July 18, 1984: The San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre

July 18, 1984: A mass shooting occurs at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego. There were 40 people wounded, and 21 of them died.

The shooter was James Huberty, age 41, from Canton, Ohio. His mother had left the family when he was little, and he never recovered from this trauma, taking up target shooting at a young age. By 1984, he was living in San Diego, married with 2 daughters, and had been charged with domestic violence against them and his wife.

As the Summer of 1984 began, there seemed nothing amiss. But on July 17, he called a local mental health clinic, and left his contact information. Unfortunately, the receptionists had misspelled his name, and she noted that he was calm when he called, and had admitted that he had never been hospitalized for psychiatric issues, so she didn't see any urgency.

The police responded to the shooting, and one of their snipers killed Huberty. McDonald's suspended all advertising for a time. In an act of solidarity with their arch-rivals, Burger King did the same.

At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in American history, and stunned people. Times have changed, and the willingness of America's leaders to let mentally unstable people have firearms has led to so many mass shootings, a few worse than this one.

*

July 18, 1984 was a Wednesday. The Major League Baseball season had just restarted following the All-Star Game in San Francisco, a 3-1 win for the National League 8 days earlier. Here are the day's MLB games:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. Don Baylor hit a home run in support of Ron Guidry.

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Montreal Expos 3-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Ken Oberkfell won the game with a double in the 10th inning.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Had the Padres been scheduled to play at home, the game would probably have been postponed.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Darrell Porter hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 2-1 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium in 1993.)

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the California Angels, 8-2 at Anaheim Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. (The team is now named the Los Angeles Angels, and the ballpark is named Angel Stadium of Anaheim.)

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

The NFL, the NBA and the NHL were out of season. This was during the brief experiment with Spring pro football, the United States Football League. The USFL title game had been played 3 days earlier, and the Philadelphia Stars beat the Arizona Wranglers, 23-3 at Tampa Stadium. 

July 14, 1985: The Last USFL Game

Kelvin Bryant carrying the ball for the Stars

July 14, 1985: The Baltimore Stars defeat the Oakland Invaders, 28-24, in the United States Football League Championship Game, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (the Meadowlands). The Stars' head coach was Jim Mora Sr. On that night, it was okay to talk to him about Playoffs.

It rained. In 49 years of Super Bowls, the NFL has gotten rain only once, and it wasn't that hard. Indeed, there hasn't been truly bad weather for an NFL Championship Game since the Ice Bowl in 1967 -- for a true world championship game since the 1958 Giants-Colts thriller.

No one knows it at the time, but this will be the last game ever played under the USFL banner. The league's team owners, and its Commissioner, Harry Usher, were bullied into announcing they were switching to a Fall schedule for 1986, to directly compete with the NFL, by the owner of the team in the New York market, the New Jersey Generals. He had already led an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL.

On July 29, 1986, a federal grand jury found in favor of the USFL in its antitrust suit against the NFL. However, the USFL was only awarded $1.00 in damages This was tripled to $3.00 under antitrust law, and, with interest, it eventually became $3.76. Let me spell that out: Three dollars and seventy-six cents.

The jury foreman explained that, while they agreed the NFL was a monopoly, they could not agree on the size of the award. As a result, the jury misinterpreted the law and decided on the $1 award, feeling it would be changed by the presiding judge. However, the judge was not able to increase the amount once it was stipulated by the jury. As a result, the league suspended operations a day later, never to return.

So the Generals' owner sank the entire league, mainly to feed his own ego. For the first time, he looked like an idiot in front of the entire country. His name was Donald Trump.

*

July 14, 1985 was a Sunday. Darrelle Revis, Hall of Fame defensive back, was born on this day.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 7-1 at Yankee Stadium. It was not quite a rematch of the 1978 World Series: Ron Guidry went the distance for the win, while Burt Hooton, a Dodger in 1978, didn't get out of the 2nd inning. Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk. Don Mattingly went 0-for-3 with a walk. Rickey Henderson did not play.

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 1-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Dwight Gooden pitched a 5-hit shutout, striking out 11, to outpitch Bob Knepper. The only run came in the top of the 8th inning, when Kelvin Chapman grounded to 3rd, leading to a botched double play that allowed Ronn Reynolds (backup catcher to Gary Carter) to score.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Tom Seaver outpitched Mike Boddicker, for his 297th career win. Ozzie Guillén, later to manage the White Sox to the World Championship, went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. George Brett went 2-for-5.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Cincinnati native Dave Parker went 2-for-5, including singling César Cedeño home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Reds player-manager Pete Rose went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Walt Terrell got into the 8th inning having allowed just 1 hit, a double by Tom Brunansky in the 7th, outpitching Frank Viola, but he walked 2 batters. His manager, Sparky Anderson, who got the nickname "Captain Hook" for being so quick to remove, or "hook," pitchers while managing in Cincinnati, hooked Terrell for Willie Hernández, who was perfect the rest of the way.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Reggie Jackson went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Rod Carew went 1-for-2 with a walk before leaving the game with an injury.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Robin Yount went 2-for-5. Paul Molitor went 3-for-5.

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

July 13, 1985: Live Aid

July 13, 1985: The Live Aid concerts are held: One at the old Wembley Stadium in West London, the other at John F. Kennedy Stadium in South Philadelphia. 

The show was organized by Bob Geldof, leader of The Boomtown Rats; and James "Midge" Ure, lead singer of Ultravox. Geldof, Irish, and Ure, Scottish, had written "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for African famine relief, in time for the 1984 Christmas season, and got pretty much everybody who was currently anybody in music in the British Isles to sing on it.

With its success, an American version was inevitable. Producer Quincy Jones called Michael Jackson, at the time the biggest show business figure in the world. Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote "We Are the World," and Jones gathered several American musical luminaries to record it in Los Angeles. It was also a runaway success.

With both songs having raised a lot of money, a benefit concert was inevitable. It ended up being 2 shows, one in each country. It was a combination of current stars and established legends -- an "All-Star Game" and an "Old-Timers Day" in one. Or, in more recent parlance, an Avengers of rock and roll.

And it wasn't that easy. Geldof called Elton John, and said you gotta do it, because David Bowie and Queen had already agreed -- when they hadn't. While Elton was thinking it over, Geldof called Bowie, and told him that Elton and Queen had already agreed. Eventually, Geldof got everybody he wanted.

*

At 12:00 Noon London time, 7:00 AM U.S. East Coast time, the British leg began at the original Wembley, England's national stadium since its opening in 1923. Holding 100,000 in its normal configuration, the huge stage limited it to 72,000 seats, all sold. Tickets were £5, plus a £20 donation to charity. With Britain's rate of inflation, that's about £82 today. With today's exchange rate, that's about $113.

The Coldstream Guards gave a royal salute, and played the National Anthem, "God Save the Queen." Queen Elizabeth II was not in attendance -- she was already 58 years old, and tolerated rock and roll more than actually enjoying it -- but her son and heir, Prince Charles, and his wife, Princess Diana, were there.

The Anthem done, the 1st band to play was Status Quo. They were followed by The Style Council, Geldof's Boomtown Rants, Adam Ant, Ure's Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, Elvis Costello (singing only one song, The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love"), Nik Kershaw, Sade (who may have the sexiest voice in all of humanity), Sting from The Police and Phil Collins from Genesis together, Howard Jones, Bryan Ferry, Paul Young, U2, Dire Straits, Queen, David Bowie, The Who reunited for the 1st time since their 1982 "farewell tour," and Elton John.

Queen came on at 6:41 PM, and have been widely regarded as the highlight of the Wembley part of the show. They played "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Radio Ga Ga" (the song that inspired Stefani Germanotta, born the next year, to rename herself Lady Gaga), "Hammer to Fall," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "We Will Rock You," and "We Are the Champions."

Freddie Mercury and Brian May of Queen

At 9:48, Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury and lead guitarist Brian May came back out, and played, "Is This the World We Created?" At 9:51, former Beatle Paul McCartney came out, and, with Bowie, Geldof, Alison Moyet and Who guitarist Pete Townshend backing him, sang "Let It Be." At 9:57, the show closed with everybody coming back out, and, over 5 months before the next December 25, sang, "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Left to right: Bob Geldof, Bono, Paul McCartney and Freddie Mercury

*

Built in 1926, as Sesquicentennial Stadium, for a world's fair celebrating the 150th Anniversary of American independence, and known from that fair until 1964 as Municipal Stadium, John F. Kennedy Stadium was a 105,000-seat horseshoe in South Philadelphia, with The Spectrum and then Veterans Stadium built adjacent. Best known as the site of the annual Army-Navy football game, it was, by this point, rarely used, since it was aging and not well-cared-for.

So, why there? The producer for the American leg was Bill Graham, already legendary for the concerts he promoted in San Francisco, and operator of the concert halls Fillmore West there and Fillmore East in New York. He got well-known TV producer Tony Verna to handle the U.S. broadcast. Verna was a Philadelphia native, and Verna was on good terms with Mayor Wilson Goode, who offered the use of the city-owned JFK Stadium.

Why not New York? The biggest stadium in the Tri-State Area was Giants Stadium, and, this being before the building of the Meadowlands Spur of New Jersey Transit's rail operations, getting there by any means other than car was a miserable experience. Given the inevitable traffic backups, getting there by car wasn't much better. And since both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium were owned by the City of New York, they would have needed Mayor Ed Koch's permission to do the show at either one, and Koch, a great booster of the City, but not a rock and roll fan and frequently a dick, wasn't interested.

Tickets were $35, or about $95 in today's money -- hardly an unreasonable price, given how many stars took the stage at JFK Stadium. The crowd was listed as 89,484. They started earlier, their time, than London did: 8:51 AM.

The 1st act was Bernard Watson. Who? His real name was David Weinstein, he was 18 years old, he was from Miami Beach, he had just graduated from high school, and he had no professional musical experience. He slept outside the stadium for a week, hoping to get a ticket, and ran into Graham, and talked him into letting him open. He sang Bob Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do," and a song he wrote, "Interview." (About the only other information I have on him is that he's still alive.)

At 9:01 AM, Joan Baez, a veteran of the Greenwich Village folk scene, the Newport Folk Festival, and Woodstock took the stage. She told a generation too young to have gone to those shows, "This is your Woodstock, and it's long overdue." She sang "Amazing Grace" and "We Are the World."

She was followed by Philly natives The Hooters, then Motown legends the Four Tops. Trinidadian soul singer Billy Ocean was next, and then, a different style from any of those, the British inventors of heavy metal, Black Sabbath, with Ozzy Osbourne singing lead with them for the 1st time since 1979.

If that wasn't enough of a mix of styles, Sabbath were followed by the biggest group in rap at the time, Run-D.M.C. And they were followed by... Rick Springfield. And then REO Speedwagon. David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash were the 2nd act from Woodstock, after Baez, to perform. And their soft-rock was followed by another British metal icon, Judas Priest. Then Bryan Adams. Then the Beach Boys, complete with Brian Wilson, although not with Dennis Wilson, who had died a year and a half earlier.

George Thorogood and the Destroyers came up from Delaware, with bluesmasters Bo Diddley and Albert Collins sitting in. Simple Minds came over from Scotland. The Pretenders were next. At the time, their leader, Chrissie Hynde, was married to Simple Minds' leader, Jim Kerr. Then, Woodstock veterans Santana. Motown songwriting couple Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson, by now singing their own songs, performed with Philly native Teddy Pendergrass, by then in a wheelchair following a car crash.

Madonna was next, with Thompson Twins and Nile Rodgers backing her. Then, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Kenny Loggins, The Cars. Neil Young, who has often performed with Crosby, Stills and Nash, performed without them. Next up was The Power Station: Lead singer Robert Palmer; Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor and bassist John Taylor; and Chic drummer Tony Thompson. Then, Eric Clapton.

One man played at Wembley, got over to Heathrow Airport, flew across the Atlantic Ocean on the Concorde, got from JFK Airport in New York by helicopter to JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, and played there, too: Phil Collins. He had played from 3:18 to 3:48 in London, and from 8:00 to 8:35 in Philadelphia -- with the 5-hour time difference, it was about a 10-hour gap.

And that may not have been the most notable thing he did that day. He played drums for Led Zeppelin. Singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones hadn't played together since drummer John Bonham died in 1980. But, with Collins sitting in, they played "Rock and Roll," "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway to Heaven."

Then, as night began to fall over the Delaware Valley, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young did sing together. So did Duran Duran. Then things got serious: On came Philly native Patti LaBelle. Then Philly natives Daryl Hall & John Oates, with former Temptations singers Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin.

Tina & Mick

At 10:15, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and Tina Turner took the stage, and sang 5 songs together. At 10:39, backed by Stones guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood, Bob Dylan, who did not play at Woodstock, came on, and sang "Ballad of Hollis Brown," "When the Ship Comes In," and "Blowin' in the Wind." The finale, at 10:55, was everybody coming onstage to sing "We Are the World."

Between the 2 shows, it was estimated that 1.9 billion people watched at least part of the broadcast, about 40 percent of the world's population at the time. Money raised? According to Geldof, about £150 million, or about $107 million given what was then the exchange rate, or about $291 million in 2022 money.

This was the greatest thing ever to happen at Wembley, or any other sports stadium. England's victory in the 1966 World Cup Final is a distant 2nd.

The old Wembley was not well-cared-for, and a replacement became necessary. It was closed in 2000, demolished, and the new Wembley Stadium opened on the site in 2007.

Mick and the Stones had planned to return to JFK Stadium for their Steel Wheels tour in 1989, but it was ruled unsafe for occupancy, so they headed 2 blocks north to The Vet. The last show at JFK Stadium was The Grateful Dead in 1991. The following year, it was demolished. In 1996, the new arena for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers opened on the site. As one bank has bought out another, arena naming rights and all, it has gone through several names, and is currently the Wells Fargo Center.

(UPDATE: In 2025, the naming rights ran out, and Wells Fargo chose not to renew. With the teams in partnership with Xfinity/Comcast, the building became the Xfinity Mobile Arena. With city-specific irony, a competing company named the arena in Charlotte, North Carolina the Spectrum Center.)

In 1986, Spin magazine published an exposé on Live Aid's actions in Ethiopia. They claimed that Geldof deliberately ignored warnings from Doctors Without Borders, who had complained directly to Geldof even before the show, about the role of the Ethiopian government under Derg leader Mengistu Haile Mariam in causing the famine; and that, by working with Mengistu directly, much of the relief funds intended for victims were in fact siphoned off to purchase arms from the Soviet Union, thereby making the situation even worse. (Presuming everything in the chart above is true, it looks like Huey Lewis had a point.)

Geldof reportedly responded by saying, "I'll shake hands with the Devil on my left and on my right to get to the people we are meant to help."

*

July 13, 1985 was a Saturday. It was the off-season for the NFL, the NBA and the NHL -- and, more to the point of one of the countries involved, for England's Football League.

Summer is cricket season in Britain, but that's Australia's Winter. At any rate, "The Ashes," the periodic test-match series between England and Australia, was underway at that point. Live Aid fell in the middle of the 3rd Test, at Trent Bridge cricket ground in Nottingham, but it was accepted as a day off.

With the series starting on June 13, England ended up winning the series on September 2, 3 matches to 1 with 2 draws, and regained the trophy, said to be an urn containing "the ashes of English cricket" (actually, the burned remains of a ball) after Australia's 1st-ever win over their colonial fathers in 1883.

This was also the period of America's experiment with Spring Football, the United States Football League. The next day, July 14, 1985, the USFL Championship Game was played at Giants Stadium. The Baltimore Stars beat the Oakland Invaders, 28-24.

It would be the last USFL game. The owner of the New York market's team, the New Jersey Generals, convinced the other league owners to abandon the Spring schedule, and go directly head-to-head with the NFL in the Autumn. But they didn't have the money to do that and to maintain their antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. So there would be no 1986 USFL season.

Then came the verdict: The jury found in the USFL's favor, that the NFL was a monopoly, but awarded just $1.00 in damages. Since antitrust awards are tripled, it was $3.00. It was a slap in the face, but since it was a "win," it couldn't be appealed. The USFL was dead. And it was all because of the ego and the typical mismanagement of the Generals' owner. His name was Donald Trump. It wasn't the first thing he royally screwed up, and it wouldn't be the last, or the biggest, or the most damaging.

As for Major League Baseball games played on July 13, 1985, a full slate was played: 

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. (That's another reason Yankee Stadium couldn't be used for the American leg of Live Aid: It was booked.) No home runs, but they got the runs they needed to support the 46-year-old knuckleballer Phil Niekro.

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 10-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 13-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Good thing the Phillies were on the road, because having a game at Veterans Stadium while Live Aid was going on at JFK Stadium would have been a parking and traffic nightmare.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-8 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 7-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3 at Anaheim Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Tim Birtsas and Steve Ontiveros (not the earlier Cubs infielder) combined on a 5-hit shutout.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-5 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

June 15, 1984: Hearns vs. Durán

June 15, 1984: Thomas Hearns knocks Roberto Durán out in the 2nd round at Caesars Palace, outside Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada, to retain the WBC Super Welterweight Championship of the World.

It was the only fight of the calendar year for both "The Hit Man" and "Hands of Stone." The two of them, along with Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, made the 1980s a golden age for sub-heavyweight boxing.

The referee was Carlos Padilla, who also officiated at Ali-Frazier III, "The Thrilla In Manila."

Hearns, 38-1 going into the fight, was 6-foot-1. Durán, 77-5 and coming off a loss to Hagler, was only 5-foot-7 1/2. Durán was not used to losing at all. Unlike Leonard, who taunted him (as if Durán hadn't done the taunting in their 1st fight), Durán wasn't getting taunted this time: Hearns was all business, and the Detroiter absolutely clobbered the Panamanian, using his big height advantage.

The 1st half of the 1st round was quiet, but then Hearns took control, opened a cut over Durán's left eye, and floored him late in the round. Durán got up at the count of 5, but got knocked down again with 8 seconds left in the round. With 2:01 left in the 2nd round, a vicious right hand practically spun Durán's head, and he fell face-first on the canvas. The fight was immediately stopped.

Durán never sought a rematch with Hearns. That was probably for the best.

There were 4 truly great welterweight and middleweight fighters in the 1980s: Hearns, Durán, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Durán split 2 fights with Leonard, before Leonard won another late in both men's career, and had already lost to Hagler. Leonard won a very tough decision over Hearns, and won a controversial decision over Hagler. Hagler knocked Hearns out in the 3rd round, surviving a furious fusillade, in one of the greatest short fights ever.

Left to right: Durán, Leonard, Hagler.

I found a photo of Leonard, Durán and Hearns together,

but not one of all 4 of them together.

Despite the various controversies between them, the 4 of them became friends after their careers, as boxers tend to do. There usually is a healthy respect between worthy opponents. Hagler died of a heart attack in 2021, at the age of 66. As of November 25, 2022, the other 3 are still alive.

UPDATE: In 2026, Ronald Hearns, also a boxer, places his father Thomas under conservatorship, as he has begun to show signs of boxing-related dementia. Hagler is not suspected of having had it. Nor is Leonard or Durán.

*

June 15, 1984 was a Friday. The NBA season had ended 3 days earlier, when the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the title. The NHL season had ended 26 days earlier, when the Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Islanders for the Stanley Cup.

The NFL was out of season, but there were 4 games played in the United States Football League:

* The Philadelphia Stars beat the Washington Federals, 31-8 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Jacksonville Bulls beat the New Orleans Breakers, 20-17 in overtime at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Arizona Wranglers beat the Chicago Blitz, 36-0 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

* And the Los Angeles Express beat the Oakland Invaders, 24-19 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Mike Boddicker outpitched Bob Shirley. Roy Smalley hit a home run, but the Yankees only got 3 other hits.

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Walt Terrell pitched 7 innings, Jesse Orosco 2, to pitch a 4-hit shutout. Keith Hernandez and Hubie Brooks hit home runs.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Dan Schatzeder (7 innings) and Bob James combined on a 7-hit shutout.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Rance Mulliniks singled Willie Upshaw home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 0-for-4. Paul Molitor did not play.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-0 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. John Butcher pitched a 3-hit shutout. George Brett got 1 of those hits.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Graig Nettles hit a home run, and Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.

* The California Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Neither Reggie Jackson nor Rod Carew played.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 4-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Al Cowens singled Jack Perconte home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

June 9, 1985: The Lakers Finally Beat the Celtics

June 9, 1985: After 8 losses to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers finally beat them.

The teams had first met in the NBA Finals in 1959, when the Lakers were still in Minneapolis. The Celtics won, and beat them again in 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969. The Lakers finally won an NBA Championship in Los Angeles in 1972, but it was against the New York Knicks. They won again in 1980 and 1982, in each case against the Philadelphia 76ers. They played the Celtics in the Finals again in 1984, but lost.

That 1984 Finals was the 1st between Larry Bird, who had led the Celtics to the 1981 title over the Houston Rockets; and Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who had starred as a rookie in the 1980 Finals and again in 1982. They had played each other in the 1979 NCAA Tournament Final, with Johnson's Michigan State beating Bird's Indiana State.

Game 5 of the '84 Finals was a classic example of New England teams' cheating: The Celtics turned off the air conditioning in the visiting team's locker room at the Boston Garden. It was 97 degrees inside the old barn, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 37 years old, was seen on the bench, taking in air from an oxygen tank. Referee Hugh Evans got dehydrated, and fainted in the 1st half, and had to be replaced by reserve referee John Vanak. The Celtics won, 121-103.

The Celtics took Game 7 at home, 111-102. Actor Jack Nicholson, a New Jersey native who kept his Yankee fandom after moving to Hollywood, but had long since switched his basketball allegiance from the Knicks to the Lakers, had gotten courtside season tickets at The Forum in Inglewood, and was at the Boston Garden for Game 7. During a TV timeout, the Celtic fans gave him a hard time, and --we may never know if he knew CBS had gone to a commercial, but Boston station WRKO hadn't, and broadcaster Johnny Most, the biggest Celtic fan of them all, saw this and made a federal case out of it -- Nicholson dropped his pants and mooned the crowd.

The 1985 Finals would be redemption for the Laker franchise, and for Kareem in particular. Not at first, though: Because the Celtics had a slightly better regular-season record, 63-19 to the Lakers' 62-20, the Celtics would have the home court for Games 1 and 2, and, if necessary, Games 6 and 7. And Game 1, on May 27, Memorial Day, was a 148-114 smackdown by the Celtics. It became known as the Memorial Day Massacre, and it seemed to be setting up yet another Celtic Finals win over the Lakers.

And yet, the series was nearly all Lakers the rest of the way. It was as if "The Luck of the Leprechaun" had been all used up in Game 1. The Lakers won Game 2 at the Boston Garden, 109-102. At The Forum, the Lakers took Game 3, 136-111. The Celtics won Game 4, barely, 107-105. In Game 5, Kareem scored 36, and the Lakers won, 120-111, so they needed to win only 1 of 2 in Boston.

Game 6 was tied at halftime, 55-55. But the Lakers outscored the Celtics in the 3rd quarter, 27-18. When it was over, the Lakers had won, 111-100. Only once before had the Celtics been eliminated from a Playoff series on the famed parquet floor of the Boston Garden, and that was by the 1973 New York Knicks. But this was in the Finals, and it would be the only time the Celtics ever lost a Finals-clinching game at the old barn.

Kareem scored 29 points in the clincher, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Finals. He was 38 years old, and was still one of the top 3 players in the NBA, behind Magic and Bird. Sports Illustrated named him their Sportsman of the Year.

To put that in perspective: At age 38:

* Tim Duncan won his 5th and last title, so he was at roughly the same level as Kareem.

* LeBron James was resting from games for "load management."

* Hakeem Olajuwon was entering his last season, and was clearly in decline.

* Shaquille O'Neal was at the same point as Olajuwon.

* Kobe Bryant retired.

* Johnson had been retired, for the last time, for 1 year.

* Julius "Dr. J" Erving had also been retired for 1 year.

* Bird had been retired for 2 years.

* Wilt Chamberlain had also been retired for 2 years.

* Jerry West had also been retired for 2 years.

* Oscar Robertson had also been retired for 2 years.

* Bill Russell had been retired for 3 years.

* Walt Frazier had been retired for 4 years.

* Michael Jordan had just come out of his 2nd retirement, to make a comeback with the Washington Wizards, which turned out to be ill-advised.

(UPDATE: At 38, Steph Curry was still playing well, but was in noticeable decline.)

The Celtics won the title in 1986, over the Houston Rockets, who beat the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. In 1987, the Lakers got back to the Finals, and beat the Celtics in 6 games. Although they won Game 4 in Boston, they clinched in Game 6 at home in Inglewood. In 1988, they became the 1st team since the 1968-69 Celtics to repeat as NBA Champions. The Celtics have won only 1 title since, in 2008, at the TD Garden, which replaced the Boston Garden in 1995.

From the Lakers, Kareem, Magic and James Worthy were named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary Team; while they and Bob McAdoo were named to the 75th Anniversary Team. From the Celtics, Bird, McHale and Parrish were named to both. And each team's coach, Pat Riley and K.C. Jones, was named to those teams as coaches.

UPDATE: In 2022, the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship, beating the Celtics in the Finals, clinching in Game 5 at the TD Garden. In 2024, the Celtics won another title, beating the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals.

*

June 9, 1985 was a Sunday. This was during the 3rd and final season of the United States Football League (USFL). Two games were played. The San Antonio Gunslingers beat the Los Angeles Express, 31-27 at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio. And the Denver Gold beat the Houston Gamblers, 16-13 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

The hockey season had ended on May 30, when the Edmonton Oilers beat the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Paul Molitor went 2-for- 2 with 2 walks. For the Yankees, Rickey Henderson went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and a stolen base. Dave Winfield went 1-for-5. Don Mattingly went 2-for-5.

* A doubleheader was split at Shea Stadium. The New York Mets won the opener, 6-1. Dwight Gooden outpitched Bob Forsch. The St. Louis Cardinals won the nightcap, 8-2.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Expos, 4-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-3.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 12-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd pitched a 3-hit shutout, giving up 2 singles to Floyd Rayford and 1 to Cal Ripken. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Jim Rice hit a home run for the BoSox.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-3 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-6 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Ex-Yankee Graig Nettles hit a home run. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-5. Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and got closer to the all-time hits record. Rose retired with 1,115 more hits, and, as of June 9, 2022, is still alive at age 81, while Gwynn died at age 54. On the other hand, Gwynn lived to see himself be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and was never banned from baseball.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Joe Niekro pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 1-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Ron Romanick allowed 6 hits and a walk over 7 innings, and Donnie Moore allowed 2 hits an dno walks over the last 2 innings. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-2 with a walk. Rod Carew did not play. George Brett appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* And a doubleheader was split at the Oakland Coliseum. The Texas Rangers won the 1st game, 8-4. The Oakland Athletics won the 2nd game, 6-5.

May 19, 1984: The Islander Dynasty Ends, the Oiler Dynasty Begins

May 19, 1984: The Edmonton Oilers win their 1st Stanley Cup. They beat the New York Islanders, 5-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Wayne Gretzky, the biggest star in the game at the time, already with several scoring records under his belt, scores 2 goals.

The Islanders, winners of the last 4 Stanley Cups, had swept the Oilers in 4 straight the season before. This time, in their "Drive for Five," an attempt to match the 1956-60 Montreal Canadiens for the most consecutive Cups, they won Game 2, 6-1. But the Oilers won the other games: 1-0, 7-2, 7-2 and 5-2.

It was the 1st Cup won by a team west of Chicago since the 1925 Victoria Cougars. Centers Gretzky and Mark Messier, right wings Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson, defensemen Paul Coffey and Kevin Lowe, goaltender Grant Fuhr, and head coach and general manager Glen Sather would all be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Northlands Coliseum

Defenseman Lee Fogolin Jr., who was also with the Oilers to win the Cup the next year, was the son of Lee Fogolin Sr., a defenseman who was a member of the Detroit Red Wings when they won the Cup in 1950.

This began a string of 5 Cups in a span of 7 years for the Oilers. They won the Cup again in 1985, beating the Philadelphia Flyers; missed the Finals in 1986; and beat the Flyers in the Finals again in 1987. Coffey was traded, but they won again in 1988, beating the Boston Bruins in the Finals. Gretzky engineered his trade to the Los Angeles Kings, and Andy Moog replaced Fuhr as the starting goalie. They missed the Finals in 1989, and won the Cup again in 1990, again over the Bruins, with Sather still the general manager, but he had hired John Muckler to succeed him as head coach.

It was a great time for hockey in Alberta: In 1986 and 1989, the years in that stretch that the Oilers did not win the NHL Clarence Campbell Conference (forerunner of the Western Conference), the Conference was won by the Calgary Flames, their Provincial arch-rivals. The Flames lost the Finals to the Montreal Canadiens in 1986, then beat the Canadiens in 1989.

The Oilers would not reach the Finals again until 2006, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. Through the 2021-22 season, they have not won the Cup since 1990.

UPDATE: Led by Connor McDavid, the Oilers won the Western Conference title in 2024 and 2025, but lost the Stanley Cup Finals to the Florida Panthers both times.

On September 7, 2022, the Oilers announced the establishment of their own club Hall of Fame. From their WHA years, they have honored defenseman Al Hamilton, retiring his Number 3.

From their 1980s dynasty, they have honored defenseman Kevin Lowe, retiring Number 4; defenseman Paul Coffey, retiring Number 7; right wing Glenn Anderson, retiring Number 9; center Mark Messier, retiring Number 11; right wing Jari Kurri, retiring Number 17; goaltender Grant Fuhr, retiring Number 31; and, of course, center Wayne Gretzky, retiring Number 99.

They also honored defenseman Lee Fogolin, though not retiring his Number 2; center Craig MacTavish, though not retiring his Number 14; defenseman Randy Gregg, though not retiring his Number 21; defenseman Charlie Huddy, though not retiring his Number 22; head coach Glen Sather, although they have not retired the Number 6 he wore as a player for them in their WHA years; and broadcaster Rod Phillips, with a banner bearing the number of games he announced for them: 3,542.

From the 1990s, they have honored center Doug Weight, though they have not retired his Number 39. From their 2006 Stanley Cup Finalists, they have honored left wing Ryan Smyth, though they have not retired either of the numbers he wore, 10 and 94.

In 1998, The Hockey News released their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. Gretzky was ranked 1st, Messier 12th, Coffey 29th, Kurri 50th, and Fuhr 70th. In 2017, each of those was named to the NHL's 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players.

*

May 19, 1984 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. Geoff Zahn allowed 9 hits, but completed the shutout, outpitching Phil Niekro. Dave Winfield got 1 of those 9 hits. Don Mattingly did not. For the Angels, Reggie Jackson went 0-for-3 with a walk, and Rod Carew did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 8-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The Mets led 3-0 going into the bottom of the 6th, and blew it. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Dave Henderson hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning. Unlike the one he would hit in Shea Stadium 2 1/2 years later, this one didn't just look like it would win the game, it actually did. For the O's, Eddie Murray went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs, while Cal Ripken went 1-for-5.

* The Atlanta Braves were leading the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, when the game was stopped due to rain in the 7th inning. It was not resumed, and the Braves were the winners.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Tom Seaver went the distance, but lost. In contrast, it took 4 Jays pitchers to pitch a 3-hit shutout -- in the 1st Reagan term. Jim Gott went the 1st 6 2/3rds, Roy Lee Jackson got the last out in the 7th and the 1st 2 in the 8th, Bryan Clark got the last out in the 8th, and Dennis Lamp pitched the 9th. The only run came from a Dave Collins RBI single in the 3rd.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Jaime Cocanower pitched 7 innings of 1-hit shutout ball, while Rollie Fingers allowed 2 hits over the last 2. Robin Yount went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Paul Molitor did not play.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-0 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 6-2 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Pete Rose, in his brief tenure with the Expos, went 1-for-4.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI.

This was the 2nd of the 3 seasons of the United States Football League (USFL), and 3 games were played in it that day:

* The Philadelphia Stars beat the Jacksonville Bulls, 45-12 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Arizona Wranglers beat the Denver Gold, 41-6 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* And the Oakland Invaders beat the Memphis Showboats, 29-14 at the Oakland Coliseum.

There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs. The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 109-100 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. This gave the Celtics a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. They won the series in 5 games, and then beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the title.

And in English soccer, the FA Cup Final was held, at the old Wembley Stadium in West London. Everton FC, of Liverpool, beat Watford FC, of Hertfordshire in the London suburbs, 2-0.

May 17, 1985: Dire Straits Release "Brothers In Arms"

May 17, 1985: British rock band Dire Straits release their album Brothers In Arms. It has been hailed as one of the best rock and roll albums of all time. It was also the 1st album to sell over 1 million copies in compact disc form.

Mark Freuder Knopfler was born on August 12, 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland. His mother was English, and his father was a Hungarian Jew who fled the Nazis. He brought his younger brother, David Knopfler, into his band, Dire Straits, founded in London in 1977, with Mark playing lead guitar and David playing rhythm guitar. Bass guitarist John Illsley and original drummer John "Pick" Withers were from Leicester, England.

In 1978, they released their debut album, Sultans of Swing. The title track became a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and Mark's vocals were compared to Bob Dylan's. In 1980, David Knopfler left the group, meaning that, while the group may have been "brothers in arms," they no longer contained a pair of brothers.

Hal Lindes, from Monterey, California, became the new rhythm guitarist, and was replaced in 1984 by another American, Jack Sonni, from Indiana, Pennsylvania. Also in 1980, keyboard player Alan Clark, from Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England, joined. In 1982, Withers was replaced on drums by Terry Williams, from Swansea, Wales. In 1984, keyboard player Guy Fletcher joined, from Maidstone, Kent, England.

From November 1984 to February 1985, they recorded the album Brothers in Arms at AIR Studios on Montserrat, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. The studio, since abandoned, had been the recording site of many albums. Knopfler wrote all the songs on the album, and produced it along with Neil Dorfsman, a New Yorker who had been the engineer on the group's last album in 1982, Love over Gold.

The 1st track on the album, and the 1st single released from it, was "So Far Away," but it only hit Number 19. The 2nd single was "Money for Nothing." It was a satire of style-over-substance performers, with guest star Sting mockingly singing MTV's slogan: "I want my... I want my... I want my MTV!" With that guest appearance, Knopfler's spectacular opening guitar riff, and the chorus of "Money for nothing and chicks for free," it hit Number 1. (Knopfler got into a little trouble with calling the leader of the band being mocked "That little faggot." That line is usually dropped for airplay.) "Walk of Life" hit Number 7 in early 1986.

The group broke up in 1988, reformed in 1990, and broke up again in 1995. They were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. As of May 13, 2022, all members of Dire Straits are still alive, as is producer Neil Dofsman.

UPDATE: Jack Sonni died in 2023.

*

May 17, 1985 was a Friday. Football player Matt Ryan and actor-dancer Derek Hough were born.

This was the era of the USFL, the United States Football League, which played pro football in the Spring, and they played 1 game on this day: The Baltimore Stars beat the Orlando Magic, 34-21 at the Citrus Bowl (now Camping World Stadium) in Orlando.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs were between the Conference Finals and the Finals. Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference Finals was played, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 136-118 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the California Angels, 6-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Phil Niekro pitched 7 2/3rds innings of 2-hit shutout ball, Ron Guidry got the last out in the 8th inning, and Don Cooper completed the 3-hit shutout. It was the kind of screwball managing in which Billy Martin specialized.

Dave Winfield went 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a forceout. Don Mattingly went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Rickey Henderson did not play in the game. Reggie Jackson and Rod Carew did -- for the Angels. Mr. October went 0-for-3 with a walk. Carew, in his final season, went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Gary Carter singled Wally Backman home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. This made Roger McDowell a winning pitcher in relief of Ron Darling. Ray Knight hit a home run.

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Andre Dawson doubled Tim Raines home in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Von Hayes and Juan Samuel hit home runs for the Phils. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-2 with a walk before being replaced defensively.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Reds player-manager Pete Rose put himself in the game, and went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Roger Clemens pitched a 5-hit shutout, striking out 10. Wade Boggs went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 4-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Bret Saberhagen pitched a 2-hit shutout. George Brett went 1-for-4 with a walk. Robin Yount went 1-for-3. Paul Molitor went 0-for-3. 

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Tom Brunansky singled Mickey Hatcher home in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 8-6 at the Astrodome in Houston. The Cards scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th inning, on singles by Jack Clark, Andy Van Slyke and Terry Pendleton, to come from behind and win.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-2 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 11-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken and Fritzie Connally hit home runs.

May 12, 1985: The Fixed NBA Draft Lottery for Patrick Ewing

Left to right: David Stern, Patrick Ewing, Dave DeBusschere

May 12, 1985: The NBA holds its 1st-ever Draft Lottery, at the Felt Forum, a sub-arena of Madison Square Garden in New York. It was designed to stop teams having a bad season from "going into the tank" or "tanking": Losing games on purpose so that they could finish with the league's worst record, thus guaranteeing them the 1st pick in the NBA Draft.

David Stern, in his 1st full season as Commissioner, drew envelopes containing the logos of the 7 teams, out of the 23 then in the NBA, that didn't make the Playoffs. The theory was that each non-Playoff team had an equal chance to obtain the first pick. The rest of the first-round picks were determined in reverse order of their won–loss record.

It was no secret that the player most likely to be taken with the 1st overall pick would be Patrick Ewing, a center who had led Georgetown University to the previous year's National Championship, and the NCAA Tournament Final in 3 of his 4 years. Some observers were calling the lottery the Ewing Bowl, as if it were a football contest.

The general managers of the 7 teams patiently waited for Stern to draw the envelopes. The 1st one drawn, and thus the team that got the 7th pick, was the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors and the Indiana Pacers had tied for the worst record in the NBA, 22-60. Under the old system, those two teams would face a coin flip: The winner would get the 1st pick, the loser the 2nd pick. The Warriors were thus the 1st team who looked like a loser in the lottery.

The 6th pick went to the Sacramento Kings, the 5th to the Atlanta Hawks, the 4th to the Seattle SuperSonics, and the 3rd to the Los Angeles Clippers. It came down to the Pacers, represented by GM Robert Salyers; and the New York Knicks, represented by their GM, one of their all-time greatest players, Dave DeBusschere.

When Stern opened the next envelope, and pulled out the card, it contained the Pacers' logo. That meant they would pick 2nd, and the Knicks 1st. DeBusschere pumped his fist, and the New Yorkers inside the Felt Forum roared with delight. They knew exactly who DeBusschere, who had been a defensive and rebounding specialist as a player, would pick when the actual draft was held on June 18: The similarly-controlling Ewing.

When DeBusschere got up to shake hands with Stern, he reached into the pocket of his sportscoat, and pulled out a Knicks jersey with Number 33 on it. It wasn't in honor of his teammate on the 1970 NBA Champion Knicks, University of Michigan Hall-of-Famer Cazzie Russell. DeBusschere turned the jersey around, and revealed the name on the back: "EWING."

Ever since, people outside the New York Tri-State Area -- and some inside it, who had no problem with the idea -- have suggested that the fix was in: Stern wanted the best collegiate player of his generation to play for the New York team, because the New York team winning titles would be good for the league, TV-wise, therefore money-wise.

The question became not if Ewing would lead the Knicks to a World Championship, but how many. Of course, that same question would be asked for Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers in 1992. And if you had suggested at the times of their acquisitions that, in each case, the number would turn out to be zero, you would have been laughed out of the room.

But no one foresaw that the Boston Celtics would still dominate the Eastern Conference through 1987; that the Detroit Pistons would then do so through 1990; and that the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, would then do so through 1998. With Ewing, the Knicks would reach the NBA Finals in 1994. Without him -- he was injured earlier in the Playoffs -- they reached the Finals in 1999.

It got to the point where, like Joe Namath of the 1969 New York Jets and Mark Messier of the 1994 New York Rangers, Ewing began predicting that the Knicks would win the Championship. He did become the franchise's all-time leading scorer. But the franchise still hasn't won a title since 1973, with DeBusschere, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe and Jerry Lucas, Hall-of-Famers all.

So if there was a fix, it didn't work. Even so, Jordan and the Bulls did everything for the league that Stern had hoped that Ewing and the Knicks would do.

The Pacers chose Wayman Tisdale, who turned out to be a good player, but not a great one. The Clippers chose Benoit Benjamin, also a good one. The Sonics chose Xavier McDaniel, a very good player. The Hawks chose Jon Koncak, and the Kings Joe Kleine, who both turned out to be decent players.

The 7th pick that the Warriors got stuck with? They chose Chris Mullin, who, like Ewing and Jordan, would make the Hall of Fame and play on the 1992 Olympic "Dream Team." He would later play for the Pacers, and they got more out of him than they got out of Tisdale. So while the Warriors got robbed, they got more out of their pick than anybody but the Knicks got out of theirs.

There were other interesting picks. The Dallas Mavericks got Detlef Schrempf, a German star who did well for them, and later for the Pacers; Uwe Blab, also German, but not as good as Schrempf, and neither was as good for them as later German player Dirk Nowitzki; and Bill Wennington, who did little for them, but became a reserve for the Bulls' dynasty.

The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted Charles Oakley. He didn't do much for them, but he was later traded to the Knicks, and teamed with Ewing to produce the 2nd-best team in the East in the 1990s. They also drafted John "Hot Rod" Williams, who did well for them.

The Utah Jazz drafted Karl Malone, who would pair with John Stockton to form one of the greatest NBA duos. The Pistons drafted Joe Dumars, who became the defensive leader of the "Motor City Bad Boys," and later served as the general manager who built their next great team. The Pistons have reached the NBA Finals 5 times: 3 with Dumars as a player, winning 2; and 2 with Dumars as GM, winning 1.

The Los Angeles Lakers took A.C. Green, who helped them win 3 titles and set the NBA's consecutive games played record. The Portland Trail Blazers drafted Terry Porter, who helped them reach 2 NBA Finals. The Washington Bullets drafted 7-foot-6 shot-blocking specialist Manute Bol.

So the team that did the best in this draft was Detroit -- and they weren't in the Lottery. So much for the old slogan of the New York State Lottery: "You gotta be in it to win it."

Under the current rules, only the top four picks are decided by the lottery, and are chosen from the 14 teams (out of 30) that do not make the playoffs. The team with the worst record, or the team that holds the draft rights of the team with the worst record, has the best chance to obtain a higher draft pick. After the top four positions are selected (from the lottery slotting system), the remainder of the first-round draft order is in inverse order of the win–loss record for the remaining teams, or the teams who originally held the rights if they were traded. The lottery does not determine the draft order in the subsequent rounds of the draft.

Since the 2019 draft, the NBA changed the lottery odds (the bottom three teams will all have an equal 14 percent chance of winning the top pick), and increased the number of teams selected in the lottery from three to four.

*

May 12, 1985 was a Sunday. There was 1 game played in the NBA, and it was the league's best rivalry: The Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 108-93 at the Boston Garden.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 6-5 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Rickey Henderson went 3-for-5 with an RBI. But Pat Sheridan hit 2 home runs. George Brett went 1-for-5. The Yankees led 4-2 in the 4th inning, and blew it, with Jim Sundberg singling home the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Keith Hernandez hit a home run in support of Ron Darling. Mike Schimdt went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. David Palmer pitched 8 innings of 5-hit ball, and Jeff Reardon finished the 6-hit shutout.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray went 0-for-3 with a walk. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 9-5 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Bill Doran went 3-for-6 with 2 home runs and 2 RBIs. Reds manager Pete Rose put himself into the game as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Floyd Bannister pitched a 7-hit shutout, outpitching Jack Morris.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the California Angels, 7-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Paul Molitor went 2-for-4 with a walk. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4. Rod Carew, in his final season, only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 6-0 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Bert Blyleven pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium, in Los Angeles. Bobby Castillo (6 2/3rds innings) and Tom Niedenfuer combined on a 5-hit shutout.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Giants led 4-2 after 7 innings, but blew it. Nevertheless, David Green singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

There were 4 games played in the United States Football League:

* The New Jersey Generals beat the Baltimore Stars, 10-3 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Tampa Bay Bandits beat the Jacksonville Bulls, 21-10 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.

* The Memphis Showboats beat the Houston Gamblers, 17-15 at the Liberty Bowl (now Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium) in Memphis.

* And the Denver Gold beat the Arizona Outlaws, 42-28 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

There were 2 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Quebec Nordiques beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Chicago Black Hawks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 8-6 at the Chicago Stadium. However, both of these losing teams went on to win their series. The Oilers beat the Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals.