August 26, 2000: Clint Mathis Scores 5 Goals

August 26, 2000: The New York/New Jersey MetroStars beat the Dallas Burn, 6-4 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Clint Mathis of the MetroStars scored 5 goals, and he remains the only player to score 5 goals in a Major League Soccer game.

He opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, and scored again in the 26th. Dallas pulled a goal back in the next minute. Mathis got his hat trick in the 40th, before the Burn scored in stoppage time of the 1st half. In the 54th, the Burn tied the game, and they took the lead in the 64th, 4-3. Mathis took matters into his own hands -- or so to speak; it's soccer, where you can't use your hands -- by tying the game in the 68th. "Metro" were awarded a penalty in the 83rd, and Mathis converted it. They got one more in the 88th.

Born on November 25, 1976 -- a Thanksgiving Day -- in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers, Georgia, Mathis became a star forward at the University of South Carolina. He played in MLS from 1998 to 2010, helping Real Salt Lake win the 2009 MLS Cup. He also played a season in Germany for Hannover 96. He helped the 2002 U.S. national team win the CONCACAF Gold Cup and reach the World Cup Quarterfinal.

Both teams in this game have changed their names. In 2004, the Burn were rebranded as FC Dallas ("FC" for "Football Club," like in the rest of the world). In 2006, the MetroStars were bought by Austrian soft drink maker Red Bull, and were renamed Red Bull New York -- usually written in New York media sources as "the New York Red Bulls," and usually abbreviated "NYRB" rather than "RBNY."

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August 26, 2000 was a Saturday. These other MLS games were played that day:

* The New England Revolution beat the Columbus Crew, 2-1 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. 

* D.C. United beat the Miami Fusion, 2-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Mutiny and the Chicago Fire played to a draw, 3-3 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Like their Florida rivals, the Fusion, the Mutiny folded after the 2001 season.

* The Colorado Rapids and the KC Wizards played to a draw, 1-1 at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The Wizards became Sporting Kansas City.

* And in the league's best rivalry, the California Clásico, the L.A. Galaxy beat the San Jose Earthquakes, 3-0 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose.

It was the opening day of the college football season, and 4 games were played:

* Number 2 Florida State beat Brigham Young University (BYU), 29-3 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

* Number 8 Kansas State beat Iowa, 27-7 at KSU Stadium (now Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium) in Manhattan, Kansas.

* Louisiana Tech beat Mississippi Valley State, 63-10 at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana.

* And Texas Tech beat New Mexico, 24-3 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-6 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). Orlando "El Duque" Hernández was the winning pitcher, while A's starter Mark Mulder didn't get out of the 3rd inning. José Canseco, in his regrettable tenure with the Yankees, hit a home run against his former team. Luis Sojo and Clay Bellinger each got 3 hits. Derek Jeter went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1 at Shea Stadium. The Mets got a good 7 innings from Bobby Jones, and Armando Benítez pitched a scoreless 9th, so he didn't blow it, as he so often did for the Mets and other teams. Instead, it was Rick White who allowed 4 runs, on 3 doubles, a single and an intentional walk, in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Barry Bonds went 0-for-4, with an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

* A doubleheader was split at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the opener, 4-1. The Baltimore Orioles won the nightcap, 2-0. Mike Mussina pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, Buddy Groom pitched a hitless 8th and became the winning pitcher, and Mike Trombley struck out the side in a perfect 9th.  In a rare event between 1982 and 2001, Cal Ripken Jr. did not play, in either game.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Mark McGwire did not play, but Will Clark hit 2 home runs for the Cards.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 3-2 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Sammy Sosa went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres, 6-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Brewers scored a run in the top of the 10th inning, but in the bottom of the 10th, James Mouton singled home 2 runs to win it. Tony Gwynn did not play.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers, 9-3 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Anaheim Angels, 9-5 at Edison International Field of Anaheim. The Indians are now the Cleveland Guardians, the Angels are now the Los Angeles Angels, and the ballpark is now Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 11-5 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat South London team Crystal Palace, 5-3 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.

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.

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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.

April 13, 1996: The MetroStars (Red Bulls) Debut

April 13, 1996: The sports rivalry between the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, dormant in soccer since the Los Angeles Aztecs folded after the 1980 North American Soccer League season, resumes, as each area's 1st team in Major League Soccer began play, against each other.

At the Rose Bowl in suburban Pasadena, California, the Los Angeles Galaxy played the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. A crowd of 69,225 attended, and the game was broadcast nationally on ABC.

Cobi Jones opened the scoring for the Galaxy, in the game's 37th minute. Arash Noamouz scored another in the 56th minute. Giovanni Savarese pulled one back for the MetroStars in the 77th, but that was as close as they would get: L.A. won, 2-1.

The "Gals" have gone on to win 5 MLS Cups. The MetroStars, or "Metro" for short, became the New York Red Bulls in 2005, but they and the New England Revolution are the only original MLS teams that have not yet won an MLS Cup.

Despite having had such stars as Savarese, Peter Vermes, Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, Clint Mathis, Lothar Matthäus, Eddie Pope, Juan Pablo Ángel, Thierry Henry, Dax McCarty, Tim Cahill, Sacha Kljestan, and the brothers Shawn and Bradley Wright-Phillips, the Red Bulls haven't gone all the way. They've won the Supporters' Shield, the overall regular-season title, in 2013, '15 and '18; and also finished 1st overall in the Eastern Conference in 2000, '10 and '16. They've reached the MLS Cup Final in 2008, but never won it. They've also reached the Final of the U.S. Open Cup in 2003 and '17, but never won that, either. (UPDATE: They reached the MLS Cup Final again in 2024, but lost it.)

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April 13, 1996 was a Saturday. Other MLS games on this date:

* The Columbus Crew beat D.C. United, 4-0 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* The Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City) beat the Colorado Rapids (Denver's team), 3-0 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* And the Tampa Bay Mutiny beat the New England Revolution (Boston's team), 3-2 at Tampa Stadium. The Mutiny folded after the 2001 season.

A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 10-6 at Yankee Stadium. Jim Leyritz hit a home run. Wade Boggs, Paul O'Neill, Ruben Sierra and Joe Girardi each got 2 hits. But it wasn't enough, as Dwight Gooden didn't get out of the 6th inning.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 14-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 14-3 at the SkyDome in Toronto. (It's now named the Rogers Centre.)

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 9-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 9-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-5 at the new Comiskey Park in Chicago. (It's now named Rate Field.) Tony Phillips singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-23 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

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

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco. Shawon Dunston singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The Washington Bullets beat the Boston Celtics, 122-108 at the FleetCenter in Boston. (It's now named the TD Garden.)

* The Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets, 116-106 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 116-104 at the Orlando Arena.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 105-82 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers,  92-76 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. 

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 111-90 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns, 103-79 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. 

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Sacramento Kings, 108-89 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

And tbere were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat their arch-rivals, the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the Miami Arena.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. The Sabres would play just 1 more home game there, having missed the Playoffs. The next season, they moved into the Marine Midland Arena, now named the KeyBank Center.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 7-3 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Edmonton Coliseum, as the Northlands Coliseum was temporarily known.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat their arch-rivals, the San Jose Sharks, 6-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.