December 30, 1962: The Birth of NFL Films

Ed Sabol (left), Steve Sabol,

and the camera that started it all.

December 30, 1962: The Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants, 16-7 at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. Aside from being bitterly cold, with New York dealing with the kind of weather that Green Bay was used to, the game itself was not especially remarkable.

But it was filmed by a crew from Blair Motion Pictures of Philadelphia. This was the birth of NFL Films. That company would be nearly as responsible for the League's growth in popularity as Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the various television network executives.

A son of Romanian Jewish immigrants, growing up in Blairstown, Warren County, New Jersey, Ed Sabol served in World War II, then sold topcoats. But he got a home movie camera as a wedding present. He used it to record his son Steve's high school football games. Then he formed a small film company, named for his daughter, Blair. In 1962, he won the rights to film the NFL Championship Game, by bidding $5,000. And even that was double the winning bid of the season before.

Rozelle was impressed by the resulting film, and in 1965, the NFL team owners bought Blair Motion Pictures, renaming it NFL Films. Each of the League's 14 team owners gave Ed $20,000, and the right to shoot all NFL games, and produce an annual highlight film for each team.

In 1967, NFL Films released a half-hour documentary, The Call It Pro Football, including footage of the game that was retroactively renamed Super Bowl I. It began with the narrator, Philadelphia newscaster John Facenda, saying, "It starts with a whistle, and ends with a gun. Sixty minutes of close-in action from kickoff to touchdown. This is pro football: The sport of our time." It was one of the earliest successes for the company.

In 1970, ABC began broadcasting Monday Night Football, and, during halftime, showed NFL Films' footage of the previous day's games. In 1971, the company began producing This Is the NFL, a Saturday show that showed highlights of the previous week's games, on CBS, featuring the network's lead announcing team, former New York Giants tackle and kicker Pat Summerall, and former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Tom Brookshier. That program did such a great job of raising the NFL's profile, it inspired Major League Baseball to start Major League Baseball Productions, and start the series This Week In Baseball in 1977.

Three things stood out in NFL Films' broadcasts: The marching-band music, the use of slow motion to capture things like the spinning of a passed football in flight, and the narration of Facenda. Let the record show, however, that he never described the field in Green Bay as "the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field." That was later ESPN announcer Chris Berman, imitating him.

ESPN eventually began doing historical programs, featuring footage from NFL Films' vault at their massive headquarters in Mount Laurel, Burlington County, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia; and interviews with surviving figures from those films, conducted by Steve Sabol.

These included Old Leather, from 1976, about stars of the 1920s, with Red Grange, Fritz Pollard, and Johnny "Blood" McNally among those alive and well enough to sit for interviews; and Their Deeds and Dogged Faith, from 1977, about some of the toughest figures in NFL history, including Chicago Bears (and NFL) founder George Halas.

Facenda died in 1984, his last film being the highlights of Super Bowl XVIII. Another Philadelphia broadcast legend, Phillies announcer Harry Kalas, took over until his death in 2009. They have used various announcers since.

Ed Sabol was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a "Contributor" in 2011. It seemed to be just in time: He was 95 years old and in a wheelchair; and Steve was dealing with brain cancer. Steve died the next year, at age 69. Ed lived until 2015, age 98. Steve was posthumously elected to the Hall in 2020.

*

December 30, 1962 was a Sunday. There were no other football games that day: The NCAA had college football bowl games scheduled for the day before and the day after, but not this day; and the AFL Championship Game was the week before, with the Dallas Texans (soon to be the Kansas City Chiefs) beating the Houston Oilers in double overtime.

There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 135-130 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Elgin Baylor scored 38 points. And the St. Louis Hawks beat the Chicago Zephyrs, 107-100 at the Chicago Coliseum. The failing Zephyrs moved the next season, becoming the Baltimore Bullets. They moved to Washington in 1973, and became the Washington Wizards in 1997.

There were 2 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens played to a 4-4 tie at the old Madison Square Garden. And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the Chicago Stadium. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings were not scheduled. 

December 29, 1972: The Death of East Brunswick's Jay Doyle

December 29, 1972: Jay Doyle dies. The football game program at East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey notes that the school's stadium is named Jay Doyle Field, in his memory, and says that, "Most of you never had the pleasure of meeting this man."

When he died, my family had just moved to East Brunswick, and I had just passed my 3rd birthday, so I never came close to meeting him. Most people reading this post have never been to East Brunswick (except from maybe passing through it on the New Jersey Turnpike), much less to the campus of EBHS, my Alma Mater, and are unlikely to have ever even heard of him.

James Francis Doyle III was born on February 1, 1931 in Brooklyn. He grew up in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York. Long Island did not have a tradition of playing high school football games on Thanksgiving. As a result, he didn't like it when schools did so, and East Brunswick only ended up doing so once in its 1st 14 seasons of varsity football: In 1963, when their game against Sayreville for November 23 was postponed due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy the day before.

Doyle served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Rutgers University in 1956, and a Masters degree from RU in 1957. Several other men for whom nearby high school football stadiums were named were also Rutgers graduates, including Jay Dakelman of Highland Park and Nicholas Priscoe of Woodbridge.

He married Joan Philedius, and they had 2 daughters, Susan and Kathleen; and 2 sons, Michael and James IV. They lived in Farrington Lake Heights, a section of East Brunswick that uses the post office of neighboring Milltown.

Doyle served on Rutgers' football coaching staff in the 1956 and '57 seasons, as a swimming instructor there from 1956 to '58, as the Township of East Brunswick's recreation director from 1956 to '59, and a gym teacher at East Brunswick grammar schools from 1957 to '59.

This made him a natural to be appointed as East Brunswick High School's 1st athletic director when the school opened for the 1958-59 schoolyear, even though he was only 27 years old. He was also named its 1st wrestling head coach in 1960, and its 1st football head coach in 1961. He also served a term as president of the New Jersey Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association.

He hired one of his Rutgers fraternity brothers, John Emery, as the school's 1st head basketball coach in 1960-61, and as one of his assistant coaches in football. Emery would remain head coach in basketball until 1977, and on the football staff into the 21st Century.

After 2 seasons, going 4-4 and 2-7, he left the football position, but remained as A.D. and wrestling coach. He coached a District Champion team in 1969, and 3 individual State Champions: Richie Aiello in 1963, Max Guidoboni in 1965, and Lenny Cassidy in 1966.

Until the late 1970s, the Middlesex County Wrestling Tournament was held on the weekend between Christmas and New Year's Eve. It was eventually moved to the 1st weekend in February. On Thursday, December 28, 1972, Doyle coached 3 of his wrestlers into the Semifinals, to be held on Friday, December 29: Joe Rishar, Mark Morrison and Roger Kissling. (The article in the football team's game program says it was 4 wrestlers, but the account in the local newspaper, then known as The Daily Home News, only mentions 3.)

But he suffered a heart attack on the 29th, and was taken to St. Peter's Hospital in New Brunswick. He died there, only 41 years old.

Jim Rishar, one of Doyle's assistants and older brother of Joe Rishar, had to step in. He told the wrestlers that Doyle would want them to compete anyway, but that he would respect their choices regardless. All 3 of them wrestled, in tribute to their fallen leader. But, being emotionally spent, all 3 of them lost. It didn't matter: The fact that they competed anyway matched the Olympic ideal, and would have pleased their coach.

Jay Doyle Field

EBHS' 4,300-capacity football stadium did not have an official name at the time of Doyle's death. Before the 1973 season began, it was named Jay Doyle Field. When the Greater Middlesex Conference was formed in 1985, taking in nearly every school in the County, the trophy for the overall team wrestling champion was named the Jay Doyle Trophy.

Doyle's monument inside the stadium

Doyle was laid to rest at Holy Cross Burial Park and Mausoleum, on Cranbury Road in East Brunswick, 5 miles down the road from the High School. His widow, Joan, lived on until 2010. Son Michael is a professor of communications at Rutgers. Son James is a lawyer in Hammonton, South Jersey. Daughter Susan Doyle-Lindrud is a doctor, and stayed in East Brunswick. And daughter Kathleen Doyle is a physical therapist in neighboring North Brunswick.

Jay Doyle was succeeded as football coach by Ronald A. Gonier. "Rock" coached the Bears from 1963 to 1967, winning Conference Championships in 1965, 1966 and 1967, and the Central Jersey Group IV Championship in 1966. He continued to teach math at EBHS until his death in 1979, also much too young, a few days away from turning 50.

Gonier's successor was a bit luckier, in every sense of the word. Mel Caseiro, brother of assistant principal John Caseiro, coached from 1968 to 1976, after having been an assistant under Doyle and Gonier. He won Conference Championships in 1968, 1969 and 1970, and both the Middlesex County Athletic Conference and Central Jersey Group IV Championships in 1972. He was fired after 2 losing seasons, and then served on the staff of Rutgers University coaches Frank Burns and Dick Anderson until 1985. He taught chemistry at EBHS until his retirement, and lived until 2012, at 75.

The next EBHS head coach was George Tardiff. He was the 1st to lead the Bears into the State Playoffs after their institution in 1974, doing so in 1980. Despite some success, he ruffled a few feathers, and when he got an offer from an NCAA Division II college after the 1982 season, there was not much effort to convince him to stay. He later returned to New Jersey, coaching at 3 different schools in the Shore Conference, having previously coached at 3 other schools in that league. Like Caseiro, he died in 2012 and was 75.

Marcus Borden coached, and won, more football games at EBHS than any other man, all while teaching foreign languages. He guided us to the Playoffs in 1984, '85, '87, '88, '90, '94, '98, 2004, '09 and '10; won Conference Championships in 1984 (the MCAC, from here on out the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division), '86, '87, '90 and '94; and, after some gut-wrenching close calls, the Central Jersey Group IV title in 2004 and 2009.

He was succeeded in 2012 by Bob Molarz, who had achieved great success at nearby Carteret, but it just didn't happen at EB. In 7 years, he never had a winning season. In 2019, Andy Steinfeld became the 1st EBHS alumnus to become head coach, and he led us to the Playoffs in 2021.

I'll let Mel Caseiro have the last word on Jay Doyle, from a column that Barry Levine wrote in The Daily Home News, one of the predecessor newspapers of the Home News Tribune, Middlesex County's lone remaining daily paper: "He was a great man, a great educator. If I had to choose a boss to work for, it would have been Jay Doyle. He was very fair, and kept all the coaches working together."

*

December 29, 1972 was a Friday. Actors Jude Law and Leonor Varela were born.

Baseball was out of season. There were 2 college football bowl games played that day:

* North Carolina State upset Number 18 West Virginia, 49-13, at Atlanta Stadium, in the Peach Bowl. The stadium was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975, and torn down in 1997.

* And the University of Tampa beat Kent State University of Ohio, 21-18, in the Tangerine Bowl, at the stadium then carrying the same name, in Orlando. The game and the stadium later became known as the Citrus Bowl, and the stadium is now named Camping World Stadium. Believing that having an NFL team would cause its attendance to decrease, the University of Tampa dropped its football program after the 1974 season. And yet, since becoming a Football Bowl Subdivision team in 2001, the University of South Florida has had higher attendance than UT ever did.

There were 7 NBA games played that night:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 99-94 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Walt Frazier led the Knicks with 24 points. In defeat, Bob Lanier scored 38 points and had 26 rebounds.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 106-99 at the Boston Garden. Bob Love scored 41 points for the Bulls.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Baltimore Bullets, 118-109 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena). Elvin Hayes scored 35 in defeat for the Bullets.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Houston Rockets, 114-101 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 39 points.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 106-99 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 121-92 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Jerry West had 28 points. Gail Goodrich had 27. Wilt Chamberlain, in what turned out to be his last season, had only 10 points, but grabbed 26 rebounds.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-91 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The New York Nets lost to the San Diego Conquistadors, 114-104 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). And the Kentucky Colonels beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 131-104 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the California Golden Seals, 5-2 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-0 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Minnesota North Stars, 2-0 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 4-4 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And there were 3 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Houston Aeros beat the New England Whalers, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Quebec Nordiques, 5-3 at the Cleveland Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Sharks beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 5-2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

December 28, 1929: The 1st NHL Game In New Jersey

Boardwalk Hall

When was the 1st National Hockey League game in New Jersey? It was the Devils' opener in 1982, right? Actually, it goes back a lot further than you might think.

December 28, 1929: It was at the end of the Roaring Twenties, just 2 months after the stock market's Crash of 1929. No one had yet realized that the Great Depression had begun. The Shore resort of Atlantic City had just opened a new Convention Hall, a 17,000-seat amphitheater, with the round end of the horseshoe pointing to the beach and a stage at the inland end.

The New York Rangers had begun play in the 1926-27 season. In 1927-28, they won the Stanley Cup. In 1928-29, they reached the Stanley Cup Finals, but lost to the Boston Bruins. For reasons lost to time, they decided to play a "home game" of the 1929-30 season 120 miles away, at Convention Hall.

The Rangers were loaded, with a forward line of Frank Boucher centering the brothers Bill and Frederick "Bun" Cook. Their defense was led by Ivan Johnson, known as "Ching" because, in that much less politically correct era, some people, who clearly needed glasses, thought he looked Chinese. Their goalkeeper for this game, and for every game from 1928 to 1933, was John Ross Roach, picked up following a goalkeeping emergency that nearly cost them the '28 Cup.

The Ottawa Senators had won the Cup in 1920, '21, '23 and '27, but were now in decline. They were still led by forwards Frank Nighbor, Frank Finnigan, and the brothers Hector and Wally Kilrea. Their defense still had Frank "King" Clancy and Alex Smith, with Alex Connell in goal.

Boucher opened the scoring at 14:30 of the 1st period. Clancy tied the game at 5:11 of the 2nd. At 9:00, Paul Thompson, later to help the Chicago Black Hawks win the 1934 and '38 Stanley Cups, gave the Rangers the lead. With 2:24 left in regulation, Leroy Goldsworthy (no relation to 1970s hockey star Bill Goldsworthy) gave the Broadway Blueshirts an insurance goal. The Rangers won, 3-1.

Frank Boucher

Two more games would be played at Convention Hall that season. On January 25, 1930, the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2. And on March 15, the Senators returned, and beat the New York Americans, 8-7. The next season, the hockey version of the Pirates became the Philadelphia Quakers, but went out of business after that one season. They played at the Philadelphia Arena, and did not play any games in Atlantic City.

The Rangers reached the Finals again in 1932, and won the Cup in 1933, before rebuilding, and reaching the Finals in 1937 and winning the Cup in 1940. World War II wrecked the franchise, and they have only won the Cup once since, in 1994. They're still better off than the Senators, who went out of business in 1934. A new Ottawa Senators franchise began in 1992, but has only reached the Finals once, in 2007.

Despite the World Hockey Association moving the New York Golden Blades (formerly the New York Raiders) to the Cherry Hill Arena in the Philadelphia suburbs, and renaming them the Jersey Knights, in the middle of the 1973-74 season, after which they folded, there would be no more NHL games in New Jersey for 52 years, until October 5, 1982, when the New Jersey Devils made their regular-season debut, tying the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-3.

Convention Hall, renamed Boardwalk Hall in 2001, still stands. From 1940 to 1997, and again from 2013 to 2019, it hosted the Miss America Pageant. Within days in August 1964, it hosted both the Democratic National Convention and a concert by The Beatles. It hosted the Liberty Bowl football game in 1964, despite not quite being long enough for a standard football field. It's hosted many concerts, and some big prizefights, the most famous of them being Mike Tyson's 91-second knockout of Michael Spinks in 1988.

*

December 28, 1929 was a Saturday. One other NHL game was played that day: The Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the Montreal Forum. The Bruins had won the Stanley Cup the season before, but the Canadiens would win it this season.

Baseball was out of season. Football season had just ended. The NBA hadn't been founded yet.

One other sports note from this day: The English soccer team I have come to support, Arsenal F.C., went to Yorkshire, and lost to Leeds United, 2-0 at Elland Road. They went on to win their 1st major trophy that season, anyway, the 1930 FA Cup.

December 23, 1995: Snowballs at the Meadowlands

December 23, 1995: The New York Giants close their season in ignominious fashion -- and the result is far from the worst of it.

They were playing the San Diego Chargers, at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. It's important to note that the Giants have no rivalry with the Chargers. This was only the 7th time the 1925-established NFL mainstays and the 1960-established original AFL team had played each other in the regular season. The Giants had won at Yankee Stadium in 1971, at Shea Stadium in 1975, at Giants Stadium in 1986, and at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego in 1989. The Chargers had won at The Murph in 1980 and at Giants Stadium in 1983.

None of those games had been particularly contentious. Indeed, even this game had no incidents between the Giant players and the Charger players.

For the Giants, it was a bad season, by any measure. They started out 0-3, closed to within 3-5, fell to 3-9, got up to 5-9, and went into this game 5-10. The Chargers had started 4-7, but had won 4 straight, and had a chance to make the Playoffs if they beat the Giants and other games went their way.

There had been significant snowfall the day before, and only 50,243 fans, out of a possible 78,000+, showed up. While the seats at Giants Stadium had been cleared of snow, there was still a lot of it lying around, waiting for angry -- or, at least mischievous -- fans to turn them into snowballs. At least in the 1st half, they only threw them at each other, because they were pleased with the product on the field: The Giants went into the locker room up 17-3.

This score was understandable: There was snow all around, and the temperature was 34 degrees, 24 with the wind chill. The New York-based team was used to this kind of weather. The San Diego-based team was not.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the Giants giving their fans a Merry Christmas: They ended up giving their fans a big lump of coal instead. The Chargers scored a touchdown, but it was still 17-10 Giants after 3 quarters.

By this point, the snowballs were flying from the stands, then onto the field. Bob Sheppard, who had been the Yankees' public address announcer since 1951 and the Giants' since 1956, put his best "Voice of God" to work on the crowd, telling them that the game could be forfeited if the barrage continued.

On the 1st play of the 4th quarter, referee Ron Blum called time-out. He went over to the Charger sideline to call up to the booth, and ask for a repeat of the threat. A fan threw a snowball in his direction. Except it wasn't a snowball: It was an iceball, much harder. And it didn't hit Blum: It hit Sid Brooks, the Chargers' equipment manager, right in the face, knocking him out.

The game should have been forfeited right there. Maybe it would have been, if Charger head coach Bobby Ross had spoken up at that moment. But he didn't, and it wasn't.

The Chargers completed their drive with a touchdown, and the game was tied. On their next drive, Junior Seau hit Giant quarterback Dave Brown, whose throw had been intended for the end zone. Instead, Shaun Gayle -- now with the Chargers, he had been an All-American sprinter in college and a member of the Chicago Bears' 1985-86 "Super Bowl Shuffle" team -- intercepted it, and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown. Well before he reached the end zone, fans sitting there began throwing snowballs at him. Many got as far as him, but none hit him.

The Giants fumbled on their next possession, and John Carney kicked a field goal for the final score: Chargers 27, Giants 17. It was one thing for the Giants to humiliate their fans, which had happened before. It was another thing for the fans to humiliate each other, and the players.

Giants management announced that any snowball-thrower who could be identified would be banned from the Meadowlands Sports Complex for life, even if that meant revoking his season ticket. Six such spectators were identified, including one who ended up on the back page of the New York Daily News. Giants management also bought a full-page ad in the next day's San Diego Union-Tribune -- the Sunday edition -- apologizing to the people of San Diego for the incident.

By a quirk in the NFL schedule, the New York Jets were scheduled to play at Giants Stadium the very next day. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, operator of the stadium, went into overdrive to get all the snow removed from the stadium before kickoff. Given that the Jets were going in 3-12 under the already-much-maligned head coach Rich Kotite, a 2nd angry fanbase was possible. But the snow was cleared, there were no incidents, and the Jets lost to the New Orleans Saints, 12-0.

The Chargers did end up making the Playoffs. Since then, they've played the Giants 6 times. The Giants won in San Diego in 1998. The Chargers won in San Diego in 2005 and 2013, at the Meadowlands in 2009 and 2017, and, following their move back to Los Angeles, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California 11 days ago.

None of those games had any incidents, either. Only the one on Christmas weekend 1995.

*

December 23, 1995 was a Saturday. There were 2 other NFL games played that day, instead of the next day, Sunday, Christmas Eve:

* The Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 37-10 at Tampa Stadium. No danger of snowballs in Florida.

* And the Indianapolis Colts beat the New England Patriots, 10-7 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. No danger of snowballs in a dome.

There were 12 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the expansion Toronto Raptors, 103-91 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 98-85 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Miami Heat, 87-75 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-97 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Detroit Pistons, 94-79 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz, 100-86 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 115-111 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks, 111-98 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Houston Rockets, 110-95 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets, 107-92 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 102-99 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Washington Bullets, 118-100 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

There were 11 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the Miami Arena.

* The New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 1-0 in one of the last games played at the Montreal Forum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-5 at the Fleet Center (now the TD Garden).

* The Philadelphia Flyers played the Hartford Whalers to a tie, 3-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-2 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena).

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars, 2-0 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Colorado Avalanche played the Los Angeles Kings to a tie, 2-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 1-0 at General Motors Place in Vancouver (now the Rogers Arena).

Also, Arsenal went to Anfield, and lost to Liverpool, 3-1. 

December 22, 1937: The Lincoln Tunnel Opens

December 22, 1937: The Lincoln Tunnel opens, connecting Midtown Manhattan in New York City with Weehawken, Hudson County, New Jersey. Its approachway, now New Jersey Route 495, flowed into New Jersey Route 3, and eventually connected with the New Jersey Turnpike and, still later, the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

George Washington got a bridge in New York City, Abraham Lincoln got a tunnel.

The original tube is now the center tube. What is now the north tube opened on February 1, 1945. What is now the south tube opened on May 25, 1957.

Each tube, roughly at its midpoint, has a marker noting the State Line between the States of New York and New Jersey, known as "The Stripe." The Holland Tunnel, which opened in 1927, also has this.

On top of the New Jersey entrance, abutting the curled highway nicknamed "The Helix," is Weehawken Stadium, home of the baseball and football teams of Weehawken High School. Yes, sports are played on top of the Lincoln Tunnel.

*

December 22, 1937 was a Wednesday. There were no games that day: Baseball was out of season; the NBA hadn't been founded yet; it was a Wednesday, so there were no football games; and the NHL had no games scheduled.

December 19, 1989: The Rolling Stones vs. Donald Trump

Left to right: Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts,

Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood

December 19, 1989: When The Rolling Stones have the moral high ground over you, that is not a good sign.

In 1985, lead singer Mick Jagger released his 1st solo album, She's the Boss. In 1987, he released Primitive Cool. Neither did well. In 1988, lead guitarist Keith Richards, who isn't even as good a singer as Mick (Mick is one of the greatest frontmen in rock history, but not a good singer), released his 1st solo album, Talk Is Cheap. It did do well, proving that Mick needed Keith a lot more than the other way around.

So, with the Stones' eligibility for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame kicking in for 1989, and the band's reuniting for the certain induction ceremony, Mick ate crow, and got together with Keith to write new songs. The result was the album Steel Wheels, which produced "Mixed Emotions," which hit Number 5, and remains the last major hit for "The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band."

And so, at the induction ceremony, the Stones announced the Steel Wheels Tour. Mick said, "You know, Americans are a funny people: First they arrest you, then they put you in a museum."

And so, for the last time with the lineup established in 1974, the Stones hit the road: Jagger, Richardson, rhythm guitarist Ron Wood, bass guitarist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts. (Wyman left the group after the tour.) Chuck Leavell, formerly of The Allman Brothers Band, became their keyboard player and musical director in 1982. Bobby Keys became their touring saxophone player.

The tour hit mostly stadiums, including Shea Stadium in New York, Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Coliseum, and the Oakland Coliseum to meet the San Francisco Bay Area market. Oddly, they didn't play in Chicago, the nation's 3rd-largest city. But they did play the top 3 cities in Canada: BC Place in Vancouver, the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, and Exhibition Stadium and later the newly-opened SkyDome (now named the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

The oldest of the Stones was Wyman, 53; the youngest, Wood, 42. Already, jokes were being told about their age. Filling in for Johnny Carson on  The Tonight Show, Jay Leno, no spring chicken himself at 38, said, "You can tell which tour bus is the Stones': They leave their left blinker on." (Turn signal.)

The tour was scheduled to conclude on December 19, 1989, at Convention Hall (now named Boardwalk Hall) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Producer Michael Cohl organized a pay-per-view broadcast of that concert. This event was expected to generate significant revenue. But it required a major financial backer.

New York real estate mogul Donald Trump agreed to shell out a huge sum. I used to think Trump was smart, because he put his 1st Atlantic City casino, Trump Plaza, between that city's two most famous buildings: Caesars Atlantic City (then as now, the best-known American casino-hotel outside Las Vegas) and Convention Hall. In the years to come, I came to the conclusion that, as they used to say on Match Game, Dumb Donald was so dumb (How dumb was he?), the idea had to be someone else's.

Time magazine, January 16, 1989

Trump's reputation for dishonesty in business -- as well as in his 1st marriage, to Ivana Zelníčková, which was then breaking up in the public eye -- was already well-known. And the Stones, with their history of drinking, drugs, debauchery, and leaving their native Britain to avoid high taxes, were reluctant to do business with him.

So Cohl contracted strict conditions: Trump was not allowed to publicly promote the show, he would not be allowed to attend the concert, and his name would not allowed to dominate the advertising.

When the band arrived at the Convention Hall, they were met with advertising posters that read, "Donald Trump presents The Rolling Stones." It seemed like shameless advertising at the band's expense, especially since the band's name was in small print.

An hour before the concert, the band was scheduled to broadcast live to major U.S. news channels. When producer Cohl entered the press room, he found Trump in the midst of his own press conference. Cohl asked Trump to leave, reminding him of his contract. Trump waved his arms at the crowd of American TV journalists who were actually waiting to hear The Rolling Stones, and replied, "But Michael, they begged me to come up here! They begged me!"

This was, like so many things Trump has said over the years, a flat-out lie. Upon learning of what was happening, Richards summoned Cohl to his dressing room. When Cohl arrived, Richards pulled out a knife, and jammed it into the table, yelling, "What the hell am I paying you for? Should I go and kick him out myself? It's him or us! If he doesn't leave, we're not going on stage!"

Cohl went to Trump, and gave him the band's demands. Trump went into his fake tough-guy act, saying the Stones weren't going anywhere, weren't leaving Atlantic City, and his security team would "beat the shit out of your whole band."

Did I mention that Dumb Donald was so dumb? Cohl called the tour's head of security. He immediately called out four dozen of the band's security men. They arrived with hockey sticks, screwdrivers, and tire irons. Trump and his entourage hurriedly left the building. I guess they forgot about what happened at Altamont, 20 years to the month earlier.

The concert went on, on time. The broadcast was perfect, and the Stones made all the money, just as planned.

In 2016, Donald Trump was "elected" President of the United States. Keith Richards said, "I warned America back in 1989!" Yes, he did.

*

December 19, 1989 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 10 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Utah Jazz, 115-107 at Madison Square Garden. Patrick Ewing scored 41 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. The Stones played The Garden many times, the 1st being on November 27, 1969, a Thanksgiving Night. Although they toured the United States before the old Garden closed in 1968, they never played there.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Miami Heat, 100-98 at the Miami Arena. The Stones never played there.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 112-99 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. The Stones played there several times, starting on their 1975 tour.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 102-97 at the Charlotte Coliseum. The Stones went on to play that arena on March 20, 1999. They played the previous building with the name, now named the Bojangles Coliseum, on November 15, 1965 and July 6, 1972.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Sacramento Kings, 115-112 at The Omni in Atlanta. The Stones played there on July 30, 1975.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 94-77 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. The Stones went on to play there on February 22, 1999.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 93-83 at the Chicago Stadium. Michael Jordan scored 37 points. The Stones played there on July 22, 23 and 24, 1975.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 95-86 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The Stones went on to play there on February 19, 1999 and September 8, 2005.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Indiana Pacers, 128-102 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Ron Harper scored 39 for the Clips, and Chuck Person 42 for the Pacers. The Stones played the Sports Arena early in their career, on December 5, 1965.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets, 119-100 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. The Stones played there on July 21, 1966.

And there were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils, 5-4 at the Nassau Coliseum. Former New York Ranger Don Maloney won the game for the Islanders, scoring the winning goal with 1:42 left in overtime. The Stones have never played a concert at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Stones played there a few times, including 2 shows on July 20, 1972, with Stevie Wonder as the opening act.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. The Stones played there several times, including on their early tours in 1965 and 1966.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-0 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. The Stones played there on June 18, 1972.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Winnipeg Jets, 9-5 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. The Stones played there many times, the first time on their 1969 tour.

* And the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. The Stones opened their 1972 tour there on June 3.

December 7, 1974: New Jersey's 1st High School Football State Playoff

Sorry, Coach Jim Mora, but I'm about to talk about Playoffs!

December 7, 1974: The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), which still runs high school sports in the Garden State, holds its 1st football Playoffs.

The NJSIAA originally divided its public schools by geography. The Counties of Warren, Sussex, Passaic, Bergen and Hudson were placed in North Jersey Section 1. The Counties of Morris, Essex and Union were in North Jersey Section 2. The Counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Somerset, Middlesex and Monmouth were in Central Jersey. The Counties of Ocean, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, Atlantic and Cape May were in South Jersey.

Then, they were further divided by enrollment size, the smallest schools being placed in Group I, then Group II, then Group III, and the largest ones being put in Group IV. That way, a small school like Cedar Grove won't have to go into the same Playoff bracket as a big school like Paterson Eastside.

They divided the Parochial schools into North and South, and Group A and B. Eventually, for football only, they created a Group V for the very largest schools.

For 1974 only, they admitted only the top 2 teams in each section. How did they determine the top 2 teams? Not by best record, because that could have caused ties to argue about. So they set up what they called "power points." A team would earn 2 points for a win over a team, multiplied by that team's group classification. Then they earned "residual power points," gaining half-credit for every game that team won, up to and including the 8th week of the season.

Example: I went to East Brunswick High School, in Middlesex County. For football, they are in Group V; for all other sports, Group IV. Suppose "EB" starts the season by beating their neighboring arch-rival, Old Bridge. (That hasn't happened since 2010, so you're going to have to use your imagination here.) Old Bridge are also Group V. EB gets 10 power points for doing this. Now, suppose, over the next 7 weeks, EB goes 5-2, with 3 wins coming against Group V teams, and the other 2 against Group IV teams. That's 4 points for each win, meaning we now have a total of 56 points. And suppose, on the average, the 6 teams we beat go .500, or 4-4. That's another 23 points, for a total of 79 points.

Convoluted? Yes. Fairer than the previous system, where they simply gave the Championship to the team with the best record in the section in each group, and if that meant a tie and a Co-Championship, so be it? Yes.

The way the schedule worked out for 1974, the 1st game was on a shortened temporary field at the Convention Hall (now Boardwalk Hall) in Atlantic City, for the South Jersey Group IV title. It was a Jersey Shore suburban team over a hardscrabble city team: Brick Township 21, Camden 20.

And Brick fans have never let anybody forget that they won the 1st-ever State Playoff game. The Green Dragons are a lot like Notre Dame: They never lose, time just runs out on them, or the refs are against them.

Brick's head coach, Warren Wolf (1927-2019) was also the Mayor of Brick Township at the time -- a Republican. He became the winningest coach in the history of New Jersey High School football, including winning 21 State Championships, the 1st in Group II, the next 3 in Group III, and the rest in Group IV, all in South Jersey.

They began to win less often in 1981, as the Township built a 2nd high school, Brick Memorial. It took Memorial a few years to become even respectable, but, eventually, they became Playoff perennials as well.

For 1975, the NJSIAA expanded the Playoffs to include the top 4 teams in each section, with the 1st seed hosting the 4th, and the 2nd hosting the 3rd. In 1998, they expanded again, to include the top 8.

For the record: East Brunswick, which opened in 1958 and began playing varsity football in 1961. won Central Jersey Group IV Co-Championships under the old system in 1966 and 1972; and had some agonizing close calls -- shades of certain major league teams that eventually broke, or haven't yet broken, "curses" -- in the 1980s and '90s, before winning the title in 2004 and 2009.

*

December 7, 1974 was a Saturday. There was 1 game in college football on this day: Arizona State beat Hawaii, 26-3. This was the last game that Hawaii played at the old Honolulu Stadium, a minor-league baseball park that opened in 1926, and was in bad shape, to the point where it was known as "The Termite Palace." The next season, the Rainbow Warriors moved into the new Aloha Stadium.

There were 2 games in the NFL that day. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Atlanta Falcons, 23-10 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. And the Dallas Cowboys beat the Cleveland Browns, 41-17 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

Baseball was out of season. There were 5 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 120-112 at Madison Square Garden. Geoff Petrie scored 37 points for the Blazers, and John Johnson scored 35. Walt Frazier led the Knicks with 24.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Buffalo Braves, 116-112 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Bob McAdoo scored 34 for the Braves, who became the San Diego Clippers in 1978 and the Los Angeles Clippers in 1984.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Detroit Pistons, 94-89 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 92-88 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 132-96 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Virginia Squires, 103-86 at the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Spirits of St. Louis, 119-107 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 126-113 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. George McGinnis had 36 points and 21 rebounds.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Sounds at the Denver Auditorium Arena. Stew Johnson scored 35 for the Sounds.

* And the Utah Stars beat the San Antonio Spurs, 111-107 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

There were 6 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 7-4 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The New York Islanders beat the Kansas City Scouts, 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a tie, 3-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Washington Capitals, 8-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Atlanta Flames, 6-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And there were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The New England Whalers beat the Indianapolis Racers, 6-3 at the Eastern States Coliseum, a.k.a. The Big E, in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the San Diego Mariners, 3-1 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Chicago Cougars beat the Toronto Toros, 9-3 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.

* And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Michigan Stags, 4-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And in English soccer, Arsenal, the North London team I would eventually support, lost to Carlisle United, 2-1 at Brunton Park in Carlisle, Cumbria.

December 5, 2004: East Brunswick Wins the State Football Championship

December 5, 2004: The Night of Nights for the football program at East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

EBHS had opened in 1958, and had begun playing varsity football in 1961. The Bears had won Conference Championships in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1994.

They had won the Central Jersey Group IV Championship in 1966, and again in 1972, under the old system of who had the best record in the section. Both times, E.B. went 7-1-1. Both times, the 1 loss came against neighboring South River, to whom the Township of East Brunswick had sent its high school students from 1891 to 1958.

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association instituted State Playoffs for the 1974 season. At first, only the top 4 teams in each section qualified. Starting in 1998, it became the top 8 teams. Had that been the case from 1974 to 1997, East Brunswick would have qualified in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1986, 1992 and 1996. But it wasn't.

East Brunswick first qualified in 1980, losing in the Semifinal. In 1984, when I arrived at EBHS as a sophomore, they reached the Final, going into it as undefeated Conference Champions. But an undefeated State Championship season vanished on a missed two-point conversion, losing 27-26 to J.P. Stevens of Edison Township.

This was a shocking loss, the kind that used to happen to teams like the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles, and the New York Rangers; and still happens to the New York Mets, the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians), the Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Flyers.

In 1985, the Bears reached the Final again. But, again, they lost to Stevens. They made the Playoffs again in 1987, but were wiped out in a frigid Semifinal against arch-rival Madison Central, the school now known as Old Bridge. The same thing happened in 1988, but in weather that was considerably less cold. They reached the Semifinal in 1990, losing to Trenton Central; the Semifinal again, losing to Piscataway; and the Quarterfinal in 1998, losing to Manalapan.

Then came a down period. Way down. They went 4-6 in 1999, 1-9 in 2000, and 0-10 in 2001. From November 25, 1999 to September 13, 2002, EB went an atrocious 2-21. They rebounded to 6-4 in 2002, but fell back to 4-6 in 2003. And, for Marcus Borden, who had been head coach since 1983, and had come so close in 1984, and nearly as close a few times since, there seemed to be no indication that 2004 would be any better.

We (yes, I have switched from "they" to "we," I admit it) opened the season with home wins over Perth Amboy and Edison. Then we lost away to Piscataway, and we figured a downward spiral into a typically weak season had begun.

But a funny thing happened on the way to mediocrity: We started winning again. We beat North Brunswick at home. Then we went to Sayreville, a tough trip since the early 1990s, and won. That was a good sign.

Before the next game, the Red Sox completed their improbable American League Championship Series comeback against the Yankees -- steroid-aided, as it turned out, but we didn't know that yet. We then beat Stevens at home. In the middle of the next week, the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals, to win their 1st World Series in 86 years. If the Red Sox could overcome a long drought that included several shocking defeats, why couldn't E.B. football?

We needed overtime to beat South Brunswick away, but not to then beat Woodbridge at home. We had qualified for the Playoffs. On November 13, at Jay Doyle Field -- named for the man who was our 1st athletic director, football coach and wrestling coach -- we beat Brick Township of Ocean County, 13-12. It was a difficult game, as we expected it would be, but we won it, advancing to the Semifinal for the 1st time in 10 years. On November 20, we won that, beating Hillsborough of Somerset County, 28-21 in overtime. We were now in the Final for the 1st time in 19 years.

Fortunately, the NJSIAA rejiggered its sectional boundaries for this season. Good thing, too, as it moved Piscataway from Central Jersey into North Jersey Section II, meaning that if we both made the Playoffs, we wouldn't have to face each other. Instead, we would have to face Jackson Memorial, of Ocean County. They hadn't lost a game in 2 years, and were going for back-to-back State Championships. But we were confident we could give them a game.

And then we went to Old Bridge for our annual Thanksgiving Day game against the arch-rivals, and laid an absolute egg. We lost 20-0, and we never even looked like scoring. What happened to the team that quarterback Matt Mariano had been leading to victory all year long? We hadn't beaten Old Bridge since 1994, and now, with our best team since then -- maybe our best team since 1984 -- we couldn't do it.

No matter: We had to get our confidence back up, because we still had a title to win. But it would be at Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium), on the Busch Campus in Piscataway. It was the 1st time we'd ever played on artificial turf (most area high schools would soon get it, including us), and against the defending Champions. There were 12,000 people on hand, possibly the biggest crowd in EB history (and bigger than a lot of crowds were for Rutgers games at the old, 1938-92 version of Rutgers Stadium).

Somehow, Mariano kept us in the game. It was tight. But we never trailed. We led 7-0, were tied 7-7, led 10-7, led 17-7, and it was 17-14 us in the final seconds. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. After all, this was East Brunswick football we were talking about. Something bad always happens, and we always lose the big ones.

With time for 1 more play, Jackson tried a field goal. I don't remember the exact distance, but it was around 40 yards. It was cold, but there wasn't much wind, and it was on turf. A good high school kicker could have made it.

And, having been through so much with E.B. -- momentary screwups, all-game-long brain cramps, bogus calls by officials, rotten weather, you name it -- I was sure that the field goal would be good, and that we would lose in overtime.

When the field goal by Jackson was tried, it seemed to hang in the air forever. It didn't, and the other shoe did. The attempt fell a few yards short, and, on December 5, 2004, East Brunswick was the State Champion. Well, the Central Jersey Group IV Champion, anyway.

I'd waited 20 years for that moment, and some EB fans had waited 32 years. The wait was over. Marcus Borden's Green-White Army had conquered. They had beaten the greatest opponent of all: Fear. Deep in my heart, I had ceased to believe that we would overcome one day. But that day finally came. We had overcome.

UPDATE: In 2006, due to rising enrollment at Jackson Memorial, the Township of Jackson opened a 2nd high school, naming it Jackson Liberty. In 2025, due to declining enrollment at both schools, the Township reconsolidated, putting all students at Jackson Liberty, and repurposing Jackson Memorial as a middle school.

So, while Jackson had one high school in the 2004-05 schoolyear, and would again in 2025-26, in a manner of speaking, the school that E.B. beat for that 1st Central Jersey Group IV Championship in the Playoff era no longer exists.

*

December 5, 2004 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Washington Redskins, 31-7 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The New York Jets beat the Houston Texans, 29-7 at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers, 47-17 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens, 27-26 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville, Florida.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 27-0 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 42-32 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the New Orleans Saints, 32-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The New England Patriots beat the Cleveland Browns, 42-15 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field).

* The Detroit Lions beat the Arizona Cardinals, 26-12 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans, 51-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings, 24-14 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers, 16-6 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Denver Broncos, 20-17 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders, 35-27 at the Network Associates Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known).

* And the next day, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Seattle Seahawks, 43-39 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

There were no NHL games scheduled for that day, but 2 NBA games were played:

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 121-99 at the Moda Center in Portland. Quentin Richardson scored 37 points for the Suns.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Boston Celtics, 119-105 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. 

December 1, 1984: East Brunswick's Black Saturday

The main entrance to East Brunswick High School

-- after renovations were made in 2000.

It would have appeared differently in 1984.

December 1, 1984: New Jersey completes its high school football State Playoffs. Among the games played is the Central Jersey Group IV Final, at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

I was there. I saw this game. I have been trying to forget it ever since.

East Brunswick High School, in Middlesex County, opened in 1958, and had been playing football since 1961. In 1966 and 1972, it won the Central Jersey Group IV Championship. But that was under the old system, based on total wins. In 1974, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) instituted a Playoff system, based on "power points": A team got 2 points for every win, and 1 point for every game won by a team it beat.

Under this system, John P. Stevens High School of Edison, also in Middlesex County and a Middlesex County Athletic Conference (MCAC) opponent of E.B., won the Central Jersey Group IV Championship in 1977, 1978 and 1982, also making the Playoffs in 1983. East Brunswick had made it only once, in 1980, losing in the Semifinal.

John P. Stevens was the President of the Board of Education in Edison. He oversaw the building of Edison High School in 1955, but died soon thereafter. When a 2nd high school opened, on the north side of town, it was named for him. As a result, his name is on the dedication plaques of both schools.

But in 1984, the year I entered EBHS as a sophomore, E.B. won its 1st 6 games. In just his 2nd season as head coach, Marcus Borden had built a team based on strong line play and quick-strike capability. The 7th game was at Stevens' John E. McGowan Stadium, on October 27. E.B. beat J.P., 26-6. It was a dominating performance, and it went a long way toward the Bears earning the MCAC Championship. I was there: It was Stevens' Homecoming, and 5,000 of their fans went home angry.

They would get their revenge. Their big running back, George Boothe, was unavailable for this game due to injury. He returned, and helped them make the Playoffs. E.B. won their Semifinal over Hunterdon Central of Flemington, and then beat Colonia of Woodbridge on Thanksgiving Day to clinch the MCAC title and our 1st undefeated regular season. Stevens won their Semifinal, over Middletown North of Monmouth County, but lost their Thanksgiving game against crosstown Edison.

The local newspaper, then named The Central New Jersey Home News, ranked E.B. Number 1 in Middlesex County. So did another nearby paper, The News Tribune. These 2 papers would merge in 1995, forming The Home News Tribune. The Statewide newspaper, the Newark-based The Star-Ledger, ranked E.B. Number 2 in the entire State, behind Union of Union County. We were 10-0, and Stevens as 7-3. And we had the home-field advantage for the Final. We were heavily favored to win our 1st real "State Championship" in the sport.

Jay Doyle Field -- also noticeably altered,

well after 1984

But we couldn't stop Boothe. He scored 3 of their 4 touchdowns, the 1st on an end-around on which he wasn't even touched, putting the Hawks up, 27-20 in the 4th quarter. But the Bears had come from 27-13 down to beat Colonia, 33-27, just 9 days earlier, so the thought was there that we could do it again.

The Bears did come back, and scored a touchdown to make it 27-26 with a minute and a half to go. Remembering the Orange Bowl at the beginning of the year, when Nebraska's Tom Osborne went for the 2-point conversion and the National Championship against the University of Miami, and not getting it, and losing 31-30 -- but forgetting that, unlike college football at the time, New Jersey's State Playoffs did have a provision for overtime -- Borden went for the 2-point conversion.

Steve Hughes, who would be named Middlesex County Offensive Player of the Year by The Home News, found running back Deric Rowe wide open in the end zone. It was 3:37 PM. Don't bet me on the time. Rowe later said he lost the ball in the Sun. It hit him in the chest, slipped through his fingers, and fell to the grass. It was still 27-26.

We got the ball back one last time, but it was no use: Stevens 27, East Brunswick 26. Our undefeated State Championship season was gone. And, yes, 38 years later, it still hurts. Every time that score comes up, in any sport, I cringe.

Twice, I walked out of Jay Doyle Field in tears. The 2nd time was after graduation. The 1st time was this one, a game that became known as Black Saturday. I was spoiled over the 1st 10 games. I waited a long time for that 1 more win.

Deric played basketball for us, too, and we still cheered him every time he got the ball. But this was E.B.'s "Bill Buckner moment" -- 2 years before Buckner had his own. There would be other close calls, including another 1-point loss to Stevens in next year's regular season, costing us the Conference Championship; and another loss to them in the 1985 State Final. But E.B. football hadn't won a "State Championship" (officially, Central Jersey Group IV Championship) since 1972, and not at all under the current system.

Finally, we did it again on December 5, 2004, against Shore Conference power Jackson Memorial, at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway. Borden was still the head coach. I was there. We did it again in 2009, beating Brick Memorial, another Shore Conference school, in a snowstorm at The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College) in Ewing. I was at that one, too.

There is a tragic postscript to that 1984 Final: Both Deric Rowe and George Boothe ended up in legal trouble. Rowe played football at Kansas State University, but dropped out, and served time in prison for armed robbery, carjacking and kidnapping. Last I heard, he was free, and living in the San Diego suburbs.

Boothe played at the University of Connecticut, but fell into drug use there, and became Central Jersey's "O.J. Simpson" -- the difference being that he was convicted for killing his girlfriend, in Atlanta in 1994. He was eventually released, and, at last check, was living in Connecticut.

*

December 1, 1984 was, as I said, a Saturday. After coming home, I didn't give a damn about the college football games that were played that day:

* Rivalry: Number 3 Florida beat Number 12 Florida State, 27-17 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

* Rivalry: Number 8 Boston College, 8 days after their Thanksgiving weekend thriller over Miami, beat Holy Cross, 45-10 at Fitton Field in Worcester, Massachusetts. A rivalry between 2 Catholic schools just 40 miles apart that began in 1896, and had been played every year but 3 since 1910, only lasted 2 more years, as Holy Cross was entrenched in NCAA Division I-AA (now the Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS).

* Number 10 Southern Methodist University (SMU) beat the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), 38-21 at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl, in the Las Vegas suburb of Whitney, Nevada.

* Rivalry: Number 11 Auburn were upset by Alabama, 17-15 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama.

* Rivalry: Number 13 Texas were upset by Texas A&M, 37-12 at Memorial Stadium in Austin.

* Rivalry: Number 18 Georgia were upset by Georgia Tech, 35-18 at Sanford Stadium in Athens.

* Rivalry: Army beat Navy, 28-11 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* Rivalry: Tennessee beat Vanderbilt, 29-13 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Rivalry: The University of Houston beat Rice University, 38-26 at the Astrodome in Houston. Champions of the Southwest Conference, Houston received an automatic bid to the Cotton Bowl, where Boston College beat them. It was Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie's last college game.

* And Iowa beat Hawaii, 17-6 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

Baseball was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Portland Trail Blazers, 115-93 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 100-97 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 110-104 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Indiana Pacers, 131-109 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Houston Rockets, 94-86 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 142-110 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Denver Nuggets beat their arch-rivals, the Utah Jazz, 118-111 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors, 115-103 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

And there were 9 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Hartford Whalers, 8-4 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins, 5-4 in overtime at the Boston Garden. Dave Christian, a member of the Gold Medal-winning 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, scored the winning goal with 3:40 left in overtime.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Minnesota North Stars, 8-4 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Detroit Red Wings, 10-5 at the St. Louis Arena. Joe Mullen scored 2 goals and an assist. Brian Sutter had 2 goals. Bernie Federko had a goal and 4 assists.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the New York Islanders, the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets were not scheduled.