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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

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

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

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

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

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

There were 6 games in the NHL:

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

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

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

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

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

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

And there were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 2, 1995: The Seattle Mariners Win the AL West Playoff

October 2, 1995: In a 1-game playoff for the American League Western Division title, Seattle Mariners southpaw Randy Johnson throws a 3-hitter and beats the California Angels, 9-1 at the Kingdome. It is the 1st postseason berth in the Mariners' history.

The 6-foot-10 pitcher known as the Big Unit finishes the season with an 18-2 record to establish a new AL mark for winning percentage by a lefthander, of .900, surpassing the record set of .893 by Ron Guidry in 1978. (Guidry still has the mark for lefty AL pitchers winning at least 20 games.)

Tony Philips of the Angels hits the game's only home run. But it's also the only run the Angels score. It's only 1-0 Mariners going to the bottom of the 7th, but Mark Langston collapses, and the Mariners capitalize, led by a 2-run double by Luis Sojo. This was the 1st big postseason hit for the future Yankee. There would be more.

The Angels led the Division by 11 games on August 9, and 6 games on September 12. But a pair of 9-game losing streaks, and a 7-game winning streak by the Mariners, doomed the Halos to one of the worst collapses in major league history.

The Angels were established in 1961, as the Los Angeles Angels. They became the California Angels in 1965, moved to Anaheim in 1966, and were usually good but never reached the Playoffs until winning the AL West in 1979. But they lost the AL Championship Series to the Baltimore Orioles.

They won the Division again in 1982, but blew a 2-0 lead to the Milwaukee Brewers. The won again in 1986, but blew a 3-1 lead to the Boston Red Sox. They didn't reach a Game 163 again until 1995, and thought they had the Division wrapped up, but they went downhill, and the Mariners went on a tear.

The Angels' inability to win a Pennant was beginning to be called "The Curse of the Cowboy." Gene Autry, Western movies' "Singing Cowboy," was their 1st owner, and still owned the team at this point. There seemed to be no reason why he would put a curse on his own team, but maybe he was the one who was cursed.

In the midst of the illness that would end his life the next year, Autry sold the Angels to the Walt Disney Company in 1997. Disney changed the team's name to the Anaheim Angels. The team finally won their 1st Pennant in 2002, and then won the World Series, ending the curse. But maybe they've started a new one: They've been to the Playoffs a few times since, but still have only the 1 Pennant.

But that's 1 Pennant more than the Mariners have: Established in 1977, they've gone 0-3 in ALCS play.

*

October 2, 1995 was a Monday. There was only one other score on this historic day: On ABC Monday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills beat the Cleveland Browns, 22-19 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

September 28, 1998: The Cubs & Giants In Another Playoff, 90 Years Later

The way the 1908 baseball season played out, the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs had to replay a game to decide the National League Pennant. The Cubs won. Officially, it is not regarded as a "Playoff" game.

Ninety years later, give or take a few days, and the Giants having moved 3,000 or so miles, the same 2 franchises were at it again, although the stakes weren't quite as high:

September 28, 1998: The Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants, having finished in a tie for the National League's Wild Card berth, face each other in a Playoff game at a raucous Wrigley Field.

Former Minnesota Twins World Series winner Gary Gaetti hits a home run, and Rod Beck holds off his former team, despite 3 runs in the 9th inning, to save a fine performance by Steve Traschel, and the Cubs win, 5-3. Trachsel should be remembered for this, not for giving up Mark McGwire's 62nd home run of the season.

Sammy Sosa goes 2-for-4 for the Cubbies, and scores 2 runs. Barry Bonds goes 0-for-4 for the Jints. I guess Sammy's steroids were working that night, and Barry's weren't. This was also the last game for Joe Carter, who retired with 396 home runs in his career.

Sosa, having hit 66 home runs and helped the Cubs into the Playoffs, was named the NL's Most Valuable Player. McGwire, who had hit 70 but had not helped the St. Louis Cardinals into the Playoffs, was not. Sosa had the better batting average, .308 to .299; and more RBIs, 158 to 147. A big edge in walks game McGwire the better on-base percentage, .470 to .377. But Sosa led his team to the Playoffs, McGwire did not, and Sosa, correctly received the MVP.

Or so we thought: As it turned out, both of them were using performance-enhancing drugs. Moisés Alou of the Playoff-bound Houston Astros finished 3rd in the voting. Greg Vaughn of the World Series-bound San Diego Padres finished 4th, and had the most home runs of any NL player not known to be cheating: 50.

The Cubs were swept by the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series. Since it was a decisive loss, with no bizarre element to it, Cubs fans weren't traumatized all over again. That would come in the 2003 NL Championship Series. The Braves then lost the 1998 NLCS to the Padres, who lost the World Series to the Yankees.

All the fuss over McGwire and Sosa led Bonds, along with Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners (56 homers that season) 1 of the 2 best players in baseball, to decide that he wasn't getting enough respect, so he started using performance-enhancing drugs.

UPDATE: The Cubs have a team Hall of Fame. Inducted from their 1998 team were 1st baseman Mark Grace, right fielder Sammy Sosa, pitcher Kerry Wood, clubhouse manager Yosh Kawano, and broadcaster Pat Hughes.

*

September 28, 1998 was a Monday. There was only 1 other score on this day: On ABC Monday Night Football, the Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-6 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

May 26, 1989: The Anfield Finale

How can I explain this story to people who, like me until 2008, had never heard it before?

Think of Liverpool Football Club as the 2001 New York Yankees: A storied past, a great present, but going into the finale having had an unbearable tragedy that still haunts the city to this day.

And think of Arsenal Football Club as the 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers, looking for that elusive championship, and it looks like it's finally going to happen, and then the collapse.

Now imagine that Bobby Thomson plays for the Dodgers, and you've got Michael Thomas.

May 26, 1989: Arsenal clinch the title in England's Football League, beating Liverpool, 2-0 at Liverpool's ground, Anfield. The way the tiebreakers worked, Arsenal had to beat Liverpool by 2 goals, and they get the 2nd from Michael Thomas in the last minute of the last game of the season.

Both soccer teams are among England's most historic. Liverpool had dominated the League in the 1980s, and were the defending Champions, having also reach the Final of the previous season's FA Cup. Arsenal were on the rise, having won the 1987 League Cup.

Liverpool were managed by Kenny Dalglish, who had played on those late 1970s to mid-1980s trophy winners, and had still not officially retired as a player, although he hadn't played in the 1988-89 season. He might have been the best player Scotland has ever produced, and the best player ever to suit up for Liverpool.

Arsenal were managed by George Graham, a key midfielder on their 1970-71 team that won both the League and the FA Cup, "The Double." (Dalglish had led Liverpool to The Double in 1986, as player and manager, a "double" of his own.) 

Graham was a good player, but was considered a bit lazy. His nickname was "Stroller," because he didn't seem to be running much, particularly in comparison to more athletic teammates like Charlie George, Ray Kennedy and George Armstrong. As a manager, he was so discipline-oriented that, like Herb Brooks of the 1980 Gold Medal-winning U.S. Olympic hockey team, his players nicknamed him "The Ayatollah." He freely admitted, "The player I was could never have played for the manager I am."

Dalglish was from Milton, on the North Side of Glasgow; Graham, from Bargeddie, east of Glasgow, about 9 miles from Milton.

There was history between the teams: Arsenal had beaten Liverpool in the FA Cup Final in 1950, and again in 1971 to win The Double. Liverpool edged Arsenal out for the League title in 1973. The teams had played an epic FA Cup Semifinal against each other in 1980, requiring 3 replays before Arsenal finally won it (and then lost the Final). And Arsenal had beaten Liverpool in the Final to win the aforementioned 1987 League Cup.

On New Year's Eve, December 31, 1988, Arsenal beat Aston Villa of Birmingham to take 1st place, while Liverpool lost to Manchester United on New Year's Day, leaving them 9 points adrift.

Arsenal remained on top at the end of January. At the end of February, Arsenal were still top, with Liverpool in 8th, 19 points back -- but with 4 games in hand, meaning, if they won all 4, they'd be only 7 points back. They did go on a tear: At the end of March, they were only 5 points behind League-leading Arsenal, with a game in hand.

Arsenal were still top on April 15, beating Newcastle United 1-0 in a League match, while the FA Cup Semifinals were scheduled for neutral sites. Both Merseyside teams had gotten that far. Everton beat Norfolk team Norwich City 1-0 at Aston Villa's Villa Park. And Liverpool were set to play East Midlands team Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Yorkshire, home of Sheffield Wednesday.

But just 6 minutes in, the game was abandoned, as fans came onto the field. This was not a hooligans' invasion: It was a disaster. A combination of too many fans let into the wrong section by the police, and perimeter fencing, designed to prevent a pitch invasion, led to people being crushed. Over 700 were hospitalized, and 94 died that day. Another died 3 days later. Another was in a coma for 4 years before finally passing away, bringing the death toll to the sad and now-familiar 96.

Games were postponed for the next 2 weeks, including Arsenal's visit to Anfield, which was set for the following Saturday. Games were resumed on May 1, a Bank Holiday Monday. Wins that day, at home at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, to Norwich, and on the following Saturday, away to North Yorkshire team Middlesbrough, meant that Arsenal only had to win their 2 remaining home games, and they would be League Champions no matter what Liverpool did.

Those 2 home games would be against East Midlands team Derby County in the originally-intended League finale on May 13, and against South London team Wimbledon in a rescheduled game on May 17. Win those, and they would have won the League, regardless of what happened at Anfield on May 26. But Arsenal didn't win either game: Derby beat them 2-1; and Wimbledon, winners of the previous year's FA Cup in a stunning Final upset of Liverpool, forged a 2-2 draw.

Meanwhile, Liverpool kept winning, with the city rallying around the team and the survivors of the victims. They went to Glasgow for a fundraiser for the victims on April 30, and beat Celtic 4-0. Both teams had adopted the Liverpool-based band Gerry & the Pacemakers' 1963 recording of "You'll Never Walk Alone," from the 1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel, as a theme song. In the wake of the Hillsborough Disaster, it came to mean more than ever.

They played the rescheduled Semifinal against Forest on May 7, and won 3-1. They beat Wimbledon on May 13, avenging their Cup Final defeat of the year before. And on May 16, they beat West London team Queens Park Rangers. This, combined with the points Arsenal dropped the next night against Wimbledon and the Saturday before against Derby, moved Liverpool top of the League.

And, on May 20, Liverpool beat Everton 3-2 in extra time, in an All-Merseyside FA Cup Final. Liverpool's season of tragedy included a major trophy. On May 23, they beat East London team West Ham United.

With only the Arsenal match 3 days later to play, Liverpool led the League by 3 points, and had the 1st tiebreaker, superior goal difference. So even if Arsenal, who once led them by 19 points, beat them at Anfield, something they hadn't done in 15 years, it might not be enough: A 1-goal win by Arsenal would give Liverpool the title, and The Double. Arsenal had to win by 2. There seemed to be nobody who thought they could do it.

British TV had the same idea with soccer that American TV had once had with baseball: Why give the product away? So few games were broadcast live. Instead, they would be filmed, and later videotaped, on the Saturday afternoon, and then shown in a package on Sunday afternoon, on the BBC's Match of the Day and ITV's The Big Match.

Only the biggest of matches -- such as the FA Cup Final, or the European Cup Final, whether an English team was in it or not -- was shown live. Well, this was the biggest of matches: At the time, the 2 biggest teams in the country, going at it for the League title. ITV broadcast it, live in prime time.

A crowd of 41,783 people shoehorned themselves into Anfield. Judging by how many Arsenal fans have said they were there, one could sarcastically infer that the attendance may have been 10 times that.

Graham made a serious gamble, having Arsenal line up in a 5-4-1, defense-oriented formation. This led to what was, in the days when uniform numbers were assigned to positions rather than to players, the rare occurrence a centreback, in this case Steve Bould, wearing Number 10, usually a forward or an attacking midfielder. It almost paid off very quickly: Arsenal's first shot on goal was a header from Bould.

Despite needing 2 goals, Graham told his players to focus on defending in the 1st half, and that, if that ended 0-0, he was confident they could get the 2 goals they needed in the 2nd half. As Graham put it in an interview years later, "If it works, you're a hero. And if it doesn't work, you're a villain." Having blown the League lead, he may have been putting his job on the line with this strategy.

Sure enough, Graham's prediction came true: There were no goals in the 1st half. In the 53rd minute, Liverpool Captain Ronnie Whelan committed a foul just outside the penalty area, narrowly avoiding a major gaffe. It's a lot harder to score from a free kick, which is what referee David Hutchinson correctly awarded Arsenal, than from a penalty.

Nigle Winterburn took it. Arsenal Captain Tony Adams looked like he was trying to head it in -- ITV announcer Brian Moore said, "Adams has made a darting little run in there" -- but he stumbled. But Alan Smith, who had already clinched the League scoring title, was right behind him, and headed it into the net. As the later song would say, "One-nil to The Arsenal."

In a tactic as old as the sport itself, the Liverpool players surrounded the referee, demanding that the goal be disallowed. Hutchinson saw no foul on the play. He called the linesman over. The linesman confirmed: There was no offside, there was no interference, and Smith had actually touched the ball. With all his questions answered, Hutchinson awarded the goal. Later, Liverpool's John Aldridge took a pass from John Barnes, and put it in the net, but it was correctly disallowed for offside.

As the 90th and last minute of regular time wound down, Steve McMahon could be seen holding up one finger, as if to let his Liverpool teammates known that there would be only one minute of stoppage time (or "injury time") added, and yelling, "Hey, come on!"

In fact, Hutchison awarded two minutes of stoppage time. Arsenal's Kevin Richardson had enough left in his tank to deny a drive by Barnes, and to get the ball to goalkeeper John Lukic, who threw the ball halfway up his own half, to Lee Dixon. Dixon sent a long through ball to Smith. Smith found Michael Thomas, who was followed by Steve Nicol. Seeing Nicol practically stepping on Thomas' heels, Smith remembered yelling at Thomas, "Mickey, you've got to shoot, you've got to shoot!"

At 91 minutes and 23 seconds of the match, Thomas shot. The ball seemed to glance off his right foot, to the left of Liverpool goalie Bruce Grobbelaar. Grobbelaar dove to stop it, but couldn't. Moore had the call:

Arsenal come streaming forward now, in what will surely be their last attack. A good ball by Dixon, finding Smith, to Thomas, charging through the midfield! Thomas! It's up for grabs now! Thomas!

Right at the end! An unbelievable climax to the League season! Well into injury time!

The Liverpool players are down, absolutely abject! Aldridge is down, Barnes is down, Dalglish just stands there, Nicol's on his knees, McMahon's on his knees!

It wasn't quite Russ Hodges' 1951 "The Giants win the Pennant!" Because the match wasn't over yet. The celebration meant that there would be a 93rd minute. And Liverpool did make one last go at it, but couldn't get close.

Moore saw Graham, 45 years old, in his dark suit, and 11 years removed from his last game, with the Anaheim-based California Surf of the North American Soccer League; and Dalglish, 38 and not yet officially retired, but not having selected himself for availability in the game, in his bright red Adidas jacket; and mentioned that they would both like to get out there and see if they can make a difference in that final minute.

Finally, at 92 minutes and 49 seconds, Hutchinson blew his whistle. Arsenal were the Champions. For Liverpool fans, after all they'd gone through, it was a crushing defeat, and it's almost as if the FA Cup they'd won was an afterthought.

As TV show host and Arsenal fan Dermot O'Leary (no relation to David) put it while hosting Arsenal: 501 Goals, "For many Arsenal fans, the greatest night of their lives. And, if you have to ask why, you're either too young, or you've bought the wrong tape."

Having guided Arsenal to the League Cup in 1987, and a lost Final in that tournament in 1988, Graham had given Arsenal its 1st League title in 18 years, one whose drama would stand alongside that 1971 title-clincher, and the last one before that, in 1953. He would lead Arsenal to another League title in 1991, the 1st-ever sweep of England's domestic Cups, the FA Cup and the League Cup, in 1993; and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1994. A financial scandal, more than declining League form, forced his firing in 1995.

After managing Leeds United, and then Arsenal's arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, including the 1999 League Cup, he got back into Arsenal fans' good graces -- the fact that "Spurs" fans had never fully trusted him, being an Arsenal man, helped -- and remains a beloved figure in Arsenal fandom.

David Rocastle, perhaps the most-skilled of his 1989 Arsenal players, died of lymphoma in 2001. All of the other Arsenal players from the Anfield finale, and Graham himself, are still alive as of May 26, 2022.

*

May 26, 1989 was a Friday. The NFL was in its off-season. The NBA's Conference Finals were underway. In the East, the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons were on an off-day, tied 1-1. The Pistons would win the series in 6 games. In the West, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 110-107 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. This gave the Lakers a 3-0 lead, and they would clinch 2 days later. However, in the NBA Finals, the Pistons would sweep them in 4 straight, to win their 1st title.

In the NHL, the Stanley Cup had been clinched the night before. The Calgary Flames beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2 in Game 6, to win their 1st Cup. (It's still their only one.) It was the 1st time a team had clinched the Cup against the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum. (In 1928, the New York Rangers had clinched the Cup at the Forum, but that was against the Montreal Maroons.)

There was a full slate of Major League Baseball games that night:

* The Yankees lost to the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. Three A's pitchers -- Todd Burns, Rick Honeycutt (who got the last out in the 7th inning) and Eric Plunk (who pitched the 8th and the 9th) -- combined to allow just 1 hit, an infield single by Rickey Henderson in the 4th. Soon, the Yankees would trade Henderson back to the A's, who would win the World Series.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The California Angels beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Chuck Finley pitched a 1-hit shutout to beat Roger Clemens. The only hit was a 2-out single by Jody Reed in the 8th, so Finley came within 4 outs of a no-hitter.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox, 11-3 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Two days later, on May 28, the Jays beat the ChiSox 7-5 in the last game at that stadium, before moving into the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre).

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 10-8. Rolando Roomes won the game in the 12th inning, with a home run, 1 of just 9 he would hit in a brief career.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Scott Terry allowed just 2 hits over the 1st 7 innings. Ken Dayley allowed 3, and had to be bailed out for the last out by former Kansas City closer Dan Quisenberry.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Royals (now Kauffman) Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Diego Padres, 5-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Bryn Smith pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

January 13, 1991: Bo Jackson Is Injured

January 13, 1991: The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-10, in an AFC Divisional Playoff at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. But this game goes down in history for an unfortunate reason: Bo Jackson is injured, and never plays football again.

Vincent Edward Jackson, nicknamed Bo, born on November 30, 1962, outside Birmingham in Bessemer, Alabama, won the Heisman Trophy as a running back at Auburn University in 1984. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers chose him as the 1st pick in the 1986 NFL Draft, but insisted that he quit playing professional baseball. He chose not to sign with them, and their draft rights lapsed.

From 1986 to 1990, he played the outfield for the Kansas City Royals, making a little less money per year than the Bucs were offering him, hitting long home runs and making great catches. The highlight of his career came when he led off for the American League in the 1989 All-Star Game, and blasted a 475-foot home run to straightaway center field.

Bo was drafted again in 1987, this time by the Raiders, whose owner, Al Davis, had no problem with him trying to play both sports. At that point, 60 men had played in both Major League Baseball and the National Football League (or the 1960s American Football League). Among them: Football legends Jim Thorpe, George Halas, Paddy Driscoll, Ernie Nevers, Red Badgro, Ace Parker and 1950 Heisman Trophy winner Vic Janowicz; and future Brooklyn Dodger manager Charlie Dressen.

But none had played both since the 1960s, and none had pulled both off in the same calendar year since Janowicz played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Redskins in 1954. Davis was willing to let Bo try it. It worked: He rushed for 545 yards in 1987, including 221 against the Seattle Seahawks in a spectacular performance on ABC Monday Night Football; 580 yards in 1988; 950 in 1989, making the 1990 Pro Bowl; and 698 in 1990, for a total of 2,782 yards. He had also caught 40 passes for 352 yards. He had scored 16 touchdowns rushing and 2 receiving.

In 1989, Nike launched its "Bo Knows" advertising campaign, featuring other athletes who had signed with them. Watching him take batting practice in his Royals uniform, Kirk Gibson, coming off his World Series heroics with the Los Angeles Dodgers, said, "Bo knows baseball." Watching him run in his Raiders uniform, Jim Everett, All-Pro quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, said, "Bo knows football." No surprise there: We knew he knew both of those sports.

But then, he starts dunking in a gym, and Michael Jordan -- not yet having won an NBA Championship with the Chicago Bulls, and arguably a less famous athlete than Bo at that point, and he certainly turned out to be not nearly as good a baseball player -- said, "Bo knows basketball, too." Then he's on a tennis court, and John McEnroe says, with a shocked look, "Bo knows tennis?" Then he's running, and marathoner Joan Benoit says, "Bo knows running."

Then, in a segment that proved controversial, especially in Kansas City -- where the NFL's Chiefs had long considered the Raiders to be their arch-rivals, and still do -- he seems to be playing hockey, wearing a Los Angeles Kings uniform, checking a player wearing a jersey with "KC" on it into the boards. As a safety precaution, he wasn't actually on skates or ice: He had Nike sneakers on a regular floor made up to look like a hockey rink. And Wayne Gretzky, actually wearing a Kings uniform complete with skates, skates up to the camera, and simply says, "No."

Then he's riding a bicycle, and 3 women, never identified (presumably, they had competed for America in the 1988 Olympics), said, "Bo knows cycling." Then he's in a gym, and, at famed Muscle Beach in the Los Angeles suburb of Venice, 5 solidly muscled guys (one of them looks like Incredible Hulk star Lou Ferrigno) say, "Bo knows weights."

All this time, rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley has been cranking out a tune on one of his trademark homemade guitars. Diddley is shown laughing at Gretzky's line. Finally, Jackson stands alongside Diddley, and proves that he can't play guitar. Diddley says, "Bo, you don't know Diddley!"

It stands alongside Mean Joe Greene's 1979 Coke ad as maybe the best sports-related commercial ever, better than any other with Jordan in it. (A sequel ad said, "Six months later... " and showed that Jackson had learned guitar, and that the rocker had to admit, "Bo, you do know Diddley.")

It took until his 4th season, 1990, for the Raiders to make the Playoffs, and they beat the Bengals in the Divisional Round. But in the 3rd quarter, having already rushed for 77 yards, he was tackled by Kevin Walker. It wasn't a dirty play, and no penalty was called. It would have been routine, but Bo sustained an dislocation of his left hip, and had to leave the game. Without him, the Raiders got clobbered by the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game.

A later examination showed that Bo had avascular necrosis, and had lost all of the cartilage supporting the joint. His football career was over, and the Royals cut him before Spring Training. He signed with the Chicago White Sox, and played 23 games, but his batting average dropped from .272 the season before to .225.

On April 4, 1992, Bo Jackson had hip replacement surgery. He missed the entire 1992 season. He rehabbed like crazy, and Nike made a commercial showing him doing so, narrated by comedian Denis Leary. (He probably claimed credit for writing it.) At one point, as a result of bad editing, Leary can be heard to say, "In fact, he's in the pool, wearing the shoes."

In 1993, in his 1st game back with the White Sox, he hit a home run. He hit 16 home runs that year, but was only able to play 85 games, and batted .232. His contract ran out. After 1 more season with the team then known as the California Angels, playing just 75 games, batting .279 with 13 homers, he was done.

Overall, he batted .250, with an OPS+ of 112 and 141 home runs. He was averaging 27 homers a year for the Royals, but was 29 when he got hurt. If he hadn't, even if he'd stopped playing football to save the wear and tear on his body, and stayed relatively healthy, and kept averaging 27 a year until he was, say, 35, and then another 15 or so until turning 40, he still would've had only about 340 to 350.

In other words, he would have been a "cult figure" in baseball, among guys who hit a lot of home runs, some of them very long, but not quite Hallworthy. In a category with guys like Ted Kluszewski, Rocky Colavito, Norm Cash, Frank Howard, Dick Allen, Dave Kingman, Darryl Strawberry and Cecil Fielder. His level wouldn't have been with Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron. Or even with other members of the 500 Home Run Club, like Reggie Jackson (no relation) or Willie McCovey.

And if he'd stuck with football, and hadn't gotten hurt? He had 2,782 yards at the time of his injury. That's 696 yards per year. Running backs don't last that long. And he never topped 1,000 yards, which used to be the benchmark for a great running back.

Suppose he kept playing until 1997, after turning 35, and averaged another 500 yards a year. That would put him at over 6,000 career rushing yards. The Raiders only made the Playoffs twice more over that stretch, including their 1995 move back to Oakland, and didn't reach the AFC Championship Game. If they had gotten past the Chiefs and then the Bills in 1991, or the Bills and then the Chiefs in 1993, would they then have won a Super Bowl or 2? Would it have mattered as to Bo's Hall of Fame candidacy in that sport?

Honestly, I don't think he would have made it to Cooperstown or Canton. Certainly, he wouldn't have made it to both. The potential for a career-ending, or at least career-curtailing, injury was too great, even if it hadn't happened when it did.

Since Bo Jackson, 5 players have played in both MLB and the NFL, making for a total of 67: Matt Kinzer, Deion Sanders, D.J. Dozier, Brian Jordan, Chad Hutchinson and Drew Henson, who achieved both in 2004, making him the last to do so.

Sanders became the only man ever to play in both a World Series and a Super Bowl. However, Jackson remains the only player ever to appear in both the MLB All-Star Game and the NFL Pro Bowl, both for the 1989 season.

Of the other 66, only 15, including Thorpe, Halas, Driscoll, Nevers, Badgro, Parker, Sanders and Dozier, played more games in the NFL than Jackson's 38. And only 2, Charlie Berry in the 1920s and '30s and Brian Jordan in the 1990s and 2000s, played more games in MLB than Jackson's 694.

In a 2017 interview with USA Today, Bo Jackson said he never would have played football if he had known the health risks associated with it:

I wish I had known about all of those head injuries, but no one knew that. And the people that did know that, they wouldn’t tell anybody. The game has gotten so violent, so rough. We’re so much more educated on this CTE stuff. There’s no way I would ever allow my kids to play football today.

Bo knows injuries. What happened to his sports career was a great disappointment. But, as we have seen with others, there is a big difference between a disappointment and a tragedy. In comparison to some players, including some fellow legends, he was lucky.

*

January 13, 1991 was a Sunday. Also that day, on the NFC side of the Playoffs, the New York Giants beat the Chicago Bears, 31-3 at Giants Stadium, a small measure of revenge for the 21-0 humiliation they froze through at the Bears' hands at Soldier Field 5 years earlier. The Giants went on to win the Super Bowl.

So as not to get clobbered by the NFL Playoffs in the TV ratings, the NBA scheduled only 2 games for that day:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Portland Trail Blazers, 116-103 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. Former Net Buck Williams scored 24 against his former team. Mookie Blaylock led the Nets with 23. Playing at the same time as the Giants, in the same sports complex (the parking and traffic situation must have been horrendous), only 12,169 came to the Meadowlands to watch the Nets.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets, 116-97 at the Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California. Hakeem Olajuwon was injured, and didn't play for the Rockets. Magic Johnson did play for the Lakers, and scored 17. Vlade Divac scored 22 to lead them. Despite playing at the same time as the Raiders, just 6 miles away, the Lakers got a sellout, 17,164.

There were 6 NHL games played that day:

* The New York Rangers beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-3 at Madison Square Garden. The Rags blew a 3-0 lead, but Brian Leetch scored the winner with 7:07 left in regulation.

* The New York Islanders beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-3 at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City. The Isles came from 3-1 down by scoring 3 goals in the last 5:40, with Derek King netting the winner with 1:26 to go.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.