A lot happened in the year 1987, including the debut of a family-friendly TV sitcom set in San Francisco. The name of the show was Full House, and we’ll be doing a deep dive into this popular comedy over the coming weeks.
But first, to get a sense of the times and trends that helped shape this series, here’s a quick look at the notable sporting events that occurred in 1987.
November 1, 1986 The 1986-1987 NBA season was the final NBA season for Philadelphia’s Julius Erving who announced his retirement that year. NBA arenas paid tribute to Erving’s retirement by staging special events for him. The New Jersey Nets, in particular, retired Erving’s No. 32 jersey for his contributions with the franchise. Thus Erving became the only player to have his number retired by a team while still an active player.
November 26, 1986 During the 1986-1987 NHL season, Toronto’s Borje Salming was accidentally cut in the face by a skate, requiring more than 200 stitches. It was the third injury to his face and Salming returned to play wearing a visor.
January 12 – January 25 The 1987 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 75th edition of the Australian Open; the first tournament to be held after New Year’s Day since the late 1960s and also the last tournament to be played on grass before the change of surface. In the Men’s category, Stefan Edberg defeated Pat Cash 6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 5–7, 6–3. It was Edberg’s 2nd career Grand Slam title and his 2nd Australian Open title. In the women’s category, Hana Mandlíková defeated Martina Navratilova 7–5, 7–6(7–1). It was Mandlíková’s 4th career Grand Slam title and her 2nd and last Australian Open title.
January 22 A massive blizzard resulted in only 334 spectators attending the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Calgary Flames at the Brendan Byrne Arena, leading to the Devils dubbing the spectators the “334 Club”.
February 6 SMU’s faculty athletics representative, religious studies professor Lonnie Kliever, delivered a report to the NCAA which recommended an extension of the school’s probation an additional four years, until 1990. During this period, SMU would be allowed to hire only six assistant coaches, and only four of them would be allowed to participate in off-campus recruiting. It also recommended that SMU’s ban from bowl games and live television be extended until 1989. During those two seasons, SMU proposed dropping two non-conference games from its schedule. SMU’s cooperation so impressed the enforcement staff, led by assistant executive director of enforcement and compliance David Berst, that it recommended that the Infractions Committee accept SMU’s proposed penalties, with the exception of a ban on non-conference play for two years.
It soon became apparent, however, that the infractions committee was not willing to let SMU off lightly, even though both the enforcement staff and SMU had agreed on the above proposed sanctions. Not only did the members subject Kliever to stern questioning after he and Berst delivered their presentations, but the committee stayed in session longer than usual. On February 20, Berst told Kliever that SMU would indeed get a “death penalty. “Ultimately, the committee voted unanimously to cancel SMU’s entire 1987 football season and all four of SMU’s scheduled home games in 1988.
February 8 The 1987 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Kingdome in Seattle, with the West defeating the East 154–149 in overtime. To the delight of the Seattle crowd, the SuperSonics’ Tom Chambers won the game’s MVP award. Michael Jordan won his first Slam Dunk Contest.
March 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mike Tyson adds the WBA heavyweight title to his WBC belt when he beats James Smith in a 12-round decision. Mike Tyson was coming off a dominating victory over Trevor Berbick in which he captured the WBC Heavyweight championship after knocking out Berbick in the second round. Tyson’s next opponent would be the WBA Heavyweight champion James “Bonecrusher” Smith, who had knocked out Tim Witherspoon in the first round to capture the title four months earlier. The stakes for the fight were high as not only would the winner unify the WBA and WBC titles, but they would also get to face undefeated IBF Heavyweight champion Michael Spinks to determine the next Undisputed Heavyweight champion. However, only a month before the fight, Spinks would vacate his IBF title, instead choosing to defend his remaining Lineal Heavyweight championship against Gerry Cooney, temporarily putting plans to find the next Undisputed Heavyweight Champion on hold.
Though Smith became one of the few men to last the entire 12 rounds with Tyson, he offered little offense during the fight, instead constantly grappling with Tyson in an effort to reduce the effectiveness of Tyson’s punches. Because of the excessive holding, referee Mills Lane twice took a point away from Smith, first in the second round, and then again in the eighth. Smith’s best offensive pressure arguably was during the fight’s final seconds in which he was able to land a right hand to the head of Tyson. Tyson would earn the victory by way of unanimous decision, winning every round on all three of the judges’ scorecards. Afterwards, Tyson was critical of Smith’s tactics, “When I was trying to put the punches together he grabbed. This hurts boxing. This is show business. People expect a performance.”
March 12 – March 30 The 1987 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men’s NCAA Division I college basketball. A total of 63 games were played in New Orleans, Louisiana Indiana, coached by Bob Knight, won the national title with a 74–73 victory in the final game over Syracuse, coached by Jim Boeheim. Keith Smart of Indiana, who hit the game-winner in the final seconds, and intercepted the full court pass at the last second, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. The tournament also featured a “Cinderella team” in the Final Four, as Providence College, led by a then-unknown Rick Pitino, made their first Final Four appearance since 1973. One year after reaching the Final Four, LSU made another deep run in the Midwest region. The Tigers ousted Temple in the second round and DePaul in the Sweet 16 before losing 77-76 to top seeded Indiana in the Elite Eight. This was the last tournament in which teams were allowed to have home court advantage: national runner-up Syracuse, DePaul, Arizona and UAB all opened the tournament playing on their home courts. UAB and Arizona each lost in the first round, while DePaul won twice at the Rosemont Horizon. Under rules adopted in 1988, teams cannot play in a facility in which they play four or more regular season games. The 1987 NCAA men’s basketball tournament was also the first tournament to use the three-point shot.
April 4 The Islanders’ captain Denis Potvin became the first NHL defenseman to reach 1000 points. A shot by the Islanders’ Mikko Makela deflected off Potvin’s arm in a 6–6 shootout between the Islanders and Sabres.
April 6 Sugar Ray Leonard beats Marvin Hagler for boxing’s world Middleweight championship. In the late summer of 1986, negotiations began for a proposed super fight between long-reigning undisputed middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler and former two-weight champion Sugar Ray Leonard. Leonard had fought only once since his first professional retirement in 1982, defeating Kevin Howard in 1984, retiring again immediately following the fight after being dissatisfied with his performance. In March 1986, Hagler defeated John Mugabi via 11th round knockout, though Mugabi gave Hagler a tough fight and swelled his right eye. Leonard was in attendance at the Hagler–Mugabi fight and after seeing Hagler having slower speed than usual against Mugabi, thought he could beat Hagler, and in May 1986, Leonard announced that he would come out of retirement only to fight Hagler.
In what would go down to be among the most controversial fights in boxing history, Leonard would ultimately earn a split decision victory. Hagler started the fight abandoning his usual southpaw stance in favor of an orthodox stance, which would prove costly as he lost the first two rounds on all three judges’ scorecards. By round three, Hagler switched to starting rounds in his normal southpaw stance. Hagler would spend most of the fight as the aggressor, while Leonard would pepper Hagler with combinations before retreating away. During the last 30 seconds of each round, Leonard would attack Hagler with a flurry of punches in an effort to “steal” the rounds on the scorecards. Overall, Leonard landed 306 of his 629 thrown punches (49%) compared to Hagler’s 291 out of 792 (37%).
April 8 General Manager, Al Campanis, of the LA Dodgers is fired as a result of controversial remarks regarding blacks in baseball made during an interview on Nightline two days earlier.
April 9 – April 12 The 1987 Masters Tournament was the 51st Masters Tournament, held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Augusta native Larry Mize won his only major championship in a sudden-death playoff over Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman. Norman had barely missed a 20-foot birdie opportunity on the 72nd hole which would have won him the tournament in regulation. The Masters Champions include, Tommy Aaron, Seve Ballesteros (3,8), Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw (8,9,11,12), Raymond Floyd (2,4,9,11,12,13), Doug Ford, Bernhard Langer (8,9,12), Jack Nicklaus (8,9), Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Craig Stadler (9,13), Art Wall Jr., Tom Watson (2,3,8,12), and Fuzzy Zoeller (2,8,9,11,12,13).
April 13 At Jack Murphy Stadium, the San Diego Padres set a major league record when the first three batters in the bottom of the first inning hit home runs off San Francisco Giants starter Roger Mason in their home opener. The Padres, trailing 3–0, got homers from Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk.
April 15 Juan Nieves of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles. Nieves becomes the second-youngest pitcher in major league history to accomplish the feat (22 years, 4 months, 10 days), as well as the first Brewer to do it.
April 17 Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hits the 500th home run of his career. It comes in the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Don Robinson, giving the Phillies an 8–6 win at Pittsburgh. Schmidt is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire 18-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a three-time winner of the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player award (MVP), and he was known for his combination of power hitting and strong defense. As a hitter, he compiled 548 home runs and 1,595 runs batted in (RBIs), and led the NL in home runs eight times and in RBIs four times. As a fielder, Schmidt won the National League Gold Glove Award for third basemen ten times. Schmidt was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 and is widely considered to be the greatest third baseman in baseball history.
April 19 Michael Jordan joined Wilt Chamberlain as only the second player in NBA history to score 3000 points in a season. With a 37.1 ppg, Jordan also began a seven-year reign as the NBA’s scoring champion, tied with Chamberlain for the league record.
April 19 Los Angeles Clippers become the second team in NBA history to lose 70 or more games joining the 1972–73 76ers, the latter was (1992–93 Mavericks, 1997–98 Nuggets, 2009–10 Nets (including losing 18 straight games to start the season), and the 2015–16 76ers (including a record–tying 26–game losing streak also including losing 18 straight games to start the season).
April 28 Rod Woodson is drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He is currently the head coach of the XFL’s Vegas Vipers. He played his first ten years with the Steelers, and was a key member of the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl XXXV championship team. He also had two shorter stints for the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders. Widely considered one of the greatest all-time defensive players ever, Woodson holds the NFL record for fumble recoveries (32) by a defensive player, and interceptions returned for touchdown (12), and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1993. His 71 career interceptions is the third-most in NFL history. He was an inductee of the Class of 2009 of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on August 8, 2009. Woodson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016. Rod played most of his career as a cornerback then switched to safety during the later part of his career.
April 30 NASCAR driver Bill Elliott sets the record for the all-time fastest lap at Talladega Superspeedway at 212.8 miles per hour (342.5 km/h).
May 2 The 113th Kentucky Derby took place.
May 16 The 1987 Preakness Stakes was the 112th running of the Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. Alysheba won first place.
May 17 – May 31 The 1987 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) 1986–87 season, and the culmination of the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Edmonton Oilers and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Oilers won the series 4–3, for their third Stanley Cup victory. This was the sixth of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team from Western Canada, the fifth of eight consecutive Finals contested by a team from Alberta (the Oilers appeared in six, the Calgary Flames in two, the Vancouver Canucks in one), and the fourth of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice (the Oilers won four times, the Montreal Canadiens once). Game 7 of this series was played on May 31, which at the time was the latest finishing date for an NHL season. The record would be broken five years later when that series ended on June 1.
May 22 The first ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park, Auckland.
May 24 Five days before his 48th birthday, Al Unser became the oldest winner of the Indianapolis 500 and only the second driver to win the event four times.
May 25 – June 7 The 1987 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It was the 91st staging of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1987. In the men’s category, Van Lendl defeated Mats Wilander, 7–5, 6–2, 3–6, 7–6(7–3). It was Lendl’s 2nd title of the year, and his 64th overall. It was his 5th career Grand Slam title, and his 3rd French Open title. In the women’s category, Steffi Graf defeated Martina Navratilova, 6–4, 4–6, 8–6. It was Graf’s 1st career Grand Slam title.
May 27 At the Prater Stadium of Vienna, Porto of Portugal defeats Bayern München of West Germany 2–1 and wins its first European Cup.
June 2 – June 14 The 1987 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s 1986–87 season, and the culmination of the season’s playoffs. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference and defending NBA champion Boston Celtics 4 games to 2. The key moment of the series was Magic Johnson’s Junior sky hook in Game 4. This was the tenth time that the Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals (more than any other Finals matchup). It would be the Celtics’ last Finals appearance until the two teams met in 2008.
June 18 – June 21 The 1987 U.S. Open was the 87th U.S. Open, held at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. Scott Simpson passed and held off 1982 champion Tom Watson on the Lake Course to win his only major title by one stroke. Eleven former champions were in the field and only four made the 36-hole cut. This was the third U.S. Open at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club, the previous two in 1955 and 1966 ended in playoffs. The U.S. Open returned in 1998 and 2012; both were won by one stroke.
June 22 – July 5 The 1987 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 101st edition of the Wimbledon Championships. In the men’s category, Pat Cash defeated Ivan Lendl, 7–6(7–5), 6–2, 7–5. It was Cash’s only career Grand Slam title. In the women’s category, Martina Navratilova defeated Steffi Graf, 7–5, 6–3. It was Navratilova’s 45th career Grand Slam title and her 8th Wimbledon title.
June 22 The NBA draft is held. David Robinson was the first pick of the first round. Robinson is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and is a minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed “the Admiral” for his service with the U.S. Navy, Robinson was a 10-time NBA All-Star, the 1995 NBA MVP, a two-time NBA champion (1999 and 2003), a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner (1992, 1996), a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2009 for his individual career, 2010 as a member of the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team), and a two-time U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame inductee (2008 individually, 2009 as a member of the 1992 Olympic team). He was honored as one of the league’s all-time players by being named to the NBA 50th Anniversary (1996) and 75th Anniversary Teams (2021). He is widely considered one of the greatest centers in both college basketball and NBA history
Scottie Pippen was also a first round pick in the 1987 NBA draft. Pippen is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. Considered one of the greatest small forwards of all time, Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls into a championship team and in popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s.
Pippen was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight consecutive times and the All-NBA First Team three times. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996–97 season, and is one of four players to have his jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls (the others being Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, and Jordan). He played a main role on both the 1992 Chicago Bulls Championship team and the 1996 Chicago Bulls Championship team, which were selected as two of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History. His biography on the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s website states that “the multidimensional Pippen ran the court like a point guard, attacked the boards like a power forward, and swished the nets like a shooting guard”. During his 17-year career, he played 12 seasons with the Bulls, one with the Houston Rockets and four with the Portland Trail Blazers, making the postseason 16 straight times. In October 2021, Pippen was again honored as one of the league’s greatest players of all-time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
Reggie Miller was also a first round draft pick in the 1987 NBA draft. Miller is an American former professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year NBA career with the Indiana Pacers. Miller was known for his precision three-point shooting, especially in pressure situations and most notably against the New York Knicks, for which he earned the nickname “Knick Killer.” When he retired, he held the record for most career 3-point field goals made. He is currently fourth on the list behind Stephen Curry, Ray Allen, and James Harden. A five-time All-Star selection, Miller led the league in free throw percentage five times and won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Miller is widely regarded as the Pacers’ greatest player of all time. His No. 31 was retired by the team in 2006. Currently, he works as an NBA commentator for TNT and college basketball analyst for CBS Sports. Miller was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
July 16 – July 19 The 1987 British Open Championship was a men’s major golf championship and the 116th British Open Championship held at Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, Scotland. Nick Faldo won the first of his three Open Championships, one stroke ahead of runners-up Paul Azinger and Rodger Davis. It was the first of Faldo’s six major championships. It was the first win at The Open by an Englishman since Tony Jacklin in 1969. This was the thirteenth Open Championship held at Muirfield; the previous was in 1980 and the next in 1992.
July 18 New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly home runs in his record-tying eighth straight game, in a 7–2 Texas Rangers win over the Yankees. He tied the record set by Dale Long in 1956.
August 3 Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Niekro is suspended for 10 days for possessing a nail file on the pitcher’s mound. Niekro claimed he had been filing his nails in the dugout and put the file in his back pocket when the inning started.
August 6 – August 9 The 1987 PGA Championship was the 69th PGA Championship, held at the Champion Course of PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In hot and windy conditions, Larry Nelson won his second PGA Championship in a sudden-death playoff over 1977 champion Lanny Wadkins. It was Nelson’s third and final major title. D.A. Weibring, a 54-hole co-leader, shot 76 (+4) and finished a stroke back at even-par 288. The other co-leader, Mark McCumber, posted 77 and finished in a tie for fifth. Two major champions in contention shot high scores and fell back: Seve Ballesteros (78) and Raymond Floyd (80). In the August heat of Florida, the attendance was low. A record high temperature for the day of 97 °F (36 °C) was recorded on Sunday. It was the second major played in Florida, following the PGA Championship in 1971, played in February at the old PGA National. Through 2021, this is the last major tournament played in the state. The purse was the last under $1 million at the PGA Championship. With the win, Nelson gained an automatic bid to the Ryder Cup team in 1987, his third, bumping Don Pooley. Nelson’s record in that competition in late September was 0–3–1, as the U.S. lost the Cup for the first time on home soil. He lost all three pairs matches and halved his singles match. The Champion Course hosted the Ryder Cup in 1983 and the Senior PGA Championship for 19 years (1982–2000). Since 2007, it has been the venue of The Honda Classic on the PGA Tour, played in March.
August 7 Pan American Games are held in Indianapolis.
August 11 Mark McGwire of the Oakland Athletics breaks Al Rosen’s American League rookie record by hitting his 38th home run in an 8–2 loss to the Mariners.
August 16 The Miami Dolphins began playing at their new home, Joe Robbie Stadium, moving from the Miami Orange Bowl. This was also the NFL Saint Louis Cardinals’ final season at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis; the team relocated to Tempe, Arizona, the following season.
August 26 Paul Molitor of the Milwaukee Brewers goes hitless, and ends his 39-game hitting streak. It is the longest American League hitting streak since Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game streak (a major league record) in 1941.
September 1- September 14 The 1987 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the USTA National Tennis Center in New York City. It was the 107th edition of the US Open. As of 2021 it is the last time any player, male or female, has won the Triple Crown as Martina Navratilova won the Women’s Singles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles events. In the men’s category, Ivan Lendl defeated Mats Wilander 6–7(7–9), 6–0, 7–6(7–4), 6–4. It was Lendl’s 6th career Grand Slam title and his 3rd and final US Open title. In the women’s category, Martina Navratilova defeated Steffi Graf 7–6(7–4), 6–1. It was Navratilova’s 46th career Grand Slam title and her 11th US Open title.
September 9 Nolan Ryan strikes out 16 to pass 4,500 for his career as the Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants 4–2. Ryan strikes out 12 of the final 13 batters and fans Mike Aldrete to complete the seventh inning for his 4,500th strikeout.
September 14 In the midst of the Toronto Blue Jays’ 18–3 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles at Exhibition Stadium, Cal Ripken Jr. is lifted from the lineup and replaced by Ron Washington, stopping Ripken’s consecutive innings played streak at 8,243. In this same game, Toronto hit ten home runs to set a Major League single-game record. Ernie Whitt connects on three of the home runs, Rance Mulliniks and George Bell two each, and Fred McGriff, Lloyd Moseby and Rob Ducey one each.
September 21 Darryl Strawberry steals his 30th base of the season to join the 30–30 club. With teammate Howard Johnson already having joined, it marks the first time that two teammates achieve 30–30 seasons in the same year.
September 22 Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox reaches the 200-hit mark for the fifth straight season in an 8–5 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
September 22 A 24-day players’ strike was called in the NFL after Week 2. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled, reducing the 16-game season to 15, but the games for Weeks 4, 5 and 6 were played with replacement players. The NFLPA actually ended the strike before the Week 6 slate of games, but the NFL owners’ unanimously nixed their return that week because the union had missed an owner-mandated deadline that week to be eligible to return, and would have to wait until Week 7 to resume playing.
September 25 – September 27 The 27th Ryder Cup Matches were held at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The European team won their second consecutive competition by a score of 15 to 13 points in probably the most historic Ryder Cup. After an unbeaten record of 13–0 spanning sixty years, the U.S. team lost for the first time on home soil. Europe took a lead of 5 points into the Sunday singles matches, but the U.S. fought back strongly to narrow the deficit. Eamonn Darcy, who previously had a very poor Ryder Cup record, defeated Ben Crenshaw at the last hole to get Europe to 13 points. Crenshaw had broken his putter in a moment of frustration after the sixth hole and putted with his 1 iron for the last dozen holes. Bernhard Langer then halved his match with Larry Nelson and when Seve Ballesteros defeated Curtis Strange 2 & 1 to total 141/2 points, the European victory was secured. This was the last Ryder Cup in which the U.S. team did not employ captain’s selections. Europe used captain’s picks in 1979, 1981, 1985, and this year. Muirfield Village, founded and designed by U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus, has hosted the Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour since 1976. The 2013 Presidents Cup was held at the same course.
October 17 – October 25 The 1987 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) 1987 season. The 84th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Minnesota Twins and the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Twins defeated the Cardinals four games to three to win the Series, their first in Minnesota and the first since last winning as the Washington Senators in 1924. Twins pitcher Frank Viola was named as the 1987 World Series MVP. This was the first World Series to feature games played indoors, and the first in which the home team won every game; this happened again in 1991 (also a Twins championship, over the Atlanta Braves) and in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks defeating the New York Yankees. This was the third of four World Series played entirely on artificial turf, with the others in 1980, 1985, and 1993. This is the first World Series in which the series logo appeared on the jerseys; only the Cardinals wore it. Both contestants in the following year’s World Series wore a patch.
October 31 After playing just three games for the Rams during the strike-shortened 1987 NFL season, Eric Dickerson was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in one of the NFL’s biggest trades ever at that time. In a three-team deal, the Colts traded linebacker Cornelius Bennett, whom they drafted but were unable to sign to a contract, to the Buffalo Bills for their first-round pick in 1988, first- and second-round picks in 1989, and running back Greg Bell. The Colts in turn traded Bell and the three draft choices from Buffalo plus their own first- and second-round picks in 1988, their second-round pick in 1989, and running back Owen Gill to the Rams for Dickerson. With the picks the Rams took running back Gaston Green, wide receiver Aaron Cox, linebacker Fred Strickland, running back Cleveland Gary, linebacker Frank Stams, and defensive back Darryl Henley. The trade reunited Dickerson with Ron Meyer, who had left SMU after Dickerson’s junior season to take the head coaching position in New England and who was hired by the Colts in 1986 following Rod Dowhower’s firing.
November 30 Raiders/Seahawks game marked the memorable Monday Night Football debut of Bo Jackson, with his 91-yard touchdown run. Prior to that, he ran over Seahawks linebacker Brian Bosworth for another score.
January 2, 1988 The 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its second national championship of the 1980s in an Orange Bowl game featuring a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between the top ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the Hurricanes. Miami’s first three games were against ranked opponents in what was labeled a rebuilding year. After some late game theatrics by Michael Irvin against rival Florida State, the Hurricanes were 3–0, the national media started to take notice. Oklahoma was also seen as quite the juggernaut, averaging 428.8 yards rushing per game with their potent wishbone offense. Miami was able to hold Oklahoma to just 179 yards on the ground, winning the game 20–14. Also having notable seasons were Syracuse, LSU and Florida State. Syracuse finished the season 11–0–1 and ranked No. 4 after a controversial Sugar Bowl game in which Auburn kicked a late field goal to end the game in a tie. LSU went 10–1–1, ending the season ranked No. 5. This was LSU’s first ten-win season in 26 years and their highest ranking since 1961. Florida State finished ranked No. 2, their only loss to Miami, and began a streak of 14 years where FSU finished in the top 5. The Seminoles beat Rose Bowl champion Michigan State and SEC champion Auburn on the road and beat Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl. This would be the first of two years SMU would not field a team due to the NCAA’s death penalty.
January 31, 1988 Super Bowl XXII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1987 season. The Redskins defeated the Broncos by the score of 42–10, winning their second Super Bowl. The game was played at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California, which was the first time that the Super Bowl was played there. It was the second consecutive Super Bowl loss for the Broncos, who had lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl the year before.
SCREEN TIME WITH SAM 