December 23, 2022: The Buffalo Bomb Cyclone & the Southwest Airlines Debacle

December 23, 2022: A major Winter storm hits the United States and southern Canada. It was a rapidly-deepening extratropical cyclonic low-pressure area, commonly known as a "bomb cyclone." It ends up killing 106 people.

Because of its location between 2 of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, the city of Buffalo, New York frequently gets hit with Winter storms. This was one of the worst they'd ever gotten, with 56 inches of snow being measured in nearby Snyder. The city was virtually paralyzed over the Christmas holiday.

The storm also wrought havoc with airline flights during Christmas week, one of the biggest travel periods of the year. Southwest Airlines, America's 2nd-largest airline by domestic passenger volume, canceled more than 60 percent of its flights over a 2-day stretch. Overall, U.S.-based airlines canceled more than 15,000 flights, the largest in history.

The storm combined with a computer glitch in Southwest's system, stranding thousands of people. Congressional investigations were begun, and lots of people at the airline lost their jobs.

As if the people of Buffalo hadn't suffered enough, having previously dealt with a racism-inspired mass shooting on May 14, 10 days after the storm, Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin nearly died on the field during a game, although he did recover.

*

December 23, 2022 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was in midweek. There were 2 college football bowl games played. The University of Houston beat the University of Louisiana, 23-16 in the Independence Bowl, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. And Wake Forest beat Missouri, 27-17 in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

There were 14 games in the NBA, with every team playing except for the Golden State Warriors and the Utah Jazz:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Chicago Bulls, 118-117 at Madison Square Garden. Zach LaVine scored 33 points for the Bulls, while RJ Barrett (no periods for his initials) scored 44 for the Knicks.

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 118-100 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 121-109 at the TD Garden in Boston. Jaylen Brown scored 35 points for the Celtics.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 119-114 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia. Joel Embiid scored 44 for the Sixers.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 130-105 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

* The Orlando Magic beat the San Antonio Spurs, 133-113 at the Amway Center in Orlando. (It's now named the Kia Center.)

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Heat, 111-108 at the FTX Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami. Tyrese Hailburton scored 43 points for the Pacers.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 118-107 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 128-125 in overtime at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 44 in defeat for the Thunder.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat their arch-rivals, the Houston Rockets, 112-106 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Luka Dončić scored 50 points for the Mavs.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Phoenix Suns, 125-100 at the Footprint Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 120-107 at the Ball Arena in Denver. Damian Lillard scored 34 in defeat for the Blazers.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 134-130 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. LeBron James scored 34 points in defeat for the Lakers.

* And the Washington Wizards beat the Sacramento Kings, 125-111 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Kyle Kuzma scored 32 for the Wiz.

And there were 11 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers, 5-1 at the UBS Arena.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Prudential Center.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-1 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-5 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Samuel Girard scored the winning goal with 43 seconds left in overtime.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Arizona Coyotes beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 in a shootout at the Mullett Center in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-4 in a shootout at the T-Mobile Center in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Rasmus Andersson scored the winning goal with 2:36 left in overtime.

* And the New York Rangers, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Detroit Red Wings, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Buffalo Sabres, the San Jose Sharks, the Ottawa Senators, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Minnesota Wild and the Seattle Kraken were not scheduled.

December 22, 1962: Britain's "Big Freeze" Begins

December 22, 1962: The "Big Freeze" begins in Britain. There were no frost-free nights until March 5, 1963 – 74 straight days.

The Winter of 1962–1963 remains the coldest since at least 1894-95 in all meteorological districts of the United Kingdom, although in north Scotland the Winter of 2009-10 was equally cold.

A cold easterly set in on December 22, as an anticyclone formed over Scandinavia, drawing cold continental winds from Russia. Throughout the Christmas period, the Scandinavian high collapsed, but a new high formed near Iceland, bringing northerly winds. Significant snowfall occurred on December 26 and 27, as the air mass moved south, and became firmly established.

Overnight on December 29 and 30, 1962 a blizzard swept across southern England and Wales. Snow drifted to more than 20 feet deep in places, driven by gale force easterly winds, blocking roads and railways. The snow stranded villages and brought down power lines.

On December 31, the clock on the Palace of Westminster -- often called Big Ben, even though that's actually the name of the bell in the clock -- was delayed by 10 minutes due to the large amount of snow that had accumulated on the clock hands, and the New Year ended up being 10 minutes late.

The near-freezing temperatures meant that the snow cover lasted for more than 2 months in some areas. There was so much snow, and temperatures were so cold, that the 3rd Round of the FA Cup, which normally begins on the 1st Saturday in January, was not completed until March 11, at a time when the 6th Round, the Quarterfinals, would usually be played. As a result, the Final, usually set for the 1st Saturday in May, was pushed back to the last, May 25.

*

December 22, 1962 was a Saturday. Also starting in England on this day is Ralph Nathanial Twisleton Wykeham Fiennes, in Ipswich, Suffolk. We would know him as the actor Ralph Fiennes, pronounced "Raif Fines."

And, on that day, for the first time, a British band hit Number 1 on the American popular music charts. No, it wasn't The Beatles. It was The Tornadoes, with the instrumental "Telstar," named for the communications satellite launched earlier in the year. As far as the U.S. charts were concerned, The Tornadoes turned out to be "one-hit wonders."

The cold postponed all Football League games in England. In American football, the NFL was between the last week of its regular season and its Championship Game, which, on December 30, the Green Bay Packers won, beating the New York Giants, 16-7 at Yankee Stadium. The American Football League played its Championship Game on December 23, and the Dallas Texans beat the Houston Oilers, 20-17 in overtime at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston. (I have separate entries for each of those games.)

There were 2 college football bowl games played that day. The Tangerine Bowl was played at the stadium then carrying the same name, now named Camping World Stadium, in Orland, Florida. The University of Houston beat Miami University of Ohio, 49-21.

UH did not play its bowl game in Houston. That would be the Bluebonnet Bowl, at Rice Stadium. Missouri beat Georgia Tech, 14-10.

Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games in the NBA, and 2 were a doubleheader at the Boston Garden. The Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Zephyrs, 122-110. The Zephyrs became the Baltimore Bullets the next season. And the New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 120-106 at the Boston Garden. Richie Guerin scored 37 points for the Knicks.

* And the San Francisco Warriors beat the Syracuse Nationals, 123-118 at the Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, New York. It was just another day at the office for Wilt Chamberlain: He scored 39 points and grabbed 28 rebounds, leading the Warriors to victory. This was the NBA's only season without a Philadelphia team: The Warriors had moved in the previous off-season, while the Nats would move the next off-season, becoming the Philadelphia 76ers for 1963-64.

And there were 2 games in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. And the Chicago Black Hawks and the Montreal Canadiens played to a tie, 1-1 at the Montreal Forum. The Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings were not scheduled.

December 16, 1945: The Cleveland Rams' Championship Farewell

Number 24 is Jim Gillette, who scored the winning touchdown.

December 16, 1945: The NFL Championship Game is played. The winning team... moves to another city.

You know how, when the Cleveland Browns announced during the 1995 season that they were moving, their fans had such a fit, and talked about how loyal they were? Well, at the time, they were averaging 66,772 fans per home game, which, given the capacity of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was an average of about 14,000 empty seats.

The Cleveland Rams would have gladly taken that. Founded in 1936, they had hoped to use Municipal Stadium for their home games, but ticket demand was usually so low, instead, they played at 22,000-seat League Park, or the even smaller Shaw Stadium, a high school facility.

In 1945, Adam Walsh was named head coach. He was the center on Notre Dame's 1924 National Championship team, leading the line known as the Seven Mules, so named because they blocked for the backfield known as the Four Horsemen. He saw to it that they drafted UCLA quarterback Bob Waterfield.

Bob Waterfield. Teammate Fred Gehrke,

a graphic artist, invented the modern helmet logo

by painting rams' horns on the helmets in 1948.

And they went 9-1, their best season yet. They played all their home games at League Park, and averaged just 19,402 fans. Granted, a lot of would-be fans were still overseas, as the end of World War II did not mean that every serviceman went home at once. Still, their away games did better: A crowd of 46,219 saw them beat the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, 40,017 saw them beat the Detroit Lions at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium), and 38,149 saw their only loss, to the Philadelphia Eagles at Shibe Park.

Since it was the Western Division Champion's turn to host the NFL Championship Game, Rams owner Dan Reeves -- no relation to the later coach of the same name -- booked Municipal Stadium for it, hoping for a big crowd. Certainly, he got the right opponent: The Eastern Division Champions were the Washington Redskins, with superstar quarterback Sammy Baugh, in their 5th Championship Game in the last 9 seasons. (They'd won in 1937 and 1942, and lost in 1940 and 1943.)

But the weather did not cooperate: At kickoff time, it was 8 degrees below zero, the coldest NFL Championship Game ever to that point. (That temperature has only been exceeded once, and that once with an asterisk: The 1967 NFL Championship Game, "The Ice Bowl," was not the World Championship Game.)

As a result, in the football-mad State of Ohio, where Ohio State had played to 4 crowds of 69,000 or more that season, only 32,178 fans paid their way into the big stadium on the shore of Lake Erie. In contrast, playing in Griffith Stadium, which barely seated 35,000 with added seating for football, the Redskins drew more than 32,178 fans in 9 of their 10 regular-season games, home and away.

From 1933 to 1973, the goalposts were on the goal line, not the end line. In the 1st quarter of this game, Baugh faded back from his own 5-yard line, into the end zone, and made a bad throw, which hit the goal post. Under the rule of the time, this was a safety for the Rams, who now led, 2-0. It would matter. 

Sammy Baugh

Each team scored a touchdown in the 2nd quarter. Baugh left the game due to bruised ribs, and Frank Filchock came into replace him. The backup to Slingin' Sammy was called Flingin' Frank, and he threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Steve "Jack Rabbit" Bagarus. Waterfield threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jim Benton, and it was 9-7 Cleveland at the half.

In the 3rd quarter, Waterfield threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Jim Gillette. However, Waterfield, also the Rams' placekicker, missed the extra point, and it was 15-7. Early in the 4th quarter, Filchock threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Bob Seymour. Joe Aguirre kicked the extra point, and it was 15-14 in the Rams' favor.

Joe Aguirre

But Aguirre, nicknamed "Hot-Toe," blew 2 chances to win the title, missing 2 field goals in the 4th quarter. The 15-14 score held, and the difference wasn't just Aguirre's toe going cold, it was Baugh's end-zone goof.

Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, who had been the driving force behind several notable rule changes, led the NFL to change the rule for the 1946 season: A forward pass that strikes the goal post would now be ruled an incomplete pass. That rule held until the posts were moved back to the end line for the 1974 season, making such a play impossible: It would have required crossing the end line, which has always been a safety.

Reeves lost $64,000 owning the Rams in the 1945 season. And, with the war over, a new league was being formed, the All-America Football Conference. And they would have a Cleveland team, soon to be named the Browns. Reeves knew that it would be folly to stay in Cleveland.

So he went to the previously untapped market of Los Angeles, and moved the Rams there. Since football is only played once a week, teams taking trains to the West Coast and back was the same kind of problem it would have been for baseball teams before jet travel made it easier. Over a decade before baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers moved there, the Los Angeles Rams became the toast of the town, reaching 4 NFL Championship Games between 1949 and 1955, winning in 1951.

Ironically, Joe Aguirre also went west in 1946, kicking for the AAFC's Los Angeles Dons. They did well at the box office, but couldn't outdraw the Rams, and folded with the league. Aguirre went to the Canadian Football League, and was its leading scorer in 1950 and 1954. But he never won a title in any league.

The Redskins got old in a hurry. And Marshall's policy of refusing to sign black players held the team back in the 1950s. Marshall's eventually fatal illness and incapacity held the team back in the 1960s. It would be 27 years before the team reached another championship game, under any name.

*

December 16, 1945 was a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There were 2 games played in the NHL. The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers, 8-7 at the Boston Garden. And the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 4-4 at Chicago Stadium.

September 8, 1900: The Galveston Hurricane

September 8, 1900: A hurricane strikes Galveston, Texas. It turns out to be the worst national disaster in American history.

The City of Galveston is on Galveston Island, on the Gulf of Mexico, about 50 miles southeast of Houston. This has made it particularly susceptible to tropical storms. Nevertheless, it is a popular destination for beachgoers, with a large amusement park.

It was even more so in the late 19th Century, a period known as the Golden Era. Some of the largest hotels in the country were there, and Reconstruction even permitted more participation for African-Americans and Mexican-Americans than would be seen in the 20th Century. They even had a successful professional baseball team: The Galveston Sand Crabs won the Texas League Pennant in 1890, 1897 and 1899. At the time, the population was about 37,000.

But on September 4, 1900, a tropical storm was detected, and it headed straight for the Gulf Coast of Texas. The National Weather Service had been established in 1870, and did issue a warning. But hardly anybody took it seriously enough to take the bridges back to the mainland.

By 12:00 Noon on September 8, part of the island was already flooded. By 4:00, wind speeds were up to 125 miles per hour (by definition, a hurricane is a storm with sustained winds of at least 75 MPH), and waves were 15 feet high.

Many of the houses on the island were made of wood, and, with no high ground to protect them, were just plain flattened. At least 6,000 people were killed, making it the deadliest natural disaster in American history. For comparison's sake: In 2005, Hurricane Katrina killed about 1,800; and in 2012, Hurricane Sandy, despite its widespread damage, killed a comparatively low 233.

By 1904, the City of Galveston had completed a permanent concrete seawall along the beachfront. By 1910, the entire city was raised 17 feet behind the wall. It has been hit by hurricanes since, but nothing as deadly as the 1900 hurricane, or Katrina, or Sandy. Today, it is home to about 50,000 people.

It wasn't until 1947 that hurricanes began to be named, using the military phonetic alphabet in use at the time: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, and so on. (In 1956, that was changed to Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and so on.) In 1955, America adopted the use of girls' names for hurricanes, starting with Alice. In 1979, boys' names began to alternate with girls' names: Ana, Bob, Claudette, David.

*

September 8, 1900 was a Saturday. Most college football teams hadn't yet started their season. Basketball and hockey were still all-amateur. But the entire National League, for the moment the only major league in baseball, was in action:

* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at the 1890-1911 version of the Polo Grounds.

* A doubleheader was split at the 1898-1912 version of Washington Park in Brooklyn. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the opener, 15-7. The Brooklyn Superbas won the nightcap, 6-5. They were managed by Ned Hanlon, and named for a circus troupe, Hanlon's Superbas. They became the Dodgers in 1911.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Beaneaters, 2-1 at the 1894-1914 version of the South End Grounds in Boston. The Beaneaters became the Braves in 1912.

* And the Chicago Orphans beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at National League Park (later renamed Baker Bowl) in Philadelphia. Since Cap Anson, also known as "Pop" retired, the Chicago team formerly known as the White Stockings and the Colts were called the Orphans because "they missed their Pop." They became the Cubs in 1903.

Being a Saturday, it was also a matchday in English soccer. Woolwich Arsenal, then playing at the Manor Ground in Plumstead, Southeast London, played Walsall at home, to a 1-1 draw. Walsall are in the West Midlands, outside Birmingham. In 1933, by which point Arsenal were in North London and the best team in England, Walsall famously shocked them in the FA Cup. In 1983, they beat Arsenal in the League Cup.

July 21, 1983: The Diana Ross Concert In Central Park

July 21, 1983: Diana Ross takes a stage set up on the Great Lawn of in Central Park in New York, in front of 800,000 people. The cable network Showtime aired it live, worldwide.

Two months earlier, on May 16, Ross had reunited with her former Supremes mates Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong for the 1st time since New Year's Eve 1969, as part of the Motown 25 TV special. The friction between Miss Ross and the others was obvious, and they never reunited again.

It did, however, get Ross' name back into the headlines, as she hadn't had a hit in 3 years, and she was only 39 years old and still looked and sounded fantastic. She worked with the City of New York to build a playground, with her name on it, with proceeds from a free concert in the Park.

Midway through the beginning of the show, a torrential downpour began. Ross tried to continue performing, but the severe weather forced the show to be stopped after 45 minutes. Ross urged the large crowd to exit the venue safely, promising to perform the next day.

The next day's concert suffered no rain, but the memorabilia that was supposed to be sold to raise money for the playground had already been destroyed by the storm. When journalists discovered the exorbitant costs of the two concerts, Ross faced criticism from Mayor Ed Koch and the Parks Department commissioner. During a subsequent mayoral press conference, Ross handed Koch a check for $250,000 for the project. The Diana Ross Playground opened in 1986.

*

July 21, 1983 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Charlie Puleo, who grew up a Met fan in Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey, and had started his career with them, was the winning pitcher for the Reds. Johnny Bench, in his final season, did not play.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Houston Astros, 9-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-6 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mike Schmidt went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and an RBI. Pete Rose went 3-for-6 with 3 RBI.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-6 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Paul Molitor went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* The San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* A doubleheader was split at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). The Detroit Tigers won the opener, 5-1. The California Angels won the nightcap, 3-2. Over the 2 games, Reggie Jackson went 3-for-7 with a walk and an RBI, and Rod Carew went 0-for-8, a rare bad day at the plate for him.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-7 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Eddie Murray went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Cal Ripken went 1-for-5.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 14-13 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Steve Henderson made an error on a Tony Armas fly ball that gave the Red Sox the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. The Red Sox got home runs from Armas and Dave Stapleton; the Mariners got 2 from Richie Zisk and 1 from Jamie Nelson.

* The rain that drenched Central Park also hit Yankee Stadium, postponing the New York Yankees' game with the Kansas City Royals. It was made up the next day as part of a doubleheader. The Yankees won the opener, 7-6. After Goose Gossage blew the save in the top of the 9th, Don Baylor bailed him out by singling home Steve Kemp with the winning run. Dave Winfield hit a home run.

The Royals won the nightcap, 3-2. Former Oakland pitchers Vida Blue and Matt Keough, briefly teammates in 1977, had a pitcher's duel in this one. The Royals led 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th, but Don Mattingly singled Kemp home. Both teams scored in the 11th inning. But in the top of the 12th, George Frazier gave up singles to Frank White and Don Slaught, and Jay Howell gave up the game-losing single to Willie Wilson.

Three days later, George Brett would put too much pine tar on his bat, and get called out after hitting a home run, and the Yankees won -- only for American League President Lee MacPhail to overturn the call, and give the game to the Royals.

And the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was rescheduled for the following Sunday, July 24. The Twins swept, 7-5 and 5-4.

June 22, 1972: Hurricane Agnes

Pittsburgh, flooded by Hurricane Agnes

June 22, 1972: Hurricane Agnes hits the Northeastern U.S. It kills 128 people, and becomes the costliest hurricane in American history to that point, causing $2.1 billion in damage. (In 2022 money, $14.7 billion.) In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, over 43,000 buildings were destroyed.

Since New York City and Washington, D.C. got hit, Agnes was more publicized that most hurricanes. But it did its biggest damage in Northeastern Pennsylvania, in the Reading area, in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, and the Lehigh Valley of Easton, Allentown and Bethlehem. The Delaware, Susquehanna and Lackawanna Rivers all well overran their usual limits. Ironically, their Congressman at the time was named Daniel Flood, but he did lead the relief efforts for the hurricane in Congress.

Across Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh got flooded. The Chesapeake region, including Maryland and Virginia, was also hard-hit. Before any of those places, it hit Florida, causing damage from the Keys all the way up to Jacksonville.

Unlike with George W. Bush and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, no one faulted President Richard Nixon for his response. He was still thinking the election he had to run in might be close, and he needed Pennsylvania's 27 Electoral Votes. He ended up winning every County in the State, except Philadelphia. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, including November 7. Had the hurricane happened a few days before the election, it probably wouldn't have ended up making a difference.

*

June 22, 1972 was a Thursday. There were only 2 scores, both in Major League Baseball. The Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. And the Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 3-for-4. Johnny Bench went 1-for-4. Each of them also had a walk and an RBI.

June 15, 1976: A Rainout at the Astrodome

June 15, 1976: A baseball game scheduled for the Astrodome in Houston is rained out.

Seriously. And while it was the weirdest event in baseball that day, it was far from the most consequential.

Until then, only one game at the Astrodome had ever been not been played, and the reason had nothing to do with the weather. On April 7, 1968, 3 days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, an exhibition game was canceled, as part of a day of mourning. But no regular-season games at the Dome, from its April 9, 1965 opening until June 15, 1976, were postponed. It was thought that preventing rain from falling onto the field would prevent that.

The Houston Astros were supposed to play the Pittsburgh Pirates. But heavy rain hit South Texas, and massive flooding resulted in Houston. At most, it was 13 inches deep at the Ship Channel on the city's East Side. On South Main Street, on the Southwest Side, near the Astrodome, the water was 7 inches deep.

This prevented all but a few fans from reaching the stadium. The Pirates were staying at the Shamrock Hilton. In normal weather, from there to the Astrodome would have been a 10-minute drive on the team bus. The driver had to go so gingerly, it ended up taking 30 minutes.

Both teams had arrived early for practice, and, according to Tal Smith, then the Astros' general manager, the field was dry, and there was no reason for which the home team was responsible that the game could not be played.

About 15 minutes after the Pirates got in, Tom Gorman, the crew chief for the umpires -- also including John McSherry, Paul Pryor and Art Williams -- called Smith, and told him that their car had stalled out in high water, and they couldn't get to the game. Only a few concession and security workers made it in. The broadcast crews for KPRC, both radio (950 AM) and television (Channel 2), were unable to reach the Dome, meaning that, if the game had gone on, there would be no coverage.

At 5:00 PM Central Time that day, faced with a 7:35 PM start time, the teams agreed to call the game off. Refunds were offered for 20 fans who did show up. Tables were brought onto the field, and the teams ate dinner together. The 20 fans were served separately, but it was free.

"Buffet-type, if I recall," said Pirate outfielder Al Oliver. "The Astro organization really did a great job. I tip my cap to 'em." And the players didn't seat themselves Astros at one end, Pirates at the other, or one team on each side. They mixed and mingled. "Most of us knew each other," Oliver added.

The players still couldn't get home, due to the flooding. Both teams bedded down inside their clubhouses. Having the Astroworld Hotel on the Astrodome campus didn't help: They still would have had to wade their way through the flooding to get there.

Although the Astros still had a home series with Pittsburgh in August, this game was made up at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh in July. The Pirates swept, 8-6 and 3-0.

The Astros played 35 seasons in the Astrodome, 1965 to 1999. In 2000, they moved into what's now known as Minute Maid Park (UPDATE: Renamed Daikin Park in 2025), which has a retractable roof. This game remains their only regular-season home postponement.

*

June 15, 1976 was a Tuesday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Dock Ellis outpitched Pete Redfern. Thurman Munson went 4-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Rod Carew went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

This was the trading deadline -- it was moved from June 15 to July 31 in 1986 -- and the Yankees traded pitchers Rudy May, Scott McGregor, Felix "Tippy" Martinez and Dave Pagan, and catcher Rick Dempsey, to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Ken Holtzman, Doyle Alexander, Grant Jackson and Jimmy Freeman, and catcher Elrod Hendricks.

Although Holtzman, Alexander and Jackson turned out to be key for the Yankees winning their 1st American League Pennant in 12 years, and Holtzman would also feature in their winning the 1977 World Series, this trade hurt them in the long run.

May, McGregor and Martinez all became key parts of the Oriole rotation, and Dempsey became one of the game's top catchers. In 1979, Yankee catcher Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash, and Dempsey was no longer there to succeed him, helping the Orioles run away with the American League Eastern Division title, and eventually the Pennant. When the O's won the World Series in 1983, Dempsey was named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

Rick Dempsey at Yankee Stadium.

Right guy. Right position. Right ballpark. Wrong uniform.

The Yankees did reacquire May -- no relation to Lee May, who played for the Orioles, and his brother Carlos May, who played for the Yankees, in each case including in that 1976 season -- and he helped them win the 1980 Division title and the 1981 Pennant. Would having Dempsey as catcher, instead of Rick Cerone, and later Butch Wynegar and Don Slaught, have made a difference? Maybe not. The Yankees did need that 1976 Pennant, to help set up '77 and '78, and possibly also '81. Maybe it was a wash, but it sure felt like a bad trade after Munson's crash.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Shea Stadium. Jon Matlack outpitched Burt Hooton.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 10-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Steve Carlton won it. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-2 with 2 walks, and Garry Maddox hit a home run.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose and Joe Morgan both went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Johnny Bench went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 21-7 at Tiger Stadium. George Brett went 4-for-6 with an RBI. Amos Otis went 3-for-3 with a walk, a home run, and 5 RBIs. And Dave Nelson went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Rich "Goose" Gossage, a relief pitcher for most of his career, started this game and went the distance, but was outpitched by Jim Palmer, who pitched a 5-hit shutout. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-5.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Lou Brock did not play.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at San Diego Stadium. Dave Winfield went 1-for-4.

* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 1-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Nolan Ryan outpitched Jim Colborn. Hank Aaron, in his final season, appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Gene Tenace hit a home run off Fergie Jenkins in the bottom of the 9th inning to win it. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4. This was the day that A's owner Charlie Finley sold outfielder Joe Rudi and relief ace Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox for $1 million each, and pitcher Vida Blue to the Yankees for $1.5 million. But Commissioner Bowie Kuhn stepped in, put the sales on hold, preventing the 3 players from playing for anyone, and, 3 days later -- I have an entry for this event -- canceling the sales entirely.

May 22, 1993: The Great Midwest Flood of 1993

May 22, 1993: The Great Midwest Flood of 1993 reaches its peak. It killed 32 people, and caused over $15 billion in damage. It is the most damaging American flood since the Mississippi River flood that struck Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana in 1927.

The preceding Winter featured a snowfall much greater than average, and as it melted, it caused the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and their various tributaries, to flood.

Especially hard-hit were communities along the Mississippi River in Illinois and Iowa. Among these were the Quad Cities: Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa; and Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. Davenport's former Municipal Stadium, built in 1931, by this point known as John O'Donnell Stadium, and now named Modern Woodmen Park, home of the Class A Midwest League's Quad Cities River Bandits, was flooded, as seen in the photo above, next to the Rock Island Centennial Bridge.

May 22 is considered the peak because Sioux Falls, South Dakota received 7 1/2 inches of rain in just 3 hours, swelling the Big Sioux River, which flows into the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi just north of St. Louis, Missouri.

At the same time, the opposite hit the Southeastern U.S.: A drought. In late June, with much of the Midwest still dealing with flooding, I was in South Carolina. The State's largest newspaper, The State, published a political cartoon, showing the State flag, but with a cactus instead of the State Flower, the palmetto.

*

May 22, 1993 was a Saturday. A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Mike Witt outpitched Roger Clemens. Danny Tartabull hit a home run, and Dion James had 3 hits.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-1 at Shea Stadium.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Harold Reynolds drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 14th inning. Cal Ripken hit a home run, while Robin Yount, his predecessor as baseball's best shortstop, drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Florida Marlins, 2-1 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Texas Rangers beat the California Angels, 4-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-0 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. How many Blue Jays does it take to pitch a 6-hit shutout? Apparently, 5: Todd Stottlemyre left the game in the 3rd inning due to an injury, and was followed by Danny Cox (credited as the winning pitcher), Mark Eichhorn, Mike Timlin and Duane Ward.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-4 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. For the A's, Dave Henderson hit a home run, and Rickey Henderson (no relation) went 1-for-4. For the ChiSox, Ozzie Guillen (yes, the future manager) hit a home run, and Frank Thomas went 1-for-5.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-4 with an RBI, while Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 9-4 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Ken Caminiti hit 2 home runs, and Jeff Bagwell hit 1. But Tony Gwynn went 3-for-5, and Phil Plantier hit 2 RBI doubles.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Roberto Kelly, Barry Larkin and Chris Sabo hit home runs for the Reds; while Royce Clayton and Robby Thompson hit them for the Giants. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3.

Football was out of season. There was 1 game played in the NBA Playoffs that day, and it was a Game 7: The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Houston Rockets, 103-100 in overtime at the Key Arena in Seattle.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs were in the Conference Finals. The New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum, in Game 4 of the Prince of Wales Conference Finals. But that would be the only game the Isles won in the series, as the Canadiens went on to win the Cup. They beat the Los Angeles Kings, who were on on off-day in their Clarence Campbell Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

April 5, 1936: The Tupelo Tornado

April 5, 1936: A tornado kills 216 people in Tupelo, Mississippi. At the time, it was the 2nd-deadliest tornado in American history, after the Tri-State Tornado that hit Missouri, Illinois and Indiana in 1925. As late as 2022, it remains the 4th-deadliest.

It was 1 of at least 14 tornadoes that struck the Southeast on April 5 and 6, killing at least 454 people and injuring at least 2,500 others. Over two hundred people died in Georgia alone, centered on the town of Acworth, making it the deadliest disaster ever recorded in the State. Among the other communities particularly hard-hit were Columbia, Tennessee and Anderson, South Carolina.

Tupelo is 116 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee; 133 miles northwest of Birmingham, Alabama; and 202 miles southeast of Nashville, Tennessee. Among the people who lived in Tupelo and survived the tornado that hit that city were a young couple with a one-year-old boy. When the boy was 13, the couple moved to Memphis, taking him with them. Their names were Vernon and Gladys Presley. The son's name was Elvis.

On such threads does history sometimes hang.

*

April 5, 1936 was a Sunday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There was one score on this historic day, and it was in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals: The Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The Wings went on to win the series, 3 games to 1.

March 18, 1925: The Tri-State Tornado

March 18, 1925: The Tri-State Tornado, the deadliest in U.S. history, rampages through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people and injuring 2,027.

The tornado touched down in Shannon County, Missouri, about 150 miles southwest of St. Loius, and moved to the northeast. The tornado immediately began to produce heavy damage to structures in Missouri, before directly impacting the town of Annapolis, destroying 90 percent of the town and killing 2 people. Debris from Sedgewickville was found almost 50 miles away. Over half of the population of the town of Gorham, Illinois was killed, and over 100 people were killed in Murphysboro, Illinois.

The tornado killed at least 20 farm owners in southeastern Illinois and southwestern Indiana, more than the combined total of the next four deadliest tornadoes in the history of the United States. It killed a combined total of 695 people, the majority of which occurred in Illinois.

*

March 18, 1925 was a Sunday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. And the Stanley Cup Playoffs were between the league finals and the Cup Finals. The Montreal Canadiens, Cup holders, had again won the NHL Championship. The Victoria Cougars had won the West Coast Hockey League title. The Cougars went on to win the Cup, and they remain the last team from outside the NHL to win it -- making the Canadiens, in addition to the team that has won the most Cups, the last team to win the NHL Championship without winning the Stanley Cup.

March 4, 1873: Ulysses S. Grant's Frozen Inauguration

March 4, 1873: President Ulysses S. Grant is inaugurated for a 2nd term. It was the coldest Inauguration Day in history to that point: 16 degrees Fahrenheit, with a wind-chill factor of -15.

Regardless of temperature, things were different at the time: First the parade; then, the Inaugural Address and swearing-in of the Vice President-elect by the outgoing Vice President, in this case, former Senator Henry Wilson, sworn in by Schuyler Colfax; then the President-elect (or the re-elected President) would deliver an Inaugural Address; and, finally, the President would be sworn in by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, in this case, Salmon P. Chase.

Grant requested the Bible be open to Isaiah, Chapter 11, a chapter about "Christ's Peaceable Kingdom,", which was symbolic to Grant's view of post-Civil War America. The passage also referred to "the stem of Jesse," which was also the name of Grant's father. (Grant was the 1st President who had both of his parents live to see him achieve the office.)

His Inaugural Address began with a defense of his policy in the South, gave a statement of support for black freedmen, and celebrated the success of Reconstruction. He also praised technological advances, and spoke against his political enemies.

The Inaugural Ball was disastrous. It was held in a temporary structure built on Judiciary Square, which was not heated. Guests danced in their coats. Desserts congealed. The champagne froze. Musicians struggled to play. Canaries, which were to be part of the entertainment, died in their cages. The room was designed for 6,000 guests, but only half that number attended. The President and the Cabinet didn't get in until 11:30 P.M., and stayed for a short time before moving on to a private, heated room for supper. By Midnight, the event was over.

It was a bad omen: Grant had a very difficult 2nd term. Not as difficult as Vice President Wilson, though: He was in poor health for a big chunk of it, and died with over a year to go.

Despite Inauguration Day having been moved from March 4 to January 20 by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution in 1933, there has been only 1 colder one since: Ronald Reagan's 2nd Inauguration, in 1985. The ceremony was moved inside the Capitol Rotunda, and the Parade was canceled. Grant's 1873 swearing-in was held outdoors. The only other indoor ceremony, due to slushy grounds, came in 1909, when William Howard Taft was inaugurated in the Capitol's Senate chamber.

UPDATE: In 2025, Donald Trump was inaugurated in the Rotunda, officially due to the cold. But it wasn't as cold as it was in 1873. Or 1985. Or 1909. Or 1961. Or 1973. Or 1993. Or 2009. Trump was a coward, either with cold, or a with seeing the crowd coming to see it being too small.

*

March 4, 1873 was a Tuesday. The only professional team sport in America at this point was baseball, and the season hadn't started yet. So there were no scores on this historic day.

March 1, 1910: The Wellington Avalanche & Train Wreck

March 1, 1910: The Wellington Avalanche occurs, the deadliest avalanche in American history, marked by the total death count of 96.

Wellington is in the Cascade Mountains, in the central part of the State of Washington, about 85 miles east of Seattle. For 9 days at the end of February 1910, the Wellington area experienced a severe blizzard. Up to a foot of snow fell every hour. On the worst day, 11 feet fell.

Two Great Northern Railroad trains, a passenger train and a mail train, both bound from Spokane to Seattle, were trapped in the depot. Snow plows were present at Wellington, and others were sent to help, but they could not penetrate the snow accumulations and repeated avalanches along the stretch of tracks between Scenic and Leavenworth.

Late on February 28, the snow stopped, and was replaced by rain and a warm wind. Just after 1:00 AM on March 1, as a result of a lightning strike, a slab of snow broke loose from the side of Windy Mountain during a thunderstorm. A 10-foot high mass of snow, half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, fell toward the town. A forest fire had recently ravaged the slopes above the town, leaving very little to impede the avalanche.

The avalanche missed the Bailets Hotel, which also housed the town's general store and post office, but hit the railroad depot. Most of the passengers and crew were asleep aboard their trains. The impact threw the trains 150 feet downhill and into the Tye River valley. A total of 96 people were killed, including 35 passengers, 58 Great Northern employees on the trains, and 3 railroad employees in the depot. However, 23 people survived, pulled from the wreckage by railroad employees who immediately rushed from the hotel and other buildings where they had been staying. The work was then abandoned because of the adverse weather conditions, and it was not until 21 weeks later, in late July, that the last of the bodies were retrieved.

This was not the only avalanche in the Pacific Northwest that winter. Three days later, 63 railroad workers were killed in the Rogers Pass Avalanche, 433 miles to the northwest in British Columbia, Canada.

*

March 1, 1910 was a Tuesday. Actor David Niven was born. This was also the day the film In Old California was released. I have a separate entry for that event.

There were no scores on this historic day. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was in midweek. Professional basketball barely existed. The National Hockey Association was wrapping up its 1st season, but no games were played on this day. The Montreal Wanderers won the Stanley Cup. In mid-March, the Wanderers went to New York, and played 3 games at the St. Nicholas Arena, beating the previous (and next) year's Cup winners, the Ottawa Senators, twice, before losing a 3rd game, against the Renfrew Creamery Queens.

February 9, 1934: New York's Coldest Day

Lower Manhattan as seen from a ferry on a frozen Hudson River

February 9, 1934: A temperature of -15 degrees below zero is recorded in New York City. That figure is still a record low for the City.

There were 40 straight days of subfreezing (32 degrees or below) temperatures in New York in the Winter of 1933-34. It was -6 on December 30, -7 on February 8, and -15 on February 9.

New Yorkers have had to brave winds blasting cold air in from the wide Hudson and East Rivers, and from New York Harbor and Long Island Sound. For comparison's sake, Chicago, with Lake Michigan providing the same effect, had major cold spells in 1982, 1985, and 2019, bottoming out at -27 on January 20, 1985.

The next day, that same cold front hit Washington, D.C., and it was just 7 degrees above zero. Since the 20th was a Sunday, the Inauguration festivities for President Ronald Reagan's 2nd term were going to be held on Monday the 21st. But Reagan, an Illinois native, knew about cold, so he had the ceremony moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda, and the parade canceled, out of concern for the marchers.

*

February 9, 1934 was a Friday. This was also the day the film The Rise of Catherine the Great premiered. I have a separate entry for that event. Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. Fittingly, the NHL was the only major sports league in operation at the time, but no games were scheduled.

College basketball wasn't yet big enough to cover. And it was too cold, outside of Florida and California, for tennis, golf or horse racing. This was the time of year that made Paul Gallico answer, when asked why he gave up sportswriting, say, "February."

February 7, 2013: Vic DiBitetto Posts "Bread & Milk"

February 7, 2013: Vic DiBitetto posts a video to YouTube: "Bread & Milk."

A Brooklyn native, Vic started doing comedy in the early 1980s, doing not well enough to become a star, but doing just well enough to keep doing it, while he made a living as a garbage truck driver, and then a school bus driver, on Staten Island. In 1991, he and his son Michael won $10,000 on America's Funniest People, for a home video of a mock ventriloquist act.

The coming of YouTube inspired Vic to make his own channel, and bring his comedy to the masses, a few minutes at a time. Frequently, he would open with, "Hey, whattaya say, my Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google Plus, your sister's ass, the Pony Express? A very ticked-off Vic here. You know what ticks me off?" And then he would explain what was ticking him off at the moment. Usually, it was something really annoying and stupid, instead of something actually dangerous. Such is life when you live in the New Jersey suburbs of New York. (I understood completely: At the time, we lived 16 miles apart.)

By early February 2013, he had turned 52, and had appeared in exactly one feature film -- and it was Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. He got raves for this brief appearance in an otherwise forgettable movie, but he was still no closer to becoming a star than he was in 1991. Still, people were liking his videos and telling him he was funny. Again, he was getting just enough encouragement to continue.

Then came a weather report: A storm was going to dump a lot of snow on the Northeastern United States. Words like "blizzard," "nor'easter," "extratropical cyclone" and "bomb cyclone" were used.

When warnings of a big storm come, people tend to panic, and head to stores to get food. And paper products, such as toilet paper and paper towels. And, in case power is lost, fuel for portable generators, and candles. Runs on stores' supplies of bread and milk are common.

It's worth pointing out that this was just 14 weeks after Hurricane Sandy had ravaged the Northeast, so that was still on people's minds. There was no snow on that occasion. But if the snow that was being predicted for this occasion had turned out to be deep -- say, 2 feet (24 inches) or more, it might be days before you could get to the store again, so you'd better get what you need now, before the snowfall starts.

And so, Vic posted a 28-second video of himself running out of his house, and getting into his car to go to the store, getting more and more worried as he goes along:

Gotta get the bread and milk. I gotta get the bread and milk. I gotta get the bread and milk. Gotta get the bread and milk, oh my God! I gotta... I gotta get the bread and milk! I gotta get the bread and... They said snow! I gotta get the bread and milk! Oh my God! I gotta get the bread... I gotta get the bread and milk! I gotta get the bread and milk, oh my God!

Within a year of posting it, this video got over 12 million views. By 2022, it was up to 20 million. It was shown on CNN, NBC's The Today Show, and ABC's The View.

And the parodies of it came up fast. Within 5 days, a man recorded what he called "Bread & Milk (black version)": "I gotta get the sugar and Kool-Aid!" In January 2014, with snow already falling, another guy went through the whole shebang of saying he's gotta get the bread and milk, and closed with, "I'm gettin' Dunkin Donuts, screw this." In January 2016, with Shopkins being a toy craze, a woman taped her daughter, probably around 8 years old, getting into the car's driver's seat, and saying, "I gotta get the Shopkins!"

Vic said, "Thirty seconds of stupidity brought me more recognition than thirty years of stand-up." He now occasionally gets parts in comedy movies, usually playing guys like himself: Italians who yell a lot.

He parodies this with his character, Tony Gaga. That's with the accent on the 2nd syllable, Ga-GA, not like Lady Gaga (who is also Italian and from New York). Tony Gaga, whom Vic claims is his cousin, wears shades, an undershirt, and Bermuda shorts, and doesn't know the meaning of the words "inside voice." Whatever you're talking about, he says, "You gotta guy? You gotta go to the guy I go to! He'll get it for ya for two dollars! Two dollars!"

Vic as Tony Gaga

He also does videos pretending to be the manager of the New York Yankees, the head coach of the New York Giants (keeping his own personality for both, not pretending to be the actual field boss), Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa, Al Pacino's Tony Montana of Scarface, Marlon Brando's Don Vito Corleone of The Godfather, Robert Shaw's Quint from Jaws, or the late, great comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who was a friend of his. Sometimes, he's himself, Tony Gaga, Rocky, Tony Montana, Don Corleone, Quint and Rodney, all in the same video.

But he's still best known as "The Bread and Milk Guy." In 2021, after a year of COVID, with its runs on store supplies, one commenter wrote, "This man was living in 2020 before 2020 was even a thing." Around that time, Vic actually did get COVID. He was miserable for 4 days, but survived, and, as of February 7, 2022, shows no ill effects, but minces no words: You don't want it.

As for the storm in question: New York got 11 inches of snow, and most of New Jersey got around that as well. New England was hit much worse: Boston got 25 inches; Portland, Maine set a city record with 32 inches; and Hamden, Connecticut got hit the worst, 40 inches -- that's 3-foot-4. Both New England and Atlantic Canada (the Maritime Provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador) got hit with waves much higher than usual. Over 700,000 people lost power, some only briefly, others for days; and 18 deaths were attributed to the storm.

And, just so you know, he did get the bread and milk.

This head-tilt and glare is known to his fans as "Doing The Look."

*

February 7, 2013 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. The football season had just ended with Super Bowl XLVII, in which the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31.

Only 2 NBA games were played. That was what was scheduled; it wasn't due to the storm. The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 116-95 at the TD Garden in Boston; and the Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls, 128-96 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

There were 12 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Islanders, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2 at the Prudential Center.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 in a shootout at the Wells Fargo Arena (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 in overtime at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-4 in a shootout at the First Niagara Center (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 5-2 at the Consol Energy Center (now the PPG Paints Arena) in Pittsburgh.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 in overtime at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the MTS Centre (now the Canada Life Centre) in Winnipeg.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 6-2 at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* And the Anaheim Ducks, the Boston Bruins, the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, the Edmonton Oilers and the San Jose Sharks were not scheduled.