December 11, 2021: New York City FC Win the MLS Cup

December 11, 2021: New York City Football Club win the MLS Cup.

With the New York Tri-State Area having at least 2 teams in the other sports, and just the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer, there was room for a 2nd team. A revived New York Cosmos never got their act together to get admitted to MLS. So NYCFC was founded in 2013, and began play in 2015.

They played most of their home games at the new Yankee Stadium, due to the New York Yankees holding a 20 percent ownership stake. The remaining 80 percent is owned by City Football Group, owned by Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, brother of the President and de factor monarch and dictator of the United Arab Emirates.

City Football Group also owns Manchester City Football Club, which has dominated England's Premier League since 2012; Melbourne City FC, the Australian team formerly known as Melbourne Heart, so they, metaphorically, "cut the heart out of the club"; and teams in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Uruguay, India, China and Japan.

The UAE is a country whose official policy discriminates against women, Jews and gays, making them anathema to many in the mainly-liberal Tri-State Area. Their own fans don't care. They point out their slogan, "Five Boroughs, One City," and remind Red Bull fans that they play in New Jersey (in Red Bull Arena in Harrison, Hudson County), not in the City.

This came back to bite City fans, known to Red Bull fans as "The Smurfs" due to their blue jerseys, when, not controlling their own venue, they had to move "home games" due to the Yankees controlling scheduling at Yankee Stadium. They were able to move some games to the New York Mets' Citi Field. But they've had to play 2 games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut, 116 miles from Midtown Manhattan. Red Bull fans have called City "East Hartford FC."

The low point for Red Bull fans, until the 2021 MLS Cup Final, was their own team's management opening Red Bull Arena up to NYCFC for "home games." The high point was on May 21, 2016, when the Red Bulls went into Yankee Stadium and beat City, 7-0. Despite the Red Bulls being a charter MLS team that had never won an MLS Cup, losing its only Final in 2008, they could still, with much legitimacy, claim, "New York is Red."

That changed in the 2021 Playoffs. The Red Bulls reached the Playoffs in their 2nd season, 2016, for the 1st of 4 straight trips to the MLS Cup Quarterfinals. They got knocked out in the 1st Round in 2020. But in 2021, they beat Atlanta United in the 1st Round, beat the New England Revolution away on penalty kicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and beat the Philadelphia Union away in the Conference Finals.

They faced the Portland Timbers, at Providence Park in Portland. The 1st half was a bit dull, until Valentin Castellanos putting NYCFC on the board in the 41st minute. They thought they had the game won, until stoppage time: In the 94th minute, Felipe Mora equalized for the Timbers.

There was no scoring in extra time, and the game went to penalties. City goalkeeper Sean Johnson saved penalties from Mora and Diego Valeri. Alexander Callens sent the winning penalty kick home.

New York City FC were the Champions of Major League Soccer. It was the 1st top-flight league title for a New York-based soccer team since the original Cosmos won Soccer Bowl '82, 39 years earlier. And it was the 1st league title for a New York-based team in any sport since the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI, nearly 10 years earlier.

New York was now Blue. It was the most humiliating moment in the long, humiliation-riddled history of the New York Red Bulls, and they didn't even play.

UPDATE: In 2026, Manchester City were found guilty of 114 violations of Premier League rules. This renders every achievement of theirs illegitimate, including the 2021 title of "farm club" New York City FC.

*

December 11, 2021 was a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. There was 1 college football game played that day, the Army-Navy Game. Navy beat Army, 17-13 at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands.

There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Golden State Warriors, 102-93 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Washington Wizards, 123-98 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls, 118-92 at the FTX Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Houston Rockets, 113-106 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs, 127-112 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio. Nikola Jokić led all scorers on the night with 35 points, and also had 17 rebounds.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Sacramento Kings, 117-103 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Orlando Magic, 106-104 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

And there were 12 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-2 at the UBS Arena.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-0 at the Corel Centre in Ottawa.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 in a shootout at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Anaheim Ducks, 1-0 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Arizona Coyotes, 5-3 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Calgary Flames, 4-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Dallas Stars, 2-1 at the SAP Center in San Jose.

* And the New York Rangers, the Detroit Red Wings, the Vancouver Canucks, the Colorado Avalanche, the Florida Panthers, the Nashville Predators, the Winnipeg Jets and the Vegas Golden Knights were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Hampshire team Southampton, 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.

November 20, 2021: The UBS Arena Opens

November 20, 2021: The UBS Arena opens in the Belmont Park complex, in Elmont, Long Island, New York, just over the City Line from Queens. It becomes the home of the New York Islanders.

The Islanders had played at the Nassau Coliseum, in the Town of Hempstead but with a Uniondale mailing address, from their 1972 inception until 2015, by which point the Coliseum had become obsolete. They played the 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, groundsharing with the NBA's Brooklyn Nets.

The players, the organization and the fans all hated it: The building was designed for basketball and concerts, and, in order to fit a regulation-size NHL rink in the place, about 2,000 seats had to be removed, thus giving them an even smaller seating capacity than they had at the Coliseum. The Coliseum was renovated, and they played a few home games there in the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, and the even smaller seating capacity didn't matter, since they weren't selling out, anyway.

But, after years of trying to get a new arena approved at the Coliseum site, a deal was finally struck to build one next-door to Belmont Park, one of America's greatest horse-racing tracks. This led to the UBS Arena being nicknamed "The Stable." Lucky for them, the Islanders have been good since moving in, so there are few jokes about them being "horseshit."

Major League Soccer's New York City FC had wanted the site, and, backed with the money of their owners -- 80 percent the royal family of Abu Dhabi, and 20 percent the New York Yankees -- they could certainly afford it. But the State of New York, owner of Belmont Park and its operator through the New York Racing Association, chose the Islanders, who are more established than NYCFC, and, unlike the royal family of Abu Dhabi, don't have the taint of anti-Semitism, which is an issue in New York City and Long Island.

Ground was broken on September 23, 2019. UBS, the United Bank of Switzerland, bought the naming rights on July 22, 2020. The arena seats 17,255 for hockey and 19,000 for concerts. It opened on November 20, 2021. The Islanders did not live up to the occasion, losing 5-2 to the Calgary Flames. Brad Richardson of the Flames scored the 1st goal, while Brock Nelson scored the 1st Islander goal. The Islanders lost their 1st 7 games in the arena, finally getting their 1st win on December 11 -- unfortunately for me, over the New Jersey Devils.

On November 28, 2021, former One Direction singer Harry Styles hosted the Arena's 1st concert. Queens-based St. John's University, which uses Madison Square Garden for home games too big for its on-campus Carnesecca Arena, were a natural to host the 1st basketball game at the Arena. On December 3, 2021, they played the University of Kansas, and lost, 95-75. The loss didn't look so bad at the end of the season: Kansas won the National Championship.

*

November 20, 2021 was a Saturday. There were 11 other NHL games played that day:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Nashville Predators, 6-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-4 at the FLA Live Arena (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-0 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Arizona Coyotes beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. Clayton Keller scored the winning goal, 25 seconds into overtime.

* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-4 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

* The Washington Capitals beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-0 at the SAP Center in San Jose.

* And the New York Rangers, the Buffalo Sabres, the Vancouver Canucks, the Winnipeg Jets, the Colorado Avalanche, the Ottawa Senators, and the Anaheim Ducks were not scheduled.

There were 9 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Houston Rockets, 106-99 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 111-105 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat, 103-100 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 115-105 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the New Orleans Saints, 111-94 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic, 117-108 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and had 20 rebounds, a pretty big rebounding number for his generation.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 138-95 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings, 123-105 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-111 at the Moda Center in Portland. Damian Lillard led all scorers on the night with 39 points.

This was the start of the 8-day rivalry week in college football. The games played on this day included:

* Number 1 Georgia warmed up for their rivalry with Georgia Tech by beating Charleston Southern, 56-7 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 2 Alabama warmed up for their rivalry with Auburn by beating Number 21 Arkansas, 42-35 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Alabama beat Georgia in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, but Georgia qualified for the National Championship Playoff anyway, and won a rematch against Alabama at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the title.

* Number 3 Cincinnati beat Southern Methodist University (SMU), 48-14 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. Cincy won the American Athletic Conference Championship, and became a rare school from outside the "Power Five" conferences to qualify for the National Championship Playoff. But in their Semifinal, which also served as the Cotton Bowl, they lost to Alabama.

* Number 4 Oregon were upset by Number 24 Utah, 38-7 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The schools had a rematch in the Pacific-Twelve Conference Championship Game, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and Utah won again, to go to the Rose Bowl. Oregon lost the Alamo Bowl to Oklahoma.

* Number 5 Ohio State warmed up for their rivalry with Michigan by beating Number 7 Michigan State, 56-7 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Number 6 Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech, 55-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. (In odd-numbered years, due to the weather, Notre Dame and USC play each other in South Bend in the middle of the season. In even-numbered years, they play in Los Angeles on Thanksgiving weekend.)

* Number 8 Michigan warmed up for their rivalry with Ohio State by beating Maryland 59-18 at Maryland Stadium (now SECU Stadium) in the Washington suburb of College Park, Maryland. Michigan beat Ohio State for the 1st time in 10 years, beat Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game, and lost the Orange Bowl to Georgia as the National Championship Playoff Semifinal. For once, the Rose Bowl was a consolation prize for the Michigan-Ohio State loser, and Ohio State beat Utah.

* Number 9 Oklahoma State warmed up for their rivalry with Oklahoma by beating Texas Tech, 23-0 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

* Number 10 Mississippi warmed up for its rivalry with Mississippi State by beating Vanderbilt, 31-17 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi. Despite not being SEC Champions, with the top 2 teams in the SEC invited to the Playoff, "Ole Miss" were invited to the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 11 Baylor beat Kansas State, 20-10 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas, Baylor beat Oklahoma State in the Big Twelve Conference Championship Game in Arlington, Texas, then beat Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 13 Wake Forest were upset by Clemson, 48-27 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 18 University of Pittsburgh beat Virginia, 48-38 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh. Pitt won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, but lost to Michigan State in the Peach Bowl.

* Rivalry: The University of California at Los Angeles, UCLA, beat the University of Southern California, USC, 62-33 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Rivalry: Harvard beat Yale, 34-31 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut.

* Rivalry: Princeton beat the University of Pennsylvania, 34-14 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Technically, Princeton had won a share of the Ivy League title, but it was with Dartmouth, who had the head-to-head tiebreaker over them.

* Not a rivalry, but a novelty: Purdue beat Northwester, 32-14 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* Among the service academies, Army beat the University of Massachusetts, 33-17 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; Navy lost to East Carolina, 38-35 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force had played the night before, beating Nevada 41-39 at Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nevada.

* And New Jersey's team, Rutgers, lost to their arch-rivals, Penn State, 28-0 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

And, in English soccer, Liverpool FC beat North London team Arsenal FC, 4-0 at Anfield in Liverpool. Much to my dismay.

November 5, 2021: The Astroworld Festival Disaster

November 5, 2021: Disaster strikes the Astroworld Festival, at NRG Park in Houston, to the west of the complex which includes NRG Stadium, the Astrodome, the NRG Arena (formerly the Astroarena), and the NRG Center (the convention center formerly known as Astroworld).

Rapper Travis Scott, born Jacques Bermon Webster II in Houston in 1991, founded the festival in 2018, to promote music in his hometown. The 2021 show was sold out, over 50,000 tickets. Scott's girlfriend, cosmetics mogul Kylie Jenner, and her sister, supermodel Kendall Jenner -- daughters of Kris Jenner and Caitlin (formerly Bruce) Jenner, and half-sisters of the Kardashian sisters -- were in attendance.

Scott is known for hyping up crowds, writing in his song "Stargazing," "It ain't a mosh pit if ain't no injuries." At this show, chaos ensued as the crowd rushed forward, creating one big mosh pit.

People were packed together so tightly that they were slowly being crushed. Many could not breathe properly. Some concert-goers fainted and suffered heart attacks. It became a rap version of the 1979 Who concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.

Scott noticed that one fan was in trouble, so he called medics to come in and assist. However, as they were taking away the unconscious victim, Scott continued to sing. There were over 300 people admitted to hospitals with injuries, and 10 died, 1 fewer than in the Riverfront concert in '79. The Jenner sisters were not among the injured.

In spite of his efforts to help one victim, Scott did not find out about any of the deaths until the next morning. He fully cooperated with the authorities, and was not charged with any crime. He offered to pay for the funerals of the victims. All 10 families turned him down.

Chuck D of the legendary rap group Public Enemy released an open letter defending Scott, and criticizing concert promoters Live Nation: "I’m not buying 'The Young Black Man did it.' He's being blamed for a crime, while the old white men running the corps that Travis and his fans trusted with their lives stay quiet in the shadows, counting their money and watching their stock prices go up and up."

Nevertheless, Scott saw many of his endorsement deals vanish quickly, and his appearance at the 2022 Coachella Festival was canceled. He has yet to recover commercially. As of November 5, 2022, no one has been charged with any crime in connection with the disaster, while civil lawsuits have been filed, and have yet to go to trial.

*

November 5, 2021 was a Friday. The baseball season had ended 2 days earlier, with the Atlanta Braves beating the Houston Astros in the World Series.

Two college football games were played. Boston College beat Virginia Tech, 17-3 at Alumni Stadium outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. And Utah beat Stanford, 52-7 at the new Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California.

There were 9 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 113-98 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Detroit Pistons, 96-90 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 115-87 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Orlando Magic, 102-89 at the Amway Center in Orlando. (It's now named the Kia Center.)

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Rapotors, 102-101 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-84 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 126-85 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Charlotte Hornets, 140-110 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Indiana Padcers, 110-106 at the Moda Center in Portland.

And there were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Edmonton Oilers, 6-5 at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Leon Draisatl scored the winning goal with 1:33 left in overtime.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Alex Iafallo scored the winning goal, 42 seconds into overtime.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-1 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

* The Anaheim Ducks beat the Arizona Coyotes, 3-1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

* And the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver. (Not to be confused with Rogers Place in Edmonton, or the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Rogers SportsNet is a Canadian TV network.)

And in the New Jersey high school football playoffs, in Central Jersey Group V, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, lost to Toms River North, 28-14 at Mariner Field in Toms River, Ocean County.

October 23, 2021: Nine Overtimes In College Football

October 23, 2021: Overtime has been used to settle college football games that ended in a tie since the 1996 season. The rules have been tweaked to keep things from going to too many overtime periods. But on this day, overtime had to be done as many times as Ferris Bueller skipped school in his senior year of high school: Nine times.

Pennsylvania State University were hosting the University of Illinois at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Despite rain coming down, a crowd of 105,001 came out to see the game. Penn State were at home, and came into the game 5-1, ranked Number 7 in the nation. They had, however, lost their last game, but that was away to Iowa, then ranked Number 3, so while it hurt their Big Ten Conference hopes, it wasn't an especially embarrassing loss. In contrast, Illinois came in just 2-5. So Penn State were installed as 24 1/2-point favorites.

Penn State led 7-0 after the 1st quarter, and 10-7 at the half. There was no scoring in the 3rd quarter. James McCourt kicked a 37-yard field goal with 11:49 to play, allowing Illinois to tie the game. Neither team could do anything the rest of the way, and regulation ended 10-10.

Under the pre-1996 system, the Fighting Illini would have taken the tie back to Champaign, Illinois, and been pleased with it. Other than the fact that the Nittany Lions couldn't cover any of the big spread, so far, there was nothing especially noteworthy about this game.

As of the start of the season in question, the rules for college football overtime were as follows:

* A coin toss determines which side attempts to score first, and at which end zone the scores are attempted.

* Each team in turn receives one possession, starting with 1st & 10 from a fixed point on the opponent's side of the field:

** Under NCAA rules, the 1st possession of overtime begins at the opponent's 25-yard line. When overtime was introduced, all possessions for each team started at that point, but the procedure for subsequent overtimes has changed twice since 2019:

*** In 2019 and 2020, the 1st 4 possessions for each team (if necessary) started at the opponent's 25. All subsequent possessions were 2-point conversion attempts, taken from the 3-yard line, the standard starting point for that play under NCAA rules, and were scored as conversions.

*** Since 2021, the first two possessions for each team start at the opponent's 25. All subsequent possessions are two-point conversion attempts.

In this game, each team kicked a field goal in the 1st overtime. 13-13. Each team kicked a field goal in the 2nd overtime. 16-16. Neither team scored in the 3rd overtime. Or the 4th. Or the 5th. Or the 6th. Or the 7th.

Finally, in the 8th overtime, Illini quarterback Brandon Peters threw a pass to Isaiah Williams, who got into the end zone, to make it 18-16 Illinois. But Noah Cain scored for the Nittany Lions, and the game went to a 9th overtime. Sean Clifford's pass to Parker Washington fell incomplete. With this opening, Peters passed to Casey Washington, and he scored. Illinois 20, Penn State 18. The game lasted 4 hours and 11 minutes, when it should have taken about an hour less.

This was Penn State's 2nd straight loss, and it really began a tailspin for them: They ended up losing 5 of their last 7 regular-season games. (Of course, 1 of the wins was against Rutgers.) They still ended up getting invited to the Outback Bowl in Tampa, where they lost to Arkansas, 24-10, finishing 7-6. Illinois finished 5-7, and were not invited to a bowl game.

*

October 23, 2021 was a Saturday. Among the other college football games played that day was not one played by Number 1-ranked Georgia, or one by Number 9 Iowa, as they both had the week off. But these notable games were played:

* Number 2 Cincinnati beat Navy, 27-20 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Number 3 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 35-23 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.

* Number 4 Alabama beat Tennessee, 52-24 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

* Number 5 Ohio State beat Indiana, 54-7 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana.

* Number 6 Michigan beat Northwestern, 33-7 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* Number 8 Oklahoma State were upset by Iowa State, 24-21 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

* Number 10 Oregon beat UCLA, 34-31 at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California.

* In a rivalry game, Number 13 Notre Dame beat USC, 31-16 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Number 16 Wake Forest beat Army, 70-56 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York. Yes, that's a football game, with a basketball score. And they didn't even go to one overtime.

* Number 18 North Carolina State were upset by the University of Miami, 31-30 at Hard Rock Stadium in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida.

* In an unusual occurrence, all 3 service academies played ranked teams, and all lost, as Air Force fell to Number 22 San Diego State at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* Number 25 Purdue were upset by Wisconsin, 30-13 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

In baseball, the National League Pennant was decided that day, as the Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia. This won Game 6 of the NL Championship Series. The day before, the Houston Astros beat the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 to win the American League Pennant. The Braves went on to win the World Series, beating the Astros in 6 games.

There were 8 games played in the NBA that day:

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Toronto Raptors, 103-95 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Braves, 101-95 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Heat, 102-91 in overtime at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 97-82 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 96-89 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 121-111 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 120-114 at the Staples Center (soon renamed the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Paul George scored 41 in defeat for the Clippers.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns, 134-105 at the Moda Center in Portland.

And there were 13 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The New York Islanders beat the Arizona Coyotes, 3-0 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1 at the Prudential Center in Newark. Pavel Zacha scored the winning goal with 1:51 left in overtime.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-1 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Washington Capitals, 4-3 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Elias Lindholm scored the game-winner with 2:14 left in overtime.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3 in a shootout at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-1 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Ryan Hartman scored the winning goal with 13 seconds left in overtime.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings, 7-3 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Nashville Predators, 6-4 at the Canada Life Center in Winnipeg.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Seattle Kraken, 4-2 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

* And the Boston Bruins, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Dallas Stars, the Edmonton Oilers, the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights were not scheduled.

October 3, 2021: Tom Brady Breaks the NFL Record for Games by a Non-Kicker

October 3, 2021: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the New England Patriots, 19-17 at a rainy Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Tom Brady, 44 years old, starting for the Bucs, whom he'd led to to win the previous season's Super Bowl, against the team he'd led to win 6 of them, through means both legal and otherwise, completed 22 out of 43 passes for 269 yards. No touchdown passes, but no interceptions, either.

It was the 304th regular-season game of Brady's career, setting a new record for a non-kicker. The previous record was set from 1985 to 2004, by Jerry Rice. Some people, unwilling to accept the fact that Brady is known to have cheated and gotten caught more than once, believe him to be the greatest quarterback of all time. Rice is, beyond any doubt, the greatest receiver of all time. Both have been put forward as the greatest player of all time, regardless of position.

But Brady's work in this game wasn't enough. The Bucs needed Ryan Succop, who kicked 4 field goals, including a 48-yarder with 1:57 left to play, that proved to be the winning margin.

Brady played the rest of the 2021 season, and 2022, before retiring at 45, having played in 335 games, plus another 48 in the postseason, including a record 10 Super Bowls, winning a record 7 of them.

But then, how do we know any of it was real?

*

October 3, 2021 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the New Orleans Saints, 27-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The New York Jets beat the Tennessee Titans, 27-24 at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 42-30 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Football Team (not yet having changed their name to the Commanders) beat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-30 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Miami Dolphins, 27-17 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers, 36-28 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Houston Texans, 40-0 at the old Highmark Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium and Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

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

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-17 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Minnesota Vikings, 14-7 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Denver Broncos, 23-7 at now Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Rams, 37-20 at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, 28-21 at Levi’s Stadium outside San Francisco in Santa Clara, California.

* The preceding Thursday, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-21 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* And the following night, on ESPN Monday Night Football, in a matchup that used to be something of a rivalry, and perhaps could be again, the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Las Vegas Raiders, 28-14 at SoFi Stadium, which ended up hosting 2 NFL games in a span of 5 days.

And it was the last day of Major League Baseball's regular season. These games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 1-0 at the new Yankee Stadium. (It wasn't quite "new" anymore, but then, neither was the "new" Soldier Field.) How many Yankees does it take to pitch a 5-hit shutout at home? Would you believe, 6? Jameson Taillon allowed 2 hits in 3 1/3rd innings, Wandy Peralta 1 in 1 1/3rd, Clay Holmes none in 1, Chad Green 1 in 1, Jonathan Loáisiga 1 in 1 1/3rd, and Aroldis Chapman none in 1.

The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the 9th. Rougned Odor led off with a single. Tyler Wade was sent in to pinch-run for him. Gleyber Torres flew out. Anthony Rizzo singled. And, on the one and only pitch he ended up throwing, Andrew Kittredge gave up a ground ball to Aaron Judge, and, unable to throw home in time, gave up the winning run. Not the distance one would expect from Judge, but the result.

The Yankees still finished 8 games behind the Rays in the American League Eastern Division, but needed that game to get them home-field advantage over the hated Red Sox for the AL Wild Card Playoff. It did them no good: Two days later, the Sox beat them, 6-2.

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 5-0 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia. How many Braves pitchers does it take to pitch a 3-hit shutout at home? Would you believe, 6? But after giving up 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning, including a home run by Jorge Soler, Met manager Luis Rojas gave up on starter Noah Syndergaard. The Mets finished under .500 and missed the Playoffs, while the Braves ended up winning the World Series.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Nationals, 7-5 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4 at LoanDepot Park in Miami.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 12-4 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs were leading their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 after 7 innings at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, when the game was called due to rain, making the Cubs the winners.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 6-0 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. How many Indians does it take to pitch a 4-hit shutout? In this case, 5. After 107 seasons, this was the last game the Cleveland franchise played under the Indians name. When they debuted the next season, it was under the name of the Cleveland Guardians.

* The Houston Astros beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-6 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-4 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 11-4 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

* And the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-3 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

September 26, 2021: Justin Tucker Kicks a 66-Yard Field Goal

September 26, 2021: Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens sets a new NFL record, kicking a 66-yard field goal. It is the final play of a 19-17 Ravens win over the Detroit Lions, at Ford Field in Detroit.

It broke the record of 64 yards, by Matt Prater of the Denver Broncos in 2013. That broke the record of 63 yards, which had been done 3 times by that point. The 1st time was by Tom Dempsey of the New Orleans Saints in 1970. That field goal, like Tucker's was the last and winning play in a 19-17 win over the Lions, albeit in New Orleans instead of Detroit.

Tucker kicked another last-play field goal later in the season, a mere 36 yards, to beat the Minnesota Vikings in overtime. He was selected to his 5th Pro Bowl that season.

*

September 26, 2021 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Atlanta Falcons, 17-14 at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to the Denver Broncos, 26-0 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the New England Patriots, 28-13 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-10 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Chicago Bears, 26-6 at FirstEnergy Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field) in Cleveland.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the team then known as the Washington Football Team, 43-21 at the original Highmark Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium and Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Indianapolis Colts, 25-16 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 31-19 at TIAA Bank Field (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Seattle Seahawks, 30-17 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 30-24 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Las Vegas Raiders beat the Miami Dolphins, 31-28 at Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. Daniel Carlson kicked a 22-yard field goal as time ran out in overtime.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-24 at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 30-28 at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Santa Clara, San Francisco.

(There was a game played the preceding Thursday: The Carolina Panthers beat the Houston Texans, 24-9 at NRG Stadium (as Reliant Stadium was then known) in Houston. And, the next night, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 41-21 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.)

And these Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-3 at Fenway Park. The Yankees scored 4 runs in the top of the 8th inning, including a home run by Giancarlo Stanton. Chad Green was the winning pitcher, in relief of Jordan Montgomery. But the Red Sox would beat the Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-4 at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-0 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Five Pirate pitchers combined on a 6-hit shutout.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4 at Camden Yards.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat their cross-State rivals, the Miami Marlins, 3-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals, 9-2 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-2 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-0 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Five Dodger pitchers combined on a 7-hit shutout.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 4-3 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the RingCentral Coliseum).

And in a North London Derby in English soccer, Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur, 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. Goals were scored by Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Bukayo Saka, who apparently only needs 2 names to score, instead of 3.

September 1, 2021: Hurricane Ida Floods the Northeast

September 1, 2021: Hurricane Ida strikes the Northeastern United States. New York City and many other places were flooded. It forced the shutdown of the New York Subway system.

It had hit Louisiana 3 days earlier, on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting the State, and devastating New Orleans. Ida's clobbering of the Pelican State wasn't nearly as bad as Katrina's was, but it was bad enough to kill several people.

Unlike Katrina, Ida did not then dissipate over the American Southeast. It kept moving northeast, until reaching the major cities. The death toll was 107, and the damage toll was $75 billion. It was the 4th-costliest Atlantic hurricane. 

*

September 1, 2021 was a Wednesday. Football, basketball and hockey were out of season. And the hurricane caused some postponements:

* The New York Mets were supposed to play the Miami Marlins at Citi Field. It was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 28. The Mets swept, 5-2 and 2-1. James McCann won the nightcap with a fielder's choice in the bottom of the 9th inning.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies were supposed to play the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. It was made up the next day, and the Phils won, 7-6.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Aaron Judge hit a home run in support of Gerrit Cole.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

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

* A doubleheader, with each game shortened to be 7 innings, was played at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, including the makeup of a game that was rained out the day before. The St. Louis Cardinals won the opener, 5-4. The Cincinnati Reds won the nightcap, 12-2.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-6 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-0 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Justin Steele allowed 1 hit in 5 innings, and Adbert Alzolay allowed 1 hit over 4, to complete a 2-hit shutout.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Austin Hedges won the game with a single in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Texas Rangers, 9-5 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres, 8-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros, 1-0 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

August 31, 2021: The Last American Troops Leave Afghanistan

August 31, 2021: President Joe Biden removes the last American combat troops from Afghanistan, 20 years after they were first sent there.

George W. Bush sent the first American troops there in October 2001, in response to the terrorist attacks of the preceding September 11. They managed to corner Osama bin Laden, but Bush never gave the order to finish the job, and bin Laden escaped.

And that left Americans with a quagmire, in which staying in Afghanistan began to seem like a worse and worse idea over the years, but getting out seemed like an even worse one: We couldn't abandon those people to the Taliban we had previously kicked out of power.

Bush wouldn't take the troops out. Barack Obama wouldn't. Donald Trump decided he didn't want to help brown-skinned Muslims, and put in place a timetable for taking the troops out. Biden decided that following that timetable was the least bad idea.

And then the Republicans, in Congress and in the media, ripped Biden for doing what Trump wanted to do, like the damned hypocrites they usually are. As bad as leaving was, staying was worse: The idea was to protect American soldiers from being killed. The Republicans talked "America First," this was America first.

*

August 31, 2021 was a Tuesday. Football, basketball and hockey were out of season. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Angels, 6-4 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Anthony Rizzo and Gary Sánchez hit home runs in support of Jameson Taillon, but it wasn't enough.

* The New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins, 3-1 at Citi Field. The game was called after 7 innings due to rain.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 12-6 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-3 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-0 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Blake Snell went 7 innings, and 2 relievers completed the 3-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros, 4-0 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

* And the Cincinnati Reds were supposed to play the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, but got rained out. It was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day -- which turned out to be another historic day, due to Hurricane Ida.

August 12, 2021: The 1st MLB Field of Dreams Game

August 12, 2021: Major League Baseball holds its 1st "Field of Dreams" game. For all that MLB officials have gotten wrong, this was one time when they really got it right.

The story begins in 1982, with the publication of Shoeless Joe, a novel by W.P. Kinsella. The book's narrator is Ray Kinsella, a farmer in Iowa, who cuts down a section of his corn to build a baseball field, after hearing a voice say, "If you build it, he will come." At first, he believes that "he" is Shoeless Joe Jackson, a great hitter and left fielder who helped the Chicago White Sox win the 1917 World Series and the 1919 American League Pennant, but was one of 8 White Sox players banned from baseball for life for their role in purposely losing, or "throwing," the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.

Ray tells of his father, John Kinsella, who lived in Chicago at that time, who considered Jackson his all-time hero, and never believed any of the charges against Jackson -- who, like the other 7, was acquitted of criminal charges. Baseball banned them anyway. John was already about 60 when Ray was born, and when Ray was 17, they had a falling-out, and Ray left home. They never saw each other again.

Upon seeing the field, Jackson comes back to life. He brings the other "Black Sox" back with him, and eventually players from other teams whose careers came to unfortunate ends, through mistreatment, or injury, or death.

A scene in the book, but not in the movie, tells of an old farmer near Ray who tells of being the oldest living former Chicago Cub, but Ray looked in The Baseball Encyclopedia, and didn't find the old guy's name. Hence, he's lying. But a young version of the guy comes out of the cornfield in a period-accurate Cub uniform, and gets clobbered, paying for his older version's lies. The older version dies shortly thereafter, and is buried beneath center field, wearing a modern Cubs cap.

Finally, another figure appears: John Kinsella, looking younger than Ray ever saw him, wearing a New York Highlanders (forerunner of the Yankees) uniform, even though he never got out of the low minors. This allows them to reconcile.

In 1989, a film version was released, titled Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner as Ray, Amy Madigan (a big White Sox fan in real life) as his wife Annie, Ray Liotta as Jackson, James Earl Jones as reclusive writer Terence Mann (they changed it from the book, where the writer was J.D. Salinger, because they wanted to avoid a lawsuit), Frank Whaley as the young Archie "Moonlight" Graham, Burt Lancaster as the older Dr. Archibald Graham, and Dwier Brown as John Kinsella.

The movie is loved by baseball fans, but more for its fantasy than its accuracy. For example, Liotta batted righthanded, even though Jackson was a lefthander. Most fans consider the previous year's Bull Durham, starring Costner as a minor-league catcher, to be the better movie. Maybe, but Field of Dreams is the better story.

The farm where the main action was filmed is in Iowa: 4 miles east of downtown Dyersville, 25 miles west of Dubuque, 77 miles northeast of Iowa City, and 210 miles northwest of Chicago. Don Lansing, who owned the land, maintained the field as a tourist attraction -- farming being a hard way to make a living at the time, probably a good idea. He staged games between retired players and celebrity teams. 

Unlike the mortgage-saving maneuver in the movie, where $20 a pop was charged to see the ghost players, Lansing did not charge for admission or parking, but made extra cash from a small souvenir shop he'd built. By the time he sold the property in 2011, to Go The Distance Baseball, LLC, for $4.5 million, it was getting 65,000 visitors a year. By 2018, Go The Distance had a controlling interest bought by White Sox Hall-of-Famer Frank Thomas, and attendance had gone up to 100,000 a year, due to the number of events being staged there.

Someone gave Thomas the idea to stage a regular-season game there, and it was set for August 13, 2020, a Thursday night, between the closest team to the site and the team most identified with the site, the Chicago White Sox, who would thus be the "home team"; and baseball's most popular team, but also its most hated: The New York Yankees.

The COVID-19 epidemic wiped out 2/3rds of the 2020 baseball season, and made it impossible to build the 7,800-seat stadium, adjacent to the original Field of Dreams, in time, although the new field would have been ready. So the game was rearranged for a year later, August 12, 2021.

The "major league" field at left, the original field at right

The dimensions of the field were set at those of Comiskey Park, the White Sox' home from 1910 to 1990, at the time of its closing: 352 feet down the lines, 380 to the power alleys, and 402 to center. But no fence: The corn acted as the "outfield wall," and anything hit into the corn on the fly was a home run; while any ball that bounced and rolled into the corn was a ground-rule double. There were modern amenities: Lights, a video board in left field, and, in another tribute to Comiskey Park, a fireworks-shooting system built into the center-field corn.

MLB and Fox Sports went all-out, beginning the broadcast by having Costner walk out of the cornfield into center field, across the field, and to a microphone at home plate, where he made a short speech about how the movie reminded us all of the beauty of the game. Maddie Poppe, winner of American Idol in 2018 (at that time, a show on Fox, now on ABC), sang the National Anthem.

Both teams wore replica uniforms like those they wore in 1919. Lance Lynn started for the White Sox, and Andrew Heaney for the Yankees. The White Sox scored first, in the bottom of the 1st inning, on a home run by José Abreu. More home runs were hit: For the Bronx Bombers, Aaron Judge in the 3rd, and Brett Gardner in the 6th; for the South Side Hit Men, Eloy Jiménez in the 3rd, and Seby Zavala in the 4th.

The 9th inning provided a storybook ending for this fanciful setting. Judge hit another home run, and Giancarlo Stanton also hit one, turning the score from 7-4 White Sox to 8-7 Yankees. But with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, Zack Britton walked Zavala. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. The next batter was Tim Anderson. He hit a drive to the opposite field, and even the very tall Judge couldn't catch it. Home run. Ballgame: White Sox 9, Yankees 8.

The fireworks went off, just as they would have from 1960 to 1990 at Comiskey, or since 1991 at the stadium now named Guaranteed Rate Field. It was the 15th time in their shared 119-season history that a White Sox player had hit what would now be called a walkoff home run against the Yankees. The 1st time? It just had to be, and it was: By Joe Jackson, on July 20, 1919, in the season commemorated by the book, the film, and the game.

Fox announcer Joe Buck said, "Well, you can throw the party, but you never know how it's going to turn out." Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, Buck's broadcast partner, said, "Unreal." 

Len Kasper, the radio voice of the White Sox, said, "I’m not really sure MLB could have done an event better than the Field of Dreams Game. Yes, the game was bonkers and the finish was Oscar worthy, but the entire thing — the scenery, the park, the weather, the people involved, the vibe — it was just perfect. Unforgettable experience.”

It was a great idea. It was a great production. And it was a great game. For me, the only bad part was the result.

A 2nd edition was played on August 11, 2022. Again making some sense, it was the National League's turn this game, with the other Chicago team, the Cubs, facing the team the White Sox played in the 1919 World Series, the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs scored 3 runs in the 1st inning and coasted the rest of the way, winning 4-2.

There will be no game at the site in 2023, as the site is adding facilities to house youth baseball and softball. No one wants to see construction equipment shattering the fantasy. "It's a lot going on," Frank Thomas told the Des Moines Register, Iowa's largest newspaper. "They don't want to come back if the stadium's not prepared." Hopefully, the game will resume in 2024, and become baseball's answer to the NHL Winter Classic.

*

August 12, 2021 was a Thursday. These other MLB games were played on that day:

* The New York Mets swept a doubleheader from the Washington Nationals at Citi Field, 5-4 and 4-1. Under the rule thankfully in effect only in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, doubleheader games were limited to 7 games each.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 12-3 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-6 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 17-0 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Mitch Moreland hit 2 home runs. Chris Bassitt (6 innings) and 3 relievers pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs, 17-4 at Wrigley Field.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres, 12-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-3 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 7-0 at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Logan Webb (6 innings) and 2 relievers pitched 4-hit shutout.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

* And the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals, the Miami Marlins and the Minnesota Twins were not scheduled.