It's the 30th anniversary of June 17, 1994

[TMC]

https://www.cbssports.com/general/ne...son-car-chase/

By Austin Nivison

Thirty years ago from this date was one of the most memorable and infamous days in sports history. There were moments of great celebration that featured iconic sports figures, but they were all overshadowed by the late O.J. Simpson and his white Ford Bronco.

Friday, June 17, 1994, was packed with notable sports moments, beginning with Arnold Palmer teeing up his final U.S. Open round and ending with Los Angeles police bringing Simpson into custody following a two-hour low-speed car pursuit.

In between, New York City had championship fever, the first World Cup on U.S. soil began, and Ken Griffey Jr. pulled off a feat only previously accomplished by Babe Ruth. The through line for all those events was the dark discussion about murder charges being filed against Simpson, a former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL MVP who had parlayed his gridiron accomplishments into success as an actor, football analyst and commercial pitchman.

Let's take a look back at perhaps the most unforgettable day in American sports history. All times Eastern.

[Dead2009]

I mean with the man no longer amongst the living, I doubt we'll remember this in 30 years.

[TMC]

June 17, 1994. You’ve probably heard about it. Maybe you watched the 30 for 30. It is positioned as one of the wildest days in sports history, if not the wildest.

In reality, it was one wild day in a series of 64 wild days where records fell, streaks were ended, Davids emerged victorious over Goliaths, tragedies shocked the world and just about everyone was fighting everyone.

So much was happening at home and abroad that it was impossible to keep track of. That stretch between April 24th, 1994, and the Houston Rockets hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy on June 22nd was unlike anything that had happened before or since in sports.

Yet all of these moments have sort of been siloed. The Rangers winning the Stanley Cup is over here. The Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon's block is over to this side. Then you have the San Jose Sharks and Denver Nuggets history-making playoff runs. A no-hitter, sure, why not? A legendary World Cup victory, you say. Brian Lara did what now? How many points did David Robinson score? Is an owner attacking fans?

By the end, though, the great spring in sports ended up being usurped by Norm McDonald’s favorite joke subject…O.J. Simpson.

This, though, is a moment in time that deserves to be recognized and celebrated. Not just one day or one event. But all of it. This is the story of the wildest 64 days in sports history.

As April progresses, the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. All eyes are on the New York Rangers, who are on the President’s trophy and are looking to end the team’s 54-year Stanley Cup drought. 1994 was also the first year the NHL used a conference-based playoff structure, seeded 1 through 8, as opposed to the divisional model used in most of the 1980s, or before that, the 1-16 alignment.

By June 1994, Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller was shouting at Karl Malone and attacking fans during a playoff series. Dennis Rodman spent an entire game trying to get himself ejected. The NHL playoffs were pure chaos from the moment the puck dropped to Mark Messier raising the Stanley Cup. Not to mention all the other one-off things happening across those 64 games from Brian Lara to John Andretti.

To truly appreciate all that happened, the context must be explained. This wasn’t one day, two days or three days. For 64 days in 1994, the sporting world moved at a pace never seen before or since.