Thanks, Bruce

It was kind of fun doing it, although I did it so quickly that I thought I must have made some errors. I think I messed up on which close New England victory Madden called for them to sit on the ball (the more I think about it, the more I think it was the St. Louis game).

It is hardest to rank the middle games. The duds were actually pretty easy, and although there is sure to be some variation, I don't think there will be much argument about the least exciting and least memorable games. One really bad one was the Tampa Bay-Oakland game, which seemed like it wouldn't end. Oakland put up three late scores after falling behind 34-3 to make it look as if they might make a late run, but then TB got two interception returns for TDs to seal it. But it just seemed to drag on and on and on in the 4th quarter, long after the Raider run was clearly doomed. The Dallas blow-out of Buffalo was another yawner down the stretch. Some of the blow-outs rank higher because they were showcases of the talent of the winning squad (e.g., 49ers 55-10 and Bears 46-10), so there was something to make it appealing, if not competitive.

It was kind of fun to think about it. I had a hard time knowing what to do with the first 2 SB's, and I think a case can be made that KC's victory over Minnesota made the AFL's claim to, if not supremacy, at least equality, with the NFL a more legitimate one, as the argument that the Colts had let down against the Jets was harder to use as an excuse for the NFL's losses. I probably overrate the 49ers 26-20 win over the Bengals, except that I just remember enjoying it - one of the few where I recall watching it from start to finish and simply recalling how happy I was to be viewing the action.

The 20-16 win rates high in my mind because it was both a rematch and a game with a late rally to win it. The only negative about that one for me was that Angela was a junior medical student at the time and felt obliged to attend a party at the home of one of the Internal Medicine faculty, and made me go with her. This guy was super-smart, but could be kind of a jerk (a real political lefty), and he had a small portable TV on a countertop, almost as if he was making a very bitter concession to the wishes of his guests that they at least be allowed to see a little of the game. It was hard to see the action most of the game, but when the final drive came, the assembled multitude paid attention, allowing me to get a clear view of the action. It still sends shivers down my spine to see film of Montana wind up to deliver that throw to John Taylor - I remember thinking as he was beginning his delivery that he had that look that said that the receiver was going to catch this pass and that this would be a big play. Boy, howdy, was it ever!