November 23, 1984: Doug Flutie's Miracle In Miami

November 23, 1984, 40 years ago: It is the day after Thanksgiving, and this was the early days of retail treating it as "Black Friday," the biggest shopping day of the year, which has come to, traditionally, set the tone for the Christmas season: Either they will make big profits, and be "in the black"; or they will be wearing black for mourning.

Thanksgiving weekend is also a time for football. The day before, many high school games were played, much more so than are played today. I was a sophomore at East Brunswick High School in Central New Jersey, and my Bears came back from a 27-13 deficit to beat Colonia High School of Woodbridge, 33-27, and clinch the Championship of the Middlesex County Athletic Conference and an undefeated regular season. It's often regarded as the greatest football game in the school's history. Unfortunately, we lost the Central Jersey Group IV Final, costing us a "State Championship" and an undefeated full season, something, to this day, we've never had.

There was only one college football game that Thanksgiving Day, a minor rivalry to everyone but those connected to the schools playing: Miami University of Ohio beat the University of Cincinnati, 31-26 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, was founded in 1809, 8 years before Ohio gained Statehood. In contrast, the University of Miami, in suburban Coral Gables, Florida, wasn't founded until 1925.

In the NFL, both of the traditional home teams won: The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-28 at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan; and the Dallas Cowboys beat the New England Patriots, 20-17 at Texas Stadium in Irving.

There was only one college game played on the day after Thanksgiving, on CBS. So anybody who wanted to watch a football game at that point was watching it. At the time, there was a Big East Conference, but they did not sponsor a football competition. If they did, this game would have decided its Championship. The fact that both teams involved have since moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) should not attract from what that meant.

The University of Miami were the defending National Champions, having shocked the University of Nebraska in the previous season's Orange Bowl game, in the stadium of the same name, which was the Hurricanes' usual home field.

Bernie Kosar quarterbacked them as a freshman, and now, as a sophomore, had led them to an 8-3 record. They had won the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands, beating then-Number 1 Auburn. They beat Number 17 Florida on neutral ground in Tampa. They beat Number 16 Notre Dame away. But they had lost to Number 14 Michigan away, losing the Number 1 ranking in the process. They had lost to Number 15 Florida State at home.

And, in their last game before this one (they had a week off in between), they lost an embarrassing one: They led Maryland 31-0 at the half, and lost, 42-40. For many years thereafter, it was the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A (now FBS, the Football Bowl Subdivision) history. The Maryland quarterback was Frank Reich, substituting for the injured Boomer Esiason. In the 1992 NFL Playoffs, subbing for the injured Jim Kelly -- who had played at Miami -- Reich led the Buffalo Bills to what is still the biggest comeback in NFL history, from 35-3 down to beat the Houston Oilers, 41-38 in overtime.

Their opponents for this game would be Boston College. BC had some good teams in the 1930s and '40s, but hadn't done much since. In 1981, they were struggling, losing to the University of Pittsburgh, ranked Number 2 in the country, and coach Jack Bicknell turned to a 5-foot-9 3/4-inch freshman quarterback from nearby Natick, Massachusetts, and said, "Okay, Flutie, see what you can do."

And Doug Flutie went in, and nearly pulled the upset. They ended the season 5-6. The next season, Sports Illustrated noted that Flutie would be the starting quarterback, and whoever was writing the article finished with, "Good luck, Flutie."

Flutie made his own luck, leading BC to an 8-3-1 record. Their non-wins were all against then-ranked teams: A tie away to Number 16 Clemson, and losses away to Number 16 West Virginia, home to Number 8 Penn State, and to Number 18 Auburn in the Citrus Bowl. It was their 1st bowl game in 39 years.

As a junior in 1983, Flutie led them to a 9-3 season, losing at home to Number 12 West Virginia, away to unranked Syracuse, and in the Liberty Bowl to Notre Dame. On October 29, in a game too big for their 32,000-seat on-campus Alumni Stadium, they played defending National Champion (but, at the time, unranked) Penn State at Sullivan Stadium, home of the NFL's New England Patriots (later renamed Foxborough Stadium). Before a crowd of 56,605, and millions more watching on ABC, the Eagles beat the Nittany Lions, 27-17. Flutie, already the classic "local boy makes good," became a national star.

BC were 7-2 going into their game with Miami. They had beaten Number 9 Alabama in Birmingham, but had lost 2 games, away to Number 20 West Virginia and away to Penn State -- by a combined 8 points. BC were ranked Number 10, Miami Number 12. In spite of these rankings, Miami were a 6-point betting favorite. (Keep in mind: In football, home-field advantage is traditionally said to be worth 3 points.) Flutie was the favorite for the Heisman Trophy, although Kosar was also a contender for it. The winning quarterback would get his Heisman vote totals boosted significantly.

The game was played at the Orange Bowl, in a driving rainstorm throughout. It was almost as if there was a real hurricane going on. It kicked off at 2:30 PM Eastern Time, and BC jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Miami scored a touchdown before the 1st quarter ran out, and tied the game with a touchdown early in the 2nd quarter.

BC scored on a run by Flutie, then Miami scored on a Kosar touchdown pass, then BC did so on a touchdown pass from Flutie to his college roommate, Gerard Phelan. At halftime, the score was Boston College 28, Miami 21. So there had already been as much action as in most full games.

In the 3rd quarter, Miami scored another touchdown, and the teams traded field goals. The quarter ended with the game tied, 31-31. BC kicked another field goal to make it 34-31, but Melvin Bratton broke off a 52-yard run to make it 38-34 Miami. It seemed like Miami had the game won. Flutie led a drive that ended with a touchdown, and it was 41-38 BC. But Kosar led a drive that ended with another touchdown run by Bratton, and it was 45-41 Miami.

BC got the ball back with 28 seconds left in regulation, on their own 20 yard line. Flutie got the Eagles to the Hurricanes' 48-yard line. There were 6 seconds left. Time for one more play. A field goal wouldn't have helped, it would have been 65 yards anyway, and the weather and the wet grass would have made it a tricky proposition regardless of how close it was. There was no choice: The play had to result in a touchdown.

Before the play, CBS announcer Brent Musberger said, "One thing is certain: Those brave folks who sat out here in the Orange Bowl, and put up with this terrible weather, saw a whale of a football game, and they should give both teams a rousing ovation when this one is over." His broadcast partner, former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian, whose career included a 10-10 tie with Michigan State in 1966, known as "The Game of the Century," followed this with, "This is one of the better ones that I've seen."

Flutie called "55 Flood Tip": No running backs, and all eligible receivers run straight routes to the end zone. He was flushed out of the pocket by the Miami defense, and had to scramble. He had to attempt his 46th pass of the game, on the run, throwing from his own 37-yard line, meaning the ball had to fly at least 63 yards, into a 30-mile-per-hour wind, and through the rain.

Flutie heaved the ball. Since a Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson play in the 1975 NFL Playoffs, such a pass had been known as a "Hail Mary." Some Catholics find the expression offensive. In this case, given that Boston College is a Catholic school -- specifically, Jesuit -- it might have been appropriate.

Three Miami defensive backs blanketed receiver Kelvin Martin. There would be no way he could catch the ball. Phelan was behind them. It would require perfect placement of both man and ball for him to catch it. He did. Boston College 47, Miami 45. Ballgame. No chance to try for an extra point, with everyone running onto the field, and no need for it.

"Caught by Boston College!" Musberger yelled. "I don't believe it! It's a touchdown! The Eagles win it! I don't believe it! Phelan is at the bottom of that pile!" The entire team piled onto Phelan. As Musberger noted, "Jack Bicknell is the only person over there on the sidelines! He couldn't get the headset off fast enough! Doug Flutie has done it! And your heart goes out to Bernie Kosar. He did everything he could."

Kosar had passed for 447 yards, then a school record, with 2 touchdowns. And Bratton had run for 4 touchdowns. It was all for naught, as Flutie passed for 472 yards, becoming the 1st major college quarterback with 10,000 career passing yards. He also threw for 3 touchdowns. Miami punted only once all game; BC, just 3 times.

The game became known as the Miracle in Miami, and if there was any doubt before the game that Flutie would win the Heisman Trophy, that doubt disappeared into Phelan's hands. Ohio State running back Keith Byars finished 2nd. Robbie Bosco, who quarterbacked Brigham Young University to a controversial National Championship, finished 3rd. Kosar was 4th. Jerry Rice of Mississippi Valley State, who went on to become the greatest receiver in football history, finished 9th. Bo Jackson of Auburn, who would win it the next season, did not finish in the Top 10 this season.

Miami went on to lose the Fiesta Bowl to UCLA. Kosar would have a good pro career with the Cleveland Browns, before winning a Super Bowl ring as Troy Aikman's backup on the Dallas Cowboys.

Flutie's last college game was in the Cotton Bowl, and BC beat the University of Houston. But NFL teams passed on him due to his lack of height. This was so dumb. How dumb was it? Well, let's absolve the following teams, because they drafted Hall-of-Famers: The San Francisco 49ers, Rice; the Buffalo Bills, Bruce Smith; and the Minnesota Vikings, Chris Doleman. And, besides, the 49ers had Joe Montana, while the Bills had the rights to Jim Kelly. And several other teams drafted All-Pros. But lots of teams needed a quarterback, and didn't draft Flutie, and struggled for years to come.

Flutie signed with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League, and led them to the Playoffs. When the USFL folded, the Chicago Bears signed him, against the wishes of head coach Mike Ditka. Ditka refused to start him over an already-injured Jim McMahon, and the Bears haven't won a Super Bowl since. In 1987, the Bears traded Flutie to his hometown New England Patriots, but they kept him as a backup to Tony Eason, and didn't get too far, and released him after the 1989 season, and got even worse.

Flutie signed with the Vancouver-based BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. In 1992, he was traded to the Calgary Stampeders, and he led them to the CFL Championship, the Grey Cup. He did the same for the Toronto Argonauts in 1996 and '97. All 3 times, he was named the game's Most Valuable Player. He was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player 6 times in 7 years from 1991 to 1997.

Finally, at the age of 36, the NFL could ignore him no longer. With Kelly having retired after the 1996 season, the Bills signed Flutie, and he led them to the Playoffs, made the Pro Bowl, and was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He got them back into the Playoffs in 1999, but coach Wade Phillips benched him for the Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans, in favor of Rob Johnson. The Bills lost, and didn't make the Playoffs again for 18 years.

Flutie played 4 years for the San Diego Chargers, and closed his career with the Patriots, as a backup to Tom Brady. In his last game, against the Miami Dolphins, on New Year's Day 2006, he did something no NFL player had done since 1941: He converted a dropkick. It was good for a point-after-touchdown, and the Patriots won.

Doug Flutie is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It is, quite specifically, not "The National Football League Hall of Fame." It includes a few players who would not have made it if not for their performances in the All-America Football Conference (1946-49) and the 1960s version of the American Football League, including Billy Shaw, who played 9 seasons for the Bills, all in the AFL, and never played a down in the NFL.

Still, voters for it tend not to consider CFL statistics. There are really only 2 NFL players who are not in the Hall whose qualifications would be noticeably boosted if their CFL tenures were included, and they're both quarterbacks: Joe Theismann and Doug Flutie. Another quarterback, Warren Moon, is the only player in the Hall with significant CFL performance, although Bud Grant won 4 Grey Cups as a coach in Winnipeg before becoming a Hall of Fame coach in Minnesota.

Oddly, for all the exposure BC got from the Flutie years, their Alumni Stadium wasn't expanded to its present 44,500 seats until the 1994 season.

November 21, 1964: The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge Opens

November 21, 1964, 60 years ago: The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge opens, connecting the New York City Boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island, via Interstate 278. It is the last great road project of New York's "master builder," Robert Moses. And, for the next 17 years, it is the longest suspension bridge in the world. In 2024, it remains the longest in the Americas.

On April 17, 1524, 500 years ago, Italian (Florentine) explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano became the 1st European to sight the land that would become New York City, and its bodies of water, including the Hudson River (named for the later English explorer Henry Hudson) and "The Narrows," the strip of water between Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Up until the 1920s, Staten Island was isolated: Its only connections with any other land were by the Staten Island Ferry system, connecting it with Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the New Jersey cities of Bayonne, Elizabeth and Perth Amboy. In 1928, the Outerbridge Crossing was built, connecting it with Perth Amboy, and the original Goethals Bridge (replaced by the current bridge in 2017) connected it with Elizabeth. In 1931, the Bayonne Bridge opened. But this didn't help people trying to get to and from the rest of New York City.

A "Liberty Bridge" and tunnel connecting the Subway system to Staten Island were proposed around this time, but federal funding for these projects was blocked by a Congressman from The Bronx -- Fiorello La Guardia, who was elected Mayor in 1933. He believed that a public necessity should not be provided by private interests. (The controversy over the Ambassador Bridge, built around that time between Detroit and the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario, shows that he was right.)

In 1947, Moses was ready to try again, and got the federal government to approve a plan for a bridge, despite angry opposition from the people of Bay Ridge, the neighborhood where its Brooklyn anchorage would be. Considerably more people would be displaced on Staten Island, but, overall, the people of that Borough understood the benefits of having the bridge, and supported the idea. The Bay Ridge opposition led to the decision to put it, instead, at the uninhabited Fort Lafayette, so no houses would have to be demolished.

Still, it took years for the construction to be approved, and it did not begin until August 14, 1959. About 10,000 men worked on the construction. Three died: Paul Bessett, 58, who fell off the deck and struck a tower in 1962; Irving Rubin, 58, who fell off the bridge approach in 1963; and Gerard McKee, considerably younger at 19, who slipped off a catwalk in 1963. His death led to a strike by workers, demanding safety nets under the deck. After 5 days, they got the nets, and resumed work.

The opening ceremony was held on November 21, 1964, with a gold ribbon being cut by Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and Borough Presidents Abe Stark of Brooklyn and Albert Maniscalo of Staten Island. (Stark had been a clothing store owner, who advertised on the right field wall at the Dodgers' Ebbets Field: "HIT SIGN WIN SUIT.")

The towers are 693 feet high, making each of them, easily, the tallest structures in their respective Boroughs at the time. Since 2019, 2 buildings higher than the bridge's towers have been constructed in Brooklyn. 

The towers are are 4,290 feet apart. In 1981, this world record was broken by the Humber Bridge in Hull, Yorkshire, England. In 2022, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, in the city of the same name in Turkey, opened, and set a new record of 6,637 feet.

There is no direct passenger rail connection between Staten Island and the rest of the City. The Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIRT) rail line goes from the St. George Ferry Terminal (St. George to South Ferry in Manhattan has long been the last remaining Staten Island Ferry) down the east and southern coast of the island to Tottenville, and is technically part of the City's Subway system. But the only way to get from it to the Subway proper is via the Ferry.

A bus line on Staten Island's Victory Boulevard was extended over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the 95th Street terminal of what's now the R Train in Brooklyn, but, unlike most Subway-to-bus (or vice versa) transfers in the City, this one is not free if done within 2 hours.

The Verrazzano -- the full name is rarely used -- is best known for 2 things: The highest tolls of any bridge or tunnel in the New York Tri-State Area, and being the starting point for the New York City Marathon. Since part of the idea for the Marathon was that it would use all Five Boroughs, the closest point between Staten Island and any other Borough was an easy choice, made even easier by the toll plaza being wide enough to accommodate thousands of runners. 

November 21, 1934: The "Business Plot" Is Exposed

Smedley Butler 

November 21, 1934: The New York Post and the Philadelphia Record break the story of what came to be known as "The Business Plot," a rich men's plan to launch a military coup and take over the American government.

The story is broken by Paul Comly French, a reporter who had once been the private secretary of Smedley Butler, a retired Major General (2 stars) in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Smedley Darlington Butler was born on July 30, 1881, in the Philadelphia suburb of West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania. His father, Thomas Stalker Butler, was a Republican Congressman. His maternal grandfather, Smedley Darlington, had previously held the same seat in Congress. Three earlier Darlingtons had served in Congress. Smedley's aunt, Isabel Darlington, was the 1st woman to practice law in Chester County.

He enlisted in the Marines, and served with distinction in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Campaign and the Boxer Rebellion. His participation in the so-called "Banana Wars" in Central America caused him to look at war and its conduct differently.

He received his 1st Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the American occupation of Veracruz, Mexico in 1914. He offered to return it, saying he had done nothing to earn it. He was ordered to keep it. He received a 2nd Medal of Honor for his role in repelling an ambush during the American occupation of Haiti in 1915.

He received his General's stars during World War I, and was appointed commanding officer of the Marine barracks at Quantico, Virginia, now the "home base" of the Corps (and of the FBI). In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge gave him leave from active duty so that he could become Director of Public Safety for Philadelphia.

He said, "Cleaning up Philadelphia was worse than any battle I was ever in." He brought crime down significantly, but his tactics were a bit heavy-handed. Still, there were many people who liked that, and they remembered it, thinking that Butler was their kind of man. He held the job for 2 years, returned to the Corps, and retired from the service in 1931.

He ran for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in 1932, but, with the tide turning against Prohibition, which he supported, he lost the Republican Primary. He opposed the Bonus Army in a public statement that year, and there were many people who liked that.

That year, Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, a Democrat, was elected President of the United States. His "New Deal" lifted millions out of poverty, increasing taxes on rich people in order to do it. America's wealthiest men were furious, and some were not willing to wait until November 3, 1936, the next election, to do something about it.

In November 1934, Butler testified before a special committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. He told them that he was visited by Gerald P. MacGuire, a prominent Connecticut businessman. MacGuire had visited Germany and Italy, and saw how veterans' groups had aided the Fascist movements there, movements that had stopped Communist uprisings. He told Butler that he viewed FDR and his advisors, the so-called "Brain Trust," as Communists, and said they had to be stopped.

He told Butler that a group of businessmen had $50 million to spend, and a private army of 500,000 ex-soldiers, many of them members of the American Legion, ready to march on Washington, to remove Roosevelt from power, and establish a Fascist dictatorship. MacGuire told Butler that the group wanted him to be the dictator.

Butler said that he later met with Robert Sterling Clark, an heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune. Clark told him about some of the other men backing the plan:

* Irénée du Pont, head of the DuPont Corporation, which had recently bought the Remington Arms company, which would produce the weapons and the ammunition for the coup.

* Thomas W. Lamont, running J.P. Morgan & Company on behalf of J.P. Morgan Jr., son of the company's founder, and an adviser to every President since Woodrow Wilson, including FDR, thus giving the group an "inside man." 

* Grayson Murphy, a director of Goodyear Tire, Anaconda Copper, and Bethlehem Steel, all companies capable of supplying the coup effort with necessary materiel.

* And the last 2 Democratic Party nominees for President before FDR: John W. Davis, a former Congressman from West Virginia and U.S. Ambassador to Britain, who was always more conservative than the mainstream of the Party; and Alfred E. Smith, who was also FDR's predecessor as Governor of New York, had lost very badly to Herbert Hoover in 1928, saw FDR beat Hoover even worse in 1932, and was intensely jealous of FDR's early success and popularity as President.

About all of this, Butler told French, whom he trusted due to his service. French did some digging, and found evidence that the plot was real, not just MacGuire and Clark blowing off steam at a President they hated. Armed with this knowledge, Butler met with MacGuire again, and said, "If you get 500,000 soldiers advocating anything smelling of Fascism, I am going to get 500,000 more, and lick the hell out of you, and we will have a real war right at home." And then he went to Congress, and spilled the beans.

French broke the story in the New York Post and the Philadelphia Record on November 21. On November 22, The New York Times wrote about it, calling it a "gigantic hoax." All the parties alleged to be involved publicly said there was no truth in the story, calling it a joke and a fantasy. Roosevelt's reaction to it is not known to have been recorded.

If the coup ever got beyond the talking stage, it was doomed without a leader -- or, more likely, a figurehead. It has been alleged that Hugh S. Johnson, a retired Army Brigadier General who had been running the National Recovery Administration for FDR, and had been named Man of the Year for 1933 by Time magazine, had also turned the plotters down.

In 1935, Butler published a book titled War Is a Racket, comparing what Dwight D. Eisenhower would later call "the military-industrial complex" to organized crime. He wrote, "I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business... a gangster for capitalism" who "might have given Al Capone a few hints." That book, all by itself, showed that the big business boys were looking to the wrong man for their goal.

Plaque honoring Butler, Philadelphia City Hall:

"He enforced the law impartially,

he defended it courageously, he proved incorruptible."

MacGuire died of pneumonia shortly before Butler published his book. Grayson Murphy died in 1937, Smedley Butler in 1940, Hugh Johnson in 1942, Al Smith in 1944, Thomas Lamont in 1948, John W. Davis in 1955, Robert S. Clark in 1956, Paul French in 1960, and Irénée du Pont in 1963.

In 2018 and 2022, Thomas Lamont's great-grandson, Edward Miner Lamont Jr., a.k.a. Ned Lamont, was elected Governor of Connecticut -- as a liberal Democrat. He has conducted the office very differently from what his ancestor would have hoped.

This month, Donald Trump won -- or, perhaps, "won" -- the Presidential election, needing only business lords like Rupert Murdoch and Elon Musk to re-shape public opinion for him. He won't need a respected General to be a figurehead for him. After all, he still believes what he said in 2015: "I know more than the generals do."

November 19, 2004: The Malice at The Palace

November 19, 2004, 20 years ago: The most notorious brawl in the history of North American sports breaks out. In the tradition of giving rhyming names to big prizefights, it quickly became known as "The Malice at the Palace." 

The Detroit Pistons were playing the Indiana Pacers, at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Auburn Hills is in the suburbs of Detroit, 33 miles northwest of Cadillac Square, and far from the city's notorious ghettos. The Pistons had been playing there since 1988, after playing the previous 10 seasons at the Silverdome, 4 miles to the south in Pontiac.

They were the defending NBA Champions, and had previously won back-to-back titles in 1989 and '90, when they were the roughest team of their generation, "the Motor City Bad Boys." A member of that team, Joe Dumars, was now the general manager, and he had assembled a strong team, coached by Larry Brown. Having coached the University of Kansas to the National Championship in 1988, Brown became the 1st coach to win both NCAA and NBA Championships. Through 2022, he remains the only one.

The Pistons' starting center and Captain was Ben Wallace. Forward Rasheed Wallace (no relation) was considered the most aggressive member of the team. He had been acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers, who, at the time, were not only very aggressive on the court, but got into legal trouble off it, leading to the nickname "the Jail Blazers."

The team also included guards Chauncey Billups, Richard "Rip" Hamilton and Lindsey Hunter; forwards Antonio McDyess and Tayshaun Prince; and newly-acquired center Derrick Coleman, once on the verge of superstardom with the New Jersey Nets, but had worn out his welcome with 4 different teams, and was trying a comeback with his hometown team.

The Pacers were coached by Rick Carlisle, the coach that Dumars fired in order to get Brown. Their general manager was Larry Bird, an Indiana native who led the Boston Celtics to 3 NBA titles, including in 1986 with Carlisle as a bench player. They were led by guard Reggie Miller, one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, but he was injured, and did not play in this game. Their next-most-notable player was a forward known for his bad behavior, Ronald William Artest Jr., then using the name Ron Artest.

There wasn't much history between the Pistons and the Pacers. They were in the same Division, in adjoining States, but the Pistons had always considered the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers to be their biggest rivals. The Pacers also considered the Bulls to be their rivals, and, to a lesser extent, due to a pair of difficult Playoff series between them, the New York Knicks.

They had played each other in the 1st Round in 1990, and, although this was the height of the Pistons' Bad Boys era, there were no incidents. In 2004, they played each other in the Conference Finals, so they were very familiar with each other by the following November; but in that May series, there were no incidents.

ESPN televised the game nationally, which helped embed the incident in fans' minds more than ESPN just replaying it endlessly on SportsCenter and its other shows could have done. By the 2nd quarter, the Pacers had jumped out to a 20-point lead, and the game never got close. Artest ended up scoring 20 points for the Pacers, and Jermaine O'Neal had 20. Hamilton scored 20 to lead the Pistons.

With 46 seconds left in regulation, the Pacers were up 97-82. Ben Wallace attempted a layup, but Artest slapped him on the back of the head. (Note: As Rasheed, despite his reputation, was not one of the principals in the brawl, hereafter, when I say, "Wallace," I mean, Ben.) Wallace shoved Artest in the face. Both benches emptied, with Prince being the only player not to get up.

The officials separated them, and, at first, that looked like the end of it. If it had been, the incident would have been chalked up as just another end-of-game scuffle involving a frustrated player on a losing team and a player on a winning team who should have left well enough alone.

Donnie Walsh, president of the Pacers organization, had told Artest that, to calm down and avoid trouble in a volatile situation, he should walk off the court, and lay down on the scorer's table. Whether the people at that table, or the Pistons, or the officials knew about this, I don't know. If that had been the end of it, it might have been chalked up as the kind of weird thing that some athletes did, such as Artest's contemporaries, baseball star Manny Ramirez and football star Terrell Owens.

But Wallace escalated the situation, throwing a towel at Artest. Artest got up to retaliate, but was held back by Pacer coaches. Then, a spectator, later identified as John Green, threw a plastic cup with soda in it at Artest, hitting him in the chest. Artest went into the stands, and grabbed the man he thought responsible, yelling, "Did you do it?" But it was the wrong fan, identified as Michael Ryan, who said, "No, man, no!"

Pacers broadcaster Mark Boyle tried to hold Artest back, but Artest knocked him backwards and stepped on him, resulting in 5 fractured vertebrae. Boyle was the only person Artest ever apologized to over the incident.

Another fan, William Paulson, threw another drink in Artest's face, while Artest was restrained. The Pacers' Stephen Jackson went into the stands and punched Paulson in the face. Players on both sides, including Miller and Rasheed Wallace, and even Pistons broadcaster Rick Mahorn, known in his playing days as the "baddest" of the Bad Boys, went into the stands to get their own players out. When the situation is so bad that Rick Mahorn is trying to ply peacemaker, that's historically bad.

Somehow, Green, the initial drink-thrower, got to Artest, and twice punched him in the back of the head. Artest was finally led out. But 2 fans who had gotten onto the court, Alvin Shackleford and Charlie Haddad, got in Artest's face, and Artest punched Shackleford in the face. Anthony Johnson of the Pacers punched Haddad. O'Neal did the same. Coleman, in a mature act that would have surprised Nets fans 10 years earlier, stood by Larry Brown and the Pistons' ball boy to protect them.

NBA Commissioner David Stern remembered watching all of this on television, and saying, "Holy shit." O'Neal later said, "As bad as it looked on TV, it was at least 20 times worse in person."

The referees and the Auburn Hills police cleared the court. With the Pacers leading by 15 with 45.9 seconds on the clock, the referees declared the game over. The Piston fans threw more objects at the Pacers as they left the court for their locker room, including a steel folding chair that nearly hit O'Neal. Brown took the public address announcer's microphone, and told the fans to stop. They didn't. He threw the microphone down. Nine fans were injured, 2 seriously enough to be taken to a hospital.

It still wasn't over. O'Neal yelled at Carlisle for making the coaches restrain players who were only trying to defend themselves, and was ready to fight him.

The next day, the NBA suspended Artest, Jackson, O'Neal and Ben Wallace indefinitely. When the punishments were finalized, Artest was suspended without pay for the rest of the season, which, counting the Pacers' Playoff games, amounted to 86 games. It remains the longest suspension for an on-court incident in NBA history. He lost almost $5 million in pay.

For the Pacers: Jackson was suspended 30 games, O'Neal 15, Johnson 5, Miller 1. For the Pistons: Ben Wallace was suspended 6 games, and Billups, Coleman and Elden Campbell were each suspended 1. A 1-game suspension is standard for a player who leaves the bench during a brawl, but is usually not applied if it can be shown that the player was trying to break the fight up.

In criminal court, Artest, Jackson, O'Neal and Harrison were sentenced to 1 year on probation, 60 hours of community service, $250 fines, and anger management counseling. Johnson was sentenced to 100 hours of community service.

Green, Haddad and Shackleford were banned for life from attending any future events at The Palace. So were Bryant Jackson, identified as the fan who threw the folding chair at O'Neal; and David Wallace, no relation to Ben or Rasheed, who was sentenced to one year of probation and community service for punching Pacer player Fred Jones.

Green and Haddad had season tickets, which were revoked, with refunds for the cost of the remainder of the season. Green had a rap sheet longer than a 3-point shot, and was already on probation from a DUI conviction. He was acquitted of the assault charge for throwing the cup, but convicted for punching Artest in the stands. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 2 years' probation. Jackson pleaded no contest to a felony assault charge, and was sentenced to 2 years' probation.

The brawl had no long-term effect on the Pistons, as they returned to the NBA Finals in 2005, but lost in 7 games to the San Antonio Spurs. They have not been back since. In 2017, the Pistons and the NHL's Detroit Red Wings moved into the Little Caesars Arena, at the northern edge of downtown, a short walk from Comerica Park, the new home of MLB's Detroit Tigers, and Ford Field, the new home of the NFL's Detroit Lions. And so, for the 1st time since the Lions last played at Tiger Stadium on Thanksgiving Day 1974, 43 years earlier, all 4 of Detroit's major league sports teams were playing in the city.

Rick Carlisle remained the Pistons' coach until 2007. He coached the Dallas Mavericks for 13 seasons, winning the NBA Championship in 2011. The Pacers have not been a serious NBA title contender since 2004.

The Palace was also the site of a brawl between the WNBA's Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks on July 22, 2008. This fight was dubbed "The Malice at the Palace II." The Sparks won the game, 84-81. Despite winning WNBA Championships in 2003, '06  and '08 -- hence the mailing address of The Palace was "Six Championship Drive," having previously been "One... " and counting upward -- the Shock moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2010. The Shock moved again in 2016, becoming the Dallas Wings.

Without a tenant, The Palace became most useful for the suburban land on which it stood. It was demolished in 2020, after only 32 years. General Motors bought the land, and is planning to build an electric-car assembly plant on the site.

After bouncing around the league, in 2010, Ron Artest won an NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2011, to help improve his image, he legally changed his name to Metta World Peace. He explained that "Metta" is a Buddhist word that means "loving kindness and friendliness towards all." In 2020, having married Maya Sandiford, he changed his name again, to Metta Sandiford-Artest. He now runs The Artest Management Group, which helps athletes with real-life issues, including tax preparation. He seems to have found peace, if not world peace.

His son, who goes by Ron Artest III, has also played pro basketball, for two teams in the National Basketball League of Canada.

Winners of the Popular Vote in Presidential Elections

Bigger than anyone ever has.

But he felt he couldn't run again.

Note: Up until 1824 or so, popular vote totals are pretty much unreliable, and didn't matter much, anyway. But with the Adams-Jackson race being the 1st true divergence, from that point onward, it matters:

1964 Lyndon Johnson 61.1 (no one has topped this)

1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt 60.8

1972 Richard Nixon 60.7 (no one has topped this since)

1920 Warren G. Harding 60.4

1984 Ronald Reagan 58.8 (no one has topped this since)

1928 Herbert Hoover 58.1

1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt 57.4

1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower 57.4

1904 Theodore Roosevelt 56.4

1872 Ulysses S. Grant 55.6

1828 Andrew Jackson 55.5

1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower 55.2

1864 Abraham Lincoln 55.1

1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt 54.7

1832 Andrew Jackson 54.2

1924 Calvin Coolidge 54.0

1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt 53.4

1988 George H.W. Bush 53.4 (no one has topped this since)

2008 Barack Obama 52.9 (no one has topped this since)

1840 William Henry Harrison 52.9

1868 Ulysses S. Grant 52.7

1900 William McKinley 51.6

1908 William Howard Taft 51.6

2012 Barack Obama 51.1 (no one has topped this since)

1896 William McKinley 51.0

1876 Samuel Tilden 50.9 (lost Electoral Vote)

2020 Joe Biden 50.8

1836 Martin Van Buren 50.8

1852 Franklin Pierce 50.8

1980 Ronald Reagan 50.7 (3-man race)

2004 George W. Bush 50.7

1976 Jimmy Carter 50.1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

2024 Donald Trump 49.9 (several minor-party candidates)

1960 John F. Kennedy 49.7 (several minor-party candidates)

1948 Harry Truman 49.6 (4-man race)

1844 James K. Polk, 49.5 (3-man race)

1996 Bill Clinton 49.2 (3-man race)

1916 Woodrow Wilson 49.2 (several minor-party candidates)

1884 Grover Cleveland 48.8 (several minor-party candidates)

1888 Grover Cleveland 48.6 (several minor-party candidates, lost Electoral Vote)

2000 Al Gore 48.4 (3-man race, lost Electoral Vote)

1880 James Garfield 48.3 (3-man race)

2016 Hillary Clinton 48.2 (4-candidate race, lost Electoral Vote)

1848 Zachary Taylor 47.3 (3-man race)

1892 Grover Cleveland 45.9 (3-man race)

1856 James Buchanan 45.3 (3-man race)

1968 Richard Nixon 43.4 (3-man race)

1992 Bill Clinton 43.0 (3-man race)

1912 Woodrow Wilson 41.8 (3-man race)

1824 Andrew Jackson 40.5 (4-man race, lost Electoral Vote)

1860 Abraham Lincoln 39.7 (4-man race)

Lost Youth, the Wrong Parts Regained

Somebody once said that Nostalgia was a longing for a time that you didn't think was so great the first time around.

We're going to have an elderly, insane Republican as President, filling his administration with corrupt religious zealots who are completely unqualified for their positions.

The music and the cars are horrible.

And the Yankees can't win the World Series.

They say you can't regain your lost youth. Well, it sounds like my youth, or at least my adolescence of the 1980s, is back in full force, just without so many of the stores I liked, and with higher prices (which, of course, are not the Democrats' fault).

*

I haven't done a countdown in over 6 months. Here goes:

Hours until the next Rutgers University football game: 6, today, at 6:00 PM, away to the University of Maryland. If the Big Ten Conference and the TV networks were as smart as they think they are, they would have these 2 Northeastern outposts/newcomers in the league become big rivals.

Days until the next game of the U.S. National Soccer Team: 2, this Monday, 8:00 PM, vs. Jamaica, at Citypark, home of new MLS team St. Louis City. This past Thursday night, they beat Jamaica, 1-0 in Kingston. It was the 1st game under their new manager, former Tottenham and Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino.

Days until the next Arsenal match: 7, a week from today, Saturday, at 10:00 AM New York Eastern Time, home to East Midlands team Nottingham Forest.

Days until the next New York Red Bulls match: 7, a week from today, Saturday, at 5:30 PM, vs. New York City FC, at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, in the MLS Cup Eastern Conference Semifinal. This is the 1st Hudson River Derby match to be a Playoff match.

Days until the Red Bulls again play a nearby rival: See the previous answer.

Days until the New Jersey Devils again play a local rival: 37, at 1:00 PM on December 23, against the New York Rangers, a 2-days-before-Christmas Monday matinee at Madison Square Garden.

Days until the next North London Derby: 60, on January 15, 2025, at 3:00 PM, at the Emirates Stadium. Exactly 2 months. This past September 15, Arsenal won, 1-0 at Tottenham. It is unusual that the game at Tottenham comes first, but, this time, it did.

Days until the Yankees open the 2025 regular season: 131, on Thursday, March 27, at 3:05 PM, home to the Milwaukee Brewers. A little over 4 months.

Days until the Yankees' next series against the Boston Red Sox begins: 195, on Friday night, June 6, 2025, at Yankee Stadium. Under 7 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick High School football game: Unknown. The 2024 season began earlier, and ended earlier, than ever before, as we went 2-8. If the schedule works out the same way as this season, then the opener will be on Friday night, August 28, 2025. That's 285 days, or a little over 9 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Game: Unknown. If the 2025 schedule is a reverse of the 2024 edition, with the teams flipping to the other's home field, it will be at home on September 26, 2025. That's 314 days, or a little over 10 months.

Days until the next elections for Governor of New Jersey and Mayor of New York City: 353, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Just under a year.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: Unknown. With the expansion of the Big Ten Conference for this 2024 season, these 2 schools did not play each other. They are set to play each other in 2025, but a date has not been set. Since Rutgers entered the Big 10 in 2014, the Penn State game has usually been on the 3rd or 4th Saturday in November. If that holds true, then it will be on November 22, 2025, at 12:00 Noon, in Piscataway, at what's currently named SHI Stadium. (The naming rights could be sold to someone else by then.) If that turns out to be when it's played, that's 371 days, or a shade over 1 year.

Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Milan, Italy: 447, on Friday, February 6, 2026. Under a year and a half, or under 15 21 months.

Days until the next World Cup opens: 569, on Monday, June 8, 2026. A little over a year and a half, or a little over 18 months. I wonder what team Trump will be rooting for: Ours, or Russia's.

Days until the World Cup Final in New Jersey: 610, on Sunday, July 19, 2026. A little over a year and a half, or a little over 19 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympic Games: 1,336, on Friday, July 14, 2028, in Los Angeles. A little over 3 1/2 years. What shape America will be in at the time, God only knows.

Days until the next Presidential election: 1,452, on Tuesday, November 7, 2028. A little under 4 years. This, of course, presumes that the Trump Administration doesn't suspend the Constitution of the United States and cancel all future Presidential elections.

My Theory About Trump's Whackadoodle Cabinet Picks

Matt Gaetz as Attorney General? Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense? Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence? Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health & Human Services?

Suddenly, Marco Rubio as Secretary of State doesn't sound so bad. Even though it is.

Remember: Nobody in the Trump cult is saying that Gaetz is innocent, they're only saying that he has to be supported, because he's Trump's choice.

Why is it that Republicans never do the thing -- or ask others to do the thing -- that will prove them innocent? Or, at the least, provide reasonable doubt as to their guilt? Why don't they ever act like innocent men?

I have a theory: Trump is appointing so many whackadoodles (if you don't mind me using a technical term) to high office that he figures we'll concentrate so much energy on stopping one of them (most likely, Gaetz) that we won't be able to stop the others.

 

Then, he gets the Attorney General he really wants.

Most likely, this was a Stephen Miller idea, or a Steve Bannon idea, or a Roger Stone idea. Dumb Donald is SO dumb (How dumb IS he?), he couldn't have come up with this on his own. 

George vs. Donald

 

Actor Sylvester Stallone, known for playing Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, has compared Donald Trump to George Washington.

All right. Let's do it:

* George Washington: Volunteered to be a solider. Donald Trump: Weaseled his way out of being one.

* George Washington: Very successful in real estate. Donald Trump: Failed at it.

* George Washington: Painful dentures. Donald Trump: Has that in common.

* Donald Trump: Betrayed his country. George Washington: Betrayed by his country, which, at the time, was Great Britain.

* George Washington: Had to flee New York. Donald Trump: Has that in common.

* George Washington: Won battles in New Jersey. Donald Trump: Not so much.

* George Washington: Victorious in Virginia. Donald Trump: No.

* George Washington: Asked to chair the Convention that wrote the Constitution. Donald Trump: Says the Constitution has been unfair to him, and says he wants to suspend it.

* George Washington: Spent a lot of his time as President on his estate, but working as a farmer. Donald Trump: Spent a lot of his time as President on his estate, playing golf.

* Donald Trump: Put his corrupt children and their corrupt significant others in his Administration. George Washington: Had no children.

* George Washington: Rich all his life, never went bankrupt. Donald Trump: Started out rich, now billions of dollars in debt.

* George Washington: His Cabinet included Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Donald Trump: His Cabinet turned on him, so he replaced them with psychopaths.

* George Washington: Believed in America, but knew there were issues, and was told only he could fix them. He did his best. Donald Trump: Says, "The American Dream is dead," and, "I, alone, can fix it," and then proved that he can't fix a damn thing.

I think Sly has taken too many blows to the head.

I Don't Want to Hear It

Donald Trump and Steve Bannon. Two adults for whom

character counts; and experience, the rule of law,

national security and the American Dream matter.

During the Bill Clinton era, January 1992 to January 2001, the Republican Party told us, "Character counts." They have since proven that they don't really believe that, with, among others, Newt Gingrich, George W. Bush and Donald Trump.

When they tried to remove Clinton in office over the Monica Lewinsky affair in 1998 and 1999, they argued that they were standing up for "the rule of law." Under Bush and Trump, they proved that they don't care about the rule of law.

When the Republicans ran Bush to succeed Clinton in 2000, and when they ran John McCain to oppose Barack Obama in 2008, they told us, "Experience matters." They have since proven that they don't really believe that, with, among others, Trump.

When the Republicans ran Bush to succeed Clinton in 2000, and when they ran Trump to succeed Obama in 2016, they told us, "The adults are going to be in charge again." They have since proven that they don't really know what an adult is.

From Bush's Inauguration in January 2001 until the conclusion of the McCain campaign in November 2008, the Republicans claimed that only they, not the Democratic Party, cared about "national security." They have long proven that they don't.

And when Trump ran for President in 2015 and 2016, he often told his audiences, "The American Dream is dead." What he didn't say was that people like him killed it.

I don't ever again want to hear a Republican say that character counts. Clearly, it doesn't.

I don't ever again want to hear a Republican say that experience matters. Clearly, it doesn't.

I don't ever again want to hear a Republican say that their people are "the adults." Clearly, they're not.

I don't ever again want to hear a Republican use the words "the rule of law," "national security," or "the American Dream." Clearly, they don't give a damn about any of those things.

As our outgoing President, Joe Biden, would say, "Will you shut up, man!"

It Was About the Hat, Not the Message

The NFL has fined Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers $11,225 for wearing a MAGA hat on the sideline.

The fine wasn't for the message on the hat. I suspect that most of the owners of the 32 NFL teams would be fine with it.

But the NFL has this fetish about conformity. The league will fine you for wearing your socks wrong. When Johnny Unitas of the Baltimore Colts, possibly the greatest quarterback of all time, died in 2002, Peyton Manning, then playing for the Indianapolis version of the Colts, wanted to pay tribute by wearing Unitas' signature item, black high-top cleats, in his next game. The NFL said no, and you'll be fined if you do.

When Pat Tillman, formerly of the Arizona Cardinals, died in the Iraq War in 2004, every player wore a #40 sticker on his helmet for their next game. But when Jake Plummer, his quarterback in college (Arizona State) and the NFL, wanted to continue to wear the sticker for the rest of the season, the NFL refused to allow it.

So much for supporting our troops.

Bosa has a history of garbage: Racist and homophobic tweets, praising Trump's call for violence against protesters; multiple tweets that purport that illegal immigrants and refugees cause crime; and multiple Instagram posts with hashtags that included the N-word" pro-rape language, and a homophobic slur.

He once called former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick a "clown" for his protests against police brutality and racial inequality. He said he had to delete that tweet, because "There is a chance I might end up in San Francisco." After being drafted by the 49ers in 2019, Bosa apologized for the posts in a press conference.

The NFL had no problem with the stupid hat. They should have. It was indicative of a larger problem.

And all this has been relatively early in Bosa's career, so we would be on shaky ground if we blamed CTE.

November 14, 1934: The Battle of Highbury

Left to right: Italy Captain Attilio Ferraris,

referee Otto Olsson, England Captain Eddie Hapgood

November 14, 1934, 90 years ago: The most-hyped soccer game ever to that point is played. And, while the competition lived up to the hype, everything else was horrible.

In 1928, a dispute with the governing body of world soccer, the Fédération internationale de Football Association (FIFA), England left their jurisdiction. The other "home nations" of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland -- Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland -- followed suit. (To this day, I don't know why they compete as a single united kingdom in the Olympics Games, but, for every other event, the home nations each have their own separate teams.)

This made the home nations ineligible to play in FIFA's signature tournament, the World Cup, which began in 1930, with Uruguay winning on home soil. The 1934 tournament would be the 1st held in Europe, in Italy, then ruled by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. With a team dominated by players from Juventus FC of Turin and FC Internazionale Milano of Milan, Italy won it.

But England, which "invented football" (at the least, it did so in an organized way), still thought it had the best team in the world. So they challenged Italy in a game to decide "the real world championship." Italy accepted. The game would be in England, so Mussolini couldn't use his authority to cheat. But he did offer an incentive: If they won, each player would receive a new Alfa Romeo car and a cash prize which, converted into 2024 U.S. money, was about $7,500, a pretty good figure during the Great Depression.

Italy manager Vittorio Pozzo sent out this lineup (with neither side wearing uniform numbers):

* Goalkeeper: Carlo Ceresoli of Inter. This was a change from the World Cup, where his keeper, and his Captain, was Gianpiero Combi of Juventus.

* Right Back: Eraldo Monzeglio of Bologna FC.

* Left Back: Luigi Allemandi of Inter.

* Right Half: Attilio Ferraris of SS Lazio of Rome, Italy's Captain for this game.

* Center Half: Luis Monti of Juventus.

* Left Half: Luigi Bertolini of Juventus.

* Outside Right: Enrique Guaita of AS Roma of Rome.

* Inside Right: Pietro Serantoni of Juventus.

* Center Forward: Giuseppe Meazza of Inter. He had been the inside right in the World Cup, but was moved to center forward for this game, replacing Angelo Schiavio of Bologna. The Milan stadium used by both Inter and AC Milan, known worldwide as the San Siro for its neighborhood, is officially named for Meazza, as he was the greatest Italian player of his generation.

* Inside Left: Giovanni Ferrari of Juventus.

* Outside Left: Raimundo Orsi of Juventus.

At the time, England did not have a "manager" as we now understand that term. Essentially, the team Captain was the head coach. Rather, a board of directors selected the starting eleven:

* Goalkeeper: Frank Moss of Arsenal FC. Arsenal, of North London, were the dominant team in England in the 1930s, winning 5 Football League titles and 2 FA Cups.

* Right Back: George Male of Arsenal.

* Left Back: Eddie Hapgood of Arsenal. So respected by his peers was Hapgood that he was named Captain of his country before he was named Captain of his club: Arsenal's Captain at the time was the great Scottish forward Alex James.

* Right Half: Cliff Britton of Everton FC, based in Liverpool.

* Center Half: Jack Barker of Derby County FC, in the East Midlands.

* Left Half: Wilf Copping of Arsenal. A purely defensive player, he never scored a goal for Arsenal. But he was the most feared player in the league. Not that he was dirty: Not once was he ever booked for a foul. (This was before Mike Riley, a known Arsenal hater, was in charge of English referees.)

* Outside Right: Stanley Matthews of Stoke City FC. At 19, he was the youngest player on the team. He would eventually become the grand old man of English football, playing for Stoke in Division One at age 50. In between tenures at Stoke, he would play for Lancashire side Blackpool FC. Playing his career for struggling teams, "The Wizard of Dribble" only won 1 trophy in his career, the 1953 FA Cup. In that game, his teammate Stan Mortensen became the 1st, and remains the only, player to score 3 goals in an FA Cup Final. And yet, the game is still called "The Matthews Final," such was his dominance of the game.

* Inside Right: Ray Bowden of Arsenal.

* Center Forward: Ted Drake of Arsenal. Recently acquired from Hampshire team Southampton FC, he became the top scorer in the country. The following year, he would tie the League record by scoring 7 goals against Birmingham team Aston Villa.

* Inside Left: Cliff Bastin of Arsenal. Normally an outside left, he would score 178 goals for "The Gunners," a team record that would last until surpassed by Ian Wright in 1997. He finished with 185, which was surpassed by Thierry Henry with 228.

* Outside Left: Eric Brook of Manchester City FC.

Seven players from Arsenal. It remains the only time 1 team has had 7 players in the England starting XI. So the match was set for Arsenal's home, Arsenal Stadium, known for its neighborhood as "Highbury." Although having little experience at the international level, these players were battle-tested in the toughest league in the world.

The referee was Otto Olsson, of Sweden. The crowd was given as 56,044 people. England wore white shirts and navy blue shorts, while Italy wore sky blue shirts and white shorts.

But when the game began at 3:00 on that Wednesday afternoon -- 10:00 in the morning, U.S. Eastern Time -- it was pouring rain, and the rain continued throughout the game. And the Italians were dirty from the outset. In only the 1st minute of the game, Drake had a one-on-one with Ceresoli, who crashed into him. Olsson awarded a penalty, but it was taken by Brook, who missed it.

Just a minute later, Monti tackled Drake, and broke his own foot in the process. A minute later, Brook headed in a cross from Matthews, and it was one-nil to England. Shortly thereafter, Hapgood took an elbow to the face, breaking his nose. In the 10th minute, Brook fired a free kick that Matthews said was "like a thunderbolt." It was 2-0 England. Just 2 minutes later, Drake made it 3-0. It looked like a wipeout.

By the 15-minute mark, both Monti and Hapgood had to leave the pitch. Both sides were down to 10 men. Pozzo changed tactics, and the Italian defense got tighter. And dirtier: Drake was punched, Brook's arm was broken, and Bowden got his ankle hurt. Olsson booked none of these offenses.

The Italians kept their tactics up in the 2nd half, and the tide of the game turned. Meazza scored twice within 4 minutes on either side of the hour mark. He fought hard for an equalizer, denied by saves from Moss and once hitting the post. When Olsson blew his whistle for full-time, it was still England 3, Italy 2.

England claimed to be the true world champions, their "gentlemen" having defeated the World Cup winners at their dirtiest, in a match that Matthews, whose length and greatness of career can be compared to American baseball pitcher Nolan Ryan and Canadian hockey player Gordie Howe, called it the most violent match in which he had ever played.

But Italy received its players as heroes. Recognizing that they had played under completely unfavorable conditions, they were hailed as "The Lions of Highbury." Mussolini, not bound by his promise because of the defeat, followed through anyway, giving the players the cash prizes and the cars.

Ceresoli lived until 1995, making him the last surviving Italian player from this game. Matthews was the game's last survivor, living until February 23, 2000.

Italy would repeat as World Cup winners in 1938. World War II canceled the World Cup of 1942, and the inability to set up qualifying matches because the European phase of the war didn't come until 1945 forced the cancellation of the 1946 edition. FIFA and the British home nations settled their differences, and England entered the 1950 World Cup, but failed until hosting the tournament in 1966. That remains the only international tournament that England have ever won. Italy have won the World Cup again in 1982 and 2006; and the UEFA European Championships of 1968 and 2020.

My Ranking of the States, 2024 Edition

I previously did this in 2015 and 2020. This time, I'm using different parameters. Or, rather, one parameter: How well did you oppose Fascism in the 2024 election? In other words: What percent of your popular vote went to Kamala Harris, instead of Donald Trump or any other candidate?

The Good

-. District of Columbia: 92.5

1. Vermont: 64.3

2. Maryland: 61.5

3. Massachusetts: 61.3

4. Hawaii: 60.6

5. California: 58.2

6. Washington: 58.0

7. Delaware: 56.6

8. Connecticut: 56.5

9. New York: 55.8

10. Oregon: 55.6

11. Rhode Island: 55.7

12. Colorado: 54.2

13. Illinois: 53.8

14. Maine: 52.2

15. Virginia: 51.8

16. New Mexico: 51.8

17. New Jersey: 51.7

18. Minnesota: 51.1

19. New Hampshire: 50.9

The Bad

20. Wisconsin: 48.9

21. Georgia: 48.5

22. Pennsylvania: 48.5

23. Michigan: 48.3

24. North Carolina: 47.7

25. Nevada: 47.5

26. Arizona: 46.5

Aside from North Carolina, each of those States went for Joe Biden last time, but flipped to Trump this time.

The Ugly

27. Ohio: 43.9

28. Florida: 43.0

29. Iowa: 42.7

30. Texas: 42.4

31. Kansas: 41.0

32. South Carolina: 40.4

33. Alaska: 40.4

34. Missouri: 40.1

35. Indiana: 39.7

36. Nebraska: 38.9

37. Montana: 38.4

38. Utah: 38.3

39. Louisiana: 38.2

40. Mississippi: 37.3

41. Tennessee: 34.5

42. Alabama: 34.2

43. South Dakota: 34.2

44. Kentucky: 33.9

45. Arkansas: 33.5

46. Oklahoma: 31.9

47. North Dakota: 30.8

48. Idaho: 30.4

49. West Virginia: 27.9

50. Wyoming: 26.1 (Gee, thanks, Liz Cheney.)

The last time each State voted for the Democratic Party's candidate for President:

* 2024, Kamala Harris: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington.

* 2020, Joe Biden: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.

* 2012, Barack Obama: Florida, Iowa, Ohio.

* 2008, Barack Obama: Indiana, North Carolina.

* 1996, Bill Clinton: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia. Clinton was,  Southerner, but that didn't help Al Gore 4 years later. By that point, the South had stopped caring about geography, and cared more about religion, guns, and white supremacy.

* 1976, Jimmy Carter: Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas. Southern States that would have gone Republican if any of that year's major Democratic candidates other than Carter had been nominated.

* 1964, Lyndon Johnson: Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming. These are Western States with a libertarian streak.