Colts Win On Monday Night Football

On Oct. 31, 1988, the Indianapolis Colts host their first Monday Night NFL game in Indianapolis. The Colts end up winning, beating the Denver Broncos 55-23.

The Colts were members of the National Football League from their founding, however, they were one of three teams to switch to the AFC following the 1970 merger.

While in Baltimore the team advanced to the postseason ten times and won three NFL Championship games in 1958, 1959 and 1968.

The Colts had two Super Bowl appearances while in Baltimore, losing to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III, while defeating the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V.

The Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and have since appeared in the playoffs fourteen times, with two conference championships and one Super Bowl championship coming against the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

It was under quarterback Peyton Manning that the Colts saw their greatest success since relocating to Indianapolis, with the team appearing in the playoffs nine consecutive seasons, tying a league record.

Following Manning's departure in 2012, the Colts drafted Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck as their new franchise quarterback.

The Baltimore and Indianapolis Colts have played in 34 Monday Night Football games, winning 20 and losing 14. Their .606 winning percentage is good enough for the fourth highest winning percentage on Monday Night Football trailing only the Seattle Seahawks, .703, Pittsburgh Steelers, .634 and the San Francisco 49ers, .632.

The Colts last appearance on Monday Night Football came this year as they lost to the San Diego Chargers on Oct. 14 in a 19-9 contest.

Rumble In The Jungle

On Oct. 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman in eight rounds to win the world heavyweight title. The fight took place in Zaire and was dubbed the Rumble in the Jungle. The fight was famous for the promotional tour by both fighters. It also marked a return to glory for Ali after he had been suspended for dodging the draft.

The event was one of Don King's first ventures as a professional boxing promoter. He managed to get Ali and Foreman to sign separate contracts saying they would fight for him if he could get a $5 million purse. However, King did not have the money, so he began looking for an outside country to sponsor the event. Zaire's president Mobutu Sésé Seko asked for the fight to be held in his country, eager for the publicity such a high-profile event would bring. King had pulled together a consortium that included a Panamanian company called Risnelia Investment, the Hemdale Film Corporation, a British company founded by film producer John Daly and the actor David Hemmings, Video Techniques Incorporated of New York and Don King Productions. Although King is most closely associated with the fight, it is Hemdale and Video Techniques Inc. with whom King was a director, who were the official co-promoters of the fight.

Ali began the first round by attacking Foreman with unconventional (and provocative) 'right-hand leads'. This was notable, as Ali was famed for his speed and technical skills, while Foreman's raw power was his greatest strength; it seemed that close range fighting would inevitably favor Foreman and leave too great a chance that Ali would be stunned by Foreman's powerful haymakers. Ali made use of the right-hand lead punch (striking with the right hand without setting up the left) in a further effort to disorient Foreman. However, while this aggressive tactic may have surprised Foreman and allowed Ali to hit him solidly a number of times, it failed to significantly hurt him, and before the end of the first round, Foreman began to catch up to Ali, landing a few punches of his own. Foreman had also been trained to cut off the ring and prevent escape. Ali realized that he would tire if Foreman could keep making one step to Ali's two, so he changed tactics.

Ali had told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, and his fans that he had a secret plan for Foreman. As the second round commenced, Ali frequently began to lean on the ropes and cover up, letting Foreman punch him on the arms and body (a strategy Ali later dubbed the rope-a-dope). As a result, Foreman spent his energy throwing punches that either did not hit Ali or were deflected in a way that made it difficult for Foreman to hit Ali's head, while sapping Foreman's strength due to the large number of punches he threw. This loss of energy was key to Ali's "rope-a-dope" tactic.

Meanwhile, Ali took every opportunity to shoot straight punches to Foreman's face (this quickly took a toll on his face, which was soon visibly puffy), and when the two fighters were locked in clinches, Ali consistently out-wrestled Foreman, using tactics such as leaning on Foreman to make Foreman support Ali's weight, and holding down Foreman's head by pushing on his neck. He constantly taunted Foreman in these clinches, telling him to throw more punches, and an enraged Foreman responded by doing just that.

After several rounds of this, he began to tire. His face became increasingly damaged by hard, fast jabs and crosses by Ali. The effects were visible as Foreman was staggered by an Ali combination at the start of the fourth round and again several times near the end of the fifth, after Foreman had seemed to dominate that round. Although he kept throwing punches and coming forward, after the fifth round Foreman looked increasingly worn out. Ali continued to taunt him by saying "They told me you could punch, George!" and "They told me you could punch as hard as Joe Louis." According to Foreman, near the end of the fight, Foreman slammed Ali with a thundering body blow, and Ali whispered to him "Is that all you got, George?" to which Foreman thought "Yep...that's about it." After that, Ali began to dominate Foreman.

As the fight drew into the eighth round, Foreman's punching and defense became ineffective as the strain of throwing so many wild shots took its toll, and Ali pounced as Foreman tried to pin him on the ropes, landing several right hooks over Foreman's jab followed by a 5-punch combination culminating in a left hook that brought Foreman's head up into position and a hard right straight to the face that caused him to stumble to the canvas. Foreman did get up, but not before being counted out by referee Zack Clayton.

The fight showed that Ali was capable of taking a punch and also highlighted his tactical genius, changing his fighting style by adopting the rope-a-dope, instead of his former style that emphasized movement to counter his opponent. Film of the Zaire fight shows Foreman striking Ali with hundreds of thunderous blows, many blocked, but many others getting through. Foreman mostly struck to the sides and kidney region, but also landed some vicious shots to the head, seemingly with no effect.

This fight has since become one of the most famous fights of all-time because it resulted in Ali, against the odds, regaining the title against a younger and stronger Foreman. It is shown several times annually on the ESPN Classic network. After this fight Ali once again told the world he was the greatest. A year later Ali won an epic battle with Joe Frazier in the Thrilla in Manila. Although his skills and reflexes deteriorated noticeably in later bouts,^[4] he remained Champion until 1978, when he was dethroned by Leon Spinks. He regained the title for an unprecedented third time after beating Spinks in a rematch. However, his later comebacks proved less successful and he was beaten by Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in 1981.

Despite repeatedly calling Ali out, Foreman was unable to secure a rematch with the champion before he (Foreman) abruptly decided to retire after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977. (Ali did not hurry to set up a rematch, making title defenses against unheralded opponents such as Jean Pierre Coopman and Richard Dunne. However he would repeatedly state that his rematch with Foreman was one of the major fights he wanted to get to before retiring.) 10 years later, Foreman made an unlikely comeback, culminating in him regaining the world heavyweight championship at age 45 — at that time, the oldest man ever to win the title.

Dodgers Sign Jackie Robinson

On Oct. 30, 1945, Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a deal with the Montreal Royals, an affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers. By 1947, Robinson was in the majors and on his way to winning the Rookie of the Year award. Robinson is most known for being the first African-American to play baseball in the major leagues.

Robinson would have a great Major League career batting .311, with 1,518 hits, 137 home runs, 734 RBI’s and 197 stolen bases in his 10 years in the Major Leagues. Some of the accolades Robinson collected during his tenure with the Dodgers were being named an All-Star six times, being named the 1947 Rookie of the Year, winning the 1949 National League batting title, also winning the 1949 National League MVP, he was also a two-time National League stolen bases champion in 1947 and 1949, and finally being crowned a World Series Champion in 1955.

Robinson was inducted into Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 on the first ballot in which he appeared on with 77.5 percent of the vote. He was the first even African-American to be elected into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Robinson's career is generally considered to mark the beginning of the post–"long ball" era in baseball, in which a reliance on raw power-hitting gave way to balanced offensive strategies that used foot speed to create runs through aggressive base running.

Robinson exhibited the combination of hitting ability and speed, which exemplified the new era. He scored more than 100 runs in six of his ten seasons (averaging more than 110 runs from 1947 to 1953), had a .311 career batting average, a .409 career on-base percentage, a .474 slugging percentage, and substantially more walks than strikeouts (740 to 291).

Robinson was one of only two players during the span of 1947–56 to accumulate at least 125 steals while registering a slugging percentage over .425 (Minnie Miñoso was the other).

In 1997, Major League Baseball "universally" retired his uniform number 42, across all major league teams; the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored.

Since that time, Major League Baseball has adopted a new annual tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day," in which all players on all teams wear his number 42 jersey. Robinson was also named a member of the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

Robinson was also known for his pursuits outside the baseball diamond. He was the first black television analyst in Major League Baseball, and the first black vice-president of a major American corporation. In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank, an African-American-owned financial institution based in Harlem, New York. In recognition of his achievements on and off the field, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.

Ali Wins First Fight

On Oct. 29, 1960, Muhammad Ali also known as Cassius Clay makes his first professional fight. In that fight Ali would beat Tunney Hunsaker in six rounds.

At the ripe age of 18 Cassius Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, earned a Gold for the United States in the 1960 Rome Olympics in the Light Heavyweight class.

At the age of 22, Ali won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston. 

Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975.

In 1967, three years after Ali had won the heavyweight championship, he was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. 

Ali would go on to become the first and only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion.

Nicknamed "The Greatest," Ali was involved in several historic boxing matches.

Notable among these were three with rival Joe Frazier, which are considered among the greatest in boxing history, and one with George Foreman, where he finally regained his stripped titles seven years later. Ali was well known for his unorthodox fighting style, epitomized by his catchphrase "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", and employing techniques such as the Ali Shuffle and the rope-a-dope.

Ali brought beauty and grace to the most uncompromising of sports and through the wonderful excesses of skill and character, he became the most famous athlete in the world.

He was also known for his pre-match hype, where he would "trash talk" opponents, often with rhymes.

In 1999, Ali was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.

Ali finished his career with 61 fights, winning 56 times, 37 by knock out, with only five losses. His fastest win came via knockout when he was just 19 years old. On Feb. 7, 1961, then Clay beat Jim Robinson in the first round just 1:34 into the fight.

Muhammad Ali lighted the one hundredth anniversary Olympic torch in a very emotional moment in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. Ali was also given a replacement gold medal for his boxing victory at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Ali had supposedly thrown his previous gold medal into the Ohio River after being refused entry into a restaurant. 

Rickey Becomes General Manager Of Brooklyn Dodgers

On Oct. 29, 1942, Branch Rickey is named president and General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

He was perhaps best known for breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing African American player Jackie Robinson, for drafting the first Afro-Hispanic superstar, Roberto Clemente, for creating the framework for the modern minor league farm system, for encouraging the Major Leagues to add new teams through his involvement in the proposed Continental League, and for introducing the batting helmet.

Rickey played in MLB for the St. Louis Browns and New York Highlanders from 1905 through 1907. After struggling as a player, Rickey returned to college, where he learned about administration from Philip Bartelme. Returning to MLB in 1913, Rickey embarked on a successful managing and executive career with the St.Louis Browns, the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates.

During his playing career Rickey posted a career .239 batting average, with 82 hits and 39 RBIs.

As a manager Rickey had much more success winning the World Series in 1926, 1931, 1934, and 1942 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

His managerial record was 597-664.

In 1967 Rickey was inducted into Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame by the veterans committee.

Raiders End Bye Week Drought In Win Over Steelers

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers rivalry goes back several decades, and it was reignited Sunday, Oct. 27 when the Silver and Black hosted the Black and Yellow to a matinee kickoff at the O.Co Coliseum.

Right from the get go the game was exciting as on the first play of scrimmage, Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor busted off a 93-yards quarterback option run for a touchdown. Giving the Raiders an early 7-0 lead after Sebastian Janikowski added on the extra point.

TOD FIERNER / Courtesy - Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor broke NFL history on Sunday, Oct. 27 rushing for a 93-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. Pryor's play broke the NFL record for longest rush by a quarterback.

"I was very surprised, because it's never open like that," Pryor said. "Very surprised. But with the game plan, the way they put things together, it doesn't surprise me that sometimes it may happen like that."

"You have to understand the beast that's playing quarterback," Steelers safety Ryan Clark said. "You have to understand what he brings to the game and that that's a part of their game and that they can do that. Once a guy like that gets in front of the whole defense, he's a legit 4.4. It's real. It just looks slow because he's 6-6, but he was moving."

The run by Pryor was the longest in Raiders franchise history and longest quarterback run in NFL history.

The Raiders offense would continue to pour it on against the Steelers as Darren McFadden tacked on a touchdown to give the Raiders a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Steelers would put their first points of the game on the board with a Shaun Suisham field goal to start the second quarter. But the Raiders would answer that with their third touchdown of the game, a direct snap to McFadden in which he opted to run for the touchdown although he was looking for Pryor in the end zone.

The Raiders 21-3 lead would hold into the half as Suisham missed the first of two errant field goals on the day.

The second half saw the Raiders defense step up and get to Ben Rothelisberger several times, as they hit Big Ben five times separate times for sacks.

"We are becoming a football team," said Charles Woodson. "I think we have some good players that have been assembled on this team, and we're learning how to play together. We're learning each other and what each other's strengths and weaknesses are. We're just making some plays out there."

The Steelers would miss out another field goal attempt in the third quarter as Suisham missed another kick wide right with 5:49 to play in the third quarter. But the Steelers would make a game of it over the final 20 minutes.

The fourth quarter saw the Steelers punch in two touchdowns, the first on a short pass from Rothelisberger to Emmanuel Sanders, and the second on a Le’Veon Bell touchdown run with 1:27 left to play. Down 21-16 the Steelers would opt to go for the two-point conversion to pull within three points, and they were successful as Sanders rushed it in for the conversion, putting the score at 21-18.

The Steelers luck would run out though as they were not able to convert on the onside kick attempt as the Raiders ran down the majority of the clock, giving just 18 seconds to the Steelers to make a hail mary pass from their own three-yard line.

Rothelisberger would hit his favorite target on the day in Sanders, but he was well short of the end zone being tackled for a 33-yard gain.

The final score was 21-16 in favor of the Raiders, making it their first win after a bye week in ten seasons. The win also improves their record to 3-4 on the season.

The Raiders next game on the schedule comes at home as they face their second opponent from Pennsylvania in as many weeks when they host the  Philadelphia Eagles (3-5) on Nov. 3. Kick off is scheduled for 1:25 p.m.

Athletics Sweep Giants In "Battle of the Bay" World Series

On Oct. 28, 1989, the Oakland Athletics finish off a sweep of the San Francisco Giants in the 1989 World Series, also known as the Battle of the Bay. The series would be the longest series in terms of length of days from start to finish of any World Series in history, due to the Loma Prieta earthquake, which occurred on Oct. 17 before Game 3, and caused a 10-day disruption of play.

The 1989 World Series saw the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants battling it out for Major League Baseballs World Series championship for the first time ever.

The first game of the series saw the Athletics throw out Dave Stewart in front of a sold out crowd in the east bay against the Giants Scott Garrelts.

Oakland took the lead in the bottom of the second when Dave Henderson walked, advanced to second on a Terry Steinbach single, and scored on another single by Tony Phillips that moved Steinbach up to third.

Walt Weiss then sent a soft ground ball toward first, but Giants first baseman (and NLCS MVP) Will Clark threw the ball low and to the right of catcher Terry Kennedy. Steinbach knocked the ball out of Kennedy's mitt, scoring the second run of the inning. Kennedy was charged with an error, and Phillips advanced to second. Rickey Henderson then drove in Phillips on a single to right field; the second inning ended with Oakland leading 3–0.

A's designated hitter Dave Parker tattooed a solo home run to lead off the third off of Garrelts, and Weiss added a lead off home run of his own leading in the fourth. Oakland starter Stewart dominated the Giants, allowing five hits in a complete game, handing the A's a one-game edge in the Series. "We ran into a buzz saw," said Giants first baseman Will Clark, of Stewart's pitching.

Game two was also in Oakland and in front of another sell out crowd. The Athletics threw out their number two starting pitcher Mike Moore as he faced off against the Giants Rick Reuschel.

Oakland got off to a fast start; Rickey Henderson led off the bottom of the first with a walk. Henderson promptly stole second, and scored one pitch later when Carney Lansford hit a double to right field. The Giants scored their first run of the Series in the top of the third; José Uribe reached first on a fielder's choice, advanced to third via a Brett Butler single, and scored on a Robby Thompson fly ball.

The A's regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Dave Parker drove a line shot off the wall that was both an inch from being foul and an inch from being a home run. Jose Canseco, who drew a walk earlier that inning, scored on the play. Parker stood at the plate for a moment to watch the flight of the ball, and started to run as soon as the ball hit the wall; Giants right fielder Candy Maldonado appeared to throw Parker out at second, but second base umpire Dutch Rennert called Parker safe. After Dave Henderson walked and Mark McGwire struck out, Terry Steinbach hit a three-run home run off Reuschel to left field, scoring both Parker and Henderson. The Giants had no answer for Oakland's relievers, and the A's won 5–1 and took a 2–0 lead in the Series.

During a pre-game interview on ABC, Oakland Athletics manager Tony LaRussa mentioned that he thought that Terry Steinbach was going to hit a home run, which he did in the fourth inning, forcing Reuschel to leave the game, and the Giants to dig deep into their bullpen.

Just as the two Bay Area teams were getting ready for Game 3 in San Francisco the Loma Prieta earthquake hit.

The Loma Prieta earthquake struck on October 17, 1989 at 5:04 p.m. Game 3 was scheduled to start at 5:35 p.m. at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, and thousands of people were already in the stadium when the quake occurred. Because of the coincidence of timing, it was the first major earthquake in the United States ever to be broadcast by live television. Experts credit the timing of the Series as a lucky break that prevented massive loss of life in the city; key in reducing the loss of life was the fact that many people had left work early or were staying late to participate in after-work group viewings and parties, reducing the traffic that would otherwise have been on the collapsed freeways (initial expectations were that hundreds of people had died in the collapse of Interstate 880 in Oakland; the final death toll from that event was 42). A Goodyear Blimp that had been covering the game was used to coordinate emergency efforts.

At the time the earthquake hit, the announcing team for ABC Sports, Tim McCarver, Al Michaels, and Jim Palmer immediately grabbed what they perceived to be the armrests; it turned out that they grabbed each others' thighs, leaving each of them with bruises; recounting this incident years later, Michaels would boldly admit his strong belief that had the earthquake lasted much longer than 15 seconds, he would have been killed. The ABC Sports team remained in their broadcast booth and appeared composed once a backup generator restored power. By contrast, the broadcasting team in the CBS Radio booth next door, consisting of Jack Buck, Johnny Bench, and John Rooney, ran out as soon as the earthquake started. Bench ran to a spot underneath a steel grate, to which Buck quipped, "If you would have moved that fast when you played, you wouldn't have hit into so many double plays." The ESPN live coverage of the Series (ESPN and ABC at the time produced separate broadcasts) was interrupted during then-television analyst Joe Torre's pre-game report on the field. Their equipment van was the only one with a generator, and they continued their live coverage with Chris Berman and Bob Ley. Separately from the broadcast, Peter Gammons and Oakland Athletics pitcher Bob Welch were walking by Marina Middle School in order to get a residency pass when they spotted a slightly unshaven man with a white wind-breaker waiting in line for his pass, who turned out to be Joe DiMaggio, who was concerned over the status of his sister, Louise. Gammons shared this story during a 1999 Sports Center Flashback special chronicling the 1989 World Series.

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, ABC aired a rerun of Roseanne (and later, The Wonder Years) before Ted Koppel began anchoring news coverage from Washington, with Michaels acting as a de facto reporter. The Goodyear Blimp (which was already aloft for the game) provided video of structural damage and fires within the city. The ABC opening for this telecast (leading up to Al Michaels informing the viewers of the earthquake) was used at the beginning of a 1990 television movie (documenting the Loma Prieta earthquake) called After The Shock.

As for the Series itself, Fay Vincent decided to postpone Game 3 (although he didn't tell anyone before doing so, resulting in an umpire protest) initially for five days, resulting in the longest delay in World Series history. It was postponed for another five days (until October 27) because of delays in restoring transmission links. Then San Francisco mayor Art Agnos wanted to wait a month before resuming it, with Vincent responding to Agnos by telling him that he might move it elsewhere if the delay would be that long.

Players for the Oakland Athletics returned home, but had to travel via San Jose, adding an extra 90 minutes because some roadway sections of the Bay Bridge had collapsed. Not long after returning, Jose Canseco (still in full uniform) and his wife Esther were spotted filling up their car at a self-service gas station. As noted in his later book Juiced, Canseco noted that someone wrote an article portraying him as forcing his wife to pump the gas, but that in reality, she told him to let her do it because if people saw him in his full uniform, it would cause a scene.

After rescheduling Game 3, to Oct. 27 the two teams were ready to do battle back in San Francisco. But with the long delay the Athletics were able to put Stewart, their Game 1 started back on the mound.

At the start of Game 3, some emergency responders who had aided during the earthquake, including police officers and firefighters, were honored and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Dave "Hendu" Henderson just missed hitting three home runs for the A's as his first inning shot bounced off the top of the wall for a double.

Giants catcher Bill Bathe became the fifth National League player in World Series history to hit a home run in his very first at-bat. His teammate Matt Williams noticed him wobbling when the earthquake started. Apparently, he was looking in the stands for his family.

When Game 3 was originally scheduled for October 17, the scheduled starting pitchers were Bob Welch for the A's and Don Robinson for the Giants. Meanwhile, Ken Oberkfell was slated to start at third base for the Giants, with Matt Williams moving over to shortstop instead of the benched José Uribe. Also, Pat Sheridan was slated to take over for Candy Maldonado in right field for the Giants. Maldonado told ESPN that he was in the clubhouse getting ready when the earthquake hit. The first person he saw in the midst of all of this was his teammate, Robinson, who told Maldonado that he sensed that an earthquake was occurring.

This game set a record for most combined home runs hit in a World Series game with seven, as well as tying a record for most home runs hit by a single team, five, in a World Series game (the New York Yankees won Game 4 of the 1928 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, which like this series, would end in a sweep).

Up three games to none the Oakland Athletics threw out their Game 2 starter in Mike Moore to finish off the sweep of the Bay Area rivals the San Francisco Giants.

At the time, October 28 was the latest end date for a World Series, even though the series only lasted the minimum four games. (This record was tied in 1995, and has since been topped by the terrorism-delayed 2001 World Series which ran from October 27 through November 4 and the 2009 World Series which ran from October 28 through November 4 as regularly scheduled.) The World Series now regularly ends around this time because there is an extra round of playoffs. After Nell Carter sang the National Anthem, Willie Mays threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The A's led from the first batter of the game on as Rickey Henderson's leadoff home run set the tone. Kevin Mitchell's homer would bring the Giants closer as they cut an 8–0 deficit to 8–6 in two innings. But it would prove to be too little too late for San Francisco as they would lose 9–6.

This was also Candlestick Park's final World Series game. The Giants' three subsequent National League pennants have come since their move to AT&T Park, in 2002, 2010 and 2012.

Out of respect for the Loma Prieta earthquake victims, the Oakland Athletics chose not to celebrate their World Series victory with champagne, as is normally customary for the winning team in the World Series.

The 1989 World Series title was the most recent for the Oakland franchise. The Giants have had more recent success winning the 2010 World Series over the Texas Rangers and the 2012 World Series over the Detroit Tigers in a sweep.

Red Sox End Curse

On Oct. 27, 2004, the Boston Red Sox put an end to the “Curse of the Bambino”. 

The Red Sox finally ended their championship curse as they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the World Series to complete the sweep.

It was the first title for the franchise since 1918. The Red Sox started their stunning postseason run by overcoming a 3-0 series deficit against the New York Yankees. Boston won eight straight games to close the postseason.

The Red Sox would continue their winning ways with another World Series title in 2006 as they swept the Colorado Rockies in four games.

This year the Red Sox are once again battling the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. But after last nights play the Red Sox now trail in the series two games to one.

Yankees Beat Mets In All New York World Series

On Oct. 26, 2000, the New York Yankees defeat the New York Mets four games to one to win their third straight World Series championship. Making them one of only two teams to win the World Series three consecutive times. The other only other team besides the Yankees to do complete the feat was the Oakland Athletics from 1972-1974. The MVP of the World Series was New York Yankees shortstop, Derek Jeter.

The Yankees would go on to do the unthinkable and make the World Series in 2001, bidding for the firs time in Major League history that a team would win four consecutive World Series trophies. But it was the Arizona Diamondbacks who would win the World Series, keeping the record for most consecutive World Series championships at three.

The World Series championship in 2000 was the Yankees twenty-sixth and last until they won No. 27, in 2009.

For the Mets, it was the last time they visited the World Series, and the last time the team won a Wild Card berth.

Since 2000, the Mets have made the playoffs just once, in 2006, when they won the East Division Title and won their NLDS matchup. However, for the Mets they were eliminated from the playoffs after losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the NLCS.

Buckner Costs Sox The Series

On Oct. 25, 1986, Buckner's mistake costs Red Sox the World Series.

On this day in 1986, the famous Bill Buckner error took place in Game 6 of the World Series. 

The Red Sox led 5-3 in the bottom of the tenth inning and were on their way to winning the World Series trophy. 

But a Mets rally kept the game alive. 

After a wild pitch, Bill Buckner misplayed a routine ground ball and allowed the Mets to steal the game. 

New Work would take the series in seven games.

Marshall Runs The Wrong Way

On Oct. 25, 1964, Jim Marshall runs the wrong way against 49ers.

On this day in 1964, Jim Marshall of the Minnesota Vikings had one of the most famous gaffes in sports history. 

Marshall was a great player that once appeared in 282 straight games, then a record. But Marshall is most remembered for his poor play in this game against the San Francisco 49ers. 

Marshall picked up a fumble and returned it 66 yards in the wrong direction. The play resulted in a safety and has become one of the most famous highlights ever.

Joe Carter Hits Walk-Off Home Run

On Oct. 23, 1993, Hall of Famer Joe Carter's home run crushes Phillies in 1993 World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies were picked to finish last by most experts. 

However, they reached the World Series and faced the defending champion Toronto Blue Jays. 

The Blue Jays ended the Phillies dreams of a World Series championship in 1993. 

Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth in Game 6, Toronto's Joe Carter hit a three-run shot to give the Blue Jays their second title in a row. Carter was given the World Series MVP.

Green Bay Packers Play First Game

On Oct. 23, 1921, the Green Bay Packers play their first game.

The Green Bay Packers played their first official NFL game against the Minneapolis Marines. 

The Packers won the game 7-6 when Curly Lambeau kicked the winning extra point. 

The Packers are one of the most beloved franchises in NFL history and have won 13 league championships, including 11 NFL Championships between 1929 and 1967, the first two AFL-NFL Super Bowls, in 1966 and 1967. More recently the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI in 1996 and Super Bowl XLV in 2010.

The Fosbury Flop Debuts

Oct 20, 1968, the Fosbury Flop becomes the norm.

The 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City were significant for a number of reasons. But one of the most famous reasons took place in the track and field event of high jumping. High jumper Dick Fosbury set an Olympic record and won a gold medal after his unconventional jumping style dazzled fans. The famous leap saw Fosbury land head first on the mat. The awkward looking move has become a part of Olympic lore in the United States.

Over the next few years the flop became the dominant style of the event and remains so today. Before Fosbury, most elite jumpers used the Straddle technique, Western Roll, Eastern cut-off or even Scissors-Jump to clear the bar.

Fosbury himself cleared the bar with his hands by his sides, whereas many athletes cross the bar with their arms held out sideward’s or even above their heads, optimizing their mass distribution.

Given that landing surfaces had previously been sandpits or low piles of matting, high jumpers of earlier years had to land on their feet or at least land carefully to prevent injury. With the advent of deep foam matting high jumpers were able to be more adventurous in their landing styles and hence experiment with styles of jumping.

Smith Sets World Record

On Oct. 16, 1968, On the morning of 16 October 1968, U.S. athlete Tommie Smith won the 200 meter race in a world-record time of 19.83 seconds, with Australia's Peter Norman second with a time of 20.06 seconds, and the U.S.A's John Carlos in third place with a time of 20.10 seconds.

After the race was completed, the three went to collect their medals at the podium. The two U.S. athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue collar workers in the U.S. and wore a necklace of beads which he described "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage.

All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Australia's White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals. Sociologist Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on 16 October 1968 were inspired by Edwards' arguments.

Both U.S. athletes intended on bringing black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. It was the Australian, Peter Norman, who suggested Carlos wear Smith's left-handed glove, this being the reason behind him raising his left hand, as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute. When "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture, which became front-page news around the world. As they left the podium the crowd booed them. Smith later said, "If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight.”

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Avery Brundage, deemed it to be a domestic political statement, unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games were supposed to be. In an immediate response to their actions, he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the U.S. team and banned from the Olympic Village. When the US Olympic Committee refused, Brundage threatened to ban the entire US track team. This threat led to the two athletes being expelled from the Games.

A spokesman for the IOC said it was "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit.^” Brundage, who was president of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections against Nazi salutes during the Berlin Olympics. He argued that the Nazi salute, being a national salute at the time, was acceptable in a competition of nations, while the athletes' salute was not of a nation and therefore unacceptable^.

Brundage had been one of the United States' most prominent Nazi sympathizers even after the outbreak of the Second World War and his removal as president of the IOC had been one of the three stated objectives of the Olympic Project for Human Rights.

As late as 2010, the official IOC website stated "Over and above winning medals, the black American athletes made names for themselves by an act of racial protest

Smith and Carlos were largely ostracized by the U.S. sporting establishment in the following years and, in addition, were subject to criticism of their actions. Time magazine showed the five-ring Olympic logo with the words, "Angrier, Nastier, Uglier", instead of "Faster, Higher, Stronger”.

Back home, they were subject to abuse and they and their families received death threats.

Smith continued in athletics, going on to play in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals, before becoming an assistant professor of Physical Education at Oberlin College. In 1995, he went on to help coach the U.S. team at the World Indoor Championships at Barcelona. In 1999 he was awarded the California Black Sportsman of the Millennium Award. He is now a public speaker.

Carlos' career followed a similar path to Smith's. He initially continued in athletics, equaling the 100-yard dash world record the following year. Later, he played in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, before a knee injury prematurely ended his career. He fell upon hard times in the late 1970s and, in 1977, his ex-wife committed suicide, leading him to a period of depression. In 1982, Carlos was employed by the Organizing Committee for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles to promote the games and act as liaison with the city's black community. In 1985, he became a track and field coach at Palm Springs High School, a post he still holds.

Norman, who was sympathetic to his competitors' protest, was reprimanded by his country's Olympic authorities and ostracized by the Australian media. He was not picked for the 1972 Summer Olympics, despite finishing third in his trials. Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral after his death in 2006^.

In 2005, San Jose State University honored former students Smith and Carlos with a 22-foot high statue of their protest, created by artist Rigo 23^. A student, Erik Grotz, initiated the project: "One of my professors was talking about unsung heroes and he mentioned Tommie Smith and John Carlos. He said these men had done a courageous thing to advance civil rights, and, yet, they had never been honored by their own school." In January 2007, History San Jose opened a new exhibit called Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power, covering the San Jose State athletic program "from which many student athletes became globally recognized figures as the Civil Rights and Black Power movements reshaped American society."

On March 3, 2008, in the Detroit Free Press editorial section, an editorial by Orin Starn entitled "Bottom line turns to hollow gold for today's Olympians" lamented the lack of social engagement of modern sports athletes, in contrast to Smith and Carlos.

Smith and Carlos received an Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2008 ESPY Awards honoring their action.

Internationally, in a 2011 speech to the University of Guelph, Akaash Maharaj, a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and head of Canada's Olympic Equestrian team, said, "In that moment, Tommie Smith, Peter Norman, and John Carlos became the living embodiments of Olympic idealism. Ever since, they have been inspirations to generations of athletes like myself, who can only aspire to their example of putting principle before personal interest. It was their misfortune to be far greater human beings than the leaders of the IOC of the day."