Live sports remain one of the last uniting forces in the American zeitgeist, one of the only things that friends and families gather around the TV for and form a community around. Even though streaming services and YouTube have fractured viewing audiences and changed our habits, for the most part, people are still tuning in to watch events like the World Cup and NBA Finals live on a major network.
The World Cup feels inescapable this year, larger in scale than ever — more teams, more media coverage — but it’s reminding me of the last time the US hosted the tournament, back in 1994. Not because of what happened on the pitch, but because of what happened the day the tournament began, as we all gathered around the TV to tune in.
June 17 was the day of the 1994 World Cup opening ceremony. President Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey, arguably two of the most famous people in the world in 1994, were there. It was also the night of game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks (I hate to remind you, but the Knicks lost in seven). That day also saw Ken Griffey Jr. tie one of Babe Ruth’s home run records when the Seattle Mariners played the Kansas City Royals. And Arnold Palmer played his last-ever round at the US Open.
I wouldn’t remember most of this, except for the fact that one of my favorite documentaries in ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, simply titled June 17th, 1994, is an incredible reminder of just how huge that day was in sports history… and how it all got overshadowed by the O.J. Simpson car chase that interrupted all of that programming so we could watch one of the most riveting moments in pop culture unfold before our eyes.
