December 10, 1937: The Orange Bowl Opens

December 10, 1937: Burdine Stadium opens in Miami. It will later be renamed for the annual college football extravaganza it hosted, on or around each New Year's Day: The Orange Bowl.

Roddy Burdine ran Burdine's department store in Miami from 1911 until his death in 1936, and his civic contributions helped Miami to grow into a major city. After his death, the city named the stadium it was building after him.

It was on a large block bounded by Northwest 3rd Street to the south, Northwest 16th Avenue to the west, Northwest 6th Street to the north, and Northwest 14th Avenue to the east, the end of the stadium that formed the open end of the horseshoe. Miami Park had already hosted football games on this site, including the 1st 3 Orange Bowl games in 1935, '36 and '37. On December 10, 1937, the 23,330-seat Burdine Stadium opened with the team that would play there the longest, the University of Miami, losing to the University of Georgia, 26-0.

The stadium was renamed the Orange Bowl in 1959, and was steadily expanded until reaching 76,062 in 1955, and 80,010 in 1968. Modernization included wider seats, which kept the capacity to around 75,000 from 1981 onward. In 1970, the natural grass was torn up, and replaced with an artificial turf called PolyTurf, but it only lasted until 1975.

In 1946, the All-America Football Conference was founded, and with it, the 1st major league sports team in the South, the Miami Seahawks. They were badly underfunded, went just 3-11, and moved before the next season, becoming the Baltimore Colts. Pro football returned in 1966, with the Miami Dolphins. They played there until 1986, then moved into Joe Robbie Stadium in suburban Miami Gardens in 1987.

The Orange Bowl hosted Super Bowl II in 1968: Green Bay Packers 33, Oakland Raiders 14; Super Bowl III in 1969: New York Jets 16, Baltimore Colts 7, in one of the greatest upsets in pro football history; Super Bowl V in 1971: Baltimore Colts 16, Dallas Cowboys 13; Super Bowl X in 1976, Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Dallas Cowboys 17; and Super Bowl XIII in 1979, Steelers 35, Cowboys 31.

Facing east, with palm trees,

and downtown Miami in the background

The Orange Bowl game was first played at Joe Robbie Stadium in 1997, played there again in 1998, moved back to its namesake stadium in 1999, and has been played at the Miami Gardens facility, now named Hard Rock Stadium, from 2000 onward. The University of Miami Hurricanes stayed at the Orange Bowl a bit longer, finally making the move in 2008.

The Hurricanes played in the Orange Bowl game on their home field in 1946, beating Holy Cross; 1951, losing to Clemson; 1984, famously beating Number 1 Nebraska to take a would-be National Championship away from them; 1988, beating Number 1 Oklahoma to win another National Championship; 1989, beating Nebraska again, but only finishing Number 2; 1992, beating Nebraska again, this time as Number 1 and the favorites to win the National Championship; and 1995, again threatening to take the National Championship away from Nebraska, but this time Nebraska redeemed themselves.

(Since the game moved to the suburbs, the Hurricanes have played in it in 2004, beating arch-rival Florida State for the 2nd time that season; and in 2017, losing to Wisconsin.)

And, just as the Hurricanes opened the stadium with a loss, so, too, did they close it with one, on November 10, 2007, losing to the University of Virginia, 48-0. The stadium was demolished in 2008, and the new home of the Miami Marlins, now named LoanDepot Park, opened on the site in 2012.

*

December 10, 1937 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. The NHL season was underway, but no games were scheduled. The NFL Championship Game was played 2 days later, with the Washington Redskins beating the Chicago Bears. And Miami's loss to Georgia was the only college football game played. So it was the only score on this historic day.

November 27, 2007: The Death of Sean Taylor

November 27, 2007: Sean Taylor is shot and killed in his home in Miami. He was only 24 years old.

Sean Michael Maurice Taylor was born on April 1, 1983 in Florida City, Florida, about 30 miles southwest of Miami. He grew up in the bigger city, and played football, basketball and track in high school. He played free safety as a sophomore on the University of Miami's 2001 National Championship team, and was a sprinter on their track team. As a senior in 2003, he led the country with 10 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown against Rutgers.

The Washington Redskins made him the 5th pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, the 1st defensive player taken, behind Eli Manning, Robert Gallery, Larry Fitzgerald and Philip Rivers; and ahead of such players as Kellen Winslow II, Roy Williams, DeAngelo Hall, Ben Roethlisberger, Jonathan Vilma, Steven Jackson and Chris Snee.

He made an immediate impact, and was named to the Professional Football Writers Association's All-Rookie Team. He wore Number 36 that season, and, when Number 21, which he'd worn in high school became a available, he switched to it. (He had worn Number 26 in college.) In 2005, he helped the Redskins reach the Playoffs.

In 2006, his 3rd season, he had 111 combined tackles, 86 solo tackles, 6 pass deflections, 3 forced fumbles, and an interception, and was named to the Pro Bowl. Gregg Williams, the Redskins' defensive coordinator, called him the best athlete he had ever coached. This says something: Williams had been defensive coordinator for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise in the 1990s, and head coach of the Buffalo Bills. Prior to the start of the 2007 season, Sports Illustrated named him the hardest-hitting player in the NFL.

In 2007, the Redskins were 5-6, but Taylor, despite missing the last 2 games with a knee injury, was tied for the most interceptions in the NFC. He was having another season that would see him elected to the Pro Bowl.

On November 26, a day after the Redskins lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football, and 2 days before Thanksgiving, Taylor was at home in Miami, with his fiancée, Jackie García, and their 18-month-old daughter, Jackie. He heard noises in the house and, while investigating the cause, he was shot in the upper leg by an intruder. His femoral artery was severed, causing extensive blood loss, and he died the next day.

On November 30, 4 men were charged with felony first-degree murder, armed burglary, and home invasion robbery with a firearm. Confessions were given. The actual gunman was only 17 years old, so the death penalty was not sought. A 5th man was later charged. All were convicted. As of November 27, 2022, all 5 are still alive and in prison in Florida.

The NFL placed Number 21 decals on the backs of all players' helmets during the next week's games. A moment of silence was held before each game that week. Players on other teams were given the option to continue wearing the decals in subsequent weeks. (There had been controversy about that in the past.)

The Redskins had the Number 21 painted on the field, and wore it on shoulder patches. They began their next game with 10 men, with the free safety spot unoccupied, much as the New York Yankees left the catcher's position empty when they took the field in their 1st game after Thurman Munson's death in a plane crash in 1979. Now named the Washington Commanders, the team retired his number, and named one of the access roads into FedEx Field Sean Taylor Road.

Taylor became the 1st player posthumously voted to the Pro Bowl. The NFC team also opened the game with the free safety spot unmanned. His Washington teammates named to that team, Chris Cooley, Chris Samuels and Ethan Albright all wore Number 21 in the game. The jerseys were auctioned off, and the proceeds were donated to a trust fund that the Redskins had set up for daughter Jackie Taylor.

*

November 27, 2007 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 110-103 at the Izod Center at the Meadowlands. Vince Carter scored 32 points in defeat.

* The Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets, 110-90 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics, 109-104 in overtime at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. LeBron James scored 38 points.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks, 90-78 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-99 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Nuggets, 112-110 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 106-99 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant scored 35 points.

And there were 3 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 in a shootout at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 5-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Anaheim Ducks, 4-0 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

November 23, 1984: Doug Flutie's Miracle In Miami

November 23, 1984: It is the day after Thanksgiving, and this was the early days of retail treating it as "Black Friday," the biggest shopping day of the year, which has come to, traditionally, set the tone for the Christmas season: Either they will make big profits, and be "in the black"; or they will be wearing black for mourning.

Thanksgiving weekend is also a time for football. The day before, many high school games were played, much more so than are played today. I was a sophomore at East Brunswick High School in Central New Jersey, and my Bears came back from a 27-13 deficit to beat Colonia High School of Woodbridge, 33-27, and clinch the Championship of the Middlesex County Athletic Conference and an undefeated regular season. It's often regarded as the greatest football game in the school's history. Unfortunately, we lost the Central Jersey Group IV Final, costing us a "State Championship" and an undefeated full season, something, to this day, we've never had.

There was only one college football game that Thanksgiving Day, a minor rivalry to everyone but those connected to the schools playing: Miami University of Ohio beat the University of Cincinnati, 31-26 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, was founded in 1809, 8 years before Ohio gained Statehood. In contrast, the University of Miami, in suburban Coral Gables, Florida, wasn't founded until 1925.

In the NFL, both of the traditional home teams won: The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-28 at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan; and the Dallas Cowboys beat the New England Patriots, 20-17 at Texas Stadium in Irving.

There was only one college game played on the day after Thanksgiving, on CBS. So anybody who wanted to watch a football game at that point was watching it. At the time, there was a Big East Conference, but they did not sponsor a football competition. If they did, this game would have decided its Championship. The fact that both teams involved have since moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) should not attract from what that meant.

The University of Miami were the defending National Champions, having shocked the University of Nebraska in the previous season's Orange Bowl game, in the stadium of the same name, which was the Hurricanes' usual home field.

Bernie Kosar quarterbacked them as a freshman, and now, as a sophomore, had led them to an 8-3 record. They had won the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands, beating then-Number 1 Auburn. They beat Number 17 Florida on neutral ground in Tampa. They beat Number 16 Notre Dame away. But they had lost to Number 14 Michigan away, losing the Number 1 ranking in the process. They had lost to Number 15 Florida State at home.

And, in their last game before this one (they had a week off in between), they lost an embarrassing one: They led Maryland 31-0 at the half, and lost, 42-40. For many years thereafter, it was the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A (now FBS, the Football Bowl Subdivision) history. The Maryland quarterback was Frank Reich, substituting for the injured Boomer Esiason. In the 1992 NFL Playoffs, subbing for the injured Jim Kelly -- who had played at Miami -- Reich led the Buffalo Bills to what is still the biggest comeback in NFL history, from 35-3 down to beat the Houston Oilers, 41-38 in overtime.

Their opponents for this game would be Boston College. BC had some good teams in the 1930s and '40s, but hadn't done much since. In 1981, they were struggling, losing to the University of Pittsburgh, ranked Number 2 in the country, and coach Jack Bicknell turned to a 5-foot-9 3/4-inch freshman quarterback from nearby Natick, Massachusetts, and said, "Okay, Flutie, see what you can do."

And Doug Flutie went in, and nearly pulled the upset. They ended the season 5-6. The next season, Sports Illustrated noted that Flutie would be the starting quarterback, and whoever was writing the article finished with, "Good luck, Flutie."

Flutie made his own luck, leading BC to an 8-3-1 record. Their non-wins were all against then-ranked teams: A tie away to Number 16 Clemson, and losses away to Number 16 West Virginia, home to Number 8 Penn State, and to Number 18 Auburn in the Citrus Bowl. It was their 1st bowl game in 39 years.

As a junior in 1983, Flutie led them to a 9-3 season, losing at home to Number 12 West Virginia, away to unranked Syracuse, and in the Liberty Bowl to Notre Dame. On October 29, in a game too big for their 32,000-seat on-campus Alumni Stadium, they played defending National Champion (but, at the time, unranked) Penn State at Sullivan Stadium, home of the NFL's New England Patriots (later renamed Foxborough Stadium). Before a crowd of 56,605, and millions more watching on ABC, the Eagles beat the Nittany Lions, 27-17. Flutie, already the classic "local boy makes good," became a national star.

BC were 7-2 going into their game with Miami. They had beaten Number 9 Alabama in Birmingham, but had lost 2 games, away to Number 20 West Virginia and away to Penn State -- by a combined 8 points. BC were ranked Number 10, Miami Number 12. In spite of these rankings, Miami were a 6-point betting favorite. (Keep in mind: In football, home-field advantage is traditionally said to be worth 3 points.) Flutie was the favorite for the Heisman Trophy, although Kosar was also a contender for it. The winning quarterback would get his Heisman vote totals boosted significantly.

The game was played at the Orange Bowl, in a driving rainstorm throughout. It was almost as if there was a real hurricane going on. It kicked off at 2:30 PM Eastern Time, and BC jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Miami scored a touchdown before the 1st quarter ran out, and tied the game with a touchdown early in the 2nd quarter.

BC scored on a run by Flutie, then Miami scored on a Kosar touchdown pass, then BC did so on a touchdown pass from Flutie to his college roommate, Gerard Phelan. At halftime, the score was Boston College 28, Miami 21. So there had already been as much action as in most full games.

In the 3rd quarter, Miami scored another touchdown, and the teams traded field goals. The quarter ended with the game tied, 31-31. BC kicked another field goal to make it 34-31, but Melvin Bratton broke off a 52-yard run to make it 38-34 Miami. It seemed like Miami had the game won. Flutie led a drive that ended with a touchdown, and it was 41-38 BC. But Kosar led a drive that ended with another touchdown run by Bratton, and it was 45-41 Miami.

BC got the ball back with 28 seconds left in regulation, on their own 20 yard line. Flutie got the Eagles to the Hurricanes' 48-yard line. There were 6 seconds left. Time for one more play. A field goal wouldn't have helped, it would have been 65 yards anyway, and the weather and the wet grass would have made it a tricky proposition regardless of how close it was. There was no choice: The play had to result in a touchdown.

Before the play, CBS announcer Brent Musberger said, "One thing is certain: Those brave folks who sat out here in the Orange Bowl, and put up with this terrible weather, saw a whale of a football game, and they should give both teams a rousing ovation when this one is over." His broadcast partner, former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian, whose career included a 10-10 tie with Michigan State in 1966, known as "The Game of the Century," followed this with, "This is one of the better ones that I've seen."

Flutie called "55 Flood Tip": No running backs, and all eligible receivers run straight routes to the end zone. He was flushed out of the pocket by the Miami defense, and had to scramble. He had to attempt his 46th pass of the game, on the run, throwing from his own 37-yard line, meaning the ball had to fly at least 63 yards, into a 30-mile-per-hour wind, and through the rain.

Flutie heaved the ball. Since a Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson play in the 1975 NFL Playoffs, such a pass had been known as a "Hail Mary." Some Catholics find the expression offensive. In this case, given that Boston College is a Catholic school -- specifically, Jesuit -- it might have been appropriate.

Three Miami defensive backs blanketed receiver Kelvin Martin. There would be no way he could catch the ball. Phelan was behind them. It would require perfect placement of both man and ball for him to catch it. He did. Boston College 47, Miami 45. Ballgame. No chance to try for an extra point, with everyone running onto the field, and no need for it.

"Caught by Boston College!" Musberger yelled. "I don't believe it! It's a touchdown! The Eagles win it! I don't believe it! Phelan is at the bottom of that pile!" The entire team piled onto Phelan. As Musberger noted, "Jack Bicknell is the only person over there on the sidelines! He couldn't get the headset off fast enough! Doug Flutie has done it! And your heart goes out to Bernie Kosar. He did everything he could."

Kosar had passed for 447 yards, then a school record, with 2 touchdowns. And Bratton had run for 4 touchdowns. It was all for naught, as Flutie passed for 472 yards, becoming the 1st major college quarterback with 10,000 career passing yards. He also threw for 3 touchdowns. Miami punted only once all game; BC, just 3 times.

The game became known as the Miracle in Miami, and if there was any doubt before the game that Flutie would win the Heisman Trophy, that doubt disappeared into Phelan's hands. Ohio State running back Keith Byars finished 2nd. Robbie Bosco, who quarterbacked Brigham Young University to a controversial National Championship, finished 3rd. Kosar was 4th. Jerry Rice of Mississippi Valley State, who went on to become the greatest receiver in football history, finished 9th. Bo Jackson of Auburn, who would win it the next season, did not finish in the Top 10 this season.

Miami went on to lose the Fiesta Bowl to UCLA. Kosar would have a good pro career with the Cleveland Browns, before winning a Super Bowl ring as Troy Aikman's backup on the Dallas Cowboys.

Flutie's last college game was in the Cotton Bowl, and BC beat the University of Houston. But NFL teams passed on him due to his lack of height. This was so dumb. How dumb was it? Well, let's absolve the following teams, because they drafted Hall-of-Famers: The San Francisco 49ers, Rice; the Buffalo Bills, Bruce Smith; and the Minnesota Vikings, Chris Doleman. And, besides, the 49ers had Joe Montana, while the Bills had the rights to Jim Kelly. And several other teams drafted All-Pros. But lots of teams needed a quarterback, and didn't draft Flutie, and struggled for years to come.

Flutie signed with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League, and led them to the Playoffs. When the USFL folded, the Chicago Bears signed him, against the wishes of head coach Mike Ditka. Ditka refused to start him over an already-injured Jim McMahon, and the Bears haven't won a Super Bowl since. In 1987, the Bears traded Flutie to his hometown New England Patriots, but they kept him as a backup to Tony Eason, and didn't get too far, and released him after the 1989 season, and got even worse.

Flutie signed with the Vancouver-based BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. In 1992, he was traded to the Calgary Stampeders, and he led them to the CFL Championship, the Grey Cup. He did the same for the Toronto Argonauts in 1996 and '97. All 3 times, he was named the game's Most Valuable Player. He was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player 6 times in 7 years from 1991 to 1997.

Finally, at the age of 36, the NFL could ignore him no longer. With Kelly having retired after the 1996 season, the Bills signed Flutie, and he led them to the Playoffs, made the Pro Bowl, and was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He got them back into the Playoffs in 1999, but coach Wade Phillips benched him for the Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans, in favor of Rob Johnson. The Bills lost, and didn't make the Playoffs again for 18 years.

Flutie played 4 years for the San Diego Chargers, and closed his career with the Patriots, as a backup to Tom Brady. In his last game, against the Miami Dolphins, on New Year's Day 2006, he did something no NFL player had done since 1941: He converted a dropkick. It was good for a point-after-touchdown, and the Patriots won.

Doug Flutie is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It is, quite specifically, not "The National Football League Hall of Fame." It includes a few players who would not have made it if not for their performances in the All-America Football Conference (1946-49) and the 1960s version of the American Football League, including Billy Shaw, who played 9 seasons for the Bills, all in the AFL, and never played a down in the NFL.

Still, voters for it tend not to consider CFL statistics. There are really only 2 NFL players who are not in the Hall whose qualifications would be noticeably boosted if their CFL tenures were included, and they're both quarterbacks: Joe Theismann and Doug Flutie. Another quarterback, Warren Moon, is the only player in the Hall with significant CFL performance, although Bud Grant won 4 Grey Cups as a coach in Winnipeg before becoming a Hall of Fame coach in Minnesota.

Oddly, for all the exposure BC got from the Flutie years, their Alumni Stadium wasn't expanded to its present 44,500 seats until the 1994 season.

*

November 23, 1984 was a Friday. As I said, this was the only college game played that day. No pro games were played. Baseball was out of season, although future player Justin Turner was born. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 120-97 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. Bernard King led all scorers on the day with 45 points.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Washington Bullets, 118-110 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 29 points. So it was a good day for Boston sports.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 107-106 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Kansas City Kings beat the Indiana Pacers, 122-105 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 111-98 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Phoenix Suns, 119-107 in overtime at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Julius "Dr. J" Erving had 31 points. Moses Malone had 23 points. A rookie named Charles Barkley came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 19 rebounds.

* And the Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 113-94 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. A rookie named Michael Jordan led all scorers in this game with 23 points.

And there were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals, 5-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-5 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Minnesota North Stars, 5-4 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Craig Hartsburg scored the winning goal with 1:25 left in overtime.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames, 3-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

November 9, 1945: "The House I Live In" Premieres

Still photo from the film

November 9, 1945: The House I Live In premieres, a 10-minute film about tolerance, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and starring one of the biggest young singers in the country as himself.

The film is written by Albert Maltz. Frank Sinatra, approaching his 30th birthday, having been a star for 5 years, and a year past his launch to superstardom via the fan demonstration known as "The Columbus Day Riot," plays himself. The film begins with a recording session that isn't going well. He takes a break, and steps outside to smoke a cigarette.

In the alley, he sees several boys chasing a smaller boy, and intervenes. It turns out that the bullies are going after the other boy because he's Jewish. It has been just 6 months since V-E Day, when America united to defeat the greatest force of anti-Semitism the world has ever known.

Being Italian and Catholic -- his mother was from Genoa, in the north, and his father was from Sicily, in the south -- Frank certainly knew what it was like to face discrimination. His cinematic portrayal of himself isn't having it, and he lectures the boys, telling them that discrimination based on race and religion is un-American.

He sings the title song, with music by Earl Robinson, who had previously written the labor song "Joe Hill"; and lyrics by Abel Meeropol, the author of Billie Holiday's anti-lynching song "Strange Fruit." They wrote "The House I Live In" for a 1942 music revue, Let Freedom Sing. With the Nazis having been defeated, but with bigotry, both racial and religious, alive and well in America, the message was still needed. Given his popularity with young people at that time, Sinatra was the ideal messenger.

Maltz became one of "The Hollywood Ten," screenwriters who were blacklisted and jailed for refusal to expose fellow Communists before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He wrote the screenplay for The Robe, but it was many years before his name was restored to the official print of the movie. He later wrote the screenplays for Two Mules for Sister Sara and The Execution of Private Slovik, and died in 1985.

Robinson was also blacklisted, but in 1954, he and David Arkin -- father of actor Alan Arkin and grandfather of actor Adam Arkin -- wrote a song in tribute to the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education: "Black and White." Despite being recorded by both Sammy Davis Jr. and Pete Seeger, it took until the 1972 recording by Three Dog Night to become a hit, but it hit Number 1. Robinson lived long enough to see it, and died in 1991.

Meeropol and his wife Anne adopted the sons of the executed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Michael and Robert. He died in 1986.

LeRoy had previously directed Little Caesar, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Gold Diggers of 1933, Fools for Scandal, Blossoms in the Dust, and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. He went on to direct the 1949 version of Little Women, Quo Vadis? Million Dollar Mermaid, Mister Roberts, The Bad Seed, No Time for Sergeants, The FBI Story, and Gypsy. He died in 1987.

Sinatra continued to sing the song. Even after his 1972 heel turn from Democrat to Republican, he sang it at a state dinner at the White House in front of Richard Nixon, and at the 1985 Inaugural Ball of Ronald Reagan.

*

November 9, 1945 was a Friday. Actor Charlie Robinson, who played court clerk Mac Robinson on the 1980s sitcom Night Court, was born on this day.

Baseball was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. No games were scheduled for the NHL.

There was 1 game in college football. The University of South Carolina and the University of Miami played to a 13-13 tie at Burdine Stadium in Miami, the stadium that would later be renamed the Orange Bowl.

October 31, 2015: The Debacle at Durham

Mark Walton is tackled by Jake Kite... or is he?

October 31, 2015: Duke University hosts the University of Miami in an Atlantic Coast Conference Game at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. After scoring a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, Duke led 27-24 with 6 seconds left on the clock. All the Blue Devils had to do was not allow a touchdown on the kickoff return, and they would beat the Hurricanes.

Duke squibbed the kickoff, thinking that the clock would run out during Miami's return. But the ball only got to the Miami 25-yard line, and the 'Canes tried to copy "The Play," the lateral-filled play that allowed the University of California to beat arch-rival Stanford in 1982.

After 3 laterals, the ball was held on the Miami 3-yard line. Mark Walton tried a 4th lateral. Photos showed that his knee hit the turf before he let the ball go. But no official whistled the play dead. Eventually, Miami made 8 laterals. The last got to Corn Elder, who got 2 key blocks, and had a clear path to the Duke end zone.

When he got to the Duke 16, his teammate Artie Burns threw a block that caused the line judge to throw his penalty flag. Elder got into the end zone, but the officials decided to check the instant replay. They declared that all 8 laterals were legal, no Miami ballcarrier had been legally tackled, and the illegal block made by Burns was actually a legal one. So Elder's touchdown stood, and the final score was Miami 30, Duke 27.

This became known as "The Debacle In Durham." The ACC later ruled that Walton was down, and that the illegal block was, in fact, illegal. They refused to overturn the game's result, but they suspended the entire officiating crew for 2 games.

Now, if it was Duke basketball, a lot of people wouldn't have minded seeing them get screwed. But Duke football has been far less successful, and has offended far fewer people.

*

October 31, 2015 was a Saturday. This was also the day that American Pharoah became the 1st horse to win the "Grand Slam" of American thoroughbred racing, adding the Breeders' Cup Classic to the "Triple Crown" of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. I have a separate entry for that vent.

Among the other college football games played that day:

* Number 1 Ohio State had the week off. They blew the Big Ten and National Championships by losing to Michigan State.

* Number 2 Louisiana State also had the week off. LSU blew the Southeastern Conference and National Championships by losing their next 3 games, to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

* Number 3 Clemson beat North Carolina State, 56-41 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 4 Alabama had the week off. They won the SEC West Division title, and moved on to the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 5 Texas Christian had played 2 nights before. TCU beat West Virginia, 40-10 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State cost them shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They did win the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

* Number 7 Michigan State had the week off. The won the Big Ten title, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Alabama.

* Number 8 Stanford beat Washington State, 30-28 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. Stanford won the Pacific-Twelve title.

* Number 9 Notre Dame beat Number 21 Temple, 24-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Notre Dame went on to beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 10 Iowa beat Maryland, 31-15 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten, but since Champions Michigan State qualified for the National Championship Playoff, Iowa got the league's Rose Bowl bid, losing "The Granddaddy of Them All" to Stanford.

* In the rivalry known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," Number 11 Florida beat Georgia, 27-3 at EverBank Field (now TIAA Bank Field) in Jacksonville. Florida won the SEC East Division, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama.

* Number 12 Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech in a wild one, 70-53 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Yes, that's a football game, not a basketball game. Losses to Oklahoma and Baylor cost TCU shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They went on to beat Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl. Texas Tech went to the Texas Bowl in Houston, but lost to LSU.

* Number 14 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 62-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma won the Big Twelve Conference title, but lost to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Clemson then lost the National Championship Playoff to Alabama.

* In a rivalry for the Little Brown Jug, Number 15 Michigan beat Minnesota, 29-26 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Among the service academies, Navy beat South Florida, 29-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; Air Force beat Hawaii, 58-7 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu; and Army had the week off.

* In a rivalry for the Old Bourbon Barrel, Tennessee beat Kentucky, 52-21 at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky.

* And Rutgers lost to Wisconsin, 48-10 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Who's the money-grubber -- or the masochist -- who thought that RU joining the Big Ten was a good idea?

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Citi Field in Queens. Tim McGraw, country music superstar and son of New York Mets (and Philadelphia Phillies) legend Tug McGraw, both sang the National Anthem and threw out the ceremonial first ball. As far as I know, no other person has ever been given both honors at a major league game.

Michael Conforto's home run gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and another Conforto homer in the 5th made it 3-1. He is the only Met ever to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game. As late as the top of the 8th, they led the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

But for the 4th straight game -- actually, the 5th, since they did it in Game 5 back in 2000 -- the Mets blew a lead in a World Series game. Tyler Clippard walked the 1st 2 Royals in the 8th. With Jeurys Familia brought in to pitch, Daniel Murphy, the Mets' biggest postseason hero thus far, made a key error that allowed the tying run to score. Mike Moustakas singled home the go-ahead run, and the Royals tacked on another. Yoenis Céspedes, the other big Met hero of the season, got doubled off 1st base following a soft line drive to end it, in a 5-3 Royals win.

The Mets had thrilled the baseball world the last 3 months. Now, they were clowning their way to an ignominious defeat.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 117-110 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points for the Knickerbockers, and that wasn't even close to making him tops in the league for the night.

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 134-120 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Steph Curry scored 53 points for the Dubs.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-76 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings, 114-109 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Blake Griffin scored 37 for the Clips.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 101-90 at the Moda Center in Portland.

And there were 10 games in the NHL: 

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 3-2 in a shootout at the Prudential Center.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the BB&T Center (now the FLA Live Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the winning goal with 1:16 left in overtime.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-2 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. David Backes scored the winning goal with 34 seconds left in overtime.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* In the Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena, which hosted the Clippers later that night). Jeff Carter scored the winning goal with 18 seconds left in overtime.

And in England's Premier League, North London team Arsenal went to Wales, and beat Swansea City, 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium (now Swansea.com Stadium).

October 19, 1973: “The Way We Were” Premieres

Robert Redford & Barbra Streisand, 1973

October 19, 1973: The Way We Were premieres, directed by Sydney Pollack. Arthur Laurents adapted the screenplay from his own 1972 novel of the same name, which was based on his college days at Cornell University, and his experiences with the House Un-American Activities Committee.

It stars Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, both at their peak. Streisand sings the theme song, which hit Number 1 the following February. It was written by Marvin Hamlisch, and the husband & wife team of Alan & Marilyn Bergman.

Katie Morosky and Hubbell Gardiner are immensely different. Katie is a staunch Marxist Jew with strong anti-war opinions, while Hubbell is a carefree WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant), with no particular political bent.

While attending college in 1937, Katie is attracted to Hubbell's good looks and admires his natural writing skill, which he seemingly excels at. Hubbell is intrigued by Katie's ability to communicate and persuade others into supporting various social causes. Hubbell's snobbish college friends mock Katie and her passionate political stances. Neither Katie nor Hubbell act upon upon their mutual attraction, and they lose touch after graduation.

The two meet again towards the end of World War II. Katie works at a radio station, and Hubbell, having served as a naval officer in the South Pacific, is readjusting to civilian life. They fall in love, despite their differences. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies on April 12, 1945, Katie is vocally incensed when Hubbell's friends make disparaging jokes. She rejects Hubbell's indifference towards their insensitivity and dismissive political engagement. Hubbell is uncomfortable with Katie's bluntness and strong opinions. Hubbell ends their relationship, but they eventually reconcile.

When Hubbell receives an offer to adapt his novel into a screenplay, Katie believes his talent will be wasted in Hollywood. Despite her frustration, they move to California, where he becomes a successful screenwriter, and the couple enjoy an affluent lifestyle.

As the Hollywood blacklist grows in the late 1940s, and what will eventually be known as McCarthyism encroaches on their lives, Katie's political activism resurfaces, seemingly jeopardizing Hubbell's position and reputation. Eventually, Katie and other Hollywood liberals confront the government over their suppression of personal privacy and free speech.

Katie's involvement strains the marriage, and Hubbell becomes alienated and refuses to understand Katie's persistent political combativeness. Although Katie is now pregnant, Hubbell has an affair with Carol Ann, his college girlfriend. After their daughter's birth, Katie and Hubbell divorce. Katie realizes Hubbell is not the man she idealized and that he will always choose the easiest path. Hubbell is emotionally exhausted and unable to live up to Katie's expectations of him.

Years later, Katie and Hubbell meet by chance in front of the Plaza Hotel in New York, where activist Katie is part of a "Ban the Bomb" demonstration. Hubbell, accompanied by a woman, now writes for a television show, essentially confirming Katie's prediction about him. After a brief, friendly reunion, they part ways, then Hubbell crosses the street to where she is protesting. He asks about their daughter, Rachel, and whether Katie's new husband is a good father to her. After a more tender and bittersweet goodbye, Hubbell goes to the waiting taxi.

That's it. No big ending. No reconciliation. No tragedy. The film just sort of... drips to an end. Men tend to end up disappointed in the film, not because the male lead is unheroic, but because watching the film feels like a waste.

Women don't feel that way at all: If Gone With the Wind is women's Casablanca, then The Way We Were is women's The Godfather. It became a trope of women in sitcoms watching it to help them get over a breakup.

The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning 2: Best Song, for Hamlisch and the Bergmans; and Best Original Score, also for Hamlisch. Streisand was nominated for Best Actress, but lost to Glenda Jackson for A Touch of Class. Redford was nominated for Best Actor -- not for this film, but for another film that year, The Sting. He did not win, losing to Jack Lemmon for Save the Tiger.

Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, 2015

Streisand had already won Best Actress for her 1969 performance in Funny Girl, and would win for Best Song for "Evergreen" from the 1976 version of A Star Is Born. The Sting remains Redford's only nomination for Best Actor. However, he won for Best Director for the 1980 drama Ordinary People, in which he didn't even appear. He usually doesn't appear in the films he directs. Streisand has directed, and usually does cast herself.

*

October 19, 1973 was a Friday -- the day before President Richard Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre." The World Series was on a travel day, between Games 6 and 7. The New York Mets led the Oakland Athletics, 3 games to 2, and only had to win 1 game in Oakland. They didn't, and the A's won the Series in Game 7.

There was a college football game between ranked teams: The University of Houston, ranked Number 14, beat the University of Miami, ranked Number 15, 30-7 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 92-90 at the Cleveland Arena.

* The Boston Celtics beat their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers, 133-102 at the Boston Garden.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Capital Bullets, 117-103 at the Chicago Stadium. Phil Chenier scored 36 points in defeat for the Bullets, who changed their name to the Washington Bullets the next season.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons, 96-94 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 118-91 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 111-99 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Memphis Tams, 101-88 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Virginia Squires beat the San Antonio Spurs, 105-93 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia, outside Norfolk.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Carolina Cougars, 121-109 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 101-96 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

* And the Denver Rockets beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 113-100 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

Only 1 game was played in the NHL: The Vancouver Canucks beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. This was an outlier: The Canucks had a terrible season, while the Flyers went on to win the Stanley Cup.

There were 2 games played in the World Hockey Association. The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the New England Whalers, 1-0 at the St. Paul Civic Center. ("Saints" because they played in St. Paul, not in Minneapolis, or in suburban Bloomington like the NHL's Minnesota North Stars.) And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1 at the Edmonton Coliseum.

October 15, 1988: Catholics vs. Convicts: The Notre Dame-Miami "Game of the Century"

October 15, 1988: The football team at the University of Miami, defending National Champions and ranked Number 1 in the country, travels to Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana to play the University of Notre Dame, ranked Number 4. It is one of college football's periodic games labeled the "Game of the Century." But it gets remembered by another name.

In their last game of the 1985 season, Notre Dame were humiliated by Miami, 58-7 at the Orange Bowl, in front of a national audience on CBS, finishing 5-6. They fired head coach Gerry Faust, and hired Lou Holtz, who had succeeded at North Carolina State, Arkansas and Minnesota. (Of course, between N.C. State and Arkansas, he held his one NFL head job, with the New York Jets, and flopped badly.)

Notre Dame fans noted that Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine each won the National Championship in their 3rd season at the South Bend helm. And after going 5-6 in 1986, and 8-4 in 1987, the Fighting Irish were thinking title for 1988, Holtz' 3rd season.

They had good reason to think so: They opened the season ranked Number 13, and beat Number 9 Michigan at home. They rose to Number 8, and beat Michigan State away, Purdue at home, Stanford at home, and the University of Pittsburgh away. They were 5-0, and ranked Number 4.

But the Miami Hurricanes had kept going. National Champions in 1983, they began the 1985 season with a new head coach, as Howard Schnellenberger had left. It was Jimmy Johnson, who had rebuilt the program at Oklahoma State, and had been a lineman on Arkansas' 1964 National Champions.

They began 1985 with a loss to rival Florida, and ended it with a loss to Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl. They roared through the 1986 regular season undefeated, losing the Fiesta Bowl and thus the National Championship to Penn State in another "Game of the Century." They had no such missteps in 1987, going undefeated, and beating Number 1 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to win another National Championship.

They began the 1988 season ranked Number 6, and opened with a spectacular 31-0 home win over Number 1 Florida State. After a week off, they had vaulted to Number 1. Like Notre Dame, they beat Michigan; unlike Notre Dame, they did it on the road. Then they beat Wisconsin and Missouri at home. They were 4-0, having won 36 straight regular-season games. Steve Walsh might have been the best quarterback in the country, and their defense was known as the Miami Pound Machine.

So Miami came in, needing this game as part of their defense of their National Championship; while Notre Dame came in, needing this game as part of their restoration to National Championship status.

Joe Frederick, Michael Caponigro, and Pat Walsh were Notre Dame students, and had T-shirts printed up, promoting the game. The words "UNFINISHED BUISNESS" on the front were understandable, given that the last game between the teams was an awful one for the Fighting Irish. But on the back, they put the words "CATHOLICS VS. CONVICTS."

The previous year, 2 Miami players had been arrested, and their scholarships were canceled. And the players, representing a city school despite their campus being in suburban Coral Gables, Florida, embraced rap music and its "gangsta" image, sometimes wearing army-style fatigues on roadtrips. They didn't care if you thought they were bad guys: They wanted to be the Raiders of college football. Come to think of it, they were doing better on the field than the Raiders ever had, in either Oakland or in Los Angeles.

The thing is, the headline wasn't true: Neither of the players had been convicted of a crime. No player on that Miami team had. And plenty of Miami players were Catholic, as you might expect in a city with large Hispanic and Italian communities. Heck, Walsh was not only Catholic, but Irish. And Notre Dame were hardly innocents themselves, although most of what later came out about them was administrative, "white-collar crime."

Once again, CBS were the national telecasters. The teams got into a fight before the game. And the game lived up to the hype. Quarterback Tony Rice scored on a 7-yard option run, to give Notre Dame a 7-0 lead. Walsh passed to Andre Brown to tie the game. Rice passed to Braxston Banks to make it 14-7, and Pat Terrell intercepted a Walsh pass and took it in. It was 21-7 Irish.

But Miami had come from 30-14 to beat Michigan, 31-30, so they weren't going to give up in this one. Walsh passed to Leonard Conley for a touchdown, and to Cleveland Gary for another. At halftime, it was 21-21. It was anybody's ballgame.

The Irish scored a touchdown and kicked a field goal in the 3rd quarter, making it 31-21. The Hurricanes got a field goal to make it 31-24. They thought they had a touchdown when Gary scored, but the officials ruled that he had fumbled the ball a foot before the goal line. Still, the 'Canes had another chance, and Walsh threw a touchdown pass to Brown with 45 seconds left. It was 31-30 Notre Dame, pending the conversion attempt.

Another "Game of the Century" involving Notre Dame, the 10-10 tie with Michigan State in 1966, had not been forgotten: Johnson remembered the talk that Parseghian had played for the tie to preserve their National Championship hopes, and thus "had no guts." Johnson was a "No guts, no glory" type: There was no question that he would go for the two-point conversion, and then trust his defense to keep the Irish out of field goal range for the last 45 seconds of the game. But Walsh's floating pass intended for Conley was batted down in the end zone by Terrell, and the game ended 31-30 to Notre Dame.

Once the pandemonium in South Bend calmed down, Holtz refused to let his team take their eyes off the prize. They beat Air Force at home, Navy in Baltimore, Rice and Penn State at home, and then when to the Los Angeles Coliseum to play the University of Southern California, ranked Number 2. So that game was something that their game with Miami was not: A Number 1 vs. Number 2 matchup. Notre Dame won, 27-10. That set up a game with Number 3 West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl, outside Phoenix.

Miami took their frustrations out on everybody: They clobbered the University of Cincinnati at home, East Carolina away, Tulsa at home, and Number 11 Louisiana State away. They got a tough test, at home, from Number 8 Arkansas on Thanksgiving Saturday, but won, 18-16. Then they clobbered Brigham Young University at home, and rose back to Number 2.

They prepared to play Number 6 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, their home field. If they could win, and Notre Dame lost to West Virginia, and West Virginia didn't beat Notre Dame overwhelmingly, the Hurricanes would be National Champions, anyway.

No such luck: In the Fiesta Bowl, playing earlier on January 2, 1989, Notre Dame won, 34-21. So it no longer mattered what Miami did that night: Their 23-3 win meant little. They were Number 2, and Notre Dame were Number 1.

Miami won the National Championship again in 1989, 1991 and 2001; and coming close in 1990, 1992, 2000, 2002 and 2020. Notre Dame have never won it again, having close calls in 1993, 2012 and 2018, but blowing it.

In 2018, Notre Dame had an undefeated regular season, and faced Clemson in the Cotton Bowl, which served as a National Championship Playoff Semifinal. Someone, anticipating a win and a title game matchup with Alabama, printed up T-shirts reading, "JANUARY 7, 2019: CATHOLICS VS. COUSINS." Clemson made them pay for their presumptuousness, winning 30-3. Clemson then beat Alabama for the title.

*

October 15, 1988 was a Saturday. A few hours after this game, in one of the most improbable finishes in World Series history‚ pinch hitter Kirk Gibson hit a 2-run home run off Dennis Eckersley with 2 out and 2 strikes in the bottom of the 9th inning, to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics in Game 1. I have a separate entry for this event. And German soccer great Mesut Özil was born on this day.

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

* Number 2 UCLA beat the University of California, 38-21 at California Memorial Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Berkley., California.

* Number 3 Southern California beat Number 16 Washington, 28-27 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC beat UCLA to win the Pacific-Ten Conference title, but blew their shot at the National Championship the next week, when they lost to Notre Dame.

* Number 5 Florida State beat East Carolina, 45-21 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

* Number 7 Nebraska beat Number 10 Oklahoma State, 63-42 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska won the Big Eight Conference title, but lost the Orange Bowl to Miami.

* Number 8 South Carolina were upset by Georgia Tech, 34-0 at Grant Field in Atlanta.

* Number 9 Oklahoma pounded Kansas State, 70-24 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.

* Number 12 Auburn beat the University of Akron, 42-0 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. Auburn won the Southeastern Conference title, but lost the Sugar Bowl to Florida State.

* Number 15 Michigan were held to a tie by Iowa, 17-17 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Michigan still won the Big Ten Conference title, and beat USC in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 20 Florida were upset by Vanderbilt, 24-9 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Syracuse beat Penn State, 24-10 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* North Carolina State beat their arch-rivals, North Carolina, 48-3 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

* Alabama beat Tennessee, 28-20 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Lafayette, 24-17 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Air Force beat Utah, 56-49 at Rice Stadium (now Rice-Eccles Stadium) in Salt Lake City.

* And with New Jersey's teams, Rutgers beat Boston College, 17-6 at Alumni Stadium, just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; while Princeton beat Bucknell, 41-35 at Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The next year, that stadium was renamed for Bucknell's most famous graduate, a charter member of the Baseball Hall of Fame: Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium.

The NBA season wouldn't start for another 20 days. There were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 7-5 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 8-5 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Dave Christian scored a hat trick for the Caps.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Detroit.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the St. Louis Blues, 9-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Rob Brown scored a hat trick, and Mario Lemieux scored 2 goals.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Boston Bruins, 5-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

June 25, 1992: The Death of Jerome Brown

June 25, 1992: Jerome Brown, defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles, is killed in a car crash.

In 1991, Brown leveled up, going from potentially elite player to elite player.

That crash meant that we only got to see the 1st one-third of Jerome Brown's career, instead of seeing him play it out, and make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Eagles retired his Number 99, and named him to their team Hall of Fame.

The crash not only ended a life, it changed the history of the NFL. Over the next 4 seasons, the Dallas Cowboys won the NFC East all 4 times, made the NFC Championship Game all 4 times, won it 3 times, and won the Super Bowl all 3 of those times.

If Brown had lived, the Eagles might have won the NFC East in 1992, gotten the home Playoff game with the Cowboys, and certainly wouldn't have lost it 34-10. Maybe then, White would've stayed with the Eagles, instead of signing as a free agent with the Green Bay Packers. Between them, from 1992 to 1997, the Cowboys and the Packers won 5 of the 6 NFC Championships. But an Eagles team that still had both Brown and White might have changed that tremendously.

Then again, the Eagles would still have been coached by Rich Kotite, so, who knows?

*

June 25, 1992 was a Thursday. Football was out of season. The NBA Championship and the Stanley Cup had been decided earlier that month. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium the next year.) Kevin Maas hit a home run, in support of Scott Sanderson.

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 9-2 at Shea Stadium.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 1-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Ricky Bones pitched 8 innings of 5-hit ball, with Doug Henry finishing the shutout, outpitching Rick Sutcliffe. Robin Yount went 0-for-2, but drove in the game's only run with a sacrifice fly. Paul Molitor went 1-for-2 with a walk. For the Orioles, Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Bruce Hurst pitched a 7-hit shutout. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 8-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mark McGwire hit a home run. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-3 with 2 walks, 2 stolen bases and an RBI.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the California Angels, 13-4 at the Kingdome in Seattle. The M's got home runs from Ken Griffey Jr., Tino Martinez, Edgar Martinez and Dave Valle.

* And the Atlanta Braves, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Indians, the Montreal Expos, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Toronto Blue Jays were not scheduled.

January 3, 2003: The Great Tempe Robbery -- That Wasn't

January 3, 2003: The Fiesta Bowl is played at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. The University of Miami were going for back-to-back National Championships. But they got shocked by The… Ohio State University.

Miami had not lost since September 9, 2000. They had won the Big East Conference and the Sugar Bowl in the 2000 season. They had won the Big East, the Rose Bowl, and the National Championship in the 2001 season. Now, in 2002, they had again won the Big East, and were ranked Number 1 in the country, carrying a 34-game winning streak into the Fiesta Bowl.

They had beaten Florida, then Number 6, away, by 25 points. They had beaten their other arch-rival, Florida State, then Number 9. They had beaten Number 17 Pittsburgh and Number 18 Virginia Tech. In 9 of their 12 regular-season games, they had scored at least 38 points. One potential warning sign: In 5 games, they had allowed at least 3 touchdowns, including their finale against Virginia Tech, which was a shootout, 56-45.

They were coached by Larry Coker. They had quarterback Frank Dorsey. They had running backs Willis McGahee and Frank Gore. They had tight end Kellen Winslow II, son of a Hall of Fame tight end. They had defensive tackle Vince Wilfork. They had linebacker Jonathan Vilma. They had cornerback Antrel Rolle. They had safety Sean Taylor. What's more, McGahee, Gore, Winslow, Wilfork, Rolle and Taylor were sophomores. And Vilma was a junior. The Hurricanes were expected to be a dominant team for a long time to come. The record for the longest winning streak in college football history, 47 by Oklahoma in the 1950s, was beginning to look like it was in jeopardy.

Ohio State were coached by Jim Tressel, and had won the Big Ten Conference title. They had lost their bowl game the season before, but they had won all 13 regular-season games, including over Number 10 Washington State, Number 17 Penn State, Number 23 Minnesota, and Number 9 Michigan.

Craig Krenzel, a junior, was their starting quarterback. One of his blockers was center Nick Mangold. They had a quartet of interesting freshmen: Quarterback Troy Smith, running back Maurice Clarett, receiver Santonio Holmes and linebacker A.J. Hawk. They were the Number 2 team in the country, behind Miami at Number 1. But the Buckeyes were 11 1/2-point underdogs in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Hurricanes jumped out to an early 7–0 lead. But in the 2nd quarter, Mike Doss intercepted Dorsey, setting up touchdown run by Craig Krenzel; and a Dorsey fumble set up the Buckeyes on the Miami 14. A Clarett touchdown run put Ohio State ahead 14–7 at halftime. They added a field goal in the 3rd quarter, for a 17-7 lead. But McGahee scored a touchdown to end the quarter at 17-14 Buckeyes.

In the 4th quarter, on 3rd down a catch by Ohio State receiver Chris Gamble was ruled incomplete due to his being out of bounds. Replays however seem to show that Gamble had his jersey grabbed on this play, which could have resulted in pass interference call and a consequent Ohio State 1st down; and that Gamble appeared to land inbounds, again a 1st down. Ohio State would have been in a position to run the clock out, and win the game without it going to overtime. Instead they had to punt, leading to Miami's Todd Sievers kicking a field goal to send the game into overtime.

On their first possession in overtime, Winslow caught a 7-yard touchdown pass. A 2nd-down sack of Krenzel helped set the Buckeyes up for 4th & 14, Krenzel threw a 17-yard pass to Michael Jenkins, to keep his team alive.

Miami held Ohio State off long enough to force another 4th down, & 3. Then came one of the most talked-about plays in college football history. Krenzel attempted a pass to Gamble, but the ball bounced off Gamble's hands and was called an incomplete pass by the line judge. The Miami fans and team, believing the game to be over, began to rush the field.

However, Terry Porter, the field judge, had thrown a late flag in the end zone, for pass interference, called on Miami cornerback Glenn Sharpe. As a result, Ohio State received the ball on the 2-yard line with an automatic 1st down. With a fresh set of downs, Krenzel rushed for a 1-yard touchdown on 3rd down. The extra point tied the score at 24, sending the game into a 2nd overtime.

With the possession order switched, Ohio State had the ball first. Clarett ran the ball in for 5 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. When Miami had the ball, the Buckeyes were hit with 2 pass interference penalties, giving the Hurricanes 1st & goal on the 2. But Ohio State held them, so it was 4th & goal on the 1. Dorsey threw an incomplete pass, and Ohio State had won, 31-24. It was their 1st National Championship in 34 years, since Woody Hayes' "Super Sophomores" of 1968.

Miami fans still whine that they got robbed by the officials. They need to put a sock in it: Their team gave away 5 turnovers; they couldn't stop Ohio State on a 4th & 14 in the 1st overtime, a play which would have ended the game and given them the National Championship; and they couldn't convert 1st & goal on the 2. If you can't do those things when it matters most, then you shouldn't argue that you were robbed, because you weren't worthy of the National Championship.

*

January 3, 2003 was a Friday. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg and got-away-with-it-racist-murderer Kyle Rittenhouse were born.

Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between the end of its regular season and the start of its Playoffs. There were 9 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers, 98-96 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Miami Heat, 100-80 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Boston Celtics, 108-103 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 116-111 at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis. Corey Magette scored 34 points in defeat for the Clips.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Orlando Magic, 100-89 at the New Orleans Arena (now the Smoothie King Center). Tracy McGrady scored 40 points in defeat for the Magic.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors, 81-80 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 118-115 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors, 98-95 at the SBC Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio. Tim Duncan of the Spurs and Antawn Jamison of the Warriors each scored 37 points.

* And the Denver Nuggets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 94-82 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

And there were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins, 8-4 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-0 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Washington Capitals and the Columbus Blue Jackets played to a tie, 2-2 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-1 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-3 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at the Joe Louise Arena in Detroit.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 1-0 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).