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Archive for October, 2012

Classic Sports Card of The Day

10 Oct

1976 Topps football card of former NFL quarterback James Harris, who was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1969, then won the team’s starting QB job, becoming the first African American to start a season as his team’s quarterback. Ironically, Marlin Briscoe had become pro football’s first black QB to start a game the previous year, in 1968 with Denver, but he was traded to the Bills in ’69 and switched to wide receiver, where he wound up catching some of Harris’ passes. Most of Harris’ success as a player came after he signed with the Los Angeles Rams, playing for them from 1973 until 1976 and guiding them to 2 consecutive NFC West titles and a conference title game appearance. Since retiring as a player, Harris has served as an executive in the front offices of 3 different NFL teams, currently working for the Detroit Lions.

 

 

NFL – Bills’ Game Review

07 Oct

Due to computer problems, I haven’t been able to review the last 2 Bills’ games. Those games included a heartening and much-needed road win over the Cleveland Browns and an epic second half collapse against New England in which they gave up 45 points and wound up on the wrong end of a 52-28 final score, after blowing a 21-7 lead. I have to believe most Bills’ fans figured it couldn’t get any worse than that effort, but Sunday in San Francisco, amazingly, it did. For the second straight week, the Bills were victimized on defense by a quarterback throwing for 300+ yards, 2 running backs rushing for over 100 yards, and 2 receivers with 100+ receiving yards. It’s the first time this has ever happened in the NFL, yes, the first time ever. Which makes the demoralizing 45-3 loss to the 49ers not only negatively epic but a failure of historic proportions. This is a defense that is supposed to put the club in position to contend for the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. The unit has 3 high-profile free agents in Mario Williams, Mark Anderson and Nick Barnett. There are 2 high first round draft picks in Marcell Dareus and Stephon Gilmore, and other high picks in Jairus Byrd, Aaron Williams, Alex Carrington and Kelvin Sheppard, plus a returning Pro Bowler in Kyle Williams. It is now being “coordinated”, allegedly, by a guy who once guided a Super Bowl-winning defense in Dave Wannstedt. So why are they suddenly the worst defense the franchise has fielded in its’ history? They have been put in some tough spots by turnovers, mostly terrible Ryan Fitzpatrick passes, but in their opener against the Jets, in the second half against the Patriots and for most of the San Francisco game, they have tackled poorly, not pressured the opposing quarterback at all, not stopped or even slowed down the other teams’ running game, and have been blowing coverages all over the field. The team decided to stay out west for the week since they play at Arizona next Sunday, and that may be a good thing. They’ll avoid having to hear how awful they are all week, and maybe can focus and do something to get on the same page and salvage something out of this season.

The offense should use the extra time to try and get Fitzpatrick and his receivers on the same page also. Fitzpatrick has been a turnover machine this year, and one of the most disheartening things about the first 5 games is the number of times he’s been intercepted due to underthrowing wide open receivers, and overthrowing wide open receivers. The Bills so far have laid 3 gigantic eggs in 5 games this year, and the types of losses they’ve had are ones that get coaching staffs and front offices cleaned out completely. They certainly aren’t selling any tickets for all those December home games they have on the schedule with the efforts they’ve put forth so far.

 
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Classic Team Logo of The Day

07 Oct

Logo of the Brooklyn Tigers, a football franchise that played one season in the National Football League, 1944. The team played as the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1930 until 1943, changed their name to the Tigers for the ’44 season, then merged with the Boston Yanks in 1945. The fact that they were winless, with an 0-10 record, in their lone season as the Tigers probably explains why the franchise didn’t survive. They had 3 different coaches during that season, and their best player was undoubtedly Hall of Famer Bruiser Kinard.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

07 Oct

1959 Topps football card of one of the all time legendary quarterbacks in NFL history, John Unitas. Until Sunday night, he held an NFL record said to be the football equivalent of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in baseball – throwing at least one touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games. Drew Brees, who broke Dan Marino’s single season passing yardage mark last season, tossed a TD pass in his 48th straight game to pass Unitas. “Johnny U” was rescued from the scrap heap, after being cut by the Steelers, by the Baltimore Colts, and he rewarded them with a 17 year career (of the 19 years he played altogether) that included 3 world championships, 3 league MVP awards and 10 selections to the Pro Bowl. Unitas was named to the NFL’s All Decade team for the 1960s, the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All Time team, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. He was always recognizable with his flat-top haircut and black high-top shoes, and his penchant for keeping drives alive with pinpoint passes and leading clutch fourth quarter comebacks made him the prototype for today’s signal callers, even though he played in an era dominated by a “three yards and a cloud of dust” conservative mentality. Unitas passed away of a heart attack in 2002.