ON THIS DAY IN 1988, the Edmonton Oilers were winning too many hockey games and making everyone look bad, so they levelled out the playing field by exiling Wayne Gretzky to the desert wastelands of Los Angeles. Wayne wasn’t thrilled about moving to beachfront property. There was crying. There was shouting. When Wayne began tearing up at a press conference, his agent tried to pacify the Great One with promises of putting him on the cover of Sports Illustrated with Magic Johnson. Heck, even Marty McSorley threatened to start an acting career. That was when L.A. Kings owner Bruce McNall whispered into Wayne’s ear, “If I put your face on a cereal box, will you stop sulking like a fucking child?!” The snotty-nosed Gretzky bobbed his head and the deal was made.
