May 16, 1997: The Fall of Zaire

May 16, 1997: After 32 years as President of Zaire, the largest country by area in Africa, Mobutu Sese Seko knows that he is losing the First Congo War, and flees to exile in Morocco. Already suffering from prostate cancer, he dies within 5 months, at the age of 68.

Called "the archetypal African dictator," the former Joseph Mobutu overthrew the elected government of the Congo (formerly the Belgian Congo) in 1965, and, like so many dictators in so many lands, established a one-party state, a cult of personality, and a kleptocracy.

In America, he is best known for staging the 1974 Heavyweight Championship fight in which Muhammad Ali regained the title by knocking out George Foreman, "The Rumble in the Jungle." Mobutu could do it because he had made the country rich -- on the surface. By 1991, it had all collapsed, and his overthrow became a matter of when, not if.

Four days later, opposition leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila arrived in the capital, Kinshasa -- the world's most populous French-speaking city -- and proclaimed the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ironically bringing back the old Belgian name, letting the name "Zaire" die with its founder and sole ruler. But he was no better, and ruled for less than 4 years before being assassinated.

His son, Joseph Kabila, became President, and for 18 years, including twice being democratically elected, kept things stable, and stepped aside of his own accord, having established democracy there.

*

May 16, 1997 was a Friday. Football was out of season. There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The Miami Heat beat the New York Knicks, 95-90 at Madison Square Garden.

There was 1 game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Rangers, 3-1 at the CoreStates Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 6-0 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Julio Santana allowed 4 hits over 6 1/3rd innings, and Danny Patterson finished the 4-hit shutout, outpitching David Wells. The Rangers got home runs from Will Clark, Rusty Greer and Damon Buford. Mariano Duncan got 2 of the Yankees' 4 hits.

* The New York Mets lost to the Colorado Rockies, 2-1 at Shea Stadium. The Mets blew a 1-0 lead in the top of the 8th inning, when Larry Walker hit a home run.

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 14-13 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Barry Bonds, not yet believed to be using steroids, hit a home run for the Giants.

* The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 1-0 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Andruw Jones singled Michael Tucker home with the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 16-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 11-5 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). That season, the Angels had Eddie Murray, who went 0-for-4, and Rickey Henderson, who did not play.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Cal Ripken Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

May 11, 2014: The Stade Tata Raphaël Disaster

May 11, 2014: A stampede occurs during a soccer game at the Stade Tata Raphaël in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Several people are killed, with different accounts citing 15 and 18 deaths.

The setting was a match between AS Vita Club, the home team, and TP Mazembe of Lubumbashi. They are the 2 most successful teams in the country: Mazembe have won 19 league titles, Vita Club 15. It is a rivalry, and, during the game, objects were thrown onto the pitch. The referee chose to delay play, and the police launched tear gas canisters into the stands, causing the stampede.

As with the Heysel disaster in Belgium, during the 1985 European Cup Final, it has been alleged that a rush of people into a wall caused the wall to collapse, raising the death toll.

Built in 1952 under Belgian rule as the Stade Roi Baudouin, for the King of Belgium, the stadium was renamed Stade du 20 Mai (for May 20, the anniversary of the founding of Zaire's ruling party) in 1967, and Stade Tata Raphaël (Father Raphael Stadium) in 1997, after the death of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Raphaël Marie Joseph de la Kethulle de Ryhove was a Belgian priest who got the stadium, and a previous one on the site, built.

The stadium was, and still is, best known as the site of "The Rumble in the Jungle," the fight were Muhammad Ali took the Heavyweight Championship of the World back from George Foreman in 1974.

*

May 11, 2014 was a Sunday. In English soccer, this was the final day of the Premier League season. Manchester City beat East London team West Ham United, 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, to clinch the Premier League title. They won by 2 points over Liverpool, who needed a win and an Man City loss. Liverpool got their win, 2-1 over Newcastle United at Anfield in Liverpool, but Man City did not cooperate.

The team I support, North London's Arsenal, beat Norwich City, 2-0 at Carrow Road in Norwich, Norfolk. They finished 4th. Six days later, they beat Hull City at Wembley Stadium in West London, to win the FA Cup.

There were 2 games played in the NBA Playoffs. The Indiana Pacers beat the Washington Wizards, 95-92 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington Paul George scored 39 points for the Pacers. And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 101-99 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Kevin Durant scored 40 in defeat for the Thunder.

There were also 2 games played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden. And the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 at the United Center in Chicago.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. The Yankees tied the game in the 9th inning on a home run by Mark Teixeira, but reliever Adam Warren blew it in the bottom of the 9th, allowing a double to Rickie Weeks, throwing a wild pitch to get Weeks to 3rd base, and a single to former Yankee Mark Reynolds. Derek Jeter, in his final season, went 1-for-5.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4 at Citi Field. Rubén Tejada won it by singling Chris Young home in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-3 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-1 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 5-2 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Miami Marlins, 5-4 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Dodger reliever Kenley Jansen began the top of the 10th inning by walking Ángel Pagán. He then allowed a single to Hunter Pence, and threw a wild pitch. Buster Posey was intentionally walked. Jansen allowed an RBI single to Pablo Sandoval. He struck Brandon Hicks out, but allowed an RBI single to Héctor Sánchez. J.P. Howell was brought in to relieve, and he got Gregor Blanco to fly out, but, with Mike Morse at bat, threw a wild pitch that scored Posey.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Washington Nationals, 9-1 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum).

* And the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 9-7 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

March 17, 2012: The Fabrice Muamba Game

March 17, 2012: One of the scariest moments in the history of sports occurs, leaving fans around the world on edge for hours. It was one of the earliest such moments spread worldwide by social media.

Fabrice Ndala Muamba was born on April 6, 1988 in Kinshasa, Zaire -- now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1994, the family fled the civil war-torn country and moved to England. In 2005, Fabrice signed to play for North London soccer team Arsenal as a midfielder. But, with the team having a surplus of midfielders, he made only 2 first-team appearances, and was sent on loan to Birmingham City in 2006, and they took him on full-time in 2007. In 2008, they sold him to Manchester-area team Bolton Wanderers. In 2009-10, he was named the club's Player of the Year.

On March 17, 2012, Bolton were playing an FA Cup Quarterfinal against Tottenham Hotspur, at White Hart Lane, the North London home of "Spurs." The game was level, 1-1 in the 41st minute, when Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the pitch.

Referee Howard Webb stopped the match, and medical personnel surrounded Muamba, including Dr. Andrew Deaner, a cardiologist attending the game as a fan. At first, the stands were nearly silent, with a low murmur from the fans, as most were not sure about what had happened, as the attendees to Muamba's condition blocked their view of him.

Within 4 minutes, the home fans began chanting his name, a rare tribute from Spurs fans to any opponent: "FAB-rice Mu-AM-ba!" This was a traditional one-minute tribute, and the alternating of near-silence and the chant, minute-by-minute, made for compelling TV viewing.

Finally, with Bolton manager Owen Coyle and Captain Kevin Davies riding with him, Muamba was taken by ambulance to the London Chest Hospital. It was estimated that he received cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for 45 minutes before his heart resumed beating on its own.

Because it seemed like he had died on worldwide television, and then because he'd been saved by the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and the doctors after all, the whole world came together through social media in support of someone most of them had never heard of before -- a black immigrant from Africa to a mostly-white country, no less.

Webb finally ordered the match abandoned. The game was made up on March 27, with Tottenham winning, 3-1. They lost the Semifinal to Chelsea.

Bolton asked the Premier League to postpone their next game, at home to Birmingham team Aston Villa, set for 3 days later. The League contacted Villa management, which graciously raised no objection, and the postponement was made.

By March 19, Muamba's heart was beating without medication. He was released from the hospital on April 16, with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Advised by his doctors to retire from playing, Muamba became a TV analyst for his sport. As of 2022, he is a coach in Bolton's academy. He has only played once since, in 2015, in a testimonial match for a friend, Ian Goodison.

*

March 17, 2012 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. American-style football was out of season. There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers, 102-88 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the New Orleans Hornets, 102-94 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

* The Charlotte Bobcats beat the Toronto Raptors, 107-103 at the Time Warner Cable Arena (now the Spectrum Center) in Charlotte.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 106-99 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 89-80 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Boston Celtics, 98-91 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Golden State Warriors, 99-92 in overtime at the EnergySolutions Arena (as the Delta Center was then known) in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets, 95-91 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

And there were 11 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Colorado Avalanche, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders bear the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 in a shootout at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2 at the Prudential Center in Newark. Yes, it hosted the Devils and the Nets on the same day. A month later, that would no longer be a problem, as the Nets finished their regular season, missed the Playoffs, and moved to Brooklyn.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 in a shootout at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the BankAtlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-1 at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-3 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2 at the HP Pavilion at San Jose (now the SAP Center). Martin Havlát scored the winning goal with 1:37 left in overtime.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-2 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

* And the Chicago Blackhawks, the Dallas Stars, the Calgary Flames, the Washington Capitals, the Edmonton Oilers, the Arizona Coyotes, the Anaheim Ducks and the Winnipeg Jets were not scheduled.