March 6: ‘That’s the way it is’

March 6 — OTD in GenX history, a final sign-off, and words of wisdom from “the Big Aristotle” …

Shaquille O’Neal (1972) turns 49 today. Always a tall order — both of his parents were over 6 feet — he gravitated to the basketball courts at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark, N.J., which he credits for keeping him off the streets as a youth. Shaq was 6-foot-10 by the time he was 16 and went to LSU on — wait for it — a basketball scholarship. At 7-foot-1 and 300-plus pounds, he was drafted by Orlando in 1992 and powered his way to Rookie of the Year before guiding the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals. It wasn’t until he signed with the Lakers that he’d finally get fitted for a ring, teaming with Kobe Bryant for titles from 2000 to ’02. While internal tensions with Bryant led to their breakup, one needed no more than to see the tears that rolled down Shaq’s face as he recalled that period following Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash in January 2020. Shaq, a media darling who once dubbed himself “The Big Aristotle,” was a font of fun, sometimes-headscratching quotes: “Our offense is like the Pythagorean Theorem. There is no answer!”

D.L. Hughley (1963), who turns 58 today, knows something about humor. Darryl Lynn Hughley was raised in South Central, where he joined the Bloods before turning away from gang violence and toward comedy. He performed with “The Original Kings of Comedy” in 2000 and hosted a comedic-news show on CNN in 2008, as well as a host of other comic roles, including the “Scary Movie” franchise.

John Stossel (1947), who turns 74, knows the news. He began his career as a researcher and went on to spend his career as an investigative journalist and consumer reporter, coursing through ABC, “Good Morning America,” “20/20,” and Fox Business Channel among others. He’s won 19 Emmy Awards for his reporting.

Rob Reiner (1947), 74, knows performances. Reiner began his career as a “Meathead,” that being Michael Stivic on “All in the Family” (1971–79) before directing a succession of classic films. He debuted with “This is Spinal Tap” (1984) and went on to “Stand By Me” (1986), “The Princess Bride” (1987), “When Harry Met Sally …” (1989), “A Few Good Men” (1992), and more. He’s the son of entertainment legend Carl Reiner, who passed away last June.

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Many of our parents had to turn to new sources for news when “the most trusted man in America,” Walter Cronkite, retired OTD in 1981. He anchored “The CBS Evening News” beginning in 1962 and earned that elite reputation when reporting the assassination of John F. Kennedy the following year.

The USFL kicked off OTD in 1983, giving football junkies a spring alternative to the fall-based NFL. It was the first of three relatively successful seasons for the nascent league. Its death knell came when new New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump convinced owners to move to the fall in 1986 to take on the NFL head-to-head. … Hijinks ensued.