December 23, 1995: Snowballs at the Meadowlands

December 23, 1995: The New York Giants close their season in ignominious fashion -- and the result is far from the worst of it.

They were playing the San Diego Chargers, at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. It's important to note that the Giants have no rivalry with the Chargers. This was only the 7th time the 1925-established NFL mainstays and the 1960-established original AFL team had played each other in the regular season. The Giants had won at Yankee Stadium in 1971, at Shea Stadium in 1975, at Giants Stadium in 1986, and at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego in 1989. The Chargers had won at The Murph in 1980 and at Giants Stadium in 1983.

None of those games had been particularly contentious. Indeed, even this game had no incidents between the Giant players and the Charger players.

For the Giants, it was a bad season, by any measure. They started out 0-3, closed to within 3-5, fell to 3-9, got up to 5-9, and went into this game 5-10. The Chargers had started 4-7, but had won 4 straight, and had a chance to make the Playoffs if they beat the Giants and other games went their way.

There had been significant snowfall the day before, and only 50,243 fans, out of a possible 78,000+, showed up. While the seats at Giants Stadium had been cleared of snow, there was still a lot of it lying around, waiting for angry -- or, at least mischievous -- fans to turn them into snowballs. At least in the 1st half, they only threw them at each other, because they were pleased with the product on the field: The Giants went into the locker room up 17-3.

This score was understandable: There was snow all around, and the temperature was 34 degrees, 24 with the wind chill. The New York-based team was used to this kind of weather. The San Diego-based team was not.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the Giants giving their fans a Merry Christmas: They ended up giving their fans a big lump of coal instead. The Chargers scored a touchdown, but it was still 17-10 Giants after 3 quarters.

By this point, the snowballs were flying from the stands, then onto the field. Bob Sheppard, who had been the Yankees' public address announcer since 1951 and the Giants' since 1956, put his best "Voice of God" to work on the crowd, telling them that the game could be forfeited if the barrage continued.

On the 1st play of the 4th quarter, referee Ron Blum called time-out. He went over to the Charger sideline to call up to the booth, and ask for a repeat of the threat. A fan threw a snowball in his direction. Except it wasn't a snowball: It was an iceball, much harder. And it didn't hit Blum: It hit Sid Brooks, the Chargers' equipment manager, right in the face, knocking him out.

The game should have been forfeited right there. Maybe it would have been, if Charger head coach Bobby Ross had spoken up at that moment. But he didn't, and it wasn't.

The Chargers completed their drive with a touchdown, and the game was tied. On their next drive, Junior Seau hit Giant quarterback Dave Brown, whose throw had been intended for the end zone. Instead, Shaun Gayle -- now with the Chargers, he had been an All-American sprinter in college and a member of the Chicago Bears' 1985-86 "Super Bowl Shuffle" team -- intercepted it, and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown. Well before he reached the end zone, fans sitting there began throwing snowballs at him. Many got as far as him, but none hit him.

The Giants fumbled on their next possession, and John Carney kicked a field goal for the final score: Chargers 27, Giants 17. It was one thing for the Giants to humiliate their fans, which had happened before. It was another thing for the fans to humiliate each other, and the players.

Giants management announced that any snowball-thrower who could be identified would be banned from the Meadowlands Sports Complex for life, even if that meant revoking his season ticket. Six such spectators were identified, including one who ended up on the back page of the New York Daily News. Giants management also bought a full-page ad in the next day's San Diego Union-Tribune -- the Sunday edition -- apologizing to the people of San Diego for the incident.

By a quirk in the NFL schedule, the New York Jets were scheduled to play at Giants Stadium the very next day. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, operator of the stadium, went into overdrive to get all the snow removed from the stadium before kickoff. Given that the Jets were going in 3-12 under the already-much-maligned head coach Rich Kotite, a 2nd angry fanbase was possible. But the snow was cleared, there were no incidents, and the Jets lost to the New Orleans Saints, 12-0.

The Chargers did end up making the Playoffs. Since then, they've played the Giants 6 times. The Giants won in San Diego in 1998. The Chargers won in San Diego in 2005 and 2013, at the Meadowlands in 2009 and 2017, and, following their move back to Los Angeles, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California 11 days ago.

None of those games had any incidents, either. Only the one on Christmas weekend 1995.

*

December 23, 1995 was a Saturday. There were 2 other NFL games played that day, instead of the next day, Sunday, Christmas Eve:

* The Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 37-10 at Tampa Stadium. No danger of snowballs in Florida.

* And the Indianapolis Colts beat the New England Patriots, 10-7 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. No danger of snowballs in a dome.

There were 12 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the expansion Toronto Raptors, 103-91 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 98-85 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Miami Heat, 87-75 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-97 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Detroit Pistons, 94-79 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz, 100-86 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 115-111 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks, 111-98 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Houston Rockets, 110-95 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets, 107-92 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 102-99 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Washington Bullets, 118-100 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

There were 11 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the Miami Arena.

* The New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 1-0 in one of the last games played at the Montreal Forum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-5 at the Fleet Center (now the TD Garden).

* The Philadelphia Flyers played the Hartford Whalers to a tie, 3-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-2 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena).

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars, 2-0 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Colorado Avalanche played the Los Angeles Kings to a tie, 2-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 1-0 at General Motors Place in Vancouver (now the Rogers Arena).

Also, Arsenal went to Anfield, and lost to Liverpool, 3-1. 

November 19, 1978: The Miracle at the Meadowlands

November 19, 1978: What may just be the all-time National Football League blooper occurs. In the Delaware Valley -- Eastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Northern Delaware -- it is known as the Miracle at the Meadowlands. (Not "the Miracle of... " or "the Miracle in... ") In the adjoining Tri-State Area -- New York City, Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, North and Central Jersey, and Fairfield and New Haven Counties in Connecticut -- it is called other things, less printable ones.

Imagine you're the quarterback of the New York Giants. You're playing in front of 70,318 fans, on your home field, Giants Stadium, at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. You're leading your arch-rival -- or the closest divisional opponent, the team you should consider your arch-rival -- the Philadelphia Eagles, 17-12, with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation. If you win this game, you have a shot at making the Playoffs, and you'll also be effectively knocking your rivals out of Playoff contention.

So what do you do? Easy: You snap the ball, step back, kneel down on the artificial turf, and let the clock run out. You don't run the kind of play that would risk losing the ball and giving the other team a chance to win. After all, as a man who would later coach the Jets in the same stadium would say, "You play to win the game!"

Yes, that's what you would do, if you were the quarterback of the Giants that day. Certainly, that's what Giants coach John McVay wanted his quarterback to do.

Ah, but on this day, the quarterback was Joe Pisarcik, and he thought, "I've got the great Larry Csonka in the backfield. I think I'll hand off to him." The Zonk, who had helped the Miami Dolphins win 2 Super Bowls, told Pisarcik in the huddle, "Don't give me the ball."

What did Pisarcik do? He tried to give Csonka the ball, when he was not expecting it.

As Merrill Reese, then in only his 2nd season as a broadcaster for the Eagles, put it:

Under 30 seconds in the game. The Giants can just run out the clock, and there is nothing the Eagles can do about it.

And Pisarcik (pause) fumbles the football! It's picked up by Herman Edwards! 15! 10! 5! Touchdown, Eagles! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!

I do not believe what has occurred here, ladies and gentlemen. As Pisarcik came forward, he fumbled the football, Charlie Johnson hit him, and Herman Edwards picked up and ran for a touchdown! The Eagles take the lead, 18-17, in front of a shocked crowd at the Meadowlands!

Reese pronounced it "MED-il-unz" instead of the usual "MED-oh-lands." I think he can be excused, as nobody saw this coming.

The extra point made the final score 19-17 to the Eagles. The Eagles made the Playoffs for the 1st time in 18 years. The win gave them the confidence to win the NFC East the next year, and the NFC Championship the year after that, making their 1st Super Bowl.

The Giants missed the Playoffs for the 15th season in a row, and team owner Wellington Mara, tired of losing, cleaned house. He fired McVay, and he fired the general manager, Andy Robustelli, once a Hall of Fame defensive end for the Giants.

As the new head coach, he hired Ray Perkins. As the new GM, he hired George Young. Perkins only coached the Giants for 3 seasons, as his dream job opened up: Replacing his mentor, Paul "Bear" Bryant as head coach of the University of Alabama. That dream turned out to be a rude awakening. But his replacement as Giants head coach was one of his assistants, Bill Parcells. Together, Parcells and Young undertook the rebuilding process that would result in the 2 Super Bowl wins in the 1986-87 and 1990-91 seasons.

But there were 4 reasons why the Miracle at the Meadowlands was the dumbest play in NFL history -- at least until Pete Carroll told Russell Wilson to throw a pass near the end of Super Bowl XLIX, 36 seasons later: 1. McVay told Pisarcik to fall on the ball. Pisarcik violated orders.

2. Csonka himself told Pisarcik, "Don't give me the ball!" He turned down the advice of a future Hall-of-Famer. 3. Pisarcik fumbled the ball twice. He had a chance to fall on the ball after fumbling. Had he done so, it would have been a silly footnote in the year the Giants ended a 15-year Playoff drought. 4. He practically gave the ball to the one player on the Eagles in a position to pick it up and score a touchdown. Think about it: If any player but Edwards had gotten to it, he most likely would have just jumped on the ball to secure it. The Eagles would have been in field goal range, but 3 points wouldn't have helped. Ron Jaworski was a good quarterback, nicknamed "the Polish Rifle" before becoming an ESPN analyst nicknamed "Jaws," with a good receiver in Harold Carmichael, but there's no guarantee he would have gotten the ball in the end zone. But Edwards was a smart guy, who was in the perfect position to take advantage of the mistakes, and it was touchdown, Eagles; victory Eagles. It's fair to say that Pisarcik made 3 people famous on the play: Himself, Edwards, and Reese, whose voice became familiar to NFL Films viewers all over the country, not just in the Delaware Valley.

Oh, and that Jets coach of 2002, who reminded us to do what it takes to win? "Hello! You play to win the game!" It was Herman Edwards.

*

November 19, 1978 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played on the day:

* The New York Jets lost to the New England Patriots, 19-17 at Shea Stadium.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Colts, 45-24 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Redskins, 27-17 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 7-6 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-10 at Tampa Stadium.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the New Orleans Saints, 27-7 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Atlanta Falcons, 13-7 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 13-7 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 13-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers, 16-3 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Detroit Lions, 29-17 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, 31-28 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

And the next day, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Houston Oilers beat the Miami Dolphins, 35-30 at the Astrodome in Houston, which turned out to be a showcase game for Oilers running back Earl Campbell.

There were 2 games played in the NBA that day. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls, 104-95 at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. And the Seattle SuperSonics beat their arch-rivals, the Portland Trail Blazers, 88-85 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 4 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to the Atlanta Flames, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden. The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Boston Bruins beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the Boston Garden. And the Buffalo Sabres beat the Minnesota North Stars, 9-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

And on this day in this last season for the World Hockey Association, there were 2 games. The Winnipeg Jets beat the Indianapolis Racers, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena. And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 6-3 at the Northlands Coliseum.

October 10, 1976: Giants Stadium Opens

October 10, 1976: Giants Stadium opens at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. The New York Giants football team doesn't own it -- the State of New Jersey does, and operates it through the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority. But, for the 1st time in their 52-season history, the Giants have a home field where they get priority for scheduling.

What they don't get is exclusive use. The New York Jets will move in for the 1984 season. The football team at Rutgers University will also use it for home games too big for their 23,000-seat on-campus stadium from 1976 to 1992, for their entire 1993 season when their stadium is rebuilt, and occasionally from 1994 onward.

Other college football games will be played there, including the short-lived Kickoff Classic and the even-shorter-lived Garden State Bowl. A few high school State Championship games will be played there. Lots of soccer games, including the New York Cosmos (1977-84), the New York/New Jersey MetroStars/Red Bulls (1996-2009), and games of the 1994 World Cup. Lots of concerts. And a 1995 Mass by Pope John Paul II.

What the Giants also don't get is a successful debut. In front of a sellout crowd of 76,042, they are beaten 24-14 by the Dallas Cowboys. However, for the most part, the stadium will be good to the Giants, and they win 7 NFC Eastern Division titles, 4 NFC Championships and 3 Super Bowls while playing there, until they and the Jets move into the new MetLife Stadium next-door in 2010.

For those of us growing up in New Jersey at the time, Giants Stadium was huge. Not just big in physical size, but in terms of how it raised our profile. We were "major league," and could stand alongside New York City and Philadelphia with pride.

Not everybody liked the place. In 1997, Tim Green, a former defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons, and an analyst for Fox Sports, published The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL. In it, he discussed his opinions on various NFL stadiums. Here is the entirety of his entry on Giants Stadium: "Football in a can. Curse the Giants for ever leaving Yankee Stadium."

He had a point: The place was impressively big, and functioned well, but it was no architectural marvel, the artificial turf was hard, the real grass that replaced it was choppy, the concourses were concrete and poorly lit, and the food wasn't very good. Unless you were from New Jersey and felt the symbolism of what the place meant for your home State, Giants Stadium was not special.

And that wind. Known as "The Hawk," it often left the place terribly cold. When the stadium was replaced in 2010, with what became known as MetLife Stadium, the State spent $1.6 billion on it, and couldn't get rid of the old stadium's biggest problem: The wind was every bit as bad.

*

October 10, 1976 was a Sunday. These were the other NFL games played that day:

* The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 17-14 in front of 59,110 at Shea Stadium. Maybe having the Giants and the Jets both playing at home on the same day wasn't a good idea. At any rate, the Jets' 1st touchdown was scored by Ed Marinaro, who in 1971 played for Cornell University, and finished 2nd to Auburn quarterback Pat Sullivan for the Heisman Trophy, the closest any Ivy League player has since 1937. Marinaro later played a police officer on the NBC drama Hill Street Blues, as did former UCLA basketball player Michael Warren.

Joe Namath did not win the Heisman Trophy as the quarterback at the University of Alabama. Nor did Richard Todd. On this day, Namath was 3-for-11 for 21 yards and a touchdown, but also threw an interception. Todd was 4-for-11 for 58 yards. O.J. Simpson did win the Heisman, for Southern California in 1968, and rushed for 53 yards for the Bills.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the Miami Dolphins, 28-14 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Washington Redskins, 33-30 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Cleveland Browns beat their arch-rivals, the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, 18-16 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 21-0 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The Bucs were an expansion team, and would lose their 1st 26 games, not winning until December 11, 1977.

* The Detroit Lions beat the New England Patriots, 30-10 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 27-20 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears, 20-19 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-14 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The New Orleans Saints beat their arch-rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, 30-0 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Denver Broncos, 17-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers, 27-17 at San Diego Stadium.

* And the next day, on ABC Monday Night Football, the San Francisco 49ers beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, 16-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Baseball's Playoffs were underway. In Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees, 7-3 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium in 1993.) But the Yankees would win the series in Game 5, on a walkoff home run by Chris Chambliss.

In Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Reds would complete the sweep 2 days later, and beat the Yankees in the World Series.

The NBA season, the 1st after absorbing 4 teams from the ABA, began 11 days later. But the NHL season was underway, and 4 games were played:

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Cleveland Barons, 4-3 at the Boston Garden, In 1978, the Barons were merged with the Minnesota Twins, making them, for all intents and purposes, the last team in North America's "big four" major league sports to go out of business.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 1-0 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-1 at the Chicago Stadium.

And 3 games were played in the World Hockey Association:

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Birmingham Bulls 4-3 in overtime at Le Colisee de Quebec.

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Indianapolis Racers, 4-1 at the St. Paul Civic Center.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the New England Whalers, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

And hockey star Shane Doan was born on this day.

October 5, 1982: The New Jersey Devils Debut

October 5, 1982: The New Jersey Devils play their 1st regular-season game, a 3-3 tie against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. As a favor to his friend, team owner John McMullen, John Amirante, usually the National Anthem singer for the New York Rangers, sings the Anthem for this game.

The franchise had begun play in 1974, as the Kansas City Scouts. After 2 terrible seasons, they were sold to a group that moved them to Denver, Colorado, and renamed them the Colorado Rockies, a name that would later be given to Denver's Major League Baseball team.

The Rockies made the Playoffs in 1978, but only in that season. By 1982, they were losing money fast. McMullen, a native of Montclair in Essex County, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who rose to the rank of Commander (the Academy went on to name their hockey rink for him), and a marine engineer in civilian life, bought the Rockies on May 27, 1982, and announced he would move them into the newly-constructed Meadowlands Arena, named for the recently-retired Governor who got it built.

Dr. John McMullen with the Stanley Cup

McMullen, who was then also the owner of MLB's Houston Astros, also had to compensate the Rangers, the defending Stanley Cup Champion New York Islanders, and the Philadelphia Flyers for territorial indemnification. Doing this for the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers had almost sunk the owners of the ABA's New York, soon to be New Jersey, Nets when they joined the NBA in 1976, and they were still terrible when they moved into the Meadowlands in 1981. But McMullen could afford the $20 million or so that it took to buy the team, move it, and pay off the regional rivals.

The 1st goal in team history was scored just 2 minutes and 21 seconds into the game, by team Captain Don Lever, a former Vancouver Canucks star, assisted by Steve Tambellini and Bob MacMillan. At 5:23, Hector Marini made it 2-0, assisted by Aaron Broten and Brent Ashton. At 6:31, Rick Kehoe brought the Pens within 2-1.

Don Lever

At 16:18 of the 2nd period, the Penguins went on a power play, and Pat Boutette fired past former New York Islanders backup goaltender Glenn "Chico" Resch to tie the game. Just 13 seconds into the 3rd period, Kehoe scored on another power play. But 5:03 in, the magically-named Merlin Malinowski tallied for New Jersey, assisted by Bob Lorimer and Marini. With no overtime in the regular season in those days, the game ended tied.

Three days later, also at home, the Devils played their 2nd game, and got their 1st win, against, appropriately enough, the Rangers. As of October 18, they were 3-1-3. Then they started playing like an expansion team, and went on a streak of 7 losses, followed by 3 ties, followed by 7 more losses and a tie, an 18-game winless streak, before finally winning again on November 27.

They finished with a record of 17 wins, 49 losses and 14 ties, for 48 points, finishing 5th in what was then named the Lester Patrick Division, ahead of only the Penguins. Of the 21 teams then in the NHL, they ranked 19th, ahead of only the Penguins and the Hartford Whalers.

Although Resch was a terrible goalie, he would become a beloved broadcaster for the team. Broten was the last remaining Original Devil, playing with them until 1990. His brothers Neal and Paul would also play for the Devils, and Neal, a member of the U.S. team that won the 1980 Olympic Gold Medal, would score the goal that secured the team's 1st Stanley Cup.

It would take until 1988 for the Devils to make the Playoffs, reaching Game 7 of the Conference Finals before falling. They did so again in 1994. They won the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003, losing in the Finals in 2001 and 2012. However, despite moving out of the Meadowlands and into their own building, the Prudential Center in downtown Newark in 2007, they have made the Playoffs only once since those 2012 Finals, and still look like they're going in circles.

UPDATE: The Devils have retired 5 uniform numbers. They retired 3 for defenseman Ken Daneyko, 4 for defenseman Scott Stevens, 27 for defenseman Scott Niedermayer, and 30 for goaltender Martin Brodeur. All 4 of those were key on the 1st Stanley Cup win in 1995. They were also key on the 2000 and 2003 Stanley Cup wins, as was the team's all-time leading scorer, left wing Patrik Eliáš, for whom Number 26 was retired.

In addition, the Devils have a Ring of Honor. It includes founding owner John McMullen, 1995 Cup-winning head coach Jacques Lemaire, and the other player who was on all 3 Cup wins, left wing Sergei Brylin, whose Number 18 remains in circulation.

*

October 5, 1982 was a Tuesday. There were 2 other NHL games played that day. In a rematch of the previous season's Stanley Cup Finals, the New York Islanders lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. But the Isles would go on to win their 4th straight Stanley Cup that season, anyway.

And in "The Battle of Alberta," the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames, 7-5 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. Wayne Gretzky was coming off the most spectacular offensive season any hockey player has ever had, and went on to lead the Oilers to their 1st Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Islanders. The next season, the Oilers beat the Isles in the Finals to win their 1st Cup.

It was a Tuesday, so while it was during the NFL season, there were no games played that day. And the NBA wouldn't start its season until later in the month. Major League Baseball had just started its Playoffs. In Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium) in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California, the California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-3. Tommy John outpitched Mike Caldwell. Fred Lynn hit a home run for the Halos, and Gorman Thomas hit one for the Brew Crew.

The Angels would also win Game 2 in Anaheim. But the Brewers won the next 3 in Milwaukee, winning their 1st Pennant, and becoming the 1st team ever to come back from a 2-0 deficit in either League's Championship Series. Despite having such veteran stars as John, Lynn, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, Don Sutton, Bobby Grich and Don Baylor, the Angels choked. 

July 2, 1981: The Meadowlands Arena Opens

July 2, 1981: The arena planned for the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey opens. It is named the Brendan Byrne Arena, for the outgoing Governor who got it built.

It is 7.7 miles west of Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City -- like its football neighbor, Giants Stadium, roughly the same distance as Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, north, and Shea Stadium in Queens, east; but across a State Line, so there is, however subtle, a culture shift.

The Complex is off Exit 16W of the Western Spur of the New Jersey Turnpike, at the intersection of New Jersey Route 3. New Jersey Route 120 -- at the time, Route 20 -- bisects the complex: The Stadium and the Racetrack are to the west, the Arena to the east. For most of the arena's existence, its address has been 50 Route 120.

The 1st event was a concert by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Bruce, a native of Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, began a 6-night stand there. Other notable acts to perform there during their heyday include the Rolling Stones in 1981, Queen in 1982, Rush and New Jersey natives Bon Jovi in 1986, Michael Jackson in 1988, and The Dave Matthews Band in 1999.

On December 7 and 8, 2003, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel played the Arena during their Old Friends Reunion Tour. The opening act was one of their inspirations, without whom they never would have made it: The Everly Brothers.

The intended main tenant for the building was the NBA's New Jersey Nets, who had spent the previous 4 seasons at the 9,000-seat Rutgers Athletic Center after moving from Long Island as the New York Nets. Their 1st game was on October 30, 1981, and they lost to their neighbors (they were rarely "rivals"), the New York Knicks, 103-99.

The Nets made the Playoffs in their 1st 5 seasons in the building, and in 15 of their 29 overall seasons there. They won the NBA Eastern Conference title in 2002 and 2003. They won the Atlantic Division in 2002, '03, '04 and '06. Sounds decent.

But they had as many horrible seasons as good ones. They went 19-63 in 1987-88, 17-65 in 1989-90, 16-34 in 1999, and 26-56 4 times. They were 12-70 in their last season in the building, 2009-10. And when they finally got into the NBA Finals, they were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002, and lost in 6 games to the San Antonio Spurs in 2003.

Finally, on March 24, 2004, Bruce Ratner bought the team, and announced the intention to move them to a new arena he was planning for Brooklyn. It didn't open until the start of the 2012-13 season, leaving the Nets as a lame duck franchise for a whopping 8 years, the last 2 (2010-11 and 2011-12) at the Prudential Center in Newark.

From 1985 to 2007, Seton Hall University, in nearby South Orange, Essex County, used the Arena for games too big for their 1,655-seat on-campus Walsh Gymnasium. They reached the NCAA Final in 1989, losing to the University of Michigan in overtime. In the 2010-11 season, after every other tenant had left, Fordham University in The Bronx used it as home court for 4 games.

In 1996, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament held its Final Four at the Arena, and this remains the only time it's been held in the New York Tri-State Area since 1951. On March 30, the Semifinals were held: The University of Kentucky beat the University of Massachusetts, 81-74; and Syracuse University beat Mississippi State University, 77-69. In the Final on April 1, Kentucky beat Syracuse, 76-67.

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which oversees the Meadowlands Complex, also wanted to bring an NHL team to the Arena. On May 27, 1982, they got one: The New Jersey Devils. The franchise had begun play in 1974, as the Kansas City Scouts. After 2 terrible seasons, they were sold to a group that moved them to Denver, Colorado, and renamed them the Colorado Rockies, a name that would later be given to Denver's Major League Baseball team.

The Devils played their 1st regular-season game on October 5, 1982, a 3-3 tie against the Pittsburgh Penguins. For 5 years, they were terrible, enduring such slights as a 13-4 loss away to the Edmonton Oilers in 1983, after which Wayne Gretzky called the Devils "a Mickey Mouse operation"; a snow-ridden game in 1987 that attracted only 334 fans; and games against nearby teams like the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins that seemed like home games for the visitors.

Finally, in the 1987-88 season, the Devils made the Playoffs, and got to within 1 game of the Stanley Cup Finals. They did so again in 1993-94, but lost a Game 7 to the Rangers in double overtime at Madison Square Garden, after blowing Game 6 at home.

They became more successful than the Nets ever have, winning the Stanley Cup at home on June 24, 1995, beating the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2, to complete a 4-game sweep. They won the Cup on the road in Dallas in 2000, and at home again in 2003 against Anaheim. The Devils appeared in 1 other Finals, in 2001, losing at home in Game 6 and in Denver in Game 7.

Scott Stevens lifts the Stanley Cup at the Brendan Byrne Arena,

June 24, 1995. One of the greatest nights of my life.

In the Spring of 2003, the Arena hosted both the NBA and the NHL Finals, something done by only 4 other arenas: The Boston Garden in 1957, '58 and '74; Madison Square Garden in 1972 and '94; The Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1980; and the Chicago Stadium in 1992. (None has ever won both, with some John Starks bricks preventing the closest call in 1994.) The Arena hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1982, and the NHL All-Star Game in 1984.

In 1996, a Republican-controlled State legislature, angry at Byrne for signing the State's income tax into law, vengefully took his name off the building, and put, of course, a corporation's name on it, that of Continental Airlines, based at Newark International Airport. Byrne said, "I was immortal for 15 years." Byrne lived until 2018, outliving the usefulness of the arena named for him, if not the building itself. Byrne also outlived Continental Airlines: They were bought out by United Airlines in 2012.

Building a sports complex in East Rutherford, just off the New Jersey Turnpike, close to the Lincoln Tunnel and to New York City, seemed like a great idea in the 1970s. But after Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack opened in 1976, the drawbacks kicked in.

There was plenty of parking, but it was poorly managed. Getting in and out took forever. Taking public transportation was no good: You couldn't do it from most of New Jersey, as the Meadowlands Rail Line didn't open until 2009 (in time for the football teams to move next-door to what's now MetLife Stadium), and the buses from New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal got stuck in traffic on Routes 495 and 3.

And the smell wasn't too good, even before all that exhaust settled over the area, and combined with the natural swamp air to form what Jerry Seinfeld might have called "some sort of mutant funk."

The arena that opened in 1981, known as the Izod Center from 2007 until the building's official closing in 2015 -- didn't improve things. One level of concourse for two levels of seats simply doesn't work if there's more than 12,000 people in the building. Then again, until the Nets got good in the 2001-02 season, that was rarely a problem for them. It wasn't a problem all that often after that, either. And it wasn't often a problem for the Devils, either.

The arena was drafty, especially in the upper deck. The sight lines weren't great: The older Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum both had better ones. The sound didn't carry well, even though the sound system was always too loud -- perhaps to cover up for the fact that crowds generally weren't big, unless championship teams with marquee players were in.

The Nets and the Devils both had to get out of that arena. Both did. After considering building next-door, and next-door to the Hoboken Terminal, the Devils opened the Prudential Center in downtown Newark in 2007. The Nets moved there in 2010, and finally the Barclays Center in Brooklyn opened in 2012, and the Nets moved there.

Surrounded by the American Dream Meadowlands retail complex

The Meadowlands Arena, all naming rights having lapsed, was closed in 2015, and was targeted for demolition. But not so fast: It has found a second life, converted into a TV and film studio, for productions such as the new version of The Equalizer, starring Queen Latifah, who, under her original name of Dana Owens, was an All-State basketball player at nearby Irvington High School in Essex County.

Not what we expected the Arena to be on its 40th Anniversary -- but at least it got to have one. Some stadiums and arenas with better histories don't last that long.

*

July 2, 1981 was a Thursday. The NFL, the NBA and the NHL were all out of season. And the Major League Baseball Players' Association was on strike.

But there was one score on this historic day. It was in the Canadian Football League. The Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Toronto Argonauts, 19-18 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

April 12, 2010: The Last Game at the Meadowlands Arena

April 12, 2010: The NBA's New Jersey Nets lose to the Charlotte Bobcats, 105-95 at the Izod Center. It is the last sporting event played at that arena.

The Nets got 22 points from Devin Harris, and 21 from Terrence Williams. But the Bobcats had a more balanced attack, getting at least 10 points from 7 different players.

This was the Nets' last home game at the arena, at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey, that had been their home since 1981. It was known as the Brendan Byrne Arena from then until 1996, for the Governor of New Jersey who got it built.

A vengeful Republican legislature, angry that he had signed the State's 1st income tax law into place, removed his name, replacing it with that of a corporation. At least it was one based in New Jersey: Continental Airlines. If Byrne was hurt, he didn't show it in public, saying, "I was immortal for 15 years." In 2007, the building was renamed the Izod Center, after the clothing company. In 2012, Continental Airlines was also no more, bought out by United Airlines.

The NHL's New Jersey Devils were much more successful there, moving in for the 1982 season, and staying until 2007. The Devils won the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003, and reached the Finals but lost in 2001. The Nets had several good teams, and several terrible ones. But they won the NBA Eastern Conference, and hosted the NBA Finals, at the Meadowlands in 2002 and 2003, and also won the Atlantic Division in 2004 and 2006.

In 2003, the Arena hosted both the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals. The only other arenas that have done that in the same year are the Boston Garden (1957, 1958, 1974), the current Madison Square Garden (1972, 1994), The Spectrum in Philadelphia (1980) and Chicago Stadium (1992). No, Los Angeles has never done it. The San Francisco Bay Area has, in 2016, but not in the same building.

The Arena also hosted Seton Hall University basketball, and in 1996 was the site of the NCAA Final Four, the only Final Four held in the New York Tri-State Area since 1951.

But two levels of seating with one level of concourse doesn't work, and the location was only good for people coming in cars. The Devils moved to the much more convenient Prudential Center in downtown Newark in 2007. The Nets were bought by Brett Ratner in 2004, and he planned on moving them to a new arena in downtown Brooklyn. One thing led to another, and the Nets ended up playing the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons at the Prudential Center, before finally moving into the Barclays Center, and changing their name to the Brooklyn Nets.

The Meadowlands Arena still stands, having been converted into a TV production studio.

*

April 12, 2010 was a Monday. There were 10 other games played in the NBA on that day:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 114-103 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Miami Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 107-105 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Detroit Pistons, 111-97 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Indiana Pacers, 118-98 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (It's now named the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.)

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

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 133-111 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. (It's now named the Frost Bank Center.)

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 123-101 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (It's now named the Ball Arena.)

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 117-94 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (It's now named the Crypto.com Arena.)

* The Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings, 117-107 at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento. (It's now named the Sleep Train Arena.)

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 103-95 at the Moda Center in Portland.

The NHL was between the regular season and the Playoffs. And the NFL was out of season. There were 12 Major League Baseball games played:

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 7-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 6-5 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (It's now named Hard Rock Stadium.) Scott Rolen singled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-7 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Mark Teahen tripled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Nelson Cruz won it with a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-2 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 5-0 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Adam Wainwright and Jason Motte combined on a 7-hit shutout.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 17-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. (It's now named Oracle Park.)

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-0 at Safeco Field in Seattle. (It's now named T-Mobile Park.) Justin Duchscherer and 2 relievers combined on a 2-hit shutout.

April 10, 2010: MetLife Stadium Opens

April 10, 2010: The New Meadowlands Stadium opens, adjacent to the soon-to-be-demolished Giants Stadium, at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. On August 23, 2011, it became MetLife Stadium, with the New York-based Metropolitan Life Insurance Company having bought the naming rights.

The opening event was the Big City Classic -- a college lacrosse festival. Before a paid crowd of 25,710, with only the lower level open, Hofstra University of Long Island, ranked Number 12 in the country at the time, beat the unranked University of Delaware, 12-11; Number 1 Virginia beat Number 2 North Carolina, 7-5; and Number 3 Syracuse beat Number 4 Princeton, 13-4.

While Giants Stadium, the Meadowlands Racetrack, and the Complex's arena were owned by the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, ownership of MetLife Stadium is evenly divided between the National Football League's New York Giants and New York Jets. The stadium lights up in blue for Giant games, and green for Jet games.

This gave the Jets control over a home stadium for the 1st time in their history, as they had previously been "second-class citizens" at the Polo Grounds (1960-63), Shea Stadium (1964-83) and Giants Stadium (1984-2009), with no say in scheduling, maintenance, or revenue matters. Now, they and the Giants were evenly split in control, forcing them to work together. It has worked well.

The 1st regular-season NFL game was on September 12, 2010, and the Giants beat the Carolina Panthers, 31-18. The next night, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the Jets played their 1st game there that counted, losing to the Baltimore Ravens, 10-9.

In the stadium's 1st season, 2010, the Jets advanced to the AFC Championship Game, although they did not play a home Playoff game. In its 2nd season, 2011, the Giants beat the Atlanta Falcons in the stadium's 1st Playoff game, before beating the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers on the road, and then the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

Super Bowl XLVIII, the only Super Bowl to date to be held at an outdoor facility outside the Sun Belt, was played on February 2, 2014. They lucked out with the weather: It was a reasonable 48 degrees at kickoff, and the predicted snowfall didn't come until the middle of the night. The Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos, 43-8.

It's hosted some college football games. After playing many "home games" at Giants Stadium, Rutgers University has played only 1 at MetLife, and it was a disaster. Not competitively: The October 16, 2010 game against Army was a 23-20 victory. It was a disaster because a Rutgers player, Eric LeGrand, broke his neck during the game, and was paralyzed. Army returned for the 2021 Army-Navy Game.

Soccer games have been played there, with the national teams of the U.S., Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile. I was one of 78,926 fans attending the 1-1 draw between the U.S. and Argentina on March 26, 2011, and made a shocking discovery: After pouring $1.6 billion into the building of the new stadium, they hadn't fixed the biggest thing wrong with the old stadium: The nasty wind that renders some games quite frigid. The new stadium is being considered for the Final of the 2026 World Cup. (UPDATE: It was awarded the Final.)

It's hosted club teams from all over Europe: Liverpool and Manchester City from England; Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona from Spain; Bayern Munich from Germany; and Juventus and AS Roma from Italy.

As he had for the Prudential Center in Newark, Jon Bon Jovi played the 1st concerts at MetLife Stadium, on May 26, 27 and 29, 2010. Among the other acts who've played it are Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, U2, Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Wu-Tang Clan, Coldplay, Eminem, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, One Direction and BTS. Later in 2022, the stadium will host Elton John on his farewell tour, and Lady Gaga.

*

April 10, 2010 was a Saturday. An entire slate of Major League Baseball games was played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 10-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. CC Sabathia came within 4 outs of a no-hitter, and was taken out after losing it. He and David Robertson combined on a 2-hit shutout. Robinson Cano hit a home run for the Yankees.

* The New York Mets lost to the Washington Nationals, 4-3 at Citi Field.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-0 at Camden Yards.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (It's now named Hard Rock Stadium.)

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 at Rangers Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. (It's now named Choctaw Stadium.)

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 9-6 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. (It's now named Rate Field.)

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-1 at Miller Park in Milwaukee. (It's now named American Family Field.)

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-4. Adrian Gonzalez won it with an RBI double in the top of the 14th inning. 

* The Pittsburgh Prates beat the Arizona Diamondback, 6-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* And the Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-2 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. (It's now named AT&T Park.)

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

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers, 115-102 at the Meadowlands.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Washington Wizards, 105-95 at the Verizon Center in Washington. (It's now named the Capital One Arena.)

* The Charlotte Hornets the Detroit Tigers, 99-95 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 120-101 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 105-90 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets, 104-85 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (It's now named the Ball Arena.)

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors, 107-104 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (It's now named the Crypto.com Arena.)

* And the Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings, 126-108 at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento. (It's now named the Sleep Train Arena.) Dirk Nowitzki led all scorers on the day with 39 points.

And there were 11 games played in the NHL, including one by a team that used to play at the Meadowlands, now a single exit away on the New Jersey Turnpike:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 7-1 at the Prudential Center in Newark. The Devils got 2 goals from Patrick Eliáš.

* On the opener of CBC's Hockey Night In Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Dion Phaneuf scored the winning goal, 2:06 into overtime.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 1-0 at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta. (It's now named the State Farm Arena.)

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat their arch-rivals, the Florida Panthers, 4-3 in a shootout at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. (It's now named the Benchmark International Arena.)

* The Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 in a shootout at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-3 in a shootout at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3 in a shootout at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (The Crypto.com Arena.)

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-2 in a shootout at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. (It's now named the SAP Center.)

* And in the nightcap of Hockey Night In Canada, the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames, 7-3 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

April 1, 1996: Kentucky Basketball's Redemption

April 1, 1996: The University of Kentucky defeats Syracuse University, 76-67 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and wins the National Championship.

It is the Wildcats' 1st NCAA Tournament title in 18 years, their 6th overall. They would win again in 1998 and 2012 -- the latter breaking a pattern that had held since 1949: Whenever Kentucky won the NCAA title, the Yankees won the World Series: 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996 and 1998. And years with noted Kentucky flops also had noted Yankee flops: 1954, 1966, 1975, 1997 and 2015.

The title was also the last Final Four held at a venue with a seating capacity under 40,000. It was also the 1st for Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, who had previously taken Rhode Island’s Providence College to the Final Four. Today, he coaches Kentucky’s arch-rivals, the University of Louisville.

Kentucky had been put on probation in 1989, for the kind of scandal that some people suggested would have led to a suspension of the program, "the death penalty," if the team involved wasn't one of college basketball's "blue bloods." Eddie Sutton was fired, and Pitino, who had been coaching the New York Knicks, was brought in to stabilize things.

UK had fallen to 13-19 in 1989, and, in his 1st 2 seasons, Pitino got them to 14-14 and 22-6 -- in 1991, having the best record in the Southeastern Conference, but, as a result of the probation, ineligible for the SEC Championship and the NCAA Tournament. He got them to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1992 and the Final Four with a 30-4 record in 1993. They lost in the 1st round in 1994, but made the Elite Eight in 1995, and won the National Championship in 1996, going 34-2.

Pitino coached 1 more season, and in 1997, got the Wildcats back into the NCAA Tournament Final, losing to Arizona. He then got an offer he couldn't refuse, returning to the NBA to coach the Boston Celtics. His assistant, Tubby Smith, led Kentucky to the 1998 National Championship.

With the Celtics, missed the Playoffs 3 straight seasons and quit early in his 4th. Late in the 3rd season, he explained that great players of the past, like Larry Bird, were "not walking through that door." After that, he never had a chance with Celtic fans.

Later, he coached at Kentucky's arch-rivals, the University of Louisville, and led them to the 2013 National Championship. It came a year after a man often compared to Pitino, John Calipari, led Kentucky to a National Championship. But UL were stripped of the 2013 title and put on probation, for a scandal even more sordid than the one that brought him to Lexington.

*

April 1, 1996 was a Sunday. It was also Opening Day for Major League Baseball, but it was touched by tragedy: Umpire John McSherry died of a heart attack while officiating at the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Montreal Expos, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The game was called, restarted the next day, and the Reds won, 4-1.

These other MLB games were played that day:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-6 at Shea Stadium. Todd Hundley and Bernard Gilkey hit home runs for the Mets; John Mabry and Willie McGee for the Cards.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 10-8 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Barry Bonds went 0-for-3.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Florida Marlins, 4-0 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. It took the Pirates 3 pitchers, starting with 6 2/3rds innings from Paul Wagner, to pitch a 3-hit shutout against a weak Marlin team.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Mark Grace singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. For the Padres, Tony Gwynn went 1-for-4 with a walk, and Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 9-6 at... Cashman Field in Las Vegas, Nevada. The extra stands that the Raiders demanded at the Oakland Coliseum, known as "Mount Davis" for their owner, Al Davis, weren't quite finished, so the A's had to play their 1st 6 "home games" of the season on the road, at the 9,000-seat Cashman Field, home to a Class AAA team.

* The New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians were snowed out at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. The game was made up the next day, and the Yankees won, 7-1. Making his debut as the Yankees' regular shortstop, Derek Jeter hit his 1st major league home run, and made a fancy defensive play. Bernie Williams also hit a home run, and David Cone was the winning pitcher.

* The Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals were rained out at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The game was made up the next day, and the Orioles won, 4-2. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs.

* The Philadelphia Phillies and the Colorado Rockies opened the season against each other at Coors Field in Denver the next day, as scheduled, and the Rockies won, 5-3.

* The California Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers opened the season against each other at Milwaukee County Stadium the next day, as scheduled, and the Brewers won, 15-9.

* One game was played the night before, as ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball season-opener. The Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4, but did draw 2 walks. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-6, his single driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Randy Johnson struck out 14 batters in 7 innings, but was not involved in the decision.

Football was out of season. No games were scheduled in the NBA, but there were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-4 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Hartford Whalers, 3-2 at the Miami Arena.

* The Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators played to a tie, 1-1 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Ontario. (The town was absorbed into Ottawa proper in 2001.)

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

February 2, 2014: The Super Bowl In New Jersey

February 2, 2014: Super Bowl XLVIII is held at MetLife Stadium, at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. It is not just the 1st time the NFL has held its championship game in the Garden State. It is the 1st the NFL Championship Game, under any name, has been played in the New York Tri-State Area in 51 years, since the 1962 season, when the Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants at the original Yankee Stadium.

More than that, it is the 1st time the NFL has placed the Super Bowl, intended to be at a neutral site, in a cold-weather city whose stadium does not have a dome, risking not just cold weather, but snow.

Traditionally, the Super Bowl is played in a warm-weather city. Of the 47 previous games, 10 were in the Miami area, 10 were in New Orleans, 7 were in the Los Angeles area, 5 in Tampa, 3 in San Diego, 2 in Houston, and 1 each in Jacksonville, Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area.

And of the previous 47, 15 were under domes: 7 in New Orleans, 2 each in Atlanta and the Detroit area, and 1 each in Minneapolis, Houston, Dallas and Indianapolis.

Aside from the games in Detroit and Minneapolis, all under domes, the coldest Super Bowl had been Super Bowl VI, outdoors, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, 3 years before the Superdome opened: 39 degrees. (The Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins, 24-3.)

For years, the NFL debated whether to put a Super Bowl in a cold-weather city without a dome, risking another "Ice Bowl" like the 1967 NFL Championship Game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 2005, the NFL voted to award New York the rights to host Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, dependent upon the planned West Side Stadium being finished by 2008. It would have had 75,000 seats and a retractable roof, and been home of MLB's New York Yankees and the NFL's New York Jets, and would have been the centerpiece of the 2012 Olympics.

But within a few months of this award, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2012 Olympics to London. The U.S. Olympic Committee announced that the U.S. city that would bid for the 2016 Olympics would be Chicago. Shortly after that, the New York State government withdrew funding for the stadium, giving a whole new meaning to the term "political football."

And so, for only the 2nd time -- the 1st was when the NFL took Super Bowl XXVII away from Phoenix, following Arizona's refusal to recognize the Martin Luther King Day holiday, giving them Super Bowl XXX after a reversal -- the NFL took a Super Bowl away from a metropolitan area.

The Yankees then began negotiations for a new Yankee Stadium across 161st Street from the existing one. The Jets and the New York Giants began negotiating for a new stadium, next-door to Giants Stadium, at the Meadowlands, 7 miles west of Midtown Manhattan. Unlike Giants Stadium, which was owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), what became MetLife Stadium would be owned by the Giants and the Jets, 50/50.

No more would the NJSEA award favorable home dates to the Giants: The 2 teams would work together to decide who would host, and when. And no longer would taxpayer money fund the operations and maintenance of the stadium: Both teams' sets of fabulously wealthy owners would fund it out of their own bottomless pockets. The stadium opened on April 10, 2010. On May 26, 2010, 46 days later, the NFL awarded it Super Bowl XLVIII, to be held on February 2, 2014.

With 3 1/2 years of lag time, everyone wondered if it would be terribly cold, or windy, or snowy. Indeed, in the week leading up to the game, weather forecasts suggested that snow was a possibility for the day or the night.

But on the morning of the game, it looked like the snow would hold off until the next day. As it turned out, that's what happened. At kickoff, there was no precipitation, the field was perfectly dry, and the temperature was 48 degrees, not cold enough to produce snow. It didn't drop by much during the game, and no rain or snow fell.

Former Beatle Paul McCartney and English soccer legend David Beckham weren't at a Premier League game that weekend. Nor were they watching the England national play rugby at the Six Nations tournament, which was also in progress at the time. They were at the Super Bowl. I’m just sayin'.

The AFC Champions were the Denver Broncos, in their 7th Super Bowl, having won 2. John Fox was the head coach of a Super Bowl team for the 2nd time, having gotten the Carolina Panthers into Super Bowl XXXVIII, although they lost. He had also been an assistant for the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, but they lost, as well.

Peyton Manning, having previously led the Indianapolis Colts to win Super Bowl XLI -- the only Super Bowl among the 1st 56 to get rained on, interestingly enough -- was seeking to become the 1st quarterback to lead 2 different teams to Super Bowl wins; and the 1st quarterback since Norm Van Brocklin, with the 1951 Los Angeles Rams and the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles, to lead 2 different teams to NFL Championships. Sports Illustrated had named Manning their Sportsman of the Year for 2013. Many viewers were expecting this Super Bowl to be something of a coronation for him, placing him on the level of Otto Graham, Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana for the title of "greatest quarterback of all time."

The NFC Champions were the Seattle Seahawks. An AFC team until the NFL's 2002 realignment, they had lost Super Bowl XL to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and, with stars such as quarterback Russell Wilson, running back Marshawn Lynch, and cornerback Richard Sherman, were seeking to win Seattle's 1st major league sports championship since the Seattle SuperSonics won the 1979 NBA Championship. (Unless you count the WNBA, where the Seattle Storm had already won the title in 2004 and 2010.) Pete Carroll, who had coached the University of Southern California to National Championships in 2003 and 2004, was looking to join Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer as only the 3rd coach to win both a National Championship and an NFL Championship. Both teams finished the regular season at 13-3.

At the time, in spite of his younger brother Eli Manning having quarterbacked the Giants to 2 upset wins over the New England Patriots, 6 and 2 Super Bowls earlier, Peyton was the most popular player in the NFL, due less to his performances than to his personality and TV commercials. In part because of him, the Broncos were 2-point favorites.

But on the game's 1st play from scrimmage, Peyton began calling signals out of the shotgun formation, and center Manny Ramirez -- making some people wonder if he'd been replaced by the weird-thinking, steroid-addled Boston Red Sox slugger of the same name -- sent the snap flying over Peyton's right shoulder, right into the end zone. Bronco running back Knowshon Moreno recovered the ball, but was touched, resulting in a rare game-opening safety. The Seahawks led, 2-0, just 12 seconds in, the fastest score in the history of NFL championship games, under any name.

That was the game, right there. The Broncos recovered just enough to hold the Seahawks to field goals by Stephen Hauschka on their 1st 2 drives, making the score 8-0. But Lynch ran for a touchdown, and then, Malcolm Smith ended all Denver hope by intercepting Manning, and returning it 69 yards for a touchdown. At the half, Seattle led, 22-0.

It got worse to start the 2nd half: Percy Harvin returned the kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown. And Wilson threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse. It was 36-0, which remains the biggest shutout lead in Super Bowl history.

On the last play of the 3rd quarter, Manning threw a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas, and got the 2-point conversion. But a 10-yard pass from Wilson to Doug Baldwin made it 43-8 early in the 4th, and that would be the final score.

Richard Sherman (left) and Peyton Manning

The Broncos actually got more 1st downs, and had half as many penalties for less than half as many yards. Manning set a Super Bowl record with 34 pass completions, and Thomas one with 13 catches. But the Broncos turned the ball over 4 times, the Seahawks not at all, and so the Broncos lost by the equivalent of 5 touchdowns. The Seahawks had their 1st title.

Knowing that car traffic in and out of the Meadowlands Complex had been nightmarish since its 1976 opening, New Jersey Transit had built a rail spur from the Secaucus Junction train station to the stadium, to provide easier access from Manhattan, and rain additional trains to and from the game. But it turned out not to be enough trains, and NJT faced thousands of complaints about its service.

And while the snow held off on the calendar day of the game, it arrived in the middle of the night, dropping 8 inches of white stuff, causing about a quarter of the next day's flights out of Newark, John F. Kennedy and La Guardia Airports to be canceled, stranding thousands of people. Probably including lots of Bronco fans, who were already miserable.

The next year, the Seahawks were one yard away from back-to-back titles, but Carroll called a pass instead of a run, and they lost to the New England Patriots. The year after that, the Broncos won, beating Fox's former team, the Panthers. Manning then retired, going out a champion like a previous Bronco quarterback, by then the team's general manager, John Elway.

With Super Bowl sites having been chosen through the 2024 season, this will, at least through then, remain the only Super Bowl played in a cold-weather stadium without a dome.

*

February 2, 2014 was, of course, a Sunday. There were no other football games. Baseball was out of season. The NBA was smart enough to schedule only 1 game for the day, and it was a day game: The Boston Celtics beat the Orlando Magic, 96-89 at the TD Garden in Boston.

The NHL also avoided a TV ratings wipeout, by scheduling only 2 games, both in the afternoon. The Winnipeg Jets beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. And the Washington Capitals beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-5 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Alexander Ovechkin scored the winning goal with 2:23 left in overtime.

But English soccer's Premier League stops for no man, and for no country. It does, of course, alter its schedule -- sorry, forgot to speak English there, its fixture list -- for the sake of British television, moving Saturday games to Sunday. On this Sunday, its games included Arsenal hosting South-East London team Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium in North London. Arsenal won, 2-0.