October 21, 2001: A California Clásico for the MLS Cup

October 21, 2001: The MLS Cup Final is played at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. It is a "California Clásico," perhaps the league's best rivalry, and the San Jose Earthquakes beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1.

Northern California vs. Southern California had already been a major sports rivalry for decades: The University of California (Berkeley) vs. the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the San Francisco Seals vs. the Los Angeles Angels in the Pacific Coast League, the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Los Angeles Rams, the San Francisco Giants vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Golden State Warriors vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, the San Jose Sharks vs. the Los Angeles Kings, and, in the old North American Soccer League, the original version of the San Jose Earthquakes vs. the Los Angeles Aztecs.

When MLS was founded in 1996, both the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles area, naturally, got teams. L.A. got the Galaxy, who played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Bay Area got the San Jose Clash, who took up the old Quakes' home of Spartan Stadium, home of San Jose State University. After the 1999 season, the name was changed to the Earthquakes. The rivalry became known as the California Clásico, in honor of "El Clásico," the rivalry between the 2 major teams of Spain, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

In that inaugural 1996 season, the Clash and the Gals faced each other in the 1st round of the Playoffs, and the Gals won. The Clash/Quakes didn't make the Playoffs again until 2001, when they beat the Columbus Crew and the Miami Fusion. The Gals beat the New York/New Jersey MetroStars (now the New York Red Bulls) and the Chicago Fire. So the team in the country's 2nd-biggest market beat the teams in the 1st and the 3rd, to set up a Final with a team in the 4th.

In that Final, the Gals, led by Cobi Jones and Paul Caligiuri, took a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute on a goal by Luis Hernandez. But the Quakes tied it up in the 43rd when Landon Donovan tallied. The game went to extra time, and, with the "golden goal" rule still in effect, Dwyane De Rosario, a Canadian son of Guyanese immigrants, won it in the 96th minute.

In 2003, the Galaxy moved from the Rose Bowl, 10 miles north of downtown L.A., into what's now named Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, 16 miles south. That season, the Quakes eliminated the Gals, and went on to win their 2nd MLS Cup, beating Chicago in the Final -- on the neutral site of the Gals' home field.

But playing at a college football stadium built in 1933, 50 miles southeast of downtown San Francisco, didn't work for the Quakes' owners, and they couldn't get a soccer-specific stadium in a location they liked. So, after the 2005 season, they moved the team, making them the Houston Dynamo. And they won the next 2 MLS Cups, in 2006 and 2007.

A 3rd version of the Earthquakes was established as an expansion team in 2008, and played at Buck Shaw Stadium, home of Santa Clara University. In 2015, they moved to what's now named PayPal Park, adjacent to a CalTrain station for extra convenience. But they've never won the MLS Cup again. In contrast, the Galaxy have won a record 5. (UPDATE: And the newly-established Los Angeles FC won it in 2022.)

Landon Donovan is often considered America's greatest soccer player ever. He played for the Earthquakes from 2001 to 2004, and for the Galaxy from 2005 to 2016. He remains popular with fans of both teams.

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October 21, 2001 was a Sunday. Also on this day, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Atlanta Braves‚ 3-2‚ to win the National League Championship Series and reach the World Series for the 1st time in their history. They got to the Series faster than any expansion team in history‚ doing so in the 4th year of their existence. Randy Johnson got the win for Arizona. Erubiel Durazo's pinch-hit 2-run homer is the key blow. Craig Counsell was named the NLCS MVP.

The New York Yankees took a 3-1 lead in their American League Championship Series matchup with the Seattle Mariners‚ winning by a score of 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. Bret Boone's 8th inning homer broke a scoreless tie‚ but Bernie Williams homered in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score. The Yankees won on Alfonso Soriano's 2-run walkoff dinger in the 9th. Mariano Rivera got the victory in relief.

In spite of this defeat, Mariner manager Lou Piniella mades a bold prediction: His team will win Game 5. "We're going back for Game 6," he tells the media, meaning back to Seattle. Sweet Lou should have known better than to test the Yankees' Ghosts of October. After all, he was one of them.

And these games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Jets lost to the St. Louis Rams, 34-14 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The re-established Cleveland Browns beat the team that had been the original Browns, the Baltimore Ravens, 24-14 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field).

* The Washington Redskins beat the Carolina Panthers, 17-14 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 17-10 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints, 20-13 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-0 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Detroit Lions, 27-24 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The New England Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts, 38-17 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat their arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers, 35-13 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 24-16 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Denver Broncos, 27-10 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The preceding Thursday, the Buffalo Bills beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 13-10 at Alltel Stadium (now Everbank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants, 10-9 at Giants Stadium.

* And the Dallas Cowboys, the Miami Dolphins, the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks each had a bye week.

April 6, 1996: The 1st Major League Soccer Game

April 6, 1996: Major League Soccer debuts, ending North America's 12-year drought without a top-flight soccer league.

MLS had hoped to start a year earlier, within months of the 1994 World Cup on American soil. But, given how other insurgent leagues failed, it was probably for the best that they had an additional year to get their administrative act in order. And the timing was right, after all: They played their season concurrent with baseball, and baseball was in a bad spot at the time, following the Strike of '94. So there was room for another major league sport in fans' hearts.

The 1st game is played at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California. The San Jose Clash hosted Washington-based D.C. United. The game was scoreless until the 88th minute, when Eric Wynalda scored to win it for the Clash, 1-0.

Previously, the San Francisco Bay Area had been represented by the Oakland Clippers, the one and only champions of the National Professional Soccer League in 1967; the San Francisco Golden Gate Gales, who played in the United Soccer Association that year, the league's only season; the Oakland Stompers in the North American Soccer League in 1978; and the San Jose Earthquakes in the NASL from 1974 until that league folded following the 1984 season.

The Earthquakes then played in the Western Soccer Alliance until it folded in 1988. The Western Soccer League was founded in 1989, with a team named the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks. In 1994, they were renamed the San Jose Clash, and were taken into MLS.

They bought the rights to the Earthquakes name in 1999, and won the MLS Cup in 2001 and 2003. Like so many other Bay Area teams, they developed a rivalry with the Los Angeles team in their league, the L.A. Galaxy, a rivalry that became known as the California Clásico.

After the 2005 season, the team's owners, upset at being unable to get a soccer-specific stadium -- Spartan Stadium, now CEFCU Stadium, was built for San Jose State University football in 1933 -- moved them, and they became the Houston Dynamo. Rubbing further salt in the Bay Area's wounds, the Dynamo won the MLS Cup in the franchise's 1st 2 seasons in Texas.

But Lewis Wolff, then the owner of the Oakland Athletics, bought the rights to an MLS expansion team, and the 3rd edition of the San Jose Earthquakes began play at Spartan Stadium in 2008. In 2015, they opened Avaya Stadium, an 18,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, now named PayPal Park.

Although D.C. United lost the 1st MLS game, they won the 1st MLS Cup in 1996, and the 2nd in 1997, and the 4th in 1999, and the 9th in 2004. They also won the U.S. Open Cup (America's version of the FA Cup) in 1996 (making them the 1st MLS team to win "The Double"), 2008 and 2013; the Supporters' Shield, as regular-season Champions, in 1997, 1999, 2006 and 2007; and the CONCACAF Champions League in 1998.

The next week saw the debuts of these teams:

* On April 13, the lone teams then representing the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas played each other. The Los Angeles Galaxy beat the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, 2-1 at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California. The MetroStars, or "Metro" for short, became the New York Red Bulls in 2005.

* Also on the 13th, the Columbus Crew beat D.C., 4-0 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Also on the 13th, the Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City) beat the Colorado Rapids (Denver's team), 3-0 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* Also on the 13th, the Tampa Bay Mutiny beat the New England Revolution (Boston's team), 3-2 at Tampa Stadium. The Mutiny folded after the 2001 season.

* On April 14, the Dallas Burn played the Clash to a scoreless tie at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and then won a shootout, 3-2. The team is now known as F.C. Dallas.

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April 6, 1996 was a Saturday. It was the off-season for football. However, a new Major League Baseball season had just begun, and a full slate of games was played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 4-2 at the stadium then named The Ballpark at Arlington (now Choctaw Stadium), in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Bobby Witt outpitched Jimmy Key, and the Yankees hit no home runs.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-0 at Shea Stadium. Danny Darwin pitched 6 innings, and combined with 2 relievers on a 6-hit shutout.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. 

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Royce Clayton won the game with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning.

* The team then known as the Florida Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at Joe Robbie Stadium in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida. Terry Pendleton won it with a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 10th.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. (Now Progressive Field.)

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 8-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. Ken Caminiti hit a grand slam in the top of the 13th inning.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the team then known as the California Angels, 8-4 at Anaheim Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. (The team is now the Los Angeles Angels, and the stadium is now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim.)

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-1. Since the addition of the "Mount Davis" bleachers to the Oakland Coliseum wasn't yet finished, the A's played their 1st 6 home games of the season, including this one, at Cashman Field in Las Vegas.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-5 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

There were 8 NBA games played that day:

* The New York Knicks beat the Toronto Raptors, 139-106 at the SkyDome in Toronto. (Now the Rogers Centre.) John Starks scored 37 points.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 109-88 at the Brendan Byrne Arena. Glenn Robinson, a.k.a. "Big Dog," dropped 32 on the Nets.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 100-99 at The Omni in Atlanta. Vernon Maxwell scored 38 for the Sixers. 

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 93-89 at the Gund Arena in Cleveland. (It's now the Rocket Arena.)

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Heat, 99-95 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 101-96 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 111-106 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat their arch-rivals, the Seattle SuperSonics, 95-92 at the Rose Garden in Portland. (It's now the Moda Center.)

And there were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Hartford Whalers, 6-3 at the Hartford Civic Center. (It's now the XL Center.) Dave Andreychuk scored 2 goals.

* The New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0 at the Nassau Coliseum. Eric Fichaud recorded the shutout for the Isles, over Dominik Hasek.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the Molson Centre. (It's now the Bell Centre.)

* The Washington Capitals beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-3 at the Corel Centre in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Ontario. (It's now the Canadian Tire Centre. The town was absorbed into Ottawa proper in 2001.)

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

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

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-1 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2 at the Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.

Also, Arsenal beat Leeds United, 2-1 at Highbury in North London, on a 90th minute goal by Ian Wright.