December 24, 2009: "The Joe Rogan Experience" Premieres

December 24, 2009: The Joe Rogan Experience premieres. It becomes the most-listened-to "podcast" in America.

This was not a good thing.

Joe Rogan was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1967, about a month after the race riot there, but grew up in Boston. After a few years of standup comedy, he was part of the cast of the NBC sitcom NewsRadio. Then, he was exposed as a despicable person by his hosting of the NBC "reality series" Fear Factor from 2001 to 2006. He gained even more fans as a commentator for UFC, "Ultimate Fighting Championship," basically "boxing for white men."

He started his podcast to cater to white men looking to reclaim what they thought of as their lost privilege, in the wake of the election of a black man, Barack Obama, as President of the United States.

He claims that his podcast features "interesting conversations with people that have differing opinions." It does not. It features dangerous conversations with people that tell already-proven lies.

It also helped to make millions of Americans believe that both sides of any argument had a point, and that both sides were equally valid. This is wrong. In almost any argument, there is a right side and a wrong side. A moral side and an immoral side. A good side and an evil side.

And Rogan, all too often, has been on the wrong, the immoral, the evil side. Never more so than when he advocated for the election of Donald Trump as President.

*

December 24, 2009 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was in midweek. Being Christmas Eve, there were no games in the NBA or the NHL. There was 1 college football game played that day: Southern Methodist University (SMU) beat the University of Nevada, 45-10, at the Hawaii Bowl, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

December 18, 2009: Martin Brodeur Breaks the NHL Record for Games By a Goaltender

December 18, 2009: It was my 40th Birthday, and I celebrated by attending the New Jersey Devils' game against the Ottawa Senators, at the Prudential Center in downtown Newark, New Jersey.

The Devils won, 4-2. They got goals by Jamie Langenbrunner in the 1st period, Brian Rolston and Jay Pandolfo in the 2nd, and Bryce Salvador in the 3rd. The Ottawa goals came from Alexandre Picard and Jarkko Ruutu, both in the 2nd.

Only 13,728 fans attended. The fans who could have attended, but chose not to, may not have realized they had the chance to witness a historic occasion. Honestly, I didn't know it was one, beyond being a milestone birthday for me. But the announcement was made that Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was playing in the 1,030th game of his career, a new record for goaltenders.

He surpassed the record of 1,029, set between 1984 and 2003 by Patrick Roy. Roy also held the record for most career wins by a goalie, with 551. Brodeur broke that record, and raised it to 691.

Brodeur ended his career by playing in 1,266 regular-season games, all with the Devils, except for the last 7, with the St. Louis Blues. He played in an additional 205 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, helping the Devils win the Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003, losing in the Finals in 2001 and 2012.

*

December 18, 2009 was a Friday. There were 5 other NHL games that day:

* The Florida Panthers, 6-3 at the BankAtlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins, 5-4 in a shootout at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-3 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 11 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 95-91 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Toronto Raptors, 118-95 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics, 98-97 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Utah Jazz, 96-83 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Indiana Pacers, 107-94 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Denver Nuggets, 98-92 at the New Orleans Arena (now the Smoothie King Center) in New Orleans.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Detroit Pistons, 109-98 at the Oklahoma City Arena (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City.

* The Houston Rockets beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Mavericks, 116-108 in overtime at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 85-82 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Sacramento Kings, 112-96 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* And the Washington Wizards beat the Golden State Warriors, 118-109 at the Oracle Arena (as the Oakland Coliseum Arena was then known). Gilbert Arenas led all scorers on the night with 45 points.

December 13, 2009: Brandon Marshall Catches 21 Passes In a Game

December 13, 2009: The Indianapolis Colts host the Denver Broncos at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is expected to be the star of the game. He is far from his best, completing just 20 of 42 passes, for 220 yards. Although he throws for 4 touchdowns, he also throws 3 interceptions.

The Broncos' Kyle Orton, returning to the State where he had played his college ball, at Purdue University, had had a better game, completing 29 of 41 for 277 yards, including 2 touchdowns and an interception.

The true star of the game turned out to be Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall. He set a new NFL record, catching 21 passes, for 200 yards, including touchdowns of 5 yards in the 2nd quarter, and 5 yards again in the 4th quarter.

The problem was, Manning got the Colts out to a 21-0 lead before Marshall's, and the Broncos', 1st touchdown, and cruised from there.

The Colts won, 28-16, and advanced to 13-0 on the season. They made it to 14-0... and lost their last 2 games, finishing 14-2. They got to Super Bowl XLIV, 3 years after winning Super Bowl XLI, and lost it to the New Orleans Saints.

The Broncos did not reach another Super Bowl until the 2013 season, and then won it in the 2015 season, each time quarterbacked by... Peyton Manning.

What happened to Brandon Marshall? In a career that lasted from 2006 to 2018, playing for 7 teams, including both New York teams, he caught 970 passes for 12,351 yards and 83 touchdowns. But he never appeared in a Playoff game, and, through the 2022 season, those 12,351 yards are the most yards of any player who never played in the Playoffs. He will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the election of 2024. In spite of his lack of a postseason resumé, he should be in.

As of the election of 2022, there are 5 receivers eligible for the Hall with more career catches than Marshall who are not in: Anquan Boldin, Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Steve Smith and Hines Ward. There are 7 receivers eligible for the Hall with more career receiving yards than Marshall who are not in: Smith, Wayne, Johnson, Boldin, Henry Ellard, Torry Holt and Irving Fryar. And there are 4 receivers eligible for the Hall with more receiving touchdowns than Marshall who are not in: Ward, Fryar, Mark Clayton and Andre Rison.

(UPDATE: Andre Johnson was elected in 2024, leaving 4 receivers eligible for the Hall but not in with more catches than Marshall, 6 with more receiving yards, and 4 with more receiving touchdowns.)

Prior to this game, the record for most catches in a game was 20, by Terrell Owens of the San Francisco 49ers, in a December 17, 2000 win over the Chicago Bears. Before that, Tom Fears of the Los Angeles Rams had held the record since November 12, 1950, with 18 in a win over the Green Bay Packers.

*

December 13, 2009 was a Sunday. These other games were played in the NFL that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 45-38 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 26-3 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-10 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Detroit Lions, 48-3 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 14-10 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Stadium).

* The New Orleans Saints beat their arch-rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, 26-23 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the St. Louis Rams, 47-7 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 21-14 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 30-10 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 16-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 20-17 at Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Texans beat the Seattle Seahawks, 34-7 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Oakland Raiders, 34-13 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The preceding Thursday, the Cleveland Browns beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 13-6 at Cleveland Browns (now named Huntington Bank Field).

* And the next night, on Monday Night Football, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-9 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Baseball was out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 130-107 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Miami Heat, 118-90 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami. Rudy Gay scored 41 points.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Houston Rockets, 101-88 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 102-89 at the Oklahoma City Arena (now the Paycom Center). LeBron James scored 44 points.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 115-90 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

And there were 2 games in the NHL. The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-0 at the United Center in Chicago. And the Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames, 3-2 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

December 5, 2009: East Brunswick Football Wins Another State Title

December 5, 2009: The football program at East Brunswick High School, my alma mater, in East Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, began the 2000s about as bad as you can get. They reached the midpoint and the endpoint about as good as you can get.

On December 5, 2004, 5 years to the day earlier, the Bears broke a 32-year drought, and won the Central Jersey Group IV Championship. It was one of those, "Please, God, just let us win it once in my lifetime" deals. I never expected it to happen. But it did.

For once, there was no shocking moment that cost us a big game; there was no game-long brain cramp; there was no horrible call by a brain-dead or a corrupt official; and, while it was cold at Rutgers Stadium that night, the weather wasn't a problem for us. For once, the other shoe didn't drop. We were State Champions.

We kept it going for our 1st 2 games of the 2005 season. And then the other shoe dropped: We lost our last 8 games. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

We went 5-5 in 2006, and again in 2007. There was one significant difference: In 2007, we won the Thanksgiving game against arch-rival Old Bridge. We didn't even do that in 2004. We went 4-6 in 2008, and there was no indication that another special season was coming.

But it was. We began the 2009 season winning big away to Woodbridge, winning big away to Freehold Township, and winning a thriller at home to Monroe, the only game Monroe would lose all season, on the way to winning the Central Jersey Group III title. Would this be the year we finally beat Piscataway? No, they beat us at our place, 13-10.

We won away to South Brunswick, then lost away to Sayreville. Since the early 1990s, a win over Sayreville meant a great season, and a loss meant an ordinary one at best. This time, oh well, shuffle along to .500, maybe.

The schedule had us playing away to Jackson Memorial, the team we beat for the 2004 title, the only game that school had lost in a 3-year stretch. But that stretch also saw the splitting of their district, with the opening of Jackson Liberty. Memorial hasn't been the same since, and we beat them. After a bye week at Halloween, we faced another Ocean County team, hosting Brick Memorial, and lost a 37-34 thriller. This remains the most points E.B. has ever scored and still lost. But we still qualified for the Central Jersey Group IV Playoffs.

The Quarterfinal was at home to West Windsor-Plainsboro South, and we won it, 27-0. The Semifinal was away to Sayreville. A rematch about which we were not enthused. But, as we did in 1994 and 2004, the Bears-Bombers match at War Memorial Stadium it was a defensive struggle that the Bears won, in this case 13-8. For the first time ever, we had beaten a team that we had lost to earlier in the season. This was a good harbinger for the Final, since, as we found out, we would be playing Brick Memorial. Another harbinger: As in 2004, we would be playing the defending Champions on an artificial turf field, at a college, on a December 5.

And then we lost on Thanksgiving again: Old Bridge beat us 23-17. As it usually does, that really pissed me off. We were just 5-4 in the regular season, but were a touchdown each against Piscataway, Brick Memorial and Old Bridge away from being 8-1. Now, we had 9 days to prepare for a rematch with Brick Memorial, who had beaten Brick Township on Thanksgiving.

The game was set for the night of December 5, a Saturday, at Lions Stadium on the campus of The College of New Jersey, formerly named Trenton State College, an NCAA Division III school in Ewing, Mercer County. EBHS had played State Championship games in both boys and girls soccer there, on a very slick artificial turf field bracketed by aluminum bleachers that seated about 8,000 people.

And something happened that had never happened before, in the 49-season history of EBHS football: Snow. It ended up being only a couple of inches, but it covered the field, making it slicker than ever (soccer balls and soccer players had a hard enough time on it), making running the ball difficult, passing the ball nearly impossible, and slipping on the aluminum steps and walkways all too common.

EB kicked a field goal in the first half to make it 3-0. In the 3rd quarter, we added a touchdown, but missed the extra point, o make in 9-0. After that, Memorial tried, but couldn't get anything going. For the 2nd time in these Playoffs, we avenged a regular-season defeat. For the 2nd time in the Playoff era, for the 4th time in our history, we were Central Jersey Group IV Champions.

This one was more enjoyable than 2004, for the simple reason that we'd already done it once before. The tension simply wasn't there: If we'd lost this one, I wouldn't have liked it, but I could have lived with it, even with the miserable weather and the long trip home.

But the pressure wasn't nearly as much -- maybe on the individual players, who were in junior high or even elementary school in 2004, but not on the program and the community as a whole. The 2009 victory was nicer. But the 2004 win was sweeter, because we'd waited so long.

E.B. has made the Playoffs twice since, in 2014 and 2021, losing in the Quarterfinals both times.

*

December 5, 2009 was a Saturday. It was a day for college football Conference Championship Games:

* Southeastern Conference: Number 1 Alabama beat Number 2 Florida, 32-13 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* Atlantic Coast Conference: Georgia Tech beat Clemson, 39-34 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Tech went on to lose the Orange Bowl.

* Conference USA: East Carolina beat the University of Houston, 38-32 at Dowdy-Ficklin Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina -- East Carolina's home field. East Carolina went on to lose the Liberty Bowl.

* Big 12: Texas beat Nebraska, 13-12 at what's now named AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Texas moved up to Number 2, but went on to lose the National Championship Game, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, to Number 1 Alabama, who thus took the National Championship. 

The other big conferences didn't yet have Conference Championship Games. Cincinnati won the Big East, but lost the Sugar Bowl to Florida. Ohio State won the Big 10, and Oregon won the Pac-10. They faced each other in the Rose Bowl, and Ohio State won.

There were 9 games played in the NBA that day:

* The Charlotte Bobcats (now the Charlotte Hornets) beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 106-105 at the Time Warner Cable Arena (now the Spectrum Center) in Charlotte.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls, 110-78 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Utah Jazz, 108-101 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Dallas Mavericks, 80-75 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs, 106-99 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio. Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points for the Nuggets, leading all scorers on the day.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Sacramento Kings, 115-107 at the US Airways Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Indiana Pacers, 88-72 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Golden State Warriors, 126-118 the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named the Oracle Arena).

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets, 90-89 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

And nearly the entire NHL was in action. Only the Montreal Canadiens and the Anaheim Ducks did not play: 

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 in a shootout at the Prudential Center. Yes, the Devils won a shootout.

* The New York Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1 at what's now named the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-0 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 8-2 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* An "Original Six" matchup was the opener of the traditional Saturday night doubleheader of CBC's Hockey Night In Canada, although this game was not played in Canada. The Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-2 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-3 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 in a shootout at the BankAtlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Nashville Predators, 5-3 at the Sommet Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars, 3-2 in a shootout at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-4 in a shootout at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks, 2-1 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose.

November 4, 2009: The Yankees "Restore the Universe to Order"

November 4, 2009: Game 6 of the World Series is held at the new Yankee Stadium. Not publicly announced is the fact that, earlier in the day, across 161st Street, demolition began on the old Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3 at the new Yankee Stadium, and clinched their 27th World Championship, 8 years to the day after they should have.

Andy Pettitte started and won. (His 148 wins during the 2000s -- that is, 2000 to 2009 -- made him the winningest pitcher of the decade.) Mariano Rivera got the save. Hideki Matsui, in what turned out to be his last game with the Yankees, drove in 6 runs, including hitting a home run, a blast, off a "blast from the past," Pedro Martinez. I don't think any Yankee homer -- not by Chris Chambliss, Reggie Jackson, Bucky Dent, Don Mattingly, Jim Leyritz, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius, Derek Jeter, even Aaron Boone -- has ever made me feel better, because of what Pedro the Punk represents.

Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte and Jorge Posada, the holdovers from 2001, got their rings, Posada his 4th (his 5th title, though I don't think he got a ring for 1996), the others their 5th. For Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, their 1st. And Pedro never appeared in another major league game.

The slates had been wiped clean. As Hank Steinbrenner, son of team owner George Steinbrenner, requested, the universe had been restored to order. Sports Illustrated named Jeter its Sportsman of the Year, the 1st Yankee ever so honored.

The Yankees had taken Title 27. They have not taken Title 28. What had happened was, George was ill, and would die the next year. His sons Hank and Hal had taken over the running of the team. Hank was a big believer in his father's philosophy of "Winning is second, only to breathing." But he, too, got sick, and Hal won a power struggle. Hal gave general manager Brian Cashman new orders: Do whatever it takes to make the team money. Hal has never accepted that winning championships makes more money than simply filling the ballpark and generating TV revenue.

Look at what has happened in the years since:

* 2009 off-season: Cashman lets Matsui and Johnny Damon go. Keeping one of the other would have helped, but he kept neither. From this point onward, it's Cashman's team, not George Steinbrenner's or Gene Michael's.

* 2010: The Yankees win the American League Wild Card, and beat the Minnesota Twins in the AL Division Series, but lose the AL Championship Series to the Texas Rangers, who had never won a Pennant before.

* 2011: The Yankees win the AL Eastern Division, but lose the the ALDS to the Detroit Tigers. Pettitte retires.

* 2012: The Yankees win the AL Eastern Division, and beat the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS. But Derek Jeter breaks his ankle in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Tigers, and the Yankees get swept.

* 2013: The Yankees miss the Playoffs for the 1st time since 2008, and only the 2nd time since 1993. Rivera retires.

* 2014: The Yankees miss the Playoffs for the 2nd straight season, which hadn't happened since 1992-93. Jeter retires.

* 2015: There are now 2 Wild Card berths in each League. The Yankees host the AL Wild Card Game, but lose it to the Houston Astros.

* 2016: A-Rod retires. But on July 25, with the Yankees 7 1/2 games out of 1st in the AL East, and 4 1/2 games out of the 2nd AL Wild Card slot, both still reachable, Cashman trades relief ace Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs for Gleyber Torres, Adam Warren, Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford. Chapman made the difference for the Cubs, who won their 1st World Series in 108 years, and then his contract ran out, and the Yankees re-signed him. 

It got worse: Having already hurt the bullpen by trading Chapman, Cashman wrecked it by trading Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians for Clint Frazier, Ben Heller, Justus Sheffield and J.P. Freyereisen. Miller helped the Indians win the Pennant, and then they lost the World Series to the Cubs. Sheffield pitched in 3 major league games in 2018, and then was sent to the Seattle Mariners as trade bait for James Paxton. 

Cashman also traded starting pitcher Iván Nova to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Stephen Tarpley and Tito Polo. And he traded slugger Carlos Beltrán to the Rangers for Erik Swanson, Dillon Tate and Nick Green. Beltran helped the Rangers win the AL Western Division. Swanson and Tate never threw a pitch for the Yankees: The former was also part of the package for Paxton, the latter part of the package for Zack Britton. 

So, to review: Cashman essentially traded Beltrán, Miller and Nova, and loaned Chapman, for Torres, Happ, Paxton, Britton and Frazier. Torres turned into a star in 2018, but has been inconsistent. And of the players acquired in these deals, he is the only one with any amount of success.

The Yankees did not make the Playoffs in 2016.

* 2017: Justin Verlander turned out to be available, but Cashman didn't trade for him. He went to the Houston Astros. Who also traded for Beltran. The Yankees reached the Wild Card Game, beat the Minnesota Twins, and beat the Indians in the ALDS, before losing the ALCS in 7 games to the Astros, including 2 games won by Verlander. They went on to win the World Series.

* 2018: Cashman trades All-Star 2nd baseman Starlin Castro to the Miami Marlins for one-dimensional slugger Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees reach the Wild Card Game, beat the Oakland Athletics, and lose the ALDS to the Red Sox, a series in which Stanton absolutely disappeared.

* 2019: Several good starting pitchers are available, at a time when the Yankees really need at least 1, possibly 2. Cashman does nothing. The Astros trade for Zack Greinke. But the "Baby Bombers" plan finally begins to pay off for Cashman. Finally, for the 1st time in 7 years, the Yankees win the Division. They beat the Twins in the ALDS. And then they lose to the Astros in the ALCS.

If you're trying to keep score at home: In the last 4 seasons, Cashman has helped 4 different teams -- the Cubs, the Indians, the Rangers and the Astros -- reach 8 postseason berths, win 4 Pennants, and win 2 World Series. Not only have none of these teams been the Yankees, but the Astros have beaten the Yankees in the postseason twice in that time.

* 2020: Due to the COVID epidemic rearranging the season, 3 AL teams now had Wild Card berths. The Yankees turned out to be one of them. They beat Cleveland in the 1st Round, but lost the ALDS to the Tampa Bay Rays.

* 2021: The Yankees lost the Wild Card Game to the Red Sox.

* 2022: The Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, but lost the ALCS to the Astros. Again.

Explain to me why Cashman still has a job.

UPDATE: The Yankees missed the Playoffs in 2023. In 2024, they finally won another Pennant after 15 years, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 games. In 2025, they finally beat the Boston Red Sox in a postseason series, but lost the ALDS to the Toronto Blue Jays. Going into the 2026 season, Cashman still has a job.

Among the Yankees' many traditions is Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. From the 2009 World Champions, they have given Plaques to shortstop Derek Jeter, catcher Jorge Posada; and pitchers Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia. In 2010, longtime team owner George Steinbrenner died, and they dedicated a Monument to him.

Manager Joe Girardi has not yet been honored -- but then, neither has Cashman.

Pitcher David Robertson retired after the 2025 season, making him the last active player from the 2009 Yankees.

*

November 4, 2009 was a Tuesday. There were no other baseball games. Football was in midweek. There were 10 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers, 101-90 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Denver Nuggets, 122-94 at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands.

* The Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards, 93-89 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. Dwyane Wade scored 40 points.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Phoenix Suns, 122-100 at the Amway Arena in Orlando.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Detroit Pistons, 110-99 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 114-107 in overtime at the New Orleans Arena (now the Smoothie King Center). Chris Paul scored 39 points for the Hornets.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 92-90 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets, 103-102 in overtime at the Toyota Center in Houston. Kobe Bryant scored 41 points.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 113-105 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named the Oracle Arena).

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Sacramento Kings, 113-105 at the Power Balance Pavilion (formerly the 2nd ARCO Arena) in Sacramento.

There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the Prudential Center.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-0 at the BankAtlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 in a shootout at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Dallas Stars, 3-2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Jarome Iginla scored the winning goal with 3:25 left in overtime.

* And the Colorado Avalanche beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-1 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

In UEFA Champions League action, Arsenal beat Dutch team AZ Alkmaar, 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium in North London. Liverpool and Olympique Lyonnais played to a 1-1 draw at the Stade de Gerland in Lyon, France. Glasgow, Scotland team Rangers and Unirea Urziceni played to a 1-1 draw at Stadionul Steaua in Bucharest, Romania. FC Barcelona and Rubin Kazan played to a 0-0 draw at the Central Stadium in Kazan, Russia.

Internazionale Milano beat Dynamo Kyiv at the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sevilla and Stuttgart played to a 1-1 draw at Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in Seville, Spain. Standard Liège beat Olympiacos of Athens, Greece, 2-0 at Stade Maurice Dufrasne in Liège, Belgium. And Fiorentina beat Hungarian team Debrecen, 5-2 at Stadio Aretmio Franchi in Florence, Italy.

October 31, 2009: The Spectrum Closes

October 31, 2009: The "grunge rock" band Pearl Jam sell out The Spectrum, in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. It is the last event at the 42-year-old arena.

The Spectrum, a new sports arena, opened in South Philadelphia on September 30, 1967, with the Quaker City Jazz Festival. It was home to the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers until 1996; hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1970 and 1976; the NHL All-Star Game in 1976 and 1992; the NCAA Final Four in 1976 and 1981; the Stanley Cup Finals in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985 and 1987; the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983; and concerts by Elvis Presley in 1971, 1974, 1976 and 1977.

Unlike most arenas, The Spectrum was not replaced due to it being technologically outdated, or in poor condition, or being in a bad neighborhood (it was an island in a sea of parking, therefore it was in no neighborhood). It was because Spectator, the company owned by the Snider family to operate the arena and the Flyers, was booking more events than it could handle.

So in 1992, JFK Stadium was torn down, and what was originally named Spectrum II was built on the site. The idea was that the new arena would host the headline events -- the 76ers, the Flyers, and the major concerts -- while the original Spectrum would host smaller events.

The 76ers' last game at The Spectrum was on April 19, 1996. They lost to the Orlando Magic, 112-92. The Flyers' last game there was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, on May 12. They were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Florida Panthers, 2-1. Mike Hough scored the winning, and last, goal at 8:05 of the 2nd overtime.

The Spectrum continued to hold public events until a series of Pearl Jam concerts from October 27 to 31, 2009. The building was torn down the following year. Xfinity Live! Philadelphia, a dining and entertainment complex, opened on the site in 2012.

*

October 31, 2009 was a Saturday. It was also Halloween. At the same time as the concert, Game 3 of the World Series was also held at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-5 at Citizens Bank Park. Andy Pettitte outpitched Cole Hamels. Home runs were hit by Yankees Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Hideki Matsui; while Jayson Werth hit 2 for the Phillies, and Carlos Ruiz added one.

It figured that A-Rod's 1st World Series home run would be controversial. But it was only a slight controversy: At first, his drive appeared to be a double off the wall. Even he thought so, and he stopped at 2nd base. But, for the 1st time, instant replay was used in a World Series game, and it showed that the ball deflected off a TV camera above the wall. According to the ground rules, that made it a home run.

The Yankees took a 2-games-to-1 lead in the Series, retaking home-field advantage after the Phillies won Game 1. The Yankees went on to win the Series in 6 games.

These notable college football games were played:

* Rivalry: Number 1 Florida beat Georgia, 41-17 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Stadium).

* Number 3 Texas beat Number 13 Oklahoma State, 41-14 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

* Number 4 University of Southern California (USC) were upset by Number 10 Oregon, 47-20 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.

* Number 5 University of Cincinnati beat Syracuse, 28-7 at the Carrier Dome (now the JMA Wireless Dome) in Syracuse, New York.

* Number 6 Boise State beat San Jose State, 45-7 at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. As an undefeated team and Champions of the Western Athletic Conference, the Broncos got invited to the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 7 Iowa beat Indiana, 42-24 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

* Number 8 Texas Christian University (TCU) beat the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), 41-0 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. As an undefeated team and Champions of the Mountain West Conference, the Horned Frogs got invited to the Fiesta Bowl. They came in at Number 6, while Boise State were Number 8. Since neither the WAC nor the MWC, which grew out of the WAC, is a "Power Five" conference, this was a consolation prize: Whoever won was still going to be undefeated, but wouldn't get to be called National Champions. It was, essentially, college football's version of the NIT. Boise State won, 17-10. Despite remaining undefeated, they only rose to Number 4 in the polls.

* Rivalry: Number 9 Louisiana State University (LSU) beat Tulane, 42-0 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 21 South Carolina were upset by Tennessee, 31-13 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Number 24 Mississippi lost to  Auburn, 33-20 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.

* Number 25 Notre Dame beat Washington State, 40-14 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. I don't know why the game was played there, but it was part of "the Shamrock Series," where Notre Dame plays "home away from home games."

* Illinois beat Michigan, 38-13 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

* Among the service academies, Army had the week off; Navy lost to Temple, 27-24 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force beat Colorado State, 34-16 at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.

* And Rutgers beat Connecticut (a.k.a. UConn), 28-24 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

There were 7 games played in the NBA. Appropriately, 1 was a win by the 76ers, beating the New York Knicks, 141-127 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Othella Harrington scored 42 points for the Knicks, while Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 32. The other games:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Washington Wizards, 123-104 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 90-79 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons, 96-85 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-107 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Brandon Roy scored 42 for the Blazers, while Trevor Ariza led the Rockets with 43.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings, 113-94 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Arena) in San Antonio.

* And the Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 93-84 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

There were 11 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-0 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* In the opener of Hockey Night In Canada's Saturday night doubleheader, there was an Original Six matchup: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 in a shootout at the Bell Centre.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-0 at the TD Garden Boston.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-1 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-1 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Dallas Stars, 4-2 at the Sommet Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Florida Panthers beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-0 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2 in a shootout at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 3-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the New York Rangers, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Los Angeles Kings, the Vancouver Canucks, the Washington Capitals, the Colorado Avalanche, the San Jose Sharks and the Columbus Blue Jackets were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, a North London Derby was held at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur, 3-1.

October 5, 2009: Favre vs. All 32

October 5, 2009: ESPN's broadcast of Monday Night Football between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings at the Metrodome becomes the most-watched cable television program in history, with 15 million homes tuning in to see Vikings quarterback Brett Favre face his former team for the 1st time.

The Vikings win the game 30–23, making Favre, 6 days short of his 40th birthday, the 1st quarterback in NFL history to beat all 32 teams. He completed 24 out of 31 passes, for 271, throwing 3 touchdown passes without an interception. His successor as Packer starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, went 26-for-37, for 384 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception, so he didn't have a bad game. But the Vikings outplayed the Packers.

Favre had played 1st season, 1991, with the Atlanta Falcons, but he only played in 2 games, throwing 4 passes, completing none of them. He never fit in with the Falcon organization, and, as with Babe Ruth with the Boston Red Sox 78 years earlier, fans of the team in question should blame the player, not the team's management. While the Falcons did play the Packers that season, he did not appear in the game.

The Falcons traded him to the Packers for 1992, and he fit in there. He remained with them through the 2007 season, 16 seasons in which he racked up many feats, but beating the Packers could not be one of them. (A sports team will occasionally "beat itself," but that's not the same thing.)

Favre first beat the Cincinnati Bengals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Detroit Lions, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Chicago Bears, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans) and the Los Angeles Rams in 1992. He first beat the Denver Broncos, the New Orleans Saints, the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers and the Los Angeles (now Las Vegas) Raiders in 1993. He first beat the Vikings, the New York Jets and the Falcons in 1994. He first beat the New York Giants, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cleveland Browns in 1995. He first beat the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers in 1996. He first beat the Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots, the Dallas Cowboys, the Carolina Panthers and the Buffalo Bills in 1997. He first beat the Baltimore Ravens (and also the Oilers/Titans franchise in Tennessee) in 1998. He first beat the Arizona Cardinals (and the Raiders as an Oakland team) in 1999. He first beat the Indianapolis Colts in 2000. He first beat the Washington Redskins (now the Washington Commanders) in 2001. He first beat the Houston Texans in 2004. He first beat the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007. Finally, he first beat the Packers in 2009.

Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 2010, including 297 regular season games, the most in NFL history. He was also the 1st NFL quarterback to throw 10,000 passes, the 1st to complete 6,000, the 1st to pass for 70,000 yards, the 1st to pass for 500 touchdowns. Each of these records, except for consecutive starts, would be surpassed by Tom Brady.

But Favre won only 1 Super Bowl, XXXI, the Packers beating the pre-Brady Patriots. They got back the next season, but lost Super Bowl XXXII to the Broncos. He also led the Packers to the NFC Championship Game for the seasons of 1995 (lost to the Cowboys) and 2007 (lost in overtime to the Giants, his last game with Green Bay).

In 2008, he played for the Jets, going 9-7 and failing to qualify for the Playoffs. After beating the Packers for the Vikings, he got them to a 12-4 record, and to the NFC Championship Game, losing to the Saints. In 2010, they fell to 6-10. The season-ending loss, away to the Lions on January 2, 2011, was his last game. He had come out of retirement in each of the last 3 seasons, making him look like the Roger Clemens of football. This time, he meant it.

Then he got himself in business trouble in his native Mississippi, making himself look more like football's answer to Curt Schilling, who robbed people blind in a scam in Rhode Island. His Green Bay successor, Rodgers, was little better: Only one Super Bowl (XLV, though he did win it), a few close calls, a disaster with the Jets, and a lot of burned bridges.

Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have since joined Favre in having beaten all 32 NFL teams.

*

October 5, 2009 was, as stated, a Monday. This was the only Monday night game in the NFL. Baseball was between the end of its regular season and the start of its Playoffs. And the NBA season wouldn't begin for another 22 days.

The NHL season was underway, and 2 games were played. To my dismay, the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils, 3-2 at the Prudential Center in Newark. And the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-3 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

September 27, 2009: The Detroit Lions Win Again

September 27, 2009: A very weird and nice day for me. Having seen Rutgers beat Maryland in college football the day before, I had spent the night in Washington, D.C. In the morning, I took Amtrak down to Williamsburg, Virginia.

Reading Michael Wilbon's column in The Washington Post, he predicted that the troubled Washington Redskins would lose to the Detroit Lions, which would have ended a 19-game losing streak that included the entire 2008 season.

The further the column went on, the more I believed Wilbon: The Redskins were going to lose. And the Lions did win, 19-14 at Ford Field in Detroit, a terrible embarrassment for the D.C. area's favorite sports team.

Jason Campbell passed for 340 yards for Washington, compared to 241 for Matthew Stafford for Detroit, coached by Jim Schwartz. But Kevin Smith ran for 101 yards, the Lions had nearly 37 minutes of possession, and they were 10-for-18 on 3rd downs, while the 'Skins were just 2-for-10.

The Lions' last win had been on December 23, 2007, 25-20 over the Kansas City Chiefs, also at Ford Field.

I was visiting Williamsburg for reasons I won’t explain here, other than to say that the Historic District holds special meaning for my family. While I was there, surrounded by reminders of the 1770s and 1780s, standing on a street of dirt, I took out my 2000s cell phone, and found out that, 396 miles away at Yankee Stadium II, the Yankees had beaten their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 4-2, thus clinching the American League Eastern Division title. Melky Cabrera and Mark Teixeira hit home runs in support of Andy Pettitte. Mariano Rivera has to work out of a jam in the 9th, but does.

It was a partial revenge for 2004 and 2007, but I guess full revenge for all that the Sox have done to the Yanks from 2004 onward won’t come until we beat them in a Playoff series. This year, we did our part, but they didn’t do theirs.

*

September 27, 2009 was a Sunday. Above and beyond Detroit vs. Washington, these NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-0 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The New York Jets beat the Tennessee Titans, 24-17 at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands.

* The New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons, 26-10 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 34-14 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the team they used to be, the Cleveland Browns, 34-3 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-7 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-20 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 27-24 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the St. Louis Rams, 36-17 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Houston Texans, 31-24 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Arizona Cardinals, 31-10 at University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Miami Dolphins, 23-13 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The Denver Broncos beat the Oakland Raiders, 23-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks, 25-19 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* And the next night, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers, 21-7 at Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

And in Major League Baseball, in addition to the Yankees' win over the Red Sox, these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins, 4-0 at Land Shark Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals, 6-3 at Nationals Park in Washington. Nats reliever Mike MacDougal melted down in the top of the 10th inning, with a walk, hitting a batter, and mishandling 2 grounders, neither of which was scored as an error, the latter of which giving Brian McCann a cheap RBI, before allowing a 2-run single to Omar Infante.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-4 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-5 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-0 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. David Huff pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and Jess Todd pitched a perfect 9th. Kell Shoppach and Matt LaPorta hit home runs for the Tribe, and Asdrúbal Cabrera went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-4 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Jimmy Rollins went 3-for-5 with a solo home run and a walk, while Chase Utley and Ryan Howard each went 2-for-5, with Howard adding an RBI.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers, 7-6 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Colorado Rockies, 4-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres, 7-4 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-4 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-1 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

September 20, 2009: Obama: Five Sunday Morning Talk Shows In One Day

September 20, 2009: President Barack Obama makes history by appearing on 5 Sunday news/talk shows on the same day: CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, CNN's State of the Union with John King, NBC/MSNBC's Meet The Press with Tim Russert, and Spanish network Univision's Al Punto con Jorge Ramos (On Point).

Wherever they were that day, John McCain, and the man whose record for most Meet the Press appearances he beat, Bob Dole, were probably wondering why they never tried it. Well, they wouldn't have been asked to try it, since they didn't get elected President.

Herbert Hoover appeared on Meet the Press as a former President in 1955. Franklin Delano Roosevelt died in 1945, 2 years before the show premiered. Neither Harry Truman nor Dwight D. Eisenhower ever appeared on the show, either. John F. Kennedy appeared 8 times, the 1st in 1951, while he was still in the U.S. House of Representatives; and the last in 1960, shortly before that year's election. Lyndon Johnson only appeared once, the day before the 1960 Democratic Convention began.

Richard Nixon appeared 7 times. Gerald Ford was a regular as House Minority Leader, and on November 9, 1975, he became the 1st incumbent President to be interviewed on the show. Jimmy Carter appeared 11 times, including once as President. Ronald Reagan appeared 7 times, all before becoming President. George H.W. Bush made 5 appearances, including 3 as President. George W. Bush appeared 3 times, including 1 as President. Bill Clinton has appeared 5 times, including once as President, on the show's 50th Anniversary broadcast in 1997.

Barack Obama has appeared on the show 12 times. His 2009 appearance was followed by another while in office, in 2014. Donald Trump has appeared on the show, and, due to his long career as Senator, Vice President and President, Joe Biden holds the record among people who have served as President: 50 times.

*

September 20, 2009 was, as stated, a Sunday. These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys, 33-31 at Cowboys Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was the Cowboys' 1st regular-season game in their new stadium, later to be renamed AT&T Stadium.

* The New York Jets beat the New England Patriots, 16-9 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 48-22 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Redskins beat the St. Louis Rams, 9-7 at FedEx Field in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, 28-20 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 31-17 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Field).

* The Houston Texans beat the Tennessee Titans, 34-31 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville. So the new Houston team beat the former Houston team, as the Titans had been the Oilers.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 33-20 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 27-13 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-14 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-24 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 13-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Cleveland Browns, 27-6 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the San Diego Chargers, 31-26 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 23-10 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the next night, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis Colts beat the Miami Dolphins, 27-23 at Land Shark Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 7-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Ian Snell outpitched Joba Chamberlain. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 4 RBIs. Derek Jeter went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals, 6-2 at Citi Field. John Maine was the winning pitcher.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Kevin Correia pitched 7 innings of 6-hit shutout ball, and 3 relievers completed the 8-hit shutout.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 8-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Houston Astros, 6-0 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Yovani Gallardo pitched 5 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and 3 relievers completed a 5-hit shutout.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Jake Fox hit a home run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 10-5 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-4 at the Oakland Coliseum.

August 16, 2009: The Fastest Human Ever Measured

August 16, 2009: Usain Bolt, just short of his 23rd birthday, becomes the fastest human being ever measured.

Usain St. Leo Bolt was born on August 21, 1986 in Sherwood Content, Jamaica. He has donated millions of dollars to rebuilding projects in that small town. Competing for Jamaica, he won 3 Gold Medals in 3 straight Olympics, winning the 100 meters, the 200 meters, and the 4-by-100-meter relay in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.

The winner of the Olympic 100 meters has long been unofficially called "the fastest man in the world." We may never know who was really the fastest man who has ever lived, but when he set a record of 9.58 seconds in the 100 meters in the 2009 IAAF World Championships of Athletics at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, he reached a top speed of 27.8 miles per hour.

How fast is that? When Secretariat, a horse, won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, his average speed was 37.5 MPH. Bolt was 74 percent of the way to beating Secretariat.

Or, to put it another way: Theoretically, if a sprinting speed could be maintained (it can’t), then, at 27.8 MPH, Usain Bolt could run from Times Square to Kennedy Airport in under 34 minutes. Try getting from Times Square to JFK in 34 minutes in a car!

*

August 16, 2009 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 10-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Doug Fister outpitched Joba Chamberlain. Ken Griffey Jr., having returned to the Mariners, went 1-for-5. Nick Swisher homered for the Yankees. Derek Jeter went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Citi Field. Daniel Murphy singled Jeff Francoeur home with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning, making Francisco Rodríguez a winning pitcher, in relief of Mike Pelfrey. Luis Castillo hit a home run for the Mets.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles, 17-8 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Orioles scored a run in the 8th and another in the 9th to send the game to extra innings. But the Angels started the top of the 13th with 5 straight singles, and ended it wit 9 runs, including a 3-run home run by Juan Rivera.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-1 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. J.A. Happ outpitched Javier Vázquez. Ryan Howard went 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 4 RBIs.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* A doubleheader was split at Land Shark Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Florida Marlins won the opener, 10-3. The Colorado Rockies won the nightcap, 7-3.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Ryan Rayburn, the Tigers' 3rd baseman made 2 errors in the top of the 10th inning, giving the Royals the win.

* The Houston Astros beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-5 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 7-5 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Rangers Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia hit home runs for the Red Sox.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mark Ellis hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning.