December 25, 1984: Bernard King Decks the Halls

December 25, 1984: For about a year now, the best basketball player in the world has not been Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or Magic Johnson, or Larry Bird, or Julius Erving, and certainly not newly-minted NBA rookie Michael Jordan. It's been Bernard King.

The Brooklyn native, who had starred at the University of Tennessee with later Knick teammate Ernie Grunfeld -- they called it "The Bernie and Ernie Show" -- had just turned 28, and was dropping stunning performances, game after game. On January 31 and February 1, 1984, he became the 1st NBA (or ABA) player in 17 years to score at least 50 points in back-to-back games.

On this Christmas Day, he came down the chimney at Madison Square Garden and scored 60 points, a record for the "new" Garden that opened in 1968. He scored 21 points in the 1st quarter, 19 in the 2nd, 11 in the 3rd, and 9 in the 4th.

In spite of this performance for the New York Knicks, the cross-river New Jersey Nets beat them, 120-114. Micheal Ray Richardson scored 36 for New Jersey. (Yes, he spells his name "Micheal," not "Michael.")

King was only the 10th player in NBA history to score at least 60 in a game. Joe Fulks was the 1st to do it, with 63 in a 1949 game for the Philadelphia Warriors. George Mikan scored 61 in a 1952 game for the Minneapolis Lakers. Fulks and Mikan were the only players to do it before the 1954 institution of the 24-second shot clock.

Wilt Chamberlain had done it 32 times, topping out at 100. At the time, the record for anyone other than Chamberlain was 73, by David Thompson, on the last day of the 1977-78 season. On the exact same day, George Gervin scored 63, and won the scoring title for the season.

Elgin Baylor had scored 60 or more 4 times, including a Playoff record 61 in 1962. On November 15, 1960, Baylor topped out at 71, against the Knicks at "the old Garden," and that remains a record for any building named Madison Square Garden, college or pro.

The other players to score 60 in an NBA game before King were Jerry West with 63 in 1962, Rick Barry with 63 in 1974, and Pete Maravich with 68 in 1977.

Sadly, 'Nard saw his reign come to an end on March 23, 1985, with a terrible knee injury in Kansas City. He had been averaging 32.9 points per game up until then, and that would lead the league. That game ended up being the 1st of 12 straight games the Knicks, already plagued with injuries, lost to end the season. Then they got the 1st pick in the 1985 NBA Draft, and selected Patrick Ewing.

King came back for 6 games at the end of the 1986-87 season. The Knicks thought that was all they could get out of him, so they traded him to the Washington Bullets. Incredibly, he played 4 seasons for them, including 1988-89, when he played in 81 out of 82 games; and 1989-90, when he played in all 82. He missed 1991-92 in its entirety, again due to the knee, and closed his career with the team with whom he started -- the Nets, playing 32 games in 1992-93.

He was 37 years old. Knick fans can only wonder what they could have done from the Autumn of 1985 to the Spring of 1993 with a healthy Bernard King added to Patrick Ewing, Mark Jackson and Charles Oakley.

His injuries kept his career numbers down. He was belatedly elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. He was not named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players in 1996, but was named to their 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players in 2021.

King's 60 remained a record for the new Garden until January 24, 2014, when Carmelo Anthony set a building record, and a Knick franchise record, with 62 points in a 125-96 win over the team then known as the Charlotte Bobcats. Baylor's 71 remains a record for any Garden. The college record was set by Oscar Robertson of the University of Cincinnati, scoring 56 points to outscore Seton Hall all by himself on January 9, 1958.

Scoring 60 points in an NBA game has now been done 87 times.

*

December 25, 1984 was a Tuesday. Elsewhere in the NBA that Christmas Day:

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 109-106 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Detroit Pistons, 109-108 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors, 106-97 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

The day saw no games in the NHL, and no bowl games in college football.

Also on this day, twin Australian singers, actresses and fashion designers Jessica and Lisa Origliasso were born.

November 3, 1995: The NBA Returns to Canada

Tracy Murray (left) and Ed O'Bannon

November 3, 1995: After having a team in the 1st season of the league that would become the NBA, the 1946-47 Toronto Huskies, Canada regains representation in the league, 48 years later. The expansion Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies each play their 1st game.

It went pretty well for the Raptors, the 1st team in North American major league sports to give themselves a dinosaur-themed name: They beat the New Jersey Nets, 94-79 at the SkyDome. Alvin Robertson led them with 30 points.

Their 1st season was typically bad for an expansion team, but not historically bad: 21-61. They played at the SkyDome, now named the Rogers Centre, until 1999, when the Air Canada Centre, now named the Scotiabank Arena, opened. They won the NBA Championship in 2019. Their only other appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals has been in 2016.

The Grizzlies also won their opener, beating the Portland Trail Blazers, 92-80 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Benoit Benjamin led them with 29 points. Three days later, on November 6, they played their 1st home game, and beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 100-98.

Theodore "Blue" Edwards

They were almost historically bad, though, only going 15-67. They played at General Motors Place, which had just opened as their 1st home, and as a replacement for the Pacific Coliseum as the home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. In 2001, they topped out at 23-59, but hadn't made the Playoffs in 6 seasons. With low attendance, they moved to Memphis, where they have still struggled, but, at least, they haven't had to compete with a hockey team for Canadian fans' attention.

UPDATE: Through the 2025-26 season, the Raptors do not have a team Hall of Fame. They have retired one number, 15, for 1998-2004 guard Vince Carter. Carter, 1997-2000 guard Tracy McGrady, 2003-10 center Chris Bosh, and brief Raptors Chauncey Billups (guard, 1998) and Hakeem Olajuwon (center, 2001-02) have been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Lenny Wilkens had already been elected before serving as their head coach, 2000-03.

*

November 3, 1995 was a Friday. All 28 NBA teams were in action on this night. Here are the results of the other 12 games:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-100 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 101-100 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston. This was the Celtics' 1st regular-season game at the new arena, although not their 1st home game at an arena other than the Boston Garden. Early in their history, they played a few games at the Boston Arena, which became Northeastern University's Matthews Arena. And from 1975 to 1978, and again from 1980 to 1995, they played a few "home games" at the Hartford Civic Center, now the PeoplesBank Arena, in Hartford, Connecticut.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Washington Bullets, 105-103 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 111-106 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-88 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Hornets, 105-91 at the United Center in Chicago. Michael Jordan scored 42 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors, 110-92 at The Summit in Houston. It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 103-97 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 112-94 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns, 112-106 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Kevin Johnson scored 39 in defeat for the Suns.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 98-96 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 95-86 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 7-4 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* The New York Islanders lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 3-3 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 4-4 at the aforementioned GM Place (Rogers Arena).

October 23, 1967: The Nets Debut

 

Former NBA star Max Zaslofsky, head coach,

and the original 1967-68 New Jersey Americans.

October 23, 1967: The franchise known today as the Brooklyn Nets plays its 1st game. As the New Jersey Americans, they host the Pittsburgh Pipers at the Teaneck Armory. The Pipers, led by future Hall-of-Famer Connie Hawkins, win, 110-107, and will go on to win the 1st American Basketball Association title.

It is the 1st game for a major league team (or even one pretending to be major league) in New Jersey since the 1915 Newark Peppers of baseball's Federal League, and the 1st one ever for a team using "New Jersey" as their locality instead of a city name.

Connie Hawkins, banned from the NBA after a gambling scandal despite no one ever proving he did anything illegal, would be the ABA's Most Valuable Player that season, and he showed NBA fans what they were missing, scoring 32 points for the Pipers. Charles Williams added 32. For the Americans, Dan Anderson led all scorers with 41, and former Duke star Art Heyman, also banned by the NBA for ridiculous reasons, scored 25.

The Americans finished the 1967-68 season at 36-42, 5th and last in the ABA's Eastern Division, and missing the Playoffs. They moved to Long Island after just 1 season, becoming the New York Nets; back to New Jersey, to the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, in 1977, becoming the New Jersey Nets; to the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford in 1981; to the Prudential Center in Newark in 2010; and to the Barclays Center in 2012, becoming the Brooklyn Nets.

They won the ABA Championship in 1974 and 1976 -- making them still the most recent pro basketball team in the New York Tri-State Area to win a league title. But the move to the NBA meant paying an expansion fee to the NBA and a territorial indemnification fee to the Knicks. This forced them to sell off their best player, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, and they immediately went from the best of the 6 teams that closed the ABA to the worst of the 22 teams in the NBA.

From their arrival in 1976 until 2001, their 1st 25 NBA seasons, they won exactly 1 Playoff series, against the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984. In 2001, they traded for Jason Kidd, and won the Eastern Conference Title in 2002 and 2003, losing the NBA Finals both times. They won Atlantic Division titles in 2004 and 2006.

But the long process of moving to Brooklyn essentially left them a lame duck, and crowds dried up. As the Brooklyn Nets, they have remained terrible, a joke franchise despite their early-2000s success. Only the colossal ineptitude of Knick management has saved them from the glare of the spotlight.

Built in 1936, the Teaneck Armory still stands, at 1799 Teaneck Road. John F. Kennedy has a campaign rally there on November 6, 1960, 2 days before the Presidential election -- and also had one at the Nets' next arena, the Long Island Arena in Commack, later that day. It was also used as a filming location for the movies Sweet and Lowdown, You've Got Mail, Bogus and Stonewall. It now hosts youth soccer, under the name of the Soccer Coliseum.

Despite winning the 1st ABA title, the Pipers fared even less well. A Minneapolis attorney bought them, and moved them, making them the Minnesota Pipers. They went back to Pittsburgh for 1968-69, but the momentum was lost. They became the Pittsburgh Condors in 1970, and folded in 1972.

From their time as the New York Nets, the team has retired the numbers 23 of John Williamson, the 25 of Bill Melchionni, and the 32 of Julius Erving -- but not, as once widely believed, the 4 of Wendell Ladner.

From their time as the New Jersey Nets, the team has retired the numbers 3 of Dražen Petrović, the 5 of Jason Kidd, the 15 of Vince Carter, and the 52 of Buck Williams. (UPDATE: Through the 2025-26 season, no numbers of the Brooklyn Nets have been retired.)

And Bill Raftery and Mike Fratello have received the Curt Gowdy Media Award, the Basketball Hall of Fame's award for broadcasters.

*

October 23, 1967 was a Monday. The baseball season had ended 11 days earlier, with the St. Louis Cardinals beating the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. It was football season, but the NFL hadn't yet adopted Monday Night Football. The AFL was playing then, but they didn't play on Monday nights, either.

There were no games played in the NHL or the NBA that night, but there was 1 other played in the ABA: The Dallas Chaparrals beat the Houston Mavericks, 100-83 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston. The Mavericks have no connection to the current Dallas Mavericks, or the Houston Rockets, for that matter: They became the Carolina Cougars in 1969, and the Spirits of St. Louis in 1974, and were not among the ABA teams absorbed into the NBA in 1976. The Chaparrals were, having become the San Antonio Spurs in 1973. 

July 2, 1981: The Meadowlands Arena Opens

July 2, 1981: The arena planned for the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey opens. It is named the Brendan Byrne Arena, for the outgoing Governor who got it built.

It is 7.7 miles west of Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City -- like its football neighbor, Giants Stadium, roughly the same distance as Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, north, and Shea Stadium in Queens, east; but across a State Line, so there is, however subtle, a culture shift.

The Complex is off Exit 16W of the Western Spur of the New Jersey Turnpike, at the intersection of New Jersey Route 3. New Jersey Route 120 -- at the time, Route 20 -- bisects the complex: The Stadium and the Racetrack are to the west, the Arena to the east. For most of the arena's existence, its address has been 50 Route 120.

The 1st event was a concert by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Bruce, a native of Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, began a 6-night stand there. Other notable acts to perform there during their heyday include the Rolling Stones in 1981, Queen in 1982, Rush and New Jersey natives Bon Jovi in 1986, Michael Jackson in 1988, and The Dave Matthews Band in 1999.

On December 7 and 8, 2003, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel played the Arena during their Old Friends Reunion Tour. The opening act was one of their inspirations, without whom they never would have made it: The Everly Brothers.

The intended main tenant for the building was the NBA's New Jersey Nets, who had spent the previous 4 seasons at the 9,000-seat Rutgers Athletic Center after moving from Long Island as the New York Nets. Their 1st game was on October 30, 1981, and they lost to their neighbors (they were rarely "rivals"), the New York Knicks, 103-99.

The Nets made the Playoffs in their 1st 5 seasons in the building, and in 15 of their 29 overall seasons there. They won the NBA Eastern Conference title in 2002 and 2003. They won the Atlantic Division in 2002, '03, '04 and '06. Sounds decent.

But they had as many horrible seasons as good ones. They went 19-63 in 1987-88, 17-65 in 1989-90, 16-34 in 1999, and 26-56 4 times. They were 12-70 in their last season in the building, 2009-10. And when they finally got into the NBA Finals, they were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002, and lost in 6 games to the San Antonio Spurs in 2003.

Finally, on March 24, 2004, Bruce Ratner bought the team, and announced the intention to move them to a new arena he was planning for Brooklyn. It didn't open until the start of the 2012-13 season, leaving the Nets as a lame duck franchise for a whopping 8 years, the last 2 (2010-11 and 2011-12) at the Prudential Center in Newark.

From 1985 to 2007, Seton Hall University, in nearby South Orange, Essex County, used the Arena for games too big for their 1,655-seat on-campus Walsh Gymnasium. They reached the NCAA Final in 1989, losing to the University of Michigan in overtime. In the 2010-11 season, after every other tenant had left, Fordham University in The Bronx used it as home court for 4 games.

In 1996, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament held its Final Four at the Arena, and this remains the only time it's been held in the New York Tri-State Area since 1951. On March 30, the Semifinals were held: The University of Kentucky beat the University of Massachusetts, 81-74; and Syracuse University beat Mississippi State University, 77-69. In the Final on April 1, Kentucky beat Syracuse, 76-67.

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which oversees the Meadowlands Complex, also wanted to bring an NHL team to the Arena. On May 27, 1982, they got one: The New Jersey Devils. The franchise had begun play in 1974, as the Kansas City Scouts. After 2 terrible seasons, they were sold to a group that moved them to Denver, Colorado, and renamed them the Colorado Rockies, a name that would later be given to Denver's Major League Baseball team.

The Devils played their 1st regular-season game on October 5, 1982, a 3-3 tie against the Pittsburgh Penguins. For 5 years, they were terrible, enduring such slights as a 13-4 loss away to the Edmonton Oilers in 1983, after which Wayne Gretzky called the Devils "a Mickey Mouse operation"; a snow-ridden game in 1987 that attracted only 334 fans; and games against nearby teams like the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins that seemed like home games for the visitors.

Finally, in the 1987-88 season, the Devils made the Playoffs, and got to within 1 game of the Stanley Cup Finals. They did so again in 1993-94, but lost a Game 7 to the Rangers in double overtime at Madison Square Garden, after blowing Game 6 at home.

They became more successful than the Nets ever have, winning the Stanley Cup at home on June 24, 1995, beating the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2, to complete a 4-game sweep. They won the Cup on the road in Dallas in 2000, and at home again in 2003 against Anaheim. The Devils appeared in 1 other Finals, in 2001, losing at home in Game 6 and in Denver in Game 7.

Scott Stevens lifts the Stanley Cup at the Brendan Byrne Arena,

June 24, 1995. One of the greatest nights of my life.

In the Spring of 2003, the Arena hosted both the NBA and the NHL Finals, something done by only 4 other arenas: The Boston Garden in 1957, '58 and '74; Madison Square Garden in 1972 and '94; The Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1980; and the Chicago Stadium in 1992. (None has ever won both, with some John Starks bricks preventing the closest call in 1994.) The Arena hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1982, and the NHL All-Star Game in 1984.

In 1996, a Republican-controlled State legislature, angry at Byrne for signing the State's income tax into law, vengefully took his name off the building, and put, of course, a corporation's name on it, that of Continental Airlines, based at Newark International Airport. Byrne said, "I was immortal for 15 years." Byrne lived until 2018, outliving the usefulness of the arena named for him, if not the building itself. Byrne also outlived Continental Airlines: They were bought out by United Airlines in 2012.

Building a sports complex in East Rutherford, just off the New Jersey Turnpike, close to the Lincoln Tunnel and to New York City, seemed like a great idea in the 1970s. But after Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack opened in 1976, the drawbacks kicked in.

There was plenty of parking, but it was poorly managed. Getting in and out took forever. Taking public transportation was no good: You couldn't do it from most of New Jersey, as the Meadowlands Rail Line didn't open until 2009 (in time for the football teams to move next-door to what's now MetLife Stadium), and the buses from New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal got stuck in traffic on Routes 495 and 3.

And the smell wasn't too good, even before all that exhaust settled over the area, and combined with the natural swamp air to form what Jerry Seinfeld might have called "some sort of mutant funk."

The arena that opened in 1981, known as the Izod Center from 2007 until the building's official closing in 2015 -- didn't improve things. One level of concourse for two levels of seats simply doesn't work if there's more than 12,000 people in the building. Then again, until the Nets got good in the 2001-02 season, that was rarely a problem for them. It wasn't a problem all that often after that, either. And it wasn't often a problem for the Devils, either.

The arena was drafty, especially in the upper deck. The sight lines weren't great: The older Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum both had better ones. The sound didn't carry well, even though the sound system was always too loud -- perhaps to cover up for the fact that crowds generally weren't big, unless championship teams with marquee players were in.

The Nets and the Devils both had to get out of that arena. Both did. After considering building next-door, and next-door to the Hoboken Terminal, the Devils opened the Prudential Center in downtown Newark in 2007. The Nets moved there in 2010, and finally the Barclays Center in Brooklyn opened in 2012, and the Nets moved there.

Surrounded by the American Dream Meadowlands retail complex

The Meadowlands Arena, all naming rights having lapsed, was closed in 2015, and was targeted for demolition. But not so fast: It has found a second life, converted into a TV and film studio, for productions such as the new version of The Equalizer, starring Queen Latifah, who, under her original name of Dana Owens, was an All-State basketball player at nearby Irvington High School in Essex County.

Not what we expected the Arena to be on its 40th Anniversary -- but at least it got to have one. Some stadiums and arenas with better histories don't last that long.

*

July 2, 1981 was a Thursday. The NFL, the NBA and the NHL were all out of season. And the Major League Baseball Players' Association was on strike.

But there was one score on this historic day. It was in the Canadian Football League. The Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Toronto Argonauts, 19-18 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

June 28, 2001: The Kidd-Marbury Trade

June 28, 2001: The New Jersey Nets trade Stephon Marbury to the Phoenix Suns for Jason Kidd. This is a classic "my headache for your headache" trade, as both had been divas unable to move their teams out of the dumps.

Marbury, the youngest of 5 brothers who had starred for Abraham Lincoln High School in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, had played 1 season at Georgia Tech, turned pro, was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, and was immediately traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. For 3 years, he underachieved with them, before being traded to the Nets. For 2 seasons at the Meadowlands, he was still an underachiever, and came to be regarded as a bad influence on the team, a "clubhouse cancer."

Kidd came out of Oakland, stayed local by going to the University of California, playing 2 years with them. He was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks, and was traded to the Suns after 2 years. He was a Rookie of the Year, an All-Star, and an NBA assists leader, but wasn't getting along with his teammates.

How did the players react to their respective changes of scenery? Marbury made an All-Star Game with the Suns, but they tired of his act after 3 lackluster seasons, and he went on to the Knicks, becoming one of the few players to mess up two teams in one market.

He last played in the NBA with the Boston Celtics in 2009 -- the year between NBA Finals appearances for them, winning in 2008 and losing in 2010. He was only 32 when he played his last NBA game. Of course, none of his highly-touted brothers played in the NBA, although a cousin, Sebastian Telfair, did. From 2010 to 2018, Marbury played in China's league, and went on to coach there.

In his 1st season with the Meadowlands team, Kidd led the Nets from a hopeless 26-56 to 52-30, their 1st Atlantic Division title, and their 1st NBA Finals. He got them another Division title and Finals berth the next season. He got them another Division title the next season. He got them to the Playoffs the next season. He got them another Division title the next season.

In other words, the Nets had done more in 5 seasons with Kidd than they had done in the previous 25 years without him. Never in the history of team sports has one man made that much difference that fast. So this may have been the most lopsided NBA trade since 1956, when the Boston Celtics traded Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks for the rights to Bill Russell.

After the 2008 season, the Nets, in the process of moving to Brooklyn, traded Kidd back to the Mavericks. Now a respected elder statesman among players, he helped them win their 1st NBA Championship in 2011. He played one more season with them, and then one last season with the Knicks, 2012-13.

He then retired, and crossed town to the Brooklyn Nets, coaching them for a season, then 4 with the Milwaukee Bucks. He won a 2nd ring as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, and in 2021 was hired as head coach of the Mavericks.

He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, was named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players, and had his Number 5 retired by the Nets.

*

June 28, 2001 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Armando Benítez started the bottom of the 10th inning by walking Andruw Jones, who stole 2nd. After he got Chipper Jones out, manager Bobby Valentine ordered him to intentionally walk Keith Lockhart and B.J. Surhoff, to load the bases and set up the double play. But  Javy López hit a grand slam to win the game.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies swept a doubleheader from the Florida Marlins, 6-5 and 8-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Bobby Abreu hit home runs in both games.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre in Toronto). Sidney Ponson pitched a 2-hit shutout. In his final season, his streak well over, Cal Ripken did not play.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 1-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Todd Ritchie pitched 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, while 2 relievers completed a 6-hit shutout.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk. Dmitri Young went 4-for-4. Sammy Sosa went 3-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 7-4 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Tony Gwynn, in his final season, did not play. Rickey Henderson did, but only as a pinch-runner.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Anaheim Angels, 6-3 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 with a RBI.

* And the New York Yankees, the Cleveland Indians, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Colorado Rockies, the Houston Astros and the Montreal Expos were not scheduled. 

June 7, 1993: The Death of Dražen Petrović

June 7, 1993: Dražen Petrović, the Croatian star of the New Jersey Nets, is killed in a car crash in Denkendorf, Bavaria, Germany. He was only 29.

He was born on October 22, 1964, in Šibenik, Croatia, then a part of Yugoslavia. The guard starred for his national team – first the united Yugoslavia, then Croatia – appearing in 3 Olympics and medaling in 2. "Petro" played 2 seasons for the Portland Trail Blazers, including in the 1990 NBA Finals, and was an All-Star for the New Jersey Nets, before the car crash that killed him.

The Nets went into a tailspin. They had a good 1993-94 season, but after that, Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson couldn't keep themselves, let alone the team, together. By the winter of 1994-95, the Nets were a joke again. We'll never know what could have happened if Petro had lived.

The Nets retired his Number 3, and he was posthumously elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, less for his performance, and more for his being a pioneer in Europeans coming into the NBA.

*

June 7, 1993 was a Monday. Football was out of season. The NBA was between its Conference Finals and its Finals. The Chicago Bulls would beat the Phoenix Suns in 6 games.

Game 4 was played in the Stanley Cup Finals. John LeClair, who had won Game 3 with an overtime goal, did so again, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. The Canadiens won the Cup back at the Montreal Forum 2 days later.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 8-3 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. This ballpark was renamed Kauffman Stadium on July 2. The Yankees' runs came on solo home runs by Bernie Williams, Mike Gallego and Paul O'Neill, but starting pitcher Jeff Johnson didn't get out of the 2nd inning. George Brett, in his final season, did not play in this game.

* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-2 at Shea Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 12-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 7-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the California Angels, 4-2 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount, in his final season, went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 4-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Steve Avery pitched a 4-hit shutout. Tony Gwynn did not get any of those hits, going 0-for-4.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on September 10. The Indians won the opener, 7-4. The Red Sox won the nightcap, 5-4. Mike Greenwell singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* And the Colorado Rockies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants were not scheduled.

May 31, 2002: The Sacramento Swindle

May 31, 2002: Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals is played at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings, 106-102. Shaquille O'Neal scored 41 points and had 17 rebounds. Kobe Bryant added 31 points in support.

Almost immediately, there were allegations that this game was fixed by the referees. In 2008, as part of the scandal that involved him betting on games he had officiated, fired NBA referee Tim Donaghy said that two of the referees in this game were told to fix it so the NBA and televising network NBC could make more money on a Game 7.

The officials for this game were Dick Bavetta, Ted Bernhardt and Bob Delaney. Bavetta holds the record for most NBA games officiated, with 2,635, having never missed a game from his 1975 hiring until his 2014 retirement. Early in his career, he was considered one of the worst refs in the game. He decided to do something about it, and practiced with Summer league games, such as in New York City's Rucker League. By 1986, when he was assigned to officiate a Playoff game for the first time, he had begun to be regarded as one of the best referees.

And yet, in a 2002 article for ESPN, Bill Simmons named the worst officiated games of the prior four years, alleging that the games involved either extending a series so it did not end quickly or advancing a large market team for the NBA's benefit. All seven games named had been officiated by Bavetta. It should be noted that Simmons is a Boston Celtics fan, and is usually full of... highly questionable opinions.

Bernhardt was best known for a 1996 game where he called a foul on Dennis Rodman, who then head-butted him and was suspended for it. Delaney seems an unlikely candidate for corruption: He was a New Jersey State Trooper who successfully infiltrated the Mob, and worked his way all the way from high school games to the NBA Playoffs.

In this Game 6, the awarding of fouls resulted in the Lakers shooting 40 free throws overall, a whopping 27 in the fourth quarter alone, and the Kings' big men were plagued with foul trouble: Between them, Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Scot Pollard, and Lawrence Funderburke were called for 20 fouls, Divac and Pollard both fouling out.

Michael Wilbon of The Washington Post, already co-hosting Pardon the Interruption on ESPN with fellow Post columnist Tony Kornheiser, wrote, "I wrote down in my notebook six calls that were stunningly incorrect, all against Sacramento, all in the fourth quarter when the Lakers made five baskets and 21 foul shots to hold on to their championship." Wilbon pointed out that Kobe Bryant did not get a foul called on him after elbowing Mike Bibby in front of an official.

Two nights later, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, the Lakers won Game 7, 112-106 in overtime.

Also on May 31, 2002, the NBA's Eastern Conference Championship was won. The New Jersey Nets defeated the Boston Celtics, 96-88, to win Game 6 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston, and win their first NBA Eastern Conference Championship. After 26 years of trying, they were in their first NBA Finals. They did this despite none of their players scoring more than Kenyon Martin’s 16 points, and former Net Kenny Anderson scoring 18 for Boston.

What guard Jason Kidd did with this team in 1 season, taking them from one of the worst teams in the league to a Finalist, is one of the greatest achievements any NBA player has ever had.

Given the Nets' history to this point -- they had won just 1 Playoff series between 1977 and 2001 -- this should have been the most remarkable NBA story of the night. But it wasn't, because of the perceived Sacramento Swindle.

Was the Lakers-Kings Game 6 fixed? Did NBA Commissioner David Stern, and NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol, want the Lakers in the Finals rather than the Kings? It would be easy to say, "You do the math": There are 13 million people in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and only 2.5 million in Sacramento's.

But that theory doesn't hold up for the East: There are 13.2 million in New England, and, while the Nets are part of the New York Tri-State Area, the New York Knicks have always held the vast majority of those fans. So if it was fixed for the Lakers, why not for the Celtics?

The Kings, previously the Rochester Seagrams (1923-43), the Rochester Pros (1943-45), the Rochester Royals (1945-57), the Cincinnati Royals (1957-72) and the Kansas City Kings (1972-85), still have not been to the NBA Finals since 1951. From 2002 to 2021, the Lakers made it 6 more times.

*

May 31, 2002 was a Friday. Football was out of season. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Detroit Red Wings pretty much settled their "rivalry" with the Colorado Avalanche by winning Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, 7-0 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. Derek Lowe outpitched David Wells. Jorge Posada had 2 hits, including driving in both Yankee runs with a home run, but the rest of the team only had 4 hits.

* The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins, 6-5 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Rey Ordóñez, not known for his power, hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-7 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Gerónimo Gil hit a sacrifice fly to score Brian Roberts with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 13-9 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-0 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Bartolo Colón allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-0 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. How many Braves pitchers does it take to pitch a 4-hit shutout? Apparently, 4: Greg Maddux, 2 hits over 5 innings; Kevin Gryboski, none over an inning and 2/3rds; Kerry Lightenberg, 2 over an inning and 1/3rd; and Chris Hammond, striking out the side in a perfect 9th.

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

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 11-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 10-7 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Royals got 3 straight home runs in the top of the 11th inning, from Carlos Beltrán, Mike Sweeney and Joe Randa.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres, 12-1 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

April 23, 2012: The Last Nets Game In New Jersey

April 23, 2012: A very final final from the Prudential Center in Newark. The New Jersey Nets lose their last-ever home game to the Philadelphia 76ers, 105-87.

A crowd of 18,711 saw MarShon Brooks lead the Nets with just 18 points. The Sixers had no player score more than 15, but 5 players score at least 13, and 8 players scored at least 8.

New Jersey Nets, born October 21, 1977 (with a 111-103 loss to the New Orleans Jazz at the Rutgers Athletic Center), died April 23, 2012. Age, 34. Time of death, 9:55 PM. Cause of death: Murder, stabbed in the back by Bruce Ratner. Wound mortal, but death took 8 years.

They played at the Rutgers Athletic Center (now the Jersey Mike's Arena) from 1977 to 1981, then at the Meadowlands Arena until 2010. That building was named the Brendan Byrne Arena from 1981 to 1996; the Continental Airlines Arena until 2007; and the Izod Center until 2012. After the Nets left, it reverted to the name "Meadowlands Arena," and has been converted into TV studios.

They groundshared with the NHL's New Jersey Devils at that arena from 1982 to 2007, and again with the Devils at the Prudential Center in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, before the Barclays Center finally opened in Brooklyn, and the move could be made.

The Nets played one more game under the New Jersey name, on April 26, losing to the Toronto Raptors, 98-67 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

New Jersey Nets: NBA Eastern Conference Champions 2002 and 2003. But they could have been so much more. Requiescat in pace.

*

April 23, 2012 was a Monday. There were 5 other games played in the NBA that day:

* The Washington Wizards beat the Charlotte Hornets, 101-73 at the MCI Center in Washington. (It is now named the Capital One Arena.)

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Detroit Pistons, 103-97 at a full house in the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 109-101 at the FedEx Arena in Memphis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 92-86 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 124-89 to Sam Houston Coliseum.

Two Stanley Cup Playoff games were played. The New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2; and the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the TD Garden in Boston.

And while football was out of season, there was baseball to be played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 7-4 at Rangers Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. (It's now named Choctaw Stadium.) Alex Rodriguez hit a home run, Derek Jeter got 4 hits, and CC Sabathia was the winning pitcher.

* The New York Mets got swept in a doubleheader by the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field. The Giants won the opener, 6-1; and the nightcap, 7-2.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Houston Astros, 6-5 at Miller Park in Milwaukee. (It's now named American Family Field.)

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-5 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-5 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum). Jake Peavy pitched a 3-hit shutout.

April 19, 1995: The Oklahoma City Bombing

April 19, 1995: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is destroyed by a car bomb, resulting in the deaths of 168 people. (The building was named for a federal judge from Oklahoma.)

The bombing was carried out at 9:02 AM, by Timothy McVeigh, a 27-year-old native of the Buffalo area, who had fallen in with right-wing extremist groups like the Michigan Militia.

He chose the date because it was the anniversary of the start of the American Revolution (by some people's reckoning), the Battle of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. But he had a 2nd reason: April 19 was also the anniversary of the end of the Waco Siege 2 years earlier, when the federal government moved in to arrest David Koresh for his crimes at Waco, Texas. He chose the location because he believed the order had come from the Murrah Federal Building.

The building before, from 1977 to 1995

McVeigh was captured 2 days later. He was convicted in 1997. On June 11, 2001, he became the 1st prisoner executed by the federal government since 1963.

He was assisted in the bombing by Terry Nichols, a 40-year-old Michigan native that he had met while in the U.S. Army. Nicholas was sentenced to life imprisonment at ADX Florence, the "supermax" federal prison in Colorado.

Three months after that, their act was no longer the greatest act of terrorism, or of mass murder, perpetrated in America. But it remains the greatest act of domestic terrorism.

And the perpetrators weren't black, or Hispanic, or Asian, or Arab: They were white. They weren't immigrants: They were native-born. They weren't Muslim: They identified as Christian. And they weren't Spanish speakers, or Arabic speakers: They spoke only English.

*

On that Wednesday, Major League Baseball was still working on restarting after the end of the Strike of '94. The Opening Day of the 1995 season was set for April 25.

There were 7 NBA games scheduled for that night. Despite the act of terrorism, they were all played. The New York Knicks were not scheduled. These teams were:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 104-99, at the Brendan Byrne Arena, at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

* The Washington Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) beat the Orlando Magic, 123-117 in overtime, at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Despite the los, the Magic's Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway scored 35 points.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat, 90-79, at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 103-91, at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 106-97, at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 106-81, at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver.

* And the Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 115-96, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Karl Malone led all scorers on the night, the "Mailman" delivering 45 points for the Jazz.

There were also 7 games played in the National Hockey League that night, none of them involving any of the 3 teams in the New York Tri-State Area:

* The Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the Boston Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the team then known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks played to a 2-2 tie, at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Winnipeg Jets and the Detroit Red Wings played to a 5-5 tie, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The San Jose Sharks and the Dallas Stars played to a 5-5 tie, at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-0 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

April 17, 1982: Canada Gets a Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The Queen (in green) signs, as Trudeau looks on

April 17, 1982: Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain signs the Constitution Act, 1982, "patriating" the Constitution of Canada. Until then, the British Parliament could still amend that Constitution, created by the British North America Act of 1867.

That act made Canada a separate country in the British Empire, but not fully independent. As the years passed, various acts made the country more and more independent, but still not fully so, as the Empire became the British Commonwealth.

Pierre Trudeau became Prime Minister of Canada, and thus the nation's head of government, in 1968. In his previous post, as Minister of Justice to Prime Minister Lester Pearson, he had expanded the country's freedoms. But he knew that the patriation of the Constitution would eventually be necessary. Eventually, the British Parliament, under their Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, agreed.

As Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth signed the Act at the Canadian Parliament in the national capital of Ottawa, Ontario. Immediately afterward, Trudeau signed it. The British monarch remains head of state for Canada, but with very little power over the nation.

The Act included the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is not just Canada's answer to the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the United States: It goes further than that, enacting into law the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It also granted Canada full separation of church and state: While the Church of England overall, and the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec and in other pockets within the country, had long had some power, no longer would they be able to dictate to any citizen of Canada to violate their conscience.

*

April 17, 1982 was a Saturday. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, but no games were played that day. The NBA was still in its regular season, and these 3 games were played:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Detroit Pistons, 147-132 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. Ray Williams scored 52 points for the Nets.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 130-124 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Golden State Warriors, 95-94 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Football was out of season. But a full slate, and then some, of Major League Baseball games was played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 5-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Bobby Murcer hit a home run, but Jack Morris outpitched Tommy John.

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Shea Stadium.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4, his hit being a triple.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 12-10 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago White Sox swept a doubleheader from the Baltimore Orioles at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Pale Hose won the opener, 3-1; and the nightcap, 10-6. Rookie Cal Ripken Jr. went 0-for-3 in the 1st game, and didn't play in the 2nd game. His streak began 13 days later. Eddie Murray went 5-for-5 in the nightcap, but with no RBIs.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Joaquín Andújar pitched a 3-hit shutout, allowing a double to Gary Mathews, and singles to Pete Rose and Dick Davis. Mike Schmidt did not play. Steve Carlton only lasted 5 innings.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-2 at Anaheim Stadium. (It was renamed Edison International Field in 1998, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim in 2004.) Brian Downing hit 2 home runs, Rod Carew went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs, and Reggie Jackson went 1-for-3.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Paul Householder hit a home run, and Johnny Bench went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle. The A's got home runs from Dwayne Murphy, Jim Spencer and Davey Lopes. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-4 with a walk, 2 stolen bases (on his way to a record 130 that season) and an RBI.

Also, Arsenal defeated Nottingham Forest, 2-0 at Highbury.

April 12, 2010: The Last Game at the Meadowlands Arena

April 12, 2010: The NBA's New Jersey Nets lose to the Charlotte Bobcats, 105-95 at the Izod Center. It is the last sporting event played at that arena.

The Nets got 22 points from Devin Harris, and 21 from Terrence Williams. But the Bobcats had a more balanced attack, getting at least 10 points from 7 different players.

This was the Nets' last home game at the arena, at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey, that had been their home since 1981. It was known as the Brendan Byrne Arena from then until 1996, for the Governor of New Jersey who got it built.

A vengeful Republican legislature, angry that he had signed the State's 1st income tax law into place, removed his name, replacing it with that of a corporation. At least it was one based in New Jersey: Continental Airlines. If Byrne was hurt, he didn't show it in public, saying, "I was immortal for 15 years." In 2007, the building was renamed the Izod Center, after the clothing company. In 2012, Continental Airlines was also no more, bought out by United Airlines.

The NHL's New Jersey Devils were much more successful there, moving in for the 1982 season, and staying until 2007. The Devils won the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003, and reached the Finals but lost in 2001. The Nets had several good teams, and several terrible ones. But they won the NBA Eastern Conference, and hosted the NBA Finals, at the Meadowlands in 2002 and 2003, and also won the Atlantic Division in 2004 and 2006.

In 2003, the Arena hosted both the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals. The only other arenas that have done that in the same year are the Boston Garden (1957, 1958, 1974), the current Madison Square Garden (1972, 1994), The Spectrum in Philadelphia (1980) and Chicago Stadium (1992). No, Los Angeles has never done it. The San Francisco Bay Area has, in 2016, but not in the same building.

The Arena also hosted Seton Hall University basketball, and in 1996 was the site of the NCAA Final Four, the only Final Four held in the New York Tri-State Area since 1951.

But two levels of seating with one level of concourse doesn't work, and the location was only good for people coming in cars. The Devils moved to the much more convenient Prudential Center in downtown Newark in 2007. The Nets were bought by Brett Ratner in 2004, and he planned on moving them to a new arena in downtown Brooklyn. One thing led to another, and the Nets ended up playing the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons at the Prudential Center, before finally moving into the Barclays Center, and changing their name to the Brooklyn Nets.

The Meadowlands Arena still stands, having been converted into a TV production studio.

*

April 12, 2010 was a Monday. There were 10 other games played in the NBA on that day:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 114-103 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Miami Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 107-105 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Detroit Pistons, 111-97 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Indiana Pacers, 118-98 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (It's now named the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.)

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 104-96 at the Bradly Center in Milwaukee.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 133-111 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. (It's now named the Frost Bank Center.)

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 123-101 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (It's now named the Ball Arena.)

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 117-94 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (It's now named the Crypto.com Arena.)

* The Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings, 117-107 at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento. (It's now named the Sleep Train Arena.)

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 103-95 at the Moda Center in Portland.

The NHL was between the regular season and the Playoffs. And the NFL was out of season. There were 12 Major League Baseball games played:

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 7-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 6-5 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (It's now named Hard Rock Stadium.) Scott Rolen singled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-7 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Mark Teahen tripled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Nelson Cruz won it with a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-2 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 5-0 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Adam Wainwright and Jason Motte combined on a 7-hit shutout.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 17-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. (It's now named Oracle Park.)

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-0 at Safeco Field in Seattle. (It's now named T-Mobile Park.) Justin Duchscherer and 2 relievers combined on a 2-hit shutout.