September 30, 1967: The Spectrum Opens

September 30, 1967: The Spectrum, a new sports arena, opens in South Philadelphia, just to the north of John F. Kennedy Stadium. The new baseball and football facility, Veterans Stadium, had recently begun construction, just to the north. The first event at the arena was the Quaker City Jazz Festival.

Lou Scheinfeld, former President of the Spectrum, explained that the name "Spectrum" was selected to evoke the broad range of events to be held there:

* SP: "SPorts" and "South Philadelphia"

* E: "Entertainment"

* C: "Circuses"

* T: "Theatricals"

* R: "Recreation"

* UM: "Um, what a nice building!"

That last one was a bit of a stretch. Scheinfeld also said that a seat in the city's first superbox initially cost $1,000 a year: "For every Flyers game, Sixers game, circus, you name it, you got 250 events for $1,000."

The first sporting event at the arena was a fight card on October 17, headlined by hometown hero Joe Frazier defeating Tony Doyle. The next day, the defending NBA Champion 76ers, previously playing at the Convention Hall of the Philadelphia Civic Center, made their Spectrum debut, beating the Los Angeles Lakers, 103-87. Elgin Baylor of the Lakers led all scorers with 24 points. Wilt Chamberlain scored only 11, but had 30 rebounds. The day after that, the Flyers made their home debut, beating their fellow Pennsylvania expansion team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 1-0. Bill Sutherland scored the 1st goal.

On March 1, 1968, wind blew part of the covering off The Spectrum's roof during a performance of the Ice Capades, forcing the building to close for a month while Mayor James Tate fought with Philadelphia County District Attorney Arlen Specter (later a U.S. Senator) over responsibility for the construction of the roof, and the damage was repaired.

The 76ers moved their home games to Convention Hall and to the Palestra, but neither of those arenas had ice rinks at the time, and there were no other NHL-quality sites in the Philadelphia area. Thus the Flyers hurriedly moved their next home game, against the Oakland Seals, to Madison Square Garden in New York, followed by a meeting with the Boston Gardens at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, before establishing a base at Le Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, home of their top farm team, the Quebec Aces. The roof was repaired in time for them to play their home Playoff games there.

In 1976, the nation's Bicentennial led to several events being held in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was written, debated and signed. Veterans Stadium hosted MLB's All-Star Game, while The Spectrum hosted the NBA and NHL All-Star Games, and the NCAA Final Four, won by Indiana University.

In fiction, each of the fights between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed were held at The Spectrum in 1976: The 1st, in the original Rocky, on New Year's Day, January 1; the 2nd, in Rocky II, on Thanksgiving Day, November 25.

The Spectrum also hosted the All-Star Game for the NBA in 1970, and for the NHL in 1992. A 2nd Final Four was held there in 1981, again won by Indiana. The Spectrum hosted the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983, with the Sixers winning only the last of these; and the Stanley Cup Finals in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985 and 1987, with the Flyers winning the 1st 2 of these.

The arena became home to statues of 76ers star Julius "Dr. J" Erving, a prominent goal scored by the Flyers' Gary Dornhoefer, the fictional Rocky Balboa (later moved to its site in the movies, the Philadelphia Museum of Art), and Kate Smith, the Flyers' "good luck charm" during their 1974 Stanley Cup run.

Elvis Presley sang there 4 times: November 8, 1971; June 23, 1974; June 28, 1976; and May 28, 1977. The Beatles did not perform there together, but all of them except John Lennon would give solo concerts there. The Grateful Dead played there more than any other act, 53 times. Other notable Spectrum concerts included Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin in 1969, The Doors in 1970, The Who in 1973, Bob Marley in 1975 and 1978, Queen in 1980, Bruce Springsteen paying tribute to John Lennon the day after his murder in 1980, Guns N'Roses opening for Aerosmith in 1988, N.W.A. and Metallica in 1989 (not on the same bill), and Philadelphia-area natives Pink and Taylor Swift in 2009 (not on the same bill).

Unlike most arenas, The Spectrum was not replaced due to it being technologically outdated, or in poor condition, or being in a bad neighborhood (it was an island in a sea of parking, therefore it was in no neighborhood). It was because Spectator, the company owned by the Snider family to operate the arena and the Flyers, was booking more events than it could handle.

So in 1992, JFK Stadium was torn down, and what was originally named Spectrum II was built on the site. The idea was that the new arena would host the headline events -- the 76ers, the Flyers, and the major concerts -- while the original Spectrum would host smaller events.

The 76ers' last game at The Spectrum was on April 19, 1996. They lost to the Orlando Magic, 112-92. The Flyers' last game there was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, on May 12. They were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Florida Panthers, 2-1. Mike Hough scored the winning, and last, goal at 8:05 of the 2nd overtime.

The Spectrum continued to hold public events until a series of Pearl Jam concerts from October 27 to 31, 2009. The building was torn down the following year. Xfinity Live! Philadelphia, a dining and entertainment complex, opened on the site in 2012.

In 2005, the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats opened a new arena, named the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Neither the team nor the arena kept their original names. In 2008, the arena became the Time Warner Cable Arena. In 2014, the Bobcats were permitted to take the name of the city's previous NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets. In 2016, following Time Warner's breakup, its cable-TV operations were bought out by Charter Communications, and the arena became the Spectrum Center. Charter Communications and their Spectrum division have no connection to Spectacor or the Snider family, which sold Spectacor in 2011.

*

September 30, 1967 was a Saturday. Actress Andrea Roth was born. And, in college football, Nate Northington of the University of Kentucky became the Southeastern Conference's 1st black football player. I have a separate entry for this event. Kentucky lost to the University of Mississippi, 26-13 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

Among the other college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Notre Dame were upset by Number 10 Purdue, 28-21 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Number 2 Southern California (USC) beat Michigan State, 21-17 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* The night before, Number 3 University of Houston beat Wake Forest, 50-6 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* Number 4 UCLA beat Washington State, 51-23 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 5 Georgia beat Clemson, 24-17 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 7 Nebraska beat Minnesota, 7-0 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 8 Texas lost to Texas Tech, 19-13 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Number 9 Alabama beat Southern Mississippi, 25-3 at Ladd Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Boston College, 21-10 at Alumni Stadium, just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; Navy lost to Rice, 21-7 at Rice Stadium in Houston; and Air Force lost to the University of Washington, 30-7 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* In New Jersey, Princeton beat Rutgers, 22-21 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

And in New Jersey high school football, East Brunswick, the school that would one day be my Alma Mater, beat Woodbridge, 14-0 at home, at the stadium that would one day be named Jay Doyle Field.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. This was the next-to-last day of the regular season, and the Red Sox and Twins were battling the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox for the American League Pennant. Carl Yastrzemski of the Red Sox and Harmon Killebrew of the Twins each hit his 44th home run of the season. Neither of them homered the next day, so they finished in a tie for the AL home run lead.

With Yaz also leading the AL in batting average and runs batted in, that means that, despite only being tied for the home run lead, he was awarded the Triple Crown. There would not be another Triple Crown winner for 45 years.

At the time, the Red Sox' games were broadcast on WHDH-Channel 5. With the Sox involved in a Pennant race for the 1st time in a generation, the station went against protocol, which was to save money on videotape by taping over old games, and saved several games from that season. These clips were edited down into a highlight reel, except for the last 2 games, this one and the next day's. As a result, this Boston victory over Minnesota is, as far as is publicly known, the oldest surviving full color video broadcast of an MLB game.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the opener, 5-0. Mickey Lolich pitched a 3-hit shutout. The California Angels won the nightcap, 8-6. Over the 2 games, Al Kaline went 1-for-8 with a walk.

With this doubleheader, the AL standings now featured the Red Sox and the Twins tied for 1st place, with the Tigers only half a game back. The Red Sox and Twins played each other again the next day, with the winner assured of no worse than a Playoff for the Pennant the next day. The Tigers had another doubleheader, and if they swept it, they would have a Playoff with the Red Sox-Twins winner. As it turned out, the Red Sox beat the Twins, and the Tigers only split their doubleheader, so the Sox won the Pennant.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The White Sox had been eliminated from the race when the Senators beat them the night before, so this game was meaningless -- except, perhaps, to Senators pitcher Frank Bertaina, who pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle drove in the Yankees' 1st run with a groundout, and then left the game due to injury. Rookie Reggie Jackson did not play for the A's in this game. The next day, the Yankees won, 4-3. This was the last game for the A's representing Kansas City. The next season, they moved to Oakland.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Les Rohr pitched 8 shutout innings, and Ron Taylor completed a 7-hit shutout, to outpitch Don Drysdale. Ken Boswell hit a home run.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). In contrast to the AL, the Cardinals had the National League Pennant wrapped up several days earlier. Lou Brock went 3-for-4. Roger Maris went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Joe Torre went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Hank Aaron only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4, and Brooks Robinson did not play.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ernie Banks went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Rookie Johnny Bench did not play for the Reds in this game.

* And the San Francisco Giants swept a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 and 1-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie McCovey hit a home run in the 1st game. Willie Mays went 0-for-4, and then did not play in the 2nd game. Three Giant pitchers -- Bill Henry (3 innings), Nestor Chavez (4, winning pitcher) and Lindy McDaniel (2, save) combined on a 4-hit shutout. 

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.

May 15, 1993: San Antonio's Texas-Sized White Elephant

May 15, 1993: The Alamodome opens in San Antonio. The 64,000-seat facility was intended to be a larger home for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, and to attract an NFL franchise.

It had been built because San Antonio, from the 1980s onward, has been one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in America. And the existing Alamo Stadium, built in 1940 and seating 18,000 (with an additional 14,000 temporary seats), proved unsuitable for use by the San Antonio Wings of the World Football League in 1974 and 1975, and the San Antonio Gunslingers of the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. So the Alamodome was an improvement, and predictions that the NFL was coming seemed pretty good.

Well, in 1993, the NFL gave its 1995 expansion teams to Charlotte and Jacksonville. In 1994, the 2 Los Angeles teams moved, the Rams to St. Louis and the Raiders back to Oakland. In 1995, the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore. In 1996, the Houston Oilers began the process of moving to Nashville. In 2002, Houston got a new team. And, that same year, the Spurs moved into a modern arena, after winning their 2nd NBA Championship at the Alamodome.

The Houston Oilers played 2 preseason exhibition games there in 1993 and 1994. The Dallas Cowboys were the opponent for 1 of those 1993 games. They played each other in the 1995 preseason. The New Orleans Saints, having played a preseason game there against the Minnesota Vikings in 2001, played 3 "home games" there in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina left the Superdome unusable for that season.

The NCAA has hosted the Final Four there in 1998, 2004, 2008 and 2018, and will again in 2025; and the Women's Final Four in 2002, 2010 and 2021. The Canadian Football League's brief U.S. experiment put the San Antonio Texans there for the 1995 season.

The stadium has hosted the annual Alamo Bowl ever since. It's hosted the Big 12 Conference Championship Game in 1997, 1999 and 2007; and the Conference USA Championship Game in 2021, and it is scheduled to do so again in 2022. And, on the TV show Coach, fictional Minnesota State won the 1993 National Championship there.

The University of Texas at San Antonio, a school in the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, what used to be known as "Division I-AA"), began playing there in 2011. It's been home to the Arena Football League's San Antonio Talons from 2012 to 2014, and the Alliance of American Football's San Antonio Commanders in 2019.

Setup for UTSA football

Mexico's national soccer team played 2 games there in 2004, another in 2014, and was beaten by the U.S. team in 2015, to date the only game the U.S. men's team has played there. The U.S. women's team also played a game there in 2015. Mexico played there again in 2017. Several Mexican club teams have played there.

The International Hockey League's San Antonio Dragons played a few home games there in the 1996-97 and 1997-98 season. Baseball has even been played there, Spring Training games by the Texas Rangers from 2013 to 2017, although the artificial turf field is bad, and the right field fence is only 272 feet from home plate. So, if San Antonio ever gets a Major League Baseball team, they will not be playing in the Alamodome.

The building remains a "white elephant." It’s beginning to look like the NFL will never put a team there, either moved or expansion. As I said, MLB isn't going to play there. And the current plan for a proposed Major League Soccer expansion team is for them to use a smaller, soccer-specific stadium.

(UPDATE: The United Football League's San Antonio Brahmas began play there in 2023.)

*

May 15, 1993 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Mélido Pérez outpitched Al Leiter. Mike Stanley went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Don Mattingly was injured, and did not play. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Chris Nabholz outpitched Bret Saberhagen.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Greg Maddux outpitched David West. Mark Lemke hit a home run for the Braves, and Darren Daulton hit one of the Phils. This result would be reversed in the National League Championship Series.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 14-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Greg Vaughn hit 2 home runs. Robin Yount, in his last season, went 0-for-2 with a walk.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Florida Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Ryan Bowen pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Rafael Palmeiro hit a home run in the bottom of the 11th to win it, driving Iván Rodríguez in ahead of him. The former was eventually proven to be a steroid cheat, and the latter has long been suspected of it.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 3-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Trevor Wilson (4 hits over 7 1/3rd innings), Dave Righetti (2/3rds) and Rod Beck (1) combined for a 4-hit shutout.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). George Brett, in his last season, went 1-for-4.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk.

There were 3 games in the NBA Playoffs:

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 96-90 at The Coliseum outside Cleveland in Richfield, Ohio. Michael Jordan scored 32 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 97-79 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns, 111-96 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

There was 1 game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

And the FA Cup Final was played at the old Wembley Stadium in London. North London team Arsenal and Yorkshire team Sheffield Wednesday played to a 1-1 draw. A replay was scheduled for the following Thursday, and Arsenal won it, 2-1. The rules were changed, so that, if the game ends in a draw, there would be extra time; if still level, penalty kicks.

April 6, 1992: The Metrodome's Treble

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

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

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

Metrodome basketball setup

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Corliss Williamson (left) and Nolan Richardson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

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

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

April 4, 1988: Kansas' "Hometown" Upset

Danny Manning (left) and Larry Brown

April 4, 1988: The NCAA Final Four was held in Kansas City to celebrate its 50th renewal (although not its 50th Anniversary, which would come the next season), going back to the city that had hosted the most Final Fours.

This was K.C.'s 10th. The 1st 9 were held at the Kansas City Municipal Arena. This one was held at the Kemper Arena, just over the Missouri side of the Kansas State Line, and now named the Hy-Vee Arena. Only once more, in Denver in 1990, was the Final Four was played at a building with less than 20,000 seats.

Opened in 1974, the arena was named for local banking executive Rufus Kemper, who donated $3.2 million of the $23 million it took to build the arena. In 2018, it was renamed the Hy-Vee Arena, for a Midwestern supermarket chain.

As part of the 50th Tournament celebrations, many of the sport's icons showed up for a pregame ceremony, including University of Kansas legends Wilt Chamberlain (lost the 1957 Final to North Carolina) and Clyde Lovellette (won the 1952 Final over St. John's); UCLA coach John Wooden and some of his stars, including Bill Walton (but not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was still active with the Los Angeles Lakers); and Howard Hobson, coach of the winners of the 1st Tournament in 1939, the University of Oregon. (Hobson lived until 1991.)

Having a virtual home-court advantage, the Kansas Jayhawks, based 40 miles to the west in Lawrence, pulled a big upset of the University of Oklahoma, 83-79. Danny Manning was the star for the Jayhawks, and Larry Brown, frequently mocked for how he never stayed at any coaching job for too long, won the National Championship, having previously lost the Final with UCLA against Louisville in 1980.

Brown would later coach the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 NBA title, and remains the only coach to win both an NCAA and an NBA title. Manning went on to play 15 seasons in the NBA, including under Brown on the Los Angeles Clippers and the Pistons. He later returned to Kansas as an assistant coach, and has been the head coach at the University of Tulsa, Wake Forest and Maryland.

*

April 4, 1988 was a Monday, as NCAA Tournament Finals tend to be. As they also tended to be in the late 20th Century, they coincided with Major League Baseball's Opening Day, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 10-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Dwight Gooden outpitched Dennis Martinez. Darryl Strawberry went 4-for-4 with 2 solo home runs and a walk. One of the homers was the longest ever hit at Le Stade Olympique, crashing into the right field roof, 535 feet from home plate.

Lenny Dykstra (3 RBIs), Kevin Elster and Kevin McReynolds (4-for-5 with 3 RBIs) also hit home runs. Former Met Hubie Brooks homered for the Expos.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jack Morris and Roger Clemens both went 9 innings, but the game went to a 10th, where Lee Smith gave up a home run to Alan Trammell. Mike Henneman mopped up for Morris. Matt Nokes also homered for the Tigers. For the Sox, Wade Boggs went 2-for-5, and Brady Anderson went 3-for-5.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 12-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. It was a bad omen for the O's: They lost their 1st 21 games of the season, an all-time record, and 107 games over the course of the season.

Teddy Higuera outpitched Mike Boddicker. Dale Sveum went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4 with 2 walks. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Jeff Treadway led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a walk, and eventually scored on a single by Kal Daniels. Joe Magrane was the starting pitcher for the Cards, and hit a home run, but did not figure in the decision.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 8-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ricky Horton outpitched Mike Witt. Ken Williams, later to be the general manager who built the White Sox' 2005 World Series winners, went 2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Jimmy Key outpitched Bret Saberhagen. George Brett went 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Pete O'Brien hit 2 homers, to make a winning pitcher out of Charlie Hough. He and the Indians' starter, Tom Candiotti, were both knuckleballers, but it would be Chris Codiroli who blew the lead for Candiotti.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Dave Dravecky outpitched Fernando Valenzuela. Brett Butler went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. The only Dodger run came on a home run by Steve Sax.

The Giants had won the National League Western Division the year before, and would win it the year after, and the Pennant, too. Not this year: The Dodgers went on to win the World Series.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Dave Stewart outpitched Mark Langston. José Canseco and Dave Henderson hit home runs for the A's.

* The New York Yankees opened the next day, April 5, beating the Minnesota Twins, 8-0 at Yankee Stadium. Rick Rhoden pitched a 3-hit shutout, beating Frank Viola. Mike Pagliarulo and Rickey Henderson hit home runs. Willie Randolph and Roberto Kelly each went 3-for-4. Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Don Mattingly went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates also opened the next day. The Pirates won, 5-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Dunne outpitched Shane Rawley. Barry Bonds hit his 13th career home run. There would be 749 more. Mike Schmidt hit his 531st career home run. There would be 17 more.

* The Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves also opened the next day. The Cubs won, 10-9 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Rick Sutcliffe and Rick Mahler started, but neither lasted into the 6th inning. Manny Trillo hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 13th inning, to score Vance Law with the winning run, making a winning pitcher of Mike Bielecki.

* And the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres also opened the next day. The Astros won, 6-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Mike Scott outpitched Ed Whitson. Glenn Davis hit a home run. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

Football was out of season. No games were played in the NBA. And the NHL was between its regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This was also the day that Evan Mecham of Arizona became the 1st Governor of any State to be removed through impeachment by his State's legislature. I have a separate entry for that event.

April 4, 1983: The N.C. State Miracle

April 4, 1983: The NCAA Basketball Tournament Final is held at the University Arena, a.k.a. "The Pit," on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. It caps one of the great underdog stories in the Tournament's history.

Coached by Long Island native and former Rutgers player Jim Valvano, North Carolina State University was not expected to have a great season in 1982-83. They finished the regular season 17-10. They had beaten teams then ranked Number 20, West Virginia in a holiday tournament at the Meadowlands; Number 19 Georgia Tech at home, the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh; and Number 3 North Carolina at home. But they had also lost away to Number 14 Louisville, Number 15 Missouri away; Number 2 Virginia at home; Number 3 North Carolina away; Wake Forest in Greensboro; Number 6 Memphis State at home; Maryland away; Notre Dame at home; Number 3 Virginia away; and Maryland at home.

But the Wolfpack won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament at The Omni in Atlanta. They beat Wake Forest, then Number 5 North Carolina in overtime, and then Number 2 Virginia in the Final. They went into the NCAA Tournament, and beat Pepperdine in double overtime, 69-67. They upset Number 6 Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), 71-70. They beat Utah, 75-56, and played Virginia one more time, beating the Number 4 Cavaliers, 63-62.

The Final Four was held at the University of New Mexico's University Arena in Albuquerque. The court is actually below ground level, giving the place the nickname "The Pit." N.C. State beat Number 18 Georgia, 67-60. That set up a Final with the University of Houston. They won their Semifinal, 94-81 over the University of Louisville.

Coached by Guy Lewis, who had taken UH to the Final Four (not that the name was in use yet) in 1967 and 1968, they featured center Akeem "the Dream" Olajuwon (who would later start calling himself "Hakeem") and guard Clyde "the Glide" Drexler. Their high-flying, slam-dunking style led Houston Post sportswriter Thomas Bonk to think of college fraternities, and he nicknamed them "Phi Slama Jama."

The Cougars went into the Final 31-2 and ranked Number 1, having lost only away to Syracuse and to then-Number 1 Virginia in a tournament in Tokyo.

N.C. State went in 25-10. The starting lineup was guards Sidney Lowe and Dereck Whittenburg, forwards Lorenzo Charles and Thurl Bailey, and center Cozell McQueen. Their close games got them nicknamed the "Cardiac Pack." But Houston were favored by 7 1/2 points, and their experience of having gotten to the Final Four the season before made them look like they should win.

Uncharacteristically, Drexler was called for 4 fouls in the 1st half, with a 5th foul meaning dismissal from the game. N.C. State led at halftime, 33-25. Whatever Lewis told his Cougars in the locker room, it worked, as they went on a 17-2 run to take the lead. But with the arena's odd combination of being nearly a mile above sea level and having its court underground, Olajuwon left the game multiple times to receive oxygen. That forced the Cougars to slow the pace of the game in order to protect their lead.

Tied 52-52 with 44 seconds remaining, and with no shot clock in college basketball (it would be adopted for the 1985-86 season), the Wolfpack held the ball for a final shot attempt. Houston's Benny Anders narrowly missed stealing the ball as the clock ticked down. Whittenburg got the deflected ball about 30 feet from the basket, and launched a shot. It didn't quite go in, but Charles got it as it started to go down, and dunked it just before the clock ran out.

Final score: North Carolina State 54, Houston 52. It was N.C. State's 2nd National Championship, after coach Norm Sloan led them to the 1974 title.

It was one of the most stunning upsets in the history of college basketball. Valvano ran onto the court, looking as if he wasn't sure where he was going. He later said he was "looking for somebody to hug." It was reminiscent of another team in red and white, English soccer team Sunderland A.F.C., whose manager Bob Stokoe ran around the touchline to celebrate their big upset win over Leeds United in the 1973 FA Cup Final.

Thurl Bailey went on to play 11 seasons in the NBA, with the Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves, before playing in Greece and Italy, and returning for 1 more season with the Jazz. Sidney Lowe played 4 seasons, for the Indiana Pacers, the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks, and was an original Charlotte Hornet in 1988-89 and an original Minnesota Timberwolf in 1989-90. He then went into coaching, including as head coach of the Timberwolves, and 5 seasons at N.C. State, including 2 20-win seasons, although he was unable to get them into the NCAA Tournament.

Lorenzo Charles played the 1985-86 season with the Hawks, before playing in Italy, Spain, Turkey, Sweden and Uruguay. Cozell McQueen played 3 games for the Pistons in 1987, and also played in France, Italy and Spain. Dereck Whittenburg went right into coaching, including the head jobs at New York City schools Wagner (getting them into the 2003 NCAA Tournament) and Fordham, and 3 stints as an assistant at his Alma Mater, before returning to N.C. State as an assistant athletic director. Sophomore guard Terry Gannon went on to become a renowned sportscaster. And freshman guard Ernie Meyers became a broadcaster for N.C. State.

Valvano had previously coached Iona College into the NCAA Tournament in 1979 and 1980. He went on to get N.C. State back into the Elite Eight in 1985 and 1986. In 1990, an NCAA investigation cleared him of wrongdoing, but some of his players had broken rules, and it reflected badly on him. He was forced to resign, and titled his memoir Valvano: They Gave Me a Lifetime Contract, and Then They Declared Me Dead.

Nevertheless, Dave Didion, the NCAA investigator handling Valvano's case, wrote a personal letter to Valvano, saying, among other things, "If I had a son, I would feel comfortable with you as his coach and encourage him to learn from you."

Valvano was hired as a college basketball analyst by ESPN, but developed cancer, and died in 1993. The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in his name, and he was posthumously elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Lorenzo Charles died in 2011. As of April 4, 2022, the rest of the '83 Wolfpack are still alive.

Over the 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons, the University of Houston went 88-16, including 71-12 in the regular season. The Cougars won the Southwest Conference title in 1983 and 1984. They made the NCAA Tournament Final Four all 3 seasons, and the Final in the last 2. With their "Phi Slamma Jamma" style, they did something even the Houston teams of Elvin Hayes in 1967 and '68 couldn't do: They made basketball cool to the football-crazy State of Texas.

But they couldn't take the final step. In 1982, they lost the Semifinal to North Carolina. In 1983, they lost this epic final to N.C. State. And in 1984, they lost the Final to Georgetown. It would take another 37 years before they reached the Final Four again. In between, the Houston Rockets made 3 NBA Finals, winning 2; the Dallas Mavericks made 2, winning 1; the San Antonio Spurs made 6, winning 5; and the University of Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor University each made a Final Four, with Tech reaching the 2019 Final and Baylor beating Houston in the 2021 Semifinal before beating Gonzaga to become the 1st Texas-based team to win a National Championship since Texas-El Paso (UTEP, then known as Texas Western) did so in 1966.

UPDATE: Houston reached the Final in 2025, losing to Florida. 

*

April 4, 1983 was a Monday. Ben Gordon, who helped the University of Connecticut win the 2004 National Championship, was born that day. So was actress Amanda Righetti.

As NCAA Tournament Finals tended to be in that era, it was also Opening Day for Major League Baseball, and there were 4 games that day:

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Larry Gura outpitched Dennis Martinez. George Brett went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 2 RBIs. Willie Aikens and Jerry Martin also hit home runs for the Royals. For the O's, Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr. each went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Despite this defeat, the Orioles went on to win the World Series.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Dave Concepción singled Eddie Milner home with the winning run in the bottom of the 8th, off Steve Bedrosian, who had relieved Phil Niekro. This made Mario Soto the winning pitcher. Johnny Bench, in what turned out to be his last season as a player, went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Ron Oester and Gary Redus hit home runs for the Reds, Chris Chambliss for the Braves.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Mike Richardt and Larry Parrish hit home runs. Mike Smithson started for the Rangers, but John Butcher was the winning pitcher, in relief, defeating LaMarr Hoyt. Despite this, Hoyt went on to win the American League Cy Young Award, and the White Sox won the AL Western Division title, before losing the AL Championship Series to the Orioles, who then beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.

* And the Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-5 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rick Sutcliffe outpitched Rick Langford. Andre Thornton hit a home run for the Tribe, while Toby Harrah went 4-for-6, but with no RBIs. Kelvin Moore homered for the A's. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.

The NHL was between the end of its regular season and the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There was 1 game in the NBA that night: The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 121-111 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. David Thompson, the hero of N.C. State's 1974 National Championship, led all scorers with 31 points.

And there was 1 game in the USFL, the United States Football League: The Denver Gold beat the Michigan Panthers, 29-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

April 3, 1989: Steve Fisher, "A Michigan Man"

April 3, 1989: The University of Michigan, led by Glen Rice and Rumeal Robinson, and with head coach Steve Fisher still officially interim (or "caretaker" as they'd say in soccer), beats Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime, to win the NCAA Tournament at the Kingdome in Seattle.

Bill Frieder had graduated from Michigan in 1964, and was a teammate of the man who, to that point, was their best player ever, Cazzie Russell, who would lead them to the NCAA Tournament Final the next season. Frieder became an assistant coach at Michigan in 1973, and head coach in 1981. He led them to Big Ten Conference titles in 1985 and 1986, and a 24-7 record going into the "Big Dance." He seemed to be, to borrow one of the favorite phrases of head football coach and athletic director Glenn "Bo" Schembechler, "A Michigan Man," through and through.

But just before the NCAA Tournament, Frieder got an offer from Arizona State University. It was for considerably more money. And, given that basketball is a Winter sport, the Phoenix metropolitan area would have considerably better weather than the Detroit metropolitan area. He accepted the job, then told the media he would be leaving Michigan after the Tournament.

No, he wouldn't, Schembechler decided: He would be leaving immediately. Schembechler fired him, promoted assistant coach Steve Fisher to be head coach, and said, "A Michigan Man will be coaching Michigan, not an Arizona State man."

For the record, Schembechler himself was a native of Barberton, Ohio, part of the Cleveland metropolitan area, and a graduate of Miami University of Ohio. He did not become head football coach at Michigan until 1969, when he was 40 years old, and had never previously held a job at that University, or anywhere else in the State of Michigan. Regardless of how many football games he had won, and regardless of Michigan's status as a football State first, Bill Frieder was more of a Michigan Man than Bo Schembechler was.

Bo was a hypocrite. But he was also the man with the power, and, rightly or wrongly, it was his call.

Steve Fisher? He was a native of Herrin, Illinois, in the southern "Little Egypt" part of that State. He had graduated from Western Illinois, and became Frieder's assistant in 1982 -- meaning that he got his 1st job at the University of Michigan at age 37, also younger than Bo.

Given that UM is a football school first, and a basketball school second at most, the switcheroo wouldn't have been a disaster, but could have been embarrassing. Instead, Fisher guided the Wolverines to wins over Xavier and South Alabama, then to upsets over North Carolina and Virginia to get into the Final Four, which would be held at the Kingdome in Seattle. In the Semifinal on April 1, against fellow Big Ten team Illinois, Michigan won, 83-81. They were in the Final.

For Michigan, Glen Rice scored 31 points, and Rumeal Robinson scored 21. For The Hall, John Morton scored 35 to lead all scorers on the night. Watching the game on CBS at the time, I thought Michigan were dirty, and the refs let them get away with it. Looking it up, over 30 years later, I see that the Wolverines were only called for 16 fouls, the Pirates for 23.

The game went to overtime. Seton Hall led, 79–76, with less than a minute remaining, when Terry Mills hit a turnaround 11-footer to cut the Seton Hall lead to 1. After a defensive stop, the Pirates' Gerald Greene was controversially called for a foul on Robinson with 3 seconds left. Robinson made both free throws, and, after Seton Hall's last-second shot came up short, Michigan had its 1st National Championship.

To this day, it's the Wolverines' only title. They've also lost title games in 1965, '76, '92, '93, 2013 and '18. It's the closest any New Jersey team has come to winning the National Championship, and Hall fans still think the refs gave Michigan the game.

Seton Hall coach P.J. (Peter John) Carlesimo -- part of the Big East Conference's Italian wing with Lou Carnesecca of St. John's, Rollie Massimino of Villanova and Rick Pitino of Providence -- got the Pirates to the Big East Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight in 1991, the Big East regular-season title and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1992, and both the Big East regular-season and Tournament titles in 1993.

In 1994, he left to take the head coaching job with the Portland Trail Blazers, losing in the 1st Round of the NBA Playoffs 3 straight seasons. He then moved to the Golden State Warriors, where he never made the Playoffs, and became best known for getting choked in practice by All-Star Latrell Sprewell. He was the coach of the Seattle SuperSonics in 2008, when they moved to become the Oklahoma City Thunder. He last coached in 2013, in the Nets' 1st season in Brooklyn.

Fisher remained in charge in Ann Arbor through the 1997 season. He guided the Wolverines into their "Fab Five" era of 1991-93, reaching the Final under dubious circumstances, to the Elite Eight in 1994, and the NIT title in 1997. Although Michigan's 1991-92 and 1992-93 achievements were later vacated by the NCAA, Fisher himself was cleared of any wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the University chose to distance itself from the scandal, and fired him.

The "Michigan Man" then coached at San Diego State from 1999-2017, getting them from 5023 in his 1st season to 21-12 in his 3rd. He won the Mountain West Conference title in 2006, '11, '12 and '15, and got them to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 n 2011 and 2014.

Bill Frieder, the not-a-Michigan Man, coached at Arizona State through the 1997 season, never winning a Conference Championship, regular-season or Tournament, and only once getting to the Sweet 16, in 1995, and no further.

As of April 3, 2022, Frieder, Fisher and Carlesimo are all still alive.

*

April 3, 1989 was a Monday. To avoid TV competition, the NBA scheduled no games for this day. The NHL was between the end of the regular season and the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Football was out of season. For Major League Baseball, it was Opening Day, and these 7 games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4 at Shea Stadium. Dwight Gooden went 7 innings for the win, while the Cards' Joe Magrane didn't get out of the 4th inning. Howard Johnson, Darryl Strawberry and Kevin Elster each had 3 hits, 1 of Johnson's being a home run. All of the Cards' runs were driven in by Pedro Guerrero, including on a home run.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Craig Worthington singled Mickey Tettleton home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Roger Clemens had started for the Sox, getting a home run from Mike Greenwell and 2-for-4 with a walk from Wade Boggs. Cal Ripken hit a home run for the O's.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Robin Yount went 0-for-4. Paul Molitor was injured, and did not play.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 0-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mark McGwire went 2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBIs.