December 14, 1947: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu Opens

December 14, 1947: Real Madrid Club de Fútbol opens its new stadium, named Estadio Chamartín like the old one. In 1955, it was renamed after the man who got it built, team president Santiago Bernabéu.

Bernabéu the man is not to be celebrated: He was a dedicated follower of Fascist dictator Francisco Franco, which allowed him to fix results in favor of his team until his death in 1978, even after Franco died and Spain became free.

Santiago Bernabéu, with an early version of the European Cup

But the 84,744-seat stadium (it went as high as 129,690 before its conversion to all-seater) is one of the world's great sports palaces. It hosted the Finals of the 1964 European Nations Cup and the 1982 World Cup, making it the 1st to host the Final of both.

It's also hosted 4 Finals of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, which Real Madrid have won a record 14 times:

* 1957: Real Madrid won it on home soil, beating Fiorentina of Florence, Italy, 2-0.

* 1969: AC Milan beat Ajax Amsterdam, 4-1.

* 1980: Nottingham Forest beat Hamburger SV, 1-0.

* 2010: Internazionale Milano of Milan, Italy, beat Bayern Munich, 2-0.

In 2018, CONMEBOL, the governing body for soccer in South America, moved the Final of its version of the Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, to the Bernabéu, because it was the biggest club soccer rivalry on the continent, and the Bernabéu would be, for them, a neutral site. River Plate beat their Buenos Aires, Argentina arch-rivals, Boca Juniors, 3-1.

In 2019, Real Madrid began a renovation of the stadium, expanding concourses and installing wider seats and a retractable roof.

(UPDATE: It reopened on December 23, 2023, with a seating capacity of 83,186. In 2025, the stadium was renamed simply "The Bernabéu." Apparently, old man Santiago was now considered too much of a symbol of Fascism to allow his name to remain on the stadium, but the Bernabéu name was too lucrative to remove it entirely.)

*

December 14, 1947 was a Sunday. Dilma Rousseff, who would later serve as President of the soccer-mad nation of Brazil, was born.

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

* The New York Giants lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 34-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers, 28-14 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Boston Yanks -- yes, Yankee fans and Red Sox fans, such a sports team actually existed -- 40-13 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* And the Chicago Cardinals beat the Chicago Bears, 30-21 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

And the All-America Football Conference held its Championship Game. The Cleveland Browns beat the football version of the New York Yankees, 14-3 at Yankee Stadium.

No games were scheduled for the Basketball Association of America, the league that would become the NBA. But the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings played to a tie, 1-1 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 1-1 at the Boston Garden.

* And the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

November 23, 2002: The Pig's Head In El Clásico

November 23, 2002: El Clásico, the biggest sports rivalry in Spain, is played. It becomes the most famous game in the rivalry, but not for anything that was part of the actual game.

The country's 2 biggest soccer teams are Real Madrid Club de Fútbol and Futbol Club Barcelona. Real Madrid, the more successful of the two, became identified with the national government of Fascist leader Francisco Franco. Barcelona became identified with the resistance of the people of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, which opposed Franco and the Fascists, and were seriously oppressed. They are so deeply engrained in Catalan culture that they have adopted the slogan "Mes Que Un Club" (More Than a Club). It's even "written" into the seats at their stadium, the 98,000-seat Camp Nou.

As a result, Real Madrid have been seen as a "cheating" club, somehow turning draws into wins and losses into draws, with dives for penalties and "horror tackles" overlooked by the referees. Eventually, Barcelona learned how to do that, too, especially in European tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, to the point where they became known as "UEFAlona."

Luís Figo was a winger from outside Lisbon, Portugal. He had starred for Sporting Clube de Portugal (a.k.a. "Sporting Lisbon") before Barcelona bought him in 1995. He helped "Barça" win La Liga in 1998 and 1999, and became their most popular player.

Former Real Madrid captain Manolo Sanchis said Figo was his stiffest opponent, even more of a handful than Diego Maradona: "All by himself, he drove us crazy, dribbling us. He was a tremendous player, a crack."

Real Madrid, who had won the UEFA Champions League in 1998 and 2000, had a new club president, Florentino Pérez. He didn't just want the team to reassert themselves: He wanted to send Barça a message, and metaphorically stab their fans in the heart. So he promised Real fans that he would sign Figo, who had a buyout clause of €62 million. (If he could get it done, it would be a world record for a transfer fee for a "footballer": About $68 million, or about 21 times what Barça had paid for him 5 years earlier.)

Contrasting this stance with that of outgoing club president Lorenzo Sanz, ousted in a club election in favor of Pérez, Diego Torres, writing for Madrid newspaper El Pais (The Country), in Madrid, said, "This promise fulfilled all the superpower fantasies of Madridistas. Will he destroy Barcelona with a single cheque? They didn't give a shit for Lorenzo Sanz and his European Cups." In other words, Pérez was going to make it personal, and Real's fans ate it up.

Figo had been trying to renegotiate his Barcelona contract, but the club was stalling. This made him receptive to a move. But he was stuck: He couldn't tell anyone the deal was done until it was legal to announce it. But word got out, and he denied it. In other words, he lied. And the Cules believed him. When the deal was announced on July 25, 2000, the reaction in Catalonia was fury and a sense of betrayal: Not only had he gone to their arch-rivals, but he had lied about it.

Luís Figo

(Cules is a nickname for Barcelona supporters. At the stadium they used from 1922 to 1957, fans made an artificial last row of the stands by sitting on the ledge, with their rear ends, or "cules" in Romance languages, over the edge. So the most common name for Barcelona fans is, literally, "asses.")

The next game between the teams was at the Camp Nou in Barcelona on October 21, 2000 -- the same day as Game 1 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, but even Met fans don't hate the Yankees as much as the Cules hate the Madridistas and their team. Every time Figo touched the ball, the booing and whistling (often equivalent to booing in Europe) was intense. One banner in the stands read, "We hate you so much, because we loved you so much." Barcelona won, 2-0. 

But the Figo signing began the "Galácticos" era of Real Madrid, signing the best players in the world, and not caring how much it cost. They already had Raúl (González), Guti (real name: José María Gutiérrez), Fernando Hierro, Roberto Carlos, Fernando Morientes, Míchel Salgado, and goalkeeper Iker Casillas. To these were added Figo, Claude Makélélé, Zinedine Zidane, and finally Ronaldo (the Brazilian one, not the later Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, although Real did eventually sign him, too). It worked, as Los Blancos won the Champions League in 2002.

Raúl wore Number 7. He became known as "El Siete." The Seven. Even Figo, who wore 7 for Barcelona and for the Portugal national team, knew that he couldn't talk Raúl into giving the number up. So he switched to 10.

On November 23, 2002, a few days after Figo's 30th birthday, Real Madrid returned to the Camp Nou. It was a 9:00 PM start, so the fans had more time to have pregame drinks than usual. Every time Figo came within throwing range of Barça fans, objected rained down on him: Beer cans, bottles, golf balls, even cigarette lighters. In the 2nd half, with the score 0-0, Figo, the team's regular taker of corner kicks, went to take one. More objects fell near him. He turned around, smiled, and made a thumbs-up gesture, to let them know that they weren't going to stop him.

But the referee, Luis Medina Cantalejo, had seen enough, and he decided the game had to stop, long enough for the throwing to stop and the debris to be cleared. For 16 minutes, there was no action. At one point, a pig's head was found on the edge of the pitch, preserved the way it would be if the entire pig were to be roasted. The message was clear: "Figo, you're a pig." The TV cameras caught the image, and the whole world saw it.

The game was finally resumed, and Figo's corner came to nothing. At 11:08 PM, the final whistle was blown, and the game remained goalless.

Figo, Zidane, and the rest helped Real Madrid win La Liga in that 2002-03 season, Figo's 2nd league title with them, along with the 2 he won at Barcelona. In 2005, he left for Internazionale Milano, and won 4 Serie A (Italian league) titles with them, then retired.

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, and each team's fans, still hate each other's guts. And Barça fans still have not forgiven Figo. I suppose it hasn't occurred to them that if their own team had renegotiated his contract like he'd asked, he might not have gone.

*

November 23, 2002 was a Saturday. In English soccer, Arsenal traveled to Hampshire, and lost to Southampton, 3-2 at the St. Mary's Stadium.

El Clásico wasn't the only major rivalry being played that day. It was the beginning of Rivalry Week in American college football. Actually, no: The beginning was 3 days earlier, on Wedneasday night, when West Virginia upset Number 13 Virginia Tech, 21-18 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. On Thursday night, Number 1 Miami beat Number 17 Pittsburgh, 28-21 at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami. This clinched the Big East Conference title.

But among the games played on that Saturday:

* Rivalry: Number 2 Ohio State beat Number 12 Michigan, 14-9 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State thus won the Big Ten Conference title, and beat Miami in a controversial Fiesta Bowl to win the Bowl Championship Series National Championship.

* Rivalry: Number 3 Washington State were upset by Washington, 29-26 in the "Apple Cup" at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. "Wazzu" still won the Pacific-Ten Conference title.

* Number 4 Oklahoma beat Number 24 Texas Tech, 60-15 at Memorial Stadium, a.k.a. Owen Field, in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma then beat Colorado in the Big 12 Conference Championship Game, and, since Ohio State was Number 2 and locked into the BCS title game, were invited to the Rose Bowl as the now-Number 3 team. They beat Washington State.

* Number 5 Iowa had completed its regular season. They tied Ohio State for 1st in the Big 10, but they didn't play each other, and Ohio State had the higher ranking, so they went to the BCS title game.

* Number 6 Georgia had the week off, in preparation for next week's game against arch-rival Georgia Tech. They won that game, then beat Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.

* Rivalry: Number 7 USC, the University of Southern California, beat Number 25 UCLA, the University of California at Los Angeles, 52-21 at the Rose Bowl outside Los Angeles in Pasadena, California. USC thus finished in a tie with Washington State for the Pac-10 title. But since Wazzu had beaten USC head-to-head, this would be the only game USC would play at the Rose Bowl stadium that season. USC went to the Orange Bowl, where they beat Iowa.

* Number 8 Notre Dame beat Rutgers, 42-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Rivalry: Number 9 Alabama were upset by Auburn, 17-7 in the "Iron Bowl" at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. 'Bama still finished 1st in the SEC Western Division, but were on probation, and not permitted to play in the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 10 Kansas State beat Missouri, 38-0 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

* Number 14 Florida State were upset by North Carolina State, 17-7 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. FSU still won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, but lost the Sugar Bowl to Georgia.

* Rivalry: Number 18 Maryland were upset by Virginia, 48-13 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.

* Rivalry: North Carolina beat Duke, 23-21 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

* Rivalry: Tennessee beat Vanderbilt, 24-0 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now First Bank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Rivalry: Purdue beat Indiana, 34-10 for the "Old Oaken Bucket" at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Rivalry: Illinois beat Northwestern, 31-24 at Ryan Field outside Chicago in Evanston, Illinois.

* Rivalry: Wisconsin beat Minnesota, 49-31 for "Paul Bunyan's Axe" at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

* Rivalry: Utah beat Brigham Young, 13-6 in the "Holy War" at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* Rivalry: The University of California beat Stanford, 30-7 in "The Big Game" at the original California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

* Rivalry: Oregon State beat Oregon, 45-24 in "The Civil War" at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

* And among the service academies, Army lost to the University of Memphis, 38-10 at the Liberty Bowl (now Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium) in Memphis; Navy lost to Wake Forest, 30-27 at Groves Stadium (now Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Air Force lost to San Diego State, 38-34 at Falcon Field in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Baseball was out of season. There were 9 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 96-82 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 109-99 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Washington Wizards, 85-74 at the Great American Pyramid in Memphis.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 97-84 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Indiana Pacers, 106-91 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 115-105 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Chicago Bulls, 110-90 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns, 80-79 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 95-94 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

And there were 13 games in the NHL:

* Speaking of rivalries, the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens, 7-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 6-3 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-1 at the Mellon Arena (as the Pittsburgh Civic Arena was then known).

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Nashville Predators, 4-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-1 at the Savvis Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Detroit Red Wings and the Edmonton Oilers played to a 1-1 tie at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Dallas Stars, 2-0 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

August 8, 2012: Real Madrid Beats AC Milan at Yankee Stadium

August 8, 2012: Real Madrid beats AC Milan, 5-1 -- at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York. I was there, part of a crowd of 49,474 that was also about 5 to 1 in Real's favor for this exhibition game, or "friendly." I took this photo from my seat behind the north goal in the upper deck -- left field in the Stadium's usual configuration.

Milan had won Italy's national league, Serie A, in 2011, but fell apart after that, into a long period of mediocrity that ended with another Serie A title last season. Real had been battling with FC Barcelona for supremacy in not just Spain's La Liga, but in the UEFA Champions League, for the preceding 20 years. Milan treated the game like a glorified friendly, which it was. Real treated it like a Champions League match in New York.

I took the photo above from my seat behind the north goal in the upper deck -- left field in The Stadium's usual configuration.

Ángel Di María of Argentina opened the scoring for Real in the 24th minute, and Brazilian star Robson de Souza, a.k.a. Robinho, equalized for Milan in the 33rd. The score remained level at halftime.

But Real came out for the 2nd half like a house afire, as Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese superstar who treats goalkeepers, the rules of soccer, women and tax collectors as toys to play with, scored in the 49th, and again in the 66th.

Cristiano, not even the greatest Ronaldo

to play for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.

Chased here by Alessandro Nesta and Daniele Bonera.

(Contrast this with the other contender for the title of greatest player of this generation: When I saw Lionel Messi live, for Argentina at the Meadowlands, a rather ordinary U.S. defense totally shut him down. That 2011 match, in which Ángel Di María also played, ended in a 1-1 draw.)

Sergio Ramos, Real's Spanish Captain and a master of the "horror tackle" that would get him suspended if the rules applied to Real, scored in the 81st. And José Callejón, also from Spain, added the cherry on the sundae in the 89th.

The biggest cheers of the night were for Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, a.k.a. Kaká, who had helped Brazil win the 2002 World Cup, was now with Real, and had previously starred for Milan (and would later return to them). The Real fans treated him like a special player (which he had once been), and the Milan fans treated him as a team legend (which he still was).

Real Madrid have won the Champions League 13 times. AC Milan, 7. The next closest team, Liverpool FC of England, have also won 7. Put them together, and that's 27 titles. That's as many titles as the New York Yankees have all by themselves.

*

August 8, 2012 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 12-8 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Curtis Granderson hit a home run. He and Robinson Canó each had 3 hits. Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira and Eric Chavez each had 2 hits. All this was in support of CC Sabathia.

* The New York Mets lost to the Miami Marlins, 13-0 at Citi Field. Three Marlin pitched tossed a 5-hit shutout, and Met starter Chris Young got knocked out of the box in the 5th inning. Giancarlo Stanton went 4-for-5 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs for the Marlins. And this wasn't the worst baseball beating of the night.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-9 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-6 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 9-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-6 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 15-0 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Marco Scutaro went 3-for-6 with 7 RBIs, including a grand slam. Ryan Vogelsong pitched 7 3-hit shutout innings, with 2 relievers completing the 4-hit shutout.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Petco Park in San Diego. Clayton Richard pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels, 9-8 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum).

August 2, 2014: American Soccer's Biggest Crowd

August 2, 2014: The largest crowd ever to watch a soccer game in the United States of America files into Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Every Summer, the U.S. Soccer Federation works with FIFA to set up the International Champions Cup, a series of exhibition games, or "friendlies," on American soil. This time, they got one of the biggest stadiums in the world, the University of Michigan's "Big House"; the biggest sports team in the English-speaking world, Manchester United; and the biggest sports team in the Spanish-speaking world, Real Madrid.

Prior to this, the biggest crowd ever to watch a soccer game played in America was 101,799, at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California, to watch the Gold Medal game at the Olympics in Los Angeles on August 11, 1984. On that occasion, France beat Brazil, 2-0.

This time, the crowd was 109,318. Manchester United won, 3-1. United's Ashley Young scored 2 goals in the 1st half, bracketing a penalty taken by Real's Welsh star Gareth Bale. Javier Hernández, a.k.a. Chicharito, also scored for United. Cristiano Ronaldo, formerly of United, took the pitch as a substitute for Real, but had no effect on the game.

As of the Summer of 2022, Michigan Stadium has hosted 3 of the 4 biggest crowds in American soccer history. There were 105,826 in 2016 for a 3-2 Real Madrid win over West London team Chelsea, and 101,254 in 2018 for a 4-1 Liverpool win over Manchester United.

The stadium also holds the record for the largest hockey crowd in American, and world, history. But, surprisingly, not the record for the largest college football crowd ever.

*

August 2, 2014 was a Saturday. At the Emirates Stadium in North London, Arsenal beat Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal, 5-1 in the Emirates Cup tournament.

These games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Mark Teixeira hit a home run, the soon-to-retire Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs, and Shawn Kelley won in relief of Shane Greene.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-0 at Nationals Park in Washington. Jordan Simmons (7 innings) and 2 relievers pitched a 7-hit shutout.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Los Angeles Angels, 10-3 Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Marlins Park (now LoanDepot Park) in Miami. Christian Yelich singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 2-0 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. It shouldn't have taken 5 Cleveland pitchers to throw a 5-hit shutout, but it did.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies, 11-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-6 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Breweres, 9-7 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Will Venable singled home the winning run in the 

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Petco Park in San Diego. Will Venable singled home the winning run in Will Venable singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Hanley Ramirez won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 12th.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-3 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum).

August 1, 1999: Arsenal Sell Their Striker of the Future -- and Make Their Future

August 1, 1999: Arsenal Football Club sell Nicolas Anelka to Real Madrid.

They had little choice but to sell him, in spite of all the promise he had. So they made the best deal they could. It turned out to be the best deal in team history.

Nicolas Sébastien Anelka was born on March 14, 1979, in the Paris suburb of Le Chesnay, France. A son of immigrants to France from their Caribbean island colony of Martinique, the forward played for 12 different soccer teams in 7 different countries, but always wore out his welcome, earning him the nickname "Le Sulk."

In 1997, Arsène Wenger, a native of Strasbourg, France, and manager of North London team Arsenal, purchased Anelka's contract from hometown team Paris Saint-German for £500,000. In 1998, not yet 19 years old, he helped Arsenal win the Premier League title, and scored in the FA Cup Final to complete "The Double."

In 1999, he looked like the next great soccer superstar, but he demanded a big contract, and said that if he didn't get it at Arsenal, he'd put in a transfer request. Arsenal called his bluff, selling him to Spanish giants Real Madrid for £22.3 million.

It was the greatest deal in Arsenal history: Not only did the Gunners get 44 times their money back, but that purchase price paid for their new training ground, London Colney, costing them £10 million; and for the man who actually became the next great Arsenal striker, Thierry Henry. They bought him from Turin, Italy giants Juventus 2 days after selling Anelka, costing them £11 million. He became their all-time leading goalscorer, and helped them win 2 Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups, and reach the Final of both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League).

Anelka helped Real Madrid win the UEFA Champions League in 2000, but, being the most imperious club in the sport, they refused to put up with him, either. He helped Istanbul team Fenerbahçe win the Turkish Süper Lig in 2005, then returned to London, helping Chelsea win the 2009 FA Cup, and the League and Cup Double in 2010. But they couldn't put up with him, and sold him to Juventus, whom he helped win Italy's Serie A in 2013. He was even a player-coach in China, with Shanghai Shenhua, and in India, with Mumbai City, his last team as a player.

With Chelsea

He wasn't much better for his country. He was not called up for the 1998 World Cup, which France won. He did help them win the UEFA European Championship in 2000 and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001, and to reach the Final of the 2006 World Cup. But he was part of France's disastrous crashes out of the 2002 and 2010 World Cups, and was never selected again.

Thierry Henry, remembered as "The King," is honored with a statue outside Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal since 2006-07, his last season with the team. In a way, the stadium is also his monument, as much as it is that of Arsène Wenger, or Dennis Bergkamp, or Tony Adams, or any other Arsenal legend.

Nicolas Anelka, remembered as "Le Sulk," has no statue. His monument is the Arsenal Training Centre at London Colney, where young players at the club are taught to be as talented as Anelka, and more mature.

*

August 1, 1999 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Bret Saberhagen outpitched Orlando "El Duque" Hernández. Bernie Williams went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs, and Paul O'Neill went 3-for-4 with an RBI. But Derek Jeter went 0-for-5.

* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. In the top of the 13th inning, with the Mets out of pinch-hitters, pitcher Pat Mahomes had to bat for himself, and singled home the winning run. His son, Patrick Mahomes, became a Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

For the Mets, Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3 with 2 walks and a stolen base. For the Cubs, Sammy Sosa went 0-for-6. I guess the steroids weren't working that day.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-4 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-5 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Florida Marlins, 2-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-3 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-1 at Riverfront Stadium (then named Cinergy Field) in Cincinnati. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mark McGwire hit his 597th career home run. I guess his steroids were working that day.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-5 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 10-3 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Tony Gwynn went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBI. He never needed steroids.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 10-6 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at the new Safeco Field in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-2 with a walk. His streak over, Cal Ripken Jr. did not play.

July 25, 2000: Luís Figo's Defection Begins the "Galácticos" Era

July 25, 2000: Real Madrid Club de Fútbol sign Luís Figo to a contract. This begins the team's "Galácticos" Era.

The Spanish soccer team define themselves by the UEFA Champions League, the tournament known from its 1955 establishment until 1992 as the European Cup, which is still the name of the trophy given to the winner. They won the 1st 5 in a row, from 1956 to 1960. They won it again in 1966. Then they didn't win it again until 1998. From 1966 onward, managers have been fired for not winning it, even after seasons when they won Spain's La Liga.

They won it in 2000, in large part because they had signed one of the best players from England, Liverpool FC's Steve McManaman. Inspired by this, and newly installed as the team's president, Florentino Pérez was determined to keep it. So, hearing that Figo, the most popular player for their arch-rivals, FC Barcelona, was disgruntled and wanted to leave, they paid €62 million for him.

The reaction in Catalonia was fury and a sense of betrayal: One banner at an El Clásico match between the teams read, "We hate you so much, because we loved you so much."

(Note: This post is about Real's Galácticos. Figo's move from Barcelona to Real Madrid, and how it affected the relationship between the teams, is a separate story, deserving of a separate post, which I have written.)

Pérez also signed Claude Makélélé from Spanish team Celta Vigo. He and Figo were added to a team that already included Fernando Hierro, Raúl (González), Guti (real name: José María Gutiérrez), Roberto Carlos, Fernando Morientes, Míchel Salgado, and goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

But Real were eliminated from the 2001 Champions League in the Semifinal, by Germany's Bayern Munich. So Pérez poached perhaps the best player in the world at the time, spending €73.5 million to get French midfielder Zinedine Zidane from Italian team Juventus. It worked, as Zidane led Los Blancos to win the Champions League in 2002.

But enough was never enough. Pérez shelled out €45 million to get the world's best forward, 2002 World Cup winner Ronaldo of Brazil, from Italian team Internazionale Milano. A generation later, it can now truthfully be said that Cristiano Ronaldo is not even the greatest Ronaldo to play for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.

But in 2003, Juventus knocked Real out in the Semifinals. So Pérez splashed the cash again, giving English champions Manchester United €37.5 million for the most famous (though hardly the best) player in England, David Beckham. It wasn't enough: In 2004, AS Monaco eliminated Real on penalties in the Quarterfinal.

So Pérez made another entreaty to England, getting Michael Owen from Liverpool. But the injuries that curtailed Owen's career were already taking effect. The era was fizzling out, and Real did not win the Champions League again until 2014 -- although that started a run of 5 in 9 years, giving them 14, twice as many as any other team.

The Galácticos concept inspired other teams. In 2003, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought West London team Chelsea FC, and spent them to glory, including buying Makélélé. The royal family of the United Arab Emirates bought Manchester City, and did the same thing. The prices of players went up, up, up. A player whose talents might have cost €5 million in 2005 would, by 2015, have cost €50 million, leading to the joke, "Did somebody forget a decimal point?"

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July 25, 2000 was a Tuesday. In America, the only sport in progress at the time was baseball. These games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 19-1 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Bronx Bombers got home runs from Paul O'Neill, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Ryan Thompson and Clay Bellinger. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher.

The Yankees knew a thing or two about building a team of superstars, although, being from an Anglophone country, they didn't use the term "Galácticos." The Orioles' "Galáctico," Cal Ripken Jr., having ended his streak in 1998, did not play in this game.

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 5-0 at Shea Stadium. Glendon Rusch was the winning pitcher. The Mets' "Galáctico," Mike Piazza, went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. The Expos' "Galáctico," Vladimir Guerrero Sr., went 1-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. The New Englanders' "Galáctico," Nomar Garciaparra, went 2-for-4. David Ortiz went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs -- for the Twins. He wouldn't join the Red Sox until 2003. It's not clear when his steroid use began, but that was the year he tested positive for them.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Cubs' "Galáctico," Sammy Sosa, went 0-for-1... with 3 walks.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 6-5 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. The Braves' "Galáctico," Chipper Jones, went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Tom Glavine was the winning pitcher.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-3 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. The Tribe's "Galáctico," Jim Thome, went 0-for-1 with 2 walks, then left the game due to injury.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. José Hernández singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. The Astros had 2 "Galácticos": Craig Biggio went 2-for-4 with a walk, and Jeff Bagwell went 1-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. The Reds also had 2 "Galácticos," both graduates of Cincinnati's Archbishop Moeller High School: Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs; while Barry Larkin (5 years older and never a teammate, even in an All-Star Game, until this season) went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 6-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Rays' "Galácticos," Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff, both went 2-for-3 with a walk. Canseco also had an RBI.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. The South Siders' "Galáctico," Frank Thomas, went 1-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Cards' "Galáctico," Mark McGwire, did not play. The Diamondbacks', Randy Johnson, did, but was the losing pitcher.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Anaheim Angels, 9-6 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). The Padres' "Galáctico," Tony Gwynn, did not play, although you could count reliever Trevor Hoffman, who got the save in relief of Woody Williams. The Giants' "Galáctico," Barry Bonds, went 0-for-4.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-7 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

June 13, 1956: The 1st European Cup Final

Francisco Gento with the 1956, 1957, 1958,

1959, 1960 and 1966 European Cups

June 13, 1956: The Final of the 1st European Champion Clubs' Cup is held at Parc des Princes in Paris, France.

On April 27, 1895, for the 1st time, the Champions of 2 different European soccer leagues met. It was an All-British affair, played at Tynecastle Park in Edinburgh, Scotland. The hosts, Scottish Champions Heart of Midlothian, a.k.a. "Hearts," took on the English Champions, Sunderland, from the North-East. Actually, it was an All-Scottish contest: Known as "The Team of All Talents," every one of Sunderland's players was Scottish. (The Wearside city is less than 60 miles from the England-Scotland "border.") Sunderland won, 5-3.

In 1897, the Challenge Cup was founded, competed for by teams from across the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which included not just the entirety of present-day Austria and Hungary, but all of present-day Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, and parts of present-day Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Italy. Vienna Cricket and Football Club won the 1st one. The tournament ran until 1911.

The Mitropa Cup was founded in 1927. As the name suggests -- "Mitropa" is an abbreviation of "Mitteleuropa," or "Middle Europe" -- it was played for by teams in Central Europe only. Sparta Prague won the 1st one. This tournament continued despite the rise of the European Cup and other tournaments, until 1992, when the European Cup became the Champions League.

In 1930, the Coupe des Nations was founded, held in Geneva, Switzerland, and was won by Újpest of Budapest, Hungary. But the Great Depression doomed this early effort at a continent-wide soccer championship tournament.

In 1949, with the Depression and World War II behind them, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy came together and founded the Latin Cup. Barcelona won the 1st one. This tournament did not long survive the establishment of the European Cup, being dissolved in 1957.

But the real key came in 1948, with the South American Championship of Champions, won by Vasco da Gama of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Gabriel Hanot, editor of the French sports-themed newspaper L'Equipe, wanted such a tournament for Europe.

Once again, Hungary had a major role. After beating England badly, both home and away, and reaching the Final of the 1954 World Cup, Hungary's national team was established as a power. On December 13, 1954, a small measure of revenge was taken when England's titleholders, Wolverhampton Wanderers, beat Hungary's, Honvéd of Budapest, 3-2 in Wolverhampton, outside Birmingham. "Wolves" manager Stan Cullis called his team "Champions of the World."

Since the rest of Europe was sick of hearing England brag about their teams, both club and national, especially after their pathetic performances in the 1950 and '54 World Cups, the "football associations" of the various European countries finally listened to Hanot's request for a real European championship, to be played in the 1955-56 season, by each European country's 1954-55 Champions.

Wolves did not compete in the tournament -- because they didn't win England's Football League Division One in 1954-55. Chelsea, of West London, did. But they also chose not to compete. Of the 4 British "Home Nations," only Scotland sent their Champions. With some irony, it was Hibernian, a.k.a. Hibs, Edinburg rival of Hearts, who set everything in motion 60 years earlier.

Only 16 teams competed. So there were only 4 rounds, with home-and-away legs, of this single-elimination tournament. In the Round of 16, Partisan of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, beat Sporting Clv.ube de Portugal, of Lisbon; Vörös Lobogó of Budapest, now named MTK, beat Anderlecht of Belgium; Real Madrid of Spain beat Servette of Switzerland, hosts of the 1930 Coupe des Nations; Hibernian beat Rot-Weiss Essen of West Germany; Djurgården of Stockholm, Sweden beat Gwardia Warszawa of Warsaw, Poland; Stade de Reims of France beat Aarhus of Denmark; Rapid Wien of Vienna, Austria beat PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands; and AC Milan of Italy beat Saarbrücken, of the Saar Protectorate, a section of Germany then governed by France, but soon returned to West Germany.

In the Quarterfinals, Hibs beat Djurgården; Reims beat Vörös Lobogó; Real Madrid beat Partizan; and Milan beat Rapid. In the Semifinals, Reims beat Hibs, and Real Madrid beat Milan.

The Final was set for June 13, at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The original stadium on the site opened in 1897. This was the 2nd, opening in 1932. A 3rd was built on the site, and opened in 1972. Today, it is the home of the leading "football club" in France, Paris Saint-Germain.

The 1932-1972 version of the Parc des Princes

Reims, wearing red shirts with white sleeves like North London team Arsenal, were managed by Albert Batteux, captained by Robert Jonquet, and featured the best player in France, a son of Polish immigrants, Raymond Kopa.

Raymond Kopa, in uniform for France

at the 1958 World Cup

Real Madrid, dressed in all white, and thus known as Los Blancos and Los Merengues, were even more loaded. Manager José Villalonga could call on Captain Miguel Muñoz, and the man who may have then been the best player in the world, the Argentine forward known as El Saeta Rubia (The Blond Arrow): Alfred Di Stéfano.

Alfred Di Stéfano, in the all-whites of Real Madrid

Arthur Ellis of England, the referee at the Final of the 1950 World Cup, was chosen to officiate at this match as well. With 38,239 paying customers looking on, he blew his whistle at 8:30 PM local time -- also 8:30 PM in Madrid, 7:30 PM in London, and 2:30 PM in New York -- and the match was on.

Reims, with a lineup of all Frenchmen, didn't waste any time showing Real Madrid that they belonged on the same pitch. Michel Leblond scored just 6 minutes into the match. Jean Templin made it 2-0 in the 10th minute. But the Spanish side, all Spaniards except for Di Stéfano, were unfazed: The Arrow himself tallied in the 14th minute. Héctor Rial equalized at the half-hour, and it remained 2-2 at halftime.

Michel Hidalgo, a Normandy native with a Spanish father, gave Reims the lead shortly after the hour. But Marcos Alonzo Imaz, a centreback known as Marquitos, made it 3-3 in the 67th minute. It began to look like a replay might be necessary, until the 79th minute, when Di Stéfano made it 4-3 in Real's favor.

And so it remained when Ellis blew the final whistle. Real Madrid were the 1st true Champions of Europe, and could make a case for being the best side in the world. It would take until 1960 for an Intercontinental Cup to be founded, to be contested by the winners of the European Cup and the South American continental championship, now named the Copa Libertadores.

In 1992, the Union of European Football Associations renamed their signature tournament the UEFA Champions League, although the trophy retains the name "European Cup" (and the nickname "Ol' Big Ears," because of its large handles). In 1998, UEFA began admitting teams that had finished high in their leagues, but had not won them.

Real Madrid won the 1st 5 European Cups, and have won it more than any other team, 13 times, most recently in 2018.

Francisco "Paco" Gento played on each of those 1st 5 winners, and also on their next in 1966. He remains the only man to play on 6 European Cup winners. He was also the last survivor of both the 1956 and 1957 European Cup winners, living until January 18, 2022.

UPDATE: When Real Madrid won the 2024 Champions League title, it added 4 players to Gento's formerly unique status of playing on 6 European Cup winners: Team Captain Nacho Fernández, Luka Modrić, Dani Cavajal and Toni Kroos. Kroos had won 1 with Bayern Munich, 5 with Real Madrid. The others each won all of theirs with Real Madrid.

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June 13, 1956 was a Wednesday, and this (along with Tuesday) became the traditional day of the week for European Cup/Champions League matches. American football, basketball and hockey were all out of season. But there were Major League Baseball games played on the day.

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 7-5 at Yankee Stadium. Ron Northey and Larry Doby hit home runs for the South Siders. Mickey Mantle went 2-for-5 with an RBI, but it wasn't enough.

* The New York Giants lost to the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Willie Mays hit 2 home runs, but, for the Cubs, former Giant Monte Irvin got 2 hits, and former Brooklyn Dodger Eddie Miksis hit a home run. Ernie Banks went 0-for-4.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Paul Foytack pitched 7 shutout innings, but Steve Gromek became the winning pitcher when Charlie Maxwell hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 13-4 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-6 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Del Crandall and Eddie Mathews hit home runs for the Braves. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4.

* The Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians were tied 8-8 after 11 innings, when the game was stopped. Baseball-Reference.com does not say why. There is no mention of rain. Fenway Park had lights installed in 1947, so it couldn't have been called due to darkness. And it was a weekday, so there was no Sunday "blue law" with a curfew in effect. At any rate, Vic Wertz hit 2 home runs for the Tribe, while Ted Williams went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the BoSox.

* A game was rained out at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, and made up on July 23. The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals appear not to have been scheduled, needing a travel day.