October 14, 2012: Breaking the Sound Barrier Without a Vehicle

October 14, 2012: Felix Baumgartner, a 43-year-old Austrian former air force officer wearing a pressurized suit, jumps from a hot-air balloon 24 miles above the Earth, and breaks the sound barrier without a vehicle, peaking at 834 miles per hour. He opens his parachute, and lands safely in eastern New Mexico.

The jump, sponsored by Red Bull, the Salzburg, Austria-based soft drink company, had been scheduled for October 9, but weather delays allowed him to make his jump on the 65th Anniversary of Chuck Yeager becoming the 1st man to travel faster than the speed of sound with a vehicle.

Interviewed that day on CNBC, Yeager said he wasn't impressed by it, claiming it had been done before by others. This is in dispute, but Baumgartner was the 1st person certified to have done it.

UPDATE: On July 17, 2025, Baumgartner was paragliding in Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy when he suffered what was called "a medical episode," and crashed into a swimming pool. He was dead at the age of 56. It was only upon his death that I learned that he was an archconservative, who opposed women's rights and supported Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán.

*

October 14, 2012 was a Sunday. The NBA season wouldn't start for another 16 days. The NHL team owners had locked out the players, so the season didn't start until after the new year.

Game 2 of the American League Championship Series was played at the new Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. Aníbal Sánchez outpitched Hiroki Kuroda, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Yankees, 3-0. The Yankees just didn't hit in this series, and the Tigers swept them.

Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. With superb starting pitching by Jason Frasor, and a 6th-inning sacrifice fly by Billy Butler, the Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1. The Royals completed the sweep the next day, for their 1st Pennant in 29 years. The Orioles hadn't won one for 31 years.

Game 1 was also played in the National League Championship Series, at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Home runs from Carlos Beltrán and the previous season's postseason hero, David Freese, gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 6-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. But the Giants would win the Series in 7 games, then sweep the Tigers in the World Series.

And there were NFL games. The preceding Thursday, the Tennessee Titans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 26-23 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville. Rob Bironas won it with a 40-yard field goal on the last play. In the Sunday games:

* The New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers, 26-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The New York Jets beat the Indianapolis Colts, 35-9 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 26-23 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Jason Hanson won it with a 45-yard field goal with 11:00 left in overtime.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Dallas Cowboys, 31-29 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Minnesota Vikings, 38-26 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Oakland Raiders, 23-20 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-10 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the St. Louis Rams, 17-14 at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Houston Texans, 42-24 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Cleveland Browns beat their cross-State rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-24 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field).

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 19-16 at the University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. Rian Lindell won it with a 25-yard field goal with 11:10 left in overtime.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots, 24-23 at CenturyLink Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle. Russell Wilson threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Sidney Rice to win it with 1:18 left in regulation.

* The Carolina Panthers, the Chicago Bears, the Jackonsville Jaguars and the New Orleans Saints had a bye week.

* And the next night, on Monday Night Football, the Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 35-24 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

October 13, 2001: The Jeter Flip

October 13, 2001: The New York Yankees enter Game 3 of the American League Division Series at the Oakland Coliseum (then carrying the corporate name "Network Associates Coliseum") down 2 games to none against the Oakland Athletics, and are desperate for a victory.

Jorge Posada homers in the top of the 5th, to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. That lead holds in the 7th, but Terrence Long drives one into the corner. Right fielder Shane Spencer heaves the ball home, but it's off the line. Jeremy Giambi, brother of star Oakland slugger Jason Giambi, will score for sure.

Except… out of nowhere comes shortstop Derek Jeter, who sprints in, grabs the ball, and, holding it for less than half a second, flips it to Posada at the plate, and Posada juuuust barely tags Giambi on the back of the knee, before his foot touches the plate, completing one of the most amazing defensive plays in baseball history.

"The Flip" allows Mike Mussina and, in the 9th, Mariano Rivera to preserve the 1-0 shutout, and keep the Yankees from being eliminated. The Yankees would win the series in Game 5 at the old Yankee Stadium, with Jeter making another amazing play, tumbling into the stands to catch a foul pop, also off the bat of Terence Long.

Jeter's critics like to say he was "a poor defensive shortstop." He "had no range." He "couldn't go to his left." This one play makes them all look like idiots.

*

October 13, 2001 was a Saturday. In Game 3 of the other ALDS, the Cleveland Indians clobbered the heavily-favored Seattle Mariners, 17-2 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. The Mariners would win the series in 5 games, but the Yankees would beat them for the Pennant.

In the National League Championship Series, the Atlanta Braves finished off a sweep of the Houston Astros the day before; and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4, 4-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. But the Diamondbacks won Game 5, then beat the Braves for the Pennant, and beat the Yankees in a classic World Series.

There were college football games that day, including the following:

* There were a few upsets, including Number 1 Florida losing to Auburn, 23-20 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. Florida bounced back, and won the Orange Bowl.

* Number 2 Miami beat their arch-rivals, Number 14 Florida State, 49-27 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. Miami went on to win the Big East Conference title. 

* Number 3 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 38-10 at David Booth Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma later lost to rival Nebraska, but bounced back to reach the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 4 Nebraska beat Baylor, 48-7 at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. Miami beat Nebraska in the Rose Bowl, and won the National Championship.

* Number 5 Oregon beat California, 48-7 at California Memorial Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Berkeley. Oregon won the Pacific-Ten Conference title.

* Number 6 Virginia Tech beat Boston College, 34-20 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. But Tech lost their next 2 games, hurting their title chances.

* Number 7 UCLA beat Number 10 Washington, 35-13 at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California.

* Number 8 Fresno State beat Colorado State, 25-22 at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.

* Number 9 South Carolina were upset by Arkansas, 10-7 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Arkansas reached the Cotton Bowl, but lost to Oklahoma.

* Number 11 Tennessee were idle, and went on to reach the Number 2 ranking and the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.

* Number 12 Michigan beat Number 17 Purdue, 24-10 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* Number 20 Colorado beat Number 25 Texas A&M, 31-21 at Folsom Field in the Denver suburb of Boulder, Colorado. Colorado later beat Texas in the Big Twelve Conference Championship Game, but lost the Fiesta Bowl to Oregon.

* Number 21 Ohio State lost to Wisconsin 20-17 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Notre Dame, unranked, beat West Virginia, 34-24 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Illinois, unranked, beat Indiana, 35-14 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Illinois won the Big Ten Conference title.

* Louisiana State, unranked, beat Kentucky, 29-25 at Commonwealth Stadium (now Kroger Field) in Lexington, Kentucky. LSU went on to upset then-Number 2 Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, followed by an upset of then-Number 7 Illinois in the Sugar Bowl.

* Among the service academies, Air Force beat Wyoming, 24-13 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Army lost to East Carolina, 49-26 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy lost to Rice, 21-13 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* And among New Jersey teams, Rutgers lost to temple, 30-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia; while Princeton lost to Brown, 35-24 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.

The NBA season wouldn't start for another 17 days. There were 12 NHL games:

* The New York Rangers played the Ottawa Senators to a tie, 2-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 5-4 at the Nassau Coliseum. Steve Yzerman scored the winning goal with 2:28 left in overtime.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. 

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 5-2 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Florida Panthers, 5-2 at the National Car Rental Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Dallas Stars, 4-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Craig Conroy scored the winning goal with 40 seconds left in overtime.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Washington Capitals, 5-2 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Los Angeles Kings, 1-0 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Compaq Center (now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-0 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

* And the Chicago Blackhawks, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Buffalo Sabres, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal beat Southampton, 2-0 at the St. Mary's Stadium in Southampton, Hampshire.

October 12, 2012: The Game That Stephen Strasburg Didn't Pitch

Stephen Strasburg (left) and Davey Johnson

October 12, 2012: The biggest game in Washington baseball in 79 years is Game 5 of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park. The Washington Nationals lead the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-5 going into the 9th inning. But Nats reliever Drew Storen implodes, allowing a double to Carlos Beltrán, a walk to Yadier Molina, another walk to David Freese, a single to Daniel Descalso, a stolen base by Descalso, and a single to Pete Kozma.

The Nats go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th, and the Cards win, 9-7, and advance to the NL Championship Series. The Nats went from having, according to Baseball-Reference.com, a 93 percent chance of winning the game to losing it.

Concerned about putting too much stress on his arm after coming back from Tommy John surgery at the start of the season, the Nats had shut down ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg for the season after September 7, at which point he had pitched 159 innings. I wonder what Nats management would have given to have Strasburg pitch to just 1 batter: Descalso, when there were 2 outs and the score was still 7-5.

Keeping Strasburg off the postseason roster was a major blunder. It took the Nats another 7 years to get their 1st postseason series win since they were the 1981 Montreal Expos. Nats manager Davey Johnson, who previously managed the New York Mets to win the 1986 World Series, later said that, with Strasburg, the Nats would have gone all the way.

Johnson lasted 1 more season as Nats' manager, ending a managerial career that began with the 1984 New York Mets. Strasburg turned out to be a major reason why the Nats won the World Series in 2019 -- and his subsequent injury turned out to be a major reason why they declined thereafter.

*

October 12, 2012 was a Wednesday. Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start until November 1. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out.

The other NLDS was wrapped up the day before, with the San Francisco Giants beating the Cincinnati Reds. 

Earlier in the day, CC Sabathia went the distance for the New York Yankees, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits with 9 strikeouts, and getting out of a bases-loaded, 1-out jam in the 6th inning. A Curtis Granderson home run was the offensive highlight of the Yankees' 3-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium II, giving the Pinstripes the deciding Game 5 of the American League Division Series. The other ALDS had wrapped up the day before, with the Detroit Tigers eliminating the Oakland Athletics.

October 10, 2012: The Raúl Ibañez Game

October 10, 2012: Game 3 of the American League Division Series, at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees come from 2-1 down in the bottom of the 9th when Raúl Ibañez, pinch-hitting for Alex Rodriguez, hits a home run. He hits another in the 12th, and the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2.

This remains the most recent postseason walkoff homer by a Yankee -- the 12th overall. Ibañez remains the only player in the history of postseason baseball to hit two home runs in a game he did not start.

David Robertson became the winning pitcher, in relief of Hiroki Kuroda. Ryan Flaherty and Manny Machado had homered for the Orioles.

The next night, though, the Orioles beat the Yankees in 13 innings, to send the ALDS to a deciding Game 5. Jim Thome appeared in that Game 4, but not in Game 5, so it was the last game of a career that saw him hit 612 home runs.

An RBI single by Ibañez opened the scoring in the 5th inning, and CC Sabathia went the distance, working out of a jam in the 8th. The Yankees won, 3-1, and advance to the AL Championship Series.

*

October 10, 2012 was a Tuesday. Game 4 of the other ALDS was played, and it was also a thriller that ended with a walkoff, as the Oakland Athletics scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th, including an RBI single by Covelli "Coco" Crisp, to beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum (then known as the O.co Coliseum). But the Tigers won Game 5, and then swept the Yankees in the ALCS.

In the National League Division Series, for the 1st time in 79 years, a postseason MLB game was played in Washington, D.C. But it went badly for the home team: Chris Carpenter pitched a 7-hit shutout, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals, 8-0 in Game 3. The Cards won the series in Game 5.

At Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, the San Francisco Giants won Game 4 of the other NLDS, beating the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3. The Giants won the series the next day, then beat the Cards in the NLCS, and swept the Tigers in the World Series.

Baseball was the only sport in play that day: Football was in midweek, the NBA season was 20 days away, and the NHL team owners had locked the players out. The season wouldn't start until January 19, 2013.

October 10, 2015: Chase Utley vs. Rubén Tejada

October 10, 2015: Game 2 of the National League Division Series is played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The New York Mets lead the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th inning, thanks to solo home runs by Yoenis Céspedes and Michael Conforto, but Dodger starter Zack Greinke has only allowed 3 other hits.

Thus far, Met starter Noah Syndergaard has lived up to his "Thor" nickname. (He is of Danish descent.) But with 1 out in the 7th -- 8 outs from going up 2 games to none, with the next 3 games set for New York -- Enrique Hernández draws a walk. Dodger manager Don Mattingly sends former Philadelphia Phillies hero and longtime Met nemesis Chase Utley up to pinch-hit for Greinke. Hernández steals 2nd, and Utley singles him over to 3rd. Terry Collins sends 42-year-old big fat steroid cheat Bartolo Colón in to relieve Syndergaard.

The batter is Howie Kendrick, who lines a shot over Colón's outstretched arm. Daniel Murphy takes it on a hop, and he attempts to start a double play by throwing to shortstop Rubén Tejada, who covers 2nd. But Utley slides late, and his batting helmet, with his head inside it, crashes into Tejada's leg. Tejada goes down. He is injured, and out for the rest of the postseason. Hernández scores, Kendrick is safe at 1st, and the game is tied, 2-2.

Mattingly challenges the ruling, to make it even better for the Dodgers: He argues that Tejada never touched 2nd, and that Utley should be safe. The umpires give him the call, enraging Met fans, who already don't like Mattingly, given his playing career with the New York Yankees; and are sure that Utley should have been called out (and thrown out of the game) for sliding outside the baseline and attempting to purposely injure Tejada.

Now, it's 1st and 2nd with 1 out, and the roof caves in on the Mets. They get Corey Seager to fly out, but Adrian Gonazalez and Justin Turner hit back-to-back doubles, and the Dodgers win, 5-2. The series is tied. To the Mets' credit, though, they got themselves together, and won the rest of the games in the series.

When the season was over, it had become clear that the way to beat the Mets was to stand up to them. In the regular season, the Yankees did. In the NLDS, Chase Utley did. In the World Series, the Kansas City Royals did. Otherwise, nobody did, certainly not the Washington Nationals, and the Mets won the NL Eastern Division; the rest of the Dodgers didn't, and the Mets won the NLDS; and the Chicago Cubs didn't, and the Mets swept them in the NLCS.

Beating the 2015 Mets required standing up to them. As former soccer manager Arsène Wenger would say, The Mets lacked a little bit the mental strength.

*

October 10, 2015 was a Saturday. In the other NLDS, for the 1st time, the Chicago Cubs won a postseason game against their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. Jorge Soler hit a home run to spark a 5-run 2nd inning, and the Cubbies won, 6-3 at Busch Stadium, to even the series at 1 game apiece.

Both ALDSes were on travel days. The Houston Astros and the Kansas City Royals were tied, 1-1, and the Royals would win it in 5 games. The Texas Rangers led the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0, but the Jays would take the next 3 to win it.

There were college football games, including these:

* Number 1 Ohio State beat Maryland, 49-28 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The Buckeyes lost only 1 game all season, but it was to Michigan State, costing them a Division title, never mind the Big Ten. They did beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 2 Texas Christian beat Kansas State, 52-45 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. Losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State cost them a shot at the Big Twelve title game.

* Number 3 Baylor beat Kansas, 66-7 at David Booth Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Baylor rose to Number 2, but a late 1-3 stretch cost them major honors.

* Number 4 Michigan State beat Rutgers, 31-24 at High Point Solutions Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey. The Scarlet Knights gave the Spartans a fight, but couldn't get the job done. Michigan State won the Big Ten title.

* Number 5 Utah beat Number 23 California, 30-24 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Two weeks later, the Utes began a 2-3 stretch that cost them any shot at a conference title or a major bowl berth.

* Number 6 Clemson beat Georgia Tech, 43-24 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. Clemson went undefeated in the regular season, won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to reach the National Championship Playoff Game.

* Number 7 Louisiana State beat South Carolina, 45-24 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A 3-game losing streak in November cost LSU any chance at titles.

* Number 8 Alabama beat Arkansas, 27-14 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 'Bama won the Southeastern Conference title, beat Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl, and then beat Clemson to win the National Championship.

* Number 10 Oklahoma were upset by Texas, 24-17 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* Number 12 Florida State beat rival Miami, 29-24 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  

* Number 13 Northwestern were upset by Number 18 Michigan, 38-0 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. The fact that Northwestern were favored over Michigan at "The Big House" was strange, too strange to pan out that way, as it turned out.

* Number 15 Notre Dame beat Navy, 41-24 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. And Army lost to Duke, 44-3 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

The NBA season didn't begin for another 17 days. All but 2 NHL teams (the Los Angeles Kings and the Winnipeg Jets) were in action, though:

* The New York Rangers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Johnny Gaudreau scored the winning goal with 1:57 left in overtime.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-1 at the BB&T Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-0 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* On CBC's Hockey Night In Canada, the Ottawa Senators beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 in a shootout at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars, 6-3 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Arizona Coyotes beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks, 2-0 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

October 9, 2012: Malala Yousafzai Is Shot

October 9, 2012: Malala Yousafzai, age 15, is shot in her native Swat Valley, in Pakistan. The barbarity of the attack shocks the civilized world, which follows her recovery closely.

(Yes, there is a place in the Middle East named "Swat." No, baseball fans, it has never been ruled by a Sultan of Swat.)

She was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Swat District, a place where the Pakistani branch of the Taliban had banned girls from going to school, as the original version of the Taliban had done in Afghanistan. Their belief is that females have only one purpose, to serve men.

Her family belongs to the Pashtun tribe, and includes her father, education activist and humanitarian Ziauddin Yousafzai. Starting at age 11, she wrote a blog for the BBC Urdu site (Urdu being the native language of Pakistan), using the pen name Gul Makai.

In 2010, her cover was blown by New York Times journalist Adam B. Ellick, who made a documentary. He thought it was safe, since the Pakistan Armed Forces had launched an attack against the Taliban. She began giving interviews, and former Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu nominated her for the International Children's Peace Prize.

But on October 9, 2012, a Taliban gunman boarded a bus, and shot Malala and 2 other girls. The other 2 survived with minor wounds, but Malala was hit in the head. She was taken to the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology in Punjab. Once her condition improved, British activists arranged for her to be flown to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England.

The German TV network Deutsche Welle (German Wave) reported in January 2013 that she had become "the most famous teenager in the world." A group of 50 leading Muslim clerics in Pakistan, showing the wrong way to support her, issued a fatwā against those who tried to kill her. The Taliban doubled down, suggesting that they would try again to kill her.

But she recovered, and stayed in Birmingham. With Pakistani entrepreneur Shiza Shahid, she founded the non-profit Malala Fund, and she wrote a memoir. In 2013, the European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov Prize. On October 10, 2014, 2 years and 1 day after she was shot, with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At 17, she was the youngest ever to receive any Nobel. (The previous youngest was Lawrence Bragg, at 25, for Physics in 1915.)

She graduated from high school in Birmingham in 2017, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford University in 2020. On November 9, 2021, she married Asser Mali, a manager with the Pakistan Cricket Board. She is also a supporter of soccer team Birmingham City F.C. Not that it is necessary that she be a sports fan, but this author is pleased by it. I am more pleased that she is happy.

*

October 9, 2012 was a Tuesday. Football was in midweek. Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start for another 21 days. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out, so the season didn't start until January 19, 2013.

Game 3 of an American League Division Series was played at the O.co Coliseum, as the Oakland Coliseum was then known. The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-0, to close within 2 games to 1. But the Tigers won the series in 5 games. It was an off-day in the other ALDS, with the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles tied, 1-1. The Yankees won that series in 5.

Game 3 of a National League Division Series was played at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1, thanks to a 10th-inning error by the normally sure-handed Scott Rolen, to close within 2 games to 1. The Reds completed the comeback, and won the series in 5 games. It was an off-day in the other NLDS, with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals tied, 1-1. The Cardinals won that series in 5.

October 9, 2011: The Winnipeg Jets Return

And they returned with much better uniforms than the previous version.

October 9, 2011: The new Winnipeg Jets, previously the Atlanta Thrashers, end the Manitoba capital's 15-year exile from the NHL, playing their inaugural game at the new MTS Centre. Nik Antropov scores their 1st goal, but that's all they get, and the Montreal Canadiens beat them, 5-1.

The Winnipeg Victorias had won the Stanley Cup in the amateur era, 1896, 1901 and 1902. The Winnipeg Falcons represented Canada the 1st time ice hockey was played at the Olympic Games, in Antwerp, Belgium in 1920. The Memorial Cup, the championship of Canadian junior hockey, has been won by Winnipeg teams: The 1921 Winnipeg Junior Falcons; the 1923 University of Manitoba Bisons; the 1935, 1937 and 1946 Winnipeg Monarchs; the 1941 and 1943 Winnipeg Rangers; and the 1959 Winnipeg Braves.

The original version of the Winnipeg Jets were founding members of the World Hockey Association in the 1972-73 season, and made the Finals but lost in that season and 1977; but won in 1976, 1978 and 1979. They were then admitted to the NHL, but never did well, winning just 2 Playoff series, 1 each in 1985 and 1987.

But, like most Canadian cities, other than Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, Winnipeg was a small market, without much in the way of suburbs. Add on an NHL Commissioner like Gary Bettman, who hates Canada and loves the Sun Belt, and in 1996, the original Jets were bought and moved to Phoenix, where they became known as the Arizona Coyotes. They didn't do much better there, reaching the Conference Finals only once, in 2012. Meanwhile, back in Winnipeg, the Manitoba Moose became one of the most popular minor-league teams.

In 2004, the MTS Centre opened in downtown Winnipeg, as the new home of the Moose. It was necessary to lure a new team, as the previous version's home, the Winnipeg Arena, was built in 1954, was far from downtown, and had hardly any luxury boxes. In 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers were moved to Winnipeg, and took up residence at the MTS Centre, which was renamed Bell MTS Place in 2017, and the Canada Life Centre in 2021.

The new Jets took until 2015 to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 2018, they reached the Western Conference Finals, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights. They appear to now be perennial Playoff contenders.

UPDATE: In 2024, the Arizona Coyotes failed, and were bought and moved to Salt Lake City. They played the 2024-25 season as simply "Utah Hockey Club," before becoming the Utah Mammoth.

The fact that Salt Lake City was the site of a Winter Olympics doesn't change the perception that, like Phoenix and Las Vegas, it's in the middle of a desert. But it does show that the initial decision to dump Winnipeg in favor of a Sun Belt city was as stupid as it was greedy.

The new Winnipeg Jets have established a team Hall of Fame, including Bobby Hull, Dale Hawerchuk, Tomas Steen, Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Ab McDonald, Randy Carlyle, Teemu Selanne and Teppo Numminen. They've also retired the uniform numbers of Hull, 9; Hawerchuk, 10; and Steen, 25.

*

October 9, 2011 was a Sunday. A Game 1 was played in the National League Division Series. The Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-6 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

The NBA team owners had locked the players out, so the season did not begin until Christmas Day, December 25. And aside from the Jets' opener, there was only 1 game in the NHL: The Edmonton Oilers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 in a shootout at Rexall Place, as the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton was then called.

And these NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants lost to the Seattle Seahawks, 36-25 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to their arch-rivals, the New England Patriots, 30-21 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Carolina Panthers, 30-27 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-20 at EverBank Field (as EverBank Stadium was then known) in Jacksonville.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 25-14 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Houston Texans, 25-20 at NRG Stadium in Houston.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Tennessee Titans, 38-17 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-24 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts, 28-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Denver Broncos, 29-24 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 48-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* On ESPN Monday Night Football, the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 24-13 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* And the Baltimore Ravens, the Cleveland Browns, the Dallas Cowboys, the Miami Dolphins, the St. Louis Rams and the Washington Redskins each had a bye week.

October 9, 2005: The Chris Burke Game

October 9, 2005: At Minute Maid Park in Houston, Chris Burke's 18th-inning home run ends the longest postseason game in baseball history to that point, as the Houston Astros defeat the Atlanta Braves, 7-6, in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, to advance to the NL Championship Series.

Atlanta's 5-run lead late in the game was erased with an 8th inning grand slam by Lance Berkman and a 2-out 9th inning solo shot by Brad Ausmus, which barely cleared Gold Glove center fielder Andruw Jones' outstretched hand.

By time, the game ran 5 hours and 50 minutes. Roger Clemens was the winning pitcher, tossing goose eggs in the 16th, 17th and 18th innings, ensuring that he wouldn't have to start Game 5. Tim Hudson started for the Braves, and would also start another 18-inning NLDS game, Game 2 in 2014 for the San Francisco Giants against the Washington Nationals. That time, he ended up on the winning side.

Despite being on the winning side of this one, Morgan Ensberg went 0-for-6. So did Rafael Furcal of the Braves.

UPDATE: In 2025, Minute Maid Park was renamed Daikin Park.

*

October 9, 2005 was a Sunday. The other NLDS had wrapped up the day before, with the St. Louis Cardinals sweeping the San Diego Padres. The Astros would beat the Cards for their 1st Pennant.

In the American League Division Series on this day, the New York Yankees downed the team then known as "the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim‚" 3-2 in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium‚ to force a deciding Game 5. Al Leiter got the win for New York, in relief of Shawn Chacon. It was Leiter's 1st postseason win in 12 years, since Game 1 for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series. Counting postseason wins, it was the 164th win of his career. It was the last.

He also helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series in 1997, and the team he grew up rooting for, the New York Mets, win a Pennant in 2000, before losing the World Series to the Yankees, for whom he started his career, and would later broadcast on the YES Network. He now works for the MLB Network.

It was also the last game for Tino Martinez, who had been reacquired by the Yankees after 3 years away. He came in as a defensive replacement in the top of the 8th, and, in his last at-bat, popped up to short in the bottom of the inning. He did not play Game 5 in Anaheim, the Yankees were eliminated, and he retired with 339 career home runs, 192 of them as a Yankee.

The other ALDS had already been wrapped up, as the Chicago White Sox swept the Boston Red Sox. Most baseball observers expected that, having traded wins in classic 7-game ACLS'es the preceding 2 years, it would be Yanks-Sox again. But neither one held up their end of the bargain. The White Sox beat the Angels for the Pennant, and then swept the Astros to win their 1st World Series in 88 years.

Also on this day, Tom Cheek died of cancer in the Tampa suburb of Oldsmar, Florida. He was 66. He had broadcast for the Toronto Blue Jays from their 1977 inception until his illness caught up with him in 2004. He had broadcast 4,306 consecutive games for the Jays, and that number now stands in for a "retired number" for his notation on the Jays' "Level of Excellence" at the Rogers Centre. In 2013, the Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously gave him its Ford Frick Award, tantamount to election for broadcasters.

These NFL games were played:

* The New York Jets beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 14-12 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-28 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Adam Vinatieri won it with a 29-yard field goal with 17 seconds left.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Tennessee Titans, the former Houston Oilers, beat their replacements, the Houston Texans, 34-20 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 20-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Chicago Bears, 20-10 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field).

* The Detroit Lions beat the Baltimore Ravens, 35-17 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the New Orleans Saints, 52-3 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. You're reading that right: Fifty-two to three. You usually don't see blowouts like that in the pros. It looks like a Nebraska game against a Big Eight team from the 1980s.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the St. Louis Rams, 37-31 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Washington Redskins, 21-19 at Invesco Field (now Empower Field) at Mile High in Denver. Mark Brunell threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley with 1:09 left to win it.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-20 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the San Francisco 49ers, 28-3 at Candlestick Park (then named Monster Park) in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Diego Chargers, 24-22 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* And the New York Giants, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders each had a bye week.

The NBA season didn't start until November 1. But there were 3 games played in the NHL on this day:

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 6-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Pavol Demitra scored the winning goal with 1:19 left in overtime.

October 9, 1999: Todd Pratt's Walkoff & the End of the Astrodome

October 9, 1999: The New York Mets win a postseason series. Stop laughing.

They defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks‚ 4-3 at Shea Stadium‚ in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, on backup catcher Todd Pratt's 10th inning home run. Pratt is in the game for starter Mike Piazza‚ who is unable to play because of a thumb injury. John Franco gets the victory in relief for the Mets.

On the same day, the Atlanta Braves score 5 runs in the 6th inning, and beat the Houston Astros 7-5. The Braves win their NLDS, 3-1. It is the last major sporting event at the Astrodome, as the Astros are moving into what's now Minute Maid Park next April, the Oilers left for Tennessee in 1997, and the Texans' approval by the NFL was dependent on a new stadium, which was built next-door to the Astrodome, and is now named NRG Stadium. In defeat, Ken Caminiti hit the Dome's last home run.

The Astrodome was home to the Astros from 1965 to 1999, the Oilers (in the AFL for the 1st 2 seasons, the NFL thereafter) from 1968 to 1996, the Houston Texans of the World Football League in 1974, the Houston Gamblers of the USFL in 1984 and 1985, the University of Houston football team from 1965 to 1997, the Bluebonnet Bowl from 1968 to 1987, the Houston Bowl in 2000 and 2001, the Houston Rockets for some home games from 1971 to 1975, the Houston Stars of the North American Soccer League in 1967 and 1968, the Houston Hurricane of the NASL from 1978 to 1980, the UH vs. UCLA basketball "Game of the Century" in 1968, the Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match in 1973, and an Elvis Presley concert in 1971.

But what was originally billed as "the Eighth Wonder of the World" was done. In one of the newspaper articles for its farewell in 1999, a writer compared it to the remaining structures for the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, calling them "relics from a future that never came to pass." When NRG Stadium opened as Reliant Stadium in 2002, it not only had more amenities than the Astrodome, but was noticeably larger, covering more space and a bit taller. In the end, the Astrodome was no more special than any of the other, less remarkable, concrete ovals that were built to host professional sports in the 1960s and '70s.

The Astrodome's finest hour came in 2005, when it housed refugees from Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans. Since then, it has been vacant. Various plans have been floated as to what to do with the Astrodome, but nothing has been approved. So it just sits there, waiting... for something. Anything, even demolition, but nobody can even agree on how to do that.

*

October 9, 1999 was a Saturday. On the same day, the New York Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers‚ 3-0 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas‚ to sweep the American League Division Series. Roger Clemens hurled 7 shutout innings for the win‚ as Darryl Strawberry’s 3-run homer in the 1st provided all the runs in the game.

This was the 1st time the Yankees and the Mets had both clinched anything on the same day, so it was kind of appropriate that one of the heroes was Darryl, who played for both teams.

In the other ALDS, the Boston Red Sox, down 2 games to none, beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-3 at Fenway Park, launching a comeback to take the series. The Yankees then beat them for the Pennant, the Braves beat the Mets, and the Yankees swept the Braves in the World Series.

The NBA season didn't start until November 2, but there were 9 NHL games played:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 1-0 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. Another shutout for Martin Brodeur, and Brian Rolston scored the game's only goal at 7:06 of the 2nd period.

* The Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 1-1 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

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

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Atlanta Thrashers played to a tie, 5-5 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Detroit Red Wings and the Florida Panthers played to a tie, 2-2 at the National Car Rental Center (now the Amerant Bank Center) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* In the opener of CBC's doubleheader of Hockey Night In Canada, the Ottawa Senators beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at the Corel Centre in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Ontario. (It's now the Canadian Tire Centre. The town was absorbed into Ottawa proper in 2001.)

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

* And in the nightcap of Hockey Night In Canada, the Vancouver Canucks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

Also on this day, there was college football. Virginia Tech came to Rutgers with their much-hyped lefthanded-throwing, crazy-running quarterback Michael Vick. He lit RU's defense up like a pinball machine.

My father and I were at this game, at Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey, and I was more impressed with the Hokie defense that head coach Frank Beamer built, led by defensive end Corey Moore. I'd never seen an amateur defense that was so fast.

Tech won 58-20, and took the Number 5 ranking they had in that game and got it up to Number 2, receiving a date with Number 1 Florida State in the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship. But the Seminoles gave them a taste of their own medicine, winning 46-29.

Moore ended up not playing much in the NFL, only for the Buffalo Bills in 2000. Vick would become a pro sensation, getting the Atlanta Falcons to the 2003 NFC Championship Game, before his life took a turn for the worse.

Among the other college games played that day:

* Number 1 Florida State beat Number 19 Miami, 31-21 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

* Number 2 Penn State beat Iowa, 31-7 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.

* Number 3 Michigan were upset by Number 11 Michigan State, 34-31 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.

* Number 4 Nebraska beat Iowa State, 49-14 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

* Number 6 Tennessee beat Number 10 Georgia, 37-20 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Number 7 Georgia Tech beat North Carolina, 31-24 at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.

* Number 8 Florida beat Louisiana State, 31-10 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

* Number 9 Kansas State beat their arch-rivals, Kansas, 50-9 at KSU Stadium (now Bill Snyder Family Stadium) in Manhattan, Kansas.

* Number 13 Texas A&M beat Baylor, 45-13 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

* Number 16 East Carolina were upset by Southern Mississippi, 39-22 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.

* Number 17 Purdue were upset by Number 21 Ohio State, 25-22 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Number 20 Wisconsin beat Number 25 Minnesota, 20-17 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, to win Paul Bunyan's Axe.

* Number 22 Southern California were upset by Arizona, 31-24 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.

* Number 23 Texas beat Oklahoma, 38-28 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* Notre Dame beat Arizona State, 48-17 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Air Force beat Navy, 19-14 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Army had played 2 nights earlier, beating Louisville, 59-52 in overtime at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* And Princeton lost to Brown, 53-30 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.

October 7, 2023: Hamas Starts a War With Israel

October 7, 2023: Palestinian militant groups, led by Hamas, launch a large-scale invasion of Israel from the Gaza Strip.

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

It began with an early-morning rocket barrage of over 3,000 missiles, killing at least 1,200 people in one day. It was the largest murder of Jewish people in a single day since the end of the Holocaust, 78 years earlier. It included a massacre at the Re'im Music Festival, 6 miles in from the border with Gaza, in which over 260 people were killed.

To put this in perspective: As of 2023, Israel is home to 9.8 million people, about 1/34th that of the U.S. Proportionally, 1,200 times 34 = 40,800. Not only is that proportionally equivalent to over 13 "9/11s," but it's about 2/3rds of what the U.S. lost over 8 years in Vietnam -- in one day.

The Gaza Strip is about 25 miles long, and about 4 miles wide. Not that Israel is a large nation: They are about 300 miles north-to-south, and 43 miles east-to-west from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Jerusalem traffic is notoriously bad, but, theoretically, a driver can cross Israel in less than an hour.

Because Israel has limited the Palestinians to Gaza, and to parts of the West Bank, people all over the world accuse Israel of being an "apartheid state." This is a lie. Arabs living in Israel have more rights there than they do in countries where they are the overwhelming majority.

But the Arabs living in Gaza, which Israel willingly gave up in 2005, elected Hamas to lead them the following year. The Arabs living in the West Bank subsequently elected a Palestinian government without Hamas.

"Hamas" is an Arabic word meaning "zeal," "strength" or "bravery." It is also an acronym of the Arabic phrase "Harakah al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah," meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement." The terrorist organization with the name was founded in 1987, with the First Intifada. They are Islamic fundamentalists, and have no interest in the freedom of anyone: Not the Palestinians, and certainly not the Israelis.

It has long been said that if the Arabs laid down their arms, the would be no more war; but if the Israelis laid down their arms, there would be no more Israel. Hamas, and their affiliated groups like the Iranian-backed Hezbollah (meaning "Army of God"), have long wanted to "drive them into the sea." Which is ironic, because, if Israel really wanted to, it could do that to the people of Gaza.

With the war that began on October 7, 2023, it became clear: The Israeli position is, "This is our land, and as soon as you begin to leave us alone, we will do the same to you": while the Hamas position is, "This is our land, and we are going to kill you all until those of you who are left leave it." Hamas has released videos showing what the BBC called "ISIS-level savagery."

Why did Hamas act now? It has been suggested that it was because Israel was moving closer to a diplomatic agreement with Saudi Arabia, the capital of the Islamic world, and Hamas couldn't handle that.

Benjamin Netanyahu, in his 3rd go-round as Prime Minister, and the longest-serving -- and most corrupt -- holder of that post, had made Israel's security his reason for staying in office. He failed in a spectacular way. Yet he had the country convinced that only he could protect the country from then on. Americans had seen this before, with George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks.

The Saudis stayed quiet. The only nation openly on Hamas' side was Iran -- the government, that is. The people of Iran, as they demonstrated at a soccer game, were not. Most of the world has sided with Israel. Even the Federal Republic of Germany, the successor state to the perpetrator of the Holocaust, has expressed support, putting a hologram of the Israeli flag on the Brandenburg Gate in the capital of Berlin.

Israel, of course, retaliated. For the 1st time since the Yom Kippur War, 50 years to the week earlier, the nation declared war on an enemy. At the time of this writing, the war was in its early stages.

UPDATE: Eventually, the propaganda campaign launched by Hamas convinced much of the world that the Palestinians were innocent victims of acts of genocide -- not the guilty perpetrators of them, as they were on October 7, 2023.

The world turned against Israel, and a wave of anti-Semitism swept over America. Millions of people refused to support first Joe Biden, then Kamala Harris, in the 2024 Presidential election, because they "supported genocide," which was a pernicious and stupid lie. It probably cost Kamala the election, and led to the re-installation of Donald Trump.

Back in office, Trump announced plans for the redevelopment of Gaza, to do to it what he couldn't do to Atlantic City: Turn it into a personal fiefdom. Netanyahu was not willing to go along with this. But Netanyahu wanted to launch a war against Iran, and Trump was willing to go along with this, to distract Americans from the declining economy and the Epstein Files scandal.

On February 28, 2026, with most but not all of the hostages having been returned -- some alive, some dead -- and the Gaza War having no end in sight, Trump and Netanyahu started a war with Iran. Over its 1st month, it had done neither country any good.

It has never occurred to the people who refused to vote for Harris that they bear some responsibility for this. They loved the Palestinians more than they loved their fellow Americans, but Trump was far worse for both peoples than Harris would have been.

*

October 7, 2023 was a Saturday. Baseball began all 4 of its Division Series. In the American League, the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore; 

and the Houston Astros beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-4 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-0 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia; and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Some of the notable college football games that were played that day:

* Number 1 Georgia beat Number 20 Kentucky, 51-13 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* In the rivalry known as, with a trophy named, the Little Brown Jug, Number 2 Michigan beat Minnesota, 52-10 at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

* In the Red River Rivalry, Number 3 Texas were upset by Number 12 Oklahoma, 34-30 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* Number 4 Ohio State beat Maryland, 37-17 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Number 5 Florida State beat Virginia Tech, 39-17 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

* Number 9 University of Southern California (USC) needed overtime to beat Arizona, 43-41 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 10 Notre Dame were upset by Number 25 Louisville, 33-7 at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium in Louisville.

* Number 11 Alabama won a hard-fought contest against nearly-ranked Texas A&M, 26-20 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. As good as Nick Saban's Crimson Tide have been the last few years, the Aggies are one of the few teams to regularly give them trouble.

* Number 13 Washington State were upset by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), 25-17 at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California.

* Number 17 Miami were upset by Georgia Tech, 23-20 at Hard Rock Stadium in suburban Miami Gardens, Florida.

* Number 21 Missouri were mildly upset by Number 23 Louisiana State University (LSU), 49-39 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

* And Rutgers lost to Wisconsin, 24-13 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.