October 31, 2015: The Debacle at Durham

Mark Walton is tackled by Jake Kite... or is he?

October 31, 2015: Duke University hosts the University of Miami in an Atlantic Coast Conference Game at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. After scoring a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, Duke led 27-24 with 6 seconds left on the clock. All the Blue Devils had to do was not allow a touchdown on the kickoff return, and they would beat the Hurricanes.

Duke squibbed the kickoff, thinking that the clock would run out during Miami's return. But the ball only got to the Miami 25-yard line, and the 'Canes tried to copy "The Play," the lateral-filled play that allowed the University of California to beat arch-rival Stanford in 1982.

After 3 laterals, the ball was held on the Miami 3-yard line. Mark Walton tried a 4th lateral. Photos showed that his knee hit the turf before he let the ball go. But no official whistled the play dead. Eventually, Miami made 8 laterals. The last got to Corn Elder, who got 2 key blocks, and had a clear path to the Duke end zone.

When he got to the Duke 16, his teammate Artie Burns threw a block that caused the line judge to throw his penalty flag. Elder got into the end zone, but the officials decided to check the instant replay. They declared that all 8 laterals were legal, no Miami ballcarrier had been legally tackled, and the illegal block made by Burns was actually a legal one. So Elder's touchdown stood, and the final score was Miami 30, Duke 27.

This became known as "The Debacle In Durham." The ACC later ruled that Walton was down, and that the illegal block was, in fact, illegal. They refused to overturn the game's result, but they suspended the entire officiating crew for 2 games.

Now, if it was Duke basketball, a lot of people wouldn't have minded seeing them get screwed. But Duke football has been far less successful, and has offended far fewer people.

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October 31, 2015 was a Saturday. This was also the day that American Pharoah became the 1st horse to win the "Grand Slam" of American thoroughbred racing, adding the Breeders' Cup Classic to the "Triple Crown" of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. I have a separate entry for that vent.

Among the other college football games played that day:

* Number 1 Ohio State had the week off. They blew the Big Ten and National Championships by losing to Michigan State.

* Number 2 Louisiana State also had the week off. LSU blew the Southeastern Conference and National Championships by losing their next 3 games, to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

* Number 3 Clemson beat North Carolina State, 56-41 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 4 Alabama had the week off. They won the SEC West Division title, and moved on to the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 5 Texas Christian had played 2 nights before. TCU beat West Virginia, 40-10 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State cost them shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They did win the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

* Number 7 Michigan State had the week off. The won the Big Ten title, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Alabama.

* Number 8 Stanford beat Washington State, 30-28 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. Stanford won the Pacific-Twelve title.

* Number 9 Notre Dame beat Number 21 Temple, 24-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Notre Dame went on to beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 10 Iowa beat Maryland, 31-15 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten, but since Champions Michigan State qualified for the National Championship Playoff, Iowa got the league's Rose Bowl bid, losing "The Granddaddy of Them All" to Stanford.

* In the rivalry known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," Number 11 Florida beat Georgia, 27-3 at EverBank Field (now TIAA Bank Field) in Jacksonville. Florida won the SEC East Division, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama.

* Number 12 Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech in a wild one, 70-53 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Yes, that's a football game, not a basketball game. Losses to Oklahoma and Baylor cost TCU shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They went on to beat Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl. Texas Tech went to the Texas Bowl in Houston, but lost to LSU.

* Number 14 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 62-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma won the Big Twelve Conference title, but lost to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Clemson then lost the National Championship Playoff to Alabama.

* In a rivalry for the Little Brown Jug, Number 15 Michigan beat Minnesota, 29-26 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Among the service academies, Navy beat South Florida, 29-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; Air Force beat Hawaii, 58-7 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu; and Army had the week off.

* In a rivalry for the Old Bourbon Barrel, Tennessee beat Kentucky, 52-21 at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky.

* And Rutgers lost to Wisconsin, 48-10 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Who's the money-grubber -- or the masochist -- who thought that RU joining the Big Ten was a good idea?

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Citi Field in Queens. Tim McGraw, country music superstar and son of New York Mets (and Philadelphia Phillies) legend Tug McGraw, both sang the National Anthem and threw out the ceremonial first ball. As far as I know, no other person has ever been given both honors at a major league game.

Michael Conforto's home run gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and another Conforto homer in the 5th made it 3-1. He is the only Met ever to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game. As late as the top of the 8th, they led the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

But for the 4th straight game -- actually, the 5th, since they did it in Game 5 back in 2000 -- the Mets blew a lead in a World Series game. Tyler Clippard walked the 1st 2 Royals in the 8th. With Jeurys Familia brought in to pitch, Daniel Murphy, the Mets' biggest postseason hero thus far, made a key error that allowed the tying run to score. Mike Moustakas singled home the go-ahead run, and the Royals tacked on another. Yoenis Céspedes, the other big Met hero of the season, got doubled off 1st base following a soft line drive to end it, in a 5-3 Royals win.

The Mets had thrilled the baseball world the last 3 months. Now, they were clowning their way to an ignominious defeat.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 117-110 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points for the Knickerbockers, and that wasn't even close to making him tops in the league for the night.

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 134-120 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Steph Curry scored 53 points for the Dubs.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-76 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings, 114-109 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Blake Griffin scored 37 for the Clips.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 101-90 at the Moda Center in Portland.

And there were 10 games in the NHL: 

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 3-2 in a shootout at the Prudential Center.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the BB&T Center (now the FLA Live Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the winning goal with 1:16 left in overtime.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-2 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. David Backes scored the winning goal with 34 seconds left in overtime.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* In the Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena, which hosted the Clippers later that night). Jeff Carter scored the winning goal with 18 seconds left in overtime.

And in England's Premier League, North London team Arsenal went to Wales, and beat Swansea City, 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium (now Swansea.com Stadium).

June 14, 1953: The Atlantic Coast Conference Is Founded

June 14, 1953: The Atlantic Coast Conference is founded. Although it's had its moments in other sports, the ACC is best known for basketball, where it is often regarded as the best college league.

Like the Southeastern Conference, founded 20 years earlier, the ACC was made up of members of the Southern Conference. That league had banned postseason appearances in 1951, and most of its schools didn't like it.

So these 7 broke away, and formed their own league: Clemson University, in Clemson, South Carolina; Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina; the University of Maryland, in College Park; the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill; North Carolina State University, in Raleigh; the University of South Carolina, in Columbia; and Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, South Carolina. Six months later, on December 4, the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, was admitted as an 8th member.

The ACC first scheduled games against racially integrated teams, and then integrated their own schools and teams, years before the SEC did so. In 1960, the ACC implemented a minimum SAT score for incoming student-athletes of 750, the first conference to do so. This minimum was raised to 800 in 1964, but was ultimately struck down by a federal court in 1972.

In 1971, South Carolina left the ACC to become an independent, later joining the SEC. In 1979, former SEC member Georgia Institute of Technology, a.k.a. Georgia Tech, of Atlanta, joined for all sports except football, for which they joined in 1983. Florida State University, in Tallahassee, joined for all sports but football in 1991, and for football in 1992.

The ACC began raiding the Big East Conference early in the 21st Century: The University of Miami and Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a.k.a. Virginia Tech joined in 2004; Boston College of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, jumped in 2005; The University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, and Syracuse University, in New York, joined in 2013. Also in 2013, the University of Notre Dame, an independent, joined the ACC in all sports except football and hockey. (BC is the only ACC school with a hockey team.)

However, in 2012, Maryland announced it was leaving the ACC for the Big Ten Conference, effective 2014. Rutgers University, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, which would have seemed like a prime ACC target, left the Big East for the Big Ten on the same schedule.

And in 2023, effective with the 2024 Fall sports season, the ACC voted to admit 3 new members that are most definitely nowhere near the Atlantic Coast: The University of California, in Berkeley; their arch-rivals, Stanford University, of Palo Alto, California, also in the San Francisco Bay Area; and Southern Methodist University, a.k.a. SMU, of Dallas, Texas.

The major rivalries are intra-state: Virginia vs. Virginia Tech; The 3-way "neighborhood" rivalry of Duke, UNC and N.C. State; Clemson vs. South Carolina; and Miami vs. Florida. There are also notable interconference rivalries: Florida vs. Florida State, Florida vs. Miami, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh vs. Penn State, Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia, and, no longer intraconference, Maryland vs. Virginia.

Although there has been some great football played in the ACC, particularly since the joining of Miami and Florida State, who both became national powers in the 1980s, the league is known for its basketball teams.

The ACC Tournament, usually held in the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, is the best conference tournament in the country. Duke vs. North Carolina is the basketball equivalent of football's Ohio State vs. Michigan or Alabama vs. Auburn. North Carolina have won 6 NCAA Tournaments, Duke 5, N.C. State 2; and 1 each by Syracuse, Maryland and Virginia. In women's hoops, South Carolina have won 2, and North Carolina and Maryland have each won 1. (UPDATE: In 2024, South Carolina won a 3rd.)

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June 14, 1953 was a Sunday. In that era, baseball teams tended to play doubleheaders on the Sunday:

* The New York Yankees swept the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 and 3-0. Johnny Sain started the opener, but the Yankees trailed Bob Lemon and the Tribe 2-0 going into the 7th inning. They scored 1 run in the 7th, 3 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to make a winning pitcher out of Bob Kuzava. Vic Raschi pitched a 3-hit shutout in the nightcap. Over the 2 games, Mickey Mantle went 2-for-9 with an RBI, and Yogi Berra went 2-for-9 with a home run and 6 RBIs.

* The New York Giants were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals, 1-0 and 9-4 at the Polo Grounds. Harvey Haddix pitched a 5-hit shutout in the 1st game, beating Sal Maglie. Wilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell won the 2nd game, beating Rubén Gómez. Stan Musial went 1-for-6 with 3 walks and an RBI. Willie Mays was unavailable to the Giants, still serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at Ebbets Field. They were leading the 2nd game, 6-2 going into the top of the 9th, but Ralph Kiner hit a grand slam home run off Carl Erskine. The game was stopped after the 9th, tied 6-6, due to the curfew then in place: No inning may start after 7:00 PM on a Sunday. Jackie Robinson went 4-for-8 with a walk and 3 RBIs.

* A doubleheader was split at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Cincinnati Reds won the 1st game, 2-1. The Philadelphia Phillies won the 2nd game, 4-1.

* The Milwaukee Braves swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 and 8-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Bob Buhl pitched a 2-hit shutout in the 2nd game.

* The Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-1 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox swept the Boston Red Sox, 6-0 and 1-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. In the 1st game, Billy Pierce allows only a double to Del Wilber, a single to Jimmy Piersall, and a walk to Dick Gernert. Sandy Consuegra gave up 8 hits in the 2nd game, but kept the shutout. Ted Williams was unavailable to the Red Sox, still serving in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War.

* The Philadelphia Athletics swept the St. Louis Browns, 4-1 and 3-1 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis.

April 6, 1992: The Metrodome's Treble

April 6, 1992: Duke University beat the University of Michigan, 71-51, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, to win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. It makes the Blue Devils the 1st team to win back-to-back National Championships since UCLA in 1972 and 1973.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils were led by Christian Laettner with 19 points, Grant Hill with 18, and Thomas Hill with 16. Michigan were led by their "Fab Five," all freshmen: Forward Chris Webber scored 14 points, guard Jalen Rose 11, center Juwan Howard 9, guard Jimmy King 7, and forward Ray Jackson 4.

This NCAA Final Four, the 1st held in Minneapolis since Williams Arena, on the campus of the University of Minnesota, held it in 1951, was the conclusion of a historic period. The Metrodome had a unique treble: It hosted the World Series on October 19, 20, 26 and 27, 1991, with the Minnesota Twins beating the St. Louis Cardinals; and Super Bowl XXVI on January 26, 1992, with the Washington Redskins beating the Buffalo Sabres, 37-24.

Metrodome basketball setup

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was named for the former Vice President of the United States, U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Mayor of Minneapolis, and 3-time candidate for President including the 1968 Democratic nominee for President.

It opened at 5th Street and Chicago Avenue on April 3, 1982, and local officials bragged that it opened on time and on budget. It replaced suburban Metropolitan Stadium as the home of Major League Baseball's Twins and the NFL's Minnesota Vikings.

The University of Minnesota played their football games there from 1982 to 2008. And for their 1st season, 1989-90, before the Target Center opened, it also hosted the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

But baseball teams hated it, having trouble seeing the white ball against the white roof, and feeling that it was too easy to hit home runs there. It became known as the Homerdome. Perhaps New York Yankees manager Billy Martin hated it more than anyone else: Possibly channeling his former teammate and coach Yogi Berra, he once said, "It's a shame a great guy like HHH had to be named after it." (He meant "had it named after him.")

Football players didn't like it, either, citing its hard artificial turf. In 1984, Detroit Lions running back Billy Sims blew out his knee on that turf, ending what could have been a Hall of Fame career.

The Twins won the World Series there in 1987 and 1991, and made the Playoffs in 5 other seasons. The Vikings were considerably less successful: They reached the NFC Championship Game 4 times, including hosting it in the 1998 season, but lost them all.

In 2009, UM moved back onto their own campus, opening TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium). The Twins moved into Target Field, a mile to the west, for the 2010 season. On December 12, 2010, snow broke through the Metrodome's roof, forcing the Vikings into TCF Bank Stadium.

Finally, after threats by team owner Zygi Wilf to move them to Los Angeles, Las Vegas or San Antonio if he didn't get a new stadium, on December 29, 2013, the Vikings beat the Lions, 14-13, on the playing surface named Mall of America Field -- ironically, named for the giant shopping center built on the site of Metropolitan Stadium -- and the Metrodome was demolished. The Vikings played at UM for 2 seasons, while U.S. Bank Stadium was built on the site of the Metrodome.

The Metrodome is not missed outside the Gopher State. Nevertheless, it remains the only venue to have hosted a World Series, an NFL Championship Game (under any name), and an NCAA Final Four. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium and Miami's Hard Rock Stadium had hosted a World Series and a Super Bowl.

The Superdome in New Orleans, the Georgia Dome and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ford Field in Detroit, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, NRG Stadium in Houston, AT&T Stadium in Dallas, State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, and U.S. Bank Stadium have hosted a Super Bowl and a Final Four.

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April 6, 1992 was a Monday. This was also the day that Barney & Friends premiered on PBS. I have a separate entry for that event.

And American soccer player Julie Ertz, a 2-time winner of the Women's World Cup, was born.

The NBA didn't schedule any games for the night of the NCAA Final. The NHL was in the middle of its 1st players' strike, which ended up lasting 10 days. So there were no scores in that League.

And Major League Baseball had its Opening Day, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bobby Bonilla hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning. It would be the highlight of the season for the 1992 Mets, which local sportswriter Bob Klapisch would call, in the title of his book about them, The Worst Team Money Could Buy. Bonilla, in particular, did not appreciate it.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-0. This was the 1st game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I have a separate entry for that event. Rick Sutcliffe pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Doug Drabek pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, with Roger Mason completing a 6-hit shutout. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Kirby Puckett hit a home run. Chuck Knoblauch went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Robin Yount went 2-for-3 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. George Brett did not play.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-10 at the Kingdome in Seattle. In spite of the big score, it was a bad day for legends, old and young. Nolan Ryan didn't make it out of the 5th inning, and Randy Johnson didn't get out of the 6th. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

April 6, 1992: "Barney & Friends" Premieres

April 6, 1992: Barney & Friends premieres on PBS. Sadly, it is not a reboot of the police sitcom Barney Miller.

Sheryl Leach created the series, aiming at children ages 2 to 5. The "Friends" included human kids and other actors in dinosaur costumes, including Baby Bop, DJ and Riff. The theme song, to the tune of "This Old Man," had Barney singing, "I love you, you love me... " and so on. For anybody above the age of 5, it grew old quickly. It aired on PBS until November 2, 2010.

Bob West voiced the character until 2000, and David Joyner wore the suit over that same stretch. For the rest of the show's run, Dean Wendt provided the voice, and Carey Stinson wore the suit.

In 1994, I was at a game of the Trenton Thunder minor-league baseball team. It was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th. The Thunder loaded the bases. A foul ball was hit, and the video board played Barney's theme song, and showed a cartoon version of him dancing, and getting hit with a ball. The capacity crowd of 7,000, sick of their kids watching the purple dinosaur and his show, roared its approval. Next pitch, base hit, Thunder win. Every time I go back to the Trenton ballpark, I hope they play that clip: It's good luck.

On April 6, 1998, 6 years later to the day, the British kids series Teletubbies premiered in the U.S. News broadcasts had warned us ahead of time. Sure enough, it was every bit as annoying to people over age 5 as was Barney.

*

April 6, 1992 was a Monday. On the same day, Duke University beat the University of Michigan, 71-51, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, to win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. It mades the Blue Devils the 1st team to win back-to-back National Championships since UCLA in 1972 and 1973.

This completed a unique treble for the Metrodome: Not only did it become the 1st stadium, and it would remain the only one, to host the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the Final Four, but it hosted all 3 within a period of 6 months. I have a separate entry for that event.

And American soccer player Julie Ertz, a 2-time winner of the Women's World Cup, was born.

The NBA didn't schedule any games for the night of the NCAA Final. The NHL was in the middle of its 1st players' strike, which ended up lasting 10 days. So there were no scores in that League.

And Major League Baseball had its Opening Day, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bobby Bonilla hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning. It would be the highlight of the season for the 1992 Mets, which local sportswriter Bob Klapisch would call, in the title of his book about them, The Worst Team Money Could Buy. Bonilla, in particular, did not appreciate it.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-0. This was the 1st game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I have a separate entry for that event. Rick Sutcliffe pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Doug Drabek pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, with Roger Mason completing a 6-hit shutout. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Kirby Puckett hit a home run. Chuck Knoblauch went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Robin Yount went 2-for-3 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. George Brett did not play.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-10 at the Kingdome in Seattle. In spite of the big score, it was a bad day for legends, old and young. Nolan Ryan didn't make it out of the 5th inning, and Randy Johnson didn't get out of the 6th. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

April 4, 1994: Arkansas Wins With "40 Minutes of Hell"

Corliss Williamson (left) and Nolan Richardson

April 4, 1994: The University of Arkansas beats Duke University, 76-72, at the Charlotte Coliseum – essentially, a home game for Duke – and wins the National Championship. But Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils couldn't hold up against the Razorbacks and coach Nolan Richardson's "40 Minutes of Hell."

A native of El Paso, Texas, Richardson had played at the University of Texas at El Paso -- then known as Texas Western University -- under head coach Don Haskins, before they won the epochal 1966 NCAA Tournament. He coached in Texas at a high school and a junior college, before being hired at the University of Tulsa in 1980. In his 1st season, he led them to the NIT title. In 1984 and 1985, he led them to the Missouri Valley Conference title.

The University of Arkansas is in Fayetteville, only 110 miles east of Tulsa. They hired Richardson in 1985, and he brought his son, Nolan III, and his top Tulsa assistant, Mike Anderson, with him. It took him 2 years to get a 19-14 record, another to get to 21-9 and the NCAA Tournament. In 1989, he led them to the 1st of 7 straight 1st-place finishes in the Southeastern Conference or its Western Division. In 1990, he led them to the Final Four; in 1991, to the Elite Eight.

In 1994, Richardson led the Razorbacks to the Final Four again, with a sophomore forward named Corliss Williamson, nicknamed "Big Nasty." The starting lineup was filled out by forward Scotty Thurman, guards Clint McDaniel and Corey Beck, and center Dwight Stewart. Strong on offense and defense, Richardson called his team's effect "40 Minutes of Hell." Their old home, Barnhill Arena, became known as "Barnhell."

That came to an end on November 29, 1993, when their new home opened. Effectively the house that Richardson built, it was named the Bud Walton Arena. It was named for a major University donor, the brother of the late Sam Walton, founder of Walmart.

They got all the way to the NCAA Tournament Final, where they faced Duke University, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, and led by forwards Grant Hill and Cherokee Parks. And since the game was at the Charlotte Coliseum, Duke had what amounted to home-court advantage.

As late as 1:30 left in regulation, the game was tied at 70, when Hill made a 3-point shot. Thurman hit one, then Chris Collins missed one. First McDaniel, then Beck, made 1 out of 2 free throws to make it 75-70 Arkansas with 17 seconds left. Parks scored, but McDaniel was fouled again, and hit a free throw for the final score, 76-72. Arkansas were the National Champions.

Richardson got the Razorbacks back to the title game in 1995, but they lost to UCLA. He never got them past the second round again. In 2002, he got into a dispute with the man who was practically the king of the university, athletic director and legendary former football coach Frank Broyles, accusing him, and University administration, of racist treatment. He was fired, and sued the University. The suit was dismissed in 2004.

Anderson was promoted to head coach, and lasted until 2019, with not nearly the same kind of success as Richardson. Two days after he was fired, the University, having made peace with Richardson, named the playing surface as Bud Walton Arena the Nolan Richardson Court.

A Spanish speaker, Richardson coached the national teams of Panama and Mexico. He spent 2 seasons as head coach of the WNBA's Tulsa Shock.

Williamson would play 12 years in the NBA, mostly for the Sacramento Kings, for whom he is now an assistant coach.

*

April 4, 1994, as NCAA Tournament Final nights usually are, was a Monday. As usually happened in this era, it was also Opening Day for Major League Baseball.

Football was out of season. No NBA games were played hat day. There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-4 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers and the Winnipeg Jets played to a tie, 2-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

March 30, 1991: The Last Time Duke's Basketball Team Was an Underdog

Christian Laettner (left) and Grant Hill

March 30, 1991: The basketball team of Duke University defeats the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, the defending National Champions, 79-77, in the Semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.

It is now hard to imagine Duke being an underdog, but, at the time, it was UNLV who were the big bad villains of college basketball.

UNLV were coached by Jerry Tarkanian, a.k.a. "Tark the Shark," known for his bald head and nervously chewing on a white towel while sitting on the sideline. With a starting lineup that included future NBA stars Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Stacey Augmon, all of whom would return for a senior year, they went 34-5. In the Final, at the McNichols Arena in Denver, they beat Duke, 103-73.

Under coach Mike Krzyzewski, Duke had lost to Louisville in the 1986 Final. In 1990-91, with stars like Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill, they got back to the Final Four, going 29-7. But UNLV took a 45-game winning streak, still the longest in college basketball since UCLA's record of 88 straight ended in 1974, into the Final Four at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

This time, Duke took a 13-5 lead. UNLV adjusted, but not much, and only led 43-41 at halftime. With less than 4 minutes to go, Anthony fouled out of the game. With 2:31 left, UNLV led 76-71. But the Blue Devils fought back, tied the game at 77-77, and Laettner was fouled on an offensive rebound with 12.7 seconds to play. He sank both free throws, and Duke led, 79-77.

UNLV had one more chance. Johnson considered shooting over Laettner, but thought better of it. He passed to Anderson Hunt, who tried a 3-pointer over Hurley and Laettner, to win it. He missed, and Duke had pulled off the upset. They went on to beat Kansas in the Finals, 72-65. 

The following season, UNLV were rocked by scandal, and Tarkanian was forced to resign. They've only advanced as far in the NCAA Tournament as the Sweet Sixteen once since. In contrast, Duke made it back-to-back titles in 1992, beating Michigan in the Final. They would win 5 National Championships under "Coach K," who retired having won more games than any other collegiate coach.

As time went by, as such teams often do, Duke went from being a plucky underdog, admired by the rest of the country, to being a bunch of arrogant bastards, making the rest of the country sick of them. Until 1991, only fans of the other Atlantic Coast Conference teams, especially their nearby arch-rivals, the University of North Carolina, were aware of Duke fans' behavior in the stands at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, reminiscent of English soccer hooligans.

But, like the New York Yankees, the Atlanta Braves, the Dallas Cowboys, the New England Patriots, and the University of Notre Dame's football team, the rest of the country eventually got tired of their act, hating both Duke and the "Cameron Crazies" intensely, developing an "Anybody But Duke" mentality.

*

March 30, 1991 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat their neighbors, the New Jersey Nets, 130-117 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Houston Rockets, 114-82 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 104-96 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets, 130-116 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 121-91 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Dallas Mavericks, 115-102 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 8 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 6-5 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat their Provincial rivals, the Quebec Nordiques, 4-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Hartford Whalers played to a tie, 5-5 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, intra-State rivals, played to a tie, 4-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

And in English soccer, Arsenal inched closer to winning the Football League title, by beating Derby County, 2-0, at The Baseball Ground in Derby, in the East Midlands. Derbyshire was one of the few places in England where baseball ever caught on, but the name of the stadium remained long after the sport was given up on, much like New York's Polo Grounds. Alan Smith scored both goals for the Gunners.

March 21, 1964: The UCLA Dynasty Begins

March 21, 1964: The University of California at Los Angeles beat Duke University, 98-83, at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, in the Final of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. It is the 1st National Championship for UCLA. It will not be the last.

UCLA coach John Wooden had been good enough of a player at Purdue University in the early 1930s that he eventually became the 1st person elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame separately as a player and as a coach. He became UCLA's head coach in 1948, and took them to what would later be called the Final Four for the 1st time in 1962.

In 1963-64, with guards Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich, forwards Keith Erickson and Jack Hirsch, and center Fred Slaughter, he guided the Bruins to an undefeated season, 30-0. Goodrich and Erickson would star with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Goodrich would join Wooden in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Ironically, considering that Wooden would later have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) and Bill Walton, the '64 UCLA team not only didn't have a dominating center, they had the shortest roster ever to win the NCAA Tournament.

The closest they came to losing in the regular season was a 2-point win away to the main campus of the University of California in Berkeley in February, a 3-point win away to Kansas State early in the season, 4 over Illinois in the L.A. Classic (at the Memorial Sports Arena, not on their own campus), and 5 away to Washington State.

In the tournament, they won their regional games at Oregon State in Corvallis, beating Seattle University, 95-90; and the University of San Francisco, 76-72. In Kansas City, they faced Kansas State again, this time winning, 90-84, before beating a Duke team that featured future Golden State Warriors star Jeff Mullins.

UCLA made it back-to-back titles in 1965. These titles raised enough money that the Bruins could move out of their 2,400-seat Men's Gym, and also stop using the Sports Arena, which they were sharing with their arch-rivals, the University of Southern California (like the next-door Coliseum, it was on USC's campus), and into a large on-campus building, which became Pauley Pavilion. Wooden would eventually lead UCLA to 10 National Championships in 12 seasons. The school won an 11th in 1995, under Jim Harrick.

Duke had reached the Final Four in 1963, and would again in 1966. But they would not do so again until 1978, and then not again until 1986, the 1st of 14 times they would do so under Mike Krzyzewski. "Coach K" finally got them their 1st National Championship in 1991.

By another weird twist of fate, on March 21, 2014, on the 50th Anniversary of the event, Duke lost its first-round NCAA Tournament game -- not to a traditional power like UCLA, but to lightly-regarded Mercer University of Macon, Georgia. "March Madness."

*

March 21, 1964 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There was 1 game in the NBA: The St. Louis Hawks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-104 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. Jerry West scored 35 points in defeat.

There was 1 game in the NHL: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 5-1 at the Montreal Forum.

And in English soccer, Arsenal crossed from North London to the East End, and played West Ham United to a draw, 1-1 at Upton Park.

January 18, 1986: North Carolina's "Dean Dome" Opens

January 18, 1986: The Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center opens on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, the new home of UNC's basketball team, coached by Smith.

The night before the 1st game, a black-tie dinner was held in the building, to honor the University's Arts and Sciences Foundation. At the dinner, Chancellor Christopher C. Fordham III announced the building was to be named for Smith, because, "We are a better university and a better State because he is one of us."

In fact, Smith, a native of Kansas, where he had played at the University of Kansas under the great coach Forrest "Phog" Allen, for whom that school's famed Fieldhouse is named, didn't want his name on the arena. But he was told that it would increase fundraising, for all aspects of the University, not just the basketball program or the athletic department, and he relented.

In the 1st game, played before a sellout crowd of 21,444, and a national audience watching on CBS, the Tar Heels came in at 17-0 and ranked Number 1 in the country, to face their nearby arch-rivals, Duke, 16-0 and ranked Number 3. UNC won, 95-92.

UNC's unbeaten run ended at 21-0 on January 30, away to Virginia. They collapsed down the stretch, losing 3 of their last 4 games, including the finale, away to Duke. They crashed out of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in the 1st round, losing to Maryland; and were eliminated in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen by Louisville. It was Duke that went on to win the ACC and its Tournament, and make the Final Four, that season, before losing the Final, also to Louisville.

UNC began playing basketball in 1911, at Bynum Gymnasium, and remained there through 1923. William Preston Bynum, a Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, donated the funding for it, in memory of his grandson, a UNC student who had died of typhoid. It opened in 1904. While there, they won the Southern Conference Tournament in 1922, and its regular-season title in 1923. The building is now named Bynum Hall, and maintains an administrative purpose, including offices for the Dean of Graduate Studies and the university counsel.

In 1924, UNC basketball moved into the Indoor Athletic Court, a venue nicknamed the Tin Can. The 1923-24 Tar Heels went 26-0, and, in the days before there was an NCAA Tournament (founded in 1939) or an NIT (founded in 1938), were recognized as National Champions. They also won the Southern Conference regular-season and Tournament titles 6 times each while playing there. After serving as a dormitory, the Tin Can was demolished in 1977, and Fetzer Hall, a more modern sports venue, was built on the site.

The Tin Can (left) and Fetzer Hall

From 1939 to 1965, UNC played at Woollen Gymnasium, named for Graduate Manager of Athletics Charles T. Woollen. While playing there, they won 8 regular-season conference titles -- the Southern Conference until 1953, the Atlantic Coast Conference thereafter -- won 3 Conference Tournaments, and reached what would now be called the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 1957, winning the National Championship under head coach Frank McGuire. Smith took over from McGuire in 1961. Woollen Gym is now home to UNC's Exercise and Sports Science Department.

From 1965 to 1986. UNC played at Carmichael Auditorium, now named the William Donald Carmichael Jr. Arena. It was named for a popular former school vice-president. While playing there, they won the ACC's regular season 13 times and its Tournament 9 times, made 7 Final Fours, and won the 1982 National Championship, all under Smith. It is still home to UNC's women's basketball, volleyball, women's gymnastics and wrestling teams.

Since moving into the Dean Dome, UNC have won the ACC regular season 14 times, and the Tournament 8 times. They've reached the Final Four 11 times, and won the National Championship 4 times: 1993 under Smith, who retired in 1997; and in 2005, 2009 and 2017 under Roy Williams, a former assistant of Smith's who coached from 2003 to 2021. In 2018, the playing surface at the Dean Smith Center was named the Roy Williams Court.

UPDATE: UNC made the Final Four again in 2022, and won the ACC regular-season Championship in 2024. Overall, this gives them 43 regular-season Conference Championships, 27 Conference Tournament wins, 20 Final Fours, and 7 National Championships.

*

January 18, 1986 was a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between its Conference Championships and Super Bowl XX, which the Chicago Bears would win over the New England Patriots. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Houston Rockets, 104-95 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Denver Nuggets, 124-113 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. Alex English scored 36 in defeat. Mike Gminski led the Nets with 23.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 125-122 in overtime at The Omni in Atlanta. Larry Bird scored 41 points.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers, 108-95 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz, 131-97 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 98-96 in overtime at the original ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns, 112-87 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were 8 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Islanders, 3-0 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 5-2 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Detroit Red Wings, 7-4 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Los Angeles Kings and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 4-4 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the New Jersey Devils, the Boston Bruins, the Chicago Black Hawks, the Buffalo Sabres and the Winnipeg Jets were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, Arsenal, the North London team I would one day support, went to the Midlands, and played Leicester City to a 2-2 draw, at Filbert Street in Leicester.