December 31, 1967: The 1st Oakland Championship

Daryle Lamonica (3) back to pass. Blocking for him

are Jim Otto (00), Dan Archer (78) and Jim Harvey (70).

Note the infield dirt, left over for baseball.

December 31, 1967: The American Football League Championship Game is played at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on this New Year's Eve. The Oakland Raiders hosted the Houston Oilers.

The Oilers had played in the 1st 3 AFL Championship Games, winning in 1960 and 1961, but losing in 1962. Their starting quarterback was George Blanda. Pete Beathard was now the Oilers' quarterback. This would be the Raiders' 1st title game. Blanda was now playing for them.

But while he was their main placekicker, he was not their starting quarterback. That would be Daryle Lamonica, who threw the ball so often, and so far, he became known as "The Mad Bomber." Raider coach John Rauch, having been a quarterback himself, knew he had two good ones. Lamonica would not be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but Blanda would, along with receiver Fred Biletnikoff, center Jim Otto, guard Gene Upshaw, and cornerback Willie Brown.

The game kicked off at 2:00 Pacific Standard Time (5:00 Eastern), and the temperature was 47 degrees. Just a few minutes earlier, the NFL Championship Game had ended in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and, to those inside Lambeau Field, 47 degrees would have seemed like beach weather in comparison.

The only scoring in the 1st quarter was a 37-yard field goal by Blanda. But the Raiders pulled away in the 2nd quarter, with Hewritt Dixon scoring on a 69-yard run, and Lamonica throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dave Kocourek. It was 17-0 Raiders at the half.

In the 3rd quarter, Lamonica scored on a quarterback sneak, and Blanda kicked a 40-yard field goal. Blanda kicked one from 42 yards, giving the Raiders a 30-0 lead early in the 4th quarter. The Oilers finally scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Beathard to Charley Frazier. But the Raiders put it away with another field goal from Blanda, this one 36 yards, and a 12-yard touchdown pass from Lamonica to Bill Miller. The final was Oakland 40, Houston 7.

This was the 1st league championship for Raiders owner Al Davis. There would be more. Moreover, while Oakland had been the much-maligned "little brother" to cosmopolitan San Francisco across the Bay, this game was the beginning of a shift.

The San Francisco Giants had won the National League Pennant in 1962, and just missed Pennants in 1964, '65 and '66. But the Raiders were now AFL Champions, and Oakland had just become home to the NHL's Seals and the ABA's Oaks, and were about to become home to baseball's Athletics. Oakland would soon have 4 teams, to San Francisco's 3 -- and when the San Francisco Warriors moved in 1971, taking the name "Golden State Warriors," taking the place of the Oaks who had moved, Oakland would, briefly, have 4 teams to San Francisco's 2.

From this game until the 49ers' NFC Championship of January 10, 1982, the City of San Francisco had no league champions in any sport, while the City of Oakland had 8: The 1967 AFL Champion Raiders; the 1969 ABA Champion Oaks; the 1972, 1973 and 1974 World Series Champion Athletics; the 1975 NBA Champion Warriors; and the 1976 and 1980 NFL Champion Raiders. And that doesn't even count the Oakland Clippers, earlier in 1967, winning the title in the National Professional Soccer League, which could hardly have been called "major league." But it did happen.

For a few years, sports-wise, Oakland was the place to be. It was a golden age -- or, as A's and Seals owner Charlie Finley might have put it, a Green and Golden Age.

*

December 31, 1967 was a Sunday. The 1967 NFL Championship Game was played the same day. While the Oakland Coliseum has been known for chilly conditions, there was no issue with the weather there on that day. That would not be the case for the NFL title game: It was well below zero at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17, in a game that became known as the Ice Bowl. I have a separate entry for that event. The Packers went on to beat the Raiders, 33-14 in Super Bowl II, in a much-warmer Orange Bowl in Miami.

There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the expansion San Diego Rockets, 147-118. It was the 1st game the Lakers played at their new arena, The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And the San Francisco Warriors beat the other expansion team, the Seattle SuperSonics, 126-124 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. For the Warriors, Nate Thurmond had 34 points and 25 rebounds.

There was 1 game played in the American Basketball Association, which was in its 1st season: The Pittsburgh Pipers beat the Indiana Pacers, 121-106 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. The Pipers would go on to win the 1st ABA Championship. But before the 1972-73 season, they were out of business. The Pacers would win the ABA title in 1970, '72 and '73, and were 1 of the 4 teams absorbed from the ABA into the NBA in 1976.

There were 4 games played in the NHL that day:

* The New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0, in one of the last events at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 9-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 6-4 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Oakland Seals, 3-0 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Montreal Canadiens, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota North Stars were not scheduled. 

December 21, 1974: The "Sea of Hands" Game

December 21, 1974: The Oakland Raiders host the Miami Dolphins in an AFC Divisional Playoff at the Oakland Coliseum. The Raiders went 12-2 and won the AFC Western Division, while the Dolphins went 11-3 and won the AFC Eastern Division.

The Dolphins had won the last 3 AFC Championships and the last 2 Super Bowls. In contrast, the Raiders were already known as a team that "can't win the big one": They had lost Super Bowl II to close the 1967 season, the 1968 and 1969 AFL Championship Games, the 1970 and 1973 AFC Championship Games, and a Divisional Playoff in 1972 on the Pittsburgh Steelers' "Immaculate Reception."

The 1974 season was the one in which NFL Films producer Steve Sabol was inspired to write a poem about the Raiders, a 4-verse piece titled The Autumn Wind, closing:

The Autumn Wind is a raider

pillaging just for fun.

He'll knock you 'round and upside-down

and laugh when he's conquered and won.

Sabol showed it to Raiders owner Al Davis, who loved it, and said, "This is what the Oakland Raiders are all about." So Sabol gave it to his voiceover maestro, John Facenda, who spoke the words over highlights, making it an NFL Films classic.

Raider fans were ready to dethrone the Champions. A banner -- incorrectly identifying dolphins as fish, rather than mammals, and also incorrectly writing "Super Bowl" as one word -- read, "THE DOLPHINS BELONG IN A FISHBOWL NOT A SUPERBOWL."

George Blanda, a former quarterback still playing for the Raiders at age 47, kicked off, and Nat Moore returned it 89 yards for a touchdown. But on the Raiders' next drive, despite holding them off, the Dolphins lost safety Jake Scott to injury. In the 2nd quarter, Ken Stabler threw a touchdown pass to Charlie Smith, but Garo Yepremian gave the Dolphins back the lead with a field goal, making it 10-7 Miami at the half.

A great catch of a Stabler pass by Fred Biletnikoff gave the Raiders a 14-10 lead early in the 3rd quarter. But a dumb pass interference penalty by the Raiders aided the Dolphins' drive, and Bob Griese threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Paul Warfield. Former Baltimore Colts star and future actor Bubba Smith blocked Yepremian's extra point attempt, so the Dolphins only led 16-14. Yepremian made it 19-14 with a field goal early in the 4th quarter.

With 4:37 to play, Cliff Branch made a great catch of a Stabler pass, and took it 72 yards for a touchdown, and a 21-19 Oakland lead. The Dolphins struck back, and Benny Malone ran broke 4 tackles on a 23-yard touchdown run. With 2:08 left, the Dolphins led, 26-21.

The Raiders took over on their own 32-yard line, with 2 minutes and all 3 timeouts remaining, but facing the Dolphins' "No-Name Defense." It was a bad name: linebacker Nick Buoniconti was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame; and ends Bill Stanfill and Vern Den Herder, tackle Manny Fernandez, and safeties Dick Anderson and the injured Scott were regular Pro Bowlers.

Stabler threw a pair of 1st-down passes to Biletnikoff. He got the ball to the 8-yard line, calling his last timeout with 35 seconds left. On the next play, he looked for Biletnikoff in the end zone, but he was too well-covered. Den Herder bore down on him, and perhaps Stabler was thinking this was his "Immaculate Reception" moment. He threw in mid-sack. Clarence Davis was covered by 3 Dolphins in the end zone: Safety Charlie Babb, linebacker Larry Ball and Mike Kolen. Still, he made the catch.

Stabler later told NFL Films: "Clarence Davis made the play. I certainly didn't make the play. Vern Den Herder hits me, and I get very little on the ball, and it's kind of a dying duck, end-over-end deal, back into a sea of hands in the end zone." The term "Sea of Hands" would be applied to this game for all time.

The Raiders led, 28-26, but the Dolphins still had a chance. That chance ended with Phil Villapiano intercepted Griese on the Raider 45, and Stabler ran out the clock. Of all the crazy games in Raider history -- in Oakland, in Los Angeles, in Las Vegas, and on the road -- this may be their most cherished, outside of the 3 Super Bowls they've won.

In contrast, Dolphin head coach Don Shula -- who, remember, was the head coach of the Baltimore Colts when they lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets in a shocking upset, 6 years earlier -- said, "This has to be the toughest loss I've ever suffered."

But, just as the Steelers did when they beat the Raiders with the Immaculate Reception, the Raiders ended up losing the AFC Championship Game, to the Steelers. And, as with the Steelers, it would take them 2 more years to go all the way, winning Super Bowl XI. The Dolphins have been to only 2 Super Bowls since, losing both.

In 1981, author John Thorn left his comfort zone, baseball, and published Pro Football's 10 Greatest Games. He included this game as one of them.

*

December 21, 1974 was a Saturday. There was 1 other NFL Playoff game that day: The Minnesota Vikings beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 30-14 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

There was a college football bowl game that day: Miami University of Ohio beat the University of Georgia, 21-10 in the Tangerine Bowl, at the stadium of the same name in Orlando, Florida. Miami, Champions of the Mid-American Conference, completed an undefeated season: 9-0-1. The game and the stadium would later be known as the Citrus Bowl, and the stadium is now named Camping World Stadium.

There were 7 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 109-91 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 117-101 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Atlanta Hawks, 101-96 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 87-74 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Golden State Warriors, 107-84 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 114-104 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Detroit Pistons, 108-97 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were 4 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Indiana Pacers, 134-122 at the new Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Billy Paultz led the Nets with 30 points. Julius "Dr. J" Erving scored 18. George McGinnis had 33 points and 18 rebounds in defeat.

* The Virginia Squires beat the Spirits of St. Louis, 99-93 at the Hampton Coliseum outside Norfolk in Hampton, Virignia.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Memphis Sounds, 115-98 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.

* And the Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs, 119-104 at the Denver Auditorium Arena. Mike Green scored 39 points.

There were 6 games played in the NHL that day:

* The New York Islanders and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 3-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins, 8-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

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

* The Detroit Red Wings and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 2-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-7 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the cross-State Kansas City Scouts, 6-4 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the New York Rangers, the Oakland Seals, the Buffalo Sabres, the Vancouver Canucks, the Atlanta Flames and the Washington Capitals were not scheduled.

And there were 3 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Houston Aeros beat the New England Whalers, 5-3 at the Big E Coliseum in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Cougars, 3-0 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.

* And the Vancouver Blazers beat the San Diego Mariners, 2-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

Also, Arsenal traveled to Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and beat Stoke City, 2-0 at the Victoria Ground. 

December 18, 1976: The Ben Dreith Game

Ray Hamilton closes in on Ken Stabler.

This may not be the play in question.

Even if it is, the photo doesn't make an answer conclusive.

December 18, 1976: The New England Patriots play the Oakland Raiders in an AFC Divisional Playoff game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

The Patriots had won the AFC Eastern Division, their 1st Division title and 1st Playoff berth in 13 years. The Raiders, Champions of the AFC Western Division, had the best record in the League, 13-1. But their only loss was to the Patriots, by a whopping 48-17.

So New England fans were looking forward to the team's 1st Super Bowl. (Even if the team, known as the Boston Patriots from their 1960 founding until 1970, had won the AFL Championship Game in 1963, they would not have played the NFL Champion Chicago Bears for the world championship.) This was the 1st time the Patriots really captured New England's attention, after the Celtics had just won their 2nd title in 3 years and their 13th overall, the Bruins were still in their biggest glory period, and the Red Sox had won a Pennant the year before.

The Patriots scored first, a touchdown, and a Raider field goal made it 7-3 at the end of the 1st quarter. The Raiders scored a touchdown in the 2nd quarter to take a 10-7 halftime lead. Quarterback Steve Grogan led the Pats to 2 touchdown drives in the 3rd quarter, making it 21-10 New England.

But as the 3rd quarter moved to the 4th, Raider quarterback Ken Stabler led a touchdown drive that closed the Silver and Black to 21-17. Grogan got to the Raiders' 28-yard line, and appeared to have gotten a 1st down on a quarterback sneak. But referee Ben Dreith flagged them for offsides. That made it 4th down, and Chuck Fairbanks, who had coached the University of Oklahoma to 3 Big Eight Conference titles, sent John Smith in to try a 50-yard field goal, and it was off target.

That gave the Raiders 72 yards to go for a winning touchdown, and 4:12 left in which to get it. Stabler got them into Patriot territory, but got sacked by Mel Lunsford. It was 3rd & 18 on the Patriot 36. Stabler threw an incomplete pass. But Dreith struck again, ruling roughing the passer on Ray Hamilton. That gave the Raiders a 1st down on the Patriot 13, with 57 seconds left. Stabler scored on a quarterback draw with 14 seconds left, giving the Raiders a 24-21 win.

The Patriots were furious. Fairbanks said, "It looked to me like Ray Hamilton hit the ball first. If he did deflect the ball, it was an incorrect call." Julius Adams, at the beginning of a career that would see him become the team's best defensive end ever, said, "That was one of the worst-called games I have ever seen in my life."

Raider head coach John Madden, naturally, disagreed: "If you could sit there for 60 minutes and say the officials turned that game around with penalties at the end, you were wasting your time. You were eating a hot dog somewhere, instead of watching what was going on. There was some great football out there."

Having looked at the play myself, I can see that Hamilton's hand did hit Stabler's face mask. That was inadvertent. But Stabler was still in mid-throw. That is not "roughing the passer." The correct call would have been an inadvertent face mask call, a 5-yard penalty, which would have made it 4th & 13 on the Patriot 31, with a little over a minute to go. That doesn't mean the Raiders wouldn't have gotten the 1st down on the next play, and even if they had, it wouldn't have meant that they would have gone on to win. But it would have made things a lot harder for them. Dreith made a bad call. 

The Raiders went on to win the Super Bowl. To this day, Patriot fans call this The Ben Dreith Game, and say they were robbed. There would be other incidents to come between these 2 teams, favoring each side.

Dreith was an original AFL official from 1960, who was accepted into the NFL's officiating ranks after the 1970 merger. This would remain the only game in which fans of a team said he robbed them. In a 1986 game, Marty Lyons of the New York Jets sacked Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly and punched him in the head. Dreith flagged him, and mistakenly identified the offending player as Mark Gastineau (who, to be fair, was better known for that kind of behavior), telling the crowd, "There's a persona foul, on Number 99 of the defense. After he tackled the quarterback, he's givin' him the business down there. That's a 15-yard penalty."

In 1990, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 65, he was demoted from referee (and thus, as they would say among baseball umpires, crew chief) to the instant replay booth. He refused to accept this, and was demoted to line judge, and then fired after the season. He sued, and later settled for $165,000. He died in 2021, at the age of 96, mostly forgotten -- but not by Patriot fans.

UPDATE: The Patriots have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1970s teams, they have inducted founding owner Billy Sullivan, quarterback Steve Grogan, running back Sam Cunningham, guard John Hannah, tackle Leon Gray, linebacker Steve Nelson, cornerback Mike Haynes, and broadcaster Gil Santos.

*

December 18, 1976 was a Saturday. There was 1 other NFL Playoff game played that day: The Minnesota Vikings beat the Washington Redskins, 35-20 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

There was a college football bowl game played that day: Oklahoma State beat Brigham Young University, 49-21, in the Tangerine Bowl, at the stadium of the same name in Orlando, Florida. The game and the stadium would later be renamed the Citrus Bowl, and the stadium is now named Camping World Stadium.

There were 8 games played in the National Basketball Association:

* The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 115-113 at Madison Square Garden. Spencer Haywood had 35 points and 19 rebounds.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Washington Bullets, 115-110 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 117-110 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The New Orleans Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 110-106 at The Summit in Houston. "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 36 points. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-93 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls, 111-106 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. 

* The Kansas City Kings beat the Phoenix Suns, 90-89 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 115-111 in overtime at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 35 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Bill Walton had 28 points and 26 rebounds. While the Blazers lost this game, they went on to win the NBA Championship.

The entire National Hockey League played that day, all 18 teams:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers played the Chicago Black Hawks to a tie, 3-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Barons beat the Boston Bruins, 6-4 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Atlanta Flames, 6-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-0 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-0 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

There were 4 games played in the World Hockey Association:

* The New England Whalers beat the Birmingham Bulls, 6-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 4-3 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Calgary Cowboys beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-2 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary.

* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Houston Aeros, 4-3 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

Also, Arsenal beat Manchester United, 3-1 at Highbury in North London.

December 15, 2019: The Raiders Play Their Last Game In Oakland

Derek Carr, the last Oakland quarterback

December 15, 2019: The Raiders play their last game in Oakland. No, no, really, they mean it this time.

Team owner Mark Davis fulfills his destiny, and gets the team moved out of the East Bay -- not to Los Angeles, because the Rams and Chargers have taken the market away, but to Las Vegas. The government of Nevada actually put out a statements saying that the Silver State was now the Silver and Black State.

Knowing that it was probably their last season in Oakland, the Raiders looked like they might go out on a good note. They started the season 6-4, including a win over the Chicago Bears in London. But they lost 3 straight going into their last home game, and were out of Playoff contention.

The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum -- known at the time of this game as the RingCentral Coliseum -- has often been beset with bad weather, but it couldn't have been better for the last Raider home game, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, as it was 59 degrees and sunny as the kickoff came at 1:05 PM Pacific Time.

There was some irony in the opponent: Because the Jaguars had been having attendance issues in Jacksonville, and had also willingly forsaken home games to go to London, they had often been considered the next team to move. But the Rams left St. Louis for the 2016 season, and the Chargers left San Diego for 2017, both to go back to Los Angeles from whence they came.

The Raiders opened the game by scoring on their 1st drive, as Derek Carr threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Tyrell Williams. Then the field goals started: The Jags got a 28-yard kick from Josh Lambo, and the Raiders got them from Daniel Carson, 33, 34 and 27 yards, giving them a 16-3 lead at the half. Lambo kicked a 43-yarder at the end of the 3rd quarter.

In the 4th quarter, Gardner Minshew combined for touchdown passes to Chris Conley, 6 yards with 5:15 to go, and 4 yards with 31 seconds left, giving the Jags a 20-16 win. The crowd of 52,788 booed the Raiders as they left the field for the last time.

William Shakespeare put words in the mouth of Julius Caesar: "Cowards die a thousand times before their death. The valiant taste of death but once." The James Bond franchise introduced the saying "You only live twice." Now, the Oakland Raiders had died twice.

And now, the Raiders were leaving Oakland for the 2nd time, going from the hometown of the Hell's Angels, who were often among the less aggressive denizens of the Coliseum parking lot, for the real "Sin City."

The next week, the Raiders beat the Chargers in Carson, California. But the week after that, they closed with a loss to the Broncos in Denver, finishing 7-9. On September 21, 2020, they played their 1st home game as a Las Vegas team, beating the New Orleans Saints, 34-24 at Allegiant Stadium in the Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

From 1971, when the San Francisco Warriors moved across the Bay to the Oakland Coliseum Arena, becoming the Golden State Warriors, until 1976, the City of Oakland had teams in all 4 major league sports. But in 1976, the NHL's California Golden Seals moved to become the Cleveland Browns, where they failed, and merged with the also-bankrupt Minnesota North Stars. Baseball's Oakland Athletics came very close to moving to Denver for the 1978 season, seriously threatened to move to New Orleans for 1979, and made an effort for Denver again in 1980, before being sold and staying put.

The Raiders left for Los Angeles in 1982, returned in 1995, and now, in 2019, had left for Las Vegas. Earlier in 2019, the Chase Center had opened in San Francisco, and the Warriors moved into it, though they kept the "Golden State" name.

The A's were now the only team left in Oakland. And they began maneuvering their way out of Oakland for Las Vegas as well.

UPDATE: In 2023, the A's announced they were moving to Las Vegas, and the MLB team owners approved the movie unanimously. They will play the 2024 season in Oakland, then move to the small Las Vegas Ballpark for 2025, before a new stadium opens, most likely in 2028.

The Raiders have never retired a uniform number. Nor do they have a team Hall of Fame. But, as of the 2025 NFL season, there are 16 Raider figures in the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. From their 1967 AFL Champions, who lost Super Bowl II: Quarterback George Blanda and center Jim Otto.

From their Super Bowl XI winners of the 1976-77 season: Quarterback Ken Stabler, receiver Fred Biletnikoff, tight end Dave Casper, guard Gene Upshaw, tackle Art Shell, linebacker Ted Hendricks, cornerback Willie Brown, punter Ray Guy, and head coach John Madden. From their Super Bowl XV winners in the 1980-81 season: Upshaw, Shell, Casper, Hendricks, Guy, quarterback Jim Plunkett, tight end Raymond Chester, and head coach Tom Flores.

From their 2002 AFC Champions, who lost Super Bowl XXXVII, so far, only receiver Tim Brown has been inducted. And, as you might guess, the Raiders' "godfather," Al Davis, has been inducted.

*

December 15, 2019 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins, 36-20 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Redskins, 37-27 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Carolina Panthers, 30-24 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Houston Texans beat the Tennessee Titans, who used to be the Houston Oilers, 24-21 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Los Angeles Rams, 44-21 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-10 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The New England Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-13 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Detroit Lions, 38-17 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* In the NFL's oldest rivalry, the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears, 21-13 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos, 23-3 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Cleveland Browns, 38-24 at State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 39-10 at Dignity Health Sports Park in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the San Francisco 49ers, 29-22 at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Santa Clara, California.

Three days earlier, on Thursday, December 12, the New York Jets lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 42-21 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

And the day after, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts, 34-7 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Baseball was out of season. There were 6 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Denver Nuggets, 111-105 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 109-89 at the Barclays Center.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 101-96 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

* The Orlando Magic beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 130-119 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 107-85 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Golden State Warriors, 100-79 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-3 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-3 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

* And the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at the T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

And in English soccer, Arsenal lost to Manchester City, 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.

December 13, 1981: The Raiders Play Their Last Game In Oakland -- The 1st Time

December 13, 1981: The Chicago Bears beat the Oakland Raiders, 23-6 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The game didn't mean much to the Bears, who finished the season a week later, at 6-10. It didn't mean much to the Raiders, either, as they finished 7-9.

But it meant a lot to the people of the City of Oakland, Alameda County, and the East Bay region of Northern California. It was the Raiders' last game in Oakland. Or so everyone thought.

It was a rough way for the Raiders to go out. The defending NFL Champions, and known as the toughest team in the NFL, they gave up 2 touchdown passes from future Raider quarterback Vince Evans to Rickey Watts, another from Evans to Ken Margerum, and a safety when Marc Wilson, substituting at quarterback for the injured Jim Plunkett, was sacked in the end zone. The last Raider scoring play came in the 1st quarter, a 27-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Bob Chandler.

The Raiders had made Oakland, always with an inferiority complex compared to the much more cosmopolitan city across the Bay, a major league city. They started with the Oakland name, but in San Francisco, at Kezar Stadium, in 1960, moved to Candlestick Park in 1961, then spent the next 4 seasons at the 18,000-seat Frank Youell Field, before the Coliseum opened in 1966.

The Raiders were followed by the Coliseum's Arena opening in 1967, becoming the home of the California Golden Seals, the Kansas City Athletics moving to the Coliseum in 1968, and the San Francisco Warriors moving to the Arena in 1971. The Seals moved out in 1976, but the A's won 3 straight World Series, the Warriors won an NBA title, and the Raiders won 2 Super Bowls. Oakland was a happening place in the 1970s.

But Raider boss Al Davis wanted improvements to the Coliseum, including luxury boxes. When he was told he wouldn't get them, he decided to move to Los Angeles, as the Rams had left the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to play in Anaheim. While it wasn't yet clear that this would be the last Raider game in Oakland, everyone pretty much knew it would be. Winning a court case in May 1982, Davis made the move official.

But he wasn't happy in L.A., either. He wanted improvements to the L.A. Coliseum. He didn't get them. He threatened to move the team to Irwindale, 20 miles east of downtown L.A., where the City Council was ready to build a stadium for him.

But Oakland decided to renovate their Coliseum, including building the bleacher section that would be nicknamed "Mount Davis," ruining the nice view of the foothills as seen from the infield seats. So, for the 1995 season, the Raiders moved back.

With the Rams also vacating the L.A. area for 1995, and other big cities without NFL teams jockeying for position, there was always the threat that Al Davis would move the Raiders out of Oakland again. He never did, dying in 2011. But his son Mark Davis moved the team to Las Vegas in 2020. With the Warriors having moved back to San Francisco in 2019, and the A's threatening to leave for Las Vegas themselves, Oakland's day in the Sun was coming to a close.

*

December 13, 1981 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 20-10 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the New England Patriots, 19-10 at Schaefer Stadium (later Sullivan Stadium and Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Washington Redskins, although they have no rivalry with them, beat their geographically closest opponents, the Baltimore Colts, 38-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-23 at Tampa Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-10 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-7 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the New Orleans Saints, 35-7 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 21-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks, 23-13 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Houston Oilers, 28-6 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The day before, the New York Jets beat the Cleveland Browns, 14-13 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* And the Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings, 45-7 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* And the night after, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Los Angeles Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons, 21-16 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

One college football game was played, and it was the last edition of the Garden State Bowl, at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands of East Rutherford, New Jersey. Tennessee beat Wisconsin, 28-21.

Baseball was out of season. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 127-108 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 122-118 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 33 points.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Detroit Pistons, 105-99 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the San Diego Clippers, 98-74 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Edmonton Oilers , 4-3 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* The Quebec Nordiques and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 4-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Hartford Whalers, 8-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Winnipeg Jets, 2-1 at the Winnipeg Arena. (By a weird coincidence, when the Jets played their last game before moving, in 1996, it was also a home loss to the Red Wings.)

* And the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-6 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

November 17, 1968: The Heidi Bowl

November 17, 1968: A professional football game was played, and it had a stunning ending. People who saw this ending live in the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum: An official paid attendance of 53,318. People who saw it on television: Zero.

"What do you mean, Uncle Mike?" you may ask. "Wasn't the game on television?" Yes, it was -- but not in its entirety. And it wasn't zero: Viewers in the Pacific Time Zone saw it live.

The New York Jets were playing the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders had won the American Football League Championship the season before, but lost Super Bowl II to the Green Bay Packers. They were 8-2 coming into this game. The Jets were 7-3. 

Each team had a notable quarterback: The Raiders had Daryle Lamonica, known as the Mad Bomber; while the Jets had Joe Namath, coming off a season in which he became the 1st pro quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in a season. The Raiders, especially defensive end Ben Davidson (later an actor) always targeted him for dirty hits: Davidson had broken Namath's jaw in the Raiders' win the season before.

Broadway Joe Namath

With the Playoffs for both the AFL and the NFL expanded for this season, this was seen as a possible Playoff preview -- correctly, as it turned out.

And while the owners of the original 8 AFL teams, a.k.a. "The Foolish Club," were friends and partners, the teams themselves, and the fans thereof, hated each other's guts. As Jets director of public relations Frank Ramos said, "When the Jets played the Raiders, it wasn't a rivalry, it was a war."

The game was scheduled for a 1:00 PM kickoff, Pacific Time -- meaning 2:00 Mountain Time, 3:00 Central Time, and 4:00 Pacific Time. In those days, before TV started insisting on more timeouts to run more commercials, games rarely took a full 3 hours. So it was reasonable to presume that the game would end before 7:00 PM Eastern Time.

It was the 2nd half of an AFL doubleheader on NBC. And the 1st half was a sign of trouble: The San Diego Chargers beat the Buffalo Bills 21-6, but it ran long. The result was not in doubt, but NBC still broke away from it at 4:00 on the dot, and began televising from Oakland.

The Raiders led 7-6 at the end of the 1st quarter, and 14-12 at halftime. The Jets took a 19-14 lead in the 3rd quarter, but the Raiders led 22-19 at the end of it. With 1:05 left in regulation, a Jim Turner field goal gave the Jets took a 32-29 lead.

Time was running out, and the AFL had no provision for overtime in regular-season games. Lamonica got the Raiders down the field, partly thanks to a facemask violation by the Jets. It was at this point that NBC made their big decision, which I'll get to in a moment. Lamonica threw a pass to running back Charlie Smith, who caught the ball, and ran 43 yards for a touchdown. Raiders 36, Jets 32.

The Mad Bomber, Daryle Lamonica

There were 42 seconds left. But Earl Christy fumbled the kickoff. Preston Ridlehuber recovered for the Raiders, and took it into the end one. Raiders 43, Jets 32. That was the final score.

If that had been the extent of the proceedings, and if they had concluded before 7:00 Eastern, the game might be worthy of mention on major anniversaries, like the 50th, which was 2 years ago, but that's about it. But that wasn't the extent of what happened, and it didn't conclude before 7. And this game still gets talked about, frequently.

*

As for the broadcast: NBC assigned its lead pro football broadcast team: Curt Gowdy, who had done everything in sports, and for whom the Basketball Hall of Fame's award for broadcasters is named; and Al DeRogatis, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame as a defensive tackle with Duke University, and a 2-time Pro Bowler with the New York Giants, who'd gotten started broadcasting their games.

NBC planned to follow the broadcast of this game -- at least, in the 3 easternmost time zones -- with a film version of Johanna Spyri's 1881 novel Heidi. It tells the tale of an orphaned girl in Spyri's native Switzerland, and the lives she touches. It had already been filmed 6 times, most notably in 1937 with Shirley Temple in the title role. There have been additional versions since 1968.

The version NBC was showing was new, made for TV, and aired in place of, but well within the style of, their usual Sunday night fare: The anthology series then known as Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. (A bit of a boast, given that only about half the homes in America had color TV sets at that point.) The show has been on the air continuously since 1954, and, for most of its history, including currently on the Disney Channel, it's been known as The Wonderful World of Disney.

In the 1968 TV-movie, Heidi was played by Jennifer Edwards, the 11-year-old daughter of film producer and director Blake Edwards, and stepdaughter of Blake's wife, Julie Andrews, star of Mary Poppins (so she also knew a thing or two about children's fare) and The Sound of Music (so she also knew a thing or two about feel-good movies set in the Alps). Jennifer has since left acting for screenwriting. The film also starred Maximilian Schell, Michael Redgrave and Jean Simmons.

As if there wasn't enough going wrong, 

this DVD cover didn't even get Jean Simmons' name right.

NBC had been hyping the movie like crazy, the way they would if it were a holiday broadcast -- say, if it had aired 5 nights later on Thanksgiving, or on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. They took out big print ads for it, including a full-page ad in The New York Times, which, then as now, was a prohibitively expensive move. They had to air it precisely at 7:00, so that it would end at 9:00, and kids who had to go to school the next day could then get a good night's sleep (at least, in theory).

It wasn't just a judgment call. NBC had an actual contract with a single sponsor, Timex watches. The contract stated that Heidi had to start at exactly 7:00 Eastern Standard Time, and could not be delayed, or joined in progress, for any reason. The fact that the sponsor was a timekeeper became retroactively ironic.

It's also worth nothing that this was 1968. The VCR was a few years away from being invented. There was no DVR service. If you missed a show, you had to wait until it was repeated -- if it was repeated. (As far as I know, this version of Heidi was never shown on network TV again, although it is probably available on cable movie channels.)

And there were only 6 VHF channels in New York: CBS on 2, NBC on 4, ABC on 7, and the "independent" stations on 5, 9 and 11. (Channel 13 was there, but PBS was still in its infancy, and most people weren't thinking about it yet.) So, with few choices, when one got highlighted, you became convinced that this was something special, and you should watch it. It was around this time that the kind of TV production previously known as a "spectacular" began to be called a "special."

So with all the promotion of this "family entertainment," there was a considerable buzz about Heidi. In the history of American TV to this point, pretty much the only broadcasts that had ever gotten this much hype were the final episode of The Fugitive on ABC the year before, the 1955 NBC broadcast of the Broadway musical version of Peter Pan with Mary Martin in the lead role, and the appearances on CBS' The Ed Sullivan Show by Elvis Presley in 1957 and The Beatles in 1964. Even the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates and space launches didn't get hyped this much.

(The Beatles' 1st appearance on Ed Sullivan, February 9, 1964, was the most-watched TV show ever to that point. The last episode of The Fugitive, August 29, 1967, broke that record. It held the record until November 21, 1980, when Dallas revealed who shot J.R. Ewing. That record stood until February 28, 1983, the last episode of M*A*S*H, which still holds the record for most-watched episode of a regular series. A few Super Bowls have been watched by more Americans.)

*

Dick Cline was NBC's supervisor for sports telecasts. Except for the 1958 NFL Championship Game, which went to overtime, NBC had never broadcast a pro football game that had taken over 3 hours to complete. (The 1962 AFL Championship Game had gone to a 2nd overtime, but that was on ABC.) So he had no reason to believe this one would, either.

Don Ellis was the telecast's on-site producer. Scotty Connal was the executive producer. Julian Goodman was the president of NBC, and he told Connal that, no matter what, Heidi must start at 7:00 Eastern. Connal told this to Cline and Ellis, and overruled their objections.

But, between them, Namath and Lamonica threw 31 incomplete passes, each one stopping the game clock. Both teams used all their allotted timeouts -- each team got 3 in each half, for a total of 12. And there had already been 63 points scored with 4 minutes left on the clock. That's a lot of stoppages of the game clock.

The 4th quarter did not begin until 6:20. At 6:45, Connal, watching at his house in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, called Cline at NBC headquarters at the RCA Building, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan. They agreed that the game would not end before 7:00. They also agreed that NBC should run the game broadcast until its conclusion, but that wasn't Connal's call, or Cline's call.

They reached Goodman at his home in Manhattan. The 1968 version of a conference call was set up with NBC Television president Don Durgin, whose call it really was. Durgin was convinced: He told them to delay the movie.

Something else began to happen at 6:45. We hear the legends about the football fans angry that the game was cut off. But most of the calls coming to the NBC switchboard at "30 Rock" were from parents wondering if the movie would start on time. The switchboard blew a fuse. (Kids, you might want to ask your parents what a fuse is. And a switchboard.) Goodman couldn't get word to Cline to let the broadcast of the game continue. And so, not knowing that he had the O.K. to extend the game, Cline gave the order: Cut the game and switch to the movie.

And so, with 1:01 on the clock, viewers saw Smith pick Turner's kickoff up in the end zone, and get to the Raider 22-yard line. As he did so, the Burbank control room played the tune NBC used as its closing theme for AFL broadcasts. At exactly 7:00, the broadcast of Heidi began.

The people involved in the game -- players, coaches, officials, and fans -- didn't know this. Back in New York, thinking that the Jets had won, Lucy Ewbank picked up the phone, called the visitors' locker room at the Oakland Coliseum, and congratulated her husband Weeb on the victory. He had to tell her what had happened in Oakland, and she had to tell him what had happened in New York.

Despite being NBC employees, Gowdy and DeRogatis didn't know about it, either. No one told them, so they kept calling the game as if the whole country was still seeing it. Unlike the network, the announcers "played to the whistle." Which came at 7:07 PM. All the fuss that followed, over 7 minutes.

To make matters worse, viewers had missed not one but two Raider touchdowns in the last minute of official game play, pushing the margin of victory above the 7 1/2-point spread, messing up a lot of bets. At 7:08, NBC put a crawl across the screen: "SPORTS BULLETIN: RAIDERS DEFEAT JETS 43-32." This happened just as Heidi's paralyzed cousin Clara started to walk again.

Associated Press sportswriter Jack Clary wrote, "The football fans were indignant when they saw what they had missed. The Heidi audience was peeved at having an ambulatory football score intrude on one of the story's more touching moments. Short of pre-empting Heidi for a skin flick, NBC could not have managed to alienate more viewers that evening." They were damned if they did, and damned if they didn't, and caught hell from both sides. It wasn't "A plague on both your houses," it was a plague from both houses on them.

At 8:30 that night, Goodman apologized in a press conference. The next night, on The Huntley-Brinkley Report, NBC showed the remaining 7 minutes.

The aftermath: The Jets and Raiders each won their Divisions. It was the Eastern Division winner's turn to host the AFL Championship Game, and on December 29, 1968, a frigid crowd sold out Shea Stadium to watch the Jets win, and advance to Super Bowl III, where they pulled the biggest upset in pro football history by beating the Baltimore Colts.

When the final details of the AFL-NFL merger were set, the contract included showing any game that ran over its allotted 3 hours to its conclusion. This -- professional football -- did more to break the hold of sponsors over network TV than anything else: Sponsors could still object to what a network was broadcasting, but their word was no longer law; and any sponsor demanding control over time slots faced the simple answer of, "Sorry, but we have a contract."

If there was a moment when pro football surpassed baseball as America's leading sport (if not, necessarily, its most popular one), it was the AFL-NFL merger. And if there was a reason why that happened, it was the Heidi Bowl.

Today, CBS starts its late games at 4:05 PM Eastern, and Fox starts its games at 4:25. They're now expected to run past 7:00, and Fox even has its studio show run all the way until 8:00.

*

Should NBC be blamed for the call they made? Or, rather, for failing to make the other call? Not really. In spite of the in-process merger with the NFL, the AFL was still a minor league in the eyes of many people, including NBC executives. No less than Curt Gowdy, arguably the most important announcer in the history of televised sports, said that the reaction to the switch away from the game proved that the AFL was now seen as being on an equal footing with the NFL -- and this was 2 months before Super Bowl III, which Gowdy and DeRogatis also broadcast for NBC, along with another ex-Giant, Kyle Rote.

The opposing coaches, New York's Weeb Ewbank and Oakland's John Rauch, called all those clock-stopping pass plays, and used up all their timeouts. The pass-happy nature of the AFL helped it to win over fans who thought it a more exciting version of the conservative NFL, and to survive its tumultuous early years, the early 1960s, when they had such trouble drawing live crowds. This time, it worked against their TV viewers.

If NBC had stuck with the game, Timex could have sued them. From that point onward, it would have been in the hands of the legal system. A judge could have thrown the suit out. The verdict could have depended on who had the superior lawyers, NBC or Timex. A jury of football fans... well, who knows which side they'd have taken, as they might still have been mad at NBC.

It's also possible that the jury could have upheld the contract, and ruled Timex the winner... and awarded damages of $1.00, as the delay only damaged the Timex executives' egos, not their brand's image. (After all, the 1986 award in the USFL's suit of the NFL over monopolistic practices was $1.00, trebled to $3.00 under antitrust laws.) The bad publicity they might have gotten from going to court over 7 lousy little minutes might have hurt them more than a 7-minute delay in the start of a movie's broadcast.

If all those parents worried about whether Heidi would start on time at 7:00 had simply let NBC make their own decision, the Rockefeller Center switchboard wouldn't have been blown, the message could have gone out to keep going with the game, and the movie would have ended at 9:07, and we wouldn't be talking about this these last 54 years.

Also, this had never happened to any of the Big Three networks before. With a playoff game, there was the possibility of overtime, and the network had to compensate for that. But the 1968 Jets at Raiders game was a regular-season game. If regulation ended in a tie, then a tie it would stay. There was no regular-season overtime until the 1974 season. No network had any procedure telling them what the right thing to do in this situation was, because they'd never faced this situation before.

But NBC had promised children that Heidi would air at 7:00 Eastern Time. They had to keep their word. Think about it: Football fans have proven that they'll watch any kind of football at any time. NBC going to Heidi may have pissed a lot of them off, but nobody boycotted NBC after this. Nobody picketed at Rockefeller Center and demanded that anybody be fired, or that any policy be changed, as a result. Nobody refused to watch NBC football broadcasts ever again. Because football fans are addicts, and televised football is their fix.

In contrast, if NBC had stuck with the game until its 7:07 conclusion, and then begun Heidi, the movie would have ended after 9:00, and some parents would have turned off the TV before it ended, and told their kids it was time to go to bed. Yes, some parents were petty enough to send their kids to bed with 7 minutes left in a movie.

*

November 17, 1968 was, of course, a Sunday. Among the other AFL games played that day:

* As I said earlier, the San Diego Chargers beat the Buffalo Bills, 21-6 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo.

* The expansion Cincinnati Bengals beat the Miami Dolphins, 38-21 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Boston Patriots, 31-17 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Denver Broncos, 38-17 at the Astrodome in Houston.

In the NFL:

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 27-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins, 44-24 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium the following June. And it would take the 1971 arrival of head coach George Allen in Washington to make this an arch-rivalry.)

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 45-24 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 13-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Chicago Bears, 16-13 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the New Orleans Saints, 29-7 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* And the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, arch-rivals, played to a 20-20 tie at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

There were 3 pro basketball games played that day. The Boston Celtics beat the Phoenix Suns, 130-98 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 105-94 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. And, in the ABA, the New York Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers, 114-91 at the Long Island Arena in Commack.

There were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the still-new Madison Square Garden. Ron Stewart's goal with 7:15 remaining in regulation gave the Broadway Blueshirts the win over the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Oakland Seals, 6-3 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 1-1 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota North Stars played to a tie, 3-3 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins were not scheduled. 

October 20, 1990: The Not-So-Big Red Machine Upsets the Bash Brothers

October 20, 1990: One of the most stunning upsets in World Series history is completed. The Cincinnati Reds beat the Oakland Athletics, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum, completing a 4-game sweep of the World Series, a tremendous upset.

The teams had faced each other in the Series in 1972, when, despite losing their best player, Reggie Jackson, to injury, the A's beat the "Big Red Machine" in 7 games. But with an offense led by the "Bash Brothers," Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, and a pitching staff led by ace Dave Stewart and reliever Dennis Eckersley, the A's had won their 3rd straight American League Pennant. They had lost the 1988 World Series in an upset by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but beaten their cross-Bay neighbors, the San Francisco Giants, in the earthquake-interrupted 1989 edition.

The Reds had won the NL Western Division 6 times in the 1970s, winning 4 Pennants and 2 World Series. But the team was broken up. From 1985 to 1988, with team legend Pete Rose returning as manager, they finished 2nd 4 straight seasons. No Central Division at the time, and no Wild Card berths. Rose was permanently banned the next season, for betting on baseball games, and was replaced by former New York Yankees player and manager Lou Piniella.

The Reds won their 1st 9 games in 1990, and held the lead in the NL West the entire way. The horse racing expression "led wire-to-wire" was frequently used. Nevertheless, they were considered underdogs in the NL Championship Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They won in 6 games, anyway.

In the AL Championship Series, the A's swept the Boston Red Sox in 4 straight. They were the easy betting favorites for this World Series, and some people were predicting a 4-game sweep. They got one, but not in the direction they expected. They didn't count on the hitting of Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, of 3rd baseman Chris Sabo, and of outfielders Eric Davis and Billy Hatcher. They didn't count on the starting pitching of José Rijo. And they didn't count on the three-headed monster of the Cincinnati bullpen, known as the Nasty Boys: Rob Dibble, Randy Myers and Norm Charlton.

In Game 1, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Rijo pitched 7 shutout innings, outpitching Stewart, and was backed by a home run from Davis. The Reds won, 7-0. Game 2 went to extra innings, and, in the bottom of the 10th, Eckersley gave off 3 straight singles to lose it, to Billy Bates, Chris Sabo and Joe Oliver.

The action moved to Oakland for Game 3, and the same observers who had predicted an A's sweep now predicted that the A's would use home field to their advantage, and take control of the Series. They should have predicted that Chris Sabo would hit 2 home runs, in support Tom Browning, whose wife had a baby in between the games. The Reds scored 7 runs in the 3rd inning, and won, 8-3.

Game 4 was a rematch of Game 1, and while Stewart was considerably better than he was then, Rijo was strong again. The A's led 1-0 after 7 innings, and both Davis and Hatcher were injured. In the top of the 8th, Larkin singled, Herm Winningham beat out a bunt for a hit, and Stewart made a throwing error to allow Paul O'Neill to reach, loading the bases. A groundout by Glenn Braggs and a sacrifice fly by Hal Morris scored the runs the Reds would need to win the game. They had gotten 2 runs on only 2 hits. Myers saved the game for Rijo, who was named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

Neither team has reached the World Series since. The Reds have won 9 National League Pennants, while the A's, in Philadelphia and Oakland combined, have won 15 American League Pennants. But neither has won any from 1991 to 2022.

UPDATE: The Cincinnati Reds have won Division titles in 1995, 2010, 2012; and Wild Card berths in 2013, 2020 and 2025; but haven't won so much as a postseason series since the 1995 NL Division Series. But at least they still exist: After so many threats to move out of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Athletics moved to Sacramento in 2025, with the intent of using that only as a stopgap home until their domed stadium in Las Vegas is ready in 2028.

The Reds have a team Hall of Fame. Elected from this 1990 World Championship team have been 2nd baseman Ron Oester, shortstop Barry Larkin, 3rd baseman Chris Sabo, left fielder George Foster, center fielder Eric Davis; pitchers Tom Browning, José Rijo; manager Lou Piniella, and broadcasters Joe Nuxhall and Marty Brennaman.

From their 1979 NL Western Division title, but no other titles, their Hall has inducted pitchers Tom Seaver and Mario Soto. From their 4 straight 2nd-place finishes from 1985 to 1988, but not the 1979 or the 1990 postseason appearances, they have inducted right fielder Dave Parker.

From their 1995 Division Champions, they have inducted Larkin, Rijo, and outfielder Reggie Sanders. From the 2000s, but not either the 1995 or the 2010 postseason appearances, they have inducted center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., 1st baseman Sean Casey, left fielder Adam Dunn, and pitcher Danny Graves. From their 2010 Division title, they have inducted 2nd baseman Brandon Phillips and pitchers Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo.

*

October 20, 1990 was a Saturday. The NBA season wouldn't begin for another 13 days. There were 8 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Minnesota North Stars and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 2-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Boston Bruins, 8-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

And there were college football games, including the following:

* Number 1 Virginia beat Wake Forest, 49-14 at Groves Stadium in Wake Forest, North Carolina. The next week, Virginia began an awful collapse, losing 4 of their last 5 games, and blowing the Atlantic Coast Conference title. They were still invited to the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 2 Miami were upset by Number 6 Notre Dame, 29-20 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. The Fighting Irish later lost to Penn State, but were still Number 5 when they played Colorado in the Orange Bowl. Had they won that game, they wouldn't have been awarded the National Championship -- then again, it's Notre Dame, so you never know -- but Colorado certainly wouldn't have, being 8-2-1.

* Number 3 Tennessee lost to Alabama, 9-6 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee still won the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Virginia in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama went to the Fiesta Bowl, losing to the University of Louisville.

* Number 4 Nebraska beat Oklahoma State, 31-3 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Two weeks later, Nebraska lost to Colorado, to knock them out of the Big 8, and national, title picture.

* Number 5 Auburn beat Number 7 Florida State, 20-17 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. But the Tigers blew their chance by losing 3 games the rest of the way.

* Number 10 Michigan were upset by Number 22 Iowa, 24-23 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Iowa went on to win the Big Ten Conference title.

* Number 11 Georgia Tech were tied by North Carolina, 13-13 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This would turn out to be the only blemish on Tech's record, as they won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and beat Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl, finishing 11-0-1.

* Number 13 Washington beat Stanford, 52-16 at the old Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. Washington won the Pacific-Ten Conference title, and beat Iowa in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 14 Colorado beat Kansas, 41-10 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Colorado had already had their "Fifth Down" win over Missouri, and went on to win the Big Eight title, and beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, to win one of the more dubious National Championships in college football history.

Why weren't Georgia Tech, at 11-0-1, the only undefeated team in the country, and a school with a considerably better historical legacy than Colorado, given the National Championship over Colorado, who were 11-1-1 and should've been 10-2-1?

The only thing I can think of is, the ACC, while probably the most-respected league when it comes to college basketball, were not as respected in college football as the Big 8 (Colorado's league), the Big 10, the Pac-10, the SEC and the SWC. Then again, in 1984, Brigham Young (BYU) won the Western Athletic Conference title and were the only undefeated team, and were selected over Washington (11-1 and the only team with 1 blemish, but not Pac-10 Champions).

* Number 16 Oklahoma lost to Iowa State, 33-31 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.

* Number 17 Florida beat Akron, 59-0 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.

* Number 19 Texas beat Arkansas, 49-17 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. They got up to Number 3 before losing to then-Number 4 Miami in the Cotton Bowl. And they'd already lost to Colorado on September 22. So even if they'd won the Cotton Bowl, they probably wouldn't have been ranked any higher than 3rd in the last poll.

This was also the day that a game in English soccer's football league got nasty and launched a rivalry, with North London team Arsenal beating Manchester United, 1-0 at United's home, Old Trafford. I have a separate entry for that event. 

October 17, 1974: Three Straight In Oakland

Top row: Rollie Fingers, Joe Rudi, Vida Blue.

Middle: Reggie Jackson, Charlie Finley, Gene Tenace.

Bottom: Sal Bando, Catfish Hunter, Bert Campaneris.

Among this team's many talents: Faking smiles.

October 17, 1974: Game 5 of the World Series is played at the Oakland Coliseum. Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics and Don Sutton of the Los Angeles Dodgers are tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 6th inning, when Mike Marshall relieves Sutton and retires the side.

In the 7th‚ a shower of debris from the fans halts the game for 15 minutes. When play is resumed‚ Joe Rudi hits Marshall's 1st pitch for a home run to give the A's a 3rd 3-2 win‚ clinching a 3rd straight World Championship for the team.

The A's thus become only the 2nd major league franchise to win 3 straight World Series, and remain the only one other than the New York Yankees to have done it. This was also the 1st all-California World Series, or even the 1st with both teams playing more than a few blocks west of the Mississippi River (take note, fans of St. Louis and Minnesota).

After the 1974 season, A's owner Charles Oscar Finley reneged on a clause in his contract with ace pitcher Hunter, who was then declared a free agent, and signed with the Yankees. The A's still won the American League Western Division in 1975, but lost the AL Championship Series to the Boston Red Sox.

Then the reserve clause was struck down. Free agency, and thus much higher salaries, were coming, and Finley didn't want to pay them. First, he traded Reggie to the Baltimore Orioles, where he played out his contract. Then he sold Blue to the Yankees for $1.5 million, and Fingers and Rudi to the Red Sox for $1 million each. He figured, better to get as much money for them now, than to lose them to free agency and get nothing for them.

Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided those sales. This benefited the Yankees, as they didn't have to deal with Blue's worsening drug problem, and the Red Sox did not get the improvement that Fingers and Rudi would have given them. But was it really, as Kuhn put it, in "the best interests of baseball"?

When the 1976 season came to an end, with the A's finishing 2nd, a mere 2 1/2 games behind the Kansas City Royals, Finley didn't lift a finger to sign any of the players who went for the big money. He didn't try to bring Reggie back, and Reggie signed with the Yankees. Fingers and Tenace were signed by the San Diego Padres. Rudi was signed by the team then known as the California Angels. Campaneris was signed by the Texas Rangers, and would join Rudi on the Angels 2 years later. Team Captain Bando was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Finally, after an attempt to trade Blue to the Cincinnati Reds after the 1977 season fell through, Finley traded him across the Bay to the San Francisco Giants. The A's crashed to last place in 1977, losing 98 games, behind even the expansion Seattle Mariners. They lost 93 games in 1978, and bottomed out at 108 losses and just 306,763 fans for the entire season.

Finley threatened to move the team to Seattle for the 1976 season, came within inches of moving them to Denver for 1978, tried to move them to New Orleans in 1979, and finally sold the team in 1980. They instantly got better. He died in 1996. He is still not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, while Reggie, Catfish and Fingers are.

Pretty much everybody who's studied 1970s baseball -- and several books have been written about the period, all of them examining the A's, the Team of the Decade -- agree that if Charlie O. hadn't been so cheap, and otherwise so vindictive, and had paid his players what they were worth, and had otherwise treated them well enough to make them want to stay in Oakland, the dynasty could have continued, getting in the way of the Big Red Machine, George Steinbrenner's Yankees and Whitey Herzog's Royals.

But Finley broke up his dynasty.

The debate over the Team of the Decade for the 1970s comes down to the A's and the Cincinnati Reds. The argument for "the Big Red Machine" is that their 1975 team was the best single-season team of the decade, while their 1976 team went 7-0 in the postseason.

But the Reds didn't win 3 World Series in the decade. The A's won 3, all in a row. What's more, the 1st of these, in 1972, was over the Reds, clinching in Cincinnati, and doing it without their best player, because Reggie Jackson was injured in the Pennant-clincher.

Reds fans will argue that they had the edge at nearly every position: 1st base, Tony Pérez over Gene Tenace; 2nd base, Joe Morgan over Dick Green; shortstop, Dave Concepción over Bert Campaneris; 3rd base, Pete Rose over Sal Bando; left field, George Foster over Joe Rudi; center field, César Gerónimo over Billy North; and catcher, Johnny Bench over Ray Fosse. The one exception they'll make is that Reggie Jackson was better than Ken Griffey Sr. in right field.

What they did in their respective careers aside: At the time, Tenace was on the same level as Pérez, Campaneris was on at least the same level as Concepción, North was on at least the same level as Gerónimo, Bando was a better all-around player than Rose, and Foster was not yet a better player than Rudi. Then there's the pitching: The A's clearly had better starting pitching; and, while the bullpen was a Cincinnati strength, so was it a strength for Oakland, and the Reds didn't have a closer like Rollie Fingers.

The Team of the 1970s was "The Swingin' A's," not "The Big Red Machine."

It is noteworthy that, from the Giants' Pennant of October 3, 1962 to the 49ers' NFC Championship of January 10, 1982, the City of San Francisco had no league champions in any sport, while the City of Oakland had 8: The 1967 AFL Champion Raiders; the 1969 ABA Champion Oaks; the 1972, 1973 and 1974 World Series Champion Athletics; the 1975 NBA Champion Warriors; and the 1976 and 1980 NFL Champion Raiders.

One more note, as the A's won the last title of calendar year 1974: In his book about types of sports fans, True Believers, journalist Joe Queenan wrote about a friend of his, whose favorite teams were the A's, the Miami Dolphins, the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Notre Dame football team and the North Carolina State basketball team. Why? Because they all won championships when he was 8 years old, in calendar year 1974.

Except the guy has stuck with those teams all this time, and every one of them has since won at least one more title by 2022 (except the Dolphins, and the Flyers just barely, in 1975), but has also given him some misery. Indeed, the A's might end up moving, although since he doesn't live in the Bay Area, his loyalty isn't to Oakland. His loyalty cannot be questioned. I have more respect for him than the guy who roots for whatever team LeBron James plays for, or the guy wearing a Golden State Warriors T-shirt who doesn't know that the Warriors (and the A's, for that matter) used to play in Philadelphia.

UPDATE: The A's did move after the 2024 season, with John Fisher, their owner since 2005, doing what Finley threatened to do, but never did: Take them out of Oakland.

*

October 17, 1974 was a Thursday. Football was in midweek. There were 2 games in the NBA. The New York Knicks beat the expansion New Orleans Jazz, 89-74 at Madison Square Garden. This was the 1st regular season game ever played by the Jazz, who moved to Salt Lake City in 1979, becoming the Utah Jazz. And the Phoenix Suns beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 114-97 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

The American Basketball Association opened its season the next day. There were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the California Golden Seals, 6-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

One game played in the World Hockey Association: The Michigan Stags beat the Indianapolis Racers, 4-2 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. The Stags thought they could compete with the now-struggling Detroit Red Wings, but they didn't have a TV contract, and moved in mid-season, becoming the Baltimore Blades, and folded at the end of the season.