October 28, 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis Is Resolved

Herbert Block (Herblock) cartoon in The Washington Post,

November 1, 1962: JFK says, "Let's get a lock for this thing."

October 28, 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis is resolved, as Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev

announces that he has ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba, as demanded by President John F. Kennedy.

In a secret deal between them, JFK agrees to the withdrawal of U.S. missiles from Turkey. The fact that the Turkey part of the deal is not made public makes it look like the Soviets have backed down, rather than that the deal was a true compromise.

Much of the world thought that this was it, that World War III was assured, that the NFL and AFL games of this day might be the last sporting events that they'd ever see, or even that they would be prevented. They weren't, and the world moved on.

One event the world moved on to was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed on July 26, 1963 by JFK, Khrushchev, and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, banning nuclear testing in the atmosphere -- including above the Arctic Circle.

*

October 28, 1962 was a Sunday. The baseball season ended on October 16, as the New York Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 in Game 7 of the World Series, the 1st Series to be between a team on the Atlantic Coast and a team on the Pacific Coast. (The Dodgers had already been in a World Series since their move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, in 1959, but their opponent was the Chicago White Sox, not a coastal team. The Dodgers won it.)

There was 1 NBA game played that day. The Cincinnati Royals beat the San Francisco Warriors, 131-130 at the Cincinnati Gardens. The Warriors were in their 1st season on the Coast, after playing in Philadelphia. They changed their name to the Golden State Warriors in 1971.

Wilt Chamberlain scored 53 points and grabbed 27 rebounds. Just another day at the office for the greatest basketball player who ever lived. But Oscar Robertson, himself a serious contender for that title, scored 36 to lead the team now named the Sacramento Kings to victory.

For the NHL, this was the "Original Six" era, and 4 of the 6 played. The New York Rangers lost to the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the old Madison Square Garden. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins did not play.

And there was football. In the NFL, at the original Yankee Stadium. Y.A. Tittle tied an NFL record with 7 touchdown passes, and the New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins 49-34.

Tittle is 1 of 8 NFL quarterbacks to have thrown 7 touchdown passes in a single game. Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears did it against the Giants in 1943. Adrian Burk of the Philadelphia Eagles did it against the Redskins in 1954. Although it was in the AFL, the NFL counts George Blanda of the Houston Oilers doing it against the New York Titans (the Jets) in 1961. Joe Kapp of the Minnesota Vikings did it against the Baltimore Colts in 1969.

It was done twice in 2013, by Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos against the Baltimore Ravens, and by Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles against the Oakland Raiders. In 2015, the Giants were victimized again, by Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.

Also on October 28, 1962:

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Baltimore Colts, 17-6 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Johnny Unitas was the greatest quarterback of the era, but Vince Lombardi was the best coach and the best general manager, and had built the best team. From September 24, 1961 to September 13, 1964, the Packers went 38-5-1, including winning the 1961 and 1962 NFL Championship Games.

* The Cleveland Browns beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-14 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys, 28-24 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 11-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings, 31-21 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Los Angeles Rams beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, 28-14 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

In the upstart American Football League:

* The New York Titans beat the San Diego Chargers, 23-3 at the Polo Grounds in New York. The Titans changed their name to the New York Jets the next year.

* The Boston Patriots beat the Oakland Raiders, 26-16 at Boston University Field. The stadium would be renamed Nickerson Field in 1964, and the team would be renamed the New England Patriots upon their move to suburban Foxborough, Massachusetts in 1971.

* The Dallas Texans beat the Houston Oilers, 31-7 at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston. The teams would meet again in the AFL Championship Game, and the Texans won. The next year, though, tired of trying to compete for attention with the NFL's Cowboys, they moved, becoming the Kansas City Chiefs.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Denver Broncos, 45-38 at Bears Field in Denver. Bears Field would be expanded and turned into the original Mile High Stadium.

You Are a Survivor. Yes, You.

NOTE: When I wrote this, COVID-19 was still pretty much a rumor in America. We had no idea of what its effect on America would be. Little did we know just how badly Trump would screw up his response to it. And over 1 million Americans did not survive it. But for those who did survive it, the following still applies.

Today is January 20, 2020. One year from today, there will be a Presidential Inauguration.

If we do what we have to do, the President inaugurated on that day will not be Donald Trump, or any of the Republicans standing with him now, including Vice President Mike Pence.

We have survived 3 years of this Administration.

You have survived it.

You, yes, you are a survivor.

Think about it:

* If you are at lesat 11 years old, you survived some of the George W. Bush Administration.

* If you are at least 19 years old, you survived the entire Dubya Administration and the 9/11 attacks.

* If you are at least 29 years old, you survived at least some of the Cold War.

* If you are at least 31 years old, you survived some of the Ronald Reagan Administration.

* If you are at least 39 years old, you survived the entire Reagan Administration.

* If you are at least 46 years old, you survived some of the Richard Nixon Administration. And I have survived each of the preceding along with you.

* If you are at least 51 years old, you survived the entire Nixon Administration.

* If you are at least 58 years old, you survived the Cuban Missile Crisis.

* If you are at least 65 years old, you survived the Vietnam War, either serving in it or avoiding having been drafted into it.

* If you are at least 85 years old, you survived the Korean War, either serving in it or avoiding having been drafted into it.

* If you are at least 93 years old, you survived World War II, either serving in it or avoiding having been drafted into it.

* And if you are between 79 and 91 years old, you survived the Great Depression.

Congratulations on surviving everything that you have survived.

So why not live one more year? If you've survived even half of this stuff, anything after surviving the Trump Administration is going to be icing on the cake.

*

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 1, tomorrow.

Days until Arsenal play again: 1, tomorrow, 3:15 PM New York time, in Premier League action, away to West London team Chelsea.

Days until the 1st Presidential voting of 2020, the Iowa Caucuses: 14, on Monday, February 3. Just 2 weeks. The New Hampshire Primary will be 8 days later.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 17, on Thursday night, February 6, against the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, will be at the Wells Fargo Center. The next game against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, will be on Saturday night, March 7, at Madison Square Garden. The next game against the New York Islanders will be on Saturday night, March 21, at the Prudential Center.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 41, on Sunday, March 1, at 1:00 PM, home to FC Cincinnati. Under 6 weeks.

Days until the Yankees' 2020 Opening Day: 66, at 1:00 on Thursday, March 26, away to the Baltimore Orioles. Under 10 weeks. And now, it feels as though we can look forward to it.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 66, at 3:45 PM New York time on March 26, 2020, against the Netherlands, at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, home of PSV Eindhoven.

Days until the Yankees' 2020 home opener: 73, on Thursday, April 2, against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 89, on Saturday, April 18, at 1:00 PM, against the New England Revolution, at Red Bull Arena. On Sunday, April 26, at 3:00 PM, they will play D.C. United, at Audi Field in Washington. On Sunday, May 31, at 3:00 PM, they will play New York City FC, at Yankee Stadium II. And on Saturday, June 6, at 6:00 PM, they will play the Philadelphia Union, at Red Bull Arena.

Days until the next North London Derby: 96, on Saturday, April 25, Arsenal's 1st visit to the new Tottenham Stadium, adjacent to the site of the previous White Hart Lane. A little over 3 months. It is currently scheduled to be on the 16th Anniversary of the 2nd time that Arsenal won the League at White Hart Lane -- but also the last time Arsenal won the League anywhere. Of course, for TV reasons, the game could be moved to another date, probably the next day.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 109, on May 8, 2020, at Yankee Stadium II. Under 4 months. 

Days until Euro 2020 begins, a tournament being held all over Europe instead of in a single host nation: 144, on Friday, June 12, 2020. Under 5 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 186, on July 24, 2020. A little over 6 months.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 229, on Saturday, September 5, at noon, home to Monmouth University, a Football Championship Subdivision School in West Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey. In other words, if they don't win this game overwhelmingly, especially now that Greg Schiano is back as head coach, it will look very, very bad. Anyway, under 8 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, as the 2020 schedule has not been released yet. Most likely, the season opener will be against arch-rival Old Bridge, on Friday night, September 11, away at the purple shit pit on Route 9. That's 235 days.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge football game: See the previous answer.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 288, on November 3, 2020. Under 10 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 313, on Saturday, November 28, at home. A little over 10 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 349, on January 3, 2021. Under a year, or under 12 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 366, at noon on January 20, 2021. Exactly 1 year, or exactly 12 months. (Remember: 2020 is a Leap Year.) Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.

Days until Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz become eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame: 722, on January 11, 2022. Under 2 years. We will then find out if it's okay for a Red Sox steroid cheat to be in the Hall, but not for a Yankee steroid cheat.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 746, on February 4, 2022. A little over 2 years, or a little over 24 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off in Qatar: 1,036, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 3 years, or just 34 months.

Days until the next Women's World Cup is scheduled to kick off: As yet unknown, but space on the international women's soccer calendar has been cleared for July 10 to August 20, 2023. So if July 10 is the tournament's starting date, that would be 1,267 days, a little over 3 1/2 years, or under 42 months. A host nation is expected to be chosen on March 20, 2020. Bids have bee put in by Brazil (South America has never hosted), Colombia (ditto), Japan (Asia last hosted in 2007), and a joint bid by Australia and New Zealand (Oceania has never hosted).