becomes known as the 1991 Perfect Storm, The No-Name, and the Halloween Gale.

Initially an extratropical cyclone, the storm absorbed Hurricane Grace to its south, and evolved into a small, never-named hurricane later in its life.

Damage from the storm totaled over $200 million, and 13 people were killed in total, 6 of which were an outcome of the sinking of a commercial fishing vessel, F/V Andrea Gail, off the coast of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. The boat had left Gloucester, Massachusetts on September 20, and was heading for the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

The Andrea Gail

The boat's loss inspired a book, published in 1997, by Robert Case, a forecaster for the National Weather Service based in Boston, and journalist Sebastian Junger. They called it The Perfect Storm, after an expression used for a combination of meteorological phenomena that produces destructive results. It was made into a movie in 2000. Since then, the phrase "perfect storm" has come to mean any combination of events that forms any unusual result.

This Northeastern storm also caused another storm to, literally, stop cold over the Midwest, resulting in a Halloween Blizzard that dumped up to 3 feet of snow and killed 22 people.

*

October 28, 1991 was a Monday. The baseball season had ended the day before, when the Minnesota Twins won Game 7, and thus the World Series, over the Atlanta Braves. Football was in midweek. The NBA season began 4 days later. On ABC Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 24-21 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

There were 2 games in the NHL. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 1-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

October 27, 1991: The Jack Morris Game

October 27, 1991: Game 7 of the World Series is played at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Jack Morris, having led the Detroit Tigers to victory in the 1984 World Series, and won more games than any other pitcher in the 1980s, 162, was a native of St. Paul, across the Mississippi River from Minneapolis. Now, at age 36, he is trying to close out the Series, against the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves' starter is John Smoltz, a Michigan native who considered Morris his idol. Although just 24 years old, he would be the ace in most team's starting rotations. Not on the Braves, though: They already had Tom Glavine, and would get Greg Maddux in 1993.

In 1990, both of these teams had finished in last place in their Divisions, the Twins in the American League Western, and the Braves in the National League Western. But the Twins had improved by an amazing 21 wins in 1991, the Braves by a whopping 29.

Even more impressive in these teams' "Worst to First" runs: The Twins were 29 games out of 1st place in '90, and won the AL West by 8 games over the Chicago White Sox in '91, a 38-game jump; the Braves were 26 back in the NL West in '90, but beat the Los Angeles Dodgers out by 1 game in '91, a 27-game jump.

In 1987, the Twins had won the World Series by winning all 4 games at the Metrodome, while losing all 3 at Busch Memorial Stadium, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals. For the 1st 6 games, history had repeated itself. Except this was a better Series, one of the best of all time even before Game 7 got underway:

* Game 1 at the Metrodome: Twins 5, Braves 2. It was the Braves' 1st World Series game since 1958, having moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966. Morris started and won for the Twins and manager Tom Kelly. Charlie Liebrandt, a veteran of the 1985 World Champion Kansas City Royals, was the only Brave starting pitcher to have World Series experience, so manager Bobby Cox started him, but he lost.

* Game 2 in Minneapolis: Glavine and the Twins' Kevin Tapani, like Twins reliever Rick Aguilera a veteran of the 1986 World Champion New York Mets, both went 8 innings. Light-hitting Scott Leius hit a home run in the bottom of the 8th to give the Twins a 3-2 lead.

* Game 3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the 1st World Series game ever played in a State that had seceded from the Union for the Civil War: Scott Erickson, who had gone 20-8 at age 23, started for the Twins, against Steve Avery, at 21 the youngest player in the major leagues, but had gone 18-8. The Braves led 4-1 after 6 innings, but the Twins came back to send the game to extra innings. In the bottom of the 12th, Mark Lemke singled home the winning run, giving the Braves a 5-4 win.

* Game 4 in Atlanta: Morris started on 3 days' rest, against Smoltz. This time, it was the Braves who came back, from 2-1 down in the 7th, tying it then, and, after Morris left the game, winning it in the bottom of the 9th on a sacrifice fly by Jerry Willard that scored Lemke. Catcher Brian Harper appeared to have tagged Lemke out. The problem was, he did so with his glove, when the ball was in his bare hand. That's not a tag-out, and home plate umpire Terry Tata correctly called him safe.

* Game 5 in Atlanta: Glavine against Tapani. This was the only game in the Series that wasn't close, as the Braves scored 6 runs in the 7th to put the game out of reach, winning, 12-3. They were 1 win away from their 1st World Championship since their Milwaukee title of 1957.

* Game 6 in Minneapolis: Erickson and Avery each started on 3 days' rest. This game went to 11 innings. In the bottom of the 11th, Kirby Puckett, the Twins' biggest star, homered off Liebrandt to end it, 4-3 Minnesota. Jack Buck, the voice of the Cardinals, called the game for CBS, and as the ball dropped into the seats, said, "And we'll see you, tomorrow night!"

What we saw at the beginning of the next night was CBS studio host Pat O'Brien comparing baseball to a painting, showing highlights of the 1st 6 games, and closing by saying, "And now, the World Series is one game away from becoming... a masterpiece." He and the other pregame analysts, including Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, were comparing this Series to the 7-game Cincinnati vs. Boston classic of 1975, the 7-game Yankees vs. Pittsburgh see-saw battle of 1960, and the Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers "Subway Series" of the 1950s. Could Game 7 live up to that hype?

If you wanted action, then, no. But if you liked good pitching, then, absolutely. Through 9 innings, Morris had allowed 7 hits and 2 walks, but no runs. Smoltz went 7 1/3rd innings, Mike Stanton closed out the 8th, and Alejandro Peña had to finish the 9th for Stanton. Between them, those 3 pitchers allowed 8 hits and 3 walks, but no runs.

In the top of the 8th, Lonnie Smith singled. Terry Pendleton doubled to left. But Twins 2nd baseman Chuck Knoblauch and shortstop Greg Gagne faked him out, hanging him up at 3rd base so he couldn't score. Morris got out of the jam, forcing Smith out at the plate as the front half of a double play.

For the 1st time since 1924, Game 7 of a World Series was going to extra innings. For the 1st time ever, Game 7 of a World Series was scoreless going to extra innings.

Morris still had something left, getting the Braves out 1-2-3 in the top of the 10th, walking off to a standing ovation from his hometown crowd. Yet he had thrown just 126 pitches. I've seen pitchers throw that many in half as many innings.

Cox sent Peña back out to pitch the 10th. He had been a rookie on the Dodgers' 1981 World Series winners, but hadn't pitched in the Series. He did pitch in their 1988 World Series win. Now, he had to hold the Twins off for at least 1 more inning.

But he had nothing left. Dan Gladden led off with a double. Chuck Knoblauch, later to be part of the Yankees' turn-of-the-21st Century dynasty, bunted him over to 3rd. Now, a long fly ball would win the Series. With 2 bases open, and neither of those runs meaning anything, Cox ordered Peña to intentionally walk Puckett and powerful slugger Kent Hrbek.

Jarvis Brown was due up for the Twins. Kelly sent Gene Larkin up instead. Larkin was an Ivy Leaguer, having broken most of the records set at Columbia University by Lou Gehrig in the early 1920s, but hadn't done much at the major league level. After one swing of the bat, he would never need to do anything in Minnesota again: He hit a fly ball into left field, over the head of Brian Hunter, and Gladden easily scored. Final score: Minnesota 1, Atlanta 0. It was the 1st World Series Game 7 ever to end 1-0, never mind in extra innings.

In 2010, the MLB Network listed this game at 2nd on their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- limited in scope, due to the availability of surviving videotape, to 1975 onward.

Morris was named the Series' Most Valuable Player. His masterpiece -- O'Brien called it -- turned out to be the last extra-inning complete game of the 20th Century, regular-season or postseason. The next day, I told friends that, before the game, Morris was a borderline candidate for the Hall of Fame, and now he would make it for sure.

Morris went to the Toronto Blue Jays the next season. Although he didn't have a good year, he did pitch for them in the World Series, and did so again the next year. Few players have won back-to-back World Series with different teams, and even fewer have won the World Series with 3 different teams. Morris almost became the 1st player to win them for 4 different teams, as he finished his career with the 1995 Cleveland Indians, but they lost the Series -- to the Braves. But despite a career record of 254-186, 5 All-Star appearances and 4 World Series rings, he wasn't elected to the Hall of Fame until 2018.

Through the 2022 season, the Twins' record in World Series play is 11-10: 11-1 at home (3-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in '65, 4-0 at the Metrodome in '87 and again in '91, and they have yet to get that far at Target Field) and 0-9 on the road. However, since that day, 31 years ago, they have never won another Pennant. The Braves have, although once in the World Series, they've rarely been better off.

*

October 27, 1991 was a Sunday. These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants lost to the Washington Redskins, 17-13 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots, 9-6 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Los Angeles Rams, 31-14 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Braves weren't going to be using it: It was the American League's turn to have home-field advantage in the World Series for Games 6 and 7.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-0 at Tampa Stadium.

* The Chicago Bears beat the New Orleans Saints, 20-17 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Jim Harbaugh won it with a late 12-yard touchdown pass to Tom Waddle.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 35-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Cleveland Browns beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Dallas Cowboys, 34-10 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Phoenix Cardinals, 28-0 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-9 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 24-21 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Steve DeBerg threw a late 6-yard touchdown pass to Tim Barnett to win it.

* And the New York Jets, the Buffalo Bills, the Indianapolis Colts and the Miami Dolphins all had a bye week. Two weeks later, the Colts would gain their only win of the season -- over the Jets.

The NBA season started 5 days later. There were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Hartford Whalers, 5-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Washington Capitals, 6-5 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Denver.

October 26, 1991: The Kirby Puckett Game

October 26, 1991: Game 6 of the World Series is played at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Twins are hosting the Atlanta Braves, broadcast live on CBS. While the game is still going on, NBC airs Saturday Night Live.

This episode would be the debut of Ellen Cleghorne's character Queen Shenequa, but it opens with their version of NBC's political talk show The McLaughlin Group, with Dana Carvey playing host John McLaughlin. He and all the panelists are wearing Halloween costumes. Then, Carvey keels over with a knife in his back, and the real McLaughlin takes over -- but stays in character, exaggerating his tagline, "Wrong!" the way Carvey does.

When host Christian Slater comes out, he sees the entire audience doing the Braves' Tomahawk Chop and War Chant. He turns and sees McLaughlin and executive producer Lorne Michaels watching the game, rather than watching the show they're actually working on, doing the Chop with the big red foam Tomahawks, and wearing Indian headdresses -- something they couldn't have gotten away with today. With the game in extra innings, Michaels says, "Braves in 6." McLaughlin says, "Wrong! Braves in 7!"

They're both wrong: Kirby Puckett makes a great catch and hits a dramatic home run in the bottom half of the 11th inning, to give the Twins a 4-3 win, and tie the Series. What has been shaping up as one of the best World Series ever will go to a Game 7. As with 1975, the last time a World Series game ended with an extra-inning home run, and that also a Game 6, the upcoming Game 7 turned out to be worthy of what had come before.

*

October 26, 1991 was a Saturday. Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Florida State beat Louisiana State, 27-16 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 2 Miami beat Arizona, 36-9 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.

* Number 3 Washington beat Oregon, 29-7 at Husky Stadium in Washington.

* The night before, Number 4 Michigan won the Little Brown Jug by beating Minnesota, 52-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* Number 5 Notre Dame beat Southern California (USC), 24-20 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Number 8 Penn State beat West Virginia, 51-6 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Number 9 Nebraska beat Missouri, 63-6 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 10 California beat San Jose State, 41-20 at California Memorial Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Berkeley.

* Number 12 North Carolina were upset by Number 19 Clemson, 29-19 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 17 Illinois were upset by arch-rival Northwestern, 17-11 at Dyche Stadium (now Ryan Field) in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois.

* Number 18 Syracuse beat Rutgers, 21-7 at the old Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

* Number 20 East Carolina beat Number 23 Pittsburgh, 24-23 at Dowdy-Ficklin Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.

* Among the service academies, Air Force beat Texas-El Paso (UTEP), 20-13 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs; but Army lost to Boston College, 28-17 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy lost to Delaware, 29-25 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

The NBA season started 6 days later. There were 9 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 5-3 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the San Jose Sharks, 9-0 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. The Devils got 2 goals each from Claude Lemieux, Tom Chorske and Doug Brown; and 1 goal each from Laurie Boschman, Walt Poddubny and the newly-acquired Scott Stevens.

This was the biggest margin of victory in the Devils' history. They matched it twice in 2000, on March 10 in a 9-0 win away to the Atlanta Thrashers, and on October 28 in a 9-0 win away to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Boston Bruins at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Calgary Flames and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 2-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-4 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Nottingham team Notts County, 2-0 at Highbury in North London, on late goals by Alan Smith and Ian Wright.

October 25, 1991: The Crash of Bill Graham

October 25, 1991: Bill Graham, the king of rock music promoters, is killed in a helicopter crash outside Vallejo, in the East Bay region of California, while returning home from a Huey Lewis and the News concert at the Concord Pavilion. He had just talked the band into performing at a benefit concert he wanted to stage for the victims of the recent Oakland Hills Firestorm.

Also killed were the pilot, Graham's advance man Steve "Killer" Kahn; and Graham's girlfriend, Melissa Gold -- not to be confused with actress Melissa "Missy" Gold.

Born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca in Berlin in 1931, he was taken out of Germany by his Jewish family during World War II. He made his name promoting concerts in San Francisco in the 1960s. He had opened concert venues such as the Fillmore West and Winterland in San Francisco and the Fillmore East in New York, all of which he outlived. He also promoted the S.N.A.C.K. concert at San Francisco's Kezar Stadium in 1975, and the U.S. edition of Live Aid at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia in 1985.

He should not be confused with Dr. Billy Graham, America's foremost evangelist; Billy's son, William Franklin Graham III, who goes by "Franklin"; Franklin's son, William Franklin Graham IV, who goes by "Will"; or Eldridge Wayne Coleman Jr., the "professional wrestler" who went by "Superstar" Billy Graham.

*

October 25, 1991 was a Friday. It was a travel day between Games 5 and 6 of the World Series. There was 1 college football game played that night, and it was for a trophy, the Little Brown Jug. It was no contest: Michigan, ranked Number 4 in the country, beat Minnesota, 52-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

The NBA season started 7 days later. There were 3 games in the NHL:

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the expansion San Jose Sharks, 3-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0 at the Winnipeg Arena.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, defeated John P. Stevens of Edison, 16-14 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.