July 3, 1890: Idaho Is Admitted As the 43rd State

July 3, 1890: Idaho is admitted to the Union as the 43rd State.

Idaho is in the Rocky Mountains, although some people consider it part of the Northwest. It had been acquired as part of the Oregon Treaty of 1846, with the Idaho Territory being separated in 1863. It has become known for its production of potatoes.

Politically, Idaho has been Western conservative, with a libertarian bent: Pro-gun, pro-landowner. In the 1964 Presidential election, along with Nebraska (47.4 percent) and his home State of Arizona (50.4 percent), Idaho (49.1 percent) was 1 of only 3 States outside the South that gave Barry Goldwater more than 45.1 percent of the vote; and it hasn't voted for the Democratic nominee for President since that time with Lyndon Johnson.

Their highest-ranking politician has been Dirk Kempthorne: Mayor of the capital city of Boise from 1986 to 1993, then U.S. Senator until 1999, then Governor until May 26, 2006, when he resigned to accept George W. Bush's appointment as Secretary of the Interior, holding that post to the end of the Administration in 2009.

With 235,000 people, the capital city of Boise is easily the most populous city in the State. So there are no major league teams there. Due to distance, the most popular teams are the Seattle Seahawks (about 500 miles northwest of Boise) and the Denver Broncos (over 800 miles southeast).

The highest-ranking professional sports teams are the Boise Hawks and the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League, an independent baseball league roughly equivalent to Class A (three steps below the major leagues); and a pair of minor-league hockey teams, the Boise-based Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL and the Idaho Falls Spud Kings of the USPHL.

The only college playing in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly named Division I-A) is Boise State University, where their Albertsons Stadium has the famous blue artificial field known as "the Smurf Turf." In the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, formerly named Division I-AA), the University of Idaho play in Moscow, close to a State Line, so that the nearest school is actually Washington State University; and Idaho State University, in Pocatello. The State has several ski resorts.

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July 3, 1890 was a Thursday. It was the year of the Players' League revolt in baseball, 1 of only 4 seasons -- 1884, 1914 and 1915 being the others -- that what we now call Major League Baseball had 3 leagues.

In the National League:

* The New York Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0 at Recreation Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Brooklyn Bridegrooms lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 9-6 at League Park in Cincinnati. In 1899, the Bridegrooms -- so named because several players got married in the 1887-88 off-season -- became the Superbas. In 1911, they became the Dodgers.

* The Boston Beaneaters beat the Cleveland Spiders, 8-0 at National League Park in Cleveland. This ballpark was replaced by a new League Park in 1891, which was replaced by another League Park in 1910, which became home of the team that became the Cleveland Indians until 1946. The Spiders folded after the 1899 season. The Beaneaters became the Braves in 1912.

* The Chicago Colts beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-5 at West Side Park in Chicago. The Colts became the Cubs in 1903.

There were no games that day in the American Association. In the Players' League, none of whose teams survived its folding after the season, there were 3 games:

* The PL's version of the New York Giants beat the Cleveland Infants, 5-0 at Brotherhood Park in Cleveland. I can find no record of why the Cleveland team was called the Infants. Maybe they wanted to emphasize that their league was new and unconnected to what they saw as the corruption in established baseball. Or maybe they once reacted poorly to a loss, and were called "crybabies," and "Infants" came from that. There was not much imagination in the PL teams' names, the "Infants" aside.

* The Brooklyn Ward's Wonders beat the Buffalo Bisons, 9-3 at Olympic Park in Buffalo. The Brooklyn team was named after their star shortstop, the PL's founder, John Montgomery Ward. Although the Buffalo Bisons name would be applied to later teams in multiple sports, this team died with the PL.

* And the Chicago Pirates, beat the PL's version of the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-6 at South Side Park in Chicago. This is not the same South Side Park that would later be the 1st home of the American League's Chicago White Sox and the Negro Leagues' Chicago American Giants.

January 4, 2010: College Football's "NIT"

January 4, 2010: The Fiesta Bowl is held, at the University of Phoenix Stadium -- now named State Farm Stadium -- in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. This game is not for college football's national championship. But there were those who believed it should have been.

Boise State University, home of Albertsons Stadium and its garish blue artificial field known as the "Smurf Turf," were the Champions of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). They were 13-0, having beaten then-Number 16 Oregon at home, Miami University of Ohio at home, Fresno State away, Bowling Green away, the University of California at Davis at home, the University of Tulsa away, Hawaii away, San Jose State at home, Louisiana Tech away, arch-rival Idaho at home, Utah State away, Nevada at home, and New Mexico State at home.

They had risen to Number 6 in the country. However, the WAC was not one of the "Power Five Conferences" that tended to get its teams admitted to the Bowl Championship Series: The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Ten Conference, the Big Twelve Conference, and the Pacific-Twelve Conference (Pac-12). And, with only 1 win over a ranked team, it was decided that the Broncos weren't worthy of the Playoff.

Texas Christian University, a.k.a. TCU, had one been a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC), one of college football's "major leagues." But that league had folded in 1996, and so the Fort Worth-based Horned Frogs moved on, eventually landing in the Mountain West Conference, a school that had grown out of the WAC.

In the 2009 season, they had beaten Virginia away, Texas State at home, Clemson away, arch-rival Southern Methodist University (SMU) at home, the Air Force Academy away, Colorado State at home, then-Number 16 Brigham Young University (BYU) away, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) at home, San Diego State away, then-Number 16 Utah at home, Wyoming away, and New Mexico at home. They had risen to Number 3, and they did have wins over 2 ranked teams, 1 more than Boise State.

There were 3 other undefeated teams heading into the bowl games. Alabama was ranked Number 1, and Texas Number 2, and so they were sent to the BCS National Championship Game, to be held in the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. Number 3 TCU and Number 6 Boise State would have to settle for the Fiesta Bowl. The University of Cincinnati also had to settle: They faced Number 5 Florida in the Superdome in New Orleans.

Since neither the WAC nor the MWC, which grew out of the WAC, is a "Power Five" conference, this was a consolation prize: Whoever won was still going to be undefeated, but wouldn't get to be called National Champions. It was, essentially, college football's version of the NIT. As far as I know, no one publicly called it it that at the time, but among the taglines used were the Separate But Equal Bowl, the Quarantine Bowl, the Fiasco Bowl, and the BCS Kids' Table.

Boise State took an early lead when Brandyn Thompson intercepted an Andy Dalton pass, and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown. Kyle Brotzman added a field goal in the 2nd quarter. In the last minute of the 1st half, Dalton threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Clay, bringing the Frogs to within 10-7. Late in the 3rd quarter, Ross Evans tied it with a 29-yard field goal.

Midway through the 4th quarter, the score was still 10-0. Bosie State had 4th down on their own 33-yard line, but pulled a fake punt: Brotzman threw a 30-yard pass to Kyle Efaw. The drive continued until Doug Martin ran the ball in from 2 yards, and Boise State won, 17-10.

Despite remaining undefeated, the Broncos only rose to Number 4 in the polls. Alabama beat Texas, 37-21, and were crowned National Champions. All Boise State could do was complain.

Florida ended Cincinnati's pretentions to the National Championship, 51-24. Still, Boise State fans thought they deserved a shot at Alabama -- a team with 6 All-Americans, including the Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mark Ingram.

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January 4, 2010 was a Monday. That was the only bowl game played that day. There was no Monday Night Football game in the NFL. Baseball was out of season.

There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks, 92-75 at the American Airlines Center (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Chicago Bulls, 98-85 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Utah Jazz, 91-87 at the Delta Center (then known as the EnergySolutions Arena) in Salt Lake city.

* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 105-95 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

Two games were played in the NHL. In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. And the Los Angeles Kings beat their arch-rivals, the San Jose Sharks, 6-2 at the SAP Center in San Jose. (The Anaheim Ducks' arch-rivals are the Kings, but not vice versa.)

This was also the day that the Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, shattering the record for the tallest building in the world. I have a separate entry for that event.