May 14, 1995: The Blackburn Title

Alan Shearer (left) and Blackburn Captain Tim Sherwood

May 14, 1995: The Premier League title is not yet decided. Blackburn Rovers of Lancashire can win it, making it their 1st League title since 1914. But they lose, 2-1, to Liverpool, at Anfield, the former club and former home ground of their current manager, Kenny Dalglish. The crowd believes that the title has been blown.

But soon, word comes that Manchester United, 2-time defending Champions, having only managed a 1-1 draw, away to East London team West Ham United, and that gives Blackburn the title by 1 point. Team Captain Tim Sherwood accepts the PL trophy.

Liverpool fans, who hate Manchester United, and not especially thrilled with the thought of handing the title to them, gratefully give the new Champions a standing ovation.

It turns out to be the only major trophy won by Blackburn's striker, Alan Shearer, who later moves to Newcastle United, and becomes the Premier League's all-time leading goalscorer.

Elsewhere in English soccer, an embarrassing season ends for North London team Arsenal with a 2-1 loss to crosstown opponent Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge in West London. The Gunners finish 12th, and that remains their worst performance since 1976.

United went on to lose the FA Cup Final as well, to Everton, the blue club in Liverpool. They became the 8th team to "achieve" a "Runner-Up Double," finishing 2nd in the League and losing the FA Cup Final in the same season:

* 1928: Huddersfield Town of Yorkshire finished 2 points behind Everton, and lost the Final 2-1 to Blackburn.

* 1932: Arsenal finished 2 points behind Everton, and lost the Final 2-1 to North-East team Newcastle United.

* 1939: Wolverhampton Wanderers, of the Birmingham area, finished 1 point behind Everton, and lost the Final 4-1 to Hampshire team Portsmouth.

* 1962: Lancashire team Burnley finished 3 points behind Suffolk team Ipswich Town, and lost the Final 3-1 to North London team Tottenham Hotspur.

* 1965: Yorkshire team Leeds United lost the league title to Manchester United on goal average (the 1st tiebreaker at the time, now goal difference), and were defeated in the Final, 2-1 after extra time, by Liverpool -- meaning they came the closest of these teams to winning either, let alone both.

* 1970: Leeds did it again, finishing 9 points behind Everton, and lost the Final 2-1 to West London team Chelsea after a replay.

* 1986: Everton finished runners-up to Liverpool in both competitions, the only time a club has run 2nd in each to the same team. Liverpool beat them by 2 points in the League, and 3-1 in the Final.

* 1995: Manchester United finished 1 point behind Blackburn, and lost the Final 1-0 to Everton.

Oddly, Everton were involved 6 of the 8 times, once as victim, and 5 times as beneficiary.

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May 14, 1995 was a Sunday. Actress Rose Lavelle was born.

An embarrassing season ends for Arsenal with a 2-1 loss to crosstown opponent Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge in West London. The Gunners finish 12th, and that remains their worst performance since 1976.

There were 3 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the New York Rangers, 4-2 at Le Colisée de Québec, and close their 1st Round Stanley Cup Playoff match to 3 games to 2. But the Rangers won Game 6, eliminating the Nordiques, who are moved to Denver the next season, to become the Colorado Avalanche. I have a separate entry for this event.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 6-5 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Luc Robitaille scored the winning goal, 4:30 into overtime. The Penguins won the series in Game 7.

* And after 67 years, the last competitive sporting event is held at the Boston Garden. The Boston Bruins lose Game 5 of the 1st Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 3-2, and are eliminated. The last goal is scored by Adam Oates. The team that eliminates the Big Bad Bruins? The New Jersey Devils.

There were 3 games played in the NBA Playoffs:

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Orlando Magic, 106-95 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Houston Rockets, 114-110 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.) Kevin Johnson scored 43 points for the Suns.

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 80-71 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jack McDowell started for the Yankees, Zane Smith for the Sox. The Yanks scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th, but Mike Macfarlane hit a home run off Steve Howe in the bottom of the 9th to win it.

* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Mark Grudzielanek grounded out to 1st base in the top of the 13th inning, allowing Mike Lansing to score the winning run. Rico Brogna hit a home run for the Mets.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Orel Hershiser outpitched Arthur Rhodes. Cal Ripken went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Ron Gant hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 10th inning to win the game.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Florida Marlins, 6-3 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Andújar Cedeño hit 2 home runs. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-5.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 12-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 8-3 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 5-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Brian Jordan singled Scott Cooper home with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Darren Lewis singled Royce Clayton home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Barry Bonds went 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a groundout.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-4 with a solo home run. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-2 before being pinch-hit for.

April 15, 1989: The Hillsborough Disaster

April 15, 1989: A terrible mistake in opening the wrong gate leads to the deaths of 97 people, and injuries to hundreds of others, at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, at the start of an FA Cup Semifinal, on neutral ground, between soccer teams Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Most of those hurt were Liverpool fans.

The game was abandoned 6 minutes in, at 3:06 PM -- 10:06 AM U.S. Eastern Time, hence the time of this post.

All English football matches were postponed for 2 weeks. On May 1, a "Bank Holiday Monday," games were resumed. Every player across the country wore black armbands for matches, and a minute's silence was held before every kickoff.

The other Semifinal featured "the Blue Club in Liverpool," Everton, playing Norfolk team Norwich City at Villa Park, home of Aston Villa, in Birmingham in the West Midlands. Everton won, 1-0 on a goal by Pat Nevin.

On that tragic Saturday, there were 6 games played in the Football League's Division One:

* Arsenal defeated Newcastle United, 1-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London. Brian Marwood scored the goal for Arsenal, but recalls that the crowd was subdued, as some fans in the stands had transistor radios, and were getting reports that something had happened at Hillsborough, and the death toll was going up, and up, and up.

* The other North London team, Tottenham Hotspur, went to South London, and beat Wimbledon 2-1 at Plough Lane.

* Southampton beat West Ham United, 2-1 at the Boleyn Ground in East London.

* Derby County beat Manchester United, 2-0 at Old Trafford. This was not as big an upset as it looks now. At the time, it wasn't an upset at all: Derby would finish 5th in the League, Man U 11th.

* Luton Town and Coventry City played to a 2-2 draw at Kenilworth Road in Luton, Bedfordshire.

* And Queens Park Rangers and Middlesbrough played to a 0-0 draw at Loftus Road in West London.

The Hillsborough Semifinal was replayed on May 7, at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United. Liverpool won, 3-1, with John Aldridge scoring twice.

The Final was played as scheduled on May 20, at the old Wembley Stadium in West London. As in 1986, it was an All-Merseyside Final. As in 1986, it was still possible for Liverpool to win both the Football League and the FA Cup, also known as "doing The Double." Aldridge scored 4 minutes into the game, and it looked like Liverpool's "Double" was on. But Stuart McCall scored for Everton in the 89th minute, and the game went to extra time.

McCall scored again, but Ian Rush scored twice, and Liverpool won, 3-2. They had a glorious consolation for their misery.

The Liverpool-Arsenal match, scheduled for Liverpool's home of Anfield on April 22, was postponed to Friday night, May 26 -- and it turned out to be the League title-decider. When the Arsenal players came onto the pitch, they were holding bouquets of flowers, and each player in the starting XI ran toward the stands and gave his bouquet to a fan.

With the tiebreakers requiring Arsenal to win by 2 goals, at a stadium where they hadn't won at all in 15 years, to win the League title (and deny Liverpool the Double), they did just that, with Michael Thomas' goal in the 2nd minute of 2nd-half stoppage time giving Arsenal the most dramatic title in League history.

True, Liverpool fans did have the FA Cup, so they didn't exit the season empty-handed. But after all the death and destruction, and the lies and humiliation from the media and their own government, this defeat was another blow to their collective psyche.

The disaster happened 6 months before the Loma Prieta Earthquake interrupted the 1989 World Series in San Francisco. The much-maligned Candlestick Park held, protecting 60,000 people, although 63 people died around the San Francisco Bay Area.

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In North American sports on April 15, 1989:

* The New York Yankees were supposed to play the Minnesota Twins at the original Yankee Stadium, but the game was rained out. It was rescheduled as the opener of a twi-night doubleheader (those were a thing, once) on August 2 -- the 10th Anniversary of another tragedy, the death of Thurman Munson -- and the Yankees won, 7-6. Bob Geren hit a home run, and Lance McCullers, whose son Lance Jr. would later drive the Yankees crazy as a pitcher for the Houston Astros, was the winning pitcher, in relief of Dave LaPoint.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 in 10 innings at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Pedro Guerrero hit a walkoff single against Don Aase.

* The Philadelphia Phillies were supposed to host the Chicago Cubs at Veterans Stadium. Like Yankees vs. Twins, this was rained out, and rescheduled as the opener of a twi-night doubleheader. On July 31, the Cubs won, 10-2.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 12-4 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-5 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 6-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Eight days earlier, the film Major League premiered, featuring a fictionalized version of the Indians, with County Stadium serving as a stand-up for Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Hence, real-life Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker played fictional Indians broadcaster Harry Doyle.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 6-3 in 10 innings, at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 1-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the California Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 9-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

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There were 2 Stanley Cup Playoff series that were decided in a Game 7 on this day. An overtime goal by Joel Otto gave the Calgary Flames a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks at the Saddledome in Calgary.

And Wayne Gretzky led his new team, the Los Angeles Kings, to a 6-3 win over his former team, the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Edmonton Oilers, at what was then known as the Great Western Forum, in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.

There were 7 games, all regular-season, played in the NBA that day:

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 125-100 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 115-105 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Chuck Person scored 37 points for the Pacers.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Golden State Warriors, 114-110 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the San Antonio Spurs, 137-91 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Tom Chambers led all NBA scorers for the night, with 38 for the Suns.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-107, at the Clippers' home, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, which had been the Lakers' home before the Forum opened.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 99-95 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Denver Nuggets, 125-92 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Dale Ellis scored 32 for the Sonics.