December 31, 1993: The Murder of Brandon Teena

December 31, 1993: Brandon Teena is murdered by bigots in Humboldt, Nebraska. He was 21 years old, and unwittingly becomes perhaps the first famous pre-surgery transgender person – not post-surgery, what was then called a "transsexual."

The subject of this essay was born on December 12, 1972, in Lincoln, Nebraska, with female characteristics, and the name Teena Brandon. The child's father died before the birth, and was raised, along with an older sister, by a single mother. Both children were abused by an uncle.

Teena was described by others as a "tomboy," and, in adolescence, began identifying as male. He was kicked out of a Catholic high school for dressing like a boy, and rejected by the U.S. Army by listing "male" on his enlistment form.

In 1993, Teena began dating a woman named Lana Tisdel, who was 2 years younger. Teena was arrested for forging checks, and it was only upon going to bail him out and seeing "her" in the female section of the jail that Tisdel learned that Teena was transgender. He assured her that he was seeking what would then have been called a sex change operation (today, it would be called "gender reassignment surgery"), and she stuck with him.

Five days later, on Christmas Eve, Teena was beaten and raped by 2 male ex-convicts. They told him that if he went to the police, they would kill him. He went to the police. They refused to file charges. Seven days later, on New Year's Eve, the rapists kept their word, shooting Teena in the stomach. Both men were convicted, and, as of December 31, 2022, are still in prison.

In 1999, Hilary Swank played Brandon Teena in the film Boys Don't Cry, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress, as a woman playing, as would have been said at the time, "a man trapped in a woman's body."

*

December 31, 1993 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. No NBA games were scheduled. There were 4 college football bowl games played:

* Number 12 North Carolina were beaten by Number 18 Alabama, 24-12 in the Gator Bowl, at the stadium of the same name in Jacksonville, Florida.

* Number 21 Indiana were beaten by Number 22 Virginia Tech, 45-20 in the Independence Bowl, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, North Carolina.

* Number 24 Clemson beat Kentucky, 14-13 in the Peach Bowl, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* And California beat Iowa, 37-3 in the Alamo Bowl, at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

In the fictional world of the ABC sitcom Coach, the next day, January 1, 1994, the Pioneer Bowl was held at the Alamodome, to decide the National Championship. Minnesota State, coached by the titular Hayden Fox, played by Craig T. Nelson, beat West Texas, 24-20. Footage of a Minnesota-Wisconsin game, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, was used.

At the time, there was no real school named Minnesota State University. In 1998, Mankato State University was renamed Minnesota State University, Mankato. In 2000, Moorhead State University was renamed Minnesota State University Moorhead. Unlike the Mankato campus, there is no comma in the title.

There were no NBA games scheduled. There were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Red Wings and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 4-4 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Chicago Blakchawks, 5-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3. This was part of the NHL's experiment in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons, with neutral-site games, in a search for future expansion sites. This one was at the Target Center in Minneapolis, 8 months after the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas. Minnesota did get a new team for the 2000-01 season, the Minnesota Wild, playing at the new Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, built on the site of the St. Paul Civic Center, which had been home to the World Hockey Association's Minnesota Fighting Saints.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames, 5-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

December 15, 1993: "Schindler's List" Premieres

Left to right: The film's producer and director, Steven Spielberg;

and stars Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley

December 15, 1993: Schindler's List premieres, based on the 1980 historical novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas Kenneally.

Oskar Schindler was born on April 28, 1908 in Zwittau, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Svitavy, Czechia). In 1936, he joined the Abwehr, Nazi Germany's military intelligence unit, collecting information on railways and troop movements. In 1938, the Czech government arrested him for espionage, but he was released under the terms of the Munich Agreement. In gratitude, he joined the Nazi Party.

In 1939, he bought an enamelware factory in Kraków, Poland. His connections allowed him to hire Jewish workers: At its peak in 1944, he employed 1,750 people, 1,000 of them Jews. In order to keep higher Nazi officials out of his business, he had to send ever-larger bribes and gifts. But he kept his workers from being deported to the death camps, all through World War II.

Oskar Schindler

By V-E Day, May 8, 1945, with Germany's surrender, Schindler had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black market purchases of supplies for his workers. He moved to the new Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) after The War. He was supported by assistance payments from Jewish relief organizations.

After receiving a partial reimbursement for his wartime expenses, he moved with his wife, Emilie, to Argentina -- ironically, a country to which many ex-Nazis had escaped to avoid capture by the Allies. There, they took up farming. When he went bankrupt in 1958, Schindler left his wife, and returned to Germany, where he failed at several business ventures and relied on financial support from the people who had become known as Schindlerjuden -- "Schindler Jews," the people whose lives he had saved.

He died on October 9, 1974 in Hildesheim, Germany, and was buried in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, the only former member of the Nazi Party to be honoured in this way. In 1982, Thomas Kenneally published the novel Schindler's Ark, based on his story. Film director Steven Spielberg, born into a Jewish family after The War, read it, and decided that, one day, he would make it into a film.

In 1993, while Spielberg was finishing production on the film, Oskar and Emilie Schindler received the highest honor that the Israeli government can give to foreign citizens: "Righteous Among the Nations." They also gave that honor to his wife, Emilie.

In the film, Schindler was played by Liam Neeson. Caroline Goodall played Emilie, who lived until 2001, and was present at the film's premiere. Ben Kingsley played Itzhak Stern, Schindler's Jewish accountant, who survived The War, moved to Israel, and lived until 1969.

Ralph Fiennes, already known in his native Britain, became famous in America for playing Amon Göth, commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp. He was captured by the Allies, and, in 1946, became the 1st Nazi war criminal to be executed.

The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning 7, including Best Picture, Best Director for Spielberg, and Best Original Score for John Williams. Neeson and Fiennes were nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, but neither won.  

*

December 15, 1993 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 108-98 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Denver Nuggets, 101-93 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 97-95 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-91 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. David Robinson led all scorers on the night with 37 points.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors, 110-104  at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Orlando Magic, 110-109 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* And the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Sacramento Kings, 96-95 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

And there were 8 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Hartford Whalers, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Boston Bruins, 5-4 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-3 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Florida Panthers played to a tie, 3-3 at the Miami Arena.

* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 1-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars, 3-2 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-1 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

December 7, 1993: The Long Island Rail Road Massacre

December 7, 1993: A crazed gunman shoots 25 passengers on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train, killing 6 of them. It was the worst crime ever committed on an American train, and remains so.

Armed with a Ruger P89 semi-automatic pistol, Colin Ferguson, a 35-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, boarded an eastbound train at New York's Jamaica, the neighborhood in Queens, heading for Hicksville, Nassau County. As the train pulled into Merillon Avenue station in Garden City Park, he pulled his weapon, and started firing. Several passengers managed to subdue him until an LIRR policeman was able to board the train and arrest him.

At first, Ferguson had a public defender, then fired him, and tried to represent himself. William Kunstler and Ron Kuby volunteered to represent him, but Ferguson fired them, too. Kunstler had previously represented the Chicago Seven at their conspiracy trial in 1969-70, and Doors singer Jim Morrison at his 1970 obscenity trial. Kuby, like Kunstler described as a "radical lawyer," was the left half of a politically-opposite talk show on radio station WABC, with Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa on the right.

When Ferguson was ruled competent to stand trial,  Kuby told the media, "Without a psychiatric defense, Ferguson has no defense. There was no doubt that he was there, that he fired the weapon, that he would have fired it more had he not been wrestled to the ground. There is no doubt that Colin Ferguson, if sane, was guilty."

He was convicted, on February 17, 1995. Like another infamous New York killer, David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, he has been attacked by fellow inmates, including yet another New York murderer, serial killer Joel Rifkin. Allegedly, the fight started when Ferguson told Rifkin, "I wiped out six devils, and you only killed women." Rifkin responded, "Yeah, but I had more victims," and then, Ferguson punched Rifkin. Guards broke the fight up before a result could be determined.

One of Ferguson's victims was Dennis McCarthy. His widow, Carolyn McCarthy, ran for Congress the next year, on a gun control platform. In spite of a nationwide conservative tide, including the defeat of anti-gun Governor Mario Cuomo by George Pataki in New York State, she won, and served in Congress for 18 years.

A memorial to the victims was erected in Mineola, on Long Island. As of December 7, 2022, Ferguson is at Upstate Correctional Facility in Malone, Franklin County, New York, close to the Canadian border.

*

December 7, 1993 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 9 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 92-78 at The Forum outside Los Angeles  in Inglewood, California.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Boston Celtics, 117-90 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Detroit Pistons, 91-89 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 109-100 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings, 105-87 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 115-111 at the Chicago Stadium. The Clippers' Danny Manning led all scorers on the night with 43 points.

* The Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks, 106-101 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Charlotte Hornets, 121-102 at The Summit in Houston. Otis Thorpe scored 40 points. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets, 95-90 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

And there were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders played the Edmonton Oilers to a tie, 4-4 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Calgary Flames played the Quebec Nordiques to a tie, 4-4 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Washington Capitals, 6-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The St. Louis Blues beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Florida Panthers beat the season's other expansion team, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* And the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the San Jose, 3-1 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

December 2, 1993: Pablo Escobar Is Killed

December 2, 1993: Pablo Escobar is killed. The "King of Cocaine" was a day past his 44th birthday.

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born on December 1, 1949 in Rionegro, Colombia. In 1976, he founded the Medellín Cartel, and established the first smuggling routes from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, through Colombia and eventually into the United States. Escobar's infiltration into the U.S. created exponential demand for cocaine, and, by the 1980s, it was estimated Escobar led monthly shipments of 70 to 80 tons of cocaine into the country from Colombia.

He became the wealthiest criminal in history, worth about $30 billion at the time of his death. But he constantly battled rival cartels, domestically and abroad, leading to massacres and the murders of police officers, judges, locals, and prominent politicians.

Like many famous criminals, he compensated with charitable works. In the 1982 Colombian parliamentary election, he was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives, as a member of the Liberal Party. Through this, he was responsible for community projects such as the construction of houses and football fields, which gained him popularity among the locals of the towns that he frequented.

However, Escobar's political ambitions were thwarted by the Colombian and U.S. governments, who routinely pushed for his arrest, with Escobar widely believed to have retaliated by orchestrating the Avianca Flight 203 and DAS Building bombings, both in 1989.

In 1991, Escobar surrendered to authorities, and was sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment on a host of charges, but struck a deal of no extradition with Colombian President César Gaviria, with the ability of being housed in his own, self-built prison, La Catedral. He knew how to escape, and, in 1992, he did.

He went into hiding, leading to a nationwide manhunt. As a result, the Medellín Cartel crumbled, and on December 2, 1993, the Colombian National Police found Escobar in his hometown, and shot him in the head.

He was seen as a Robin Hood-like figure for many in Colombia, as he provided many amenities to the poor. His killing was mourned and his funeral attended by over 25,000 people. Additionally, his private estate, Hacienda Nápoles, has been transformed into a theme park.

*

December 2, 1993 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Houston Rockets, 94-85 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Washington Bullets, 105-95 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Detroit Pistons, 102-101 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 103-87 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

* And the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors, 103-91 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

And there were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Boston Bruins, 7-3 at the Boston Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils played the Pittsburgh Penguins to a tie, 2-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1 at the Miami Arena. Jesse Bélanger scored the winning goal, just 23 seconds into overtime.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-4 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The established Los Angeles Kings played the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for the 1st time. The Kings won, 3-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

November 25, 1993: The Leon Lett Game

November 25, 1993: Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas is hosting its annual Thanksgiving Day game. The Dallas Cowboys are hosting the Miami Dolphins. These are 2 teams used to warm weather all year long.

Not today: It's snowing, and the weird roof at the stadium means that the fans are covered and protected, but the field is not, and it's a mess. The temperature at kickoff was 26 degrees Fahrenheit. With the wind-chill factor, it was zero. This remains the worst set of home-game weather conditions in the 1st 63 seasons of Cowboys history.

The Cowboys, coached by Jimmy Johnson, are the defending NFL Champions, having won Super Bowl XXVII thanks to a well-balanced team, featuring an offensive attack with "The Triplets," 3 future Hall-of-Famers: Quarterback Troy Aikman, running back and eventual NFL all-time rushing yards leader Emmitt Smith, and receiver Michael Irvin. They are 7-3, and, despite having lost to the Atlanta Falcons the previous week, are favorites to repeat.

The Dolphins were in their 24th season coached by Don Shula. Two weeks earlier, against the Philadelphia Eagles, Shula won his 325th game as a head coach, surpassing George Halas as the NFL's all-time leader. With Steve DeBerg filling in at quarterback for an injured Dan Marino, the Dolphins were 8-2, and among the favorites in the AFC. This game, broadcast nationally on NBC, was being talked about as a possible Super Bowl preview.

In spite of the slick field, Keith Byars ran 77 yards for a Dolphin touchdown, for the only score of the 1st quarter. The Cowboys struck back with 2 touchdowns by Kevin Williams, one on a 4-yard pass from Aikman, the other on a 64-yard punt return. It was 14-7 Cowboys at the half.

In the 3rd quarter, Pete Stoyanovich, a son of North Macedonian immigrants, and a native of the Detroit area, so he was used to watching the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, kicked a 20-yard field goal. In the 4th quarter, he kicked a 31-yarder, to pull the Dolphins within 14-13. The Dolphins launched a late drive, and, with 15 seconds left, set up a 41-yard field goal that, barring a miracle kickoff return by the Cowboys, would have won it. But, given the weather conditions, the field goal wouldn't be easy.

Among the players that Johnson sent out to defend the kick was defensive tackle Leon Lett, a 25-year-old native of Fairhope, Alabama, outside Mobile. The previous January, Lett had been one of the players who helped the Cowboys win the Super Bowl, beating the Buffalo Bills, 52-17. Late in the game, Lett picked up a fumble, and had nothing but green real estate between him and the end zone. It could have been 59-17, which would have topped the 55 that the San Francisco 49ers had scored 3 years earlier, and become the most points by a single team in Super Bowl history.

But Lett decided to count his chickens before they hatched: He waved the ball in the air well before reaching the goal line. He had no idea that Bills receiver Don Beebe was running like hell behind him, and managed to knock the ball out of his hand at the 1-yard line. The Cowboys entire team came out of that game looking like one of the greatest teams of all time, except for Lett, who came out of it looking like a fool.

But Lett was otherwise a good player, who went on to make 2 Pro Bowls. Despite missing the 1st 5 games of the '93 season due to injury, he had played all 4 defensive line positions, and was leading all NFL defensive linemen with 4 deflected passes. He seemed like a good choice to defend against a potential game-winning field goal.

As it happened, another lineman, Jimmie Jones, blocked Stoyanovich's kick. The ball spun harmlessly to the snow-covered artificial turf. Everyone from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who had come down to the sideline to stand with the team, to the crowd of 60,198 (about 5,000 short of a sellout, understandable due to the weather), was celebrating what looked like a Cowboys win.

Everyone, it seemed, except Lett. Had he done nothing, the play would have been whistled dead as soon as the ball stopped, and the Cowboys would have had the ball at the previous play's line of scrimmage, the Cowboys' 24. Instead, the ball came to a stop at the Cowboys' 10, spinning upright on one of its points. And a Cowboy player slid in, trying to recover what he thought was a fumble, and instead slipped, and kicked the ball forward, toward the Cowboys' end zone.

The Dolphins quickly realized what had happened, and went after the still-loose ball. Offensive tackle Ron Heller recovered it. At first, Cowboys radio announcers Brad Sham and Dale Hansen couldn't tell who the blundering player was. Then, they saw the replay. Sham: "Oh, no! Leon Lett! Leon Lett!" Hansen, really, really wanting it to be anybody else: "Not Leon Lett!"

The NBC cameras caught Jones pumping his fists in the air, and then realizing that the game hadn't been won after all. He looked like a kid on Thanksgiving who'd been promised the turkey's drumstick, and then it had just been snatched by his big brother.

Because it was off a blocked kick, the rule said that the ball had to be given back to the offensive team at the defensive team's 1-yard line. The Dolphins set up again, and, this time, Stoyanovich nailed the kick. Final score: Miami 16, Dallas 14.

Lett immediately went down in history. Comparisons were made to Bill Buckner of the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Sure, Buckner's error was in a much more important game. But the thing everyone says about Buckner is that he shouldn't be judged by one awful moment in an otherwise sterling career. Now, Lett had two such moments.

In 2013, on the game's 20th Anniversary, Lett was interviewed, and said, "I have been trying to think back for, what, 20 years now, and I don't know what happened. It was a brain freeze."

With a result like that, a fan might have been forgiven for thinking it at the time that it would have ruined the Cowboys season, and sent the Dolphins on a great run. Just the opposite happened. The Dolphins lost their last 5 games, including in overtime to a terrible New England Patriots team in the regular-season finale. As of the conclusion of the 2021 season, the '93 Dolphins remain the last NFL team to start a season 9-2 and not make the Playoffs.

In contrast, the Cowboys never lost another game, winning the NFC Eastern Division, facing the Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII, and beating them again, 30-13. The following year, they lost the NFC Championship Game to the San Francisco 49ers. The year after that, they won Super Bowl XXX, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers. The count for Leon Lett: Super Bowl rings 3, big-game gaffes 2.

A graduate of Emporia State University, an NCAA Division II school in Kansas, Lett played until the 2001 season, and went into coaching, spending time on the staffs at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Louisiana at Monroe (formerly known as Northeast Louisiana University).

Since 2011, Lett has been the assistant defensive line coach for the Cowboys, first under Jason Garrett, a backup quarterback to Aikman in the game in question, now under Mike McCarthy.

It seems silly to say that Lett had to redeem himself for one play in a Super Bowl won by his team, and another play in a season in which his team won the Super Bowl again. Clearly, he had something to do with all 3 of those Super Bowl wins.

The play will be shown on television, and looked up on YouTube, every Thanksgiving, and every time someone puts together a list of NFL mistakes, for as long as TV and YouTube exist. But Leon Lett deserves to be remembered for more than a moment which made him a "turkey."

*

November 25, 1993 was, like all Thanksgiving Days, a Thursday. In the other NFL game that day, on CBS, the Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions, 10-6 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

There were 3 college football games played that day. The University of Louisville beat the University of Tulsa, 28-0 at Skelly Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That was not, and still is not, a major rivalry. Texas vs. Texas A&M was, and will be again when Texas joins the Southeastern Conference, as A&M did a few years ago. At this point, they were both still in the Southwest Conference, and A&M beat Texas, 18-9 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

The other game was Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, at Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. The original structure was built in 1913, making it the oldest stadium in NCAA Division I-A (now FBS, the Football Bowl Subdivision), but so much has been built around it that it looks like a modern stadium.

This game was televised nationally on ABC, and the lead announcer was Keith Jackson, the greatest of all college football announcers. In his opening, Jackson said, "This is the day when the waistline takes a whuppin', and ancient rivalries are replayed." He was from Georgia, so he knew both programs well; but he graduated from Washington State, so he could be completely objective with this rivalry, known as "Clean Old-Fashioned Hate."

Georgia led only 16-10 at the start of the 4th quarter, but ran up the score. Late in the game, the Bulldogs scored to make it 43-10, and coach Ray Goff, who had quarterbacked them to the 1976 SEC title, decided to go for a two-point conversion. Echoes of former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, who, on an occasion when he needlessly went for two in a blowout, was asked why, and said, "Because I couldn't go for three." The Yellow Jackets didn't like this decision, and a fight broke out on the field. The conversion was unsuccessful, and 43-10 was the final. This was one of many times, in many rivalries, that Jackson said, "These two teams just... don't... like each other!"

In recent years, the NBA and the NHL have chosen not to schedule games on Thanksgiving Day, to avoid competing for TV viewers with the NFL and the NCAA. On this day, however, 1 NHL game was played.

Fittingly, it was in Canada, which celebrates its Thanksgiving on the 2nd Monday in October: The Quebec Nordiques beat the Los Angeles Kings, 8-6 at the Colisée de Québec. That's only slightly less than the 10-6 by which the Bears beat the Lions. For the Nords, Joe Sakic and Valeri Kamensky each had 2 goals and an assist. For the Kings, Luc Robitaille had 4 goals, and Wayne Gretzky had a goal and 3 assists.

November 17, 1993: The North American Free Trade Agreement

President Bill Clinton signs NAFTA into law. Behind him, left to right:

Vice President Al Gore, House Minority Leader Bob Michel,

House Speaker Tom Foley.

November 17, 1993: The North American Free Trade Agreement is ratified by the U.S. House of Representatives. Its ratification by the U.S. Senate was a foregone conclusion, and President Bill Clinton had already indicated that he would sign it. It took effect on January 1, 1994.

NAFTA had been negotiated by his predecessor, George H.W. Bush; Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada; and President Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico. But, by the time it became law, Bush and Mulroney were already out of office.

Oddly, both of America's major parties were split on the issue. Some Democrats opposed it because they thought it was anti-union. Some Republicans opposed it because it wasn't protectionist and they thought it affected American sovereignty.

Three living former Presidents lobbied for it: Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, both still alive and in active public life, if not active politics, also supported it, but took no action. Carter was a Democrat, the rest were Republicans.

Both parties' House leaders, Tom Foley of Washington and Bob Michel of Illinois, wanted it. So did both parties' Senate leaders, George Mitchell of Maine and Bob Dole of Kansas. This was significant, because Dole was considered the front-runner to be the next Republican nominee for President. Indeed, he was nominated, and so free trade was hardly an issue in the 1996 election.

Not that Ross Perot, the independent candidate from 1992 who got 19 percent of the popular vote, didn't try. He was opposed to it, and used his regular appearances on CNN's Live with Larry King to talk about how bad he thought it would be. With Clinton's permission, Vice President Al Gore challenged to Perot to a debate on the issue, on King's show. The consensus was that this was a huge mistake: Gore was often mocked as "stiff," while Perot would practically be on his home turf.

It was a mismatch -- the other way. Knowing that Perot was famous for bringing charts with graphs on them, Gore brought his own, and explained his cause very well. Perot was caught off-guard, realizing that someone knew this issue better than he did, and got, to use a word Gore would later use on Bush's son, snippy. Public opinion began to turn in favor of the agreement.

NAFTA created millions of jobs, so, like welfare reform, it worked very well while the economy was good. But, also like welfare reform, it worked very poorly when the economy has been bad.

In 2018, the countries involved reached an agreement to replace NAFTA with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and ratified it 2 years later, so that it took effect on July 1, 2020, replacing NAFTA. The new law involved only small changes. My guess is, Donald Trump wanted to pander to American workers and claim a law he had nothing to do with, but still listed America first.

*

November 17, 1993 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 7 games in the NBA that night:

* The New York Knicks lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 95-90 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Boston Celtics, 105-100 at the Boston Garden.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 92-90 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 117-104 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Don McLean of the Bullets led all scorers on the night with 38 points.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Sacramento Kings, 130-113 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Miami Heat, 115-111 at the Miami Arena.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic, 98-92 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

And there were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Ottawa Senators, 8-1 at the Ottawa Civic Center (now TD Place Arena).

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-0 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Boston Bruins beat their New England neighbors, the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-3 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* And the New York Rangers, the Calgary Flames, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Florida Panthers, the Los Angeles Kings, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Quebec Nordiques, the St. Louis Blues, the San Jose Sharks, the Vancouver Canucks and the Washington Capitals were not scheduled.

November 13, 1993: Florida State vs. Notre Dame, "The Game of the Century"

November 13, 1993: Not every college football game billed as "The Game of the Century" lives up to the billing. This one did.

Florida State University, coached by Bobby Bowden, and quarterbacked by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward, had gone through several near-misses for the National Championship. In 1993, they looked ready to go all the way. They won their 1st 5 games: 42-0 over Kansas in the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands, 45-7 away to Duke, 57-0 home to Number 17 Clemson, 33-7 away to Number 13 North Carolina, and 51-0 home to Georgia Tech.

The 2 previous years, they had lost to one of their rivals, the University of Miami, on missed last-play field goals. This time, with Miami coming into Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee with the Number 3 ranking, the Seminoles left no doubt, winning 28-10. No last-play, or even last-minute, heroics necessary. They followed this with a 40-14 win home to Number 15 Virginia, a 54-0 home win over Clemson, and a 49-20 win away to Maryland.

That set up a meeting with the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish played about as tough a schedule as could be played without being part of a major conference, including 4 Big 10 schools. They opened the season by beating Northwestern at home, 27-12. The beat then-Number 3 Michigan away, 27-23; Michigan State at home, 36-14; Purdue away, 17-0; Stanford away, 48-20; the University of Pittsburgh at home, 44-0; Brigham Young University (BYU) award, 45-20; the University of Southern California (USC) at home, 31-13; and Navy at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, 58-27.

The Irish were also undefeated, and looked every bit as unstoppable as the Seminoles. With NBC having the contract to broadcast Notre Dame home games, they could hype this Number 1 vs. Number 2 matchup as "The Game of the Century."

Notre Dame outplayed Florida State the entire game, to the tune of a 31–17 lead in the 4th quarter. The offense had hung its shoulders around their junior running back Lee Becton, who had yet another 100+ yard afternoon.

With 1:39 left, Ward drove Florida State down the field, and hit Kez McCorvey on 4th-and-20 for a touchdown. The pass bounced off of Notre Dame safety Brian McGee and into McCorvey's hands.

Notre Dame then went three-and-out on their next possession, giving Florida State one last shot. In just 3 plays, Ward led Florida State to the Notre Dame 14 with 3 seconds to play. On the last play of the game, Ward rolled out, and had his final pass attempt batted down by Notre Dame cornerback Shawn Wooden, clinching the final score as Notre Dame 31, Florida State 24.

There was pandemonium in South Bend. Meanwhile, all of Florida, people were crushed. It looked like Florida State's best chance ever to win the National Championship had been lost. Not exactly "blown," as it was with the missed field goals of the preceding 2 years, but definitively taken away from them by a team which, if not necessarily better, was certainly good enough and had the home-field advantage.

Afterward, all Notre Dame had to do was beat Boston College at home the following Saturday, and theyvwould be able to play Nebraska for the National Championship in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day. That was all.

They didn't. BC were ranked Number 17, and David Gordon kicked a 41-yard field goal on the last play of the game, to give them a 41-39 win. It was BC's biggest win since Doug Flutie led them past Miami in 1984, and their biggest without Flutie since clinching a share of the National Championship in the 1941 Sugar Bowl.

Had there been a Bowl Championship Series or a National Championship Playoff at the time, Notre Dame would still have gotten into it. Instead, they dropped from Number 1 to Number 4. They ended up beating Number 7 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

In contrast, losing away to Notre Dame by 7 points only dropped Florida State to Number 2. They beat North Carolina State, 62-3 at home, to clinch the Atlantic Coast Conference title, to retake the Number 1 spot. Then they beat Number 7 and arch-rival Florida away, 33-21, to set up a National Championship matchup with Number 2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Florida State won, 18-16.

In the final polls, both the Associated Pres (AP, the sportswriters) and United Press International (UPI, the head coaches) had Florida State at Number 1, and Notre Dame at Number 2.

*

November 13, 1993 was a Saturday. These other major college football games were played that day:

* Number 3 Miami beat Rutgers, 31-17 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* Number 4 Nebraska beat Iowa State, 49-17 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 5 Ohio State beat Number 19 Indiana, 23-17 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Number 7 Auburn beat Georgia, 42-28 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 8 Florida beat South Carolina, 37-26 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

* Number 9 West Virginia beat Temple, 49-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* Number 10 UCLA were upset by Arizona State, 9-3 at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California.

* Number 11 Texas A&M beat Number 20 University of Louisville, 42-7 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

* Number 12 Alabama beat Mississippi State, 36-25 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

* Number 13 Arizona were upset by the University of California, 24-20 at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California.

* Number 18 Virginia were upset by Clemson, 23-14 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 23 Wyoming were upset by New Mexico, 10-7 at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

* Number 25 University of Washington were upset by the University of Southern California (USC), 22-17 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

* In the "Little Brown Jug," Michigan beat Minnesota, 58-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* Army beat Lafayette, 35-12 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* Navy lost to Vanderbilt, 41-7 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

In New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, lost to Woodbridge, 29-23 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.

Baseball was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 99-86 at Madison Square Garden. John Starks scored 35 points.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 98-97 at the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 98-97 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Dallas Mavericks, 101-100 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns, 99-95 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 Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets, 106-98 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 92-90 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 97-89 in overtime at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

And there were 12 games played in the NHL, with every team in action except the 2 new expansion teams, the Florida Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim:

* The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals, 2-0 at the USAirways Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the San Jose Sharks, 4-2 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the Montreal Forum. Dave McLlwain scored the winning goal with 1:38 left in overtime. 

* The Edmonton Oilers and the Hartford Whalers played to a tie, 4-4 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-3 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

 

November 9, 1993: Wu-Tang Clan Release "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)"

November 9, 1993: The rap group Wu-Tang Clan release their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), on Loud Records. It becomes a landmark in hip-hop culture, certified as Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America within 2 years.

The members of Wu-Tang Clan were New Yorkers, and some seem to have had multiple nicknames:

* Gary Eldridge Grice, born August 22, 1966, from Brooklyn: GZA and The Genius. As the oldest member and the 1st to get any kind of a record deal, he is called the group's "spiritual head."

* Russell Tyrone Jones, born November 15, 1968, from Brooklyn, this guy had more nicknames than James Brown: Ol' Dirty Bastard, ODB, Dirt Dog, Dirt McGirt, Old Dirty Chinese Restaurant, Ason Unique, Joe Bananas, The Specialist, Ossirus, Big Baby Jesus and Knifey McStab.

* Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, born July 5, 1969, from Brooklyn: RZA, Bobby Digital and The RZArector.

* Elgin Turner, who legally changed his name to Jamel Irief, born August 18, 1969 (as Woodstock was wrapping up), from Brooklyn: Masta Killa, Noodles and High Chief.

* Corey Woods, born January 12, 1970 in Brooklyn, but grew up in Staten Island: Raekwon The Chef, or Shallah Raekwon, or just Raekwon, or Lex Diamonds, probably a variation on 1920s New York gangster Legs Diamond.

* Dennis Coles, born May 9, 1970, from Staten Island: Ghostface Killah, Tony Starks and D-Love.

* Jason Richard Hunter, born July 6, 1970, from Staten Island: Inspectah Deck, Rollie Fingers (after the Baseball Hall of Fame reliever with the handlebar mustache), Fifth Brother and Rebel INS.

* Lamont Jody Hawkins, born November 10, 1970 in Brooklyn, but grew up on Staten Island: U-God, short for Universal God, or Golden Arms.

* Clifford Smith Jr., born March 2, 1971, from Hempstead, Long Island, but met some of the others while visiting his grandmother on Staten Island: Method Man, Johnny Blaze (after the Marvel Comics superhero Ghost Rider), Tical and Shakwon. He has since gone on to a successful acting career.

* Oliver Grant, born November 2, 1973 in Jamaica, but grew up in Staten Island: Power, because, while not actually a member of the group, he produced all their albums, and seriously funded 36 Chambers. He came into the group's orbit because he was friends with RZA's brother, Divine.

* Selwyn Bougard, who legally changed his name to El-Divine Amir Bey, born May 23, 1974 in Steubenville, Ohio, but raised on Staten Island: 4th Disciple.

RZA, GZA and ODB were cousins. They were also cousins of Flavor Flav of Public Enemy. RZA's brother Terrance Hamlin is a rapper, calling himself 9th Prince. Singer-songwriter SZA, a generation younger than RZA, GZA and ODB, is not related to them.

The group took their name from the 1983 martial arts film Shaolin and Wu Tang. The origin of the word "Wu-tang" derives from Wu Dang, the Taoist holy mountain located in the Central China in the Hubei Province. The album's title also came from martial arts films, Bruce Lee's 1973 epic Enter the Dragon, and the 1978 film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.

At this point, New York City was widely seen as having forfeited leadership in rap to the West Coast, particularly to Los Angeles and, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland. The Clan re-planted the Big Apple's flag, and drew blood from the ground. But they also -- intentionally -- drew some laughs. The balance of seriousness and humor helped, and helped inspire Brooklynites Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and Nas, and the Queens duo Prodigy and Havoc, a.k.a. Mobb Deep.

In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Enter the Wu-Tang 27th on their updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, higher than any other rap album. In 2022, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."

ODB, long troubled by mental illness and drug use, did not live to see either of these honors: He died of a drug overdose at RZA's recording studio in Manhattan on November 13, 2004. He was 35 years old. As of November 9, 2022, all the other members are still alive.

Wu-Tang Clan fans consider Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band to be the 36 Chambers of white boy albums. Wu-Tang Clan fans are also frequently stoned out of their minds.

Still, if you type "Enter" into Wikipedia, this album comes up before Enter the Dragon. And if you type "cream" into YouTube, this song comes up before "Sunshine of Your Love." So when you can get precedence over Bruce Lee and Eric Clapton, that's an achievement.

UPDATE: Power Grant died on February 23, 2026, only 52 years old. No cause was released.

*

November 9, 1993 was a Tuesday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 10 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 95-86 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 86-80 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Indiana Pacers, 104-98 at the Orlando Arena. Shaquille O'Neal scored 37 points.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 113-108 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Detroit Pistons, 118-112 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-95 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. David Robinson led all scorers on the night with 43 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors, 102-93 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 114-99 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Dan Majerle and Kevin Johnson both scored 35 points for the Suns.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 109-102 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Denver Nuggets, 118-86 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

And there were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Quebec Nordiques, 2-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 3-3 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Dallas Stars, 4-2. This game was played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, as part of the NHL's experiment with neutral-site games, to see which markets were ripe for expansion.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs and the San Jose Sharks played to a tie, 2-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

October 31, 1993: River Phoenix Dies

October 31, 1993: Actor River Phoenix dies of a drug overdose on a street in Los Angeles. He was only 23 years old.

River Jude Bottom was born on August 23, 1970 in Madras, Oregon. His parents were hippies, and also had son Joaquin and daughters Rain, Liberty and Summer. They ended up in a cult, but left it, and celebrated their rise from the cult by changing their family name to "Phoenix."

By the age of 10, River was an expert guitar player and tapdancer, and had begun appearing in TV commercials. He became a star in 1986 with Stand By Me and The Mosquito Coast. In 1988, he appeared in Running On Empty, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was 18.

In 1989, he played a 13-year-old Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 1991, he starred in My Own Private Idaho, and won an Independent Spirit Award. In 1992, he filmed The Thing Called Love, and began a relationship with co-star Samantha Mathis. He was already becoming known as an activist for the environment and veganism. And he was scheduled to begin filming Interview with the Vampire in November 1993, where he was to play the interviewer, Daniel Molloy.

But had begun using drugs in 1989, causing Martha Plimpton, his girlfriend and Mosquito Coast co-star, to break up with him. In October 1993, he went on a drug binge with John Frusciante, who had recently quit as the guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers.

On October 30, Phoenix, his brother Joaquin, his sister Rain, and Mathis showed up at The Viper Room, a Los Angeles nightclub co-owned by actor Johnny Depp. River, Frusciante, Depp, Red Hot Chili Peppers bass guitarist Michael "Flea" Balzary, Butthole Surfers lead singer Gibby Haynes, and Ministry singer Al Jourgensen were going to perform together as a band named simply "P."

After the performance, the Phoenixes left, and River collapsed on the sidewalk outside the front door. Joaquin called 911. Rain gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Flea rode in the ambulance with him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. It was no use: He was pronounced dead at 1:51 AM Pacific Time (4:51 AM Eastern) on October 31.

Depp closed the club for a week, and closed it every October 31 until he sold his share in 2004. The front entrance became a makeshift shrine, with graffiti staining the building's walls.

Phoenix's father John blamed Frusciante, and threatened to kill him, but no charges were every pressed against anyone in connection with River's death. He was posthumously compared with James Dean, but was even younger when he died. (Dean was 24.) His final resting place is not open to the public: He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at the family ranch in Micanopy, in northern Florida.

Interview with the Vampire was dedicated to his memory, and Christian Slater, an actor of similar style and talent, was cast in the role. He had also agreed to appear in Safe Passage, a role that went to Sean Astin; Broken Dreams, a role that went to Caleb Landry Jones; The Basketball Diaries as the book's author, Jim Carroll, a role that went to Leonardo DiCaprio, whose early career led to him being compared to Phoenix; and as Arthur Rimbaud in Total Eclipse, another role that went to DiCaprio.

Gus Van Sant, who had directed Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho, wanted to make a film about Harvey Milk, with Phoenix as San Francisco-based AIDS activist Cleve Jones. Van Sant put the film on hold, finally making Milk with Sean Penn in the title role and Emile Hirsch as Jones, releasing it in 2008. Van Sant had also considered casting Phoenix in a movie about Andy Warhol, but he dropped that project after Phoenix's death.

Phoenix appeared in 2 films that were released after his death. Silent Tongue was released on schedule in 1994. Dark Blood was held back, and not released until 2012.

The Viper Room is still in business, at 8852 Sunset Boulevard, but it might be cursed. In 1995, Australian singer-actor Jason Donovan suffered a drug overdose there, although he survived. In 1997, another Australian, INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence, played his last performance there, and committed suicide a week later.

Joaquin Phoenix became an Oscar-winning actor. He and partner Rooney Mara named their son River.

*

October 31, 1993 was a Sunday. Actress Letitia Wright was born, so maybe, just maybe, Hollywood broke even on the day.

Baseball season was over. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Jets beat the New York Giants, 10-6 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. The Giants were the official home team this time, although that isn't always the case when these teams play each other, which is every year in preseason and every 3 years in the regular season.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-10 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-24 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 30-10 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the New England Patriots, 9-6 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 17-3 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The next year, they would play on Halloween again, at Soldier Field on Monday Night Football, and the Packers would win in miserable weather: Cold, rain and wind.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings, 30-27 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks, 28-17 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Phoenix Cardinals, 20-17 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Raiders, 30-23 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, 40-17 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills beat the Washington Redskins, 24-10 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* And the entire AFC Central -- the Cincinnati Bengals, the Cleveland Browns, the Houston Oilers and the Pittsburgh Steelers -- had a bye week.

The NBA season didn't start for another 5 days. But there were 4 NHL games played:

* The New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-1 -- but not at Madison Square Garden, or at the Meadowlands. This was during the NHL's early 1990s experiment with neutral-site games, and this game was at the Metro Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The arena is now known as the Scotiabank Centre.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 9-6 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 2-1 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. Tom Pederson scored the winning goal with 3:13 left in overtime.