October 22, 1926: The Tragedy of Harry Greb

October 22, 1926: Harry Greb, a former Middleweight Champion of the World, dies in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was only 32 years old.

Edward Henry Greb was born on June 6, 1894 in Pittsburgh, leading to his nicknames: "The Pittsburgh Windmill," "The Smoke City Wildcat" and "The Pittsburgh Bearcat." I thought his surname might have been shortened (either by him or his father) from a longer one, either Slavic or Italian, but, apparently, that was it, and he was of German descent.

By 1915, he was fighting world-class opposition, including 2 fights, though not sanctioned for the title, against Middleweight Champion George Chip. He lost both fights by what was then called a "newspaper decision." In 1917, he set a record that will almost certainly never be broken with 37 officially sanctioned fights in a single year -- an average of 1 every 9.8 days. He won 34 of them. He beat Barney "Battling" Levinsky, the Light Heavyweight Champion, although, again, the title was not officially on the line. Starting in 1918, he won 52 straight fights, including fights against Levinsky, and Billy Miske and Mike Gibbons, both of whom would later fight Jack Dempsey for the Heavyweight Championship.

In 1921, during a fight with light heavyweight Kid Norfolk, he was thumbed in the right eye, which is believed to have resulted in a retinal tear. He would eventually lose all sight in the eye, and lose some vision in his left eye as well. He kept this a secret from everybody except his wife and his closest friends. If even one State boxing commission found out, it would have notified the commissions in the other 47 States then in the Union, and Greb wouldn't have been able to box anywhere in America.

Despite the injury, Greb won the fight via a newspaper decision, and got a fight for the American light heavyweight title. On May 23, 1922, he faced champion Gene Tunney at the 2nd Madison Square Garden. In the 1st round, Greb broken Tunney's nose. Somehow, Tunney, a wealthy and cultured man who had learned to box while serving in the Marine Corps during World War I, managed to avoid getting knocked down, let alone out. Greb was announced as the winner, and The Ring magazine named it Fight of the Year.

It was the only professional fight Tunney ever lost. They fought at the 2nd Garden again on February 23, 1923, and Tunney won by a split decision. They fought there a 3rd time on December 10, 1923, and Tunney won by a unanimous decision. They fought a 4th time, on September 17, 1924 at the Olympic Arena in Cleveland, and it was ruled a draw. They fought a 5th time on March 27, 1925 at the St. Paul Auditorium in Minnesota, and Tunney won another unanimous decision.

A boxer facing a man 5 times? Greb fought Levinsky 6 times, and won them all. He also faced former Light Heavyweight Champion Tommy Loughran 6 times, losing the 4th, drawing the 6th, and winning the rest.

On August 31, 1923, Greb finally got his shot at a World Championship, winning a unanimous decision over Middleweight Champion Johnny Wilson at the Polo Grounds. He successfully defended the title 5 times, including a rematch against Wilson at The Garden in 1924; and one over then-Welterweight, later Middleweight, Champion Mickey Walker, "The Toy Bulldog," at the Polo Grounds in 1925.

On February 26, 1926, 2 months after the 3rd Madison Square Garden, the building that would become known as "The Old Garden," opened, he lost the title in a split decision to Theodore "Tiger" Flowers, who thus became the 1st black fighter to win the Middleweight title. After winning 2 tuneup fights, Greb fought a rematch, but Flowers won on an even more controversial split decision. This time, the fans stormed the ring to protest the outcome. Greb later stated, "Well, that was one fight I won, if I ever won any."

Officially, he won 108, lost 8, and drew 3. Of those 8 losses, 3 were to Tunney and 2 were to Flowers. Of those 108 wins, 33 of them were over 16 different members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and Greb is still the all-time leader in that category.

But he had to retire. His health, as had his face, had taken a beating. Not only did he have to have his right eye removed and replaced with a glass prosthesis, but damage to his nose had led to breathing issues. It forced him to turn down a job as a sparring partner for Dempsey, who was about to defend the Heavyweight Championship against Tunney in Philadelphia. Knowing both men's styles well, Greb was sure that Tunney would win that fight. He was right, and Tunney won the rematch as well, which became known as the "Long Count Fight."

Greb saw the 1st Dempsey-Tunney fight, but not the 2nd. He checked into a hospital in Atlantic City for surgery, but complications set in, causing a heart attack that killed him on October 22, 1926. He has been called the greatest middleweight fighter of all time, and one of the very greatest boxers, pound-for-pound, who has ever lived. But the thing that stands out the most about him isn't his fight totals, or his holding of a championship for 3 years, but the fact that he was the only man ever to beat Tunney, who remains the only man ever to retire while still Heavyweight Champion and stay retired.

October 22, 1926: "The Sun Also Rises" Is Published

October 22, 1926, 100 years ago: The Sun Also Rises, written by Ernest Hemingway, is published by Charles Scribner's Sons. Although Hemingway had previously been a journalist, and had published short stories, this was his 1st novel, and it set the tone for a writing style that would change literature.

The novel is a roman à clef: The characters are based on real people in Hemingway's social circle, and the action is based on real events, particularly Hemingway's life in Paris in the 1920s, and a trip to Spain in 1925 for the "running of the bulls" festival in Pamplona and fishing in the Pyrenees.

Hemingway, then 27 years old, presented his notion that what was already being called the "Lost Generation," considered to have been decadent, dissolute, and irretrievably damaged by their experiences in World War I, which had ended just 8 years earlier, was, instead, resilient and strong. Hemingway investigated the themes of love and death, the revivifying power of nature, and the concept of masculinity.

However, in his treatment of women, art imitated life: The character of Lady Brett Ashley is promiscuous and untrustworthy. Hemingway married 4 times, and it's been suggested that he mistreated all 4 wives, but got a great novel out of each: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms (a version of his experience in World War I, published in 1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (a version of his experience in the Spanish Civil War, published in 1940), and The Old Man and the Sea (based on stories he heard from fishermen in Cuba, published in 1952).

Along with The Great Gatsby by his friend F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, The Sun Also Rises is 1 of 3 definitive novels of the "Roaring Twenties" and the "Lost Generation." But it has not really stood the test of time: Not only does Lady Brett look bad in an era of feminism, but the character of Robert Cohn is treated badly, leading to the charge the Hemingway was anti-Semitic; and bullfighting, which Hemingway celebrated in this book and in several short stories, has come to be seen by the wider world as barbaric.

Hemingway himself, though an incredibly talented writer, was a barbaric man, who never met a human being, man or woman, that he didn't want to hit; never met a woman that he didn't want to have sex with; and never met an animal he didn't want to shoot. On July 2, 1961, he shot and killed the most dangerous animal he ever faced: Himself. He was his own worst enemy, and he was just short of turning 63.

Top 10 World Series with the "Smallest Markets"

The 2026 World Series will be between the Milwaukee Brewers, Champions of the National League, and the Tampa Bay Rays, Champions of the American League.

The Rays previously won Pennants in 2008 and 2020; the Brewers, only in 1982. Neither has ever won a World Series. One will win their 1st in the next few days.

And they will face each other as the smallest-market matchup in World Series history.

These are, as sports management puts it, "small markets." Although, with the way sports is presented these days, there really is no longer any such thing as a "small market."

Note that this is based on how small the market was at the time; and that this is tilted toward the post-expansion era. When it was just the "Original 16," people thought in terms of "cities," not "metropolitan areas" or "markets."

Note also that it's the cities' rankings in Major League Baseball, not overall in America; that I'm not counting the Canadian cities of Toronto and Montreal; and that changes in a city's ranking can be not just due to changes in population, but due to moving, although the only moves since 1971-72 have been the Montreal Expos to Washington in 2004-05 and the Oakland Athletics to Sacramento in 2024-25.

1. 2026: Milwaukee, 26th, vs. Tampa Bay, 16th. Total: 42.

2. 1985: Kansas City, 24th, vs. St. Louis, 12th. Total: 36.

3. 2006: St. Louis, 18th, vs. Detroit, 13th. Total: 33.

4. 1982: Milwaukee, 21st, vs. St. Louis, 12th. Total: 33.

5. 2013: St. Louis, 20th, vs. Boston, 12th. Total: 32.

6. 2014: Kansas City, 23rd, vs. San Francisco, 6th. Total: 29.

7. 1980: Kansas City, 24th, vs. Philadelphia, 4th. Total: 28.

8. 2016: Cleveland, 24th, vs. Chicago, 3rd. Total: 27.

And 4 others were tied for the 9th and 10th spots, with 26:

2008: Tampa Bay, 20th, vs. Philadelphia, 6th. 

2007: Denver, 19th, vs. Boston, 7th.

1997: Cleveland, 14th, vs. Miami, 12th. 

1987: Minneapolis, 14th, vs. St. Louis, 12th. 

Detroit and St. Louis had faced each other 3 times before 2006, but the last of those was in 1968, when there were just 20 teams in MLB.

The smallest-market matchups in the other sports? In the NHL, we just had it this year, when the Carolina Hurricanes, of the Raleigh-Durham area, beat the Vegas Golden Knights.

In the NBA, it was last year, when the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers, of Indianapolis. And in the NFL, it was in 2010, in Super Bowl XLIV, when the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts.

World Series Where Both Teams Had Never Won Before

The 2026 World Series will be between the Milwaukee Brewers, Champions of the National League, and the Tampa Bay Rays, Champions of the American League.

The Rays previously won Pennants in 2008 and 2020; the Brewers, only in 1982. Neither has ever won a World Series. One will win their 1st in the next few days.

World Series where both teams had never won before:

1903 Boston Americans (Red Sox) beat Pittsburgh Pirates

1905 New York Giants beat Philadelphia Athletics

1906 Chicago White Sox beat Chicago Cubs

1907 Chicago Cubs beat Detroit Tigers

1920 Cleveland Indians (Guardians) beat Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers)

1980 Philadelphia Phillies beat Kansas City Royals

2026 Milwaukee Brewers vs. Tampa Bay Rays

1992 sort-of counts: The Toronto Blue Jays had never won a Pennant before; while the Atlanta Braves had won the World Series, but in Boston and Milwaukee, not yet in Atlanta.

2002 sort-of counts: The team then known as the Anaheim Angels had never won a Pennant before; while the San Francisco Giants had won the World Series, but in New York, not yet in San Francisco.

2010 sort-of counts: The Giants were in it again, and the Texas Rangers had never won a Pennant before.

It hasn't happened in the NFL since 1982, when the San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI.

It sort-of happened in the NBA in 2025: The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers in the Finals. The Pacers won 3 titles in the ABA, but are now 0-2 in NBA Finals. The Thunder last won in 1979, as the Seattle SuperSonics. If you don't count that, then it last happened in 2006, when the Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks.

The NHL's last occurrence was relatively recent: In 2023, the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers to win the Stanley Cup.

October 20, 2001: The Concert for New York City

Sir Paul with cops and firemen

October 20, 2001, 25 years ago: The Concert for New York City is held at Madison Square Garden. Played just 6 weeks after the 9/11 attacks, emotions were still running deep. Most of the audience was cops, firemen, rescue workers, and people who had lost family members in the attacks, many of them holding up photos of the victims. Billy Crystal was the master of ceremonies.

David Bowie opened the show with Simon & Garfunkel's "America," then did his own "Heroes" with a full band. Also on hand: Bon Jovi, Jay-Z, Goo Goo Dolls, Destiny's Child (including Beyoncé), Eric

Clapton & Buddy Guy, the Backstreet Boys, Macy Gray, James Taylor, John Mellencamp & Kid Rock, Five For Fighting, and Janet Jackson.

Billy Joel showed up drunk, and went into rehab not long thereafter. Of course, he played "New York State of Mind." But first, he played "Miami 2017." On September 10, 2001, it looked like the apocalypse he'd predicted for The City in 1976 had been prevented. But on the 11th, it came far too close to reality: "I watched the mighty skyline fall" -- although it was the World Trade Center, not the Empire State Building, that he saw "laid low" in the song He later joined Elton John, who had played his New Yorker-themed "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters," for a performance of Elton's "Your Song."

Melissa Etheridge's microphone went out during her acoustic performance of "Come to My Window," but everybody was singing along anyway, and none of those hard-edged, blue-collar cops and firemen gave a damn that she was openly gay. (Well, maybe a few from Staten Island. But, as for the rest, this was New York.) Her mike went out again as she did an acoustic version of Springsteen's "Born to Run" -- and nobody flinched as she sang lines of love and passion to a woman named Wendy.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones sang "Salt of the Earth" and "Miss You" (with its reference to walking through Central Park in the '70s). When they were done, Mick said, "If there's one thing we've learned from all this, it's that you don't fuck with New York!" True.

The Who came out, with former Beatle Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey filling in on drums for the late Keith Moon, and it turned out to be bass player John Entwistle's last performance. They did a nasty "Who Are You," an intense "Baba O'Riley," a melancholy "Behind Blue Eyes," and a roaring "Won't Get Fooled Again." Crystal said, "I'd never seen The Who live before. It was great to see these middle-aged men get out on stage and kick ass."

With Elvis Presley dead and unavailable, it was appropriate that the show closed with a surviving Beatle, Paul McCartney, who played, among others, "Yesterday," his new song "Freedom," and "Let It Be." 

October 20, 1996: The 1st MLS Cup

October 20, 1996, 30 years ago: The 1st Major League Soccer season comes to a climax with the 1st MLS Cup Final, held on neutral ground at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the NFL's New England Patriots and MLS' New England Revolution.

MLS was then divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. The Tampa Bay Mutiny ran away with the East, with D.C. United, the league's Washington team, 12 points back. But in the 1st round of the Playoffs, DCU beat the New York Tri-State Area's team, the NY/NJ MetroStars in a shootout.

This started a rivalry known as the Atlantic Cup. Despite Metro's 2005 rebranding as the New York Red Bulls, the chance to jump on the traditional New York vs. New England rivalry from the outset, and the later establishments of the Philadelphia Union and New York City F.C., DCU remain the team that Metro/Red Bull fans most want to beat: "The D.C. Scum."

DCU went on to eliminate the Mutiny in the Conference Final. In the West, the Los Angeles Galaxy won by 8 points over the Dallas Burn, and then, in the Playoffs, beat the San Jose Clash and the Kansas City Wiz to make the Final.

(Respectively, those teams are now named F.C. Dallas, the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City. The original Clash were renamed the San Jose Earthquakes before moving to Houston in 2006, and a new Earthquakes team began play in 2008.)

Boston and Washington had never previously played in a major league sports final. Due to the NBA and the NHL being split into geographic conferences, it hasn't been possible in those leagues.

It had been possible in Major League Baseball only from 1903, when the World Series began, until 1952, when the Boston Braves moved, and could no longer play the Washington Senators in the World Series. It became possible again with the 2005 arrival of the Washington Nationals, but they have never played the Boston Red Sox in a World Series.

It was, and remains, possible for the Patriots to play the Washington Commanders (who actually started out in Boston, from 1932 to 1936) in the Super Bowl, but it hasn't happened.

Foxboro Stadium, replaced by Gillette Stadium in 2002, seated 61,000, but the stadium operators were surprised that over 40,000 tickets were sold, so they had to open the upper deck. But Hurricane Lili swept through the Northeast, postponing Game 1 of the World Series in New York the night before. A tarp wasn't enough, as the natural grass field got soaked. A postponement was considered, but rejected. Out of 42,368 people who bought tickets, 34,643 showed up, including 7,000 DCU fans who made the 400-odd-mile trip north.

Dan Calichman, a defender from Huntington, Long Island, New York, who was ordinarily the Galaxy's Captain, had to sit the match out, suspended 1 game due to yellow card accumulation. So another defender, Miami native Robin Fraser, wore the armband on this occasion.

Their lineup also included Mexican goalkeeper Jorge Campos, Ecuadoran forward Eduardo Hurtado, U.S. national team stars Cobi Jones and Chris Armas, and, oddly for an American team, a player from Iran, defender Arah Noamouz. Their manager was German, Lothar Osiander.

DC was managed by Bruce Arena, who had built the great soccer program at the University of Virginia, and would go on to become MLS' greatest manager, winning 5 Cups -- 2 with D.C., 3 with L.A. His Captain was midfielder John Harkes, a native of one of the places that could legitimately be called Soccertown, U.S.A.: Kearny, Hudson County, New Jersey.

Also in the lineup: Mark Simpson, who, oddly for a goalkeeper, wore Number 2; American defenders Eddie Pope and Jeff Agoos; a pair of Bolivians, midfielder Marco Etcheverry and forward Jaime Moreno; and forward Raúl Díaz Arce, who would go on to become the El Salvador national team's all-time leading scorer.

ABC broadcast the match. In only the 5th minute, Hurtado scored on a header to put L.A. ahead. He celebrated by doing a belly-flop on the soaked grass. It remained 1-0 to L.A. through halftime. In the 56th minute, Armas made it 2-0 to L.A.

With rain coming down and the wind getting worse, it was beginning to look like the Galaxy had the game in the bag. Arena rolled the dice, bringing on American midfielders Tony Sanneh and Shawn Medved as substitutes. It worked: Sanneh headed in an Etcheverry free kick in the 73rd.

In the 78th, Jones tried to put it away for the Galaxy, but hit the crossbar. In the 81st, United were awarded another free kick. Etcheverry took it, and Campos was able to punch it away. But Medved scored on the rebound, and the game was tied.

According to league rules at the time, overtime would be sudden death. The 1st team to score would have a "Golden Goal," and be Champions. In the 94th minute, Etcheverry took a corner, and Pope scored it. D.C. United had won, 3-2. Etcheverry, who assisted on all 3 goals, was named Man of the Match.

D.C. United would win 3 of the 1st 4 MLS Cups, and 4 of the 1st 9. L.A. wouldn't win their 1st until 2002, but have now won 5, and remain the league's leader in titles. Through the 2025 season, here are the Final records of all MLS teams to have played in the Final:

Los Angeles Galaxy, 6-4: 2002, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2024

D.C. United, 4-1: 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004

Columbus Crew, 3-1: 2008, 2020 2023

Seattle Sounders, 2-2: 2016, 2019

Houston Dynamo, 2-2: 2006, 2007

Sporting Kansas City, 2-1: 2000, 2013

San Jose Earthquakes, 2-0: 2001, 2003

Toronto F.C., 1-2: 2017

Chicago Fire, 1-2: 1998

Portland Timbers, 1-2: 2015

Real Salt Lake, 1-1: 2009

Colorado Rapids, 1-1: 2010

Los Angeles FC, 1-1: 2022

Atlanta United, 1-0: 2018

New York City FC, 1-0: 2021

Inter Miami, 1-0: 2025

F.C. Dallas, 0-1

Vancouver Whitecaps, 0-1

New York Red Bulls, 0-2

New England Revolution, 0-5

Of the 10 charter MLS teams from 1996, the Tampa Bay Mutiny folded without reaching a Final; among the other 9, only the MetroStars/Red Bulls and the Revolution have failed to win at least 1 Cup.

October 20, 1976: The Sale of Doctor J

October 20, 1976, 50 years ago: The Long Island-based New York Nets are in trouble. They had won the last Championship of the American Basketball Association, and 2 of the last 3, making 3 of the last 5 Finals. Along with the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers, and the San Antonio Spurs, they were invited to join the NBA for the 1976-77 season.

But, having to pay the NBA $3 million as an entry fee, and having to pay the New York Knicks a $4.8 million "territorial indemnification fee," the Nets owed $7.8 million -- about $45.4 million in today's money.

The Nets offered their biggest star, Julius Erving, whose "operation" on the basketball court earned him the nickname "Doctor J," to the Knicks in exchange for their waiving the territorial indemnification fee. This would have dropped the Nets' fees to $3 million.

The Knicks refused: They wanted the money more than the superstar. This was a tremendous mistake, as they had already fallen far from their 1970 and 1973 NBA Championships with the retirements of Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Jerry Lucas, while Walt Frazier and Bill Bradley were clearly in decline, although Earl Monroe was still good. The Knicks went on to crash and burn.

But so did the Nets: On this day, with the regular season starting the next day, they sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers for $3 million, leaving them with only the territorial indemnification fee of $4.8 million. Despite having picked up future Hall-of-Famer Nate "Tiny" Archibald in the trade, the Nets instantly went from the ABA Championship to the worst record in the NBA. It would take until 1981-82, 6 years, to recover, by which point the Knicks had also begun to do so.

The Sixers reached the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980 and 1982, and finally won the Championship in 1983. Then, they got old, and began a decline that has never truly been reversed. They've made the NBA Finals only once since, in 2001.

For the 1977-78 season, the Nets left Long Island, became the New Jersey Nets, and played at the brand-new Rutgers Athletic Center, on Rutgers University's Livingston Campus in Piscataway. (The 9,000-seat chunk of concrete is now named the Jersey Mike's Arena.)

In 1981, they moved to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, just 7 miles from Midtown Manhattan, when the building alternately known as the Meadowlands Arena, the Brendan Byrne Arena, the Continental Airlines Arena and the Izod Center opened. They played at the Prudential Center in Newark for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, and then moved back to New York, to the Barclays Center, becoming the Brooklyn Nets.

The Nets didn't win an NBA Playoff series until 1984 -- beating the 76ers, then the defending NBA Champions. They didn't win another until acquiring Jason Kidd in 2001, reaching the next 2 NBA Finals and winning 4 Division titles.

Their move to Brooklyn was ambitious, and they made several acquisitions designed to win a title and take the New York market away from the Knicks. But it hasn't happened, and this first attempt has already been broken up to start over. They are a joke franchise, and, with the exception of the Kidd years, 2001 to 2008, they have been ever since they came into the NBA.

Is there a curse on the Nets? Doctor J, who became a studio analyst for NBA broadcasts, seems like too nice of a guy to have done that, especially since the trade was good for his career. Maybe the fault lies with the owners. The Curse of Roy Boe? The Curse of the Secaucus Seven?