This week in History.....June 17, 1994

This week in.....1994 - ESPN put together their best 30/30 film last week when they showed "June 17th 1994," an hour long movie taking you back to the events of that day 16 years ago. It was probobly the biggest news day in the history of sports. At least in my lifetime it is. 6/17/94 had it all. Five different stories that all would have been top page news on an ordinary day. But this was no ordinary day. This was history, and ESPN did a great job of putting together a documentary that took you from the morning hours and the jovial mood in New York to a near tragedy in Los Angeles in the evening.
At 10 a.m., hockey fans in New York were rejoicing after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup a few days earlier for the first time in 54 years. The parade down the canyon of heroes had New York fans glowing, especially since the Knicks were two wins away from giving the city a second parade in a week. At that point, New Yorkers already knew it would be a big day - A Stanley Cup parade in the morning downtown, and Game Five of the Knicks-Rockets NBA FInals series at Madison Square Garden that evening.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, former NFL runningback O.J. Simpson was named the top suspect in the killing of his wife Nicole and friend Ronald Goldman. He was scheduled to turn himself in, but never showed up when they expected him at 11 a.m. At his lawyer Robert Shapiro's news conference, OJ's friend Robert Kardashian came to the podium to read a suicide note OJ had prepared earlier in the day. The situation was real life drama, in effect, it was the beginning of true reality television.
We all know about the Bronco chase that ended at OJ's house that evening. It was clearly the story of the day. Bob Costas and other NBC sports figures were clearly more interested in watching the chase than covering Game Five of the NBA Finals, which occurred at the same time.
But this day's significance was prevelant outside of just New York and L.A. The United States hosted the World Cup in 1994 and the opening ceremony ocurred at noon that day at Soldier Field in Chicago. Being a nine year old, that is all I remember from that day. I remember it was hot and my father telling me the German team would have a hard time competing in the 100 degree weather.
At the U.S. Open that day, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer competed at his final major. Palmer deserved a great deal of publicity for the final event of his great career, but other events of the day obviously overshadowed him.
In Kansas City, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 30th home run of the year, making himself the fastest to 30 in a season in MLB history. Griffey would not be given the chance to brake Roger Maris' record of 61 in a season due to a player's strike in August that cancelled the rest of the season.
One day, six gigantic stories. But only one of them was a history changer. Something that we will never forget. The event that spearheaded the trial of the century and changed sports and television coverage of live trials forever.