December 2, 1972: "Punt, 'Bama, Punt!"

December 2, 1972: One of college football's biggest rivalry is played at Legion Field in Birmingham: The Iron Bowl.

The annual football game between the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, and Auburn University is called the Iron Bowl because of the iron and steel production in Alabama. The State's largest city, Birmingham, and 2 others, Leeds and Sheffield, are steel production cities, and were named after steel production cities in England, all of them in love with a game they call football, but which Americans call soccer.

Football became a way of life in Alabama. and the University of Alabama, the Crimson Tide, built a great program in the 1920s. Auburn's took longer to get going, with coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan (and that's pronounced JUR-din, not JOHR-din) leading them to a share of the 1957 National Championship with Ohio State.

Paul "Bear" Bryant, who had played on 'Bama's 1934 National Championship team, became their head coach in 1958, and, for many people, even outside the South, became the college football coach. He won more games than any coach before him, and more than most coaches since him. He won 6 National Championships, probably should have been awarded at least 1 more, made his houndstooth hat an icon of American sports, and inspired this joke: "In Alabama, an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in Bear Bryant."

Bryant and Jordan were still the opposing coaches in 1972. The Alabama Crimson Tide went into the game 10-0, ranked Number 2 in the country; the Auburn Tigers, 8-1, having lost only away to Louisiana State University (LSU), and ranked Number 9.

Alabama had already wrapped up the Southeastern Conference title. Given that the University of Southern California (USC) were Number 1, and were locked into a Rose Bowl matchup with Number 4 Ohio State, 'Bama could have gotten the National Championship with USC if they beat Auburn and then won the Sugar Bowl over Number 3 Oklahoma if USC lost, or maybe split the polls if both teams won and 'Bama's bowl win was more impressive than USC's.

With most of the country's other major rivalries having been played the preceding 2 Saturdays, this was easily the biggest game of the afternoon. (USC and Notre Dame was also a matchup of 2 Top 10 teams, but it was played in prime time.)

Alabama led 16–0 with 10 minutes left in the game. An Auburn drive stalled and managed only a field goal, which made it 16–3. Jordan later joked that his decision was derided by all the faithful in attendance: Auburn fans booed for the appearance of giving up, while Alabama fans joined in because the field goal ruined the point spread.

On the ensuing possession, Alabama was forced to punt. Auburn's Bill Newton blocked Greg Gantt's punt, and his teammate, David Langner, ran the ball back 25 yards for an Auburn touchdown, narrowing the score to 16–10. Gantt and Langner were classmates and teammates at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham.

With about 2 minutes left, Alabama was forced to punt again. Like the previous time, Newton blocked the punt, and Langner returned it for a touchdown. Gardner Jett kicked the extra point to give Auburn a 17–16 lead.

With the clock winding down, Langner intercepted an Alabama pass to stop their attempted comeback. When Langner reached the sideline, he found Jordan upset. Langner reportedly said, "But, coach, I intercepted the pass!" To which Jordan said, "Yeah, but our plan was to make them punt."

The game became known as "Punt Bama Punt." In June 2007, it was ranked #55 by ESPN.com in its list of the 100 defining moments of college football. A month later, CollegeFootballNews.com ranked the game #85 on its list of the 100 Greatest Finishes. In August 2010, ESPN.com ranked the game as the 8th most painful outcome in college history.

Alabama still won the SEC title, with a 7-1 record, to Auburn's 6-1 and LSU's 4-1-1. But their shot at the National Championship was gone. They turned down their bid to the Sugar Bowl, and instead took a Number 4 ranking into the Cotton Bowl against Number 7 Texas. Texas beat them, 17-13, and so they ended the season ranked Number 7. It should be noted that, in that game, Gantt, the victimized punter, tied what was then the Cotton Bowl record with a 50-yard field goal.

Auburn rose to Number 6, but did not get invited to one of the traditional New Year's Day bowl games. They went to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, and beat Number 13 Colorado, 24-3, finishing 10-1 and Number 5 in the country.

Fumble returner Langner was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1974, but never played pro football. He became a car dealer, and also an assistant coach at Auburn under Pat Dye, and died in 2014. Punt blocker Newton ran a gas and oil business. As of December 2, 2022, he is still alive.

Bill Newton (left) and David Langner, on the 40th Anniversary, 2012

'Bama punter Gantt was drafted by the New York Jets in 1974, and was their main punter in the 1974 and '75 seasons. He also became a car dealer like Langner, and went into the energy industry like Newton, working for a coal equipment company. He died in 2011.

*

December 2, 1972 was a Saturday. These other college football games were played:

* Rivalry: Number 1 USC beat Number 10 Notre Dame, 45-23 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC went on to beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, and win the National Championship.

* Rivalry: Number 3 Oklahoma beat Number 20 Oklahoma State, 38-15 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma rose to Number 2, and beat Penn State in the Sugar Bowl.

* Rivalry: Number 11 LSU beat Tulane, 9-3 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

* Rivalry: Number 12 Tennessee beat Vanderbilt, 30-10 at Dudley Field (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Rivalry: Army beat Navy, 23-15 at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

* Rivarly: Boston College beat Holy Cross, 41-11 at Alumni Stadium outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

* Rivalry: Georgia beat Georgia Tech, 27-7 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Rivalry: Florida beat Miami, 17-6 at Florida Field (now Ben Hill Griffin Stadium) in Gainesville, Florida.

* Rivalry: Southern Methodist University (SMU) beat Texas Christian University (TCU), 35-22 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.

* Baylor beat Rice, 28-14 at Baylor Stadium (later Floyd Casey Stadium) in Waco, Texas.

* San Diego State beat Iowa Stadium, 27-14 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).

* And Stanford beat Hawaii, 39-7 at Honolulu Stadium.

Baseball was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Buffalo Braves, 119-94 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat their arch-rivals, 131-120 at the Boston Garden.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 89-80 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Houston Rockets, 114-109 at Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. Nate "Tiny" Archibald scored 36 points for the Kings.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 112-103 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Jerry West and Jim McMillian each scored 29. Wilt Chamberlain, in what turned out to be his final season as a player, scored only 6, but grabbed 17 rebounds. Rick Barry scored 38 in defeat.

* And the Atlanta Hawks beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 106-103 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

There were 4 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The Virginia Squires beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 111-107 at the Hampton Coliseum outside Norfolk in Hampton, Virginia.

* The Dallas Chaparrals beat the Carolina Cougars, 108-101 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

* The Denver Rockets beat the Memphis Tams, 127-99 at the Auditorium Arena in Denver.

* And the Utah Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 111-105 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Atlanta Flames played to a tie, 4-4 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 2-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Buffalo Sabres, 8-6 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the New York Rangers, the Boston Bruins, the California Golden Seals and the Vancouver Canucks were not scheduled.

And there were 4 games played in the World Hockey Association:

* The New York Raiders lost to the Houston Aeros, 7-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New England Whalers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 7-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Philadelphia Blazers, 8-2 at the Cleveland Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Sharks beat the Chicago Cougars, 4-2 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.

And in English soccer, Arsenal defeated Yorkshire team Leeds United, 2-1 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.

November 30, 2013: Kick Six In the Iron Bowl

November 30, 2013: The Iron Bowl is played at Jordan-Hare Stadium, in the City of Auburn, in the State of Alabama.

The annual football game between the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, and Auburn University is called the Iron Bowl because of the iron and steel production in Alabama. The State's largest city, Birmingham, and 2 others, Leeds and Sheffield, are steel production cities, and were named after steel production cities in England, all of them in love with a game they call football, but which Americans call soccer.

Football became a way of life in Alabama. and the University of Alabama, the Crimson Tide, built a great program in the 1920s. Auburn's took longer to get going, with coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan (and that's pronounced JUR-din, not JOHR-din) leading them to a share of the 1957 National Championship with Ohio State.

Paul "Bear" Bryant, who had played on 'Bama's 1934 National Championship team, became their head coach in 1958, and, for many people, even outside the South, became the college football coach. He won more games than any coach before him, and more than most coaches since him. He won 6 National Championships, probably should have been awarded at least 1 more, made his houndstooth hat an icon of American sports, and inspired this joke: "In Alabama, an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in Bear Bryant."

In the 1980s, as Bryant retired and died, Pat Dye rebuilt the Auburn program. The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in Birmingham features a statue of three men: A generic football player, who by his facial features could be either black or white, with Bryant and Dye standing on either side of him, each with a hand on the player's shoulder pads.

Nick Saban, son of AFL Championship-winning Buffalo Bills coach Lou Saban, had won a National Championship at Louisiana State in 2003, and Alabama hired him in 2007. He won National Championships in 2009, 2011 and 2012. He went into the 2013 Iron Bowl 11-0, ranked Number 1 in the country. He had won away to Texas A&M when they were ranked Number 6, and that was the only team to come close to beating 'Bama to that point. He also beat his former team, LSU, when they were ranked Number 10.

Gus Malzahn became Auburn's head coach in 2013, after having been an assistant to Gene Chizik, including on Auburn's National Championship team of 2010. He got the Tigers to a 10-1 record, losing only to LSU, then ranked Number 6, away. Auburn went into the Iron Bowl ranked Number 4. But they were a 10-point underdog to Alabama.

It was understandable: Alabama was in the 1st tier of great college football programs, Auburn in the 2nd tier at best; and Alabama's glories, and their fans' teasing of Auburn as a rural "cow college" gave them an inferiority complex. To put it another way: Alabama hate losing to Auburn mainly because they hate losing, period; whereas Auburn could go 0-10 before the Iron Bowl, but if they win it, that makes it a successful season.

And so the 2013 Iron Bowl was set. Alabama came in ranked Number 1 in the country; Auburn, Number 4. The winner of the game would win the Southeastern Conference Western Division Championship, go to the SEC Championship Game, and have a good shot at the National Championship.

Auburn led 7-0 after the 1st quarter, but Alabama led 21-14 at the half. At the time, under Saban, 'Bama's record when leading at the half was 73-3. But Auburn tied it 21-21 after 3 quarters. Three times, once on a block, 'Bama missed field goals. But in the 4th quarter, Auburn downed a punt at the 'Bama 1-yard line, and A.J. McCarron threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper. With 2:41 left, it was 28-21 Alabama.

With 32 seconds left, Nick Marshall threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Sammie Coates. Deciding that tying it and trying to win in overtime would be easier than attempting a 2-point conversion now, Malzahn had the extra point kicked, and it was 28-28.

Alabama had 1 more chance. With 7 seconds left, T.J. Yeldon advanced the ball to the Auburn 38, and the clock ran out. Saban asked for a replay review, saying the clock hadn't run out before Yeldon went out of bounds. The replay proved him right. Saban called for a field goal attempt, from 57 yards out.

According to the rules, if a field goal is missed, and the opposing team recovers it, it can be advanced. So Malzahn's defensive coordinator, Ellis Johnson, suggested putting a receiver in the end zone. Malzahn chose the team's main punt returner, Chris Davis.

Cade Foster, who had once kicked a 53-yard field goal, had missed 3 attempts in this game, 1 of them blocked. So Adam Griffith was sent in to try the 57-yarder. It was on target, but a little short, and Davis caught it, 9 yards deep in the end zone.

He started running straight ahead, then turned to his left, and ran down the sideline. Saban had made a critical mistake: Except for the kicker and the holder, the field goal unit was made up of all offensive linemen. No one had enough speed to catch him. He ran 109 yards, into the end zone. Final score: Auburn 34, Alabama 28.

(In NCAA history, only 1 other player had ever done that -- and it was earlier that year, for LSU, by future pro receiving star Odell Beckham Jr.)

Rod Bramblett had the call for Auburn's radio network:

Chris Davis is going to drop back into the end zone in single safety. Well, I guess if this thing comes up short, he can field it and run it out.

Alright, here we go. 56-yarder, it's got, no, it does not have the leg. And Chris Davis takes it in the back of the end zone. He'll run it out to the 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 45! There goes Davis! (His partner, former Auburn quarterback Stan White, shouts "Oh my God! Oh my God!") Davis is going to run it all the way back! Auburn's gonna win the football game! AUBURN'S GONNA WIN THE FOOTBALL GAME! He ran the missed field goal back! He ran it back 109 yards!

[fans streaming onto the field] They're not gonna keep them off the field tonight! Holy Cow! Oh, my God! Auburn wins! Auburn has won the Iron Bowl! Auburn has won the Iron Bowl in the most unbelievable fashion you will ever see! I cannot believe it! 34–28! And we thought "A Miracle in Jordan-Hare" was amazing! Oh, my Lord in Heaven!' Chris Davis just ran it 109 yards and Auburn is going to the Championship Game!

The crowd reaction registered on seismographs across the state of Alabama, in a manner similar to activity registered during the 1988 "Earthquake Game," a 7-6 LSU win over Auburn.

As returning an interception for a touchdown is known as a pick six, this became known as the Kick Six. It rivals California vs. Stanford, another nasty rivalry, and "The Play" in 1982, for the honor of the most famous kick return in football history. Certainly, no pro kick return is on this level, not even the Tennessee Titans' 2000 "Music City Miracle."

Auburn beat Missouri in the SEC Championship Game, but lost to Florida State in the National Championship Game.

Chris Davis played for the San Diego Chargers in 2014, and the San Francisco 49ers in 2015 and '16, but injuries cut short his playing career. He has since joined the coaching staff at an Alabama high school.

Adam Griffith received death threats for missing that kick. Death threats? It was 57 yards! On real grass, not artificial turf. And he was a freshman. It was hardly his fault he missed. How about blaming everybody else on offense for not getting into his range? Or for having 109 yards in which to stop the return and not stopping it? How about blaming Nick Saban for not warning about the possibility?

That game reminded a lot of people of why they loved football. But those threats are a reminder of how sick some people can be.

In 2014, Griffith kicked a game-tying field goal against LSU on the last play of the 4th quarter. Alabama won in overtime, 20–13. In 2015, he kicked a career-long 55-yard field goal against LSU. Later that season, he went 5-for-5 in the Iron Bowl, as Alabama beat Auburn, 29–13. And in that season's National Championship Game, against Clemson, he made a perfectly placed onside kick, to help the Crimson Tide achieve a 45–40 victory. Still, he was not selected in the NFL Draft, and went into the construction business in South Carolina.

*

November 30, 2013 was a Saturday. Other noteworthy college football games played that day:

* Rivalry: Number 2 Florida State beat Florida, 37-7 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.

* Rivalry: Number 3 Ohio State won a thriller against Michigan, 42-41 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

* Number 5 Missouri beat Number 19 Texas A&M, 28-21 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

* Number 8 Stanford beat Number 25 Notre Dame, 27-20 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California.

* Number 9 Baylor beat Texas Christian (TCU), 41-38 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.

* Rivalry: Number 10 South Carolina beat Number 6 Clemson, 31-17 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

* Number 11 Michigan State beat Minnesota, 14-3 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* Rivalry: Number 13 Arizona State beat Arizona, 58-21 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.

* Number 14 Wisconsin lost to Penn State, 31-24 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

* Rivalry: Number 22 UCLA beat Number 23, USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Rivalry: Number 24 Duke beat North Carolina, 27-25 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

* Rivalry: Indiana beat Purdue, 56-36 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana.

* And Rutgers lost to Connecticut, 28-17 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

There were 7 games played in the NBA that day:

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 97-88 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Atlanta Hawks, 108-101 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls, 97-93 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 92-85 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks, 112-106 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Houston Rockets beat the San Antonio Spurs, 112-106 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio. James Harden led all scorers on the night with 31 points.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns, 112-104 at the US Airways Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

And there were 11 games played in the NHL:

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

* The New York Islanders lost to the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum. Alexander Ovechkin won it with 2:53 left in overtime.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres, 1-0 at the Prudential Center in Newark. Steve Bernier won it with 41 seconds left in overtime.

* In the opener of CBC's Saturday Hockey Night In Canada doubleheader, the Montreal Canadiens beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-1 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Florida Panthers, 5-1 at the BB&T Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2 in a shootout at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-2 in a shootout at the Pepsi Center (now the Bell Arena) in Denver.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-2 at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* In the 2nd half of the HNIC doubleheader, the Calgary Flames beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3 in a shootout at the SAP Center in San Jose.

And in English soccer, whose Football Association includes 5 "member clubs' from adjoining Wales, North London team Arsenal beat Cardiff City, 3-0 at Cardiff City Stadium.

November 22, 2002: Ozzie Newsome Becomes the 1st Black GM In the NFL

November 22, 2002: Ozzie Newsome is named the general manager of the Baltimore Ravens. This makes him the 1st black general manager in the National Football League.

He was born in 1956 in Alabama, a State where football is king, and in a town whose name suggests strength, in football and other things: Muscle Shoals. A tight end, he played for coach Paul "Bear" Bryant at the University of Alabama, and was a member of their 1978 National Champions.

Playing for the Cleveland Browns, he caught 662 passes, for 7,980 yards and 47 touchdowns, in each of those statistics more than any tight end before him. He made 3 Pro Bowls, and helped the Browns reach 3 AFC Championship Games. He was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team, and the Cleveland Browns Ring of Honor. Each of these honors was for his playing career alone. (The Browns have not, however, retired his Number 82.)

Upon his retirement before the 1991 season, he was named an executive with the Browns. When team owner Art Modell controversially moved the team for the 1996 season, making them the Baltimore Ravens, Newsome went with them. As executive vice president for player personnel (for all intents and purposes, the assistant GM), he received a ring when the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.

He was named their GM in 2002, holding the job for 17 seasons, an unusually long time for an NFL GM. They made the Playoffs 9 times, reached 3 AFC Championship Games, and won Super Bowl XLVII. After the 2018 season, he stepped back, and returned to the position of executive vice president for player personnel, making him more of a GM emeritus than an assistant GM: Eric DeCosta holds the title, but Newsome is the guy he listens to the most.

The NFL allowed the founding of a new Browns franchise, with all of the team's 1946-95 history and trademarks, starting with the 1999 season. They have been considerably less successful than the Ravens, and Browns fans despise the Ravens nearly as much as they do their traditional rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ravens fans don't think that way: The Steelers are their arch-rivals, too, while they think of the Browns as more of a minor annoyance. Ozzie Newsome is the only man who is popular with both sets of fans.

In 2022, while only 3 of the 32 NFL teams have black head coaches, 7 have black general managers: Andrew Berry of the Browns, Terry Fontenot of the Atlanta Falcons, Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears, Brad Holmes of the Detroit Lions, Chris Grier of the Miami Dolphins, Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings, and Martin Mayhew of the Washington Commanders.

The Ravens currently have a black team president, Sashi Brown. (DeCosta may sound like a Hispanic name, but he is actually of Portuguese descent.) The Las Vegas Raiders have a team president (not "general manager") who is not only black, but female: Sandra Douglass Morgan.

*

November 22, 2002 was a Friday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 12 games in the NBA that night:

* The New York Knicks lost to the New Orleans Hornets, 105-97 in overtime at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-79 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 105-98 in double overtime at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston. Paul Pierce scored 36 points.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors, 90-80 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Miami Heat, 75-72 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Washington Wizards, 93-86 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 95-86 at the SBC Center (now the AT&T Center) in San Antonio.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic, 106-70 at the Conseco Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 72-70 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls, 86-73 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Golden State Warriors, 95-91 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland).

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Phoenix Suns, 118-101 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. Stephon Marbury, in defeat, led all scorers on the night with 39 points.

There were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-1 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-4 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Florida Panthers and the Phoenix Coyotes played to a tie, 3-3 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-0 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

November 5, 2011: Louisiana State vs. Alabama, "The Game of the Century"

November 5, 2011: Louisiana State, ranked Number 1, takes on Number 2 Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Complicating things is the fact that Alabama coach Nick Saban had previously led LSU to a National Championship. Les Miles, known as "The Mad Hatter" for his signature white cap and odd-but-successful play-calling, was not LSU's head coach.

It is one of several college football games that has gotten billed as "The Game of the Century," and it goes to overtime, where Alabama's Cade Foster misses a field goal, while Drew Alleman makes his to give LSU a 9-6 victory.

But, in one of the several scenarios that made people hate the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and demand a Playoff system (which we now have), 'Bama ended up Number 2 in the national rankings anyway, and got a rematch with LSU, and dominated it, 21-0, to win the National Championship. It made Saban the 1st coach ever to win National Championships at 2 different schools.

It shouldn't have happened. The November 5 matchup decided the Southeastern Conference Western Division title. LSU then beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama couldn't even win its Division, never mind its Conference. If you can't win your Conference Championship, that should eliminate you from consideration for the National Championship.

The fact that Alabama had finished Number 2 in the BCS rankings -- a computerized system, not a poll -- should have been irrelevant. The November 5 game should have been considered an elimination game. So the team that finished Number 3, Oklahoma State, should have been raised to Number 2, and played LSU in the National Championship Game.

*

November 5, 2011 was a Saturday. Among the other college football games played that day were these:

* Number 3 Oklahoma State beat Number 17 Kansas State, 52-45 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State won the Big Twelve Conference title.

* Number 4 Stanford beat Oregon State, 38-13 at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. Stanford went to the Fiesta Bowl, where they lost to Oklahoma State.

* Number 5 Boise State beat the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), 48-21 at Sam Boyd Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Whitney, Nevada. But they blew their chance at the Bowl Championship Series the next week, by losing to Texas Christian University (TCU).

* Number 6 Oregon beat Washington, 34-17 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Oregon won the Pacific-Twelve Conference title, but lost to Southern California 2 weeks later, forcing a tie in the Pac-12 standings with Stanford. Despite having the head-to-head tiebreaker over Stanford, having beaten them, Stanford ended up with the higher BCS ranking, and went to the Playoff. Oregon had to console themselves with the usual prize for the West Coast's top team, a trip to the Rose Bowl.

* Number 7 Oklahoma beat Texas A&M, 41-25 at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium in Norma, Oklahoma.

* In another big SEC game, Number 8 Arkansas beat Number 10 South Carolina, 44-28 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

* Number 9 Nebraska were upset by Northwestern, 28-25 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 11 Clemson were idle. They won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and went to the Orange Bowl, where they beat West Virginia.

* Number 13 Michigan were upset by Iowa, 24-16 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Michigan still went to the Sugar Bowl, and beat Virginia Tech.

* Number 19 Wisconsin beat Purdue, 62-17 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin won the Big Ten Conference title, and went to the Rose Bowl, but lost to Oregon.

* Number 20 Arizona State were upset by UCLA, 29-28 at the Rose Bowl outside Los Angeles in Pasadena, California.

* Number 24 West Virginia were upset by Louisville, 38-35 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

* Notre Dame beat Wake Forest, 24-17 at BB&T Field (now Truist Field) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Notre Dame went to the Citrus Bowl, where they lost to Florida State.

* Among the service academies, Air Force beat Army, 24-14 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs; while Navy beat Troy, 42-14 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* And Rutgers beat South Florida, 20-17 at High Point Solutions Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey.

The baseball season had ended 7 days earlier, when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers in Game 7 of the World Series. And the NBA team owners had locked the players out, so the season didn't start until Christmas Day (a day whose revenue, more TV than arena-grounds, the owners did not want to lose). But 11 NHL games were played:

* In an "Original Six" game, the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Prudential Center. Adam Henrique scored the winning goal with 3:32 left in overtime. That season, in the Playoffs, Henrique would score an even bigger overtime winner. And then a bigger one than that.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 9-2 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 in a shootout at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* In another "Original Six" game, the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks, 5-0 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 in a shootout at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Nashville Predators beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. David Legwand scored the winning goal with 2:07 left in overtime.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Birmingham-area team West Bromwich Albion, 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.

November 4, 1922: The South's 1st Successful Invasion of Northern College Football

November 4, 1922: The football team at the University of Alabama goes to Philadelphia, and beats the University of Pennsylvania, 9-7 at Franklin Field.

This upset of an Ivy League school is considered a landmark day in the history of Southern football, and it helped launch 'Bama on a run of success that continued throughout the 1920s and '30s and established the school's legend, before Paul "Bear" Bryant was even a player at 'Bama (and while he was one), much less their head coach.

Three weeks earlier, on October 14, Alabama went to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech, and lost 33-7. Tech's head coach, Bill Alexander (for whom their basketball arena is named), told the Alabama fans, "Your football team isn't worth a nickel, but you have a million-dollar band." The 'Bama band has been "The Million Dollar Band" ever since. 'Bama finished the season 6-3-1, so Alexander was wrong about the quality of the team.

*

November 4, 1922 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games were played:

* Army beat St. Bonaventure, 53-0 on The Plain at West Point, New York. The day before, Navy beat Penn State, 14-0 at American League Park in Washington. Three weeks later, Army beat Navy, 17-14 at Franklin Field.

* In another Ivy League vs. South game, Harvard beat Florida, 24-0 at Harvard Stadium in Boston.

* Alabama Tech, renamed Auburn in 1960, beat Georgia, 7-3 at Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Georgia, about halfway between the schools.

* Rivalry: Vanderbilt beat Tennessee, 14-6 at Shields-Watkins Field (now vastly expanded into Neyland Stadium) in Knoxville, Tennessee. From 1892 to 1926, Vanderbilt were 18-2-3 against Tennessee. Since then, Tennessee have led the rivalry, 77-14-2.

* Rivalry: Michigan beat Michigan Agricultural College, 63-0 at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor. MAC became Michigan State College in 1925, and Michigan State University in 1955.

* Notre Dame beat Indiana, 27-0 at Cartier Field in South Bend, Indiana.

* Not yet a big rivalry, but it would become one: Illinois beat Northwestern, 6-3 at Illinois Field in Champaign, Illinois.

* Rivalry: Wisconsin beat Minnesota, 14-0 at Northrop Field in Minneapolis.

* Rivalry: Colorado beat Colorado A&M, 7-0 at Gamble Field in Boulder, Colorado. A&M became Colorado State in 1957.

* The University of California beat Washington State, 61-0 at the new California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

* Among New York City teams, Columbia lost to Cornell (who went undefeated that season), 56-0 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York; Fordham lost to Springfield College, 17-0 at Fordham Field in The Bronx; NYU beat Trinity College of Connecticut, 13-0 at Ohio Field in The Bronx; and CCNY beat New York Aggies (now SUNY-Farmingdale), 14-7 at Lewisohn Stadium in Upper Manhattan.

* In New Jersey, Princeton beat Swarthmore, 22-13 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton. Rutgers had the week off.

And in English soccer, Arsenal, the North London team I would one day support, went to Liverpool, and lost to Everton, 1-0 at Goodison Park.

October 19, 1968: The Richmond Flowers Game

October 19, 1968: It is the 3rd Saturday in October, which means a college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Alabama.

Richmond Flowers was from Dothan, Alabama. He got his undergraduate degree from Auburn University and his law degree from the University of Alabama -- making him a War Eagle and a Roll Tide. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in World War II, rose to the rank of Captain, and served on General Douglas MacArthur's special staff during the occupation of Japan.

In 1954, he was elected to the Alabama State Senate. In 1962, he ran for the office of State Attorney General, and won -- in the same election in which George Wallace was first elected Governor. Unlike Wallace, whose inaugural address promised, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever!" Flowers was a genuine 1960s-style liberal.

Richmond Flowers Sr.

He argued a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court: Reynolds vs. Sims, announced on June 15, 1964. It struck down discriminatory State legislature district-drawing, which was almost entirely done in Southern States, to give white rural areas provenance over cities with black people in them; and ruled that districts for State legislatures must be roughly equal in population. These cases established the concept of "One man, one vote." (Now known as, "One person, one vote.")

Flowers also fought to aid the application of the federal law requiring public school desegregation, and successfully prosecuted members of the Ku Klux Klan, which was previously considered legally untouchable. Unused to challenges to their authority, they threw bricks through his house's windows, and burned crosses on his lawn on multiple occasions. He became known as "the most hated white man in Alabama."

At the time, the Constitution of the State of Alabama stated that the Governor could not succeed himself. So Wallace put his wife Lurleen up in the Primary. To fight this effort to have Lurleen be a puppet for her husband, Flowers ran. So did former Governors James Folsom and John Patterson. Unfortunately, this split the anti-Wallace vote, and Lurleen won. She died in mid-term, but George won again in 1970, after having run for President on a 3rd-party ticket in 1968.

The Klan's allies in the State government, no longer facing a State Department of Justice controlled by Flowers, got their revenge. He was indicted for extortion, trying to get payments from companies seeking licenses to do business in Alabama while he was Attorney General. To the end of his life, he insisted he was innocent.

His son, Richmond Flowers Jr., was a high school football and track star. Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant wanted him at Alabama. Lots of people wanted him at Alabama. He refused, because of the way his home State treated his father. He went to the University of Tennessee, because his preferred sport was track, and while Alabama then had a decisive edge in football, Tennessee had an even more pronounced one in track.

He still played both sports, and helped to, pardon the pun, turn the tide of the football games in Tennessee's favor. He quit football after the 1967 season, so he could concentrate on making the U.S. Olympic team as a hurdler. But an injury ruined his chances of making the 1968 Olympics, where the U.S. track team included record-breakers Jim Hines, Lee Evans, Dick Fosbury, Al Oerter, Wyomia Tyus, and the great rebels Tommie Smith and his race's Bronze Medalist, John Carlos.

Tennessee coach Doug Dickey welcomed Richmond Jr. back onto the football team. Every year, "The Third Saturday In October," is when Tennessee plays neighboring Alabama. That will include this coming Saturday, when they will meet at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Alabama leads the series 58-38-8.

On October 19, 1968, they played in Knoxville. Awaiting trial, Richmond Sr. was escorted by FBI agents, and wearing handcuffs, into Neyland Stadium, to watch his son play. Richmond Jr., a receiver, caught a pass for the game's only touchdown. Tennessee won, 10-9.

The Vols' glory would be short-lived: Three weeks later, they lost to Auburn in Birmingham, costing them the Southeastern Conference title. They did get invited to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, where they lost to Texas.

The following year, Richmond Sr. was convicted -- as if there was any doubt that a jury of 12 white Alabamians would put him away. He was sentenced to 8 years, but was paroled after 16 months. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter, former Governor of Georgia, pardoned him.

He returned to his hometown of Dothan, and taught history and criminal justice at a community college there -- ironically named George C. Wallace State Community College, named for the father of his political rival. In 1989, CBS aired the TV-movie Unconquered, written by Pat Conroy, author of The Lords of Discipline and The Prince of Tides. Richmond Sr. was played by Peter Coyote, and Richmond Jr. by Dermot Mulroney. Richmond Flowers Sr. died in 2007, at age 89.

Richmond Flowers Jr. was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1969, and was used as a safety and a kick returner. In 1971, he became a New York Giant, and intercepted 4 passes in the 1972 season. He got hurt in 1973, and played in the World Football League in 1974 before retiring.

Richmond Flowers Jr.,

playing for the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium

He finally went to the University of Alabama, getting his law degree there as his father did before him. He practiced law, got involved in commodities trading, and is now retired. Sadly, he supports Donald Trump, thus betraying everything his father stood for.

The Flowers family, honored on the 50th Anniversary of the game,

at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, 2018.

Richmond Jr. is in the shades, 3rd from left.

His son, Richmond Flowers III, followed his father into hurdling, college football, and the Cowboys. He became an assistant coach, and is now an agent for football coaches.

Richmond III, right, with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay

 

*

October 19, 1968 was a Saturday. Among the other college football games played that day:

* Number 1 Southern California beat Washington, 14-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC won the Pacific-Eight Conference title, led by Heisman Trophy-winning running back O.J. Simpson.

* Number 2 Ohio State beat Northwestern, 45-21 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State won the Big Ten Conference title, then beat USC in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship.

* Number 3 Penn State had the week off. They finished the season undefeated.

* Number 4 Kansas beat Oklahoma State, 49-14 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Kansas won the Big Eight Conference title, but lost the Orange Bowl to Penn State. Penn State thought they deserved the National Championship as much as Ohio State did. This was the 1st time Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions thought they'd gotten robbed by the voters. It would not be the last.

* Number 5 Purdue beat Wake Forest, 28-27 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue had already blown their shot at Big Ten and national honors the week before, losing their Number 1 ranking by losing to Ohio State.

* Number 6 Notre Dame beat Illinois, 58-8 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame had already blown their chance at national honors by losing to Purdue, and would later lose to Michigan State, although they did hold USC to a tie at the Coliseum on Thanksgiving Saturday.

* Number 7 Florida were upset by North Carolina, 22-7 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

* Number 9 Arkansas were upset by Number 17 Texas, 39-29 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. This game decided the Southwest Conference title, and sent Texas to the Cotton Bowl, where, as I said earlier, they beat Tennessee. The Texas-Arkansas game would be even bigger the next season, one of those occasional "Games of the Century."

* Number 10 Georgia beat Vanderbilt, 32-6 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. Georgia won the Southeastern Conference Championship.

* Number 13 Nebraska were upset by Number 20 Missouri, 16-14 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 18 Michigan beat Number 19 Indiana, 27-22 at Seventeenth Street Stadium (now Memorial Stadium) in Bloomington, Indiana.

* Army beat Rutgers, 24-0 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

* Navy beat Pittsburgh, 17-16 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Air Force beat Colorado State, 31-0 at Hughes Stadium in Colorado Springs.

* Columbia lost to Yale, 29-7 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut.

* And Princeton lost to Colgate, 14-7 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey.

The baseball season had ended 10 days earlier, when the Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the World Series.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 118-96 at the new Madison Square Garden. Wilt Chamberlain had 29 points and 23 rebounds.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Baltimore Bullets, 124-121 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena).

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 125-107 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (now the McCamish Pavilion) in Atlanta.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the Detroit Pistons, 127-115 at Cincinnati Gardens.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 106-96 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the San Francisco Warriors beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 107-95 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Nate Thurmond had 41 points and 27 rebounds.

There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Oakland Oaks beat the Kentucky Colonels, 134-113 at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Rick Barry had 46 points and 14 rebounds.

There were 4 games played in the NHL that day:

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Oakland Seals, 4-1 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the New York Rangers, the Montreal Canadiens, the Detroit Red Wings and the Philadelphia Flyers were not scheduled.

In high school football, the school that would become my alma mater, East Brunswick, defeated Edison High School, 26-7 at Matthew J. Drwal Stadium in Edison Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

Also, the soccer team I would one day support, Arsenal F.C. of North London, lost to West Bromwich Albion, 1-0 at The Hawthorns in West Bromwich, near Birmingham.

September 30, 1933: The 1st Southeastern Conference Football Game

September 30, 1933: The football team at the University of Kentucky beats Sewanee: The University of the South, 7-0 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky. UK is normally thought of as one of the great powers of college basketball, certainly the leading hoop school in the Southeastern Conference. It is not one of the traditional leaders in SEC football. Nevertheless, the Wildcats hosted, played, and won the first game between two SEC teams -- technically, the 1st SEC football game.

Sewanee left the SEC after the 1940 season, and downgraded their program. They now play in NCAA Division III.

Although schools that are currently members of the SEC have been playing football since 1892, it was only in 1933 that the league was formed, mostly with teams leaving the Southern Conference, whose rump members would invite other schools, and, 20 years later, face another exodus, one that resulted in the founding of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Other SEC schools played on this day, but not against other SEC teams:

* Alabama beat Oglethorpe University, of Brookhaven, Georgia, 34-0 at Denny Stadium (now Bryant-Denny Stadium) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

* Arkansas beat Oklahoma Baptist, 42-7 at The Hill in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

* Florida beat Stetson University, of DeLand, Florida, 28-0 at Florida Field in Gainesville.

* Georgia beat North Carolina State, 20-0 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Georgia Tech, a charter member of the SEC but no longer in it, beat Clemson, 39-2 at Grant Field in Atlanta.

* Louisiana State University (LSU) beat Rice, 13-0 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Mississippi (a.k.a. Ole Miss) beat Mississippi State Teachers College, 45-0 at Hemingway Stadium (now Vaught-Hemingway Stadium) in Oxford, Mississippi. MSTC is now the University of Southern Mississippi.

* Mississippi State beat Millsaps College, of Jackson, Mississippi, 12-0 at Scott Field (now Davis-Wade Stadium) in Starkville, Mississippi.

* Tennessee beat Virginia Tech, 27-0 at Shields-Watkins Field (now Neyland Stadium) in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* The night before, Alabama Tech beat Howard College, 19-0 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1960, Alabama Tech was renamed Auburn University. In 1965, Howard, of Homewood, Alabama, was renamed Samford University. It should not be confused with Howard University in Washington, D.C.; or with Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Most of the SEC did rather well. But not all of them. Vanderbilt played Oklahoma to a 0-0 tie at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma. Tulane lost to Texas A&M, 13-6 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. And, the night before, South Carolina, a member of the SEC now but not then, lost to Temple, 26-6 at Temple Stadium in Philadelphia.

When the season ended, Alabama had a conference record of 5-0-1, and LSU were 3-0-2. Because they played more games and had fewer blemishes on their record, Alabama were declared the 1st SEC football Champions. They finished 7-1-1, having lost to Fordham, 2-0 at the Polo Grounds, and a tie with Ole Miss at Legion Field.

That game at the Polo Grounds? It attracted 60,000. 'Bama's other 8 games combined? 112,000. The SEC already had most of the stadiums it is known for today, but they had yet to be expanded to the massive size they are today.

*

September 30, 1933 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games were played that day:

* Army beat Mercer University, of Macon, Georgia, 19-6 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* Navy beat William & Mary, 12-0 at Thompson Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Rivalry: Colorado A&M, which became Colorado State in 1957, beat Wyoming, 7-0 at Corbett Field in Laramie, Wyoming.

* Fordham beat Albright College, of Reading, Pennsylvania, 52-0 at Fordham Field in The Bronx.

* Manhattan College beat Clarkson University, of Potsdam, New York, 13-7 at Manhattan Field, next-door to the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan.

* City College of New York (CCNY) beat Brooklyn College, 18-12 at Lewisohn Stadium in Upper Manhattan.

* Rutgers beat Franklin & Marshall, 10-0 at Neilson Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey. New York City's Columbia and New York University (NYU), and New Jersey's Princeton, began their season the following week.

And Major League Baseball entered its final weekend. These games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 7-2 at Yankee Stadium. The Senators had already clinched the American League Pennant. Babe Ruth went 2-for-3 with a home run. Lou Gehrig went 1-for-3.

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-2 at Ebbets Field. The Giants had already clinched the National League Pennant. Player-manager Bill Terry and Mel Ott both went 2-for-5 with an RBI. 

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Boston Braves, 2-1 at Braves Field in Boston. Virgil Davis hit a home run to win it in the to of the 10th inning.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Athletics, 2-1 and 12-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Over the 2 games, Jimmie Foxx went 1-for-6 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-0 at Navin Field in Detroit. (That ballpark was later renamed Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium.)

* The Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Babe Herman, formerly a star with the Brooklyn Dodgers, went 4-for-6 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Woody English went 3-for-6 with 2 RBIs. Billy Herman (no relation to Babe) went 3-for-5 with a walk and an RBI. Riggs Stephenson went 2-for-6 with 2 RBIs. Kiki Cuyler went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Every Cubs player, including pitcher Guy Bush, got at least 1 hit. Bush outpitched Dizzy Dean.

* And, in an action that wouldn't be done today, the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates moved their game scheduled for today, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, up, to July 30. The Pirates won that game, 8-6. Paul Waner went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Lloyd Waner had no RBIs -- he usually batted leadoff -- but went 4-for-5.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat North Yorkshire team Middlesbrough, 6-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.

September 12, 1970: The Sam Cunningham Game

September 12, 1970: The University of Southern California, a.k.a. USC, takes the field at Legion Field in Birmingham, the secondary home field of the University of Alabama. They do so with the 1st all-black backfield in college football history, outside of historically black schools: Quarterback Jimmy Jones and running backs Clarence Davis and Sam Cunningham. The University of Alabama had been forced to racially integrate by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, but still hadn't fielded a single black football player. Of the schools then in the Southeastern Conference, Alabama's arch-rival Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt had; Georgia, Louisiana State (a.k.a. LSU) and Mississippi (a.k.a. Ole Miss) also had not. To be fair, there were previous attempts to integrate the 'Bama program. On April 1, 1967 -- perhaps head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant should have chosen a day other than April Fool's Day -- the 1st Spring practice session for the 1967 football season was held, and 5 black students were "walk-ons": Dock Rone, Arthur Dunning, Melvin Leverett, Andrew Pernell and Jerome Tucker.

Rone had approached Bryant first. The Bear warned him of the difficulties involved with making the squad, but told the guard from the State capital of Montgomery that he was welcome to try out, provided he passed the physical and was academically eligible. He said, “I admire your courage, young man.”

Rone was the 1st black man to wear an Alabama football uniform. The other 4 were not permitted, as they had not previously declared their desire, and thus had not yet been academically cleared, but they would be. Bryant told his players, "Treat 'em like everybody else."

On May 5, approximately 15,000 people showed up at Denny Stadium (renamed Bryant-Denny Stadium in 1975) to watch the annual A-Day intrasquad game. Rone, Tucker and Pernell were on the roster. Rone and Tucker played in the game.

But Rone dropped out, for reasons he has never discussed, and was subsequently drafted by the U.S. Army. Pernell walked on again in 1968, and played in the A-Day game. But he was dropped from the team due to a legal technicality.

Bryant had tried hard to recruit Frank Dowsing to be Alabama's 1st black player in 1969, but, a Mississippi native, he chose Mississippi State instead, becoming their 1st. So the Crimson Tide put an all-white team out against the USC Trojans.

Legion Field, circa 1970

Sam Cunningham ran for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns. USC beat 'Bama, 42-21. The game was televised nationally on ABC, so everyone who wanted to see a college football game that day, but wasn't actually going to a game, saw it. All-white 'Bama football had been exposed: No longer could such a team be counted on to resist the integrated North (or, in this case, the integrated West).The Bear knew he couldn't send an all-white team out anymore.

Jerry Claiborne, an assistant to Bryant at Texas A&M and Alabama, was head coach at Virginia Tech at the time, and later at Maryland and Kentucky. He said, "Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King Jr. did in 20 years." He wasn't just being a wise guy or a bigot: The man known as "Sam Bam" had integrated the minds of 'Bama football fans, although changing their hearts may have taken a little longer.

Ironically, in the next off-season, Bryant played golf with USC coach John McKay, who mentioned he had a commitment from a junior college transfer who was an Alabama native, defensive end John Mitchell. Bryant convinced Mitchell to switch, and he became 'Bama's 1st black varsity player. He even became one of Bear's assistant coaches, and has been on the Pittsburgh Steelers' staff since 1994.

John Mitchell

Bryant called his good friend, Darrell Royal, the head coach at the University of Texas, who had won the National Championship in 1963, and, running the wishbone offense, had done so again in 1969, and nearly again in 1970. He asked Royal to teach him the wishbone. Bryant tried everything he could to keep his teaching of it to his players a secret, right down to walking into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, ranked Number 16 in the nation, for the rematch with then-Number 5 USC on September 10, 1971, with his newly-integrated team, and practicing in front of everyone before the game with the same old formation. Then, in his 1st offensive series, he sprung the 'bone on the Trojans. It worked: 'Bama won, 17-10.

Cunningham helped USC win the National Championship in 1972, on a team that also included running back Anthony Davis (no relation to Clarence), and future stars such as Los Angeles Rams quarterback Pat Haden and Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Lynn Swann. He spent the next 10 seasons with the New England Patriots, rushing for 5,453 yards and making the 1978 Pro Bowl. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and the Patriots elected him to their team Hall of Fame.

But if not for that game in Birmingham in 1970, he would now be known as the older brother of the great Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham, who played his college ball at Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV). Sam died on September 7, 2021, at age 71. Despite all their success in the 21st Century, he is still the Patriots' all-time leading rusher. The other members of that USC backfield? Jimmy Jones played in the Canadian Football League, and helped the Montreal Alouettes win their championship, the Grey Cup, in 1974. Although less regarded in college than Cunningham, Clarence Davis had a better pro career, helping the Oakland Raiders win Super Bowl XI in 1977.

In 1974, Bryant named 2 black players as co-captains: Sylvester Croom and Richard T. Davis. Croom was on the Alabama coaching staff from 1976 to 1986. In 2004, after 17 years of serving as an NFL assistant coach, including a trip to the Super Bowl with the San Diego Chargers, Mississippi State named him the 1st black head coach in the SEC. In 2007, he finished 8-5, led the Bulldogs to win the Liberty Bowl, and was named SEC Coach of the Year. In 2008, he finished 4-8, and was fired. He returned to the NFL.

Melvin Leverett became a successful real estate investor, and lived until 2010. Rone returned to the University, got his degree, and became a plant supervisor. Art Dunning served in the U.S. Air Force, earned a Ph.D., went into academic administration, and served as president of the historically black Albany State University in Georgia. Andrew Pernell and his wife founded a child care center. And Jerome Tucker went to law school, and became an Assistant District Attorney, and was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives and Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party. As of September 12, 2022, Rone, Dunning, Pernell and Tucker are still alive. (UPDATE: Tucker died in 2023.)

*

September 12, 1970 was a Saturday. The University of Texas, the defending National Champions, opened the season at Number 1 in the polls, but didn't play their 1st game until the following Saturday. They almost won the title again, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish also didn't open until September 19. The same was true in New Jersey for Rutgers. Princeton opened a week after that.

A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played, and then some:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 7-3 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Ron Hansen hit a home run, and Horace Clarke got 3 hits. But it wasn't enough, as Mel Stottlemyre got shelled, allowing 5 runs and leaving with just 1 out in the 2nd inning.

* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 5-3 at Shea Stadium. So the other New York team, at this time the defending World Champions, lost to the team that ended up replacing the Senators as the Washington Nationals.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-5 at Atlanta Stadium (renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1974). For the Reds: Lee May had 3 hits including a home run and a triple, Johnny Bench went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs, and Pete Rose went 0-for-5. For the Braves: Tony Gonzalez hit a home run, and Hank Aaron went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Sox won the opener 6-2, and the nightcap 8-2.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the 1st game 7-3, and the Baltimore Orioles won the 2nd game 13-3.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. This was a wild one, that went to the 10th inning. The Bucs scored 3 in the top half, including a home run by Al Oliver. The Cards scored 2 in the bottom half, and had men on 1st and 2nd with 2 out, and Dick Allen at the plate. Pirate manager Danny Murtaugh made Bruce Dal Canton his 3rd pitcher of the inning, and he got Allen to ground to short.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-5 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-7 at the Astrodome in Houston. Willie Mays went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, but it wasn't enough.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1 at San Diego Stadium.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-2 at Anaheim Stadium.

* And a doubleheader was split at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics won the 1st game 4-3. Don Mincher hit 2 home runs. Reggie Jackson pinch-hit in the 8th inning, and struck out. The Milwaukee Brewers won the 2nd game 2-1. Reggie pinch-hit in the 8th again, and this time, he flied out.

Also, Arsenal beat Burnley, 2-1 at Turf Moor in Burnley, Lancashire.