June 28, 1947: The 1st College World Series

The 1947 Cal Golden Bears, National Champions

June 28, 1947: The 1st NCAA Baseball Tournament Final, the 1st College World Series, is played at Hyames Field, on the campus of Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is an East vs. West matchup, as the University of California, having already won the day before, 17-4, defeat Yale University again, 8-7.

The Cal team featured Jackie Jensen, who would also play for them in the 1949 Rose Bowl. He went on to win the World Series with the New York Yankees in 1952, 1953 and 1956; win the American League Most Valuable Player award with the Boston Red Sox in 1958; make 3 All-Star Games; appear on the TV series Home Run Derby at the start of the 1960 season; and retire due to a fear of flying, after just 199 career home runs.

He remains the only player ever to play in the World Series, the College World Series, and the Rose Bowl. Chuck Essegian is the only other player to play in both the major-league World Series (in his case, with the 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers) and the Rose Bowl (1952, with Stanford).

Yale returned to the CWS in 1948, losing to another West Coast team, the University of Southern California (USC). Both times, Yale's 1st baseman was George H.W. Bush, who didn't play in Major League Baseball, but went into politics, eventually being elected the 41st President of the United States in 1988.

After its 1st 2 seasons, in Kalamazoo, the tournament was moved to Lawrence Stadium in Wichita, Kansas for 1949. Since 1950, it has been held in Omaha, Nebraska, first at what became known as Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, and then, from 2011 onward, at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

In 2008, with the rise of women's college softball, the names of the tournaments have been the Men's College World Series and the Women's College World Series. Both tournaments start with 64 teams, in 8 regions, and the 8 regional winners play in the CWS, in 2 4-team double-elimination tournaments, with the winners of each bracket playing a best-2-out-of-3 championship series.

Given the regional ability to play more games in better weather, it is not surprising that the most successful teams have been in the Sun Belt. USC have won 12 National Championships, Louisiana State University (LSU) 6, the University of Texas 6, Arizona State 5; and 4 each have been won by Arizona, the University of Miami, and California State University at Fullerton. Among Winter States, the University of Minnesota and Oregon State University have done the best, winning 3 each.

The Women's College World Series, though not yet under that name, was 1st played in 1969. As with the men, the Sun Belt dominates: The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) have won 12 titles, while Arizona have won 8, Oklahoma 6, and no other school has won more than 2.

(UPDATE: In 2023, the LSU men and the Oklahoma women each won a 7th title. The Oklahoma women won an 8th in 2024.)

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June 28, 1947 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Randy Gumpert went the distance for the win. George McQuinn and Tommy Henrich hit home runs. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Rookie Yogi Berra went 2-for-4.

* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 14-6 at the Polo Grounds.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Boston Braves, 5-4 at Braves Field in Boston. Earl Torgeson doubled Tommy Holmes home with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning. For the Dodgers, Johnny "Spider" Jorgenson and Fred "Dixie" Walker hit home runs. They were among the players phased out after this Pennant-winning season, because they couldn't get along with Jackie Robinson, who went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 8-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Denny Galehouse pitched a 4-hit shutout. Ted Williams went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-3 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2 and 6-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-7 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Stan Musial went 2-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

May 15, 1993: San Antonio's Texas-Sized White Elephant

May 15, 1993: The Alamodome opens in San Antonio. The 64,000-seat facility was intended to be a larger home for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, and to attract an NFL franchise.

It had been built because San Antonio, from the 1980s onward, has been one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in America. And the existing Alamo Stadium, built in 1940 and seating 18,000 (with an additional 14,000 temporary seats), proved unsuitable for use by the San Antonio Wings of the World Football League in 1974 and 1975, and the San Antonio Gunslingers of the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. So the Alamodome was an improvement, and predictions that the NFL was coming seemed pretty good.

Well, in 1993, the NFL gave its 1995 expansion teams to Charlotte and Jacksonville. In 1994, the 2 Los Angeles teams moved, the Rams to St. Louis and the Raiders back to Oakland. In 1995, the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore. In 1996, the Houston Oilers began the process of moving to Nashville. In 2002, Houston got a new team. And, that same year, the Spurs moved into a modern arena, after winning their 2nd NBA Championship at the Alamodome.

The Houston Oilers played 2 preseason exhibition games there in 1993 and 1994. The Dallas Cowboys were the opponent for 1 of those 1993 games. They played each other in the 1995 preseason. The New Orleans Saints, having played a preseason game there against the Minnesota Vikings in 2001, played 3 "home games" there in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina left the Superdome unusable for that season.

The NCAA has hosted the Final Four there in 1998, 2004, 2008 and 2018, and will again in 2025; and the Women's Final Four in 2002, 2010 and 2021. The Canadian Football League's brief U.S. experiment put the San Antonio Texans there for the 1995 season.

The stadium has hosted the annual Alamo Bowl ever since. It's hosted the Big 12 Conference Championship Game in 1997, 1999 and 2007; and the Conference USA Championship Game in 2021, and it is scheduled to do so again in 2022. And, on the TV show Coach, fictional Minnesota State won the 1993 National Championship there.

The University of Texas at San Antonio, a school in the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, what used to be known as "Division I-AA"), began playing there in 2011. It's been home to the Arena Football League's San Antonio Talons from 2012 to 2014, and the Alliance of American Football's San Antonio Commanders in 2019.

Setup for UTSA football

Mexico's national soccer team played 2 games there in 2004, another in 2014, and was beaten by the U.S. team in 2015, to date the only game the U.S. men's team has played there. The U.S. women's team also played a game there in 2015. Mexico played there again in 2017. Several Mexican club teams have played there.

The International Hockey League's San Antonio Dragons played a few home games there in the 1996-97 and 1997-98 season. Baseball has even been played there, Spring Training games by the Texas Rangers from 2013 to 2017, although the artificial turf field is bad, and the right field fence is only 272 feet from home plate. So, if San Antonio ever gets a Major League Baseball team, they will not be playing in the Alamodome.

The building remains a "white elephant." It’s beginning to look like the NFL will never put a team there, either moved or expansion. As I said, MLB isn't going to play there. And the current plan for a proposed Major League Soccer expansion team is for them to use a smaller, soccer-specific stadium.

(UPDATE: The United Football League's San Antonio Brahmas began play there in 2023.)

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May 15, 1993 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Mélido Pérez outpitched Al Leiter. Mike Stanley went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Don Mattingly was injured, and did not play. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Chris Nabholz outpitched Bret Saberhagen.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Greg Maddux outpitched David West. Mark Lemke hit a home run for the Braves, and Darren Daulton hit one of the Phils. This result would be reversed in the National League Championship Series.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 14-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Greg Vaughn hit 2 home runs. Robin Yount, in his last season, went 0-for-2 with a walk.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Florida Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Ryan Bowen pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Rafael Palmeiro hit a home run in the bottom of the 11th to win it, driving Iván Rodríguez in ahead of him. The former was eventually proven to be a steroid cheat, and the latter has long been suspected of it.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 3-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Trevor Wilson (4 hits over 7 1/3rd innings), Dave Righetti (2/3rds) and Rod Beck (1) combined for a 4-hit shutout.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). George Brett, in his last season, went 1-for-4.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk.

There were 3 games in the NBA Playoffs:

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 96-90 at The Coliseum outside Cleveland in Richfield, Ohio. Michael Jordan scored 32 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 97-79 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns, 111-96 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

There was 1 game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

And the FA Cup Final was played at the old Wembley Stadium in London. North London team Arsenal and Yorkshire team Sheffield Wednesday played to a 1-1 draw. A replay was scheduled for the following Thursday, and Arsenal won it, 2-1. The rules were changed, so that, if the game ends in a draw, there would be extra time; if still level, penalty kicks.

April 7, 2024: Women's College Basketball Grows Up

Raven Johnson guarding Caitlin Clark

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

April 7, 2024: The Final of the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament is held at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. The generally-agreed-upon best player was facing the generally-agreed-upon best team.

The University of South Carolina were coached by Dawn Staley, who had been one of the greatest players in the history of women's basketball. They entered their 3rd National Championship game in 7 years at 37-0. The University of Iowa were coached by Lisa Bluder, and were 34-4. This was the first time where the top #1 seed won both the Men's & Women's NCAA Tournament since 2012.

Iowa's Caitlin Clark was the most-hyped player in the history of women's college basketball, having become the all-time leading scorer in college basketball, men's or women's, surpassing the point total of Pete Maravich at Louisiana State from 1967 to 1970 -- albeit needing 4 years to do it, to Maravich's 3, and not surpassing Maravich's still-record average. 

Kamilla Cardoso, a senior center from Brazil, was named a 2nd Team All-American, but was the only player from coach Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks named to any of the top 3. Te-Hina Paopao, a senior guard of Samoan descent from San Diego, was named Honorable Mention. So, instead of relying in a single star, like the Iowa Hawkeyes were doing with Clark, Staley had a more balanced team.

Sportscaster Jemele Hill pointed out that Clark, who is white, was receiving better press than previous black collegiate trailblazers, calling it "an insult to our culture." She listed Maya Moore of Connecticut, Chamique Holdsclaw of Tennessee, Sheryl Swoopes of Texas Tech and, before any of them, and before her brother, NBA star Reggie, Cheryl Miller of USC.

I suppose it was the women's game's turn to face what men's basketball has always been hit with: Recency bias. If today's young people didn't see something happen on TV, they treat it as though it didn't happen. They didn't see Cheryl in the 1980s, or even Sheryl in the 1990s. I did, and they were amazing. (Heck, I even saw Lynette Woodard of Kansas, also black, play for the Harlem Globetrotters at the Meadowlands.)

It should be noted that Hill did not mention Dawn Staley of Virginia. Or a black hoops pioneer who preceded even Miller: Luisa Harris of Delta State. Nor did she mention Lisa Leslie and Cynthia Cooper of USC, both of whom became much bigger in the WNBA than they were in college. She also didn't mention Candace Parker of Tennessee, also black and a better player than Holdsclaw, who was retiring after one of the best careers in women's basketball history. She also didn't mention Rebecca Lobo of Connecticut, white and broadcasting this Final on ABC, alongside Ryan Ruocco.

Iowa scored the game's 1st 10 points, and led 27-20 at the end of the 1st quarter. Clark scored 18 points, a women's Final record for any quarter, and it began to look like she would, in her senior year, win her 1st National Championship. But the more balanced Gamecocks went on a run, and won each remaining quarter: 29-19, 19-13 and 19-16, finishing as 87-75 winners.

Clark led all players with 30 points, but Cardoso's 15 points and 17 rebounds ended up controlling the game. Tessa Johnson scored 19 for South Carolina, who finished undefeated, 38-0. It was their 3rd National Championship, in 8 seasons, all under Staley. In contrast, their men's team has reached the NCAA Final Four only once, in 2017, the year of their women's team's 1st title.

It was the 2nd straight Final Four for Iowa, but they had never made it before 2023, despite 10 Big Ten Conference titles. Their men's team has made the Final Four in 1955, 1956 (losing the Final to the University of San Francisco) and 1980.

Let's not kid ourselves: Clark was tailor-made to be the player to lift women's basketball up. Unlike many of the established stars, she wasn't black. Unlike a few of the stars, she wasn't courting controversy through outrageous quotes or behavior. And, unlike a few of the stars, she apparently is not gay: At the time of the Final, she was dating Connor McCaffery, who played basketball and baseball for Iowa, and was the son of Fran McCaffery, then the Hawkeyes' men's basketball head coach.

And so, for the 2nd consecutive season, ABC elected to broadcast the Final on its main network, instead of on its subsidiary ESPN as usual. Broadcast instead on ESPN and ESPN+ was The Bird & Taurasi Show, with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, 2 previously beloved white women's basketball stars, though both lost some fans when they came out. (Taurasi is married to former teammate Penny Taylor, Bird to soccer star Megan Rapinoe.)

The Nielsen ratings reported that the Final was seen by 18.7 million viewers, the largest-ever audience for a women's basketball game in the United States, and an 89 percent year-over-increase over 2023. It was the 3rd consecutive tournament game to break the record in a single week, following the Regional Final game between Iowa and Louisiana State on April 1, which had drawn 12.3 million; and the National Semifinal game between Iowa and Connecticut on April 5, 14.2 million. It was the 2nd most-watched non-Olympic women's sporting event ever broadcast on live U.S. television, behind only the 2015 Women's World Cup Final.

Clark was the 1st player chosen in the 2024 WNBA Draft, by the Indiana Fever. For the 1st time, people -- men and women alike -- paid close attention to the WNBA Draft. Women's college basketball has "grown up." It remains to be seen whether she can elevate the WNBA from where it is now, which is roughly at the same level as Major League Soccer, at a level below the "Big Four."

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April 7, 2024 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-3 at Yankee Stadium. Rookie Luis Gil started, but reached 95 pitches in the 5th inning, and was removed. Jake Cousins ended up as the winning pitcher. Giancarlo Stanton hit a grand slam home run. Aaron Judge went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Francisco Lindor hit a home run. Pete Alonso went 0-for-4.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Nationals Park in Washington. Bryce Harper went 1-for-4 against his former team.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-2 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia. Ronald Acuña Jr. went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-1 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Shohei Ohtani went 2-for-4, and drove in the Dodgers' only run.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-4 at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Julio Rodríguez went 1-for-3 for the Mariners. Christian Yelich did not play for the Brewers that day. No injury, he just got a day off.

* The Miami Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-3 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

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

* The Houston Astros beat their arch-rivals, the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jose Altuve went 1-for-3 with a walk. Corey Seager went 0-for-4.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Colorado Rockies, 3-2 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 12-2 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

There were 13 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 122-109 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Jalen Brunson scored 43 points.

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Sacramento Kings, 107-77 at the Barclays Center.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 124-107 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Charlotte Hornets, 121-118 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Chicago Bulls, 113-98 at the Kia Center in Orlando.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat their arch-rivals, the Houston Rockets, 147-136 in overtime at the American Airlines Center. Kyrie Irving scored 48 points.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 133-126 in double overtime at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. Tyrese Maxey scored 52 points.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Washington Wizards, 130-122 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Heat, 117-115 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Phoenix Suns, 113-105 at the Footprint Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* There was a doubleheader at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Clippers, led by 39 points by Paul George, beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-118. But the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 127-117.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz, 118-110 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

And there were 9 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Nashville Predators, 3-2 in a shootout at the Prudential Center.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Jake Sanderson scored the winning goal, 41 seconds into overtime.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-0 at the PNC Arena in Raleigh.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche, 7-4 at the Ball Arena in Denver.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Anaheim Ducks, 6-5 in a shootout at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

* And the Arizona Coyotes beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-2 at the SAP Center in San Jose.

April 6, 1992: The Metrodome's Treble

April 6, 1992: Duke University beat the University of Michigan, 71-51, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, to win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. It makes the Blue Devils the 1st team to win back-to-back National Championships since UCLA in 1972 and 1973.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils were led by Christian Laettner with 19 points, Grant Hill with 18, and Thomas Hill with 16. Michigan were led by their "Fab Five," all freshmen: Forward Chris Webber scored 14 points, guard Jalen Rose 11, center Juwan Howard 9, guard Jimmy King 7, and forward Ray Jackson 4.

This NCAA Final Four, the 1st held in Minneapolis since Williams Arena, on the campus of the University of Minnesota, held it in 1951, was the conclusion of a historic period. The Metrodome had a unique treble: It hosted the World Series on October 19, 20, 26 and 27, 1991, with the Minnesota Twins beating the St. Louis Cardinals; and Super Bowl XXVI on January 26, 1992, with the Washington Redskins beating the Buffalo Sabres, 37-24.

Metrodome basketball setup

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was named for the former Vice President of the United States, U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Mayor of Minneapolis, and 3-time candidate for President including the 1968 Democratic nominee for President.

It opened at 5th Street and Chicago Avenue on April 3, 1982, and local officials bragged that it opened on time and on budget. It replaced suburban Metropolitan Stadium as the home of Major League Baseball's Twins and the NFL's Minnesota Vikings.

The University of Minnesota played their football games there from 1982 to 2008. And for their 1st season, 1989-90, before the Target Center opened, it also hosted the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

But baseball teams hated it, having trouble seeing the white ball against the white roof, and feeling that it was too easy to hit home runs there. It became known as the Homerdome. Perhaps New York Yankees manager Billy Martin hated it more than anyone else: Possibly channeling his former teammate and coach Yogi Berra, he once said, "It's a shame a great guy like HHH had to be named after it." (He meant "had it named after him.")

Football players didn't like it, either, citing its hard artificial turf. In 1984, Detroit Lions running back Billy Sims blew out his knee on that turf, ending what could have been a Hall of Fame career.

The Twins won the World Series there in 1987 and 1991, and made the Playoffs in 5 other seasons. The Vikings were considerably less successful: They reached the NFC Championship Game 4 times, including hosting it in the 1998 season, but lost them all.

In 2009, UM moved back onto their own campus, opening TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium). The Twins moved into Target Field, a mile to the west, for the 2010 season. On December 12, 2010, snow broke through the Metrodome's roof, forcing the Vikings into TCF Bank Stadium.

Finally, after threats by team owner Zygi Wilf to move them to Los Angeles, Las Vegas or San Antonio if he didn't get a new stadium, on December 29, 2013, the Vikings beat the Lions, 14-13, on the playing surface named Mall of America Field -- ironically, named for the giant shopping center built on the site of Metropolitan Stadium -- and the Metrodome was demolished. The Vikings played at UM for 2 seasons, while U.S. Bank Stadium was built on the site of the Metrodome.

The Metrodome is not missed outside the Gopher State. Nevertheless, it remains the only venue to have hosted a World Series, an NFL Championship Game (under any name), and an NCAA Final Four. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium and Miami's Hard Rock Stadium had hosted a World Series and a Super Bowl.

The Superdome in New Orleans, the Georgia Dome and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ford Field in Detroit, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, NRG Stadium in Houston, AT&T Stadium in Dallas, State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, and U.S. Bank Stadium have hosted a Super Bowl and a Final Four.

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April 6, 1992 was a Monday. This was also the day that Barney & Friends premiered on PBS. I have a separate entry for that event.

And American soccer player Julie Ertz, a 2-time winner of the Women's World Cup, was born.

The NBA didn't schedule any games for the night of the NCAA Final. The NHL was in the middle of its 1st players' strike, which ended up lasting 10 days. So there were no scores in that League.

And Major League Baseball had its Opening Day, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bobby Bonilla hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning. It would be the highlight of the season for the 1992 Mets, which local sportswriter Bob Klapisch would call, in the title of his book about them, The Worst Team Money Could Buy. Bonilla, in particular, did not appreciate it.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-0. This was the 1st game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I have a separate entry for that event. Rick Sutcliffe pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Doug Drabek pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, with Roger Mason completing a 6-hit shutout. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Kirby Puckett hit a home run. Chuck Knoblauch went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Robin Yount went 2-for-3 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. George Brett did not play.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-10 at the Kingdome in Seattle. In spite of the big score, it was a bad day for legends, old and young. Nolan Ryan didn't make it out of the 5th inning, and Randy Johnson didn't get out of the 6th. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

April 5, 1993: The 1st Major League Baseball Game In Florida

April 5, 1993: Two new Major League Baseball teams play their first games. At the facility then named Joe Robbie Stadium, in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida, the team then named the Florida Marlins played the first major league game in Florida, and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3.

Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, who lived in nearby Hollywood, Florida, threw out the first ball. Hialeah, Charlie Hough, a 45-year-old knuckleballer from nearby Hialeah, Florida, who had 202 career wins at that point, 47 of them for the Dodgers, started for the Marlins, and went 6 innings to beat his former team. The Marlins' 1st batter was center fielder Scott Pose, and Tim Wallach of the Dodgers hit the 1st major league home run in Miami.

Since 1915, major league teams had been playing Spring Training games in Florida, leading to its being nicknamed "The Grapefruit League." It had been, more or less, a race between Miami and Tampa to become the city that would bring Florida into MLB.

In the 1970s and 1980s, there were suggestions that the Cleveland Indians, the Houston Astros, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Seattle Mariners might move to Miami, playing in the Orange Bowl with a short fence until a real ballpark could be built. None of these bids ever got much traction. Art imitated life in 1989, with the film Major League showing a plan to move the Indians to Miami.

In contrast, moves to the Tampa Bay area were considerably closer. The construction of what became known as Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, to open in 1990, made the threats real. The Chicago White Sox threatened to move in 1989, and if not for some political shenanigans, necessary to build a new ballpark in Chicago, the move would have happened. The San Francisco Giants announced an agreement to move to St. Petersburg for the 1993 season, which would have given Florida 2 teams at once, but the team owners voted it down, and they stayed. The Mariners and the Minnesota Twins also threatened to move to Tampa Bay, before another expansion produced the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998.

The former Dolphins/Marlins stadium is now known as Hard Rock Stadium. In 2012, the team moved to Marlins Park, now known as LoanDepot Park, built on the site of the Orange Bowl, and changed their name to the Miami Marlins.

UPDATE: The team has a Marlins Legends Hall of Fame. From their 1997 World Champions, they have honored 1st baseman Jeff Conine, 2nd baseman Luis Castillo, and manager Jim Leyland. From their 2003 World Champions, they have honored Conine, Castillo, pitchers Josh Beckett and Dontrelle Willis, and manager Jack McKeon.

Conine has been elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. So have 3rd baseman Gary Sheffield and pitcher Al Leiter, from the 1997 World Champions. So has founding owner Wayne Huizenga. So have Tim Raines and Andre Dawson, based mainly on their performances with the Montreal Expos, although both were from Miami, and both played briefly with the Marlins.

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Also playing their 1st game on April 5, 1993 were the Denver-based Colorado Rockies. They debuted at Shea Stadium with a 3-0 loss to the New York Mets. After decades as one of the leaders in attendance among minor-league baseball teams, Denver finally got its own MLB team in the expansion of 1991, along with Miami.

Their 1st starting pitcher was David Nied. Their 1st batter was 2nd baseman Eric Young, who grew up as a Met fan in nearby New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, and had played baseball and football at Rutgers University. Four days later, he hit a home run to help win the 1st Rockies home game. His son Eric Young Jr. would play for both the Mets and the Yankees.

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April 5, 1993 was a Monday. These other Major League Baseball games were played on this day, Opening Day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. It would be the last Opening Day at that stadium, where the Indians had played part-time since 1932 and full-time since 1947. A pregame tribute was held for pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews, who were killed in a boating accident during Spring Training.

Wade Boggs, Paul O'Neill, Spike Owen and Jimmy Key made their Yankee debuts. Key started and went 8 innings for the win. Boggs had a 2-run single. O'Neill went 2-for-5. Owen went 3-for-5. Danny Tartabull, Matt Nokes and Pat Kelly hit home runs.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. President Bill Clinton threw out the ceremonial first ball.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Greg Maddux, a Cub the season before, took a shutout into the 9th inning against his former team.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. Later in the season, the ballpark's name was changed to Kauffman Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. 

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-4 at the Oakland Coliseum.

That night, the NCAA Tournament Final was played. North Carolina beats Michigan to win college basketball’s National Championship. It should have been remembered for a nice performance by a Carolina team with Eric Montross and Jerry Stackhouse, getting coach Dean Smith his 2nd title. Instead, all everyone remembers is Chris Webber making the biggest goof in college basketball history. I have a separate entry for this event.

Football was out of season. The NBA chose not to schedule any games for the day, so as not to conflict with the NCAA Final. The NHL scheduled 1: The New York Rangers lost to the Hartford Whalers, 5-4 at Madison Square Garden. The Broadway Blueshirts blew 2-1 and 4-2 leads, and former New Jersey Devil star Pat Verbeek scored the winning goal with 2:17 to go.

April 4, 2005: Roy Williams Builds On Dean Smith's Carolina Legacy

April 4, 2005: The University of North Carolina wins the National Championship, defeating the University of Illinois 75-70 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis -- "March Madness" nicknamed "Arch Madness."

Illinois, coached by Bruce Weber, and led by current Nets star Deron Williams, had come into the Final at 37-1, having lost only their pretty much meaningless regular-season finale, 65-64 away to Ohio State. And, since St. Louis is across the Mississippi River from the southern part of their State, they sort of had home-court advantage.

But North Carolina had Sean May, Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants. Roy Williams, a former assistant to Dean Smith, and a former coach at Kansas, getting them to a National Championship Game, led them to a 32-4 record going in. Their losses had been to Santa Clara in Oakland in an early-season tournament, away to a Wake Forest team then ranked Number 4, away to a Duke team then ranked Number 7, and to Georgia Tech in the Semifinal of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

The Tar Heels were too strong for the Fighting Illini. They jumped out to a 40-27 halftime lead, and hung on to win, 75-70. May scored 26 points, Felton 17, McCants 14. Luther Head led the Illini with 21 points.

It was the 4th NCAA Championship for the Tar Heels, their 5th title overall, and their 1st since Smith's retirement. Williams had his 1st title, and added titles in 2009 and 2017, giving Carolina 6 NCAA Tournament wins. (They'd won it in 1957 under Frank McGuire, and in 1982 and 1993 under Smith. They have also been retroactively credited with the title in 1924, under Norman Shepard, before the era of national tournaments.)

Sean May was the son of Scott May, who won a National Championship with Indiana in 1976. The Mays are 1 of 4 father-son pairs to both win National Championships, along with Marques and Kris Johnson, Henry and Mike Bibby, and Derek and Lamar Smith.

The Edward Jones Dome has been renamed The Dome at America's Center.

*

April 4, 2005 was a Monday, as NCAA Tournament Final nights usually are.

Football was out of season. No NBA games were played. And the NHL season had been canceled. But it was Opening Day in Major League Baseball, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 7-6 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. In the bottom of the 9th inning, Austin Kearns led off with a single, Adam Dunn hit a home run to tie the game, and Joe Randa hit another to win it. Dunn had also homered earlier, off Pedro Martínez. Carlos Beltrán, José Reyes and Cliff Floyd each had 3 hits for the Mets, to no avail.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 8-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. This was the 1st game for the Nationals, after 36 seasons as the Montreal Expos. Brad Wilkerson was their 1st batter, and he singled off Jon Lieber for their 1st hit. Terrmel Sledge hit their 1st home run. Kenny Lofton hit a home run for the Phillies.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Rodrigo López pitches 6 shutout innings, outpitching Barry Zito, but allows 7 hits, and it takes 3 more pitchers to finish an 8-hit shutout.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 5-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-2 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 11-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Despite Comerica being a pitcher's park, Dmitri Young goes 4-for-4 with 3 home runs and 5 RBIs. He finishes the season with 21 homers and 72 RBIs. But illness and substance abuse curtailed his career, and he retired after the 2008 season, with just 171 home runs. He got clean, and became an advocate for his fellow diabetes patients and recovering addicts.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 1-0 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Mark Buehrle pitches 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, and Shingo Takatsu pitches a perfect 9th. Jake Westbrook goes the distance to take a tough loss, the only run coming on an error in the bottom of the 7th inning.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 12-10 at Coors Field in Denver. Clint Barmes went 4-for-6 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Aaron Miles went 5-for-6 with an RBI. For the Padres, Xavier Nady went 2-for-4, both his hits were home runs, and he had 4 RBIs.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 16-6 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix. Derrek Lee went 4-for-6 with a home run and 5 RBIs. Aramis Ramírez went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 4 RBIs.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Richie Sexson went 2-for-3, both hits being home runs, and had 5 RBIs.

* The New York Yankees opened the night before, on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball -- of course, in a showcase game against their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, beating them, 9-2, hardly a revenge for what had happened the preceding October.

* Everybody else debuted the next day, April 5: The Florida Marlins beating Atlanta Braves, 9-0 at Dolphins Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida; St. Louis Cardinals beat the beat the Houston Astros, 7-3 in a Playoff rematch at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston; the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim; and the San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2 at SBC Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

April 4, 1994: Arkansas Wins With "40 Minutes of Hell"

Corliss Williamson (left) and Nolan Richardson

April 4, 1994: The University of Arkansas beats Duke University, 76-72, at the Charlotte Coliseum – essentially, a home game for Duke – and wins the National Championship. But Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils couldn't hold up against the Razorbacks and coach Nolan Richardson's "40 Minutes of Hell."

Charlotte Coliseum

A native of El Paso, Texas, Richardson had played at the University of Texas at El Paso -- then known as Texas Western University -- under head coach Don Haskins, before they won the epochal 1966 NCAA Tournament. He coached in Texas at a high school and a junior college, before being hired at the University of Tulsa in 1980. In his 1st season, he led them to the NIT title. In 1984 and 1985, he led them to the Missouri Valley Conference title.

The University of Arkansas is in Fayetteville, only 110 miles east of Tulsa. They hired Richardson in 1985, and he brought his son, Nolan III, and his top Tulsa assistant, Mike Anderson, with him. It took him 2 years to get a 19-14 record, another to get to 21-9 and the NCAA Tournament. In 1989, he led them to the 1st of 7 straight 1st-place finishes in the Southeastern Conference or its Western Division. In 1990, he led them to the Final Four; in 1991, to the Elite Eight.

In 1994, Richardson led the Razorbacks to the Final Four again, with a sophomore forward named Corliss Williamson, nicknamed "Big Nasty." The starting lineup was filled out by forward Scotty Thurman, guards Clint McDaniel and Corey Beck, and center Dwight Stewart. Strong on offense and defense, Richardson called his team's effect "40 Minutes of Hell." Their old home, Barnhill Arena, became known as "Barnhell."

That came to an end on November 29, 1993, when their new home opened. Effectively the house that Richardson built, it was named the Bud Walton Arena. It was named for a major University donor, the brother of the late Sam Walton, founder of Walmart.

They got all the way to the NCAA Tournament Final, where they faced Duke University, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, and led by forwards Grant Hill and Cherokee Parks. And since the game was at the Charlotte Coliseum, Duke had what amounted to home-court advantage.

As late as 1:30 left in regulation, the game was tied at 70, when Hill made a 3-point shot. Thurman hit one, then Chris Collins missed one. First McDaniel, then Beck, made 1 out of 2 free throws to make it 75-70 Arkansas with 17 seconds left. Parks scored, but McDaniel was fouled again, and hit a free throw for the final score, 76-72. Arkansas were the National Champions.

Richardson got the Razorbacks back to the title game in 1995, but they lost to UCLA. He never got them past the second round again. In 2002, he got into a dispute with the man who was practically the king of the university, athletic director and legendary former football coach Frank Broyles, accusing him, and University administration, of racist treatment. He was fired, and sued the University. The suit was dismissed in 2004.

Anderson was promoted to head coach, and lasted until 2019, with not nearly the same kind of success as Richardson. Two days after he was fired, the University, having made peace with Richardson, named the playing surface as Bud Walton Arena the Nolan Richardson Court.

A Spanish speaker, Richardson coached the national teams of Panama and Mexico. He spent 2 seasons as head coach of the WNBA's Tulsa Shock.

Williamson would play 12 years in the NBA, mostly for the Sacramento Kings, for whom he is now an assistant coach.

*

April 4, 1994, as NCAA Tournament Final nights usually are, was a Monday. As usually happened in this era, it was also Opening Day for Major League Baseball.

Football was out of season. No NBA games were played hat day. There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-4 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers and the Winnipeg Jets played to a tie, 2-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

April 4, 1988: Kansas' "Hometown" Upset

Danny Manning (left) and Larry Brown

April 4, 1988: The NCAA Final Four was held in Kansas City to celebrate its 50th renewal (although not its 50th Anniversary, which would come the next season), going back to the city that had hosted the most Final Fours.

This was K.C.'s 10th. The 1st 9 were held at the Kansas City Municipal Arena. This one was held at the Kemper Arena, just over the Missouri side of the Kansas State Line, and now named the Hy-Vee Arena. Only once more, in Denver in 1990, was the Final Four was played at a building with less than 20,000 seats.

Opened in 1974, the arena was named for local banking executive Rufus Kemper, who donated $3.2 million of the $23 million it took to build the arena. In 2018, it was renamed the Hy-Vee Arena, for a Midwestern supermarket chain.

As part of the 50th Tournament celebrations, many of the sport's icons showed up for a pregame ceremony, including University of Kansas legends Wilt Chamberlain (lost the 1957 Final to North Carolina) and Clyde Lovellette (won the 1952 Final over St. John's); UCLA coach John Wooden and some of his stars, including Bill Walton (but not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was still active with the Los Angeles Lakers); and Howard Hobson, coach of the winners of the 1st Tournament in 1939, the University of Oregon. (Hobson lived until 1991.)

Having a virtual home-court advantage, the Kansas Jayhawks, based 40 miles to the west in Lawrence, pulled a big upset of the University of Oklahoma, 83-79. Danny Manning was the star for the Jayhawks, and Larry Brown, frequently mocked for how he never stayed at any coaching job for too long, won the National Championship, having previously lost the Final with UCLA against Louisville in 1980.

Brown would later coach the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 NBA title, and remains the only coach to win both an NCAA and an NBA title. Manning went on to play 15 seasons in the NBA, including under Brown on the Los Angeles Clippers and the Pistons. He later returned to Kansas as an assistant coach, and has been the head coach at the University of Tulsa, Wake Forest and Maryland.

*

April 4, 1988 was a Monday, as NCAA Tournament Finals tend to be. As they also tended to be in the late 20th Century, they coincided with Major League Baseball's Opening Day, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 10-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Dwight Gooden outpitched Dennis Martinez. Darryl Strawberry went 4-for-4 with 2 solo home runs and a walk. One of the homers was the longest ever hit at Le Stade Olympique, crashing into the right field roof, 535 feet from home plate.

Lenny Dykstra (3 RBIs), Kevin Elster and Kevin McReynolds (4-for-5 with 3 RBIs) also hit home runs. Former Met Hubie Brooks homered for the Expos.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jack Morris and Roger Clemens both went 9 innings, but the game went to a 10th, where Lee Smith gave up a home run to Alan Trammell. Mike Henneman mopped up for Morris. Matt Nokes also homered for the Tigers. For the Sox, Wade Boggs went 2-for-5, and Brady Anderson went 3-for-5.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 12-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. It was a bad omen for the O's: They lost their 1st 21 games of the season, an all-time record, and 107 games over the course of the season.

Teddy Higuera outpitched Mike Boddicker. Dale Sveum went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4 with 2 walks. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Jeff Treadway led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a walk, and eventually scored on a single by Kal Daniels. Joe Magrane was the starting pitcher for the Cards, and hit a home run, but did not figure in the decision.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 8-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ricky Horton outpitched Mike Witt. Ken Williams, later to be the general manager who built the White Sox' 2005 World Series winners, went 2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Jimmy Key outpitched Bret Saberhagen. George Brett went 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Pete O'Brien hit 2 homers, to make a winning pitcher out of Charlie Hough. He and the Indians' starter, Tom Candiotti, were both knuckleballers, but it would be Chris Codiroli who blew the lead for Candiotti.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Dave Dravecky outpitched Fernando Valenzuela. Brett Butler went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. The only Dodger run came on a home run by Steve Sax.

The Giants had won the National League Western Division the year before, and would win it the year after, and the Pennant, too. Not this year: The Dodgers went on to win the World Series.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Dave Stewart outpitched Mark Langston. José Canseco and Dave Henderson hit home runs for the A's.

* The New York Yankees opened the next day, April 5, beating the Minnesota Twins, 8-0 at Yankee Stadium. Rick Rhoden pitched a 3-hit shutout, beating Frank Viola. Mike Pagliarulo and Rickey Henderson hit home runs. Willie Randolph and Roberto Kelly each went 3-for-4. Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Don Mattingly went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates also opened the next day. The Pirates won, 5-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Dunne outpitched Shane Rawley. Barry Bonds hit his 13th career home run. There would be 749 more. Mike Schmidt hit his 531st career home run. There would be 17 more.

* The Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves also opened the next day. The Cubs won, 10-9 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Rick Sutcliffe and Rick Mahler started, but neither lasted into the 6th inning. Manny Trillo hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 13th inning, to score Vance Law with the winning run, making a winning pitcher of Mike Bielecki.

* And the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres also opened the next day. The Astros won, 6-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Mike Scott outpitched Ed Whitson. Glenn Davis hit a home run. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

Football was out of season. No games were played in the NBA. And the NHL was between its regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This was also the day that Evan Mecham of Arizona became the 1st Governor of any State to be removed through impeachment by his State's legislature. I have a separate entry for that event.