December 17, 1984: Brigham Young University, National Champions

Robbie Bosco

December 17, 1984: The football team at Brigham Young University defeats the University of Michigan, 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego -- a game that, under the rules of the time, BYU were locked into as Champions of the Western Athletic Conference.

This was not a particularly strong Michigan team, going in at just 6-5, and probably getting the bowl bid solely because of their history. Nevertheless, the Cougars of coach LaVell Edwards and quarterback Robbie Bosco beat them, leading a 4th-quarter comeback down 17-10 and throwing the winning touchdown pass with 1:23 left, and finished an undefeated 13-0 season.

No other team finished the season undefeated. The University of Washington finished 11-1, beating Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. But their 1 loss, to USC (the University of Southern California), cost them the Pacific-10 Conference title, and if you're not Conference Champions, you shouldn't be crowned National Champions -- a principle that should have been held once the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and later the Playoffs finally did come, but didn't.

Oklahoma, who won the Big 8 Conference, had been Number 2, but this loss eliminated them. Florida had been Number 3, and won the Southeastern Conference title, but were on probation, and were ineligible for a bowl game, costing them the National Championship.

Put it all together, and, voting on January 2, 1985, the Associated Press (AP) in their poll of college football writers, and United Press International (UPI) in their poll of college football coaches both gave BYU got a very dubious national title.

BYU had some unfair advantages. Being in the WAC, they had a rather weak schedule. The only ranked team they beat all season was the University of Pittsburgh, then Number 3, 20-14 in their season opener. They only beat Hawaii 18-13. They only beat Wyoming 41-38. They only beat the Air Force Academy 30-25. Their season was similar to that of the 1972 Miami Dolphins: They rarely looked like a great team, but they went undefeated, and won the Super Bowl.

Another unfair advantage BYU had was missions. As a school run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a.k.a. the Mormons, and named for the man who led the early Church to Salt Lake City -- the University is in Provo, 50 miles to the south -- they send their men on missions, and even "redshirt" their good players, so that their seniors are 23, 24 or 25 years old, playing opponents between 18 and 22 years old.

Then as now, the NCAA usually grants a player 5 years to complete 4 years of eligibility, but allows exceptions for injuries, military service, and, yes, religious missions -- something the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, with its freedom of religion, requires them to allow. Yet other schools famous for being run by religious institutions, such as Catholic schools like Notre Dame and Boston College, don't require missions. Nor do the Protestant schools in Texas that play major college football: Southern Methodist (SMU) in Dallas, Texas Christian (TCU, Disciples of Christ) in Fort Worth, or Baylor (Baptist) in Waco.

The Mormons do require missions, but will grant exceptions in some cases, including that of the man who was their quarterback the 4 previous seasons, and their most famous player ever, who just so happened to be the great-great-great-grandson of the school's namesake: Steve Young. That was seen as a bit hypocritical, because they were viewed as wanted to raise their profile, as well as raise money, off Steve's pro career.

Built in 1964, BYU's Cougar Stadium was renamed for coach Edwards following his retirement after the 2000 season. Under him, they won 19 Conference Championships -- the 1st 18 in the WAC, the last in the new Mountain West Conference -- in a span of 26 seasons. They became known for "mad bomber" quarterbacks, such as Virgil Carter, Gary Sheide, Gifford Nielsen, Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Young and Bosco; and, after Bosco, Ty Detmer, John Walsh. (Detmer's brother Koy starred at the University of Colorado.)

LaVell Edwards

Despite finishing 3rd in the Heisman Trophy voting in both 1984 and 1985, and winning a National Championship, Bosco never played a down in the NFL, the USFL or the CFL. Since 1989, he has been employed by BYU. Apparently, they take care of their own. Edwards died in 2016.

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December 17, 1984 was a Monday. On ABC Monday Night Football, the Miami Dolphins beat the Dallas Cowboys, 28-21 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Baseball was out of season. No games were played in the NBA. Two were played in the NHL. The St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. And the New Jersey Devils beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2 at the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands. It had been 7 months since the Oilers, led by Wayne Gretzky, had won their 1st Stanley Cup; and 13 months since Gretzky had called the Devils "a Mickey Mouse organization" following a 13-4 Oilers win over them in Edmonton. Well, Wayne, how did they look after this?

October 3, 1997: The 1st NHL Game In Japan

October 3, 1997: For the 1st time, a National Hockey League regular-season game is played in a country other than Canada or the United States: Japan. Appropriately, and perhaps to save time on travel, the opponents are Pacific Coast teams: The Vancouver Canucks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

The game is played at the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, built for the 1964 Olympics. It consists of the First Gymnasium, which held the swimming and diving events for those Games; and the Second Gymnasium, which held the basketball events.

In 1976, after the regular season, the NHL sent 2 of its worst teams to play 4 exhibition games at the Second Gymnasium, and 2 before that at the Makomanai Ice Arena, built in Sapporo for the 1972 Winter Olympics. On April 14, the Washington Capitals beat the Kansas City Scouts, 5-2. On April 15, the Caps won, 6-2. Moving on to Tokyo, the Caps won 6-2 on April 17, and the Scouts won 4-2 on April 18.

The 1997 regular season games were also held at the Second Gymnasium, whose hockey setup allowed for 10,500 seats, and the game was sold out. It was a good warmup for the country and its hockey fans: Japan held the Winter Olympics 4 months later, in Nagano, and got the 1st-ever Olympic hockey tournament with NHL players.

Scott Walker of the Canucks opened the scoring, about midway through the 1st period. About midway through the 2nd, Scott Young of the Ducks tied it. But the Canucks quickly got goals by 2 of the all-time legends of hockey, Mark Messier and Pavel Bure. Shawn Antoski scored for Anaheim late in the 2nd period, making it 3-2 to Vancouver, but that score held up through the final horn.

The teams played at Yoyogi again the following night, October 4, and, this time, the Ducks won, although the score was 3-2 again. Another 2-game series was played at Yoyogi early the next season. On October 9, 1998, the San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames played to a 3-3 tie. On October 10, the Flames won, 5-3. Two seasons later, in the Tokyo suburb of Saitama, 2 games were played at the Saitama Super Arena. On October 6, the Nashville Predators beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1. On October 7, the Penguins won, also by 3-1.

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October 3, 1997 was a Friday. There were 8 other games played in the NHL.

* The New York Rangers and the New York Islanders, arch-rivals, played to a tie, 2-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the CoreStates Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-2 at the US Airways Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. They moved into what's now named the Capital One Arena on December 5.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3 at the Greensboro Coliseum (now the First Horizon Coliseum) in Greensboro, North Carolina. This was the Hurricanes' 1st regular-season home game, and 2nd regular-season game overall, after moving from being the Hartford Whalers. They played 2 seasons in Greensboro before moving to what's now named the Lenovo Center in Raleigh.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 7-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames, 4-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 8-2 at the Edmonton Coliseum (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known).

Major League Baseball's Playoffs were underway, with both National League Division Series being clinched in 3-game sweeps. The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. John Smoltz outpitched Shane Reynolds. And the Florida Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at 3Com Park (as Candlestick Park was then known) in San Francisco.

Both American League Division Series were in travel days. The Cleveland Indians would beat the New York Yankees in 5 games, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners in 4.

The NBA season started 4 weeks later. The NFL was in midweek. There was 1 game in college football: Brigham Young University beat Utah State, 42-35 at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah. BYU were then ranked Number 24, and their stadium is now named for their coach at the time: LaVell Edwards Stadium.