September 24, 1957: The Camp Nou Opens In Barcelona

September 24, 1957: Futbol Club Barcelona open a new stadium, the Camp Nou. The opening event is a Catholic Mass, attended by 90,000 people, not a soccer game (football match).

From 1926 to 1957, FC Barcelona had played at Camp de Les Corts, having expanded it to 60,000 seats. But their post-World War II success meant that they needed more seats, and it was impossible to expand the stadium any further. Camp Nou would eventually hold over 120,000 fans, before its conversion to all-seater brought capacity down to 98,000, meaning it was still the biggest club soccer stadium in Europe.

Barcelona became identified with the resistance of the people of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, which opposed Francisco Franco and the Fascists, and were seriously oppressed. They are so deeply engrained in Catalan culture that they have adopted the slogan "Mes Que Un Club" (More Than a Club). It's even "written" into the seats at their stadium, the 98,000-seat Camp Nou.

As a result, Real Madrid have been seen as a "cheating" club, somehow turning draws into wins and losses into draws, with dives for penalties and "horror tackles" overlooked by the referees. Eventually, Barcelona learned how to do that, too, especially in European tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, to the point where they became known as "UEFAlona."

Since moving into the Camp Nou, Barça have won Spain's La Liga 20 times, for a total of 26 (UPDATE: They won a 21st in 2023, making 27); the Copa del Rey, the King's Cup, Spain's version of the FA Cup, 19 times, for a total of 31; and won the European Cup/UEFA Champions League 5 times: In 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015. (They've also lost the Final in 1961, 1986 and 1994.)

In addition, the Camp Nou has hosted 2 Champions League Finals: 1989, with A.C. Milan beating Steaua București; and 1999, with Manchester United coming from behind in stoppage time to beat Bayern Munich. It also hosted 5 games in the 1982 World Cup, and the soccer games for the 1992 Olympics.

A renovation plan was approved in 2022. Barça will play the 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the main stadium for the 1992 Olympics. 

*

September 24, 1957 was a Tuesday. It was the day that President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce the law desegregating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. I have a separate entry for that.

American football was in midweek. And the starts of the NBA and NHL seasons were a month away. But a full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:

* The most significant was, as already widely believed but not yet officially confirmed, the last game  at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. I also have a separate entry for that.

The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 on a 5-hit shutout by rookie lefthander Danny McDevitt. The Dodgers would have the next 2 days off, and close their history as a Brooklyn-based team away to the Philadelphia Phillies, losing the finale.

Two nights earlier, Duke Snider had hit the last 2 home runs at the ballpark. The last play was Dee Fondy grounding to short, where, appropriately, Pee Wee Reese, a Dodger since 1940, threw to Gil Hodges for the last out.

* The New York Giants, who had already announced their move to San Francisco for the 1958 season, lost to the Phillies, 5-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Curt Simmons pitched a 4-hit shutout. Willie Mays went 0-for-3. Five days later, on Sunday, September 29, the Giants would play their last game at the Polo Grounds, and lost to the Pirates, 9-1.

For the next 4 seasons, New York's National League baseball fans, unwilling to give up baseball, but unwilling to switch to the American League's New York Yankees, took the Pennsylvania Railroad from Penn Station in New York to the North Philadelphia station, and walked the 7 blocks from Broad Street down Lehigh Avenue to 21st Street, and walked into Connie Mack Stadium to watch the Phillies play the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Francisco Giants.

If they were feeling particularly adventurous, they would drive down, and risk their cars, parking in the North Philly ghetto. Some would cheer their old heroes. Some would boo them.

In 1962, the New York Mets arrived, and the former fans of the Dodgers and the Giants would join in a "marriage of convenience" -- one which produced "The New Breed," the Met fans too young to really remember the former teams.

* The Yankees? They didn't play that night. Nor did the Baltimore Orioles, the Cleveland Indians, or the Detroit Tigers.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 2-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Ted Williams hit a home run.

* The Cincinnati Redlegs -- from 1954 to 1958, the Reds used that name due to the stupidity of the Red Scare -- swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Reds won the opener 4-3, and the nightcap 11-9. Over the 2 games, Ernie Banks went 2-for-9 with a home run and 2 RBIs for the Cubs; while, for the Reds, Frank Robinson went 1-for-6 with an RBI, and Wally Post homered in both games.

* The Milwaukee Braves, having clinched their 1st NL Pennant the night before on an 11th-inning home run by Hank Aaron, beat the St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee County Stadium again, this time 6-1 in the regulation 9 innings. In this game, Aaron went 1-for-5, but the hit was a grand slam. Stan Musial went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 7-6 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. 

May 24, 1989: Totalvoetbaal + Catenaccio = Campeoni

Ruud Gullit raises the Cup

May 24, 1989: AC Milan defeat Steaua București, 4-0, to win the European Cup at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. The Rossoneri's Dutch connection does the business against the champions of Romania, as Marco van Basten and the dreadlocked Surinamese, Ruud Gullit, each score twice.

Managed by Arrigo Sacchi, Milan would win the Cup again the next year -- and any Arsenal fan who thinks the Gunners would have beaten them if the Heysel ban hadn't been in effect is kidding himself. With van Basten, Gullit, and the other Dutch/Surinamese star, Frank Rijkaard; a defensive set of captain Franco Baresi, future captain Paolo Maldini, Mauro Tassotti and Alessandro Costacurta; and midfielders Roberto Donadoni and Carlo Ancelotti, the 1989 & '90 Milan team might just might have been the best club team in soccer history.

It was basically a combination of the Dutch idea of Totalvoetbaal, or "Total Football," in which positions became virtually meaningless, allowing for greater offensive creativity as shown by AFC Ajax of Amsterdam in the early 1970s; and the Italian defensive idea of Catenaccio, or "Padlock," a defense-first philosophy exemplified by AC Milan's rivals, Internazionale Milano, in the mid-1960s. So Totalvoetbaal plus Catenaccio equalled Campeoni di Europa: Champions of Europe.

AC Milan had previously combined a Catenaccio idea with a strong attack, and won the European Cup in 1963 and 1969, in the latter defeating Ajax, still on the rise by not quite there yet, still working out the kinks to become, along with the 1989 and '90 Milan squad, one of the best club teams of all time.

van Basten and Rijkaard had played together on Ajax's Eredivisie (Dutch league) winners of 1982, '83 and '85, while Gullit had played for their arch-rivals, Feyenoord of Rotterdam, winning that league in 1984. As with the Netherlands team that reached the 1974 World Cup Final, Sacchi had proven that Ajax and Feyenoord stars could work well together.

Speaking of Ancelotti, May 24 must be a good day for him: On that date in 2022, he managed Real Madrid to win the European Cup under the tournament's successor name, the UEFA Champions League. "Carletto," the man with the greatest-ever raised left eyebrow (Leonard Nimoy has the best on the right side), had previously managed Milan to the CL in 2003 and '07. His win tied Bob Paisley, Liverpool manager of 1977, '78 and '81, and Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid manager of 2016, '17 and '18, as the only men to manage 3 European Cup winners.

Two nights after this game, Liverpool would host Arsenal, with the title of England's Football League on the line. It was up for grabs then.

*

May 24, 1989 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. The NBA Playoffs were in progress, but no games were played on the night. The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 5 and 6. In Game 6, the Calgary Flames clinched, beating the Montreal Canadiens.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 11-4 at Yankee Stadium. Jim Abbott, later to be a good pickup for the Yankees, outpitched Richard Dotson, who the Yankees thought would be a good pickup for them, but wasn't. Lance Parrish and future Yankee Charles "Chili" Davis hit home runs for the Halos. Don Mattingly went 4-for-5 with a solo home run. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Dave Winfield missed the entire season with a back injury.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 3-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Ron Darling pitched 6 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and Rick Aguilera completed an 8-hit shutout, outpitching Bruce Hurst. Mark Carreon and Kevin McReynolds hit home runs. Tony Gwynn went 3-for-4.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. Mike Boddicker outpitched Erik Hanson. Wade Boggs went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. For the M's, Rookie Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Glenn Wilson doubled home the winning runs in the top of the 14th inning. Barry Bonds went 0-for-6.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-4 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Four days later, the Jays played their last game at "The X," and moved into the SkyDome, later renamed the Rogers Centre.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Lou Whitaker singled Gary Pettis home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Jay Tibbs pitched 6 innings of 7-hit shutout ball, and Mark Williamson finished an 8-hit shutout. Mickey Tettleton hit a home run. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 0-for-4. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. George Brett did not play.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Eddie Murray went 0-for-3 for the Dodgers. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4. Five days later, frustrated at batting only .203 at age 38, the greatest 3rd baseman of all time retired, with 548 home runs, 10 Gold Gloves, and 3 National League Most Valuable Player awards.

* And the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Kevin Gross pitched a 5-hit shutout.

March 8, 2011: Robbery at the Camp Nou

March 8, 2011: If the disgrace in Newcastle 31 days earlier wasn’t bad enough, Arsenal are robbed by the officials again, this time at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, in a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match. FC Barcelona were hosting North London team Arsenal, and Arsenal were leading from the 1st Leg, 2-1.

Arsenal, as is usually the case at this point in the season, were staggered with injuries: Centreback Thomas Vermaelen was replaced by Johan Djourou, midfielder Aaron Ramsey was replaced by the useless Abou Diaby, and, after only 19 minutes, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny got hurt, and had to be replaced by Manuel Almunia, by this point known to Arsenal fans as "The Clown."

Barca, meanwhile, were missing defenders Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué, but had the usual offensive suspects all available: Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, David Villa and Sergio Busquets.

In spite of this, the Gunners held Barça off until injury time of the first half, when Arsenal Captain Cesc Fàbregas sent a what-the-hell backheel pass toward Jack Wilshere, but it ended up at Iniesta, who passed to Messi, who put the ball in the net.

Fàbregas, a Barcelona native who'd been purchased by Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger from Barça's youth system, had been "tapped up" by various Barça players and officials, and it seemed only a matter of time before he "went home." Lots of Arsenal fans -- myself included -- considered The Backheel to be his "Manchurian Candidate" moment.

But that wasn't the biggest problem -- far from it.  Not one, not two, but three times, a Barça player grabbed an Arsenal player by the throat: Eric Abidal on Robin van Persie, Dani Alves on Samir Nasri, and Victor Valdés on Nasri.  And there is photographic evidence that referee Massimo Busacca saw at least two of these despicable Catalan actions.

Did he issue straight red cards to the offending players? Did he issue yellow cards as a caution? Did he so much as say, "You can't do that, do it again and you're out of here?" As they say in English soccer circles, Did he fuck! 

There was a player sent off by Busacca. It was van Persie. Early in the game, the Dutch striker committed a stupid foul on Alves, and rightly got a yellow card. In the 56th minute, just after a messed-up attempt to clear a corner resulted in an own goal by Busquets, making the aggregate score 3-2 in Arsenal's favor, Busacca blew his whistle, because he judged the ball to be out of play.

RVP did not hear the whistle, and kicked the ball right afterward. Busacca gave him a second yellow card for this, and that's equal to a red card. Arsenal would have to play the last 34 minutes (plus stoppage time) of their biggest game of the season thus far not just as 10 vs. 11 (or 10 vs. 12, considering Busacca), but without their best offensive player.

Interviewed by Sky Sports after the match, van Persie said, "How can I hear a whistle with 90,000 people jumping up? How to God can I hear that? The referee has been a joke all evening, I don’t know why he is even here. These people are unbelievable."

In the 69th, Xavi scored to make it 3-3 overall, and in the 71st, Barça were (rightly, I'm afraid) awarded a penalty, and Messi hammered it past the hapless Almunia to make it 4-3. But in the 87th, Wilshere sent a pass to substitute forward Nicklas Bendtner that Bendtner could well have put in the net, tying the two-legged tie 4-4 and giving it to Arsenal, 2-1 on away goals. But he muffed his chance, and Barça went through -- and went on to win the tournament.

That bogus sendoff changed history, at least in the short term. Had Arsenal been allowed to keep 11 men on the pitch, even if Barça scored the 3rd and 4th goal, it might have been RVP who got the late chance, and buried it, and Arsenal would have gone through, and, with the Final in London at Wembley Stadium, might have won the whole damn thing -- even if it was Manchester United they would have had to face in the Final.

And then van Persie likely would have stayed more than just the one more season, and Nasri wouldn't have left, either. Granted, Fàbregas still would have gone, but at least he would have stayed long enough to lift the European Cup as Captain of Arsenal. And Arsenal, not Chelsea a year later, would have been the first London team to win the European Cup.

But UEFA wanted Barça -- known to its critics as "UEFAlona" -- to win, and so Arsenal got screwed.

UPDATE: In 2024, Dani Alves, one of the Barcelona throat-grabbers from this game, was convicted of rape in Spain, and sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison.

*

March 8, 2011 was a Tuesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. American-style football was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Wizards, 95-76 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 101-87 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Miami Heat, 105-96 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami. Dwyane Wade led all scorers on the day with 38 points.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 95-85 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers, 110-100 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Houston Rockets, 113-110 at the US Airways Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

And there were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at the Nassau Coliseum. Blake Comeau scored the winning goal with 58 seconds left in overtime.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Ottawa Senators, 2-1 at the Prudential Center.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the Bank Atlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Consol Energy Center (now the PPG Paints Arena) in Pittsburgh.

* And the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-3 at the Jobing.com (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. Dan Hamhuis scored the winning goal with 2:47 left in overtime.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2 at the HP Pavilion at San Jose (now the SAP Center). Patrick Marleau scored the winning goal with 1:26 left in overtime.