November 20, 1983: "The Day After" Airs On ABC

November 20, 1983, 30 years ago: The Day After airs on ABC. With over 100 million people watching, a 46 rating and a 62 share, it remains the most-watched made-for-television movie in American history.

It aired when the Cold War was at one of its chilliest points:

* One year earlier, on November 10, 1982, Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, died. He was succeeded by Yuri Andropov, who had already been secretly running the country, and by extension its alliance of nations known as the Warsaw Pact, since 1975, when Brezhnev suffered a stroke. But now, he was dying, too, from kidney failure.

* Eight months earlier, on March 8, 1983, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, declared in a speech before evangelical ministers -- at Walt Disney World, outside Orlando, Florida -- that the Soviet Union was "an evil empire." That got the Soviets' attention.

* Eleven weeks earlier, on September 1, 1983, the Soviet Air Force shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 over Sakhalin Island, which was disputed between the Soviet Union and Japan. They claimed they had mistaken it for a spy plane.

* Eight weeks earlier, on September 26, 1983, a Soviet early-warning system near Moscow reported the launch of 5 American missiles. The Soviets were ready to retaliate, but were talked down by Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, who convinced them that, if the Americans were going to attack, there would be a lot more than five missiles, so this was probably a false alarm. The false alarm was confirmed by ground radar, and, when the documents concerning this incident were declassified, Petrov became known as "The Man Who Saved the World."

* Two weeks earlier, on November 7, 1983, the armed forces of the nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization carried out a series of joint wargames called Able Archer 83. NATO conducted these wargames before, and the Soviets knew about them. This time, they did a few different things, and the Soviets found out about this, and got spooked. They went on high alert. When the wargames ended on November 11 -- the anniversary of the Armistice ending World War I -- and nothing had happened, the Warsaw Pact stood down.

All this time, there was the occasional mass demonstration, in America or in Europe, against nuclear proliferation. This was not helped by the events of early 1979, when the premiere of the film The China Syndrome, about a nuclear power plant melting down, was almost immediately followed by a real-life close call at the Three Mile Island plant outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

So ABC wanted to make a movie about the effects of not a nuclear accident, but a nuclear war. Plenty of films, including TV-movies, had been made about the potential for such a war, including WarGames, premiering on June 3, 1983. But ABC executives wanted to show the effects on average Americans.

For this reason, director Nicholas Meyer insisted that most of the cast be as yet unknown, although some became stars: John Lithgow, Steve Guttenberg, JoBeth Williams, Amy Madigan, John Cullum, Stephen Furst, Wayne Knight.

ABC insisted on at least one star that would be recognizable when they released the film to European theaters the next year. Meyer ran into Jason Robards on a flight, and cast him as the one star. Meyer also cast Bibi Besch, whom he'd cast as Dr. Carol Marcus in his most famous film, a year earlier: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

The location was as close to literally being Middle America as you can get: Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas, and the nearby city of Kansas City, Missouri.

A summary of the plot. The Warsaw Pact blockades West Berlin. Both sides mass troops on the border between East Germany and West Germany. The East invades, and the West uses tactical nuclear weapons to stop them. Each side attacks the other's targets in the Persian Gulf. Multiple messages are sent over the Emergency Broadcast System. Scared civilians begin hoarding key supermarket items and evacuating major cities.

The missiles are launched. The film doesn't say which side fired theirs first, the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. Detonations cause heat and shock waves that vaporize everything nearby, and also electromagnetic pulses that disable vehicles and destroy the electrical grid. The promos that ABC did for the film conclude at this point, with mushroom clouds swelling, and a male voice, that of Lithgow, over a communications system asking, "Lawrence, Kansas, is there anybody there? Anybody at all?"

With food and water in short supply, martial law is declared. It doesn't seem to matter, as those who are not too sick to do anything due to radiation poisoning get shot as they look for food. As President John F. Kennedy had warned 20 years earlier, "The living would envy the dead."

To this film, the natural response of America's conservative media was that ABC and Meyer were traitors. But Reagan, himself a former actor, had been allowed to screen the film at the White House before its airing. In his diary, he wrote that it was "very effective and left me greatly depressed." At the end of the calendar year, Time magazine designated its Man of the Year in a split distinction to Reagan and Andropov.

Andropov died on February 9, 1984, and his successor, Konstantin Chernenko, on March 10, 1985. His successor was the much younger, much healthier Mikhail Gorbachev, and he and Reagan began meeting to reduce the possibility of a nuclear World War III.

In 1987, The Day After was shown on Soviet television for the first time. A few weeks later, Reagan and Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty, the 1st-ever agreement to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in both countries. The Warsaw Pact collapsed in 1989, and the Soviet Union itself in 1991.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 made it clear that it was now far more likely for a nuclear attack to be a "tactical" one, a "briefcase bomb" left by a terrorist. While Vladimir Putin, the current President of the Russian Federation, is evil, ambitious, and driven by religion (in his case, Russian Orthodox Catholic), he is not suicidal. He doesn't want a war with America, because he knows that, even if America loses, he cannot "win."

A-Double Standard. A-Big One.

Do you hate steroids, and other performance-enhancing drugs? Do you want players who've used them on your team? Would you recommend that another team sign some?

This winter, (Mets general manager Sandy) Alderson needs to be a little more aggressive -- as he's vowed he will be -- and go for more sure things when it comes to offensive weapons. In that respect, he needs to try to bring in two of the Biogenesis 12, who took their 50-game drug suspension penalties from MLB last summer without protest: Nelson Cruz and Jhonny Peralta...

There is one other added advantage in signing Cruz or Peralta. Both of them have demonstrated they know how to beat a drug test...

In listening to the buzz around these meetings, competition for Cruz and Peralta looks to be a lot fiercer than it is for (outgoing (?) Yankee Curtis) Granderson -- at least in these early days of the free-agent season.
-- Bill Madden, New York Daily News, November 12

Hmmmm. Guess Bill Madden only cares about steroid usage when A-Rod does it.
-- Lisa Swan, Subway Squawkers

*

Alex Rodriguez got caught once, before the current penalties were in place. He had lied about it before. But when pushed to the wall, he confessed. MLB has talked big since, but as far as the general public knows for sure, they've got nothing in this Biogenesis scandal that says A-Rod has used again, and the evidence they have revealed has been shown to be seriously compromised

Just as the evidence was seriously compromised in the Roger Clemens trial, leading to the verdict of not guilty, which, legally, was correct. Being a dickhead is not a crime, and Clemens was not on trial for that.

A-Rod, Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and Barry Bonds challenged MLB, and Sammy Sosa played baseball for a fool. All have become pariahs, to the point that the first is facing an attempt from MLB to push him out of baseball forever, the last three already have been, and the last four have already been denied election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. (Their second time around is approaching, but don't expect them to get in this time, either.) And don't expect the Baseball Writers Association of America, which votes on recently-retired players and hates A-Rod, to elect him the first time he's eligible, either.

In contrast, Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi cooperated, and are now looked upon as good guys.  Giambi doesn't have the stats to get into the Hall anyway. Andy does, and, because of what is known about him and the reasons he gave, his chances of getting in are decent.

Mark McGwire refused to confess at the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre" Congressional hearing in 2005, but neither did he challenge them, and he later confessed. He will never get into the Hall, but he has been allowed to work in baseball again -- and in uniform, no less, as hitting instructor for both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

You know who else challenged baseball at that hearing? Curt Schilling. He, like Palmeiro, sat there and decisively denied ever having used steroids.

That bloody sock. Why has that damn thing never been tested?

And then there is David Ortiz. Big Papi got tested. He got caught. He lied about it. He got exposed. He lied about it again, effectively using the O.J. Simpson line of "looking for the real cause" of his positive test. He still lies about it.

And yet, not only is Ortiz allowed to continue playing professional baseball, but he was named World Series MVP last month.

DAFUQ?

"Oh, but, Mike, you see, Big Papi is a nice guy!"

So was O.J. So was Ted Bundy.

"But Big Papi's great with kids!"

So were Hitler and Stalin. So, in a different way, was Jimmy Savile.

"But... but Big Papi gives to charity!"

So do al-Qaeda, Hamas and the PLO. So does Don Imus. So did Al Capone.

"But... but... but... But Big Papi is a role model for kids looking to get into baseball!"

So was Pete Rose.

"But... but... but... But Big Papi is an icon for Latinos!"

So is Fidel Castro. So were Juan and Evita Peron.

"Come on, Mike, you know Big Papi isn't as bad as those people! It's not like he ever had anybody killed!"

True. Nor has he ever killed anybody himself. Or even tried. As far as we know. Whereas that cannot be said of his former Red Sox teammates Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez.

Ah, there it is. Papi, Pedro and Schilling are still regarded as Red Sox heroes. While Manny and Clemens are now considered persona non grata in New England. (Someone will have to explain to Manny what that means.)

*

Remember the Mitchell Report? It mentioned Yankees A-Rod, Clemens, Pettitte, Giambi, his brother Jeremy Giambi, Chuck Knoblauch, Mike Stanton, David Justice, Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown, . 

It did not mention Papi or Manny  Nor did it mention Bronson Arroyo, who later confessed. In fact, it mentioned no players who played for the Red Sox in their 2004 World Championship season, and only 2 who played in their 2007 title season: Eric Gagne (whose steroid use had already caught up with him through injuries and cast his Dodger achievements into doubt) and Brendan Donnelly.  Neither was a key figure in the Sox winning the Series that season.

But maybe my Yankee fandom has caused me to miss the true conspiracy here: It's not that MLB wants to protect the Red Sox and "get" the Yankees. It's that they don't like to be embarrassed. They don't like to be made fools of.

1970: A pair of goofy pitchers, Denny McLain and Jim Bouton, embarrass baseball (through very different means). McLain got suspended 3 times, and was out of baseball by Opening Day 1973 -- although that was due to injury as much as anything else. Bouton denies to this day that MLB forced him out, that injuries and ineffectiveness caused him to retire in 1970. He may have a point, as nobody stopped him from making his comeback in 1978, and the Commissioner then was the same man who tried in vain to get him to recant his memoir Ball Four: Bowie Kuhn.

Walter O'Malley screwed over Dodger fans and Giant fans in the New York Tri-State Area in 1957. He got into the Hall of Fame, albeit long after his death. Marvin Miller got the reserve clause overturned. He died a year ago, and don't expect him to get into the Hall anytime soon.

The aforementioned Squawker Lisa made a point of the double standard toward A-Rod, and one of her commenters, a Steve J. Rogers (not to be confused with Captain America or the old Montreal Expo pitcher), said, "This is true. Be a Grade A POS to the media and a general trainwreck = GO AWAY. Be quiet about it to the national media, or contrite-ish (Giambi, Pettitte) and the media lays off, except when up for HOF votes!"

Maybe that's it: Maybe it's a case of, "Do what you have to, just don't embarrass us with it. We don't care if you make yourself look bad. We only care if you make us look bad."

*

I saw the ESPN SportsCentury piece on Bill Tilden, generally regarded as the greatest tennis player of the 1st half of the 20th Century. After he retired, he made big money giving tennis lessons to famous people and their children. All his Wall Street and Hollywood friends knew he was not only gay but liked teenage boys... and it didn't seem to matter to them.

Until he got caught. He was arrested for fooling around with a 14-year-old boy in 1946, and again for fooling around with a 16-year-old boy in 1949. At which point he became radioactive to his alleged friends. "Tilden? Nah. Heard of him, but never met him."

About the only one who didn't abandon him was Charlie Chaplin -- whose taste for young flesh was much wider-known, but "at least" it was female and slightly legal.

Tilden, born into a very wealthy Philadelphia family, was removed from the University of Pennsylvania's alumni list, despite his contributions to the school. He was expelled from the city's Germantown Cricket Club, on whose tennis courts he had learned the game.

And yet, when the Associated Press did their 1950 polls on the greatest athletes of the 1st half of the century, Tilden was named the greatest tennis player, by a wider margin than any winner in any sport. This within months of his getting out of prison for the 2nd time.

If this had been in the ESPN era, instead of at the dawn of television, who knows if he would have been similarly honored -- or interviewed. I do know that, when they did the SportsCentury piece on O.J. Simpson, years after his acquittal on murder charges but also after he was found liable for the victims' deaths in a civil trial, he sat for an interview for it.

*

The Alex Rodriguez story is far from being fully written. If this were a movie trilogy, we'd still be at least in the early minutes of the 3rd film.  Maybe even wrapping up the 2nd.

But in having gotten caught themselves, with questionable evidence, Commissioner Bud Selig and MLB management as a whole have done something I didn't think possible: They made A-Rod look like the more honest side of the debate, the most trustworthy, the more sympathetic.

Bill Veeck, who liked to make the baseball establishment look bad (and didn't get into the Hall until after he was dead), once said, "Baseball must be a great game, because the owners haven't found a way to kill it."

They haven't yet found a way to kill A-Rod's career, either.

Maybe they never will. Maybe he'll get through this, and play until it's his own body, rather than Selig or Selig's successor as Commissioner, that makes the final judgment that he can't play anymore.

But that column on the Mets' offseason priorities, written by Madden, as much a part of the baseball establishment as any sportswriter can be, shows just how futzed up the baseball establishment is.

Who cares if they used PEDs, the Mets need to sign Player X and Player Y.

But Player A? On whom you've got nothing? And has been saying so, the latest of several instances in which he's embarrassed baseball in public?

To hell with him, right?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: You don't have to like Alex Rodriguez. You don't have to want him to play even one more game for the Yankees. You don't have to excuse his behavior since he arrived in February 2004. You can even believe he's guilty as sin.

But you have to accept the truth. Right now, the truth is as follows:

* Truth: Our country's legal standard is that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

* Truth: Said person's guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

* Truth: Such proof, this time around, has not been presented in regard to A-Rod.

* Truth: The 200-plus game suspension that MLB has ordered goes above and beyond the rule that MLB itself prescribed for a first offense.

* Truth: Under the rule that MLB itself prescribed, whatever A-Rod may have been caught using is a first offense.

* Truth: Presuming the preceding, MLB is thus adding a suspension above and beyond the 50-game mandate not for the offense itself, but for his fighting of the charges.

* Truth: MLB has let some players get away with worse behavior, including behavior regarding PED use. (Remember: Pedro was never suspended for hitting a batter, not even 1 game.)

* Truth: Sportswriters ranging from Bill Madden in New York to Ortiz's apologists in Boston, and talking heads on ESPN and Fox Sports, have extolled the talents and virtues of PED users other than A-Rod, including several Red Sox, the ones we already know about, and the ones we suspect. (I'm not even going to get into Sox fans doing the steroids chant at certain players, including A-Rod, and cheering orgasmically for Ortiz. That's a rant for another time.)

As the late Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, liked to say, You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.

Your opinion is that A-Rod is a sleazeball who has embarrassed both team and sport? I share that opinion.

Your opinion is that he should no longer play for the Yankees, or for anybody else? On any given day, I might be willing to share that opinion.

But the fact is, as far as we know, Major League Baseball has got nothing on him in these latest charges, and thus he is an innocent man being unfairly persecuted and prosecuted.

Sooner or later, MLB is going to have to present its case in a formal setting, instead of just talking about it. Or to decide that the pursuit is no longer worth it. Step into the batter's box or go back to the dugout. Fish or cut bait. Shit or get off the pot.

Until they present their evidence, and can show that their evidence is actually proof, Bud Selig and company need to shut the hell up.

And they need to start treating everybody in a similar situation equally.

They can start by rescinding Ortiz's World Series MVP award. I know they'll never rescind the Sox' 3 World Series wins with that big fat lying cheating bastard on their roster. But they can send that particular signal.

As Bill Maher says of wearing an American flag pin, It's, literally, the least they can do.

But they won't.

Because that would be admitting that they were wrong.

And they would, then, be making themselves look foolish.

And Major League Baseball doesn't like it when anyone makes them look foolish.

What the hell, they can't stop my blog.

Maybe they can buy me off. I could use the money.

Who knows, maybe I would take up A-Double Standard as well.

Would I? Most likely, we'll never know.

A Bad Friday

Yesterday was a bad day for me. You don't care about the personal part of it, so I won't mention it, other than to say that it wasn't dangerous or devastating, just one long series of annoyances after another.

Sports-wise, though, it was bad.

*

If you're a New Jersey Devils fan, as I am, do not blame Cory Schneider for last night's loss to the Los Angeles Knaves -- I refuse to call those dirty bastards "Kings." Cory worked his ass off, and his culpability for the only goal (there was an empty-netter with 3 seconds left) was minimal. The Devils are simply not doing it for him.

Peter DeBoer, or whoever is coach from here on in (you never know with Lou Lamoriello in charge), needs to tell the players that Martin Brodeur will not be around forever, that this is our goaltender of the future, and that you need to work to support him.

The Devils probably bought DeBoer some time beating the Rangers 3-2 at the Garden on Tuesday night, with Dainius Zubrus scoring the winner with under 3 minutes left in regulation. But knowing El Baldo's itchy trigger finger -- in baseball terms, he goes through field bosses like George Steinbrenner but spends like the Miami Marlins -- the clock has got to be ticking.

*

The U.S. soccer team played Scotland to a 0-0 draw at historic Hampden Park in Glasgow. Credit to the defense for keeping a clean sheet away, and failing to get a win did nothing to actually hurt them, as this was an exhibition (a "friendly" in footiespeak), and we've already qualified for next year's World Cup. Yet another shutout for North Brunswick, New Jersey native Tim Howard.

But last year, in Jacksonville, we beat Scotland 5-1. This time, no goals. Granted, we didn't have either Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey for this one, but we didn't have Dempsey for that one, either. (A separate injury. In last year's game, we did have Donovan, and he notched a hat trick. One of the other goals was a beauty from Michael Bradley, who did play last night but didn't do much.)

The U.S. is currently 13th in the FIFA rankings, Scotland 35th. Alasdair Lamont, covering this game for the BBC, called the game "a largely uninspiring friendly draw." I think he was being kind.

This wasn't the Scotland side of the late 1960s and early 1970s, led by Celtic stars such as Jimmy "Jinky" Johnstone and William "King Billy" McNeill, Tottenham stalwart Dave Mackay, Manchester United titan Denis Law, Derby County and Nottingham Forest sniper Archie Gemmill, and Leeds superstars Billy Bremner, Joe Jordan, Peter Lorimer, Gordon McQueen and David Harvey. A team so good that Arsenal stars Frank McLintock, George Graham and Bob Wilson couldn't get into it with any regularity.

Nor was it the 1980s Scotland team, led by the Liverpool of "King Kenny" Dalglish, Graeme Souness and Alan Hansen, and Ipswich's Alan Brazil, and Aberdeen and Manchester United star Gordon Strachan (who now manages Scotland). Or even the last Scotland team to qualify for the World Cup, the 1998 squad, with Aberdeen legend David Leighton, Blackburn Rovers league-winning captain Colin Hendry, Celtic midfielder Paul Lambert (now the manager at Aston Villa) and Chelsea star Craig Burley.

Of the 15 players Scotland fielded (up to 6 substitutes are permitted in a friendly, as opposed to 3 in "competitive matches"), I had heard of only 5: Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew and midfielder Scott Brown, defender Alan Hutton of Aston Villa (a former Tottenham player and a right bastard), midfielder Steven Naismith of Everton, and striker Steven Fletcher of Sunderland (a former star at Edinburgh's Hibernian, but I know him as a dirty player on Wolverhampton Wanderers).

Yet this team, from a country that, for all the talent it produced in the 20th Century, hasn't reached a major tournament in 15 years and has never reached the knockout rounds of the World Cup, held the U.S. to 0-for-8 on shots, and 41 percent possession.

In a game like this, an exhibition, the perception of the performance is more important than the actual result. And if this is how we play without Donovan and Dempsey, against a team only as good as the current Scotland, what's going to happen if we have to go into Brazil next June with either Donovan or Dempsey hurt -- or, God forbid, both of them?

The U.S. team closes out their 2013 schedule on Tuesday, playing away to Austria. Austria were a power in the game in the 1930s, and were again very good in the 1950s, but haven't done much since. So there will be no excuse for another poor performance.

*

In a "consolation game," which the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association annually sets up for high school football teams that don't make their State Playoffs, my alma mater, East Brunswick, lost 44-20 to Montgomery.

Montgomery is in Somerset County, not an especially long trip for a team from neighboring Middlesex County like EB, although it was our 1st visit to the County since a 1998 trip to Bridgewater. Until the 1990s, Montgomery didn't even have a football team, because they were a school with a very small enrollment. But they've grown by leaps and bounds by then, with a building boom resulting in a school with an enrollment nearly as big as ours.

EB fell to 1-8 on the season, with only the annual Thanksgiving Day drubbing by Old Bridge yet to come. This was only the 2nd time all season that we scored as many as 20 points, and we lost the other one, too, to J.P. Stevens of Edison. It was the 7th time this year we've allowed at least 41 points. Our average score is a 38-8 defeat; take out our 1 win, 14-12 against winless North Brunswick, and it's 45-7.

At least new coach Bob Molarz, who restored the program at his native Carteret and started the one at St. Joseph's of Metuchen, isn't throwing deep on 1st-and-10 and then running the ball on 3rd-and-18, like his predecessor, Marcus Borden, spent 20 years doing, with only occasional success. (Borden had previously had an excellent passing attack that got us into the State Playoffs 5 times in 7 years from 1984 to 1990, but after that, we only made it 4 times, though that included 2 Central Jersey Group IV titles in 2004 and 2009.)

The team has a lot of heart, but not much strength. That will have to be boosted next season.  Throughlegal and safe means, of course.

Recent Sports Farewells, Updated Event Countdown

Several prominent sports personalities died during my glitch. Let me pay tribute to:

Allan Stanley, Canadian hockey defenseman. Played for the Rangers from 1948 to 1955, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 1950. Reached them again with the Boston Bruins in 1957 and '58, and with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1959 and '60. Then became one of the veterans that Leafs coach George "Punch" Imlach relied on to lead the Leafs to 4 Cups, in 1962, '63, '64 and '67. A 3-time All-Star and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Died of unknown causes on October 18, 2013, age 87.

Gerardus "Gerrie" Mühren, Dutch soccer midfielder. With Ajax Amsterdam, won 3 League titles, 3 Dutch Cups, and 3 straight European Cups (the tournament now called the UEFA Champions League, although the name of the trophy was kept) in 1971, '72 and '73.

He also won Spain's Copa del Rey with Real Betis in 1977, and was a member of the Netherlands national team that reached, but lost, the Finals of the 1974 and '78 World Cups. Died of a rare blood condition on September 19, age 67.

Sergei Belov, Russian basketball guard. Played his club ball for CSKA Moscow, the Red Army team also known for their soccer and hockey squads. Scored 20 points for the Soviet Union in the controversial Gold Medal game against the U.S. at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Given the honor of lighting the cauldron during the Opening Ceremony of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. The 1st European player elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Died of unknown causes, on October 3, 2013, age 69.

Kenneth Stanley Adams Jr., a.k.a. Bud Adams, founder of the Houston Oilers, now known as the Tennessee Titans. Although Barron Hilton of the San Diego Chargers is still alive, Bud Adams was the last of the original 8 American Football League owners still in charge of his team.

A native of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, he was a member of the Cherokee tribe who made millions in energy. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, and graduated from the University of Kansas. He tried to buy the Chicago Cardinals and move them to Houston, and then to buy an NFL expansion team. They turned him down, but Lamar Hunt, whom he knew from business (he was the son of oil baron H.L. Hunt), took him into the fledgling AFL.

The Oilers won the 1st 2 AFL Championships, in 1960 and 1961, both times beating Hilton's Chargers. But in 1962, they lost the AFL Championship Game to Hunt's Dallas Texans (who soon became the Kansas City Chiefs), and haven't gone as far as the rules of the time have allowed them to go since. They lost the AFL Championship Game to the Oakland Raiders in 1967, and the AFC Championship Game to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1978 and 1979. He also owned the Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association.

Bud posing with the 1st 2 AFL Championship trophies

After the 1992 season, which featured their epic Playoff collapse against the Buffalo Bills, Adams began complaining about the Oilers' lease at the Astrodome. A Texas energy man is used to getting what he wants, and he wanted a better lease. When he didn't get it, he threatened to move the Oilers to Jacksonville.

But the NFL beat him to it, by putting the expansion Jaguars there. So he threatened to move to Nashville -- inspired by the alleged threat of the New Jersey Devils to move there (which, thank God, didn't happen). The city wouldn't cave in, and in 1997 they moved. The Tennessee Titans won the AFC Championship in 1999, but lost Super Bowl XXXIV to the St. Louis Rams.

Adams died 3 days after his colorful 1970s head coach, Bum Phillips.

Walt Bellamy, Carolinian basketball center. Graduated from Indiana University as the all-time leading rebounder at that storied basketball school. A member of the U.S. team that won the Gold Medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

A 4-time NBA All-Star, was with the Knicks when they moved from the old Madison Square Garden to the new one in 1968. Later that season, he and Howie Komives were sent to the Detroit Pistons in the most important trade in Knick history: New York got Dave DeBusschere. Trading Bellamy for forward DeBusschere also allowed coach Leonard "Red" Holzman to move Willis Reed from forward to center, resulting in the 1970 and '73 titles.

"Bells" managed to continue building a Hall of Fame resume with the Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks. Closed his career as an original member of the New Orleans Jazz (now in Utah) in the 1974-75 season. Died of unknown causes on November 2, 2013, age 74.

*

It's been a while since I did a countdown, so here it is:

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: Less than 1, at 3:00 this afternoon U.S. Eastern Time, in an exhibition -- or, as they call it in soccer, a "friendly" -- against Scotland at Hampden Park in Glasgow.  The U.S. has already qualified for next year's World Cup.  We hammered Scotland 5-1 in Jacksonville last year, and the Scots (a.k.a. the Jocks and the Sweaties) haven't had much of a national side since the 1980s.

Days until the Devils play again: Less than 1, tonight, at 7:00 PM, home to the Los Angeles Kings.  They beat the arch-rival New York Rangers (a.k.a. The Scum) on Wednesday night, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Less than 1, tonight at 7:00, a "consolation game," away to Montgomery High School in Somerset County.  We are 1-7, and if we're hoping to finish 2-8, we have to win this one.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 1, tomorrow at 12:00 noon, home to the University of Cincinnati.

Days until Arsenal play again: 8, a week from tomorrow, 10:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time, home to Southampton, from Hampshire on England's South Coast (English Channel).

Days until the next East Brunswick vs. Old Bridge Thanksgiving game: 13, Thursday morning, November 28, 10:00 AM.  The Big Green's chances of beating the Purple Bastards are slim and none, but you never know.

Days until the Devils next play a local rival: 23, on Saturday, December 7, at 7:30 PM, against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.  They next play the New York Islanders on Saturday, December 28, at 7:00 PM, at the Nassau Coliseum.  They next play the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, at 7:30 PM, at home.

Days until the Devils play the Rangers at Yankee Stadium: 73, on Sunday, January 26, 2014, at 12:30 PM.  A little over 10 weeks.

Days until Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands: 80, on Sunday, February 2, 2014, kickoff at around 6:25 PM.  A little over 11 weeks.

Days until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia: 85, on Friday, February 7, 2014.  Just 12 weeks.

Days until the next North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham: 119, on Saturday, March 15, 2014, at White Hart Lane.  Just 4 months.

Days until the Red Bulls play again: Unknown, as the 2014 schedule has yet to be released.  They tend to begin play on the 3rd Saturday in March, usually at 7:30 PM.  If that holds true, it will be on March 15, 2014, the same day as the North London Derby, therefore 119 days.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a local rival: See the previous answer.

Days until the Yankees play again: 138, on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, time to be determined, away to the Houston Astros.  Under 5 months.

Days until the Yankees' home opener: 144, on Monday, April 7, 2014, probably at 1:00 PM, vs. the Baltimore Orioles.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 147, on Thursday, April 10, 2014, time to be determined, at Yankee Stadium.

Days until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil: 209, on Thursday, June 12, 2014.  Under 7 months.

Days until Rutgers makes its Big Ten Conference debut: 302 days, on Saturday, September 13, 2014, time to be determined, against old enemy Penn State.  Under 10 months.

Days until the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 1,025, on Friday, August 5, 2016.  Under 3 years.

Top 10 Sports Odd Couples

This is an update, with corrections where necessary, of a piece I first did in 2009, on (perhaps) the 40th Anniversary of the Felix/Oscar co-residency.

"On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right. But he also knew that, one day, he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his friend, Oscar Madison. Several years earlier, Madison’s wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?"

That was the opening narration in the 1st couple of seasons of the TV version of The Odd Couple, a situation comedy based on Neil Simon’s play. The play debuted on Broadway in 1965, with Art Carney as fussy commercial photographer Felix and Walter Matthau as messy sportswriter Oscar. (Simon said he wrote the Oscar part with Matthau in mind, but Matthau supposedly wanted to play Felix. That wouldn’t have worked.)

In 1968, a film version was made, with Jack Lemmon playing Felix and Matthau again as Oscar. From 1970 to 1975, ABC aired the sitcom, and it has become next to impossible to imagine anyone but Tony Randall as Felix and anyone but Jack Klugman as Oscar – and while Randall went on to Love, Sidney and Klugman to Quincy, M.E., it has become equally difficult to imagine them in any other roles.

I have, however, seen 2 other productions of the stage version of The Odd Couple, one a high school play and one a professional from the "Plays In the Park" series at Roosevelt Park in Edison, New Jersey. Both were really good, especially considering that the high schoolers were playing middle-aged men. I really believed these 16, 17-year-old guys were Felix, Oscar, Murray, Speed and the others. (I also saw the "Plays In the Park" guys do a pretty good version of Grease.)

Now, the year that Gloria Unger asked Felix to hit the bricks has never been specified. But since the sitcom began in 1970, it could have been 1969.

Having gotten the DVDs, and seeing some of these episodes for the first time ever, and others for the first time in many years, I've noticed a lot of continuity errors.

For one thing, an episode was filmed showing the breakup of Oscar and his wife, Blanche, played by Klugman's real-life wife, Brett Somers. It was a New Year's Eve party at the apartment we know as belonging to Oscar, and she caught him with another woman -- but, to borrow the cliché, it really wasn't "what this looks like." Blanche didn't "throw him out, requesting that he never return": She walked out on him.

Also, there were 3 separate episodes that explained how Felix and Oscar met: One while they were on jury duty, one when they were in the Army in World War II, and one when they were children.  The names of Felix's children also differed.

It's also worth noting that the TV show exists in a different "universe" from the play and movie. In the latter, Felix's name is spelled "Ungar," and he's a writer for a local TV station's news broadcasts.  Also, in that version, Oscar has kids. Both formats would do reunion movies, with both having the plot of Felix's daughter getting married: In the movie version, Oscar moved to Florida, they hadn't seen each other for 17 years, and they were reunited when Felix's daughter is marrying Oscar's son.

In the TV version, which came 5 years earlier (1993-1998), both men still live in New York, they're still friends, and Felix is still, for the 2nd time, married to Gloria. Their daughter Edna is getting married, but not to Oscar's son, as TV Oscar had no children.

But Felix does too much in trying to plan the wedding, so Gloria yet again kicks him out, just until the wedding is over. Different actors, including Dick Van Patten, play the old poker buddies Murray, Roy and Speed, and Gloria is now played by Barbara Barrie.

Oscar, as Jack Klugman then was in real life, is recovering from throat cancer surgery, having had a vocal chord removed, reducing his voice to a rasp. The two old chums help each other through their respective difficult times, but not without reintroducing their old difficulties.

Most TV shows set in real cities use fake addresses, to keep tourists from gawking at the buildings so that the real-life residents can be left alone. However, the Couple's apartment was established as being on Park Avenue, and the number 1049 can easily be seen on the awning. 1049 Park Avenue is a real address, and except for a different awning, the building looks pretty much the same as it did when the show debuted on September 24, 1970, over 43 years ago.

And while the show did a lot of location shots, including in front of that building (including 3 different angles of the scene of the taxi pulling up behind an orange Volkswagen), it was filmed at Paramount Studios in Hollywood.

Top 10 Odd Couples In Sports

These are all people in sports who, at least for a time, plied their trade together, but seemed opposites, and often feuded. In some cases they eventually made up, in some they did not.

In each case, the "Felix" analogue is listed first, the "Oscar" equivalent second.

10. Al Kaline and Denny McLain, Detroit Tigers, 1965 to 1970. Kaline has been Detroit's most popular living sports figure for over 50 years – more even than Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman. For 5 years, McLain was a talented pitcher who tried to get away with a lot – but not everything they said he tried to get away with in Year 6.

Without McLain's remarkable 31-6 season in 1968, Kaline would have retired without appearing in a World Series. But McLain alienated so many of his teammates with his annus horribilis of 1970 that few had anything good to say about him when he was gone.

And even in 2007, when the twice-imprisoned McLain published his memoir I Told You I Wasn’t Perfect, he still took shots at Tiger teammates like Kaline, Bill Freehan and Mickey Lolich. Tug McGraw may have thrown the pitch and used it as the title of his first autobiography, but if there was ever a pitcher in baseball who was a true screwball, it was Denny McLain.

9. Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles, 2004-05. McNabb is no slob, but in being willing to do whatever it takes, including risking injury, he is the Oscar here. T.O. is the Felix because he's so whiny and needy and has to have everything done his way. They were only together for 2 seasons, and with injuries to both it added up to maybe one season's worth of games. But if you're an Eagles fan, it probably felt like longer. A lot longer

T.O. last appeared in an NFL game with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010, and was cut by the Seattle Seahawks last year, but has not officially announced his retirement. McNabb has, having last appeared with the Minnesota Vikings in 2011, and a few weeks ago the Eagles retired his Number 5 and inducted into their Hall of Fame.

McNabb will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the election to be held in January 2017, and he will almost certainly get in, although perhaps not the first time. T.O. had over 1,000 catches and nearly 16,000 receiving yards, 2nd all-time behind Jerry Rice, and is the only player to have scored a touchdown against all 32 teams currently in the NFL. He will be eligible a year before McNabb, but he generated a lot of bad blood. I'll bet you any money you like that, in order to avoid an awkward situation, they don't get elected the same year.

8. Julius Erving and Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers, 1982-86. Doctor J was the most stylish player in NBA history – on the court, anyway. (Off the court, even the Doctor couldn’t touch Walt Frazier.) By comparison, Big Mo was, to use a hockey term, a grinder. He wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, which is not the same thing as playing dirty. (He was a 1980s Sixer, not a 1970s or '80s Flyer.) The 76ers reached the NBA Finals with Julius in 1977, 1980 and 1982, and the Conference Finals in 1981, but they couldn’t get over the hump.

Philadelphia fans have often mocked the pretty boys of sports, long-haired quarterbacks, the mulleted hockey snipers, the bee-ballers who were more flash than dash. Dr. J was a rare exception, because they say that he worked hard to make those beautiful moves. But the Sixers needed that blood-sweat-and-tears type to get them to the title. Andrew Toney was one, Bobby Jones was another, but Moses Malone was a special player.

Few players have ever had the kind of season he had in 1982-83. Dr. J got his ring, but I hope he at least took Moses out for a nice dinner at Le Bec Fin afterwards.

7. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls, 1987-98. I'm not sure I have to explain this one. I suppose I could list Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe would definitely be the "Felix."

6. Punch Imlach and Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs, 1958-68. Punch (real name George) was the coach and general manager of the Leafs team that won 4 Stanley Cups in 7 years from 1962 to 1967. Mahovlich, a.k.a. the Big M, was his best player.

In the NHL's official 75th Anniversary book, hockey historian Charles Wilkins wrote, "It has been postulated (by, among others, Frank himself) that Punch drove Frank nuts. It has also been postulated that Punch was one of the few people who understood Frank. It stands to reason that one extraterrestrial – one, albeit, from the opposite end of the galaxy – should understand another." For the record, Imlach was Toronto born and raised, while Mahovlich is from Timmins, Ontario.

But Wilkins wasn't kidding about Punch driving Frank nuts: Twice, Frank was admitted to Toronto General Hospital for "chronic fatigue" -- in those days, a clinical diagnosis of depression was still a stigma. But, much like Yankee Fans with Frank's contemporary Mickey Mantle, the Leaf fans went from booing him to cheering him upon his return, because now, he was the underdog.

Eventually, Punch had enough of him, and, in the process of dismantling the dynasty, traded Frank to the Detroit Red Wings. It didn't work out for Frank there, and they traded him to the Montreal Canadiens, where he was reunited with his brother Peter, and together they won 2 Stanley Cups.

Frank later served with the Senators in Ottawa – but not the hockey team. He was appointed a member of the Canadian Senate. (Their government is a bit different from ours.) He is now retired from politics, and if he isn't the greatest player in the Leafs' 96-year history, he's certainly the most popular living one. Punch died in 1987.

5. Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson, Dallas Cowboys, 1989-94. True, Jimmy is quite fussy about his hair, but that's about it. And Felix would probably have found Jerry to be an incredibly crass, classless individual. Well, let me put it this way: "New York class" and "Dallas class" are two very different things. Jerry is definitely the "Felix" here.

4. George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin, off and on from 1975 to 1988. This might have been Number 1 if it could ever have lasted. Phil Pepe of the New York Daily News has compared it to Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton: When they were together, they couldn't stand one another; when they were apart, they missed each other terribly. Liz and Dick married and divorced twice, while the Boss and the Brat split up five times.

But they will be forever linked. Without George, Billy would never have managed the Yankees; without Billy, George might never have won a World Series. Actually, you could throw in Reggie Jackson and make this an Odd Trio, although there wasn't a comparable character in The Odd Couple to Mister October.

3. Vince Lombardi and Paul Hornung, Green Bay Packers, 1959-67. Hornung was one of the greatest all-around football players who ever lived. Just ask him. Lombardi never bragged about his achievements, though they were legion. His greatest achievement may have been reining in his natural conservatism (personal conservatism, that is -- like most Catholics of his generation, Lombardi was very much a Democrat) and getting along with Hornung, and getting him to make the most of his talent for the sake of his team.

2. Christy Mathewson and John McGraw, New York Giants, 1902-16. It doesn't seem right to list the player first and the manager second, but, in this case, the player was the Felix and the manager was the Oscar.

This was the total opposite of the Lombardi-Hornung relationship. McGraw was the short, nasty, profane, hot-tempered bastard, and a devout Catholic in spite of this, a combination which makes him sound a lot like Lombardi. But Lombardi would never have cheated to win. McGraw, as a player, was proud of the corners he cut. (iterally: If he was on 1st base, and he thought the umpire wasn't looking, he'd run right to 3rd base without going for 2nd. He got away with it a few times in those days of just 1 umpire.

By contrast, Mathewson was tall, handsome, and a superb all-around athlete like Hornung (his alma mater, Bucknell University, named its football stadium after him), but would have been totally out of place in a red-light district, never needed a curfew, and the only time he ever gambled was on checkers. (But he was a hustler at that game, and very good at it.)

McGraw used to say, "The main thing is to win," while Lombardi said, "Winning isn,t everything, but it's the only thing." Still, I think Lombardi would have appreciated Mathewson more than he would have McGraw. Hornung? He definitely would have liked McGraw better.

1. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees, 2004-present. Okay, maybe A-Rod isn't a slob, but his personal life, his contract issues and his on-field performance have often been quite messy.

But, as with the TV show – which ended in 1975 with Gloria taking Felix back and Oscar getting the 1049 Park Avenue apartment all to himself again – things have worked out: Derek and Alex have won a World Series together, and have been publicly supportive of each other since.

November 8, 1988: My 1st Election

November 8, 1988, 25 years ago: My 1st election. At Hammarskjold Middle School in East Brunswick, New Jersey, which I had attended (as Hammarskjold Junior High School) from September 9, 1981 to June 26, 1984, I cast a vote for the straight Democratic ticket, including for Joseph V. Chagnon for Mayor (making him the 1st person I ever voted for) and the Presidential nominee, Governor Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts.

Chagnon lost to Congressman Jack Sinagra, who served 3 years before winning a State Senate seat. Dukakis lost to Vice President George H.W. Bush, 426 Electoral Votes to 111 (it should have been 112, but a "faithless elector" refused to vote for him), 53.4 percent of the popular vote to 45.6. He had blown it by inadequately responding to some truly filthy and (mostly) false attacks. Indeed, everybody that I voted for lost, with one exception.

The next day, I was in New Brunswick, job-hunting. I saw the Middlesex County Democratic Campaign Headquarters on George Street, and realized I'd never gotten a Dukakis button. I wanted one. So I went in, and there was the Mayor of New Brunswick at the time, John Lynch, talking to Senator Frank Lautenberg, the one person I voted for who won. Not wanting to interrupt, I waited for them to finish talking. When Lautenberg came my way, I offered him my hand and congratulated him on his re-election. He walked right past me.

I met Lynch a few years later, after he'd resigned as Mayor because he'd become President of the State Senate, making him effectively (we didn't have the office at the time) the Lieutenant Governor. He was a much nicer guy. Unfortunately, he later went to prison for corruption. But I'm still proud to have voted for Dukakis. I still don't have one of his buttons, though.

Clarence "Ace" Parker, 1912-2013

The trouble with being an athlete who lives to be 100 or more years old is that even the number of people who saw you play gets very small.

Yesterday, the oldest living member of any sport's Hall of Fame -- any of the four major North American sports, that is -- passed away.

Clarence McKay Parker was born on May 17, 1912, in Portsmouth, Virginia, outside Norfolk. He starred in 5 sports at Woodrow Wilson High School in his hometown, and went to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina on a scholarship. This was at a time when Duke was much better known for football than for basketball. It's been the other way around since the 1960s, and especially since the 1980s.

Parker, by this point nicknamed "Ace," was an All-American in 1935 and 1936, playing tailback in the dominant offensive formation of the time, the single wing. Although his position was not called "quarterback," in effect, that's what he was: He took the snap from the center, as if he were in the shotgun (a formation that didn't come along until the 1950s and didn't become especially popular until the 1970s), and directed the offense. Sometimes he'd run with the ball, sometimes he'd hand it off, sometimes he'd pass it, sometimes he'd hand off and then run out for a pass.

The trouble with the single wing is that passing didn't happen often. It was boring. But Parker, along with Sammy Baugh of Texas Christian University, was one of the few college players who showed both the willingness to, and the proficiency at, throwing the football. (While Sid Luckman, along with Baugh, was the pioneer of the passing game in the NFL, he was a single-wing tailback at Columbia University, and hardly ever threw the ball on Morningside Heights.)

At the time, throwing the football was considered anathema and sacrilegious -- the kind of words that, at the time, you needed a degree from a fine school like Duke to know how to properly use. Parker led Duke to a 9-1 record and a Southern Conference title. (In 1933, several members of that league founded the Southeastern Conference, the SEC. The Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC, wouldn't be founded until 1953, and it would soon include 8 former Southern Conference teams, including Duke and North Carolina.)

Parker and Baugh reached the NFL in 1937. With the Washington Redskins, "Slingin' Sammy" practically invented the position of quarterback as we understand it today, and became football's 1st truly great passer.

Parker was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yes, there was a football team with that name, and, like the baseball team for whom they were named, they played their home games at Ebbets Field. In fact, a lot of teams in other sports were named, or originally named, after baseball teams in their city.

The New York Giants are the most obvious example. The Pittsburgh Steelers were originally named the Pirates. There were early NFL teams called the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Senators. The Chicago Bears were sort-of named after the Cubs, and the Redskins, who started out in Boston, were sort-of named after the Boston Braves. Even the Toronto Maple Leafs were named after their city's minor-league baseball team, which went out of business in 1968.

The football Dodgers weren't very good -- hence, their high draft pick -- and the NFL was not a glamour league at the time. Parker wanted to play baseball instead, and was signed by Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics.

On April 24, 1937, he made his major league debut at Griffith Stadium in Washington, pinch-hitting for A's catcher Earle Brucker, off Washington Senators pitcher Bobo Newsom. Oddly, the box score shows that he scored a run, but was not charged with an official at-bat. There's no explanation: No out, no hit, no walk, no hit-by-pitch. He reached on a fielder's choice, perhaps? Anyway, the A's won, 6-4.

On April 30, he had his 1st official at-bat, against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The A's got clobbered, 15-5, but, pinch-hitting for pitcher Lynn Nelson against Wes Ferrell, a very good pitcher, Ace Parker hit a home run in his 1st official major league at-bat.

Interestingly enough, one of his teammates who played in both games, 3rd baseman Billy Werber -- who turned out to be the last surviving teammate of Babe Ruth -- also lived to be 100 years old.

On May 9, Parker became a regular in the A's lineup, playing shortstop, 2nd base and 3rd base. But he couldn't seem to hit. After the home run, he went into such a slump that he was trusted with only 100 plate appearances all season, collecting just 11 hits in 94 at-bats. That's a .117 batting average.

So when, in September, Parker asked Mack to allow him to head off to Brooklyn, which owned his NFL rights, to play football, the Grand Old Man of Baseball had no problem with it. Parker did play 1 more year for the A's, 1938, and improved his hitting: He batted .230. Let's be charitable and say that he got further in baseball that most of us ever will, and then found his true calling.

Parker was listed at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds. Today, a man that size, trying to play in the NFL, wouldn't even get a look from scouts. He'd be told, "You'd get killed." Sadly, that may not be an exaggeration.

Players who were 300 pounds, with hardly an ounce of fat, and fast? They didn't exist in those days, so a man like Parker could not only play, but excel. He played for the Dodgers from 1937 to 1941. In 1938, he led the NFL in total yards -- with 865 yards passing and 253 yards running. That's the kind of game it was then. In 1940, he was named the league's Most Valuable Player.

Jock Sutherland, the Scottish-born dentist who coached the Dodgers in the 1940s, and previously coached the powerful University of Pittsburgh teams of the 1930s, and saw many great players in his time (including his best player at Pitt, later Chicago Cardinals star Marshall "Biggie" Goldberg), called Ace Parker the greatest competitor he had ever seen.  The aforementioned Slingin' Sammy Baugh called Parker "the best I ever saw."

Parker enlisted in the U.S. Navy in World War II, missing the 1942, '43 and '44 seasons. Discharged in time to play in 1945, he signed with the Boston Yanks. Yes, "Boston Yanks" -- not "Yankees," "Yanks." In 1946, he moved over to the All-America Football Conference, and played for a team called the New York Yankees, leading them to the Eastern Division title. But that league was so dominated by the Cleveland Browns that they won all 4 titles before the league folded, and the Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts joined the NFL.

After 1946, Parker returned to Duke, and coached the baseball team and was an assistant coach on the football team. He also managed the minor-league Durham Bulls for a time. He continued to coach until 1966.

So in order to have seen Ace Parker play Major League Baseball, and remember it, you would have to be over 80 years old. To have seen him play in the National Football League, you'd have to be over 70.

In 1972, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was already 60 years old, and said, "I never expected to be selected for this, but since I have been selected, I'm sure glad it happened when I'm still around." He had no idea that he had over 40 more years of life. He was also a member of the College Football, Virginia Sports, North Carolina Sports, and Duke University Sports Halls of Fame.

Parker died yesterday, age 101 years and 6 months. He was the first member of any of the four major sports' Halls of Fame to live to age 100. (Amos Alonzo Stagg, a football pioneer and one of three men in the College Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, lived to be 103, but never worked in pro ball.)

UPDATE: Ace was buried in Olive Branch Cemetery, in his hometown of Portsmouth, Virginia.

*

Parker wasn't quite the oldest living former MLB player. That remains Connie Marrero, a pitcher who played in the Negro Leagues before being brought up to the Washington Senators, playing from 1950 to 1954, and is now 102. Bobby Doerr, the Red Sox 2nd baseman of the 1940s, is the oldest living Baseball Hall-of-Famer, age 95. The oldest living ex-Yankee is Rugger Ardizoia, a pitcher who appeared in one game in 1947, about to turn 94.

Bill Glassford, who played for the original Cincinnati Bengals in 1937, a team in one of those earlier American Football Leagues, is now the oldest living former pro football player. If he makes it to next year's March 8, he will be 100. Don Looney of the 1940s Philadelphia Eagles, 97, is the oldest living former NFL player.

NFL Films founder Ed Sabol is the oldest living Pro Football Hall-of-Famer, also 97. Nick Drahos, who played for Cornell University and the New York Americans in the 1940-41 version of the AFL, is the oldest living former player for a New York pro football team, 94. He is also the oldest living member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Ed Lechner, 93, is the oldest living ex-New York Giant. And Charlie Trippi, the 1940s Chicago Cardinals star who's about to turn 91, is the oldest living player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Al Suomi, who played briefly for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1937, just became (we think) the first former NHL player to live to be 100. Edgar Laparade, a former Ranger who recently turned 94, is the oldest living member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.