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Archive for December, 2013

Classic Sports Card of The Day

08 Dec

62fleerrabb

1962 Fleer football card of former pro quarterback Warren Rabb. It’s an “error” card in that his name is misspelled. Rabb had a brief career starting with the Detroit Lions in 1960. He moved to the American Football League the next season, quarterbacking the Buffalo Bills for 10 games over 2 seasons before turning the starting job over to Jack Kemp. He finished his playing days in the Canadian League with Montreal in 1963. Rabb led his college team, the LSU Tigers, to the national championship in 1958.

 

NFL – Throwback Thursday: The “Heidi” Game

05 Dec

Two old American Football League rivals, the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders, hook up on this week’s NFL schedule, and that makes this week’s Thursday Throwback feature an easy choice. It was a game played between these 2 teams on November 17, 1968 that turned into one of the most famous games in pro football history, that affectionately became known as “The Heidi Game”. The reason for the moniker is that the game had an unbelievable ending, but that ending was missed by the nation’s television viewers because network executives made the dubious decision to switch over to the network movie – Heidi – at it’s scheduled time of 7 PM, even though the game hadn’t ended yet. The Joe Namath-led Jets held a 32-29 lead when the game was pre-empted, and the entire East coast audience missed the ending, as the Raiders rallied to score 2 touchdowns to pull out a 43-32 win. It was an exciting game, as expected, between a pair of AFL powerhouses. After the Jets went ahead, Oakland’s Daryle Lamonica completed an apparent TD pass to Charlie Smith that was called back due to a penalty, prompting Jet defensive back Johnny Sample to taunt Lamonica, saying “Nice try, Lamonica, better luck next year.” However, the “Mad Bomber” was far from finished, as he led a drive down the field culminating in a 43 yard scoring pass to Smith to give Oakland a 36-32 lead. The Jets then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Raider special teamer Preston Ridlehuber scooped it up and ran it into the end zone to up Oakland’s lead to 43- 32 and secure the victory.

 

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Joe Namath in action in the “Heidi” game

The decision to pre-empt the game was a public relations nightmare for NBC. The network switchboard was overwhelmed by calls from irate football fans after Heidi started, and the next day, national newscasters made a major story of the blunder. NBC’s Huntley – Brinkley Report aired the missed final minute of the game, complete with Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis’ play by play. CBS’ Harry Reasoner playfully announced the “result” of the game: “Heidi married the goat-herder.” In 2005, TV Guide named the game one of television’s most unexpected moments, and Jennifer Edwards, the movie’s star, in an interview, commented: “My gravestone is going to say, “she was a great moment in sports”. One positive thing did come out of the gaffe, however. At the time, the AFL was still considered the “ugly step-child” of pro football, an inferior product to the established NFL. The uproar caused by the “Heidi” incident opened some eyes as to just how popular the AFL had grown among the sports viewing public. A lot of the Throwback Thursday features I’ve posted this year have interesting follow-up stories, and this one was no exception. Even though they lost a heartbreaker on this day, Namath’s Jets got their revenge in the AFL championship game, as they beat the Raiders 27-23 to win the AFL title and earn a trip to the Super Bowl against the mighty Baltimore Colts, where they pulled off possibly the biggest upset in pro football history  by trouncing the Colts. After the AFL champs had been soundly beaten in the first 2 Super Bowls by Green Bay, Namath and the Jets made history in a game one sportswriter called “the day the AFL came of age.”

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Heidi movie poster

 

Classic Team Logo of The Day

05 Dec

saskRR6084

Logo of the recently crowned Canadian Football League champion Saskatchewan Roughriders, who won this year’s Grey Cup by defeating the Hamilton Tiger Cats. This logo was used between 1960 and 1984, an era that included the franchise’s first Grey Cup title, in 1966. That team was led by a CFL legend, quarterback Ron Lancaster. The club has won four Cups in its’ history and has had 20 players inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

05 Dec

69toppslamonica

1969 Topps football card of former pro quarterback Daryle Lamonica, who played 12 seasons in the AFL and NFL. Known as “The Mad Bomber”, he started his career in Buffalo, where he spent four years backing up Jack Kemp. He was traded to Oakland prior to the 1967 season, in one of the worst trades in Bills’ history, and wound up taking over as the Raiders’ starter. He led them to the Super Bowl in his first year there, and remained the team’s starting signal caller for eight years, winning the AFL MVP Award twice, in ’67 and 1969.

 

NFL – Bills’ Game Review

02 Dec

The Buffalo Bills entered their annual “home” game in Toronto on Sunday with faint playoff hopes, and came out like gangbusters to start the game as they took an early 14-0 lead over the struggling Atlanta Falcons. By the time the game ended, the Bills found themselves on the losing end of the score, 34-31, in overtime. The loss may not have officially ended Buffalo’s playoff hopes, but one thing is certain after this performance – the Bills are NOT a playoff team. Atlanta, a team that played for the NFC championship last year, has totally imploded this year, going into the matchup in Toronto with a 2-9 record. The Bills, as they are apt to be, turned out to be the cure for what ailed the Falcons. The Bills had a chance to put Atlanta away early, but instead of doing that, their defense, dominant on the first two series of the game, relaxed, allowed two drives that included multiple big plays and turned what looked like a rout into a 17-17 tie at halftime. Buffalo has been a maddening team, not just this year, but over the past several seasons, in that they put together good performances, then cave in at some point and find a way to lose. EJ Manuel had a decent game. He is beginning to show some consistency – he makes good decisions, doesn’t turn the ball over, shows poise and makes plays when called on to do it. He did it twice at the end of the game, driving the team into field goal position before Stevie Johnson fumbled it away at the end of regulation, and then again in overtime, when he seemed well on his way to driving the team into a position to score before Scott Chandler put the ball on the ground to set up the Falcons for the winning points. C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson both had stellar games, and the defense sacked Matt Ryan six times, and got a fumble recovery from Kiko Alonso. In the end, however, Buffalo showed that they just do not know how to close out games. Coach Doug Marrone, again, was emotional afterwards and looking for reasons why his team just handed an opponent another victory. Watching his post-game press conference, I can’t help but think how much he’s starting to resemble Chan Gailey, and Dick Jauron before him, and Mike Mularkey before him, etc. etc. reciting the same script over and over again after tough losses. It’s only his first season, but I’m still on the fence about the new coach. On the one hand, he looks like a college coach overwhelmed by the pro game and unable to correct what ails his team. On the other hand, it’s probably unfair to compare him to guys like Gailey and Jauron, since he at least has a pulse.

The Bills now have to use what’s left of another lost season to sort out what players they can move forward with next year and beyond. They have clearly found gems in some of the younger prospects playing major roles this year, especially Manuel. But they’ll also have to clear out more of the veteran players who contribute to the losing culture that still remains. Another game played Sunday was between Indianapolis and Tennessee, a big AFC South matchup with playoff implications. With the game on the line, Colt QB Andrew Luck threw an ill-advised pass into the arms of a Titan defender, which he promptly dropped. It was a game-changing play that didn’t get made. The Titan player who dropped the ball was former Bill safety George Wilson, and I was reminded of how many times he did the same thing in Buffalo. There are still some players on the Buffalo roster like Wilson, good guys who aren’t terrible players, but who make two mistakes for every good play they contribute. Until the roster is purged of guys like that, the Bills will continue to lose.

 
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Classic Team Logo of The Day

02 Dec

gatech6273

Logo of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, used from 1962 until 1973. They are a major college football program that plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team has won four national championships over the years. They’ve never had a Heisman Trophy winner, despite the fact that John Heisman, who the trophy is named after, once coached at the school. Also known as “The Ramblin’ Wreck”, the school has sent many players on to the NFL, including Maxie Baughan, Billy Shaw, Joe Guyon, Pat Swilling and current stars Calvin Johnson and Demaryius Thomas.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

02 Dec

89scoresuppreich

1989 Score Supplemental Series football card of former NFL quarterback Frank Reich. A career backup, he played for four different teams in the NFL, with his longest tenure coming in Buffalo where he backed up Hall of Famer Jim Kelly for 9 seasons. He holds the distinction of having led the greatest comeback victories in both college and pro football, with his shining moment in the NFL coming when he guided the Bills from a 35-3 third quarter deficit to an improbable 41-38 overtime win against the Houston Oilers in the playoffs. Reich is a devout Christian who gives motivational speeches and is involved in Athletes In Action. After retiring as a player, he got into coaching, and currently serves on the staff of the San Diego Chargers as quarterbacks coach.