RSS
 

Archive for the ‘Feature Stories’ Category

MLB – The Five Most Controversial Pitchers of All Time

15 Sep

This particular “list” post was supposed to be the 5 most controversial major league baseball players of all time, but when I narrowed down the choices to 5, I realized they were all pitchers, hence the title change. I’ve always thought of catchers as the “characters” when it comes to baseball players (former Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey comes to mind) but it looks like the pitchers take the prize. Here’s my list:

1. Bo Belinsky – he was the first “star” for the fledgling Los Angeles Angels franchise when they began operations in 1962, and was a perfect fit for the Southern California scene. He won his first four decisions to start the year, including tossing a no-hitter in his fourth start. Unfortunately, he lost focus on his career and became a notorious womanizer with Hollywood connections, partying with celebrities like Eddie Fisher, Dean Martin and Henry Fonda while being linked romantically with Connie Stevens, Tina Louise, Ann-Margaret and Mamie Van Doren. He ended the ’62 season with a mediocre 10-11 record and flamed out quickly after that, kicking around the majors until 1970 but not accomplishing much.

 

2. Bill “Spaceman” Lee – the Spaceman was an effective left-handed pitcher who relied on changing speeds to be successful, and he was, as he forged a 14 year major league career. He played that career for only 2 teams, the Red Sox and Montreal Expos, which was amazing considering his propensity for constantly criticizing team management. He was known for espousing hippy counterculture ideas, speaking in defense of marijuana use, Maoist China, Greenpeace and school busing in Boston. In Boston, he feuded with his old school manager, Don Zimmer, and nicknamed Zimmer “The Gerbil”. To this day, Lee, now 65,  still pops up as a pitcher in various semi-pro leagues, and in August of this year tossed a complete game victory for the San Rafeal Pacifics, and used a home made bat to drive in the first run of the game.

 

3. Mark “Bird” Fidrych – like Belinsky, Fidrych stormed onto the scene in his rookie year, and became an overnight sensation and fan favorite with, like Lee, his eccentric behavior. Also like Belinsky, he flamed out quickly and was out of baseball after 5 seasons. He fascinated his fans in Detroit, known as “Bird Watchers”, with his antics on the mound, which included talking to himself, talking to the ball, aiming the ball like a dart, strutting around the mound after every out, and throwing back balls that “had hits in them,” insisting they be removed from the game. In 1977, Fidrych felt his arm “go dead” while pitching, and within a couple of years was out of the game. It wasn’t until 1985, after he’d been out of the game for 5 years, that it was discovered he’d had a torn rotator cuff injury. After baseball, he bought a farm and unfortunately, in 2009, was killed in an accident while working under a dump truck he owned when his clothes became entangled with a spinning power takeoff shaft on the truck.

 

4. Dock Ellis – Eliis was a successful starting pitcher for 12 seasons in the majors, and helped the Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series in 1971. He was a character and his career is littered with controversial incidents, the most famous of which occured on June 12, 1970, when he pitched a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD. He had taken the drug thinking he wasn’t scheduled to start that day, and his account of the game afterwards included these gems: he claimed his glove was telling him what pitches to throw, that at one point he was convinced that President Nixon was the home plate umpire, and that one batter he faced appeared to be Jimi Hendrix swinging a guitar across the plate. He also once showed up in the bullpen with curlers in his hair, and after giving up a legendary monster home run to Reggie Jackson in the All Star game, beaned Jackson in the face the next time he faced him in retaliation.

 

5. John Rocker – a left-handed closer, Rocker also flamed out quickly after a short time in the limelight. He really had only one successful season, when he had 38 saves for the Braves, then garnered 24 more the next year before being sent to the minors for threatening a reporter. He was a constant stream of controversial statements while he was in the headlines, mostly with statements that were racist, homophobic and/or sexist. While with the Braves, he was asked if he’d ever consider playing for the Yankees or Mets, and his answer was  a rant about New York City that went something like this: “I’d retire first. It’s the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the train to the ballpark looking like you’re riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It’s depressing… The biggest thing I don’t like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English.  Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?” His behavior may have been due to the fact that he was an admitted steroid user.

 
2 Comments

Posted in Baseball, Feature Stories

 

MLB – Five Most Memorable All Star Game Moments

10 Jul

The major league baseball All Star game is being played tonight, and the game is really a “Midsummer Classic”. Out of the four major league professional sports, baseball has the distinction of having its’ annual All Star game actually be a good representation of the way the sport is played in the regular season. The same thing can’t be said for the NHL, NBA and, after this past season’s 59-41 “flag football” exhibition in the Pro Bowl, certainly not the NFL. It got so bad in the NFL’s All Star game that commissioner Roger Goodell has threatened to just eliminate it in the future, a move the players are against.

Baseball’s All Star game has a long, historic tradition. For many years, the game was so popular that 2 All Star games were played each season. In recent years, it has become more than just an exhibition, since the league that wins gains more than just pride, they win home field advantage in the World Series for their representative. Here are my choices for the five most memorable MLB All Star game moments:

 

1. Carl Hubbell’s Impressive Pitching –  I normally only include entries on these lists of players I actually saw play, but this All Star Game feat has been legend for a long time and gets mentioned every year at All Star Game time. Hubbell, a New York Giant screwball-throwing southpaw pitching for the National League in 1934, struck out 5 future Hall of Famers in a row – Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Fox, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin.

 

2. Fred Lynn’s Grand Slam –  baseball’s 50th Anniversary game, played at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1983, was a one-sided affair, with the American League winning 13-3. The highlight of the game was a historic moment turned in by Fred Lynn of the Angels, who hit the first, and still the only, grand slam home run in All Star Game history.

 

3. Reggie’s Long Blast – in the 1971 game, played in Detroit, a young Reggie Jackson, then playing for the Oakland A’s, hit a monster home run that hit a light standard on the roof of old Tiger Stadium. The shot was estimated at 520 feet, and became an early entry onto Reggie’s long list of memorable moments that would continue throughout his career. Two other sluggers of the era, Frank Robinson and Harmon Killebrew, also homered in the game, which was also memorable since it was the last All Star appearance for the late Roberto Clemente.

 

4. Rose/Fosse Home Plate Collision –  nobody ever accused Pete Rose of not playing the game all-out, all the time, but there was a lot of controversy when he bowled over AL catcher Ray Fosse at home plate in the 1970 game in Cincinnati. Fosse wound up with a fractured and separated left shoulder, and was never the same again. Critics said the play was over-the-top for what amounts to an exhibition game, but, for the record, Fosse dropped the ball, allowing Rose to score the winning run.

 

5. Stan Musial’s Game-Winning Homer –  in the 1955 game in Milwaukee, the National League overcame a five-run deficit and won the game 6-5 in the bottom of the 12th inning on a walk-off home run by Stan “The Man” Musial. It was the greatest All Star moment for Musial, who was picked for the game 24 times in his career.

 

 

 
1 Comment

Posted in Baseball, Feature Stories

 

MLB – Five Most Intimidating Pitchers of All Time

20 Jun

In the long history of major league baseball there have been a lot of effective pitchers who carved out Hall of Fame careers, but there has also been a special breed who combine talent, competitiveness and a mean streak to become experts in the art of not only pitching effectively, but striking fear in the hitters they face. Here is my list of the five most intimidating pitchers of all time:

 

1. Bob Gibson – this Hall of Famer was on my list of 5 players who changed the game, since his dominance led to rules changes to add more offense. He may have been the most intimidating pitcher of all time. He was extremely competitive and downright surly. Hank Aaron, the greatest home run hitter of all time, said this about him: “you don’t dig in against Bob Gibson, he’ll knock you down. He’d knock down his own grandmother if she dared to challenge him. Don’t stare at him, don’t smile at him, don’t talk to him. He doesn’t like it. If you happen to hit a home run, don’t run too slow, don’t run too fast. If you happen to want to celebrate, get in the tunnel first. And if he hits you, don’t charge the mound, because he’s a Gold Glove boxer.”

 

2. Don Drysdale – like Gibson, he had Hall of Fame talent and a legendary mean streak. Here are some quotes from Drysdale’s peers – from Dick Groat: “hitting against him is like going to a dentist appointment.” From Mickey Mantle: “I hated to hit against Drysdale. After he hit you he’d come around, look at the bruise on your arm and ask, “do you want me to sign it?” From Mike Shannon: “Don Drysdale would consider an intentional walk a waste of three pitches. If he wants to put you on base, he can hit you with one pitch.”

 

3. J.R. Richard – he spent his career with the Houston Astros, and suffered a stroke in 1980 which shortened that career. But between 1976 and 1979, he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the majors. He never had a reputation as a head hunter like Drysdale or Gibson – his intimidation status came from his imposing 6’8″,  220 lb. frame and his tremendous velocity (his fastball was routinely clocked above 100 MPH and his slider at 98). On top of that velocity was the fact that Richard had control problems. Most hitters can can handle a pitcher who throws hard but get nervous when even that pitcher has no idea where the ball is going.

 

4. Randy Johnson – the only left-hander on this list, “The Big Unit” was intimidating, like Richard, because of his size (6’10”) and the velocity of his pitches. He had a long 22-year career, pitched 2 no-hitters and won 5 Cy Young awards, so he was much more than just a hard thrower. He was intimidating but not in the same league of “meanness” as some other hurlers from the 1960s. Still, he is one of the all-time scariest pitchers for hitters to face. An unforgettable baseball moment is when Johnson, in an All Star game, threw a pitch behind and over the head of former Phillie John Kruk.

 

5. Nolan Ryan – like Johnson, Ryan had longevity, pitching 27 seasons. Like Gibson and Drysdale, he was a throwback to the early intimidators, actually starting his career in 1966. Like Richard, he had control problems. His career won/loss record was barely over .500, but he holds the major league records for both career strikeouts and no-hitters (7). He also walked more batters than any other pitcher. He pitched in four different decades, and maintained his velocity and intimidating style into his 40s.

 

 

 
2 Comments

Posted in Baseball, Feature Stories

 

NBA – Top Five Point Guards of All Time

22 Mar

In the classic NBA game that I remember growing up, as well as today, one of the most important players on the court was the point guard. His job was to quarterback his team’s attack and control the tempo of the game on both ends of the floor – on offense and defense. The most important statistics for the point guard  were assists and steals, with scoring being mostly an afterthought. However, the best point guards over the years could also score when necessary. Here are my choices for the best NBA point guards of all time, in no particular order:

1. Bob Cousy – this is the player who orchestrated Red Auerbach’s Boston Celtic dynasty in the 1950s and ’60s. He was a 13 time NBA All Star, and led the league in assists eight consecutive years. He was known for his ball handling and passing skills, and dubbed “Mr. Basketball” by the Boston media as he guided the Celts to six NBA championships. His flashy passing and behind-the-back dribbling were his trademark, and marked him as one of the league’s first “showmen”.

 

2. Walt Frazier –  “Clyde” became a darling of the fans and media in New York as he led the Knicks to a pair of titles in the early 1970s. He played the game with a distinct sense of style, and directed a Knick attack that featured an unselfish style of play by all of the players on the floor, something that in my opinion is tough to find in today’s game. Frazier excelled at all facets of the game, and still holds team records for assists and steals. He was also a great shooter, and in the famous game in which Willis Reed played with a severe injury in a deciding game seven situation, it was Frazier, with 36 points and an astounding 19 assists, who willed his team to the victory.

 

3. Oscar Robertson –  “The Big O” is one of the players I remember most from my youth, when I first became interested in the NBA. He was a consummate all-around team player, and at first I didn’t even realize he was a point guard, since his all-around game was so polished. Robertson was a great player toiling on a mostly mediocre team in Cincinnati, but showed his true value when he was traded to the expansion Milwaukee Bucks, and guided that franchise, pairing with a young Lew Alcindor (later to be known as Kareem Abul-Jabbar) to the NBA title in 1971.

 

4. Nate Archibald –  like Robertson, “Tiny” played for losing franchises, the Kings and Nets, but was traded to Boston, where his talents as a passer and floor general blossomed. He helped the Celtics win the NBA title in 1981, and like Robertson, helped win the title along with a young budding star, this one being Larry Bird.

 

5. Magic Johnson –  Johnson is not only one of the top point guards of all time, but truly a player who revolutionized the position. His size was unprecedented for the position, and he even filled in for an injured Abdul-Jabbar at center for the Lakers during one championship series. He was an amazing floor general who always made sure to include all his teammates in the attack, while also playing a starring role himself. He was one of the first point guards to include rebounds as a meaningful stat for the position, along with assists and steals, and was a prolific scorer as well. His style of play was a starting point for the “point forward” position in today’s game – where a frontcourt player distributes the ball like a point guard traditionally has.

 

 

 

 

 
3 Comments

Posted in Basketball, Feature Stories

 

Saluting Super Bowl Losers – Part 2

31 Jan

It’s what the Buffalo Bills are most known for nationally – losing four consecutive Super Bowls. During the early 1990s when the team was in the midst of the four straight losses, they were the butt of all the late night comedians’ jokes. All of the “wide right” jokes and the initials B.I.L.L.S. standing for Boy I Love Losing Superbowls; the Hemlich maneuver “choking”  posters with the Bills’ logo on them, etc. If you’re a Bills’ fan, it was painful. Looking back, however, the people who really understand the game never laughed at the Bills for the losses, rather, they respected them for completing the journey. Four straight trips to the big game, never accomplished before or since. I distinctly remember a quote from Mike Ditka, referring to the team being labeled a loser – “you’re never a loser until you stop trying”. Certainly, the Bills never stopped trying.

Scott Norwood

 

Scott Norwood, the kicker who was wide right on the game-ending field goal attempt in Super Bowl XXV, has always been the poster child for the Bills’ losing reputation. But I’ve stated it before, blaming him for the loss, when his career history clearly showed the 47 yard kick was at the top end of his range and was a 50% prospect at best, is not accurate. Norwood was a major reason why the Bills were in the Super Bowl to begin with. If you’ve seen any replays of the game, then it should be clear that there were a lot of other contributors to the loss. To his credit, Norwood handled the loss with class and dignity, and the true fans of the team never really blamed him.

Don Beebe

 

Sorting through the carnage of the Bills’ Super Bowl failures, there were a lot of examples of the team’s “circle the wagons” mentality, of their never-give-up attitude, and the one that stands out the most is Don Beebe’s running down of Dallas’ Leon Lett, knocking the ball out of his hands as he prepared to celebrate a sure fumble recovery touchdown. The Bills were losing, 52-17 at the time and Beebe had no business hustling like he did to complete the play. But the fact that he did became a focal point for fans, a teaching moment for parents to instill in their children to never give up, no matter how long the odds against you or how embarrassing the situation you’re in. It was a gratifying moment, a few years later, that Beebe was able to get a Super Bowl ring, while winding down his career playing in Green Bay. It was poetic justice, a win for a good guy who years earlier showed the heart of a Super Bowl champion even though his team didn’t win.

 

Jim Kelly

 

As the quarterback, and field general, of the Bills’ offense throughout the era that included the four Super Bowl losses, Jim Kelly shoulders most of the blame for those losses. In fact, he didn’t play very well in 3 of the games, and was injured in one of them. Despite the losses, people who know football didn’t blame Kelly or label him a loser. Instead, he was a first ballot Hall of Famer, the ultimate sign of respect for a player. Kelly’s ability was always unquestioned. His toughness was admired. He was a throwback to an earlier era, when quarterbacks were still legitimate football players. And although the fact that he never managed to win that elusive Super Bowl ring probably is a thorn in his side, I believe the losses did a lot to prepare him for challenges he would face later in his life. They gave him perspective. The Super Bowls, ultimately, were just football games, and their importance paled in comparison to what he and his family went through with his young, ailing son. As for his on-the-field accomplishments, I think it’s important to point out that although he never won the Super Bowl, he got his team there four times, and did it in games that included playoff victories over Dan Marino,  John Elway and Joe Montana.

 

 
1 Comment

Posted in Feature Stories, Football

 

Saluting Super Bowl Losers – Part I

30 Jan

Each year as the Super Bowl approaches, the television sports programs spend a lot of time reminiscing about the heroes of past games, players like Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, and even Tom Brady. But over the next couple of days during this Super Bowl week, I’m going to salute some of the players who battled in losing causes for their teams in pro football’s biggest game. Most of the time, there’s a fine line that separates the winning teams from the losers, maybe a turnover or a lucky break somewhere during the game, and the effort that players on the losing side put forth get lost in oblivion as time passes. In the early years of the Super Bowl, no team suffered the agony of defeat like the Minnesota Vikings did.

 Joe Kapp

The Vikings hold the distinction of having lost 4 of the first 11 Super Bowls, but the teams they sent to the big game were memorable. They were a dominant force in the NFC in the late 1960s and on into the mid-’70s. Bud Grant, who coached the franchise for all four of those losses, was a solid, well-respected football man. Their defense was the pride of the NFL, led by the “Purple People Eaters” front four. But on the team that lost the first of the four Super Bowls, the heart and soul of the club was a castoff former Canadian League quarterback who revived his pro career when he joined the Vikings – Joe Kapp. He was an unselfish leader who directed the Minnesota attack to an amazing regular season, when the club went 12-2 and scored over 50 points in three different games. In the Super Bowl against the Chiefs, however, Kapp was sub-par, throwing 2 costly interceptions as his team was not only upset, but looked totally overmatched.

Fran Tarkenton

 Three more times in the 1970s, Grant led the Vikings back to the Super Bowl, this time led by the greatest scrambling QB in league history, Fran Tarkenton. Unfortunately, the Vikings ran into perhaps the three most dominant teams of the decade in those games, losing to Miami, Pittsburgh and Oakland. Tarkenton, a Hall of Famer, was the NFL’s Don Quixote chasing windmills in those games, the ultimate warrior battered and defeated but never giving up. He didn’t play particularly well in any of the games, and took a lot of criticism, but history shows that the defenses the Vikings faced in those games – Miami’s “No Name” defense, Pittsburgh’s “Steel Curtain” and the always brutal Raider defense, were three of the best in the history of the league.

Sammy White, floored by Jack Tatum

Against Oakland, another forgotten player, Viking receiver Sammy White, took a hit on a pass over the middle from the Raiders’ Jack Tatum that is probably the most wicked blow delivered in the long history of the game. The hit was so hard that White’s helmet flew off and he was momentarily dazed, but he stayed in the game and wound up with 5 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown.

 
1 Comment

Posted in Feature Stories, Football

 

The Five Most Memorable Super Bowls of All Time

29 Jan

I haven’t done a “list” post in awhile, so to kick off Super Bowl week, I’ll list the 5 most memorable NFL title games from the Super Bowl era. There were lots of great championship games played before the Super Bowl era began following the 1966 season, including the “Greatest Game Ever Played”, the 1958 sudden death overtime game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts. Some Super Bowl games were considered for this list but didn’t make the cut, like Super Bowl VII, which was historic since it capped off the Miami Dolphins’ perfect 17-0 season, Super Bowl XLI, when Tony Dungy became the first African American coach to win the game, and Super Bowl XLIII, the classic matchup between the Steelers and Cardinals won by a late Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes touchdown pass. This list, however, is made up of the games that are most memorable to me. Here it is, in no particular order:

1. Super Bowl I – it wasn’t technically a Super Bowl – it was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, and was played in front of a sparse crowd in the Los Angeles Coliseum. The NFL’s powerhouse champs, Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers, dispatched the upstarts from the AFL, the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10. The game was carried on 2 television networks, and was considered mostly a curiosity since the NFL was assumed to be a superior league. It probably was at that point, but that perception would change a couple of years later. It’s hard to imagine today, but at the time it was astonishing to see teams from the rival leagues actually lined up against each other on the same field, which is what makes this one very memorable to me.

2. Super Bowl III – it’s pretty much common knowledge that this game changed history. The New York Jets, led by brash young quarterback Joe Namath, stunned the heavily favored Baltimore Colts, 16-7 to give the AFL its’ first win over the established league after a pair of one-sided Green Bay wins. The win by the Jets was amazing for a couple of reasons. First, they probably weren’t even the best team in the AFL that year, but they surprised the Oakland Raiders in the AFL title game to advance to the Super Bowl. Secondly, Namath guaranteed the win ahead of time, despite being 18 point underdogs.  Then the Jets went out and backed up the talk with the huge upset.

3. Super Bowl VI – this wasn’t a very exciting game by any means, but it’s memorable to me because it was the first championship won by Dallas Cowboy coach Tom Landry, who had led the organization since its’ inception in 1960 and built it into an NFL powerhouse. However, they developed a reputation as a team that “couldn’t win the big one”, as they continually failed in the playoffs. When they lost an error-filled Super Bowl V the previous year in a game that was clearly there for the taking, the pressure on Landry and his team grew even more intense. The Cowboys totally dominated a young Miami Dolphin team, 24-3, on this day to get the monkey off their back, and the scene of a smiling Landry being carried off the field by his players (pictured above) after the win is one I’ll never forget. Landry was one of the great men who helped build the game into what it is today, and it was satisfying to see him cement his legend that day.

4. Super Bowl XXV – being a Bills’ fan, this game didn’t end the way I hoped it would, but to me it’s still the best Super Bowl game ever played. It’s remembered as the “Wide Right” game, as Scott Norwood missed a 47 yard field goal as time expired, giving the Giants a 20-19 win. It is still the only time in Super Bowl history that the game was won or lost on the game’s last play. New England’s Adam Vinatieri won a couple of title games with field goals, but the games were tied when he made those kicks, so the pressure wasn’t the same. Norwood was put in a bad spot, since his history showed that he had a less than 50% chance of making the kick. In reality, the story of the game was the Giants’ ability to control the clock and keep the Bills’ high-powered offense off the field, just as they had the previous week in the NFC title game against Joe Montana and a powerful 49er team.

5. Super Bowl XLII – this game was historic also, since the Patriots came in with an undefeated 18-0 record and were favored over the New York Giants, who had battled just to qualify for the postseason. The Pats, led by Tom Brady, were an offensive juggernaut throughout the season, but the Giants somehow figured out how to apply pressure on him and succeeded in slowing down the league’s best offense. Unheralded Giant QB Eli Manning led a great fourth quarter drive that resulted in the game-winning touchdown in a shocking 17-14 New York win. That drive included the play pictured above, when little known backup receiver David Tyree made an incredible catch to keep the drive alive, cradling the ball against his helmet as he fell to the ground.

 
No Comments

Posted in Feature Stories, Football

 

NFL – Five Most Innovative Coaches of All Time

09 Aug

In an earlier football “list” post, I named my choices for the top 5 NFL head coaches of all time. This list is a bit different – my choices for the five most innovative head coaches of all time. Any of these could easily be included in the “top five” also, and would probably complete my top ten list. Here are the NFL’s five most innovative head coaches of all time, again, in no particular order:

1. Sid Gillman –  Gillman is considered the “Father of the Modern Passing Game”  as he first coached the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams teams in the 1950s, then expanded his legend as an offensive genius as head coach of the high-powered Los Angeles / San Diego Chargers in the American Football League. Gillman perfected the downfield passing game with the Chargers, and is mostly responsible for developing Hall of Fame receiver Lance Alworth. Gillman also was a pioneer of using film study to develop game plans, and came up with the AFL’s  innovation of putting players’ names on the backs of their jerseys.

2. Paul Brown – Brown is one of the biggest innovators of all time in the NFL, and is responsible for not only coaching but founding two different franchises – the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. He is credited with bringing many innovations to the game, including employing a year-round coaching staff, classroom training for players, creating playbooks, inventing the facemask and the draw play. The Browns started out in the old All America Football Conference in 1945, and when the AAFC merged with the established NFL in 1950, he led them to an upset win over the Eagles in the championship game in their first year in the league.

3. Tom Landry – Landry took over the expansion Dallas Cowboys in 1960 and built them into “America’s Team”, one of the best NFL organizations of all time. He coached the ‘Boys to 20 consecutive winning seasons, and as a defensive mastermind invented the 4-3 defensive alignment, utilizing a middle linebacker, which is commonly used today. His “flex” defense in Dallas was a variation of the 4-3 that gave players the freedom to flow to the ball, a tactic meant to counter Vince Lombardi’s “run to daylight” offensive philosophy. Landry also introduced the tactic of using “keys” to read what offenses were doing. Offensively, he popularized the use of shifts and motion to disguise plays, and brought the “shotgun” formation out of mothballs to help the quarterback read the defense on passing plays, another innovation widely used today. He was among the first coaches to employ strength and conditioning and quality control coaches.

4. Hank Stram – Stram, like Gillman, made his mark in the AFL, and introduced many innovations to the game, including using the I – formation and double tight end offenses, both of which are common in today’s game. He had a close relationship with University of Florida coach Ray Graves, and due to that association was the first pro coach to use Gatorade on the sidelines to keep his team hydrated. Stram was ahead of the rest of pro football in scouring the small black colleges for talent, in a time when unwritten “quotas” still existed on team rosters, and found gems such as Buck Buchanan, Willie Lanier, Bobby Bell and Otis Taylor.

5. Bill Walsh – a disciple of both Gillman and Paul Brown, Walsh made his own mark on pro football as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, where he developed and perfected the “West Coast” offense that is popular in the game today. He was a perfectionist who believed in total organization, and popularized the “scripting” of the first 10-15 plays of a game, another innovation widely used today. Nicknamed “The Genius”, Walsh’s cerebral style of coaching wasn’t always popular with old school football people, but you can’t argue with the success he had.

 
2 Comments

Posted in Feature Stories, Football

 

MLB – Five Players Who Changed The Game

27 Jul

In picking five significant players who changed the game in major league baseball, I broke my usual rule of only including those who I’d actually seen play. The contributions of the players included on the list from before my time were just too great and too significant to leave them off. Here are five players who changed the game in major league baseball:

1. Jackie Robinson – when he was called up to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946, breaking the color line in baseball, it was the most significant change in the history of the game. He handled the adversity of having to face racism in ballparks across the country with class and dignity, and paved the way for minorities to play in the major leagues. Some of that racism came not only from the bleachers, but from opposing dugouts and even his own clubhouse.

2. Babe Ruth – before “The Babe” came on the scene, baseball was in what is now referred to as the “dead ball” era, where the player who led the league in home runs hit around 10 or so for the whole year. The game was dominated by pitching and speed. Ruth, after starting his career as a pitcher, became the most prolific home run hitter of all time and lifted the popularity of the sport to new heights. He set major league records for single season and career home runs ( 60 and 714) that stood for generations. Ruth is probably the biggest icon in the history of American professional sports.

3. Bob Gibson – the big Cardinals’ right-hander dominated the game in the 1960s, and his contribution to changing baseball can be summed up in the 1968 season, known as the “Year of The Pitcher”. Gibson set an all-time standard by recording a 1.12 ERA and his dominance was directly responsible for baseball making significant rule changes for the following season – lowering the pitcher’s mound and tightening up the hitter’s strike zone.

4. Ichiro Suzuki – there were a couple of Oriental players who played in the major leagues prior to Ichiro’s arrival, but none had the impact that he had in paving the way for the influx of Asians into the game as he did. He was the first Japanese-born every day positional player in the majors, and was an instant all star, sending GMs searching for the “next” Ichiro throughout Japan, Korea, etc.

5. Curt Flood – he had a decent major league career, playing 15 seasons, mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals. But he made his biggest impact on the game when, after the 1969 season, he challenged baseball’s “reserve clause” system by refusing to be traded to the Phillies. His challenge was ultimately unsuccessful, but it brought the players together in solidarity to eventually fight and break down the system, resulting in the free agency today’s players enjoy. Flood is mostly remembered for his role in baseball’s labor history, but his playing career, which included 7 Gold Gloves for fielding excellence, 3 all-star selections and 2 World Series rings, is also worth noting.

 
1 Comment

Posted in Baseball, Feature Stories

 

NHL – Five Players Who Changed The Game

25 Jul

The game that started out being played on frozen ponds in Canada has evolved a great deal over the years. Here are five players who changed the game in professional hockey:

1. Jacques Plante – the veteran Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender changed the game forever when he became the first to don a mask on a regular basis, going against the macho attitude of the old guard at the time. He also was the first goalie to play the puck outside the crease in support of his defensemen – another facet of the game that is now considered standard procedure. Plante won 6 Stanley Cups with the Habs.

2. Borje Salming – the Swedish-born defenseman was one of the first European players to make a major impact in the NHL, opening the floodgates for future generations of players from overseas. Those players brought with them a wide-open style of play that changed the way the game is played in North America. Prior to Salming’s arrival, the few Europeans who gave the NHL a try were considered soft and had a reputation for avoiding the physical play of the North American game, but Salming, in playing 16 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, showed the toughness and stamina that wiped out that stereotype. Salming was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996.

 

3. Bobby Orr – he was the first of what today is referred to as the “offensive defensemen”. Prior to his arrival in the NHL, defensemen were mainly plodding, slow-skating “stay-at-home” players who defended the front of their net and did little else. Orr revolutionized the position, using his speed, skating and puck-handling ability to join the offensive rush and become a real scoring threat. In fact, he even won the Art Ross Trophy, awarded to the league’s highest scorer for a season, twice in his career, a feat unheard of before Orr came along. His game wasn’t all about offense, however, as he won eight consecutive Norris Trophies as the best defensemen and 3 MVP Awards.

4. Wayne Gretzky – obviously these players aren’t being listed in order of importance as to their impact on the game, since no player in NHL history changed the game as much as “The Great One” did. Gretzky re-wrote the league’s record book and set standards that most likely will never be matched again. He holds 40 regular season records and 15 playoff records. Scoring 100 points in a season (total of goals and assists combined) is a feat only the league’s top superstars ever accomplish. Gretzky is the only player in league history to top 200 points in a season, and he did it 4 times. Number 99 won 9 Hart Trophies as league MVP, and is unquestionably the greatest hockey player of all time.

5. Maurice Richard – “The Rocket” was a legendary player with the dominating Montreal teams of the 1940s, 1950s and early ’60s, serving as captain of the team also. He changed the game in that he was the first player to score 50 goals in a season, doing it in 50 games in 1944/45. He helped the Habs win 8 Stanley Cups, and also helped change the game by speaking out against perceived prejudice against French-Canadian players by league officials.

 
No Comments

Posted in Feature Stories, Hockey

 
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »