October 31, 1992: Rutgers' Halloween Homecoming Thriller

October 31, 1992: Rutgers University plays Virginia Tech in a Halloween Homecoming thriller, in the next-to-last game at the old Rutgers Stadium. The stars of this game, all from New Jersey, were quarterback Bryan Fortay of East Brunswick, running back Bruce Presley of Highland Park, tight end Jim Guarantano of Lodi, and receiver Chris Brantley of Teaneck.

RU fell behind 42-23 in the 3rd quarter, before launching a comeback. With 1:32 left, and Tech leading 49-44, the Scarlet Knights got the ball on their own 22. Among the plays on this drive was a 46-yard pass from Fortay to Mario Henry with 7 seconds left. RU won on the final play, the 4th Fortay-to-Brantley touchdown pass of the game, 50-49. Yes, that score is in football, not basketball.

The shootout featured a combined 1,164 yards of total offense, on 167 plays, with 54 first downs, 10 interceptions and 14 touchdowns.

Rutgers played in the 1st college football game, in 1869. So they have, literally, been playing football longer than anybody in America. This may not be their greatest game in their history, and it certainly isn't the most important (or even the most important one since 1869). But it is the wildest.

RU advanced to 5-3 on the season, and had a shot at winning the Big East Conference title, having already beaten then-Number 15 Syracuse 3 weeks earlier.

But the next week, they lost away to the University of Cincinnati, 26-24, before closing the old Rutgers Stadium the following week with a 13-9 win over West Virginia. The closed the season by beating Temple at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. After playing all their home games at the Meadowlands in 1993, the old stadium was demolished, and the new Rutgers Stadium, now named SHI Stadium, opened on the site in 1994.

RU finished 7-4, and were not invited to go to a bowl game. After they lost their season opener, to Boston College, their quarterback, Glenn Foley -- a New Jersey native they let get away, from the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill -- told the media, "The only bowl Rutgers is going to is the one I just got off of." Big talk from a guy whose biggest achievement as a pro was starting 8 games at quarterback for the New York Jets.

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October 31, 1992 was a Saturday. Among the other college football games played on that Halloween were these:

* Number 1 Miami beat West Virginia, 35-23 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Miami won the Big East Conference title.

* Number 2 Washington beat Number 15 Stanford, 41-7 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Washington won the Pacific-Ten title.

* Number 3 Michigan beat Purdue, 24-17 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Michigan won the Big Ten title, but lost the Rose Bowl to Washington.

* Number 4 Alabama had the week off. They went on to win the Southeastern Conference title, rising to Number 2, then beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship.

* Number 5 Texas A&M beat Southern Methodist (SMU), 41-7 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. A&M won the Southwest Conference title.

* Number 6 Florida State beat Number 23 Virginia, 13-3 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. Florida State won the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 7 Georgia were upset by Number 20 Florida, 26-24 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. Florida won the SEC Eastern Division title, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama. They returned to the Gator Bowl stadium to play the game of the same name, and beat North Carolina State. Georgia beat Ohio State in the Florida Citrus Bowl.

* Number 8 Nebraska beat Number 9 Colorado, 52-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska won the Big Eight Conference title, but lost the Orange Bowl to Florida State. Colorado went to the Fiesta Bowl, where they lost to Syracuse.

* Number 10 Notre Dame beat Navy, 38-7 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. Notre Dame went to the Cotton Bowl, and beat Texas A&M.

* Number 14 Penn State were upset by Brigham Young University (BYU), 30-17 at Cougar Stadium (now LaVell Edwards Stadium) in Provo, Utah.

* Number 16 Tennessee were upset by South Carolina, 24-23 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

* Number 19 Washington State were upset by Oregon, 34-17 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington.

* Army beat Eastern Michigan, 57-17 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

Baseball season was over. The NBA season started 6 days later. There were 10 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Colisée de Québec.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Hartford Whalers, 7-1 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators played to a tie, 2-2 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena).

* The 2 remaining "Original Six" teams also played each other, as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-4 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

September 10, 2016: American Football's Biggest Crowd

September 10, 2016: The biggest crowd in the history of American football, at any level, is recorded. And not at a place known for hosting the sport.

The University of Tennessee is in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a.k.a. Virginia Tech, is in Blacksburg, Virginia. Their stadiums are 237 miles apart, separated by Interstates 81 and 40. However, they are not rivals, because they are in different leagues: Tennessee are in the Southeastern Conference (the SEC), Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference (the ACC).

Perhaps the fact that they are not rivals made this neutral-site game easier to set up. Tech's Lane Stadium seats 65,632. Tennessee's Neyland Stadium seats 101,915. But they set up a game against each other at a racetrack, the Bristol Motor Speedway, in Bristol, Tennessee, 110 miles from Neyland Stadium, 138 miles from Lane Stadium, and 7 miles from the Virginia/Tennessee State Line that Bristol straddles. (Bristol, Virginia is home to 17,000 people; Bristol, Tennessee, to 26,000.)

The Speedway opened in 1961, is a regular on the NASCAR "short track" circuit, and is known as "The World's Fastest Half Mile." Officially, it seats 153,000. But when the Tennessee Volunteers and the Virginia Tech Hokies played each other there on September 10, 2016, the attendance was a new record for a game of the sport the rest of the world calls "American football": 156,990.

The current NFL record is 112,376, for an exhibition game at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in 1994. The Houston Oilers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 6-0. The biggest crowd for a regular-season game was 105,121 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on September 20, 2009. The Cowboys lost this one, too, to the New York Giants, 33-31.

Here's what the 156,990 at "The Battle at Bristol" saw. Tech scored 2 touchdowns in the 1st quarter, for a 14-0 lead. The Volunteers took over from there, scoring 31 unanswered points: 4 touchdowns and a field goal, making it 31-14. The Hokies added a field goal to close it to within 31-17 at the end of 3 quarters.

The Vols scored 2 more touchdowns in the 4th quarter. The Hokies added a touchdown, but that would be it: Tennessee 45, Virginia Tech 24. Tech football is known for 2 things: Michael Vick and good defense. On this night, they had neither.

Tennessee went 9-4, staying at home for the postseason, winning the Music City Bowl in Nashville. Virginia Tech went 10-4, winning the Coastal Division of the ACC, losing the ACC Championship Game to Clemson, and winning the Belk Bowl (now the Duke's Mayo Bowl) in Charlotte.

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September 10, 2016 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games were played that day:

* Number 1 Alabama beat Western Kentucky, 38-10 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

* Number 2 Clemson beat Troy, 30-24 at Clemson Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 3 Florida State beat Charleston Southern at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

* Number 4 Ohio State beat the University of Tulsa, 48-3 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

* Number 5 Michigan beat Central Florida, 51-14 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* Number 6 University of Houston beat Lamar University, 42-0 at TDECU Stadium in Houston.

* Number 8 University of Washington beat Idaho, 59-14 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

* Number 9 Georgia beat Nicholls State, 26-24 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 10 Wisconsin beat the University of Akron, 54-1 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

* Number 15 Texas Christian (TCU) were upset by Arkansas at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.

* Number 22 Oklahoma State were upset by Central Michigan, 30-27 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

* In a major rivalry, the University of Pittsburgh beat Penn State, 42-39 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Rice, 31-14 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; Navy beat the University of Connecticut, 28-24 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force beat Georgia State, 48-14 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* And Rutgers beat Howard University, 52-14 at High Points Solutions Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey.

It was a little early for the NBA and NHL seasons to start. But these baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-1 at Yankee Stadium. Masahiro Tanaka was the winning pitcher, and home runs were hit by two men who became pariahs among Yankee Fans, Jacoby Ellsbury and Gary Sánchez.

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Adonis Garcia singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0 at Nationals Park in Washington. How many Nats pitchers does it take to pitch a 5-hit shutout? This time, 4: Max Scherzer, 6 2/3rds innings; Marc Rzepczynski, 1 inning; Shawn Kelley, 1/3rd of an inning, faced only one batter, but, because he was their pitcher when the Nats took the lead, on a 3-run home run by Bryce Harper in the bottom of the 8th, he was credited as the winning pitcher; and Mark Melancon, who got the save.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins, 5-0 at Marlins Park (now LoanDepot Park) in Miami. How many Dodger pitchers does it take to pitch a 2-hit shutout? Also 4. At least this time, the starter got the win: Rich Hill pitched 7 no-hit innings, before manager Dave Roberts replaced him with Joe Blanton, who allowed a hit in the 8th; Grant Dayton allowed a hit in the 9th, and Kenley Jansen got the last out.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-5 at U.S. Cellular Field (soon to be renamed Guaranteed Rate Field, and now named just Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Joe Mauer singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 11-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-3 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels, 8-5 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 14-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Hampshire team Southampton, 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.

April 16, 2007: The Virginia Tech Massacre

April 16, 2007: A massacre occurs on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a.k.a. Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, in the Shenandoah Mountains of western Virginia. (Not to be confused with West Virginia.)

Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old Korean immigrant and Tech student, shot 49 people, killing 32 of them, before killing himself. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in American history. In 2016 and 2017, it was surpassed by mass shootings in Orlando and Las Vegas, respectively.

Naturally, in the face of a heinous and preventable crime, the American federal government, led by George W. Bush, did nothing.

The Tech community rallied around the victims' families, and the New York Yankees even played a fundraising Spring Training game on campus. On March 18, 2008, the Yankees beat Tech, 11-0, in a game stopped after 7 innings. Oddly, the Yankees did it without hitting a home run. Attendance: 5,311.

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April 16, 2007 was a Monday. There were 10 games played in Major League Baseball on that day. Neither of the New York teams played in them:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 7-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-7 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-6 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 12-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

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

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-0 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

Football was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the New York Knicks, 104-95 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat, 91-89 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (It's now named the Kaseya Center.)

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the San Antonio Spurs, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns, 120-117 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Tracy McGrady had 39 points for the Rockets.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 122-107 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (It's now named the Ball Arena.)

* The Utah Jazz beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 130-93 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (then named the EnergySolutions Arena).

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 102-96 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* And the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets -- a situation forced by the rebuilding of the Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina -- beat the Sacramento Kings, 125-118 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. (It's now named the Sleep Train Arena.)

And these games were played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, all in the 1st Round:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. (It's now named the Benchmark International Arena.) The Lightning took a 2-1 lead, but the Devils took the next 3 to win the series.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum. The Sabres took a 2-1 lead, and won the series 4-1.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators, 3-1 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. (It's now named the SAP Center.) The Sharks took a 2-1 lead, and won the series 4-1.