December 31, 1984: Rick Allen's Car Crash

December 31, 1984: Rick Allen, the drummer for British hard-rock band Def Leppard, is badly injured in a car crash, outside the hometown of most of the band's members, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

Allen, himself from Dronfield, in Derbyshire, in the East Midlands, was thrown from his Chevrolet Corvette. He had a seat belt on. The belt did not restrain him. It did restrain his left arm, severing it.

Until this moment, Allen seemed to be living a charmed life with one of the biggest bands in the world. On his 15th birthday, November 1, 1978, he was admitted to the band, after responding to their classified ad for a new drummer. On his 16th birthday, they opened for one of the biggest rock bands in the world, AC/DC.

But at 21, his career seemed to be over. As lead singer Joe Elliott said, "If I lose my arm, I can still sing. If he loses his voice, he can still play drums." How can a drummer play drums with one arm?

Allen had a specially-rigged drum kit made by Whirlwind USA, whose cables allowed his left foot to play the parts his left hand would have. This setup made its debut on August 5, 1986, at the Monsters of Rock festival, at the Donington Park race track in Leicestershire, England. The band went on to have its biggest album, Hysteria, in 1987.

Def Leppard's guitarists, Phil Collin and Steve Clark, were known as "The Terror Twins." Clark died from excessive drinking in 1991. He was subsequently replaced by Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell. He, Allen, Elliott, Collin and bass guitarist Rick Savage (his real name, not a stage name) are still together in 2022.

*

December 31, 1984 was a Monday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between its Divisional Playoffs and its Conference Championships. There were 2 college football bowl games. Virginia beat Purdue, 27-24 in the Peach Bowl at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. And West Virginia beat Texas Christian University (TCU), 31-14 in the Bluebonnet Bowl at the Astrodome in Houston.

There were no games played in the NBA, but there were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Minnesota North Stars, 4-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 6-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Quebec Nordiques and their arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, played to a 4-4 tie at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings played to a 4-4 tie at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

December 27, 1915: English Football's 1st Betting Scandal

Sandy Turnbull

December 27, 1915: English football (soccer) has its 1st betting scandal, a result of a game played the previous season, on Good Friday.

On April 2, 1915, Manchester United hosted Liverpool at Old Trafford in Salford, outside Manchester. United were struggling to avoid relegation from the Football League's Division One to its Division Two. Liverpool, on the other hand, were in mid-table, and neither challenging for honors nor facing the threat of relegation themselves. In other words, they had little to play for other than pride.

Liverpool were willing to accept a loss: Man United were only 33 miles away, and, with transportation costs being what they were, the Scousers didn't want to lose a cheap roadtrip. Imagine Liverpool giving the club that has become their most hated opponents a break that saves them from relegation. Better yet: Imagine Man United being in position to be relegated. A wonderful thought.

The effects of "the Great War" (which we now know as World War I) provided further motivation to perpetrate a fix: Although the season had begun on time on September 1, 1914, a month after the war began, the war did not live up to the expectation -- held on both sides -- that it would "be over by Christmas." By the end of the following March, there was no end in sight.

So the decision by the Football Association to suspend Football League operations after the season was already being predicted by nearly everyone. Since no one knew how long the war would last, it was presumed that would be not merely interrupting, but possibly ending, the footballing careers of everyone then playing in the league: Presuming they survived the war, most players would be too old to resume, and all teams would have to start over with younger players. (It didn't quite work out that way.) Also, the players perhaps thought that the diversion of the conflict would lessen the attention that would normally be paid to a dubious match result.

Old Trafford, shortly after its 1910 opening

The match ended in a 2–0 win to United, with George Anderson scoring both goals. However, the match referee and some observers noted Liverpool's lack of commitment during the game. They had missed a penalty that had been awarded to them, and when Fred Pagnam hit the Manchester United crossbar late in the match, his teammates publicly yelled at him for trying too hard.

On April 24, Middlesex team Tottenham Hotspur -- a redrawing of boundaries for 1965 meant that they were now in North London -- lost 5-0 away to North-East team Sunderland, clinching 20th and last place in Division One, meaning they were to be relegated to Division Two. West London team Chelsea finished 19th, and were also relegated. United finished 18th, and stayed up. The season thus ended, the FA then did indeed suspend League play, and FA Cup play, for the duration of the war.

At first, this relegation for Tottenham Hotspur, a.k.a. "Spurs," wouldn't seem to matter to anyone but them and their fans. But it would. 

Handbills started to appear, alleging that a large amount of money had been bet at odds of 7/1 (or "7-1," as we would write in the U.S.) on a 2–0 win to United over Liverpool. The FA investigated, and found that players from both sides had been involved in rigging the match: For Liverpool, Jackie Sheldon (a former United player, and the man found to be the ringleader), Tom Miller, Bob Pursell, and a man both aptly and inaptly named, Thomas Fairfoul; for United, Sandy Turnbull, Arthur Whalley and Enoch West.

Jackie Sheldon

Anderson, who scored both goals, and Pagnam, who hit the crossbar, knew about the fix, but refused to take part. Had Pagnam scored, that would have made the score 2-1, and ruined the bets: They weren't just for United to win, but specifically for them to win 2-0.

Pagnam willingly testified against his crooked teammates. Billy Meredith, one of the top players of the era, who had previously played for Manchester City and had won the FA Cup with both Manchester teams (as had Turnbull), testified that he didn't know about the fix, but that he had gotten suspicious during the match, when nobody would pass to him.

On December 27, 1915, the FA banned all 7 players for life. They found no evidence that any official from either team had participated in the fix. Neither team was fined, or had points deducted, or was relegated, which United would have deserved to be had there been no fix. West protested his innocence, and sued the FA, but lost.

Four of the players were from Scotland, and returned there to play non-league ball, as that country had also suspended its league, and did not recognize England's ban. Eventually, though, all 7 players ended up serving in the war. Turnbull, one of the Scottish players, was killed at the Battle of Arras in France on May 3, 1917.

After the war, in recognition of their military service, all of the players except West were reinstated, including a posthumous reinstatement for Turnbull. Because the war ended on November 11, 1918, it was too soon to start a 1918-19 season, so the next League season didn't start until August 30, 1919. And Fairfoul retired. So West was the only one who actually missed any League play. His ban, which also covered working for any team in the League, in any capacity, ended up being lifted in 1945, after World War II. At least he was still alive to receive his reinstatement.

Turnbull was survived by a wife and 4 children. Two of Turnbull's sons, Alexander Jr. and Ronald, signed amateur forms with Manchester United in 1932, but neither made a senior appearance for them, equivalent to making the major leagues in North American sports.

There was a weird postscript to this scandal. On March 10, 1919, the Football League held a meeting to reorganize. In the leadup to this meeting, it was suggested -- as it turned out, correctly, even more than they suspected -- that the postwar market for football would be insatiable, and that Division One should be expanded from 20 to 22 teams.

This would seem to have been great news for Chelsea, which had finished 19th in Division One; and for Tottenham, which had finished 20th. Now, in spite of each team's grand ineptitude, they could keep their spaces in Division One and not be relegated, while the top 2 teams from Division Two in the last completed season, 1914-15, Derby County of Derbyshire and Preston North End of Lancashire, could still keep their hard-earned promotions.

But Man U were already one of the biggest clubs in the North of England, and a lot of people didn't want them kicked out. And many other teams' owners liked that they were close, and saved them money on travel costs.

It worked: Chelsea rightly got the 21st spot, and Arsenal got the 22nd, even though they had finished 6th in Division Two in 1915. (A later check of the results showed they should have been listed as 5th, but that doesn't matter now.)

But the subject of the 1915 fix was brought up. By all rights, Chelsea were screwed out of 18th place and safety, regardless of how the 1919 reorganization meeting panned out. By all rights, Man U should have been kicked out of the League. After all, it's not as though people in the Manchester area would be without a team: Manchester City, Manchester Central, Bolton Wanderers, Oldham Athletic,

Bury, Rochdale and Stockport County were all already in business. (Wigan Athletic would come later, in 1932, replacing Manchester Central, who went out of business due to the Great Depression.)

So Sir Henry Norris, chairman of North London team Arsenal, knighted for his work supporting the war effort, had a plan: He would bring several clubs in to vote to keep Man U in the League... if Man U and their allies would vote to bring Arsenal into Division One.

This election would seem to have screwed not only Tottenham Hotspur, but Barnsley (a Yorkshire club that had finished 3rd in Division Two), Birmingham-area team Wolverhampton Wanderers (a.k.a. Wolves, 4th) and Birmingham City (officially 5th) out of that 22nd place. Yet all 3 of those clubs have been in the Premier League in recent years, and while their fans don't particularly like Arsenal (many fans admire Arsenal, but few genuinely like them), they never bring up the fact that "You screwed us out of the first division in 1919!"

Only Tottenham fans do that. To this day, Tottenham fans claim that there must have been bribery, that Norris must have paid off some club chairmen to vote Arsenal into Division One.

It has been over a century. Not one shred of evidence has ever been publicly produced that Norris bribed anyone to make it happen.

Norris' move might have been sneaky, devious, and underhanded, but it was not corrupt. Not until 1987 would the League make a team's promotion be automatic: Until then, it was always by election. Granted, those elections nearly always turned a rightful promotion into a formality and a reality. But not always. Sometimes, it was based on other factors, such as convenience for the clubs' business managers. This was one of the times that it was decided based on something other than finishing position, and, while it may have been odd, it was done within the rules of the time.

Indeed, there is more evidence that Tottenham bribed their way into the League at all in 1908 than there is that Arsenal bribed their way into Division One in 1919. Certainly, no one at the time publicly suggested that Norris had bribed anyone.

Besides, as the team that finished last in the last season, Tottenham had far less right to gripe about Arsenal screwing them over than did Barnsley, Wolves or Brum. Spurs were last, and on merit, too.

It's also worth pointing out that, whatever Norris' motivations at the time, Tottenham had nothing to do with it. He never cared who the opponent was, as long as he made money and Arsenal won.

Yet the story persists, and fans of other clubs who hate Arsenal are more than happy to pass the lie along.

Tottenham did rightly win promotion to Division One at the end of the 1919-20 season. You would think that, since (presuming that they were screwed at all) they were only screwed for 1 year, they would have gotten over it by then. Or at any time in the intervening century.

But since they can't claim to be a more successful club than Arsenal, or a bigger one, or a more admired one around the world, Tottenham fans hang onto this myth that Arsenal were corrupt in 1919 and cheated them, and that all their success since is illegitimate. (Which doesn't explain their own many failures over the same period.)

It makes me wonder why Spurs fans never blame Man United for screwing them over. After all, if United hadn't fixed that game in 1915, Spurs would have been 19th, and thus, after the 1919 reorganization meeting, entitled to remain in Division One, and Arsenal wouldn't have been able to make arrangements, legal or otherwise, to get that 22nd spot. So why don't Spurs fans hate United?

*

December 27, 1915 was a Monday. Baseball was out of season. Football season was over. Professional basketball barely existed. There was professional hockey, but neither the National Hockey Association in the east nor the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in the west scheduled any games.

While England had suspended Football League play for the duration of World War I, there was still competition, including the London Combination. In this, on this day, Arsenal hosted East London team West Ham United at Highbury, and won, 3-2.

December 26, 1999: The Premier League's 1st All-Foreign Starting XI

Tore André Flo

December 26, 1999: For the 1st time, a team in English soccer's Premier League puts out a stating eleven (or "XI") made up entirely of non-British players. None from England, none from Wales, none from Scotland, and none from Northern Ireland.

The game was played on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, a traditional playing date for English soccer, at The Dell, home ground of Southampton Football Club. Southampton, the leading team in Hampshire, on the South Coast, hosted Chelsea F.C., of West London. It was Chelsea who had the all-foreign XI. (Looking back, it surprises a lot of people that it wasn't North London team Arsenal F.C. who did that.)

Chelsea's XI that day, selected by manager Gianluca Vialli, himself from Italy and a former star forward for Genoa team Sampdoria and Turin team Juventus: Ed De Goey (Netherlands); Albert Ferrer (Spain), Frank Leboeuf (France), Emerson Thome (Brazil), Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria); Dan Petrescu (Romania), Gabriele Ambrosetti (Italy), Roberto Di Matteo (Italy), Gus Poyet (Uruguay) and Didier Deschamps (France); Tore André Flo (Norway).

Flo scored in the 18th minute, and again in the 43rd. Kevin Davies pulled one back for "The Saints" in the 80th, but they could not find an equalizer. Chelsea held on to win, 2-1. It was the 2nd game in a run of 14 unbeaten for "The Blues" -- 7 wins and 7 draws -- and it helped them finish 5th in the Premier League, allowing them to qualify for the next season's UEFA Cup (the tournament now known as the UEFA Europa League).

Southampton finished 15th that season. In 2001, they left The Dell, where they had played since 1898, and moved into the new St. Mary's Stadium.

*

December 26, 1999 was a Sunday. The North London soccer team that I would one day support, Arsenal, went to the Midlands, and lost to Coventry City, 3-2 at Highfield Road.

Baseball was out of season. These NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 34-17 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the New England Patriots, 13-10 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 22-0 at PSINet Stadium (now M&T Bank Stadium) in Baltimore.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Green Bay Packers, 29-10 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 41-14 at the Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Carolina Panthers, 30-20 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Cleveland Browns, 29-28 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field).

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Chicago Bears, 34-12 at the Trans World Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis. Along with the Chiefs, the Bears should have been a geographic rival for the former Los Angeles Rams, but neither rivalry ever caught on.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Arizona Cardinals, 37-14 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat their arch-rivals, the Oakland Raiders, 23-20 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The Washington Redskins beat the San Francisco 49ers, 26-20 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 23-14 at the Kingdome in Seattle. This was the Seahawks' last regular-season game at the Kingdome, after 24 seasons. They lost a Playoff game there to the Dolphins, 20-17 on January 9, 2000, and that was the last event there. The 'Hawks played the next 2 seasons at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium, while what's now known as Lumen Field was built on the site of the Kingdome, opening in 2002.

* The previous day, Christmas Day, the Denver Broncos beat the Detroit Lions, 17-7 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The day before that Christmas Eve, the New Orleans Saints beat the Dallas Cowboys, 31-24 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* On the 27th, on ABC Monday Night Football, the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 38-31 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* And, in this period between the re-establishment of the Browns and the expansion of the Houston Texans, when there were 31 teams in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles had a bye week.

There were 10 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Chicago Bulls, 103-76 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Houston Rockets, 103-92 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-95 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. Vince Carter led all scorers on the day, with 36 points for the Raptors.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Charlotte Hornets, 114-96 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Miami Heat, 93-85 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 109-86 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors, 108-88 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Boston Celtics, 103-100 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Dallas Mavericks, 118-111 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* And the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 92-86 at the KeyArena in Seattle. Allen Iverson scored 34 for the Sixers.

And there were 8 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils played their rivalry to a 3-3 tie at Madison Square Garden.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers, 4-3 at the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Nolan Pratt scored just 27 seconds into overtime.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Staples Center. Yes, it hosted an NBA game and an NHL game on the same day. Jeremy Roenick scored with 1:42 left in overtime.

* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the San Jose Sharks, 1-0 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

* And the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-0 at GM Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

December 26, 1913: The Disappearance of Ambrose Bierce

December 26, 1913: Ambrose Bierce disappears in Mexico, covering that country's Revolution. He was never seen again.

Born on June 24, 1842 in Horse Cave Creek in southeastern Ohio, worked at an abolitionist newspaper in Indiana, and was decorated for heroism by the Union Army for his actions at the Battle of Rich Mountain in what's now West Virginia, before sustaining a head wound at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain outside Atlanta.

After the American Civil War, he wrote for several magazines, and was noted for his crime reporting for the San Francisco News Letter. He lived in London from 1872 to 1875, and it was there that his 1st book was published, a compilation of his articles titled The Fiend's Delight. He went back to San Francisco, and in 1881, he joined the staff of the San Francisco Examiner, becoming the 1st high-profile hire of its ambitious young publisher, William Randolph Hearst. He would continue to work for Hearst until 1909.

He wrote 25 stories based around his Civil War service, which, collectively, would be called "the greatest anti-war document in American literature." Among these was "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," in 1890. This story about a condemned Confederate who thinks he's escaped being hanged by the Union Army became his most popular work, and has been filmed several times, including by French director Robert Enrico, winning Best Short Subject at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival, and the Academy Award for Best Short Subject in 1963. Rod Serling, creator, head writer, and narrator of The Twilight Zone, a show that specialized in twist endings, made that film the only one he ever bought for an episode of the show. It cost $25,000, whereas putting together a new episode from scratch usually cost his production company about $65,000.

In 1906, Bierce published The Cynic's Word Book. He re-published it in 1911, under the title The Devil's Dictionary, and it is by that title that it is better remembered. It is a darkly comic glossary. Some examples:

* Air (n.) A nutricious (that's how he spelled it) substance supplied by a bountiful providence for the fattening of the poor.

* Cannon (n.) An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries.

* Conservative (n.) A statesman who is enamoured of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.

* Egotist (n.) A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.

* Lawyer (n.) One skilled in circumvention of the law.

* Love (n.) A temporary insanity curable by marriage.

* Marriage (n.) A household consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all, two.

* Positive (a.) Mistaken at the top of one's voice.

* Religion (n.) A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.

Critic William Dean Howells said, "Mr. Bierce is among our three greatest writers." Bierce responded, "I am sure Mr. Howells is the other two."

In October 1913, Bierce departed from Washington, D.C. for a tour of his Civil War battlefields. Then, despite being 71 years old, he went to Mexico, at the height of its Revolution -- really, another civil war. The San Francisco-based journalist Blanche Partington, a friend and possibly girlfriend of the divorced Bierce, received a letter from him, dated December 26, 1913. He mentioned that he had joined the army of Pancho Villa as an observer, and witnessed Villa's victory at the Battle of Tierra Blanca on November 25. He closed his letter by saying, "As to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination."

No American ever heard from him again. It was suggested that he had been in the city of Chihuahua in January 1914. Another theory said that he'd gone back across the border, went to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and committed suicide. Another said that he'd been captured by government forces in Sierra Mojada, and was executed by firing squad there.

If this last theory is true, it appears that he wouldn't have minded it. In one of his last letters, he wrote, "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico -- ah, that is euthanasia!"

*

December 26, 1913 was a Friday. Frank Swift was born on this day. A star goalkeeper for English soccer team Manchester City, he became a journalist writing about the sport, and was killed in the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, covering Manchester United in the European Cup.

Baseball was out of season. Football season was over. Professional basketball barely existed. There was no hockey, either: The National Hockey Association season began the next day.

Being the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, there were soccer games played in England. At their brand-new home of Highbury in North London, Arsenal defeated Yorkshire team Bradford Park Avenue, 2-0. Manchester City defeated Liverpool, 1-0 at Anfield in Liverpool. And Everton FC defeated Manchester United, 5-0 at Goodison Park in Liverpool.

December 25, 1940: Tommy Lawton's Christmas Doubleheader

Tommy Lawton

December 25, 1940: On this Christmas Day, a Wednesday, South Side Park burns down in Chicago. As far as anyone knows, the fire is not purposely set. It was the 1st home of the American League's Chicago White Sox (1901 to 1910), and of the Negro Leagues' Chicago American Giants (1910 to 1940). The American Giants won 7 Pennants while playing there, the White Sox 2.

There were 3 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers played the Chicago Black Hawks to a tie, 3-3 at Madison Square Garden. The New York Americans lost to the Boston Bruins, 8-1 at the Boston Garden. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at the Olympia Stadium.

Also on this day, under the wartime conditions of depleted rosters, Tommy Lawton plays for Everton against Liverpool at Anfield in the morning. Liverpool win, 3-1. Then he is asked to play as a guest player for Merseyside club Tranmere Rovers at nearby Cheshire club Crewe Alexandra in the afternoon. As he recalled, "The Tranmere people came into the dressing room, and asked if anyone wanted to play, as they were two men short. I said, 'Go on, I'll help you out.' And I did."

He didn't help much: Crewe won the match, 2-1. Still, on Christmas Day 1940, Lawton played a full 90 minutes in the afternoon, after having already done so in the morning. Given the heavy leather balls and ragged pitches (especially in Winter) of the era, this may qualify as a Christmas miracle.

Just 4 days after Christmas, the Luftwaffe bombed the Rolls-Royce factory in Crewe, which had been making Spitfire planes for the Royal Air Force.

Also on this day, Arsenal lose 4-2 away to West Ham United. They finished 4th in the Southern Regional, the Hammers 2nd, and Crystal Palace of Southeast London won. 

December 22, 1962: Britain's "Big Freeze" Begins

December 22, 1962: The "Big Freeze" begins in Britain. There were no frost-free nights until March 5, 1963 – 74 straight days.

The Winter of 1962–1963 remains the coldest since at least 1894-95 in all meteorological districts of the United Kingdom, although in north Scotland the Winter of 2009-10 was equally cold.

A cold easterly set in on December 22, as an anticyclone formed over Scandinavia, drawing cold continental winds from Russia. Throughout the Christmas period, the Scandinavian high collapsed, but a new high formed near Iceland, bringing northerly winds. Significant snowfall occurred on December 26 and 27, as the air mass moved south, and became firmly established.

Overnight on December 29 and 30, 1962 a blizzard swept across southern England and Wales. Snow drifted to more than 20 feet deep in places, driven by gale force easterly winds, blocking roads and railways. The snow stranded villages and brought down power lines.

On December 31, the clock on the Palace of Westminster -- often called Big Ben, even though that's actually the name of the bell in the clock -- was delayed by 10 minutes due to the large amount of snow that had accumulated on the clock hands, and the New Year ended up being 10 minutes late.

The near-freezing temperatures meant that the snow cover lasted for more than 2 months in some areas. There was so much snow, and temperatures were so cold, that the 3rd Round of the FA Cup, which normally begins on the 1st Saturday in January, was not completed until March 11, at a time when the 6th Round, the Quarterfinals, would usually be played. As a result, the Final, usually set for the 1st Saturday in May, was pushed back to the last, May 25.

*

December 22, 1962 was a Saturday. Also starting in England on this day is Ralph Nathanial Twisleton Wykeham Fiennes, in Ipswich, Suffolk. We would know him as the actor Ralph Fiennes, pronounced "Raif Fines."

And, on that day, for the first time, a British band hit Number 1 on the American popular music charts. No, it wasn't The Beatles. It was The Tornadoes, with the instrumental "Telstar," named for the communications satellite launched earlier in the year. As far as the U.S. charts were concerned, The Tornadoes turned out to be "one-hit wonders."

The cold postponed all Football League games in England. In American football, the NFL was between the last week of its regular season and its Championship Game, which, on December 30, the Green Bay Packers won, beating the New York Giants, 16-7 at Yankee Stadium. The American Football League played its Championship Game on December 23, and the Dallas Texans beat the Houston Oilers, 20-17 in overtime at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston. (I have separate entries for each of those games.)

There were 2 college football bowl games played that day. The Tangerine Bowl was played at the stadium then carrying the same name, now named Camping World Stadium, in Orland, Florida. The University of Houston beat Miami University of Ohio, 49-21.

UH did not play its bowl game in Houston. That would be the Bluebonnet Bowl, at Rice Stadium. Missouri beat Georgia Tech, 14-10.

Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games in the NBA, and 2 were a doubleheader at the Boston Garden. The Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Zephyrs, 122-110. The Zephyrs became the Baltimore Bullets the next season. And the New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 120-106 at the Boston Garden. Richie Guerin scored 37 points for the Knicks.

* And the San Francisco Warriors beat the Syracuse Nationals, 123-118 at the Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, New York. It was just another day at the office for Wilt Chamberlain: He scored 39 points and grabbed 28 rebounds, leading the Warriors to victory. This was the NBA's only season without a Philadelphia team: The Warriors had moved in the previous off-season, while the Nats would move the next off-season, becoming the Philadelphia 76ers for 1963-64.

And there were 2 games in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. And the Chicago Black Hawks and the Montreal Canadiens played to a tie, 1-1 at the Montreal Forum. The Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings were not scheduled.

December 18, 2022: The Crowning of Lionel Messi

December 18, 2022: A controversial World Cup comes to an end with a classic Final, won by Argentina, lifting its biggest star, Lionel Messi, into a legitimate place in the discussion for the title of the greatest player in the history of soccer.

The tournament never should have been given to Qatar. We all know that this country -- bigoted toward women, Jews and gays -- never should have been considered, let alone given the tournament. But the country's royal family guaranteed FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, its most profitable World Cup ever, and got it. As with Russia 2018, it was a bribe.

Throw in the moving of the tournament from late Spring and early Summer to late Autumn, due to the intense Middle East heat, the fact that the construction of these stadiums was a reminder of the plight of migrant labor, and even a reminder that there are places in this world where slavery still exists, and it was, clearly, the worst World Cup ever, from an administrative standpoint, surpassing the ones hosted by fascist governments in Italy in 1934, Argentina in 1978, and Russia in 2018.

The time zone differences were a minor issue. Certainly, it was more workable than in 2002, when Japan and South Korea teamed to hold it. If Australia -- with or without New Zealand stepping in as co-hosts -- want to host it in 2030 or beyond, that will have to be dealt with. The tournament has to be convenient for the hosts, but the rest of the world's needs also need to be taken into consideration. (At least Australia is a free country, and, due to having held the Olympics in 2000, and having a thriving A-League, would have the infrastructure already in place.)

(UPDATE: In 2023, FIFA awarded the World Cup for 2030 to a joint effort by the neighboring nations of Spain, Portugal and Morocco, because it was Europe's "turn," and Morocco was a bone thrown to Africa, which lasted hosted in South Africa in 2010. And they awarded the 2034 edition to Saudi Arabia, for the same reason as in 2018 and 2022: Money.)

Fox broadcast the tournament in America. A defeat during the Group Stage doesn't necessarily mean disaster. Argentina were upset by Saudi Arabia. It ended up not mattering, any more than did the most embarrassing Group Stage loss ever, West Germany falling to political (if not footballing) arch-rival East Germany on West German soil in 1974.

The English love to remind the Americans of certain things. "It's called 'football,' not 'soccer.'" The English love to remind us that they invented the sport. They did not. They invented its organization, but even that was a co-invention with the Scots. They love to remind us that they've won the World Cup, and we haven't. Well, we've won 4 World Cups. When they hear that, They say the women's game doesn't count. Then that means that their women's team, which has been more successful recently than their men's team, gets insulted.

And England claiming superiority because they've won 1 of the 17 World Cups, and that 1 being 56 years ago, is like Toronto Maple Leafs fans claiming 13 Stanley Cups, when they haven't even made the Finals since 1967. At least the New York Yankees have won 7 of their 27 World Series since England '66 and Toronto '67, and that's still the most since then, as well as overall.

And when the game was played, the U.S. did not play well, and England controlled the game most of the way. And still, it ended 0-0. It had all the markings of a Premier League game where Arsenal dominate but still can't find a win. England were better, but couldn't prove it on the scoreboard.

It was better for England than the 2010 match in South Africa, which became a 1-1 draw thanks to Rob Green's "Hand of Clod" mishandling of a Clint Dempsey shot. That was reminiscent of an Arsenal failure to win because of a fluke goal that never should have happened. For the vast majority of English fans, who like to mock Arsenal, the shoe seems to go on the other foot every 4 years.

Throw in the biggest upset in World Cup history, America's 1950 win over England in Brazil, and the record is as follows: American wins, 1; draws, 2; England wins, exactly none. For all their braggadocio, England have never beaten America at the World Cup.

The draw with England was encouraging, but it followed a draw with England's neighbors, Wales. That was depressing: We led 1-0 after 80 minutes, but indiscipline took over, and we gave away a stupid penalty.

This put us in a position where we had to beat Iran, which had the world supporting them as their people finally seem to have taken the initiative in challenging their evil religious-fanatic government. We won, but it was a very sluggish 1-0, and we felt like the least deserving team in the last 16.

And then we had to play the Netherlands, one of the teams that always seems to grab the world's attention at the World Cup. Haji Wright's goal to pull us within 2-1 was quickly canceled out, and the Dutch won, 3-1.

After not making the tournament at all the time before, making the knockout stage this time was a success. But the Dutch showed us that the difference between Top 16 and Top 8 is big. Manager Gregg Berhalter earned the right to be the man to bridge that difference, but, bridge it, he must, if we are to go any further than this on home soil in 2026.

To go with superstar midfielder Christian Pulisic, we need an out-and-out scorer, and we need stronger defenders. And it's not like "club football," where we can just go out and buy them. They have to be trained. Maybe Berhalter can bring Arsène Wenger in as a consultant, to help them develop "the quality" and "the mental strength." Because, for now, as to either one, we can truthfully say, "I did not see it."

One person who will never get to see it is Grant Wahl, a journalist who did as much as anyone in the MLS era to spread knowledge of soccer through America. The 49-year-old native of the Kansas side of the Kansas City area, a Princeton graduate, wrote the 2002 Sports Illustrated cover story that introduced the world to a high school basketball star named LeBron James, and continued to write for SI on the subject of soccer, for which Fox Sports hired him as a studio analyst.

He was in the press box watching the Quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands, which Argentina won on penalties (of course: When it comes to penalties, the Dutch are famously as useless as the English), when he collapsed in his seat. Despite his detainment by Qatari authorities after flouting their rules against political statements, and subsequent death threats, it was quickly determined that his claims of feeling unwell were due to an aortic aneurysm, which ruptured.

After showing Senegal the difference between Teams 1 through 8 and Teams 9 through 16, England had to face France, and were lucky to be level going into the 78th minute, when former Arsenal star Olivier Giroud scored for France.

In the 84th minute, the Three Lions were awarded a penalty, and, of course, it would be Harry Kane, golden boy for England and Tottenham Hotspur, who took it. But his former Tottenham teammate, France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, stopped him. After his giveaway performance in Russia 2018, and now this, any discussion of whether Kane, a known diver for penalties, is "world class" needs to end.

Of course, Kane wasn't the only choker. England haven't had a good defense in 30 years, and, once again, their attack tightened up after falling behind. For England, at least historically, the difference between Teams 1 through 4 and Teams 5 through 8 might be bigger than the U.S.'s difference between Teams 1 through 8 and Teams 9 through 16.

No team from the African continent had ever reached a World Cup Semifinal. The only Muslim-majority country to have done so was Turkey in 2002. But Morocco won Group F. Then, avenging their geopolitical defeat of the Middle Ages, they beat Spain on penalties after a 0-0 draw, with goalkeeper Yassine Bounou stopping 3 penalties. "Bono" then played his club soccer in Spain, for Sevilla.

They faced Portugal in the Quarterfinal. Portugal were expected to play hard in what was to be the last World Cup for Cristiano Ronaldo. But Morocco held them, and Bounou's Sevilla teammate Youssef En-Nesyri scored in the 42nd minute, and Morocco were through to the Semifinal.

Which meant that they would face their former colonial overlords, France, the defending Champions. The dream ended quickly, as France scored in the 5th minute, and Morocco never looked like scoring. France added a goal to make the final 2-0.

As Croatia had done in the previous tournament by reaching the Final and holding their own in it, Morocco had won the world's hearts, but someone else would win the World Cup. It would be between, France, Les Bleus, and Argentina, La Albiceleste (the Sky Blues), at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, in Lusail, outside the Qatari capital of Doha. 

Only once before had a player scored 3 goals -- known among hockey fans as a "hat trick," and the term has drifted to soccer -- in a World Cup Final. That was Geoff Hurst of England in 1966, and the 2nd of those goals remains controversial.

Kylian Mbappé was a big reason why France won in 2018. He stood to be an even bigger reason why France won in 2022, had they done so. For the 1st 80 minutes of the Final, France did practically nothing in attack. They couldn't: Argentina just controlled the ball the whole way. There was no doubt in my mind that Argentina were the better team.

That said, it was a very rough game. Argentina have been accused of dirty tactics by the world's English-language media since their performance in England in 1966, and this game was no exception. Eventually, the French began replying with their own roughhousing.

I watched the game at Jack Doyle's, a bar in Midtown Manhattan, supporting France but surrounded by Argentina fans. A few of them had been in America long enough to get the joke, adapted from comedian Rodney Dangerfield's line about going to a prizefight: "I went to the World Cup, and a hockey game broke out!" The fact that this bar was only 2 blocks from Madison Square Garden deepened the connection.

Argentina's 1st goal was a penalty, given after an obvious dive by Ángel Di María. No surprise there, because he's spent most of his career at teams where cheating is the norm: Real Madrid, Manchester United, and was then with Juventus. Of course, the penalty was taken by their premier player, Messi.

It would have been hard to say Argentina cheated their way to victory, though, had the subsequent score of 2-0 held up: In the 36th minute, they had a strong setup, leading to a very nice goal by Di María, totally legit. "Ballgame," I said at the time. "France are not coming back from this."

And, until the 80th minute, it looked like I was right. But Randal Kolo Mouani was brought down in the box. That gave France a penalty and a lifeline. Mbappé took it and scored, and France had a chance. Just 1 minute later, Mbappé scored brilliantly from open play. It was 2-2. Argentina had blown a game they had controlled for its 1st 87 percent. As the old English soccer saying goes, "Two-nil, and they fucked it up!"

The last 10 minutes were nervy. And, as usual, given the heat and the injury stoppages, there were 8 minutes of stoppage time, but neither team could find a 3rd goal. On to extra time.

In the 108th minute, Messi fired. The ball crossed the goal line, but was kicked out by a France player before it could reach the back of the next. VAR (Video-Aided Refereeing) showed that the goal was complete, and it was properly awarded. Argentina, again, had it won.

Except, again, they didn't. A handball in the box by Gonzalo Montiel meant another penalty for France. Mbappé took it, and it was 3-3. After 123 minutes -- 134 minutes, counting all the stoppage time -- referee Szymon Marciniak of Poland blew his whistle, and this insane game was not over yet. It went to penalties.

France won the toss, and elected to kick first, against Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, of Aston Villa of Birmingham, England -- and, formerly, of Arsenal. There was no question that Mbappé was going to take the 1st one for them, even if it wouldn't be credited as a record-breaking 4th goal in a Final. He made it. Likewise, there was no question that the 1st Argentine to shoot toward Lloris would be Messi. He made it.

But in the 2nd Round, Martínez stopped Kingsley Coman. Paulo Dybala made it 2-1 Argentina. And then, after having a great tournament for France, Real Madrid's Aurélien Tchouaméni missed the net completely, shooting wide left. Leandro Parades made it 3-1. Kolo Muani converted to keep France going, but Montiel, a right back for Sevilla in the club game, converted to give Argentina the 4-2 win, and their 3rd World Cup.

And to give Lionel Messi the World Cup that had previously been denied to him, as he'd been with Argentina as they lost to Germany in penalties at the 2006 Quarterfinals; were knocked out by Germany in regular time at the 2010 Quarterfinals; lost to Germany yet again, in extra time, in the 2014 Final; and were knocked out by France in the Round of 16 in 2018. Finally, the "GOAT" (Greatest Of All Time) had removed the only doubt as to that title, by winning the biggest trophy of all, the one that had, until now, eluded him.

Pelé -- whose illness prevented his attendance at the World Cup for the 1st time since 1954, and who died before the month was out -- won 3 World Cups, was definitively the best player in the world longer than the debate between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has raged; and, unlike Messi and Cristiano, never had to cheat, or to benefit from his teammates' cheating.

But Messi and Argentina had the World Cup. Although I didn't like the result, it was a great way to end a very shady tournament.

UPDATE: An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 11th, citing the shadiness of the background, but also the upsets, and the atmosphere brought by the fans of the upsetting teams.

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December 18, 2022 was a Sunday. As crazy as the World Cup Final was, in America, it was, beyond any doubt, the craziest weekend in NFL history, and I have a separate entry for that.

There were no college football bowl games. Baseball was out of season. There were 7 games in that NBA that day: 

* The New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers, 109-106 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Detroit Pistons, 124-121 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics, 95-92 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Toronto Raptors, 126-110 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Chicago Bulls, 150-126 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Charlotte Hornets, 119-115 at the Ball Arena in Denver.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Washington Wizards, 119-117 at the Crypto.com Arena.

And there were 5 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 7-1 at the United Center in Chicago. The Rangers pulled off the unusual feat of having 7 different scorers: Filip Chytil, Artemi Panarin, Kaapo Kakko, Jacob Trouba, Vincent Trochck, Vitali Kravtsov and Jonny Brodzinski.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-2 at the SAP Center in San Jose.

* And the Seattle Kraken beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

December 16, 1871: George Eliot Publishes "Middlemarch"

Mary Ann Evans, a.k.a. George Eliot

December 16, 1871: Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life, is published. The author's name is listed as George Eliot. But, like the French author Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil, a.k.a. George Sand, this author publicly named George was actually a woman.

Mary Ann Evans was born on November 22, 1819 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England. Prior to Middlemarch, her novels included The Mill on the Floss in 1860 and Silas Marner in 1862. She lived until December 22, 1880.

Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midlands town, from 1829 to 1832, it follows distinct, intersecting stories with many characters. The leading character is Dorothea Brooke, who is 19 years old at the beginning of the novel, and marries a minister more than twice her age. His cousin falls in love with her, but she does not return his feelings. The minister falls ill, and rewrites his will so that she forfeits her inheritance if she marries the cousin. She chooses the cousin and happiness over the fortune.

Issues in the book include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Despite some elements of humor, Middlemarch approaches significant historical events in realistic fashion: The Reform Act 1832, the beginning of train travel, and the death of King George IV and his replacement by his brother, King William IV. It looks at medicine of the time and reactionary views in a settled community facing unwelcome change.

Middlemarch was described by Virginia Woolf as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people," and by both Martin Amis and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language.

The BBC adapted it as a miniseries in 1968, starring Michele Dotrice as Dorothea; and again in 1994, with Juliet Aubrey. It has never been made into a feature film, but in 2015, Allen Shearer (not to be confused with legendary English soccer player Alan Shearer) and Claudia Stevens adapted it into the opera Middlemarch in Spring.

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December 16, 1871 was a Friday. There were no scores on this historic day: Baseball was out of season, no college football games were played in that early year in the sport's history, and neither basketball nor hockey had yet been invented.

December 14, 1935: Ted Drake Scores 7 Goals

December 14, 1935: Arsenal Football Club, of North London, travel to Birmingham, and defeat Aston Villa F.C., 7-1 at Villa Park. Forward Ted Drake scores all 7 of Arsenal's goals.

Drake did this despite a nagging knee injury; despite having Alex James, the little Scottish dynamo who usually served as Arsenal's Captain, out with an injury; and despite Villa, having struggled but invested heavily in recent days, signing 6 players for national teams (England, Scotland, Wales, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), earning them the nickname "The Bank of England Club."

Drake scored 3 goals in the 1st half, reached 6 by the hour mark, and then saw the newly-acquired Jack Palethorpe score Villa's only goal. Drake thought he had a 7th when his shot hit the crossbar and bounced down, but the referee ruled that it had not crossed the line. In the game's last minute, he got his 7th. He had one other shot, which was saved.

At the time, this was believed to have tied the record for most goals scored in a Football League game, set back in the League's 1st season, 1888-89, when Jimmy Ross of Preston North End, the Lancashire team that went on to win the title and the FA Cup, English football's first "Double," scored 7 in a game against Staffordshire team Stoke City. Years later, research discovered that Ross had scored "only" 4 goals, and Drake had the record all to himself.

Just 12 days later, on December 26, Robert "Bunny" Bell scored 9 goals -- and missed a penalty that could have made it 10 -- for Merseyside team Tranmere Rovers against Manchester-area team Oldham Athletic. But this was in the Football League's Division Three North. Drake's record of 7 remained untouched for the remainder of the League's Division One. Nor has it been matched in the Division's successor, the Premier League, since its institution in 1992.

Drake helped Arsenal win the League in 1934, 1935 and 1938; and the FA Cup in 1936. In 1955, he managed West London team Chelsea to win the League title. This made him the 1st man to win the League as both a non-managing player and a non-playing manager. He died in 1995, at the age of 82.

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December 14, 1935 was a Saturday. Actress Lee Remick was born on this day. So was actor Lewis Arquette, son of actor Cliff Arquette, and father of actors Patricia, Alexis, Rosanna, David and Richmond; making him the former father-in-law of actors Courteney Cox, Thomas Jane and Nicolas Cage, and composer James Newton Howard.

In America, baseball season was over, and the NBA hadn't been founded yet. There were no NFL games played, but the NFL Championship Game was played the next day: The Detroit Lions beat the New York Giants, 26-7 at Titan Stadium on the campus of the University of Detroit.

Three college football games were played:

* The University of Pittsburgh beat the University of Southern California, 12-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This intersectional matchup wasn't officially a bowl game, but it may have felt like one to Pitt, more so than to USC.

* The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) beat St. Mary's, 13-7 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

* And Hawaii beat Utah, 21-20 at Honolulu Stadium.

And 2 games were played in the NHL. The New York Rangers beat the Montreal Maroons, 6-2 at the Montreal Forum. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.