December 26, 2004: The Boxing Day Earthquake and Tsunami

December 26, 2004: An earthquake, measured at 9.2 on the Richter scale, occurs under the Indian Ocean, near the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.

The result is one of the largest tsunamis ever observed, which flowed east to west, with waves up to 30 feet high crashing into the coastal regions of the surrounding nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

It remains the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st Century, and the worst on Earth since the 1976 Tangsun Earthquake in China. Its death toll is estimated at 227,898. More than half, 167,540, occurred in Indonesia. There were 35,000 deaths in Sri Lanka, 1,000 of them in a single train wreck caused by the tsunami. It is believed that 1.75 million people, roughly the population of Philadelphia, were left  homeless.

Among the notable people killed in the disaster were Jane Attenborough, British arts activist and a member of the show-business Attenborough family; Troy Broadbridge, an Australian Rules Football star who was on his honeymoon, though his wife survived; Poom Jensen, a grandson of the then-reigning King of Thailand; and Sujeewa Kamalasuriya, a Sri Lankan cricket star. 

The earthquake became known as the Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake. Another name, given that some of these nations were once part of the British Empire, and still retain some British traditions, including celebrating the day after Christmas as "Boxing Day," is the Boxing Day Tsunami.

Aid came in from all over the world: $820 million from nearby Australia, $660 million from Germany, $500 million from Japan, $350 million from the United States, $343 million from Canada, $250 million from the World Bank, $183 million each from Norway and the Netherlands, and $113 million from Italy.

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December 26, 2004 was a Sunday. Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Reggie White and longtime New York Yankees organist Eddie Layton died that day.

Baseball was out of season. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out. These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-22 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The New York Jets lost to their arch-rivals, the New England Patriots, 23-7 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 21-0 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville. The Texans and the Jags are in the same Division, the AFC South, as the Tennessee Titans. The irony of this is that the Titans used to be the previous Houston team, the Houston Oilers; and, before moving to Nashville, threatened to move to Jacksonville if they didn't get the lease concessions they wanted in Houston. They got them, but later decided it wasn't enough, and moved, anyway.

* The Carolina Panthers bear the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 37-20 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Cleveland Browns, 10-7 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The New Orleans Saints beat their arch-rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, 26-13 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat their arch-rivals, the Washington Redskins, 13-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens, 20-7 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 19-13 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the San Diego Chargers, 34-31 at the RCA Dome (formerly the Hoosier Dome) in Indianapolis.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the San Francisco 49ers, 41-7 at Candlestick  Park (then named Monster Park) in San Francisco.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-21 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* The day before, Saturday, Christmas Day, The Kansas City Chiefs beat their arch-rivals, the Oakland Raiders, 31-30 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* Also on Christmas Day, the Denver Broncos beat the Tennessee Titans, 37-16 at The Coliseum (later renamed Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The day before that, Friday, Christmas Eve, the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-31 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* And the night after, on ABC Monday Night Football, the St. Louis Rams beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 20-7 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

There were no college football bowl games. There were no games in the NHL: The team owners locked the players out for the entire season. There were 9 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the expansion Charlotte Bobcats (later to reclaim the Hornets name), 91-82 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 96-79 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New Orleans Hornets (later to be renamed the Pelicans), 100-91 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls, 99-92 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Michael Redd scored 39 points.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Washington Wizards, 109-74 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets, 102-88 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver. Dirk Nowitzki scored 36 points.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Boston Celtics, 107-90 at the SBC Center (now the Frost Bank Arena) in San Antonio.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Toronto Raptors, 106-94 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings, 98-94 at the ARCO Arena in Sacrmamento.

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal beat West London team Fulham, 2-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury.

December 5, 2004: East Brunswick Wins the State Football Championship

December 5, 2004: The Night of Nights for the football program at East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

EBHS had opened in 1958, and had begun playing varsity football in 1961. The Bears had won Conference Championships in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1994.

They had won the Central Jersey Group IV Championship in 1966, and again in 1972, under the old system of who had the best record in the section. Both times, E.B. went 7-1-1. Both times, the 1 loss came against neighboring South River, to whom the Township of East Brunswick had sent its high school students from 1891 to 1958.

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association instituted State Playoffs for the 1974 season. At first, only the top 4 teams in each section qualified. Starting in 1998, it became the top 8 teams. Had that been the case from 1974 to 1997, East Brunswick would have qualified in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1986, 1992 and 1996. But it wasn't.

East Brunswick first qualified in 1980, losing in the Semifinal. In 1984, when I arrived at EBHS as a sophomore, they reached the Final, going into it as undefeated Conference Champions. But an undefeated State Championship season vanished on a missed two-point conversion, losing 27-26 to J.P. Stevens of Edison Township.

This was a shocking loss, the kind that used to happen to teams like the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles, and the New York Rangers; and still happens to the New York Mets, the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians), the Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Flyers.

In 1985, the Bears reached the Final again. But, again, they lost to Stevens. They made the Playoffs again in 1987, but were wiped out in a frigid Semifinal against arch-rival Madison Central, the school now known as Old Bridge. The same thing happened in 1988, but in weather that was considerably less cold. They reached the Semifinal in 1990, losing to Trenton Central; the Semifinal again, losing to Piscataway; and the Quarterfinal in 1998, losing to Manalapan.

Then came a down period. Way down. They went 4-6 in 1999, 1-9 in 2000, and 0-10 in 2001. From November 25, 1999 to September 13, 2002, EB went an atrocious 2-21. They rebounded to 6-4 in 2002, but fell back to 4-6 in 2003. And, for Marcus Borden, who had been head coach since 1983, and had come so close in 1984, and nearly as close a few times since, there seemed to be no indication that 2004 would be any better.

We (yes, I have switched from "they" to "we," I admit it) opened the season with home wins over Perth Amboy and Edison. Then we lost away to Piscataway, and we figured a downward spiral into a typically weak season had begun.

But a funny thing happened on the way to mediocrity: We started winning again. We beat North Brunswick at home. Then we went to Sayreville, a tough trip since the early 1990s, and won. That was a good sign.

Before the next game, the Red Sox completed their improbable American League Championship Series comeback against the Yankees -- steroid-aided, as it turned out, but we didn't know that yet. We then beat Stevens at home. In the middle of the next week, the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals, to win their 1st World Series in 86 years. If the Red Sox could overcome a long drought that included several shocking defeats, why couldn't E.B. football?

We needed overtime to beat South Brunswick away, but not to then beat Woodbridge at home. We had qualified for the Playoffs. On November 13, at Jay Doyle Field -- named for the man who was our 1st athletic director, football coach and wrestling coach -- we beat Brick Township of Ocean County, 13-12. It was a difficult game, as we expected it would be, but we won it, advancing to the Semifinal for the 1st time in 10 years. On November 20, we won that, beating Hillsborough of Somerset County, 28-21 in overtime. We were now in the Final for the 1st time in 19 years.

Fortunately, the NJSIAA rejiggered its sectional boundaries for this season. Good thing, too, as it moved Piscataway from Central Jersey into North Jersey Section II, meaning that if we both made the Playoffs, we wouldn't have to face each other. Instead, we would have to face Jackson Memorial, of Ocean County. They hadn't lost a game in 2 years, and were going for back-to-back State Championships. But we were confident we could give them a game.

And then we went to Old Bridge for our annual Thanksgiving Day game against the arch-rivals, and laid an absolute egg. We lost 20-0, and we never even looked like scoring. What happened to the team that quarterback Matt Mariano had been leading to victory all year long? We hadn't beaten Old Bridge since 1994, and now, with our best team since then -- maybe our best team since 1984 -- we couldn't do it.

No matter: We had to get our confidence back up, because we still had a title to win. But it would be at Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium), on the Busch Campus in Piscataway. It was the 1st time we'd ever played on artificial turf (most area high schools would soon get it, including us), and against the defending Champions. There were 12,000 people on hand, possibly the biggest crowd in EB history (and bigger than a lot of crowds were for Rutgers games at the old, 1938-92 version of Rutgers Stadium).

Somehow, Mariano kept us in the game. It was tight. But we never trailed. We led 7-0, were tied 7-7, led 10-7, led 17-7, and it was 17-14 us in the final seconds. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. After all, this was East Brunswick football we were talking about. Something bad always happens, and we always lose the big ones.

With time for 1 more play, Jackson tried a field goal. I don't remember the exact distance, but it was around 40 yards. It was cold, but there wasn't much wind, and it was on turf. A good high school kicker could have made it.

And, having been through so much with E.B. -- momentary screwups, all-game-long brain cramps, bogus calls by officials, rotten weather, you name it -- I was sure that the field goal would be good, and that we would lose in overtime.

When the field goal by Jackson was tried, it seemed to hang in the air forever. It didn't, and the other shoe did. The attempt fell a few yards short, and, on December 5, 2004, East Brunswick was the State Champion. Well, the Central Jersey Group IV Champion, anyway.

I'd waited 20 years for that moment, and some EB fans had waited 32 years. The wait was over. Marcus Borden's Green-White Army had conquered. They had beaten the greatest opponent of all: Fear. Deep in my heart, I had ceased to believe that we would overcome one day. But that day finally came. We had overcome.

UPDATE: In 2006, due to rising enrollment at Jackson Memorial, the Township of Jackson opened a 2nd high school, naming it Jackson Liberty. In 2025, due to declining enrollment at both schools, the Township reconsolidated, putting all students at Jackson Liberty, and repurposing Jackson Memorial as a middle school.

So, while Jackson had one high school in the 2004-05 schoolyear, and would again in 2025-26, in a manner of speaking, the school that E.B. beat for that 1st Central Jersey Group IV Championship in the Playoff era no longer exists.

*

December 5, 2004 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Washington Redskins, 31-7 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The New York Jets beat the Houston Texans, 29-7 at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers, 47-17 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens, 27-26 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville, Florida.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 27-0 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 42-32 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the New Orleans Saints, 32-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The New England Patriots beat the Cleveland Browns, 42-15 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field).

* The Detroit Lions beat the Arizona Cardinals, 26-12 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans, 51-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings, 24-14 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers, 16-6 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Denver Broncos, 20-17 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders, 35-27 at the Network Associates Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known).

* And the next day, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Seattle Seahawks, 43-39 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

There were no NHL games scheduled for that day, but 2 NBA games were played:

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 121-99 at the Moda Center in Portland. Quentin Richardson scored 37 points for the Suns.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Boston Celtics, 119-105 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. 

November 19, 2004: The Malice at The Palace

November 19, 2004: The most notorious brawl in the history of North American sports breaks out. In the tradition of giving rhyming names to big prizefights, it quickly became known as "The Malice at the Palace." 

The Detroit Pistons were playing the Indiana Pacers, at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Auburn Hills is in the suburbs of Detroit, 33 miles northwest of Cadillac Square, and far from the city's notorious ghettos. The Pistons had been playing there since 1988, after playing the previous 10 seasons at the Silverdome, 4 miles to the south in Pontiac.

They were the defending NBA Champions, and had previously won back-to-back titles in 1989 and '90, when they were the roughest team of their generation, "the Motor City Bad Boys." A member of that team, Joe Dumars, was now the general manager, and he had assembled a strong team, coached by Larry Brown. Having coached the University of Kansas to the National Championship in 1988, Brown became the 1st coach to win both NCAA and NBA Championships. Through 2022, he remains the only one.

The Pistons' starting center and Captain was Ben Wallace. Forward Rasheed Wallace (no relation) was considered the most aggressive member of the team. He had been acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers, who, at the time, were not only very aggressive on the court, but got into legal trouble off it, leading to the nickname "the Jail Blazers."

The team also included guards Chauncey Billups, Richard "Rip" Hamilton and Lindsey Hunter; forwards Antonio McDyess and Tayshaun Prince; and newly-acquired center Derrick Coleman, once on the verge of superstardom with the New Jersey Nets, but had worn out his welcome with 4 different teams, and was trying a comeback with his hometown team.

The Pacers were coached by Rick Carlisle, the coach that Dumars fired in order to get Brown. Their general manager was Larry Bird, an Indiana native who led the Boston Celtics to 3 NBA titles, including in 1986 with Carlisle as a bench player. They were led by guard Reggie Miller, one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, but he was injured, and did not play in this game. Their next-most-notable player was a forward known for his bad behavior, Ronald William Artest Jr., then using the name Ron Artest.

There wasn't much history between the Pistons and the Pacers. They were in the same Division, in adjoining States, but the Pistons had always considered the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers to be their biggest rivals. The Pacers also considered the Bulls to be their rivals, and, to a lesser extent, due to a pair of difficult Playoff series between them, the New York Knicks.

They had played each other in the 1st Round in 1990, and, although this was the height of the Pistons' Bad Boys era, there were no incidents. In 2004, they played each other in the Conference Finals, so they were very familiar with each other by the following November; but in that May series, there were no incidents.

ESPN televised the game nationally, which helped embed the incident in fans' minds more than ESPN just replaying it endlessly on SportsCenter and its other shows could have done. By the 2nd quarter, the Pacers had jumped out to a 20-point lead, and the game never got close. Artest ended up scoring 20 points for the Pacers, and Jermaine O'Neal had 20. Hamilton scored 20 to lead the Pistons.

With 46 seconds left in regulation, the Pacers were up 97-82. Ben Wallace attempted a layup, but Artest slapped him on the back of the head. (Note: As Rasheed, despite his reputation, was not one of the principals in the brawl, hereafter, when I say, "Wallace," I mean, Ben.) Wallace shoved Artest in the face. Both benches emptied, with Prince being the only player not to get up.

The officials separated them, and, at first, that looked like the end of it. If it had been, the incident would have been chalked up as just another end-of-game scuffle involving a frustrated player on a losing team and a player on a winning team who should have left well enough alone.

Donnie Walsh, president of the Pacers organization, had told Artest that, to calm down and avoid trouble in a volatile situation, he should walk off the court, and lay down on the scorer's table. Whether the people at that table, or the Pistons, or the officials knew about this, I don't know. If that had been the end of it, it might have been chalked up as the kind of weird thing that some athletes did, such as Artest's contemporaries, baseball star Manny Ramirez and football star Terrell Owens.

But Wallace escalated the situation, throwing a towel at Artest. Artest got up to retaliate, but was held back by Pacer coaches. Then, a spectator, later identified as John Green, threw a plastic cup with soda in it at Artest, hitting him in the chest. Artest went into the stands, and grabbed the man he thought responsible, yelling, "Did you do it?" But it was the wrong fan, identified as Michael Ryan, who said, "No, man, no!"

Pacers broadcaster Mark Boyle tried to hold Artest back, but Artest knocked him backwards and stepped on him, resulting in 5 fractured vertebrae. Boyle was the only person Artest ever apologized to over the incident.

Another fan, William Paulson, threw another drink in Artest's face, while Artest was restrained. The Pacers' Stephen Jackson went into the stands and punched Paulson in the face. Players on both sides, including Miller and Rasheed Wallace, and even Pistons broadcaster Rick Mahorn, known in his playing days as the "baddest" of the Bad Boys, went into the stands to get their own players out. When the situation is so bad that Rick Mahorn is trying to ply peacemaker, that's historically bad.

Somehow, Green, the initial drink-thrower, got to Artest, and twice punched him in the back of the head. Artest was finally led out. But 2 fans who had gotten onto the court, Alvin Shackleford and Charlie Haddad, got in Artest's face, and Artest punched Shackleford in the face. Anthony Johnson of the Pacers punched Haddad. O'Neal did the same. Coleman, in a mature act that would have surprised Nets fans 10 years earlier, stood by Larry Brown and the Pistons' ball boy to protect them.

NBA Commissioner David Stern remembered watching all of this on television, and saying, "Holy shit." O'Neal later said, "As bad as it looked on TV, it was at least 20 times worse in person."

The referees and the Auburn Hills police cleared the court. With the Pacers leading by 15 with 45.9 seconds on the clock, the referees declared the game over. The Piston fans threw more objects at the Pacers as they left the court for their locker room, including a steel folding chair that nearly hit O'Neal. Brown took the public address announcer's microphone, and told the fans to stop. They didn't. He threw the microphone down. Nine fans were injured, 2 seriously enough to be taken to a hospital.

It still wasn't over. O'Neal yelled at Carlisle for making the coaches restrain players who were only trying to defend themselves, and was ready to fight him.

The next day, the NBA suspended Artest, Jackson, O'Neal and Ben Wallace indefinitely. When the punishments were finalized, Artest was suspended without pay for the rest of the season, which, counting the Pacers' Playoff games, amounted to 86 games. It remains the longest suspension for an on-court incident in NBA history. He lost almost $5 million in pay.

For the Pacers: Jackson was suspended 30 games, O'Neal 15, Johnson 5, Miller 1. For the Pistons: Ben Wallace was suspended 6 games, and Billups, Coleman and Elden Campbell were each suspended 1. A 1-game suspension is standard for a player who leaves the bench during a brawl, but is usually not applied if it can be shown that the player was trying to break the fight up.

In criminal court, Artest, Jackson, O'Neal and Harrison were sentenced to 1 year on probation, 60 hours of community service, $250 fines, and anger management counseling. Johnson was sentenced to 100 hours of community service.

Green, Haddad and Shackleford were banned for life from attending any future events at The Palace. So were Bryant Jackson, identified as the fan who threw the folding chair at O'Neal; and David Wallace, no relation to Ben or Rasheed, who was sentenced to one year of probation and community service for punching Pacer player Fred Jones.

Green and Haddad had season tickets, which were revoked, with refunds for the cost of the remainder of the season. Green had a rap sheet longer than a 3-point shot, and was already on probation from a DUI conviction. He was acquitted of the assault charge for throwing the cup, but convicted for punching Artest in the stands. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 2 years' probation. Jackson pleaded no contest to a felony assault charge, and was sentenced to 2 years' probation.

The brawl had no long-term effect on the Pistons, as they returned to the NBA Finals in 2005, but lost in 7 games to the San Antonio Spurs. They have not been back since. In 2017, the Pistons and the NHL's Detroit Red Wings moved into the Little Caesars Arena, at the northern edge of downtown, a short walk from Comerica Park, the new home of MLB's Detroit Tigers, and Ford Field, the new home of the NFL's Detroit Lions. And so, for the 1st time since the Lions last played at Tiger Stadium on Thanksgiving Day 1974, 43 years earlier, all 4 of Detroit's major league sports teams were playing in the city.

Rick Carlisle remained the Pistons' coach until 2007. He coached the Dallas Mavericks for 13 seasons, winning the NBA Championship in 2011. The Pacers have not been a serious NBA title contender since 2004.

The Palace was also the site of a brawl between the WNBA's Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks on July 22, 2008. This fight was dubbed "The Malice at the Palace II." The Sparks won the game, 84-81. Despite winning WNBA Championships in 2003, '06  and '08 -- hence the mailing address of The Palace was "Six Championship Drive," having previously been "One... " and counting upward -- the Shock moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2010. The Shock moved again in 2016, becoming the Dallas Wings.

Without a tenant, The Palace became most useful for the suburban land on which it stood. It was demolished in 2020, after only 32 years, and will be redeveloped for a mixed-use office park. (UPDATE: General Motors bought the land, and is planning to build an electric-car assembly plant on the site.)

After bouncing around the league, in 2010, Ron Artest won an NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2011, to help improve his image, he legally changed his name to Metta World Peace. He explained that "Metta" is a Buddhist word that means "loving kindness and friendliness towards all." In 2020, having married Maya Sandiford, he changed his name again, to Metta Sandiford-Artest. He now runs The Artest Management Group, which helps athletes with real-life issues, including tax preparation. He seems to have found peace, if not world peace.

His son, who goes by Ron Artest III, is also a pro basketball player: He began the 2022-23 season with the KW Titans of the National Basketball League of Canada, representing the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, outside Hamilton.

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November 19, 2004 was a Friday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. The NHL team owners had locked the players out, and ended up canceling the entire season. So the only other scores that night came from these other 8 NBA games:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 103-101 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Boston Celtics, 92-84 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Miami Heat beat the Utah Jazz, 107-105 in overtime at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami. Dwyane Wade led all scorers on the night with 39 points.

* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Toronto Raptors, 101-94 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls, 99-81 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 107-102 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 107-105 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-98 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

November 2, 2004: George W. Bush Is Re-Elected President

November 2, 2004: George W. Bush achieves -- due to the appearance of shenanigans in Ohio, I won't say "wins" -- a 2nd term as President, defeating the Democratic nominee, Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts. Although Kerry was a rich liberal Catholic from Massachusetts with the initials JFK, and as a young man had met President John F. Kennedy, he was no Jack Kennedy.

Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney won 62 million popular votes, for 50.7 percent. Kerry and his running mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, won 59 million, for 48.3 percent. This remains the only time between 1988 (when Bush's father did it) and 2020 that the Republican nominee for President got a majority of the popular vote.

Bush won 31 States for 286 Electoral Votes. Kerry won 19 States, plus the District of Columbia, for 251 EVs. One "faithless elector" from Minnesota voted for Edwards instead of Kerry.

(On July 6, the New York Post had a big front-page headline: "KERRY'S CHOICE." They said it was Representative Dick Gephardt of Missouri, the House Minority Leader. A few hours after that headline was published, Kerry announced that his choice was Edwards. Not the Post's first sloppy piece of journalism, nor its last. In hindsight, Kerry would have been better off if he had chosen Gephardt.)

Kerry got 49.2 percent of the vote in Iowa, and 49.0 percent in New Mexico. Had he won both of those States, that would not have been enough to swing the Electoral Vote in his favor: It would still have been 274-263 Bush.

The key State turned out to be Ohio: Kerry got 48.7 percent there, and it was still not called by 12:00 Noon, Eastern Time, on November 3. Switching its 20 Electoral Votes, and no others, would have given Kerry a 271-266 win. But, despite the various media outlets' refusal to call it for Bush, Bush's lead was such that, at 1:50 PM, Kerry began a press conference, and said, "I have come to the conclusion that we cannot win in Ohio," and announced that he had called Bush, and offered his concession. Bush's final margin in Ohio was 118,601.

Kerry's concession, at Faneuil Hall, Boston

As with Florida in 2000, there were rumors of Republican shenanigans in what turned out to be the decisive State. Kenneth Blackwell, Secretary of State for Ohio, and a former Mayor of Cincinnati, was accused of manipulating the vote. Blackwell has never won another election: He was the Republican nominee for Governor in 2006, but got clobbered by Democratic Congressman Ted Strickland. As of November 2, 2022, he works for the anti-choice, anti-gay Family Research Council.

The closeness of the Presidential election was also reflected in the Congressional elections: The Republicans gained only 3 seats in the House of Representatives, and actually gained more seats in the Senate, 4, in each case boosting what had been small majorities. Among the newly-elected Senators was a Democratic State Senator from Illinois, whose speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention had gained a great deal of notice: Barack Obama. (UPDATE: Also elected was Republican John Thune of South Dakota. In 2025, Thune became the Senate Majority Leader.)

During the campaign, Bush ran as the man who was fighting to avenge the 9/11 attacks, while his fellow Republicans mocked Kerry for saying that Democratic leadership could "reduce terrorism to the level of a nuisance."

After 4 more years, the economy was in tatters, and the Iraq War was no closer to being "won" than it was on this day.

There were 3 debates. The 1st was held at the University of Miami on September 30, just a few miles from the "Brooks Brothers Riot" that turned out to be instrumental in Bush's 2000 emergence as President. Bush was asked why he invaded Iraq. He said, “The enemy attacked us.” Kerry reminded him, and reminded America, “Saddam Hussein did not attack us on September 11, 2001. Osama bin Laden did.” At that moment, anybody who still planned to vote for Bush based on “national security” became, irrevocably, a fool.

As they did in 2000, the editors of Time magazine named Bush as their Person of the Year for 2004.

By 2016, after 8 years of Obama as President, with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State in his 1st term, and then Kerry himself as Secretary of State in the 2nd term, Kerry had been proven correct: They had reduced terrorism, at least against American targets, at home and abroad, to the level of a nuisance.

In 2022, Kerry is President Joe Biden's Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, while Bush is getting a somewhat favorable reassessment: At least he wasn't as bad as Donald Trump.

UPDATE: Kerry left that job on March 6, 2024. He was 80 years old.

*

November 2, 2004, as are all modern U.S. Election Days, was a Tuesday. The baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out, so there would be no season in 2004-05. But there were 3 NBA games played:

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Houston Rockets, 87-79 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings, 107-98 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki scored 33 points.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 89-78 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant scored 25 points.

October 31, 2004: The NFL's Longest Winning Streak Ends

Ben Roethlisberger (left) and Tom Brady

October 31, 2004: The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New England Patriots, 34-20 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh. This ends the longest winning streak in NFL history.

Coached by Bill Belichick, the Patriots surprised the football world in the 2001 season, losing starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe to injury early, and then replacing him with Tom Brady, and going on a run that ended with victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. After missing the Playoffs in the 2002 season, they won it all again for 2003.

On September 28, they lost away to the Washington Redskins, and ran the table the rest of the way, starting on October 5, home to the Tennessee Titans. They won their last 12 of the season, beat the Titans again in the AFC Divisional Playoff, beat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game, and beat the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl XXXVIII. That made 15 straight wins.

They won their 1st preseason exhibition game, then lost their next 3, but that didn't break the official streak. They jumped out to a 6-0 start in 2004, for a total of 21 straight wins. The previous longest winning streak belonged to the 1972 and '73 Miami Dolphins: After losing Super Bowl VI, they went 14-0 in the '72 regular season, won the Super Bowl to complete the NFL's only undefeated full season to this day, and won their '73 opener before losing their 2nd game, for a total of 18 straight. The Patriots' 19th straight was their October 10, 2004 home win over, perhaps appropriately, the Dolphins.

Two Sundays later, on October 24, a concurrent streak, the longest unbeaten run in the history of top-flight English soccer, came to an end, as Arsenal, who had gone 49 Premier League games without a loss, were defeated by Manchester United. The Patriots won that day, beating the New York Jets, 13-7 at home, for 21 straight.

But on the afternoon of Halloween, they went into Pittsburgh for a tough one. Patriots vs. Steelers is not one of the NFL's bigger rivalries, but the Pats had eliminated the Steelers from the Playoffs in 1996 (when the quarterbacks were still Bledsoe for New England and Kordell Stewart for Pittsburgh) and 2001, with the Steelers beating the Patriots in 1997. Now, with Ben Roethlisberger as their quarterback, the Black & Gold were ready to take the defending Champions down.

Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal to give the Pats an early lead, but a season-ending injury to Ty Law was a green light for Roethlisberger, as he exploited the new weakness for 2 touchdown passes. Deshea Townsend intercepted Brady and returned it for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a 21-3 lead before the 1st quarter ran out.

The Steelers then pounded the Pats with the running game, with Duce Staley gaining 125 yards and Jerome Bettis 65 plus a 3rd-quarter touchdown. The Steelers won, 34-20, and looked ready to take over as the leading team in the AFC.

It didn't happen: The Steelers hosted the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, and got lit up, 41-27. The Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX, beating the Philadelphia Eagles. The Steelers won 3 of the next 5 AFC Championships, but, each time, the Patriots got knocked out before the Steelers had to face them. The Patriots beat the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game again in the 2016 season.

Did the Patriots cheat in their streak? Did they cheat in Super Bowl XXXIX? There has never been a serious accusation of it. But think of it this way: We have more proven instances of Belichick and/or Brady cheating, and the other benefiting from that cheating, than we have proven instances of them not cheating. So which is more likely: That these were the only times they cheated, or that they cheated in many more games?

*

October 31, 2004 was a Sunday. The baseball season ended 4 days earlier, with the Boston Red Sox ending their 86-year World Series drought by completing a 4-game sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals. The NBA season started 2 days later. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out, eventually leading to the cancellation of the entire season.

These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-13 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Baltimore Ravens, 15-10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins, 28-14 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-20 at The Coliseum (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-6 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions, 31-21 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Chicago Bears beat the San Francisco 49ers, 23-13 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts, 45-35 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Denver Broncos, 41-28 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The San Diego Chargers beat their arch-rivals, the Oakland Raiders, 42-14 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Carolina Panthers, 23-17 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 41-14 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* And the Cleveland Browns, the New Orleans Saints, the St. Louis Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a bye week.

October 27, 2004: The Curse of the Bambino Is Broken

October 27, 2004: The Curse of the Bambino is finally broken. Well, sort of. The Boston Red Sox win their 1st World Series in 86 years with a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, in Game 4 at Busch Memorial Stadium.

Derek Lowe ends up as the winning pitcher in all 3 postseason series-clinchers for the Sox, the 1st pitcher of any team to do so. (Andy Pettitte became the 2nd in 2009.) Johnny Damon hits a home run for Boston. Manny Ramirez is voted Series MVP‚ as he leads Boston to the 4-game sweep with a .412 batting average and 4 RBI. The last out was Cardinal shortstop Edgar Renteria grounding back to pitcher Keith Foulke, who threw to 1st baseman Doug Mientkiewicz.

With the New England Patriots having won Super Bowl XXXVIII 9 months earlier, this win also gave Boston its 1st MLB-NFL double. They would achieve it again in 2018-19. Sports Illustrated had previously named entire national teams as a collective Sportspeople of the Year -- U.S. men's hockey in 1980, U.S. women's soccer in 1999 -- but, in 2004, for the 1st time, they gave the award to an entire major league sports team, the Red Sox.

Some people had joked that the Red Sox winning the World Series would be a sign of the Apocalypse. Well, according to the Bible, one such sign is the Moon turning blood red -- and, in fact, there was a full lunar eclipse during the game. (Although this was hardly a surprise, as newspapers and news networks had mentioned it before nightfall.)

A sign held aloft at the victory parade in Boston sums it all up: "Our (late) parents and g'parents thank you." So many people said, "We wanted them to win it in our lifetime, just once." Well, as Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe, who has written more and better about the franchise than anyone, said in the following weeks, "There was no spike in the obits. We checked. All those people who said they couldn't die until the Red Sox won a World Series decided to live a little longer."

Of course, they didn't win it just once in those people’s lifetimes – except for those who died between October '04 and October '07.

And now that we know that the Red Sox are a bunch of lying, cheating, dirty, low-down, no-good bastards, we can tell the truth: They still haven't really won a World Series since 1918*. The Curse lives.

So all those Sox fans who weren't old enough to suffer through Harry Frazee, Johnny Pesky, Harry Agganis, Tony Conigliaro, Larry Barnett, Bobby Sprowl, Bucky Dent, John McNamara and Bill Buckner – though most of them did get through what Nomar, Pedro and Grady put them through – and showed more bastardry in victory than their forebears ever showed in defeat can kiss my 27 rings (well, 7 in my lifetime – for the moment), and then they can kiss my Pinstriped ass.

UPDATE: The Red Sox have a team Hall of Fame. From the 2004 World Champions, they have inducted designated hitter David Ortiz, left fielder Manny Ramirez, center fielder Johnny Damon, right fielder Trot Nixon, catcher Jason Varitek, 1st baseman Kevin Youkilis; pitchers Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Derek Lowe and Mike Timlin; team president Larry Lucchino, scout George Digby, executives Dick Bresciani and Elaine Weddington Steward, farm system director Ben Mondor, guest relations director Al Green, broadcasters Jerry Remy and Joe Castiglione, and longtime vendor Arthur D'Angelo. Team owner John W. Henry, manager Terry Francona and general manager Theo Epstein have not yet been inducted.

From their 2007 World Champions, add 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia, 3rd baseman Mike Lowell, and pitchers Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon.

*

October 27, 2004 was a Wednesday. It was the last baseball game of the season. Football was in midweek. The NHL team owners had locked the players out, so there were no games. And the NBA season wasn't scheduled to begin until the following Tuesday. So there were no other scores on this historic day.

October 24, 2004: The Battle of the Buffet

October 24, 2004: The Boston Red Sox take a 2-games-to-0 lead in the World Series with a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park. Curt Schilling, again wearing the Bloody Sock, gets the win. Orlando Cabrera‚ Mark Bellhorn‚ and Jason Varitek each drive in a pair of runs.

But, as disgusting as the Red Sox cheating their way to another win was, that wasn't the most disgusting sporting event that happened on this day. Not by a long shot.

Arsenal Football Club, of North London, had gone 49 straight Premier League games without a loss, a record streak for top-flight English "football" dating back to the founding of The Football League in 1888. Arsenal F.C. hadn't lost since Yorkshire team Leeds United beat them on May 7, 2003 -- 536 days. That included the entire 2003-04 season, making Arsenal the only "Invincibles" of the modern era.

Making it 50 straight games without a loss would have been great semantically, but more important was who they were playing in Game 50: They went into Old Trafford, home of the other dominant team of the era, Manchester United. Either Arsenal or Man U had won the last 9 League titles, and 13 of the last 16.

The game was scoreless going into the 72nd minute (out of 90, so, 80 percent done), mainly because

United's players, particularly the Neville brothers -- right back Gary and midfielder Phil, not the singing Neville brothers of New Orleans -- were kicking Gunners forward José Antonio Reyes into oblivion, rendering him too timid to shoot. He was, literally, intimidated.

In addition, United's Dutch striker, Ruud van Nistelrooy -- nicknamed Van Horseface due to an uncanny facial resemblance to Seattle Slew -- had a challenge on Arsenal defender Ashley Cole that was clearly worthy of a straight red card. So the Red Devils should have been down to no more than 10 men, possibly as few as 8.

But the referee for this game was Mike Riley, and he hates Arsenal. He gave only 2 cards to United throughout the match, a yellow each to the Neville brothers. Indeed, van Nistelrooy was retroactively given the punishment he would have gotten if, in fact, he had received a straight red during the game: 3 domestic games. (2 yellows, which equal 1 red, would have been a mere 1-game suspension.)

In that 72nd minute, United's young striker, Wayne Rooney, on his 19th birthday, executed a blatant dive in the 18-yard box, going down without being touched, in an attempt to be awarded a penalty kick. Instead of properly giving him a straight red card and sending him off, Riley called a foul on Arsenal defender Sol Campbell, who never even touched Rooney. It was a completely bogus call, and Riley awarded a penalty, which van Nistelrooy converted. Rooney added another goal that he didn't deserve to even be on the pitch for, in the 90th minute, and United had unfairly won, 2-0.

In contrast to the 2 yellow cards on United, Riley had actually given Arsenal 3 yellow cards -- and the alleged penalty foul by Campbell wasn't one of them.

The fireworks for this most dubious of games in the long and fractious history of Arsenal-Manchester United matches were hardly over at the final whistle. Despite being teammates on the national side, Campbell refused to shake Rooney's hand, a deserved mark of disrespect. Entering the tunnel to head to the locker rooms, United manager Alex Ferguson was hit in the face by a slice of pizza from the postgame spread in Arsenal's locker room.

The game became known as "The Battle of the Buffet" -- a 1990 match between the teams, featuring a fight, had already been given the name "The Battle of Old Trafford" -- and, as it turned out, the Arsenal player who threw the slice was 17-year-old Spanish midfield wizard Cesc Fàbregas. As it also turned out, this, not anything he did on the field from 2003 to 2011, was the best thing Fàbregas did in an Arsenal uniform.

In 2009, Mike Riley was appointed the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the governing body for English soccer referees. Arsenal have not won the Premier League since 2004. That is not a coincidence, although Riley's influence over such corrupt referees as Mike Dean, Howard Webb, Phil Dowd, Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver is just one reason. (UPDATE: He stepped down in 2023.)

*

October 24, 2004 was a Sunday. The NBA season didn't start for another 9 days. The NHL players were locked out by the team owners, and, eventually, the entire 2004-05 season was canceled. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Detroit Lions, 28-13 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to their arch-rivals, the New England Patriots, 13-7 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Buffalo Bills, 20-6 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Carolina Panthers, 17-6 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Chicago Bears, 19-7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the St. Louis Rams, 31-14 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Cleveland Browns, 34-31 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field). Jeff Garcia sent the game to overtime with a 4-yard quarterback draw for the Browns, but David Akers kicked a 50-yard field goal with 5:02 left in overtime to win it for the Eagles.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Indianapolis Colts, 27-24 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Josh Scobee kicked a 53-yard field goal with 38 seconds left to win it.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 41-20 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Tennessee Titans, 20-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Atlanta Falcons, 56-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Yes, you read that right: Fifty-six to ten.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Seattle Seahawks, 25-17 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Oakland Raiders, 31-26 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Denver Broncos, 23-10 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* And the Houston Texans, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins had a bye week.

October 20, 2004: The Boston Red Sox Slay the Pinstriped Dragon

October 20, 2004: The Red Sox ruin the anniversary of Mickey Mantle's birth. Unlike the 2003-18 Red Sox, Mickey didn't need no steroids to win baseball games. The chemicals he ingested were, most definitely, not performance-enhancing.

Having dropped 3 straight to the Sox to force a Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees had nothing left, at least not emotionally. The Red Sox led 6-0 after 2 innings. It was 8-1 after 4. The final was 10-3.

Having let Andy Pettitte and David Wells get away, the Yankees had no lefthanded starting pitchers to counter the Boston lefthanders: David Ortiz (who hit a home run in the 1st inning), Johnny Damon (who hit one in the 2nd and another in the 4th), Trot Nixon (limited to a single in 5 at-bats), and the switch-hitting Mark Bellhorn (who homered lefthanded in the 8th) and Bill Mueller (who hit 2 singles).

Instead, manager Joe Torre had a choice of Kevin Brown, a great pitcher not that long ago but now unreliable; and Javier Vázquez, who, as his later career would confirm, seemed to pitch well for everybody but the Yankees. Torre removed Brown after loading the bases in the 2nd, already down 2-0 because of the steroid-aided homer of Ortiz. He brought in Vázquez, who gave up the 1st of Damon's homers, a grand slam.

This was not the kind of loss that crushes you because you apparently had it won at the end, and blew it. We got beat early. From the 1st inning onward, we knew the Red Sox were going to win the game. We knew it, and their fans knew it. There was nothing that could be done. And we had to stick it out, all 9 innings, and hear those Red Sox fans give us the business in our house for, as it turned out, 3 hours and 31 minutes. Never mind what the clock said: This was the longest game in Yankee history.

To paraphrase the movie Goodfellas: It was revenge for Bucky Dent, and a lot of other things. And there was nothing that we could do about it. The Red Sox were beloved in the national media, and the Yankees weren't. And we had to sit still and take it. It was among the New Englanders. It was real chowderhead shit.

It was 12:01 AM, October 21, when Ruben Sierra grounded to 2nd for the final out. So not only had the Sox ended the Curse of the Bambino, they had ruined the birthdays of both Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford.

Finally, after losing the Pennant to the Yankees on the final day in 1949, blowing the Division title to the Yankees in 1977 and 1978, losing the ALCS to the Yankees in 1999, and the shock of 2003, the Red Sox and their fans had their revenge over the Yankees. They had slain the big Pinstriped Dragon. 

But, as Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe, who knows more about the Red Sox than anyone, pointed out, it wasn't over: "The Curse of the Bambino is not that the Red Sox can't beat the Yankees. The Curse of the Bambino is that the Red Sox can't win the World Series." They lost the 1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986 World Series; the 1948 AL Playoff game; fell a little short of the AL Eastern Division title in 1972, 1974, 1979 and 1991; and lost the ALCS in 1988 and 1990. And some of those losses were crushing. But none of those defeats had anything to do with the Yankees, although the 1986 World Series loss, the most crushing of them all, was to a New York team.

Shaughnessy's Globe teammate, columnist Bob Ryan, was asked if only the Pennant, even with a win over the Yankees, would have been enough. He was emphatic: "Let's get this out of the way, right now: Would it have been enough for the Red Sox to beat the Yankees, without winning the World Series? The answer is, 'No!'"

It would take 7 more days for the Sox to truly break the Curse, beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. The Cards had beaten them in the Series in 1946 and '67. The Sox have since beaten them again, in 2013.

On July 30, 2009, it was revealed that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, the 2 biggest reasons the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and again in 2007, had failed steroid tests. They hadn't earned a fucking thing. They'd cheated. Ortiz was still there when they won it all again in 2013. Those 3 titles are fake, and they goddamned well know it. 1918 * Forever.

The baseball media, of course, will never give the Yankees the same benefit of the doubt that they give the Red Sox. Well, to hell with them. The world knows the truth, whether they accept it or not. They would say the Yankees "cheated" to win their titles. Really? The evidence against the 1996-2003 Yankees is incredibly flimsy. The evidence against the 2003-2013 Red Sox is overwhelming. The evidence against the 2018 Red Sox, while separate, is also pretty strong.

*

October 20, 2004 was a Wednesday. It was midweek, so no football games. The NBA season hadn't started yet. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out. But there was one other score in North American sports that day:

Lost in the excitement of the Red Sox' revenge over the Yankees, Jim Edmonds hit a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning, to give the Cardinals a 6-4 win over the Houston Astros at Busch Memorial Stadium, and send the NLCS to a decisive Game 7. The Cards won the next day. But the Red Sox swept them in the World Series, and finished the job.

Also, there was UEFA Champions League Group Stage action:

* Arsenal FC of North London played Panathinaikos to a 2-2 draw at Stadio Apostolos Nikolaidis in Athens, Greece.

* Chelsea FC beat CSKA Moscow, 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in West London.

* Paris Saint-Germain beat FC Porto of Porto, Portugal, 2-0 at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

* AC Milan beat FC Barcelona, 1-0 at the San Siro in Milan.

* Internazionale Milano beat Valencia, 5-1 at Estadio de Mestalla in Valencia, Spain.

* Shakhtar Donetesk beat Celtic of Glasgow, Scotland, 3-0 at RSC Olimpiyskiy in Donetsk, Ukraine.

* Werder Bremen of Germany beat Anderlecht, 2-1 at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.

* And PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands beat Rosenborg, 2-1 at Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim, Norway.

October 10, 2004: The Death of Christopher Reeve

October 10, 2004: Actor Christopher Reeve dies, from complications from his 1995 horseback-riding accident and subsequent paralysis. He was 52.

He was born on September 25, 1952 in Manhattan, and grew up in nearby Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey. He had the same birthday as another movie hero of my youth, born 1 year to the day after Mark Hamill, Star Wars' Luke Skywalker. Although born in a town with an Ivy League school, he attended a different one, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He attended the Julliard School for the performing arts, where he became a close friend of comedian Robin Williams.

After debuting on Broadway in 1976, his acting ability, his lack of reception for it, and his physicality made him ideal for director Richard Donner to cast him in Superman: The Movie, which premiered in 1978. He was the first live-action Superman that most people had seen other than George Reeves in the 1952-58 TV series The Adventures of Superman, which was still seen in reruns. But this movie's special effects -- the tagline was, "You'll believe a man can fly" -- made the earlier show's effects look ridiculous. (Of course, new advances in special effects are frequent, so even the Reeve films look not quite right now.)

Superman II came out in 1981, and was also a smash. Superman III came in 1983, and the intentional attempt at comedy fell flat, except for a scene where improperly-synthesized Kryptonite -- perhaps a nod to the comics' Red Kryptonite -- let Superman's dark side out, climaxing in a scene where Reeve had to play both Superman and Clark Kent, representing the light side of the character, trying to steer him back, and ultimately winning.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace came in 1987, and was a great idea, ridiculously executed. Reeve wouldn't do a Superman V after that. Which was too bad, because Batman, with Michael Keaton, was released in 1989, with a sequel, Batman Returns, in 1992; and CBS aired The Flash, starring John Wesley Shipp, in the 1990-91 season. With Lynda Carter still young enough to have played Wonder Woman, we could have gotten a Justice League movie during the George H.W. Bush Administration, maybe in the 1st Bill Clinton term. (We didn't get one with Reeve, Carter, and the Batman and Robin of 1960s TV, Adam West and Burt Ward, either.)

In 1993, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman premiered on ABC. Dean Cain was cast as Superman, and Reeve never appeared in the series. Cain had a very tough act to follow, but did well in the role.

Reeve didn't want to be typecast, so, aside from Superman, he chose non-action roles, including the mystery Deathtrap and the time-travel story Time After Time.

He also participated in equestrian competitions, and was in one in Culpeper, Virginia, about 80 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., on May 27, 1995, when he was thrown from his horse. His landing broke his neck, paralyzing him from the shoulders down. For the rest of his life, he had to use a ventilator, and a wheelchair he operated by blowing into a tube.

It didn't stop him from raising money for spinal cord research, in the hopes of helping millions like him live better lives. Even as a quadriplegic, he was a hero. It didn't stop him from acting, either: He starred in a remake of Rear Window, the Alfred Hitchcock film starring James Stewart as a man with a broken leg who sees a murder from his wheelchair; and appeared in a supporting role in Smallville, The WB's 2000s re-imagining of the Superman mythos.

On June 29, 2002, I was at Yankee Stadium for one of the Yankee-Met Interleague games, and waited for the players to arrive, when a van pulled up at the media entrance. Suddenly, somebody yelled out, "It's Superman! It's Superman!" Not seeing Derek Jeter anywhere, I became confused. Then I stood on my toes and saw… Chris Reeve, in his motorized wheelchair, having been lowered out of his handicap-access van.

He was completely bald, due to alopecia, which I didn't know he had until doing the research for this post. I thought he'd had his head shaven to alleviate what the headpiece of his chair was doing to his hair. I hate to say this, but he looked more like Superman's arch-enemy Lex Luthor than the Man of Steel himself.

But, even though he couldn't turn his head to see us, and had to work hard just to breathe air into the tube that operated the chair, he still had more charisma than most of us will ever have. And, apparently, he was a Yankee Fan. Well, of course: He knew heroes when he saw them. (The Yankees could have used a hero that day: The Mets beat them 11-2.)

It had been 15 years since he last put on the Superman costume for a movie (and 23 years since he did so for a good one), but, to those of us who were kids when he made those movies, he will forever be Superman – with all due respect to Bud Collyer, Kirk Alyn, George Reeves, Dean Cain, Tom Welling, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin.

His death is believed to have been caused by an adverse reaction to a drug he was prescribed. In the days after Reeve's death, a cartoon would appear in the New York Daily News, showing an empty wheelchair, and Superman flying away from it.

On March 6, 2006, his wife Dana Reeve died from breast cancer. Later that year, the film Superman Returns was dedicated to both their memories. They were survived by 2 sons and a daughter.

*

October 10, 2004 was a Sunday. Also dying on this day was former major league 3rd baseman Ken Caminiti, of a drug overdose, after injuries (related to his steroid use) had ended his career in 2001. The 1996 National League Most Valuable Player, a 3-time All-Star who hit 239 home runs, was just 41.

Baseball was between rounds of the Playoffs. The NHL team owners had locked out the players, so there were no games. The NBA season didn't begin for another 23 days. But there were NFL games:

* The New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys, 26-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 16-14 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. The Jets led 13-0 at the half, and blew the lead, but got a game-winning 38-yard field goal from Doug Brien with 58 seconds left.

* The New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins, 24-10 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Washington Redskins, 17-10 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Atlanta Falcons, 17-10 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the New Orleans Saints, 20-17 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Houston Texans, 34-28 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston. Daunte Culpepper threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Robinson with 7:05 left in overtime.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 34-23 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Oakland Raiders, 35-14 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-17 at Invesco Field (now Empower Field) at Mile High in Denver.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 34-21 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 31-28 at Candlestick Park (then named Monster Park) in San Francisco. Todd Peterson won it with a 32-yard field goal with 11:37 left in overtime.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks, 33-27 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle. Marc Bulger threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Shaun McDonald with 11:58 left in overtime.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Tennessee Titans beat the Green Bay Packers, 48-27 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

* And the Chicago Bears, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles each had a bye week.

October 3, 2004: "Desperate Housewives" Premieres

Left to right: Felicity Huffman, Nicollette Sheridan,

Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross

October 3, 2004: Desperate Housewives premieres on ABC. Its combination of drama, humor and pathos make it a hit that lasts for 8 seasons.

The show is set on Wisteria Lane, in the town of Fairview, in a State identified only as "The Eagle State," but, who's kidding who, it's the suburbs of Los Angeles. It was filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood, on Colonial Street, site of the filming of Leave It to Beaver, Gremlins and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Brenda Strong plays Mary Alice Young, who narrates the series -- from beyond the grave, as she committed suicide in the pilot episode. She tells of the goings-on of 5 neighbors: Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp, Nicollette Sheridan as Edie Britt, and Eva Longoria as the show's breakout character, Gabrielle Solis.

Alfre Woodward joined in Season 2 as Betty Applewhite, but only for that season. Dana Delany, formerly of ABC's Vietnam War drama China Beach, joined in Season 4 as Katherine Mayfair. Sheridan left after Season 5, Delany after Season 6. Former Miss America and Grammy-winning singer Vanessa Williams joined in Season 7 as Renee Perry, and when the show closed after Season 8, Hatcher, Huffman, Cross and Longoria had been there for the entire run.

A few years later, on another ABC drama, Body of Proof, Delany played a medical examiner in Philadelphia, investigating a murder in a nearby suburb. With a smile that telegraphed the inside joke, she said, "I used to live on a cul-de-sac like this."

*

October 3, 2004 was a Sunday. Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp was born.

It was the last day of baseball's regular season. At the site of the franchise's 1st regular season game in 1969, the Montreal Expos, who were now scheduled to move to Washington, D.C. for the next season, played the last game in their 36-year history, losing to the Mets at Shea Stadium, 8-1. A crowd of 33,569 attended the memorial service, but most were rooting for the Mets.

The Expos' last starting lineup: Brad Wilkerson, 1B; Jamey Carroll, 2B; Val Pascucci, RF; Terrmel Sledge, LF; Ryan Church, CF; Einar Diaz, C; Brendan Harris, 3B; Josh Labandeira, SS; and John Patterson, P. Patterson was the losing pitcher, while Tom Glavine won it.

David Wright and Todd Zeile hit home runs for the Mets. The last play in Expo history was a groundout to 2nd base, Kazuo Matsui to 1st baseman Mike Piazza, induced by reliever Bartolome Fortunato. That last Expo batter was a defensive replacement in center field, who will go on to join the Mets and make Shea history in another way, with his glove: Endy Chavez. The last active Expo would also become a her to Met fans: Bartolo Colón, who would still be pitching in the major leagues in 2018.

These other MLB games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Bernie Williams hit a home run in the top of the 8th inning, making a winning pitcher out of Scott Proctor (to my shock -- Proctor was notoriously unreliable as a Yankee reliever) in relief of Brad Halsey. Derek Jeter went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-3.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins, 10-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. David Ortiz went 0-for-1 with a walk before he left the game. I guess the steroids had run out for the year.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-0 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. It took 3 pitchers to complete a 5-hit shutout: Óliver Pérez for 6 innings, Salomón Torres for 2, and José Mesa for 1.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-8 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-0 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. José Contreras pitched 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, before Shingo Takatsu finished the 3-hit shutout.

* The Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres, 4-1 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. It took 4 pitchers to complete a 3-hit shutout: Jason Schmidt for 6 innings, and 1 each for Jesse Foppert, Tyler Walker and Kevin Correia. The Giants got home runs from 5 different players, none of them Barry Bonds: He went 0-for-1 with a walk before being removed from the game in the 4th inning.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Anaheim Angels, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum).

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-0 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. It took 4 pitchers to complete a 4-hit shutout: Chan Ho Park for 7 innings, Brian Shouse pitched to 1 batter without getting him out, Doug Brocail finished the 8th, and Francisco Cordero pitched the 9th.

And these NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Green Bay Packers, 14-7 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

* The New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 17-7 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, 27-10 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-17 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 16-13 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Houston Texans beat the Oakland Raiders, 30-17 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-17 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburbs of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 28-17 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Washington Redskins, 17-13 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears, 19-9 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

East: Dallas

North: Detroit, Minnesota

West: Seattle

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the New Orleans Saints, 34-10 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans, 38-17 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The St. Louis Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers (who had been the Rams' arch-rivals while they were in Los Angeles), 24-14 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, 27-24 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* And the Dallas Cowboys, the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks each had a bye week.