July 15, 2018: Croatia Win the World's Hearts, But France Win the World Cup

July 15, 2018: The World Cup Final is held, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, built on the site of the Lenin Stadium, the main stadium of the 1980 Olympics. This made it one of the few sites, although not one of the even fewer stadiums, to have hosted both an Olympic Opening Ceremony and a World Cup Final.

Fox broadcast the tournament in America. They had billboards advertising their broadcasts, featuring some of the biggest stars in the game. For Lionel Messi of Argentina, it read, "Men Become Gods." For Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, it was "Never becomes Now." For Neymar of Brazil, who lost a Semifinal to Germany, 7-1 on home soil, it was "Disgrace Becomes Redemption." For Javier Hernandez of Mexico, a.k.a. Chicharito, it was "A Curse Becomes a Challenge." And for Harry Kane of England, it was "Lions become Kings." And yet, none of these men and their countries reached the Final.

For those of us who oppose Donald Trump (and for those of you who don't, What the hell is wrong with you?), the nightmare scenario would have been a match at the tournament between the U.S. and the hosts, whose President, Vladimir Putin, would not only be lording it over the tournament -- as had Benito Mussolini in Italy in 1934, the Junta in Argentina in 1978; and, at the Olympics, Adolf Hitler in 1936, Leonid Brezhnev in 1980, and the Chinese bigwigs in 2008 -- but was scheduled to meet with Trump at a summit meeting in Helsinki, Finland, 3 days after the Final. Who would Trump have been supporting? But the U.S. team didn't even qualify, preventing that scenario.

Instead, the fear was that Putin would intimidate the officials into fixing the games for Russia. The 1st game didn't assuage those fears, as the hosts won, 5-0. Then again, the opponent was only Saudi Arabia. But when they won their 2nd game, 3-1 over Egypt, suspicions grew. Uruguay beat Russia, 3-0 in the last Group Stage game, but Russia still finished 2nd in the Group, and advanced to the Knockout Stage.

Not so lucky were Russia's longtime rivals and the defending Champions, Germany: They lost 1-0 to Mexico, beat Sweden 2-1, and then lost 2-0 to South Korea, finishing last in their Group.

In the Round of 16, Russia came from behind to take Spain to penalties, and won, and suspicion increased. Denmark scored in the 1st minute, Croatia in the 4th, then they played all the way to penalties with no further goals, and Croatia won the penalty phase. France won a 4-3 shootout with Argentina, Uruguay beat Portugal, Brazil beat Mexico, Belgium beat Japan, Sweden beat Switzerland, and, in the most shocking event of the round, England won a knockout stage game on penalties, defeating Colombia after allowing an equalizer in stoppage time.

In the Quarterfinals, Brazil were upset by Belgium, England beat Sweden, and France beat Uruguay. And, at the 2014 Winter Olympic stadium in Sochi, Croatia ended all concerns of corruption by taking Russia to penalties, and winning that round, 4-3. Danijel Subašić, goalkeeper for AS Monaco, stopped Fyodor Smolov. And Mário Fernandes, born and raised in Brazil but accepting Russian citizenship, missed his shot. Ivan Rakitić of FC Barcelona scored the decisive penalty.

That earned Croatia a lot of goodwill, and reminded people of what had happened between each side's predecessor nation: Yugoslavia had stood up to the Soviet Union. Croatia became the darlings of the tournament, at least for people who accepted that Putin was evil.

In the Semifinals, France beat Belgium, 1-0 in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, England and Croatia went to extra time, matching England's best performance since winning in 1966 (they lost to West Germany on penalties in a 1990 Semifinal), before Mario Mandžukić of Turin, Italy team Juventus scored the winner in the 109th minute. Thus did Croatia surpass Yugoslavia's best performance. They reached the Semifinals in 1930 and 1962.

Managed by Didier Deschamps, who had starred for Olympique de Marseille and Juventus, and had played on France's 1998 World Cup winners, France were loaded, and their players came from all over France's former empire.

Their Captain and goalkeeper was Hugo Lloris of North London team Tottenham Hotspur, half-French and half-Catalan. Right back Benjamin Pavard played in Germany for VfB Stuttgart. Raphaël Varane, a Real Madrid centerback of Martiniquais descent, nicknamed "The Rolls-Royce of Defenders." Centerback Samuel Umtiti was born in Cameroon, grew up in Lyon, and played there for Olympique Lyonnais. Left back Lucas Hernandez was born in Marseille, of Spanish descent, and played for Atlético Madrid. Also at Atlético was midfielder Antoine Griezmann, of German descent.

Midfielder Paul Pogba of Manchester United was the son of immigrants from the African nation of Guinea. Midfielder N'Golo Kanté of West London team Chelsea was the son of immigrants from the African nation of Mali. Midfielder Blaise Matuidi had Angolan and Congolese parents. Forward Olivier Giroud had starred at Tours FC, Montpellier HSC, and North London team Arsenal, and now played at Chelsea. And forward Kylian Mbappé was from the suburbs of Paris, with a Cameroonian father and an Algerian mother.

But Croatia had proven themselves worthy of being on the same pitch with anyone. They were managed by Zlatko Dalić, a former star at Hajduk Split. Their captain was midfielder Luka Modrić, probably the best player ever to come from any of the countries that once made up Yugoslavia. After starring for Dinamo Zagreb and Tottenham, he was, by this point playing for Real Madrid. In addition to Modrić, Mandžukić, Rakitić, and goalkeeper Subašić, they had Liverpool centerback Dejan Lovren, and Internazionale Milano left wing Ivan Perišić.

I guess what I'm saying is, with all these accent marks, French and Slavic alike, typing this post was hard!

Both teams wore their 1st-choice uniforms: France wore all blue, and Croatia wore red-and-white-checkered shirts with white shorts. The game got underway, before 78,011 at the Luzhniki Stadium, at 6:00 PM Moscow time, 5:00 PM in both France and Croatia, and 11:00 AM on the U.S. East Coast. The weather was a bit warm by European standards, but turned out not to be a factor.

In the 18th minute, Croatia tried to defend a free kick, with disastrous results. Mandžukić became the 1st player, and remains the only player, to score an own goal in a World Cup Final. Perišić tied the game in the 28th. In the 38th, referee Néstor Pitana, from Argentina, called a handball in the box on Perišić, and awarded France a penalty. For the 1st time, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was used in a World Cup Final, and it revealed that Pitana got the call right. Griezmann converted the penalty, and it was 2-1 France at the half.

In the 59th, Pogba shot, and Lovren was only able to deflect it back at him, allowing him to score on the rebound. Young sensation Mbappé, 5 months from his 20th birthday, scored in the 65th, joining Pelé of 1958 Brazil as the only teenagers ever to score in a World Cup Final.

At 4-1 down with 25 minutes and change to go, Croatia refused to go down without a fight. Just 4 minutes after Mbappé's goal, Mandžukić took advantage of a Lloris mistake and redeemed himself. It was now 4-2 with France, with plenty of time to go, and the Russian crowd -- perhaps sensing a Slavic brotherhood -- seemed to be behind Croatia. But, try as they might, they could not find a 3rd goal, let alone a 4th, and France had won the World Cup for the 2nd time.

It was the highest-scoring Final since 1966, and the 1st decided in regular time since 2002. Deschamps joined Mário Zagallo of Brazil and Franz Beckenbauer of Germany to become only the 3rd man to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager.

Sometimes, a World Cup team is remembered more fondly than the team that actually won. Hungary over West Germany, who beat them in the Final, in 1954. Wales and Northern Ireland over Brazil in 1958. Portugal and North Korea over England in 1966. The Netherlands over their Final conquerors West Germany in 1974 and Argentina in 1978. France and Brazil over Italy in 1982. England over West Germany in 1990. Italy, Sweden and Bulgaria over Brazil in 1994. South Korea over Brazil in 2002. France over Italy, who beat them in the Final, in 2006. Hosts South Africa over Spain in 2010.

The Balkan nation, once part of a Yugoslavia team that was usually stronger but had never made a World Cup Final, became one of those teams. Croatia had won the world's hearts. But France had won the World Cup.

The England fans had said, "It's coming home." They forgot: Jules Rimet, founder of the World Cup, and for whom its trophy was named, was French. It had come home.

UPDATE: An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 19th, the worst since 1978 and the 2nd-worst of the post-World War II era, basically saying the tournament was dull. I didn't think so.

*

July 15, 2018 was a Sunday, as the World Cup Final usually is. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Masahiro Tanaka started for the Bronx Bombers, Trevor Bauer for the Tribe, but neither factored in the decision. Cleveland scored 3 runs off Chad Green in the bottom of the 8th, including a home run by Michael Brantley, making a winning pitcher out of Carlos Carrasco. Neil Walker hit a home run for the Yankees.

* The New York Mets lost to the Washington Nationals, 6-1 at Citi Field. Corey Oswalt started for the Mets, but the Nats scored 5 runs in the 7th inning. The Mets' were not helped by their bullpen: Anthony Swarzak walked the 1st 2 batters of the inning (Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety), and Jerry Blevins hit back-to-back batters. In between, former Met Daniel Murphy singled 2 runs home.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 6-5 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-5 at Marlins Park (now LoanDepot Park) in Miami.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1 at SunTrust Park (now Truist Park) in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Pirates scored a run in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to send the game to extra innings. The Brewers scored a run in the top of the 10th, but Josh Bell singled 2 runs home in the bottom of the 10th.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-1 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 11-7 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Brian Dozier hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros, 6-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 7-4 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* In an Interleague, inter-metro-area matchup, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And in an Interleague, inter-metro-area matchup, the Oakland Athletics beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

June 7, 1993: The Death of Dražen Petrović

June 7, 1993: Dražen Petrović, the Croatian star of the New Jersey Nets, is killed in a car crash in Denkendorf, Bavaria, Germany. He was only 29.

He was born on October 22, 1964, in Šibenik, Croatia, then a part of Yugoslavia. The guard starred for his national team – first the united Yugoslavia, then Croatia – appearing in 3 Olympics and medaling in 2. "Petro" played 2 seasons for the Portland Trail Blazers, including in the 1990 NBA Finals, and was an All-Star for the New Jersey Nets, before the car crash that killed him.

The Nets went into a tailspin. They had a good 1993-94 season, but after that, Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson couldn't keep themselves, let alone the team, together. By the winter of 1994-95, the Nets were a joke again. We'll never know what could have happened if Petro had lived.

The Nets retired his Number 3, and he was posthumously elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, less for his performance, and more for his being a pioneer in Europeans coming into the NBA.

*

June 7, 1993 was a Monday. Football was out of season. The NBA was between its Conference Finals and its Finals. The Chicago Bulls would beat the Phoenix Suns in 6 games.

Game 4 was played in the Stanley Cup Finals. John LeClair, who had won Game 3 with an overtime goal, did so again, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. The Canadiens won the Cup back at the Montreal Forum 2 days later.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 8-3 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. This ballpark was renamed Kauffman Stadium on July 2. The Yankees' runs came on solo home runs by Bernie Williams, Mike Gallego and Paul O'Neill, but starting pitcher Jeff Johnson didn't get out of the 2nd inning. George Brett, in his final season, did not play in this game.

* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-2 at Shea Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 12-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 7-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the California Angels, 4-2 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount, in his final season, went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 4-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Steve Avery pitched a 4-hit shutout. Tony Gwynn did not get any of those hits, going 0-for-4.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on September 10. The Indians won the opener, 7-4. The Red Sox won the nightcap, 5-4. Mike Greenwell singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* And the Colorado Rockies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants were not scheduled.

April 3, 1996: Ron Brown Is Killed In a Plane Crash

April 3, 1996: Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown is 1 of 35 people killed in the crash of a plane on an official U.S. trade mission, outside Dubrovnik, Croatia. He was 54 years old.

Ronald Harmon Brown was born on August 1, 1941 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Harlem, the world-famous black neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, living in the Theresa Hotel, which his father managed. He graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont, and got his law degree from St. John's University in Queens. In between, he served in the U.S. Army, during the Vietnam War, though he saw no combat, and rose to the rank of Captain.

He worked for the National Urban League, a major civil rights group, before working on Ted Kennedy's Presidential campaign in 1980. He became a major Washington lawyer, and ran Jesse Jackson's Presidential campaign in 1988. On February 10, 1989, he was elected Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, the 1st black Chairman of either major party.

He ran the 1992 Democratic National Convention, at Madison Square Garden in New York, at which Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas was nominated for President. When Clinton won, he rewarded Brown by appointing him to be the 1st black Secretary of Commerce.

With the economy in recession as Clinton took office, Brown began a policy of taking major American businessmen and financiers on foreign trips, to convince international businessmen to invest in America. It was one of several Clinton initiatives on the economy, and they worked: By the Spring of 1996, the economy was booming.

It was on such a mission, to help normalize economic relations with Croatia, once part of the Communist nation of Yugoslavia, that Brown and 34 others died in the crash of a U.S. Air Force CT-43 (a modified Boeing 737) on approach to Dubrovnik Airport.

An Air Force investigation suggested pilot error as the cause. Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus, knowing of resistance to Brown as the leading black official in Clinton's executive branch, suspected foul play and a cover-up, but no evidence of this has ever come forward.

*

April 3, 1996 was a Wednesday. This was also the day that Theodore Kaczynski, the terrorist known as the Unabomber, was arrested. I have a separate entry for that event.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Andy Pettitte outpitched Jack McDowell. Rookie Derek Jeter went 3-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3 at Shea Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies, 3-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-1 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 15-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Tom Glavine was the winning pitcher. Ryan Klesko and Javy López hit home runs, and Fred McGriff went 3-for-4 with 6 RBIs. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 16-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Tony Gwynn went 4-for-4, while Ken Caminiti went 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Gary Disarcina singled Garret Anderson home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-4 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Football was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Orlando Magic, 98-85 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 100-94 at the Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 102-87 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 105-89 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Charlotte Hornets, 98-83 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings, 117-96 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Houston Rockets, 118-103 at Key Arena in Seattle.

* And the Vancouver Grizzlies beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 105-103 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

There were 10 games in the NHL:

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

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Florida Panthers, 3-2 at the Corel Centre (now that Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Dallas Stars, 3-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche, 6-3 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Edmonton Oilers, 1-0 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* The Detroit Red Wings and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 2-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders, the New Jersey Devils, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the San Jose Sharks were not scheduled.

 

January 28, 1948: Nat Hickey, the NBA's Oldest Player

January 28, 1948: For the 2nd night in a row, Nat Hickey, head coach of the Providence Steam Rollers, inserts himself into his team's game.

It did no good, either time. On January 27, the Rollers -- named for the city's former NFL team -- lost to the St. Louis Bombers, 94-61 at the Rhode Island Auditorium in Providence. Hickey took 5 shots from the field, and missed them all. He made 2 out of 3 free throws, for 2 points.

It almost worked on January 28, but not quite: The Rollers lost to the New York Knicks, 75-73 at the old Madison Square Garden. Hickey played 3 minutes, missed his only shot, and committed 4 fouls. A poor performance, by any standard.

A photo from that game. Hickey is Number 11.

Hickey was desperate to improve a team that had just fallen to 4-24 on the season, and would finish 6-42, easily the worst overall record in the Basketball Association of America, in its 2nd season. He was fired as head coach. Ken Loeffler coached the Rollers in the 1948-49 season, and they finished last again.

For the 1949-50 season, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League, and formed the National Basketball Association. To this day, the NBA traces its founding to the founding of the BAA in 1946, and so all BAA records -- but no NBL records -- are counted as NBA records. (Example: The Los Angeles Lakers count all 4 of their NBA Championships as the Minneapolis Lakers as "World Championships," and their 1949 BAA title as one as well; but not their 1948 NBL title.) The Steam Rollers were not among the BAA teams invited into the NBA, and Providence has not had a major league team in any sport since.

Hickey was the 1st NBA head coach to activate himself to try to help his team. He wouldn't be the last: In 1969, Boston Celtic legend Bob Cousy was coaching the Cincinnati Royals, and returned as a player, with only slightly more success than Hickey. Lenny Wilkens and Dave Cowens were later appointed head coach for their teams while still playing for them; Cowens only coached the one season, while Wilkens had more success as a coach after retiring as a player.

So what's the big deal about Hickey? Since those appearances in late January 1948 are counted as NBA games, they make him the oldest player in NBA history: He was 2 days short of his 46th birthday.

He was born on January 30, 1902 -- that's right, an NBA player was born in the 1st full year of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidency -- on Korčula, an island in the Adriatic Sea, off the coast of Croatia, then part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was born with the name Nicola Zarnecich.

The family came to America, and he grew up in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City. He anglicized his name to Nicholas J. Hickey, and was nicknamed "Nat." He grew to be 5-foot-11, which is short compared to today's basketball players, but not then. For comparison's sake: My grandfather, George Goldberg, born 4 years later, was 5-foot-8, and was the tallest player on his team at Theodore Roosevelt High School in The Bronx, and they won the City Championship in 1924.

A guard and a forward, Hickey did not attend college, but played for some early pro basketball teams, including the dominant New York team known as the Original Celtics, featuring 2 men who became even bigger legends as coaches, Nat Holman and Joe Lapchick; the Cleveland Rosenblums, who, like the Original Celtics, won titles in the 1920s version of the American Basketball League; and the Chicago Bruins, a team run by Chicago Bears boss George Halas.

Hickey also played minor league baseball, as an outfielder. In 1938, 10 years before his record-setting basketball game, he managed the Williamson Colts of Williamson, West Virginia, a farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals, in the Mountain State League, which was in Class D, equivalent to today's Rookie Leagues. This post made him the 1st professional manager of Stan Musial.

West Virginia would also be a site of tragedy for Hickey. On January 11, 1951, he was coaching the Johnstown Clippers, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in the All-American Basketball League. He was driving some members of his team back home after a game in Wheeling when he lost control of his car on U.S. Route 30, the Lincoln Highway, and crashed. George Karmarkovich, a fellow Yugoslav (although Serbian as opposed to Croatian) and his best player, was thrown from the car and killed. He was only 24 years old.

An inquest ruled that Hickey was not responsible for Karmarkovich's death, but the team was soon disbanded, and he never coached again. He remained in Johnstown, and died on September 16, 1979.

Because Hickey played only 2 games -- really, only a few minutes in total -- in the early days of the NBA, before it even had the NBA name, and for a team that didn't last much longer after that, he was forgotten for a long time. When Cousy played his last game with the Royals in 1970, he was 41, and thought to be the oldest player in NBA history. In 1989, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired at age 42, and was then thought to have broken the record. In 1997, Robert Parish played at 43, and that was then thought to be the record. And in 2007, Kevin Willis played for the Dallas Mavericks at 44 years, 224 days old.

But the records were checked, and Nat Hickey was found to be the oldest: 45 years, 363 days old. As of January 28, 2022, the oldest active player is Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat, 41. He shows no desire to retire. But to break Hickey's record, he would have to play in the NBA until June 8, 2026 -- which means that whatever team he is on in the 2025-26 season would have to make the NBA Finals that season to make it official, or else he'd have to play the 2026-27 season opener at 46 years and 4 months.

*

January 28, 1948 was a Wednesday. The Steam Rollers-Knicks game was the only one in the NBA that night. Baseball and football were in their off-seasons. But all of the NHL's "Original Six" teams were in action that night:

* The New York Rangers beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

* And the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a 3-3 tie at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.