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Archive for November, 2011

Classic Team Logo of The Day

23 Nov

Logo of another great college football powerhouse, the University of  Texas Longhorns. The program is one of the winningest in college football history, boasting 4 national championships, 49 bowl game appearances, 105 winning seasons out of 117 seasons of play, 129 All American players, and 2 Heisman Trophy winners – running backs Earl Campbell and Rickey Williams. Some other great players in Longhorn history include Bobby Layne, Tommy Nobis, Colt McCoy, Vince Young and Brian Orakpo.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

23 Nov

1987 Topps football card of former San Francisco 49ers’ receiver Dwight Clark, who played 9 seasons with the team and was a part of 2 Super Bowl-winning teams in the Bill Walsh/Joe Montana era. He was a two-time Pro Bowler, and is best known for making “The Catch”, a leaping end zone grab of a desperation Montana pass for a touchdown against Dallas that propelled the Niners into the Super Bowl. Clark worked as an executive in the front office of both the 49ers and Cleveland Browns after his playing days ended.

 

NFL – Bills’ Game Review

21 Nov

The Buffalo Bills’ game against Miami on Sunday, a resounding 35-8 Dolphin win, followed pretty much the same script as last week’s blowout loss in Dallas, as the team looked horrible again and was outcoached and outplayed in every phase of the game. For three straight weeks now, the team has looked not ready to play, and instead of finding answers it has gotten progressively worse in each loss. When a team isn’t physically or mentally ready to play, the result is their opponent winds up steamrolling them, and worse, these types of games become dangerous as the unprepared players getting physically whipped all day long start getting carted off with injuries. That’s exactly what happened to the Bills for the second week in a row. In the last 2 weeks it was Eric Wood, George Wilson and even kicker Rian Lindell, who hurt his shoulder making a tackle on a kick return because the rest of his kick coverage teammates were asleep. This week, Terrence McGee, Donald Jones, David Nelson and Fred Jackson all got hurt, with McGee and Jones probably now lost for the season. The Bills have been a great story early in the year, but the losses of Wood on the offensive line and Kyle Williams on the defensive front have effectively removed the aggressiveness from both units.

On offense, the Bills seemed to have a good plan on the opening drive, using screen passes to break big gains and slow down Miami’s aggressive pass rush. It might have been a good day for them, except that for the second week in a row, the defense couldn’t stop anything. In ending last week’s post reviewing the Bills’ loss to the Cowboys, I stated that if the Bills’ couldn’t find some answers to improve their defense, they would wind up making Matt Moore look like the second coming of Dan Marino. Moore wears jersey # 8, but he may as well have worn 13 on Sunday. The Fish scored touchdowns on their first 4 possessions. When that happens, the other team’s offense, in this case the Bills, is inevitably going to look bad trying to keep up. Granted, the offense didn’t help matters by turning the ball over and putting the D in bad spots, but on a supposed playoff team, shouldn’t the defense be expected to make a stand at some point when things are going bad? The Bills’ defense isn’t terrible, in fact they swarm to the ball, hustle and try hard on first and second downs throughout every game. Then on third down, they become clueless, passive and robotic and will continually give up first downs. It’s gotten to the point where Bills’ fans have that feeling on third down that they’ve had in the team’s worst losing seasons. If it’s third and one, they’ll surrender the yard. If it’s third and 3, they’ll give up 5, if it’s third and 12, they’ll allow a receiver to run a 15 yard pattern unchallenged and give up the first down. On the flip side, for this particular game, the Bills’ offense had ZERO third down conversions. ZERO. Not against the 1970s Steel Curtain defense, against the 2-7 Dolphins. This is a team that clearly has lost all of whatever momentum they had early in the year. They are 10 games into the season, and have now regressed on offense, defense and special teams. A missed blocking assignment on a punt that causes a blocked kick? In week 10? That’s just unacceptable. Going into next week’s game against the Jets, the coaching staff has to realize that at this point there are no more rookies or “young” players. They need to find some playmakers somewhere on the roster in a hurry, especially among the defensive players.

 
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Classic Team Logo of The Day

21 Nov

This is an “alternate” logo of a college football program that is one of the most storied in the country, Notre Dame. The logo was used from 1963 until 1972, when the Fighting Irish were coached by the legendary Ara Parseghian. They won one of the 11 national championships the school has claimed in its’ history during this time frame, in 1966, when they finished 9-0-1, with the tie coming in a game against Michigan State that ended 10-10 and has been called “the game of the century”. Some notable players from this era are Terry Hanratty, Jack Snow, Nick Eddy, Jim Lynch, Walt Patulski, Joe Theismann and 1964 Heisman Trophy winner John Huarte.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

21 Nov

1984 Topps football card of former placekicker Scott Norwood, who played for the United States Football League’s Birmingham Stallions at the time this card was released. Norwood joined the NFL’s Buffalo Bills after the USFL folded and was a major factor in the Bills’ resurgence as a winning team in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Norwood is mostly remembered for his 47 yard “wide right” miss at the end of Super Bowl XXV, but he was a consistent placekicker for the Bills for seven years, and was even an All Pro selection for the 1988 season.

 

NFL – Week Eleven Predictions

16 Nov

 Week ten was by far the worst so far for me in picking games, as I got only 6 correct and 10 wrong. The overall record for the year now stands at a still respectable 93-53, and here are my choices for week eleven:

New York Jets at Denver – this week’s featured Thursday night game. The Jets have to follow up a crushing division loss to New England with a short week, cross country road trip to a tough location to play in. I can’t imagine Denver beating the Jets, however, using an offense in which Tim Tebow completes only 2 passes, as the Broncos did last week. The Jets will struggle, but they’ll win a low-scoring defensive battle.

Buffalo at Miami – these 2 teams are going in opposite directions, as the Fish have won 2 in a row while Buffalo has lost 2 in a row and not played well in either. Miami’s wins, however, have been against teams the Bills have beaten easily also. The Bills will regroup and win a game they have to win to keep their season from completely collapsing.

Cincinnati at Baltimore – the Ravens may be the most disappointing team in the league right now. They’ve beaten the Steelers twice, then lost to Seattle last week. I think they’ll use the rage from the Seattle upset to take down the young Bengals at home in a defensive struggle.

Jacksonville at Cleveland – a game that should turn out to be another typical field goal fest, which every Browns’ game seems to turn out to be. I’ll go with the Jaguars, who have a better defense and running game.

Carolina at Detroit – the Lions need to win this game to turn their momentum back around, but they could get caught looking ahead to the big Thanksgiving matchup with Green Bay. Detroit’s defense will contain Cam Newton enough to pull out a win that winds up a closer game than it should be.

Tampa Bay at Green Bay – the Pack is a juggernaut at this point, especially at home. They’ll beat the Bucs handily.

Oakland at Minnesota – Carson Palmer is starting to find his way with the Raider offense, and they need to keep winning to stay in the NFC West race. A close win for Oakland on the road.

Dallas at Washington – the Cowboys are rolling, while the Redskins are the worst offensive team in the NFL at this point. Dallas will win, but because it’s a division rivalry game, it will be fairly close.

Arizona at San Francisco – the Niners pretty much already have the NFC West title wrapped up, but they don’t appear to be the type of team to rest on their laurels. San Francisco wins at home.

Seattle at St.Louis – Seattle is an enigma, beating teams they have no business beating and looking horrible in their losses. The Rams are dangerous at home, and I’ll pick them to win here.

Tennessee at Atlanta – the Titans have had their moments this year, but this won’t be one of them. The Falcons will be highly motivated after a tough division loss to the Saints last week, and will win easily.

San Diego at Chicago – the Bears are peaking at the right time, while the Chargers are the AFC’s biggest underachievers. Chicago’s defense keys an easy win at home.

Philadelphia at New York Giants – the Eagles are the NFC’s version of San Diego, underachieving and certainly far from a “Dream Team”. Mike Vick has broken ribs and even if he plays, his effectiveness has to be limited. I’ll pick the Giants to win at home.

Kansas City at New England – the Patriots just don’t lose to teams they should beat. They’ll methodically dismantle the Chiefs and win easily.

 
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Classic Team Logo of The Day

16 Nov

 An “alternate” logo of the Denver Broncos football team from their early years in the American Football League. This logo was used on the players’ helmets from 1962 until 1965. The Broncos are one of pro football’s most stable franchises today, but struggled in the AFL days. In fact, they were the only original AFL team to have a losing record all 10 seasons of the league’s existence, and the only team among the league’s original franchises to never play for an AFL title. Some notable players from the era when this logo was on the helmets include Frank Tripucka, Lionel Taylor and Austin “Goose” Gonsoulin, all members of the team’s Ring Of Fame.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

16 Nov

1961 Topps football card of former Oakland Raider quarterback Tom Flores, one of the early stars of the American Football League. He is one of only 20 players who lasted the entire 10 year existence of the AFL, as he also served as a backup QB in Buffalo and Kansas City. Flores is also one of the most underrated head coaches of all time, as he won a pair of Super Bowls while coaching the Raiders in the 1980s, where he became the first Hispanic head coach to win a championship. He and Mike Ditka are the only 2 people in NFL history to win Super Bowls as a player, assistant coach and head coach. He currently works as a commentator on the Raiders’ radio broadcasts.

 

NHL – No Suspension For Lucic?

15 Nov

Boston Bruin Milan Lucic

 

The National Hockey League, supposedly, has made a concerted effort to legislate hits to the head, and unnessary violent hits, out of the game in order to protect the players from serious injury. They appointed a new director of player discipline, former player Brendan Shanahan, who hit the ground running in his new job by levying fines and suspensions in the preseason and early season, with each accompanied by a video explaining why. Shanahan has been unforgiving in his enforcement, and has gained major support around the NHL for being tough on “goons”. Two exceptions to the crackdown are former employees of the Boston Bruins, Hockey Night In Canada analyst Don Cherry and NBC analyst and resident neanderthal Mike Milbury, who accused Shanahan of trying to turn the game into “touch football”. Milbury’s schtick to draw attention to himself as an analyst is to put on a macho act, making fun of players who wear protective face shields and even helmets.

So recently, there was an incident in Boston where Lucic leveled Buffalo Sabres’ goalie Ryan Miller with a vicious check after both skated toward a loose puck in the Sabres’ zone. Miller is now out indefinitely with a concussion. It was announced on Monday by Shanahan that Lucic, who was penalized for charging on the play,  would not be suspended for the hit. Buffalo management, of course, was incensed by the decision, with coach Lindy Ruff saying that Shanahan has now declared open season on goaltenders, an assessment I totally agree with. In fact, Jhonas Enroth, playing in place of Miller, was crashed into by a Montreal player in the team’s very next game. At the very least, Shanahan has virtually guaranteed that the next meeting between the Sabres and Bruins will be a total bloodbath. It’s disappointing to me that the reaction to the play around the league was amazement that no Sabre got “revenge” on the Bruins by going after Lucic or running Boston goalie Tim Thomas in the game, rather than villifying Lucic for the hit. Sabre tough guy Patrick Kaleta has been one of Shanahan’s suspension victims this year, for “multiple” hits to the head and because he is a repeat offender, which apparently makes you open to closer scrutiny under his rule. Lucic, by the way, was fined in 2010 for punching an Atlanta Thrasher player who was being restrained by a referee during a scrum and for making an obscene gesture toward the Atlanta bench after the incident. He was also fined and suspended during the playoffs last year for a hit to the head on a Montreal player. But in this case, Shanahan calls Lucic to his office to “explain” his hit on Miller and says he’s satisfied with the answers Lucic gave him that he had no intent to injure. Did he really expect the Bruin goon to say he deliberately tried to hurt Miller? That’s like trying a murder suspect in court and taking the suspect’s word that he didn’t do it and not hearing the prosecution’s evidence against him. It’s ludicrous for Shanahan to come down hard on all these other players so far in his new job, then relent to the league’s cavemen and not suspend Lucic in this case. Shanahan has already criticized Sabres’ management statements that it’s now open season on goalies, claiming that won’t be the case, but it’s a virtual certainty that the goons around the league are now going to test the league’s new player discipline czar.  

 
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Posted in Hockey

 

Classic Team Logo of The Day

15 Nov

Logo of a Canadian junior hockey team that plays in the Ontario Hockey League, the Sudbury Wolves. The Wolves have been around since 1962, and a member of the OHL  since 1972. The club has never won a Memorial Cup, signifying the country’s junior championship, but has sent 77 players to the NHL, including Randy Carlyle, Pat Verbeek, Mike Foligno, Ron Duguay and Marc Staal.