December 23, 1995: Snowballs at the Meadowlands

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

There were 12 games played in the NBA:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There were 11 games played in the NHL:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 29, 1992: The Dennis Byrd Game

November 29, 1992: The New York Jets lose 23-7 to the Kansas City Chiefs at Giants Stadium – and nobody cares. The reason is the injury to Jet defensive tackle Dennis Byrd, the result of a freak accident on the field.

Dennis DeWayne Byrd was born on October 5, 1966 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He grew up in Mustang, Oklahoma, played defensive end at the University of Tulsa (the Golden Hurricane), and was drafted by the New York Jets in the 2nd round of the 1989 NFL Draft.

On November 29, 1992, Byrd was enjoying a modest, not particularly noteworthy career when he took the field against the Kansas City Chiefs at Giants Stadium. Byrd and teammate Scott Mersereau attempted to sack Chiefs quarterback Dave Krieg, but Krieg got away, resulting in a collision between the Jet defenders. Byrd's helmet hit Mersereau straight in the chest, compressing Byrd's neck and breaking a bone in his neck the C-5 veretbra.

This was 1 year and 1 day after Detroit Lions guard Mike Utley had broken his neck in a game, and just 3 days after an emotional Thanksgiving Day game in which Utley guided his wheelchair out to midfield and served as the Lions' Honorary Captain.

Like Utley, Byrd was paralyzed from the neck down as a result of his injury. Utley took years before he could even take a few steps unaided, and, essentially, remained in a wheelchair, although he didn't let that stop him from getting around and raising money for spinal cord research.

Byrd was considerably luckier: With intense physical therapy, he was able to walk to midfield for the Jets' season opener on September 5, 1993, and serve as Honorary Captain. In the meantime, every Jet helmet had a sticker with his uniform number, 90 over an ichthys -- a "Jesus fish," indicative of Byrd's faith. The 1st game after his injury was against the Buffalo Bills, and some of their players wore the logo on their helmets as well.

The Jets announced an annual Most Inspirational Player Award, to be named for him. They also announced that his Number 90 would never be reissued, and on October 28, 2012, it was formally retired.

Byrd was married to Angela Hales, and they had 4 children. He wrote Rise and Walk: The Trial and Triumph of Dennis Byrd. It was made into a TV-movie starring Peter Berg. He coached on high school football staffs in Oklahoma, at Owasso High School and Lincoln Christian School in Tulsa, the latter naming its football stadium for him. He also became a motivational speaker. 

On October 15, 2016, Byrd was driving his 2004 Hummer H2 southbound on Oklahoma State Route 88, between Claremore and Oologah. A 17-year-old kid (whose name, legally, could not be released) from Claremore was driving a 2000 Ford Explorer, and it veered into the oncoming lane, and hit Byrd's Hummer head-on. Byrd was dead on the scene, just past his 50th birthday.

*

November 29, 1992 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The Washington Redskins beat the Phoenix Cardinals, 41-3 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the New England Patriots, 34-0 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Miami Dolphins, 24-13 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Chicago Bears, 27-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 21-9 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Buffalo Bills, 16-13 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 19-14 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 27-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Los Angeles Rams, 31-17 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The San Francisco 49ers bear the Philadelphia Eagles, 20-14 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* Three days earlier, on Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants, 30-3 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* Also on Thanksgiving, the Houston Oilers beat the Detroit Lions, 24-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* And the night after this, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos, 16-13 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

Baseball was out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, 101-91 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Atlanta Hawks, 108-101 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Golden State Warriors, 126-102 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-92 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks, 123-95 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Detroit Pistons, 99-87 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 108-99 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Michael Jordan led all scorers on the day with 35 points.

There was 1 game in the NHL: The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Ottawa Civic Center (now the TD Place Arena).

November 27, 1994: Dan Marino's Fake Spike

November 27, 1994: The New York Jets are playing the Miami Dolphins, at Giants Stadium, in the Meadowlands, in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. At the time, Bill Belichick was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Tom Brady was in high school, the New England Patriots were 5-6, and the idea that the Pats would one day be considered the Jets' arch-rivals was ridiculous.

The Dolphins were the Jets' arch-rivals, beyond any question. While the Jets' one and only Super Bowl appearance, their win in Super Bowl III, was at the Orange Bowl, the Dolphins' former home field, the Dolphins had dominated the head-to-head matchups. Between 1970 and 1994, the Jets were a pathetic 14-28-1 against the Dolphins.

From 1983 onward, a big reason for this domination was the quarterbacking of Dan Marino. He set several NFL career passing records, most of them long since broken. He would not have set so many if he wasn't playing the Jets twice as season as an AFC Eastern Division opponent.

Marino arrived the season after the Dolphins had beaten the Jets in an AFC Championship Game, and, as the Jets' "New York Sack Exchange" defense of the early 1980s got older, and head coach Don Shula kept the Dolphins a consistent winner (although making only 1 Super Bowl themselves through Marino's 17-season tenure), Marino was able to fluff up his stats in his 2 annual contests with Gang Green.

Going into this game, the Jets were 6-5, the Dolphins 7-4 and had lost their last 2 games. A Jet win would have created a tie for the AFC East lead, and, at the rate the Dolphins were going, the Jets would have to be favored to win the Division.

The Jets led 17-0 with 12:58 left in the 3rd quarter, and extended that lead to 24-6 with 3:39 left in the quarter. But the Dolphins came back. Marino threw 3 touchdown passes to Mark Ingram, getting a 2-point conversion on one (in this 1st season in which the NFL used the 2-pointer).

It was still 24-21 Jets with 42 seconds left to play. Marino threw to Ingram, who was tackled at the Jets' 8-yard line. Everybody in the stadium, it seemed, was expecting Marino to spike the ball after the next snap, to stop the clock, to try to get a little closer, and then use the Dolphins' last time-out to get the field goal unit on the field. NBC announcer Paul Maguire said he was expecting that. And as the Dolphins hurried up to get their formation set up, Marino was motioning that he was going to spike the ball.

When the ball was snapped with 25 seconds to go, the Dolphins line barely blocked at all, as if Marino really was going to spike the ball. And he only stepped back to the 12-yard line. And then he threw the ball, into the near right corner of the end zone. Ingram was there, covered by not especially well by Aaron Glenn, and he caught it. Touchdown. The 4th Marino-to-Ingram touchdown of the game. Dolphins 28, Jets 24.

The fans went wild. Given that New York City has people from all over the world, and that television coverage in the 1970s when the Jets were bad meant that a lot of Baby Boomers became Dolphin fans (and Pittsburgh Steeler fans, and Dallas Cowboy fans, and Oakland Raider fans), it wasn't that surprising that a lot of fans inside Giants Stadium cheered wildly after the play. Some of them may even have been Jet fans, excited over seeing a great moment, before reality sunk in and they realized that they had lost. (There were still 22 seconds on the clock, but quarterback Boomer Esiason could only get the Jets to the Dolphins' 35-yard line before time ran out.)

For Marino, perhaps the best pure passer the sport has ever known, but who lost his only Super Bowl appearance (XIX, 1985, to the San Francisco 49ers), it is his most memorable moment. For the Jets, it is just one of many moments that suggest that they are, if not the worst franchise in NFL history, then, perhaps, the dumbest.

The Dolphins finished the season 10-6, and beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Playoffs, before losing to the San Diego Chargers. The Jets didn't win another game, falling to 6-10. Team owner Leon Hess fired the head coach -- Pete Carroll, who went on to win 2 National Championships at USC and a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks.

Hess then hired former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Rich Kotite, saying, "I'm 80 years old. I want results now!" He got them: Kotite went 3-13 in 1995, and 1-15 in 1996, quitting before he could be fired. From the fake spike to the last game of the Kotite experiment, the Jets went 4-33, as poor a stretch as the NFL has ever known.

Hess hired Bill Parcells, who had rebuilt the Giants and the Patriots, and he did the same, getting the Jets to the AFC Championship Game in 2 years. Then Hess died, with results, if incomplete ones. That's been the story of the Jets since January 12, 1969: Incomplete results.

*

November 27, 1994 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 21-19 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-21 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Houston Oilers, 34-10 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The New England Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts, 12-10 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 20-17 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Michael Husted kicked a 22-yard field goal to win it in overtime.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Cincinnati Bengals 15-13 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Arizona Cardinals, 19-16 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. Kevin Butler kicked a 27-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in overtime.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Los Angeles Rams, 31-17 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 21-3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 10-9 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* Three days earlier, on Thanksgiving, the Detroit Lions beat the Buffalo Bills, 35-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* Also on Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers, 42-31 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints, 35-14 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Baseball was in the off-season. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out do, so the season didn't start until January 20, 1995. But there were 4 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Phoenix Suns, 115-110 at the American West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Golden State Warriors, 106-91 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings, 94-89 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Indiana pacers, 99-89 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

November 25, 1976: Rutgers Completes Its 2nd Undefeated Football Season

November 25, 1976, Thanksgiving Day: Rutgers University, which played and won the 1st college football game in 1869, completes an undefeated football season. This followed, earlier in the year, the school's basketball team nearly doing the same, going 31-0 and reaching the NCAA Final Four, before losing. Rutgers had previously gone 9-0 in 1961.

By no means were they a "big-time" college football team in those days. Rutgers Stadium, built in 1938 in Piscataway, Middlesex County, New Jersey, across the Raritan River from the school's main campus in New Brunswick, seated only 23,000 people, with grassy berms on either side of the north stand that could fill up with people and raise capacity to about 30,000. And they were playing other small Northeastern schools as well.

Here's the slate: 

* 1-0: September 11, beat the U.S. Naval Academy, 13-3 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* 2-0: September 18, beat Bucknell University, 19-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. That stadium would later be renamed for Bucknell's most famous graduate, Christy Mathewson, 1 of the 1st 5 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

* 3-0: September 25, beat Princeton University, 17-0 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey. Not only were Princeton their arch-rivals, but they were also their opponents in the 1st college game in 1869. (Rutgers won that, 6 goals to 4.)

* 4-0: October 2, beat Cornell University, 21-14 at Rutgers Stadium.

* 5-0: October 9, beat the University of Connecticut, a.k.a. "UConn," 38-9 at Rutgers Stadium.

* 6-0: October 16, beat Lehigh University, 28-21 at Taylor Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

* 7-0: October 23, beat Columbia University at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. This was the 1st college game played at the Meadowlands, which is closer to Columbia's campus than to Rutgers'.

* 8-0: October 30, beat the University of Massachusetts, a.k.a. "UMass," 24-7 at Rutgers Stadium.

* 9-0: November 6, beat the University of Louisville, 34-0 at Rutgers Stadium.

* 10-0: November 13, beat Tulane University, 29-20 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. This was the 1st game Rutgers had ever played indoors.

* 11-0: November 25, beat Colgate University, 17-9 at Giants Stadium.

Like Rutgers, Navy was not what it once was, but did join NCAA Division I-A, now known as the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). So did Louisville and Tulane.

The Ivy League, including '76 Rutgers opponents Princeton, Cornell and Columbia, joined Division I-AA, now known as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). So did '76 Rutgers opponents Bucknell, Lehigh, UMass and Colgate. So did UConn, although they eventually moved up to D I-A/FBS.

This schedule was so lightly regarded that only after Week 10 was Rutgers ranked by the Associated Press' poll, Number 19. And they only got up to Number 17, because they turned down an invite to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, thinking they would get an invite to a bigger bowl, but that invite never game. And so, 11-0 they remained.

And let's be honest: If there had been a Big East Conference, as Rutgers eventually joined in 1991, RU would have been slaughtered by the University of Pittsburgh, who went 12-0 and won the National Championship, led by Heisman Trophy winner and eventual Dallas Cowboys Hall-of-Famer Tony Dorsett.

Bret Kosup passed for 1,098 yards, Glen Kehler rushed for 764, and Mark Twitty had 514 receiving yards. The head coach was Frank Burns. No, not the incompetent right-wing surgeon then being played by Larry Linville on the TV show M*A*S*H. 

This Frank Burns was a native of Roselle Park, Union County, New Jersey. He had been a quarterback for Rutgers from 1945 to 1948, was an assistant coach "On the Banks of the Old Raritan" in 1949 and '50, served as head coach at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1951 and '52, coached at Rutgers again in 1955 and '56, spent 4 years as head coach at Chatham High School in Morris County, New Jersey, returned to Rutgers as an assistant in 1961, was named head coach in 1973, and remained through 1983, the early years of Rutgers' attempts to become "bigger time" in football. His career record was 84-52-2, 78-43-1 at Rutgers. He died in 2012, at age 84.

*

As I said, November 25, 1976 was Thanksgiving Day, therefore a Thursday. There was 1 other significant college football game played that day, instead of on the Friday or Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend: Before 75,000 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, and millions more watching in prime time on ABC, Number 11 Texas A&M beat arch-rival Texas 27-3. Texas would rebound the next year, led by Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell, and win the Southwest Conference, and nearly the National Championship.

And there was a relatively minor college game, not a rivalry game, in the Mid-American Conference: Kent State beat Northern Illinois, 42-0 at Dix Stadium in the Cleveland suburb of Kent, Ohio.

There were 2 NFL games played that day:

* The Detroit Lions beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-14 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. In a losing effort for the Bills, O.J. Simpson rushed for 273 yards, a new single-game NFL record. I have a separate entry for this event.

Walter Payton would break that record the next season. O.J., of course, would go on to have a very different kind of "record."

* And the Dallas Cowboys beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 19-14 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

And Kent State beat Northern Illinois, 42-0 at Dix Stadium in the Cleveland suburb of Kent, Ohio.

One more note from football on this day: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was born.

Major League Baseball was in its off-season. In recent times, the NBA and the NHL have avoided playing on Thanksgiving, so as not to compete for TV ratings with the NFL. But, this time, there were 3 NBA games:

* The Cleveland Cavaliers, beat the Detroit Pistons, 111-105 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Jazz, 105-99 at the Superdome in New Orleans. In defeat, "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 35 points.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Washington Bullets, 104-98 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

And there were 2 NHL games. The New York Islanders lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. And the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

And there were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The New England Whalers beat the Birmingham Bulls, 5-3 at the Jefferson County Civic Center in Birmingham. And the Quebec Nordiques beat the Indianapolis Racers, 5-0 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

This was also the day of the last concert by The Band, filmed for the documentary The Last Waltz. I have a separate entry for that event.

November 19, 1978: The Miracle at the Meadowlands

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 23, 2000: The New York Jets' Monday Night Miracle

October 23, 2000: Once again, the New York Jets had the indignity of playing a home game in a venue that was named after another team, Giants Stadium, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey.

They were playing the Miami Dolphins, then considered to be their arch-rivals. (The New England Patriots would, over the next few years, replace the Dolphins as such.) Both teams came in with 5-1 records, so this would decide, for at least a week, 1st place in the AFC Eastern Division. And the game was on national television, on ABC Monday Night Football.

At least, for the 1st time since 1982, they would be facing the Dolphins without Dan Marino as their starting quarterback. Marino threw 420 touchdown passes in his career, and it seemed like half of them were against the Jets. As it turned out, it was 72, still the most by a single quarterback against a single team, and 17 percent of his total, or 1 out of every 6.

The Jets no longer had to deal with Marino. It didn't seem to matter: With a little more than 3 minutes gone in the 2nd quarter, the Dolphins led, 20-0. The Jets got a touchdown in the last minute of the half when Vinny Testaverde threw to Wayne Chrebet, but Jay Fiedler led the Dolphins downfield in enough time to get a field goal from Olindo Mare. At the end of the 3rd quarter, Lamar Smith ran the ball in for a touchdown, and the Dolphins led, 30-7.

Given how bad the traffic can be at the Meadowlands when there's a full house -- and it was, with 78,389 fans on hand -- thousands of fans gave up and left early. What they may have heard on their radios as they were going back toward the Lincoln Tunnel or down the New Jersey Turnpike or State Route 3 may have made them wish they had stayed.

Some fans stayed and, recognizing that it was an off-day in the World Series, with the 2 New York teams playing each other, Jet fans, traditionally more favorable to the Mets than the Yankees, started a "Let's go, Yankees!" chant during the 3rd quarter. This was quickly countered by a "Let's go, Mets!" chant.

With 13:49 left in regulation, Testaverde threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, and, at 30-13, it looks like little more than a consolation score. But Testaverde put another touchdown drive together, and, with 9:51 left, passed to Jermaine Wiggins for a touchdown, the extra point making it 30-20. Suddenly, the Jets had a chance.

Testaverde got the Jets close again, and, with 5:43 left, John Hall kicked a 34-yard field goal. It was 30-23. The Jets were now one score away. Their defense held the Dolphins to a three-and-out, and, with 3:55 to go, Testaverde threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Chrebet. Extra point by Hall. Tie ballgame, 30-30.

But Fiedler struck quickly -- maybe a little too quickly. With 3:33 left, he threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Leslie Shepherd, and it was 37-30 Dolphins. But that left plenty of time for an old pro like Testaverde, who was about to turn 37. With 42 seconds left, he called a tackle-eligible play, and John "Jumbo" Elliott, his fellow Long Islander, all 6-foot-7 and 308 pounds of him, caught a 3-yard touchdown pass. With 30 points in the 4th quarter, the Jets had sent this game to overtime.

In overtime, Marcus Coleman intercepted Fiedler, allowing Testaverde to get the Jets within field goal range. With 8:13 left in overtime, Hall attempted a 40-yard field goal. It was good, and the Jets won, 40-37. It became known as the Monday Night Miracle.

When Monday Night Football celebrated its 30th Anniversary that season, this game -- possibly because it was so recent, or possibly because a lot of New Yorkers voted -- was voted the greatest game the show had ever aired. It may be the greatest regular-season moment in Jet history, with their win in Super Bowl III in 1969 topping it, of course.

*

October 23, 2000 was a Monday. As I said, it was an off-day in the World Series. The Yankees then led, 2-0, and would win the Series in 5 games.

The NBA season didn't start for another 8 days. But there was 1 NHL game that night, and it was between local rivals, on the other coast: The Los Angeles Kings beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 5-4 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now named the Honda Center). Ziggy Palffy scored the winning goal with 3:56 left in overtime.

October 10, 1976: Giants Stadium Opens

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And 3 games were played in the World Hockey Association:

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

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

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

And hockey star Shane Doan was born on this day.

October 1, 1977: Pelé's Testimonial

October 1, 1977: Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a.k.a. Pelé, the greatest soccer player who ever lived, plays his last game at a sold-out Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It is his testimonial, and he plays the 1st half for the New York Cosmos, with whom he recently won the North American Soccer League Championship, and scores a goal; and the 2nd half for Santos, for whom he starred so long in Brazil's São Paulo State. The Cosmos win, 2-1.

When it's over, he stands at midfield with a microphone, and asks the crowd, "Please, say with me, three times: Love! Love! Love!" They do.

President Jimmy Carter attended. So did Muhammad Ali, the Heavyweight Champion of the World, who frequently called himself "the Greatest of All Time." This time, he says, "Now, I understand: He is greater than me."

*

October 1, 1977 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 10-7 at Yankee Stadium. Elrod Hendricks, briefly a Yankee in a long career mostly with the Baltimore Orioles, hit his only home run in Pinstripes. Reggie Jackson drew a walk in his only plate appearances, and was taken out for a pinch-runner.

The rain that fell on Pelé's testimonial at the Meadowlands comes down much harder on The Bronx, as the Yankees sit through a 2-hour, 42-minute rain delay. But the Yankees clinched the American League Eastern Division title anyway, because...

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. The Sox had eliminated the O's from the race the night before, and the Birds returned the favor on this day. Both teams would end up 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

* A doubleheader was split at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The New York Mets won the 1st game, 8-4. The St. Louis Cardinals won the 2nd game, 4-2. Lou Brock went 2-for-8 with an RBI over the 2 games.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Expos scored 3 runs in the top of the 12th inning, and the Phillies could only come back with 2 in the bottom of the 12th. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-2 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-3, and did not finish the game. Johnny Bench did not start the game, and went 0-for-2.

* A doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The expansion Seattle Mariners won the opener, 5-3. The Chicago White Sox won the nightcap, 6-1.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Rod Carew went 3-for-5 with an RBI, to raise his batting average to .386. He would finish the next day at .388, after having been above .400 in early September. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-2 with a walk before being replaced by a pinch-runner. The Yankees would beat the Royals for the AL Pennant.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers would beat the Phillies for the National League Pennant, but lose the World Series to the Yankees.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 13-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Cleveland Indians and the expansion Toronto Blue Jays were rained out at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. They played a doubleheader the next day. The Jays won the 1st game, 2-1 in 11 innings. The Indians won the 2nd game, 5-4.

* The Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. They played a doubleheader the next day. The Pirates swept, 5-1 and 3-2.

There were also college football games played on this day, including the following:

* Number 1 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 24-9 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma won the Big Eight title. 

* The night before, Number 2 Southern California beat Washington State, 41-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 3 Michigan beat Number 5 Texas A&M, 41-3 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* Number 4 Penn State were upset by Kentucky, 24-20 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Number 6 Ohio State beat Southern Methodist (SMU), 35-7 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* Number 7 Colorado beat Army, 31-0 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* Number 8 Texas beat Rice, 72-15 at Memorial Stadium in Austin. While the Longhorns had running back Earl Campbell, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy, the big story in this game was placekicker and punter Russell Erxleben, who set a record with a 67-yard field goal. The record would be tied twice within the next year and change, but never broken, partly because kicking tees have been banned.

Erxleben remains the only punter to be a 3-time All-American, and played 5 seasons for the New Orleans Saints, plus 1 as a "scab" for the Detroit Lions during the 1987 strike. He went into the securities business, and has twice served time in prison for fraud. His son, Ryan Erxleben, went into the family business -- punting, that is, not securities (fraudulent or otherwise), at Texas Tech, although he didn't make it to the NFL. 

* Number 9 Florida were upset by Louisiana State, 36-14 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 10 Alabama beat Georgia, 18-10 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 'Bama won the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 11 Nebraska beat Indiana, 31-13 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 12 Arkansas beat Texas Christian (TCU), 42-6 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Arkansas went on to lose to Texas, costing them the Southwest Conference title, but beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

* Number 14 Notre Dame beat Michigan State, 16-6 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Number 20 Arizona State were upset by Missouri, 15-0 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The University of Washington lost to Minnesota, 19-17 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. But Washington rebounded to win the Pacific-8 title, and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

* Duke beat Navy, 28-16 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

* Columbia beat Pennsylvania, 30-18 at Baker Field in Manhattan.

* Among New Jersey's teams, Rutgers beat Cornell, 30-14 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York. And Princeton lost to Brown, 10-7 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Thode Island.

Also on this day, the St. Louis Blues retired the Number 3 of Bob Gassoff, a defenseman who'd been with them since 1973. The preceding May 27, he was killed in a motorcycle accident in Gray Summit, Missouri. He'd been racing motorcycles with friends at a barbecue at the home of teammate Garry Unger, but had driven off the property, wasn't wearing a helmet, and was hit by a car. The native of Quesnel, British Columbia was only 26.

In high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick High School in Central New Jersey, beat Madison Central, 28-0 at Vince Lombardi Field in Old Bridge. Madison Central is now named Old Bridge.

And in English soccer, Arsenal of North London beat West Ham United of East London, 3-0 at Highbury in North London.

July 14, 1985: The Last USFL Game

Kelvin Bryant carrying the ball for the Stars

July 14, 1985: The Baltimore Stars defeat the Oakland Invaders, 28-24, in the United States Football League Championship Game, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (the Meadowlands). The Stars' head coach was Jim Mora Sr. On that night, it was okay to talk to him about Playoffs.

It rained. In 49 years of Super Bowls, the NFL has gotten rain only once, and it wasn't that hard. Indeed, there hasn't been truly bad weather for an NFL Championship Game since the Ice Bowl in 1967 -- for a true world championship game since the 1958 Giants-Colts thriller.

No one knows it at the time, but this will be the last game ever played under the USFL banner. The league's team owners, and its Commissioner, Harry Usher, were bullied into announcing they were switching to a Fall schedule for 1986, to directly compete with the NFL, by the owner of the team in the New York market, the New Jersey Generals. He had already led an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL.

On July 29, 1986, a federal grand jury found in favor of the USFL in its antitrust suit against the NFL. However, the USFL was only awarded $1.00 in damages This was tripled to $3.00 under antitrust law, and, with interest, it eventually became $3.76. Let me spell that out: Three dollars and seventy-six cents.

The jury foreman explained that, while they agreed the NFL was a monopoly, they could not agree on the size of the award. As a result, the jury misinterpreted the law and decided on the $1 award, feeling it would be changed by the presiding judge. However, the judge was not able to increase the amount once it was stipulated by the jury. As a result, the league suspended operations a day later, never to return.

So the Generals' owner sank the entire league, mainly to feed his own ego. For the first time, he looked like an idiot in front of the entire country. His name was Donald Trump.

*

July 14, 1985 was a Sunday. Darrelle Revis, Hall of Fame defensive back, was born on this day.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 7-1 at Yankee Stadium. It was not quite a rematch of the 1978 World Series: Ron Guidry went the distance for the win, while Burt Hooton, a Dodger in 1978, didn't get out of the 2nd inning. Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk. Don Mattingly went 0-for-3 with a walk. Rickey Henderson did not play.

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 1-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Dwight Gooden pitched a 5-hit shutout, striking out 11, to outpitch Bob Knepper. The only run came in the top of the 8th inning, when Kelvin Chapman grounded to 3rd, leading to a botched double play that allowed Ronn Reynolds (backup catcher to Gary Carter) to score.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Tom Seaver outpitched Mike Boddicker, for his 297th career win. Ozzie Guillén, later to manage the White Sox to the World Championship, went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. George Brett went 2-for-5.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Cincinnati native Dave Parker went 2-for-5, including singling César Cedeño home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Reds player-manager Pete Rose went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Walt Terrell got into the 8th inning having allowed just 1 hit, a double by Tom Brunansky in the 7th, outpitching Frank Viola, but he walked 2 batters. His manager, Sparky Anderson, who got the nickname "Captain Hook" for being so quick to remove, or "hook," pitchers while managing in Cincinnati, hooked Terrell for Willie Hernández, who was perfect the rest of the way.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Reggie Jackson went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Rod Carew went 1-for-2 with a walk before leaving the game with an injury.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Robin Yount went 2-for-5. Paul Molitor went 3-for-5.

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

April 20, 1996: The New York Red Bulls' "Curse of Caricola"

Left to right: Eddie Firmani, Roberto Donadoni, Nicola Caricola

April 20, 1996: The New York/New Jersey MetroStars play their 1st home game, at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It doesn't go so well: They lose 1-0 to the New England Revolution, on an own goal in the 87th minute, by Nicola Caricola.

The MetroStars' 1st manager was Eddie Firmani, a South African of Italian descent, who had played as a forward in England for Charlton Athletic; and in Italy for Sampdoria, Internazionale Milano and Genoa. He had won the North American Soccer League title as manager of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1975, and the New York Cosmos in 1977 and '78. The MetroStars fired him after 8 games. As of April

20, 2022, he is still alive, 88 years old, but has never managed another club.

The original MetroStars included Caricola, who had been a star in his native Italy, with Bari, Juventus and Genoa; Roberto Donadoni, a legend with AC Milan; Venezuelan forward Giovanni Savarese; and established American stars Tony Meola, Peter Vermes and Tab Ramos. But they ended up losing their 1st 3 regular-season games. After winning their next 3, they then lost 5 out of 6, and later on had another 4-game losing streak.

They still managed to finish 3rd in the Eastern Conference, but lost their 1st Playoff series to D.C. United, which went on to win the MLS Cup in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004. As a result, MLS is the only league in which the New York Tri-State Area has a team whose biggest rival is a team from Washington, D.C., as opposed to another Tri-State Area team, or one representing Philadelphia or Boston: As much as the team's fans now hate New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union or the New England Revolution, they still refer to United as "The DC Scum," and the week of playing them as "DC Week."

Known as the New York Red Bulls since 2006, and playing at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey since 2010, the Red Bulls have won 3 Supporters' Shields (regular-season league titles), and have reached the Final of the MLS Cup once and the U.S. Open Cup twice, but have never won those. Some Metro fans (many RBNY fans resist the corporatization of the club) attribute their failure to this home opener, and call it "The Curse of Caricola."

Caricola retired before the next season began. He now runs a coffee company in South Africa.

*

April 20, 1996 was a Saturday. These other game were played in MLS that day:

* The Los Angeles Galaxy beat D.C. United, 2-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Mutiny beat the Columbus Crew, 2-1 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The Mutiny folded after the 2001 season.

* The next day, the Colorado Rapids beat the Dallas Burn, 3-1 at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The Burn later became simply "F.C. Dallas."

* Also the next day, the Kansas City Wiz beat the San Jose Clash, on penalties following a 2-2 draw, as MLS rules then allowed. The Wiz later became the Wizards, and then Sporting Kansas City. The Clash later became the Earthquakes, moved to become the Houston Dynamo, and were replaced by a new Earthquakes team.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Andy Pettitte and Rick Aguilera started. The Yankees scored a run in the 8th inning and 2 in the 9th, to make a winning pitcher out of Bob Wickman and a losing pitcher out of Eddie Guardado. But on August 23, the Yankees would put Wickman in a trade package with the Brewers, replacing him in the bullpen with Graeme Lloyd, which made a big difference in the postseason.

Rubén Sierra went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs, but he wouldn't be there at the end, either: On July 31, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Cecil Fielder, who also turned to be key to the World Series run the Yankees made. So did Jim Leyritz, who hit a home run in this game. Rookie shortstop Derek Jeter batted 9th, and went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-3 at Shea Stadium. José Vizcaino singled Rey Ordóñez home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning, making a winning pitcher out of John Franco, who had previously blown a save for Mark Clark. Todd Hundley hit a home run.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. After 8 innings, Alan Benes of the Cards had allowed only 2 hits, while former Mets star Sid Fernandez had allowed 3 hits and struck out 11 for the Phils. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. In the top of the 9th, Phils reliever Ricky Bottalico walked Royce Clayton to start the inning, got Pat Borders out, walked Willie McGee, got Ron Gant out, and let Brian Jordan single Clayton home.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 6-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Braves trailed, 5-2 in the bottom of the 6th, but scored 1 in the 6th, 2 in the 7th and 1 in the 8th to win. No home runs were hit in this game, but Ryan Klesko went 4-for-4 with an RBI for the Braves. Tony Gwynn did not play for Padres.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-4 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Barry Bonds (presumably, not yet on steroids) and Steve Scarsone hit home runs.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 6-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Brady Anderson hit 2 home runs. Cal Ripken went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The California Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Former A's player Tony Phillips went 2-for-5 with 4 RBIs for the White Sox.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. hit a home run.

Football was out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA, which was winding down its regular season:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 121-99 at The Omni in Atlanta. Jayson Williams scored 35 points in defeat for the Nets.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons, 75-73 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls, 100-99 at the United Center in Chicago. The Bulls fell to 71-10 on the year. They would finish 72-10, still the best record for a team that went on to win the NBA title.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings, 104-92 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 106-82 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Cedric Ceballos scored 36 for the Lakers.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, but only 1 game was played: The Colorado Avalanche beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-0 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.