December 31, 2012

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Mike Matson!

1,820 years ago
192

Died on this date
Commodus, 31. Roman Emperor, 177-192. Lucius Aurelius Commodus was co-Emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177-180, and reigned alone until his assassination. An attempt at poisoning Commodus was unsuccessful, so his wrestling partner Narcissus strangled him in his bath. Pertinax was named Emperor the next day. Commodus turned his reign as Emperor into a cult of personality, and was not mourned.

150 years ago
1862

Americana
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed an act dividing Virginia into two states and admitting West Virginia to the Union.

75 years ago
1937

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Anthony Hopkins! The Academy Award-winning actor was born in Margam, Port Talbot, West Glamorgan, Wales.

60 years ago
1952

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: Hate Song

50 years ago
1962

Died on this date
Patricia Bissette, 23. U.S. murder victim. Miss Bissette was sexually assaulted and strangled with her nylon stockings in Boston, becoming the eighth victim of the Boston Strangler.

Music
Luiz Bonfa concluded two days of recording an album that was released in 1963 under the title Luiz Bonfa Plays and Sings Bossa Nova.

Basketball
ABL
The 8-team American Basketball League, founded in 1961 as a rival to the National Basketball Association, folded part way through its second season. The Kansas City Steers, who were in first place at the time, were declared ABL champions for the 1962-63 season. One of the franchise owners was George Steinbrenner, whose Cleveland Pipers had defeated the Steers 3 games to 2 in a playoff series to win the league championship. The ABL was the first professional league to introduce a 3-point shot for successful shots over a certain length.

40 years ago
1972

Died on this date
Roberto Clemente, 38. U.S. baseball player. The greatest player ever to come from Puerto Rico, Mr. Clemente was the right fielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955-1972, batting .317 with 240 home runs and 1,305 runs batted in in 2,433 games. He was the National League batting champion in 1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967, and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1966. He won a Gold Glove for outstanding fielding in each of his last 12 seasons. Mr. Clemente played for World Series championship teams in 1960 and 1971; in the 1971 Word Series he batted .414 with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs and was deservedly named the series’ Most Valuable Player. He made exactly 3,000 hits in regular season play, doubling off Jon Matlack of the New York Mets on September 29, 1972 to reach the milestone. Mr. Clemente was killed in the crash of a small plane while on his way to deliver relief supplies to victims of a major earthquake in Nicaragua. The Pirates immediately retired his uniform number 21; the Baseball Hall of Fame waived the usual requirement of being retired for five years, and inducted Mr. Clemente in 1973.

Football
NFL
AFC Championship
Miami 21 @ Pittsburgh 17

Bob Griese, out since October with a broken leg, went in to quarterback the Dolphins in the 2nd half, and he handed off to Jim Kiick for 2 touchdown runs as Miami held on to defeat the Steelers before 50,845 fans at Three Rivers Stadium. Pittsburgh opened the scoring in the 1st quarter when quarterback Terry Bradshaw fumbled on the Miami 3-yard line and offensive lineman Gerry Mullins recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Roy Gerela converted to give the Steelers a 7-0 lead, but Mr. Bradshaw was injured and didn’t return to action until the last 7 minutes of the game. A 37-yard rush by Miami punter Larry Seiple on a fake punt in the 2nd quarter led to a 9-yard touchdown pass from starting quarterback Earl Morrall to Larry Csonka. Garo Yepremian converted and the game was tied 7-7 at halftime. Roy Gerela kicked a 14-yard field goal to give the Steelers a 10-7 lead in the 3rd quarter, but Mr. Griese connected with Paul Warfield for 52 yards, setting up a 2-yard touchdown run by Mr. Kiick. Mr. Yepremian’s convert made the score 14-10 in favour of Miami, and it became 21-10 in the 4th quarter when Mr. Kiick scored from 3 yards, converted by Mr. Yepremian. Al Young, who had never scored a touchdown in his 2 years in the NFL, caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Mr. Bradshaw, and Mr. Gerela’s convert reduced Miami’s lead to 21-17. However, Mr. Bradshaw threw interceptions to Nick Buoniconti and Mike Kolen in his last 3 passes, and the Dolphins extended their season-long perfect record to 16 games and advanced to the Super Bowl for the second straight year. Pittsburgh’s Franco Harris gained 76 yards on 16 carries, as did Miami’s Mercury Morris. Mr. Young, who had recorded only 6 pass receptions in 2 seasons prior to catching 1 pass in the divisional playoff, caught 4 passes for 54 yards. Mr. Warfield caught 2 passes for 63 yards and teammate Marv Fleming caught 5 for 50. Mr. Morrall completed 7 of 11 passes for 51 yards and an interception, while Mr. Griese was 3 for 5 for 70 yards. Mr. Bradshaw was 5 for 10 for 80 yards and 2 interceptions, while backup Terry anratty was 5 for 10 for 57 yards.

NFC Championship
Dallas 3 @ Washington 26

Billy Kilmer threw 2 touchdown passes to Charlie Taylor and Curt Knight kicked 4 field goals and 2 converts as the Redskins beat the defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys before 53,129 fans at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in their history. Mr. Knight opened the scoring with an 18-yard field goal in the 2nd quarter, and Mr. Kilmer connected with Mr. Taylor for a 51-yard gain and then a 15-yard touchdown. Toni Fritsch kicked a 35-yard field goal for the Cowboys, and Washington led 10-3 at halftime. Mr. Taylor caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Mr. Kilmer early in the 4th quarter; Mr. Knight converted and kicked field goals of 39, 46, and 45 yards to put the game away. Mr. Taylor caught 7 passes for 146 yards to lead all receivers, while teammate Larry Brown rushed 30 times for 88 yards. Mr. Kilmer completed 14 of 18 passes for 194 yards. Mr. Staubach completed just 9 of 20 passes for 98 yards, but led the Cowboys in rushing with 5 carries for 59 yards.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Do You Really Want to Hurt Me--Culture Club (4th week at #1)

On the Radio
The CBS Radio Mystery Theater signed off after almost 9 years and 1399 episodes. The last show was a rebroadcast of Resident Killer, starring Mason Adams, which had originally aired on October 25.

Music
Doug and the Slugs performed at a New Year's Eve dance at the Holiday Inn Harbourside in Vancouver. This blogger was at another function on the floor below, but could hear the band very clearly.

At the movies
The God Makers, produced by Jeremiah Films, premiered at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. The film is a hard-hitting expose of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, better known as the Mormons. Ed Decker and Dick Baer, former members of the Mormon Melchizededk priesthood, attempted to persuade a Los Angeles law firm to launch a class-action suit against the LDS on behalf of people like themselves who had seen their marriages and families destroyed. The film is centred around a reenactment of Mr. Decker and Mr. Baer's presentation to the law firm, which paints a very different picture of the Mormon Church from that which the church presents to the public. Despite overwhelming evidence to support the complaints against the church, the law firm decided against pursuing the matter because they didn't believe that the complainants had enough money to offset the deep pockets of the Mormon Church. According to Grace Community Church pastor John MacArthur, "This film is dynamite, the most powerful thing I've seen! Get your Mormon friends to view it!" The film was followed in 1984 by a book of the same title authored by Ed Decker and Dave Hunt, and by a subsequent documentary and book (written by Ed Decker and Caryl Matrisciana) titled The God Makers II in 1988.

25 years ago
1987

Politics and government
Robert Mugabe was sworn in as President of Zimbabwe, replacing Canaan Banana as head of state.

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston (5th week at #1)