Saturday, December 31, 2005

1967 Coastal Division...

Markie, such discussions are a real plus of blogs. Old friends can get together and reminisce about sports, politics, etc. And talk about eerie...I'll get to that in a minute.

In '67, the Rams and Colts tied their first game at Baltimore, 24-24. Ironically, they also tied games on the same day the following week, as I remember because we actually went to the Rams' 28-28 tie with the Redskins at the Coliseum, and I remember the Colts tying the Vikings that same day, 20-20.

The Rams beat the Pack in the Guillory blocked punt game in the next-to-last weekend, and the game was on a Saturday. TV was blacked out locally in those days, and I always listened to a young Dick Enberg's call (every play!) on KMPC. My dad was at the game and said it was almost surreal right before and after the blocked punt, from total despair to total ecstasy. He might not remember it today, but for years he would talk about the Coliseum and the excitement of the blocked punt that day.

In a bit of local trivia, that game was on the same day that the Queen Mary arrived in Long Beach. It was December 9, 1967. We still lived in Inglewood, but my cousins lived in Long Beach, and my dad played golf with Uncle Lyle that morning and almost every Saturday morning in Long Beach (yes, he played golf that morning before going to the game!), and they all talked about hearing the Queen Mary's smokestack horns blowing early that morning, in the harbor 5-6 miles away. In retrospect, what a day.

The Rams beat the Colts in the final game, 34-10, a game that would have been rendered meaningless had the Rams not beaten the Pack the week before. The Rams thus won the division on tiebreakers, 1-0-1 and in total points, 58-34. I remember reading in later years that Lombardi feared those Rams more than he feared the Colts, which might be why the Pack played to win that otherwise meaningless game. The Pack really low-keyed it the next week when they lost the regular-season finale to a bad Steelers team, 24-17, at home, no less, using Don Horn much of the way at QB. There's more trivia: Lombardi actually lost his last regular-season game as Packer coach, just as he lost the last game he ever coached, with the Redskins vs. the Cowboys in 1969.

But it turned out okay for the Pack because they beat the Rams in the rematch at Milwaukee two weeks later, before the Ice Bowl. In '67, the first playoff game was at Milwaukee, the only Pack playoff game ever played at County Stadium, I think. Home fields were predetermined for the playoffs in those years.

As for the ties, I can recall four teams with 3 ties off the top of my head. Two of them came in 1967, the Redskins (5-6-3) and the Vikings (3-8-3). The 1963 Steelers were 7-4-3, and the 1970 Chargers were 5-6-3. There are probably some others, and I will do some research.

The eerie part of your blog message is that I just saw a note on the wire that said Jack Snow is in critical condition tonight in a St. Louis hospital with a staph infection. When I saw that, I immediately recalled 1967, when Snow caught an 80-yard TD pass from Gabe against the Colts in that big win to put the Rams ahead 10-7. Snow always used to say that he was never caught from behind, and it was true on that play. I was a good Rams fan in those days.

Then, when I saw your blog a few moments later, talking about the 1967 Coastal Division, my heart jumped into my mouth. Talk about coincidence.

God works in mysterious ways; I can only suppose He's telling us to say a prayer for Jack Snow...

More NFL History

Uncle Brucie, I have always been fascinated by the final standings in the Coastal Division in '67 between the Colts and Rams. As you know from '67 - '69 the NFL went to those funky division names.They had the Capital and Century in the East and the Coastal and I think the Central in the West. I remember that the Birds, Dallas, and Washington were fixtures in the Capital, but that the Giants and Saints switched back and forth between the Capital and Century.

Anyway I have always been intrigued by the unusual records of the Colts and Rams that year both 11 - 1 - 2. The only other teams in the modern era that I can remember with 2 ties were the '70 and '71 Raiders who both finished 8 - 4 - 2. Getting back to the Colts and Rams, I presume that they tied each other once and that the Rams won the other game. I know the Rams went to the playoffs where they lost to Lombardi's last Packer team 28 -7, despite Tony Guillory's blocked punt.

Is my memory correct ? Did they tie once with the Rams winning the other game ? Did they tie twice with the Rams winning the division on a coin flip or another tie breaker ? If they only tied each other once, who did they each tie in their other tie game that year ? I know that the Pack finished 9 - 4 - 1 and the Eagles I think finished 6 - 7 -1. Thanks Brucie.

Happy New Year to all!

See you in the playoffs...



Bruce M & gang

Addition to the Cheers

The military heroes, who, if the MSM had its way, would remain forever anonymous.

Cheers and Jeers

It's that time of the year again friends. Time to make lists of events from the previous year. Here is my list ( in no particular order )of Cheers and Jeers identiying who done good and who done bad in 2005, non - sports division.

Jeers to:

1. Ramsey Clark - so aptly called the " terrorist ambulance chaser " by Michele Malkin, which earns Michele the award for nickname of the year. This guy's the biggest traitor since Benedict Arnold. Who will his next client be , Satan ?

2. Jimmy Carter - the great appeaser and father of modern terrorism. Can you say Shah anyone ? How 'bout Hostages ? And this guy gets a Nobel Peace Prize. This speaks volumes about who gives out these awards. Neville Chamberlain had nothing on this guy;

3. Bill Clinton - the " Thing that wouldn't go away"; he's given more heat to interns than Sen. Frist, M.D., and Frist was good at it, just ask Doc Paul;

4. Saddam Hussein - he's complaining about the legal procedure followed at his trial; maybe if hadn't gassed,murdered, mutilated, raped,tortured, and killed millions of innocent men, women, and children, he wouldn't be on trial;

5. The Left - they cried for Tookie and Mummia and howled like a pack of wolves screaming for the death of Terri Schindler, not to mention the 40 million babies slaughtered since '73;

6. Hollywood - they make movies about 40 ft. gorillas and gay cowboys, yet they can't seem to make a blockbuster about 9/11; which do you think would make more money ?;

7. The ACLU - they attack the Constitution, religious freedom,the death penalty, the Patriot Act and the war on terror, and support constitutional rights for terrorists and abortion on demand without parental notification; 'Nuff said;

8. Republicans in the Senate - the gang that couldn't shoot straight; they refuse to protect the borders and keep spending like drunken sailors; they apparently have learned nothing from President Reagan;

9. Howard Dean - this screamin' whacko is to the left of Joe Stalin; however, he almost didn't make this list because his rantings often help Conservatives and Republicans;

10. The Mainstream/Captive media - they used to just slant the news, now they censor it; they completely ignore Able Danger, the biggest story in 50 years, and focus on non-stories like Valerie Plame and the Govt. spying on Americans.


Cheers to:

1. Terri Schindler - ( I refuse to use the name Schiavo); a bit unusual yes, but her story illustrated to the general public just how far the Culture of Death will go. She now resides in a perfectly happy place where none of her tormentors and murderers will ever gain admission;

2. President Bush - for standing tough and resolute on the War on Terror;

3. The Israeli General ( whose name I unfortunately cannot recall) - he is the one military leader who had the guts to say that Iraq's WMDs are in Syria. They were obviously moved there during the 14 months the USA screwed up by negotiating with the UN before finally invading. During this delay these weapons were moved. This General also asks a most important and troubling question - Since we know these weapons are in Syria , why doesn't somebody go look for them;

4. Congressman Curt Weldon - his pushing for a full investigation about Able Danger is a supreme act of patriotism. This is the biggest story concerning the defense and security of this country in 50 years. May he be successful;

5. The men and women of the US military - heroes all;

6. Rush Limbaugh - the inventor of Conservative talk radio and the leader of the Conservative media today which is growing by leaps and bounds;

7. Ann Coulter - Ms. Right as in Correct; you know you're good when your opponents cannot refute your arguments and are reduced to throwing pies;

8. Laura Ingraham - a tremendous new voice in the Conservative media; also her gallant and classy victory over breast cancer earns her my undying respect; like Ann she's also very easy to look at;

9. Michele Malkin - another great female voice in the conservative media who is not afraid to take on the liberal establishment; also her nickname for Ramsey Clark ( see above ) is priceless;

10. The Bloggers - a powerful voice collectively, which has helped break down the total monopoly of the captive media; Dan Rather anyone ?

Hope you enjoyed it. Happy New Year and good fortune to all in 2006 !

Rosenhaus: Anathema among other agents

"Rosenhaus basically helped make Terrell Owens look like a bigger fool than he made himself look, which is a hard thing to do," Wagerweb.com CEO Dave Johnson said in an e-mail. "It takes agents like Rosenhaus to give athletes a bad name, making them look like all they care about is money and self-promotion."

Rosenhaus's crime isn't just that he mishandled TO's situation, it's that he deliberately abetted him in his master plan of ruining a whole team's season while casting a pall over McNabb, Reid, and the Eagles' organization. As I have said many times, TO was a rock star after the SB and could have gotten a raise without opening his mouth by just repeating what a great SB he had and how he wanted to get back this year and win the thing. Instead, he cries that he and his grandma can't live on $49 million. What a jerk.

A brief note before retiring for the night

I went to the County Office Building to clean out my file cabinet today. I met up with one of the outgoing GOP legislators so that we could turn it into a party of sorts. We had a few laughs, and we heard the lamentations of the clerk and the secretaries, who are sad to see us go. It is a point of pride knowing that those who saw us most closely appreciated our work the most and respected us deeply for our efforts.

Even the clerk, who will likely be replaced (it's a political appointment), is pledging to stick around to finish the journals before leaving - she says that she wants to do it as a tribute to "our team" - and will be doing this without pay. That's really moving, particularly when you realize the state of disrepair that the administrative offices had fallen into when she assumed the title two years ago. She first had to finish several years' journals from the prior (Democratic) reign, which lasted 8 or so years. She is now going to get things done through 2005 despite being short-staffed. She's a special lady - so much so, in fact, that there has been talk of a couple of Democrats splitting with their party in order to support the 8 Republicans in reappointing her. But she says that she couldn't work for any group other than "our team", and is discouraging such a vote. I hope that they vote that way, just so she can say no!

Anyway, I wore a shirt with a message today, a gift from Dom for Christmas. He and I (and Emmy) got into "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" a couple of years ago, and we have accumulated movie-related trinkets over time, including a holy hand grenade and a killer rabbit plush toy. Well, he scored a real winner with a great message that captured my mood as I walked into that building for the last time as a county legislator. It is a lithograph of John Cleese dressed as the French taunting soldier, surrounded by large letters reading: "I fart in your general direction".

PS: It was amusing hearing how awful the legislature-elect is performing - lots of moaning and griping about their infighting and lack of vision. The really ironic thing is that one of the lamenters was a double agent who feigned friendship with us only to support the Democrats (secretly) during the campaign. Somehow, I can't muster a lot of sympathy for those losers.

Friday, December 30, 2005

"Bareback " Mountain

Just when you thought that the kooky Hollywood Left couldn't get any whackier, they strike again. This time they take on that great American epic ,The Western, with a tale about two caballero cowboys apparently are at home on the range. They also tell us that this flick is up for 6 awards ,which is two more than the 4 people who voluntarily bought tickets. The rest had to be subpoenaed. It can be argued that this is still 2 more than the people who read my columns; nevertheless writing them makes me feel good.

You have to love it when Hollywood gives itself awards. Lefties make the movies and then their Lefty buddies nominate them for awards. This is akin to an owner of a 2 -14 NFL team having a Super Bowl trophy made and giving it to his team after the last game.

In any event we have come a long ways from the Westerns of Clint Eeastwood and John Wayne. I guess you could say that we've gone from the Duke to the Duchess, or in this particular case, the Ducchi.

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!

Now, that's a list!

Here's a photo that is sure to bring a smile to Paul's face...




Remember Muhsin Muhammad's 85-yard TD pass from Jake Delhomme in SB XXXVIII?




Wow, Paulie, you have gone beyond the call of duty in assisting me for that upcoming Super Bowl story! It's still several weeks away, and still in the conceptual stage, but you must have been reading my mind, because I envision a very similar story, ranking them in groups, with a one or two-line synopsis for each. Amazing. I feel like I should give you a byline.

I have no real disagreements with any of your rankings, which is also amazing for such a subjective topic. About the only thing I have had time to grapple with is which game or games I would put on top. The Pittsburgh 35-31 over Dallas can make a strong case. Great teams, great players, and great plays. That game had them all. The added angle of "Team of the '70s" adds extra fuel to case for this game. About all it didn't have was a rip-roaring finish, as the Steelers had moved to 35-17 ahead before the Cowboys made a belated rally late in the game. The last-minute drama in this one was basically seeing if the Cowboys could recover that last onside kick, but that should take nothing away from what was a tremendous game. Bettors, however, remember this in an altogether different fashion, as pointspreads bounced between 3 1/2-4 1/2, and that late, late Cowboys TD caused a lot of money to switch hands on the betting side.

I am tempted to put Panthers-Patriots from January '04 up there, even though the first half of the game was exceedingly boring. Down the stretch, however, that game turned into a real crackler, with the teams looking like exhausted heavyweights at the end of the game, throwing haymakers at one another, with defenses completely spent. Rams-Titans and Rams-Patriots also get into the mix because of the last-second developments in those games, though I think it took those Super Bowls a little longer to warm up than Panthers-Patriots, in which most of the 2nd half was a real donnybrook. I am also tempted to give Panthers-Patriots a nod because I am still mad that the Janet Jackson stunt got to much coverage at the expense of a great football game, of which that Super Bowl really was. It deserves to be rememebered for something other than Janet's antics.

I will have to do more research, but nothing really stands out from a good number of the Super Bowls, no great plays or anything, even some competitive Super Bowls like Eagles-Patriots last year. I really thought that was kind of a boring, methodical game, even though it was 24-21. It was kind of tense, but the drama was a bit muted compared to some of the others mentioned.


But talking about ugly Super Bowls...



As for all-time duds, there are plenty of candidates. Of course, some of the Denver pratfalls must be included, though the Broncs at least were ahead of the Giants 10-9 at the half in that Super Bowl. I thought Giants-Ravens was exceedingly boring, but there were those back-to-back kickoff return TDs. Other than a kickoff return, the Giants did absolutely nothing in that game.

That remains the only Super Bowl I ever watched on foreign soil, I was at the Hotel Ibis in Luton, England, ready to head to Cannes and Football Expo the next morning from the adjacent Luton Airport on EasyJet, sort of the Southwest Airlines of Europe. When I made the reservation, I called the hotel and asked specifically if they carried Sky Sports at the hotel, which they assured me they did. When I arrived that afternoon (after a long train ride from Harrogate through Leeds, where I saw Leeds play Liverpool the day before, and Sheffield, and finally to Luton), however, I discovered to my horror that my in-room TV was not carrying Sky Sports. I complained bitterly, but the Arabs who ran the hotel told me I had misunderstood, that they had Sky Sports only in the lounge TV, but they would give me complimentary food and drinks if I really wanted to watch the game in the lounge. They were lying Arabs (I know they told me different on the phone), but the lounge TV was better than nothing, and if they weren't going to charge me for food and drink, that wasn't too bad, so I guess they were fairly nice Arabs. Thus, I watched the game, starting at about midnight England time, basically by myself in a near-empty restaurant lounge, though a few other stragglers came in for a drink or bite to eat, and looked at me like I was crazy for watching the American football game on TV.

I watched the whole thing, suffering because we had released the Giants as our selection, though I probably stayed up for the whole fiasco because it at least reminded me of being at home. Sky had their own halftime coverage of the game, with KC assistant coach and ex-Charger head coach Al Saunders (?) as in-studio expert. The whole thing was a rather surreal experience, to tell the truth, though I have some unique memories from watching that one. When it was done, I had about 2 hours to sleep before heading to the airport for the early flight. What a crazy night.

Anyway, more discussions to come, I'm sure...

One Man's List: The Top Ten

Subjective, open to argument, written by someone with no memory of the SB until the Colts 16-13 victory in SB V. With those provisos, here's my list:

The Top Ten

1) XIII Jan. 21, 1979 Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31

Clash of the titans; several memorable plays (none more exhilirating for this Eagles' fan than Jackie Smith, fully extended, face in a grimace, fists clenched, lamenting his dropped TD pass); these were the teams of the '70's, facing off to see who would lay claim to that title, and the Steelers wrested control with this victory

2) XXIII Jan. 22, 1989 San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16

The best drive to win a Super Bowl, authored by arguably the best SB QB ever.

3) III Jan. 12, 1969 N.Y. Jets 16, Baltimore 7

The historical significance of this victory bumps it up. I know of the action only through the highlight shows, so this is based more on perception of the importance of an AFL victory than on the game action itself.

4) XXXIV Jan. 30, 2000 St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16

What can you say about a game that ends on the one yard line?

5) XXXVIII Feb. 1, 2004 New England 32, Carolina 29

The feisty Panthers wouldn't fold and forced the Pats to drive for a late game-winning FG (despite one of John Madden's more moronic bits of commentary, explaining how if he were the Patriots' coach he would take a few snaps and let the game go to OT).

6) XXXVI Feb. 3, 2002 New England 20, St. Louis 17

Another Patriots' special, with a late (as in 15:00 of the 4th quarter) game-winning FG adding to the drama after a furious Rams' rally to tie it.

7) V Jan. 17, 1971 Baltimore 16, Dallas 13

Jim O'Brien, the first of the hero placekickers. Plus it beat the Cowboys - what more could you ask for?

8) XXV Jan. 27, 1991 N.Y. Giants 20, Buffalo 19

With a fly-over of Navy jets to start off the game and a last-second wide-right FG attempt by the star-crossed Scott Norwood, this game had plenty of excitement (plus it was the only one in which the Bills had a chance at victory).

9) X Jan. 18, 1976 Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17

Favorite moment: Jack Lambert flips Cliff Harris on his noggin for patting Roy Gerela on the head after missing a FG. Oh, yea, and the Cowboys lose!

10) XVI Jan. 24, 1982 San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21

I thought that a case could be made for Ray Wersching to have been the MVP: 4 FG's and kickoffs that kept the Bengals in bad field position. Add a memorable goal-line stand with Archie Reese's famous arm waving celebration as he laid on top of the pile on his back and this one was just plain fun to watch.

The Middle 19

These were harder to put in order, but here's mine (no comments to keep it short):

XXXII Jan. 25, 1998 Denver 31, Green Bay 24
VII Jan. 14, 1973 Miami 14, Washington 7
XIV Jan. 20, 1980 Pittsburgh 31, L.A. Rams 19
XVII Jan. 30, 1983 Washington 27, Miami 17
XX Jan. 26, 1986 Chicago 46, New England 10
IV Jan. 11, 1970 Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7
XXXI Jan. 26, 1997 Green Bay 35, New England 21
VIII Jan. 13, 1974 Miami 24, Minnesota 7
IX Jan. 12, 1975 Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6
II Jan. 14, 1968 Green Bay 33, Oakland 14
I Jan. 15, 1967 Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10
XXXIX Feb. 6, 2005 New England 24, Philadelphia 21
XVIII Jan. 22, 1984 L.A. Raiders 38, Washington 9
XXIV Jan. 28, 1990 San Francisco 55, Denver 10
XIX Jan. 20, 1985 San Francisco 38, Miami 16
XXIX Jan. 29, 1995 San Francisco 49, San Diego 26
XXI Jan. 25, 1987 N.Y. Giants 39, Denver 20
XXVI Jan. 26, 1992 Washington 37, Buffalo 24
XXX Jan. 28, 1996 Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17

The Bottom Ten

Blow-outs and Cowboys' victories are highly represented in this group, which are mostly rated based on the palpable lack of excitement I didn't feel watching these games:

XI Jan. 9, 1977 Oakland 32, Minnesota 14
XXXIII Jan. 31, 1999 Denver 34, Atlanta 19
XV Jan. 25, 1981 Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10
XII Jan. 15, 1978 Dallas 27, Denver 10
XXVIII Jan. 30, 1994 Dallas 30, Buffalo 13
VI Jan. 16, 1972 Dallas 24, Miami 3
XXXVII Jan. 26, 2003 Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21
XXII Jan. 31, 1988 Washington 42, Denver 10
XXXV Jan. 28, 2001 Baltimore 34, N.Y. Giants 7
XXVII Jan. 31, 1993 Dallas 52, Buffalo 17

Super Bowl scores

Let's get the debate started - here are the prior SB results, with outcomes of 7 or less in green, 8-14 in blue, and 15 or more in red. This is meant to be somewhat useful in separating out the competitive from the non-competitive games for the sake of ranking them, although I would caution against thinking that this is a strict system (e.g., the Jets 16-7 win may be in the blue group, but given its significance, it is probably in top rank of SB's all time). I hope this helps get the ball rolling.

XXXIX Feb. 6, 2005 New England 24, Philadelphia 21
XXXVIII Feb. 1, 2004 New England 32, Carolina 29
XXXVII Jan. 26, 2003 Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21
XXXVI Feb. 3, 2002 New England 20, St. Louis 17
XXXV Jan. 28, 2001 Baltimore 34, N.Y. Giants 7
XXXIV Jan. 30, 2000 St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16
XXXIII Jan. 31, 1999 Denver 34, Atlanta 19
XXXII Jan. 25, 1998 Denver 31, Green Bay 24
XXXI Jan. 26, 1997 Green Bay 35, New England 21
XXX Jan. 28, 1996 Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17
XXIX Jan. 29, 1995 San Francisco 49, San Diego 26
XXVIII Jan. 30, 1994 Dallas 30, Buffalo 13
XXVII Jan. 31, 1993 Dallas 52, Buffalo 17
XXVI Jan. 26, 1992 Washington 37, Buffalo 24
XXV Jan. 27, 1991 N.Y. Giants 20, Buffalo 19
XXIV Jan. 28, 1990 San Francisco 55, Denver 10
XXIII Jan. 22, 1989 San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16
XXII Jan. 31, 1988 Washington 42, Denver 10
XXI Jan. 25, 1987 N.Y. Giants 39, Denver 20
XX Jan. 26, 1986 Chicago 46, New England 10
XIX Jan. 20, 1985 San Francisco 38, Miami 16
XVIII Jan. 22, 1984 L.A. Raiders 38, Washington 9
XVII Jan. 30, 1983 Washington 27, Miami 17
XVI Jan. 24, 1982 San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21
XV Jan. 25, 1981 Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10
XIV Jan. 20, 1980 Pittsburgh 31, L.A. Rams 19
XIII Jan. 21, 1979 Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31
XII Jan. 15, 1978 Dallas 27, Denver 10
XI Jan. 9, 1977 Oakland 32, Minnesota 14
X Jan. 18, 1976 Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17
IX Jan. 12, 1975 Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6
VIII Jan. 13, 1974 Miami 24, Minnesota 7
VII Jan. 14, 1973 Miami 14, Washington 7
VI Jan. 16, 1972 Dallas 24, Miami 3
V Jan. 17, 1971 Baltimore 16, Dallas 13
IV Jan. 11, 1970 Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7
III Jan. 12, 1969 N.Y. Jets 16, Baltimore 7
II Jan. 14, 1968 Green Bay 33, Oakland 14
I Jan. 15, 1967 Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10

'72 Dolphins...almost irrefutable


Jut-Jaw and Griese talk about the Colts' recent win streak ending vs. the Bolts


Mark, of course, is right, as any argument about the '72 Dolphins' greatness is practically irrefutable. If nothing else, they have a place at the table of all-time great teams, and their trump card will always be 17-0, which also gives them legitimate claim to the throne, I suppose.

A couple of other interesting notes about the '72 Dolphins. They achieved a rare daily double of leading both total offense and total defense NFL stats in the same season. They were one of the all-time great rushing teams with over 2900 yards on the ground, two 1000-yard backs in the Zonk and Mercury Morris (with Jim Kiick adding another 500+ for good measure). And of course they did much of this without Griese, who was hurt in mid-October vs. the Bolts and didn't return until the AFC title game. Earl Morrall went most of the season at QB, and, in a run only slightly less-unbelievable than the Snake's TD scramble in the Immaculate Reception game, old Earl (a good runner early in his career, but not late in it) scored on a game-deciding, long TD scramble in that 28-24 escape vs. the Jets in November, which was the closest call those Dolphins had during the regular season.

In retrospect, some of the complaints about the Miami schedule that year are a bit unjustified, too. Shula's troops could only play the teams scheduled, and indeed beat them all. The strength of schedule was also diluted by the fact the Dolphins opponents lost their games to the Dolphins. Miami was an underdog in two games during the regular season, the opener at Kansas City, and at Minnesota a few weeks later. In fairness to the Dolphins, the opener at KC was regarded as a huge hurdle. It was the reg.-season opener at new Arrowhead, and Chiefs were undoubtedly going to be loaded for bear to avenge that OT playoff loss the previous Christmas. We didn't know at the time that those '72 Chiefs were just past their sell-by date and starting on the downside, as that workmanlike 20-10 Dolphins win confirmed. But maybe Miami's win had a bit to do with the Chiefs starting their slide.

Similarly, that 16-14 win at Minnesota cannot be downplayed. Though the Vikes finished a disappointing 7-7 that year, they still seemed like a power team when the Dolphins went up to Bloomington in early October, as the return of Tarkenton fueled great optimism. They had lost a bitter Monday night opener to George Allen's Skins, 24-21, but were still highly regarded. As it turns out, those Vikes were snakebit in '72, losing several close games, en route to 7-7, but who knows how things might have turned out had Minnesota won that game. (The Vikes re-emerged as a serious contender the next season after drafting Chuck Foreman and adding a few more pieces to the puzzle).

Also, the Dolphins' 23-13 Week 13 win at the Giants was a solid win. New York was a respectable 7-5 entering that game, and had just posted 62 points on the Eagles two weeks earlier. Take away losses to the Dolphins, and the Chiefs, Vikings, and Giants didn't have bad years, though none were great.

The '72 Jets were also sort of a last hurrah for Namath, as they hovered in playoff contention before flattening out down the stretch. That team still bore a slight resemblance to the great Jets teams of a few years earlier, simply because Namath was healthy (or at least in the lineup) for most of the season, which wasn't the case in 1970 or '71, when he missed long stretches due to injury, and Duke's Al Woodall played in relief. It was the best Jets post-merger team until the "Sack Exchange" Jets with Gastineau, Freeman McNeil, Richard Todd, etc. emerged in the early '80s.

Not sure what the racial note connotates with the '72 Dolphins, except the fact the "No-Name Defense" was predominantly white, with one hispanic (Manny Fernandez) and one black (Curtis Johnson) in the starting lineup. I think the whole deal with those Dolphins being downgraded a bit, both at the time, and historically, was because they were not very flashy, and were very workmanlike. Though some of Paul Warfield's best catches and runs could appear on a highlight reel from any era.

The '72 Dolphins were also a great pointspread team, losing only a pair of regular-season decisions vs. the number (24-23 vs. Bills and 28-24 vs. Jets), as well as failing to cover the 1st-round playoff game vs. the Browns.

As far as the Super Bowl vs. the Skins, I was solidly in the Dolphins' corner for that one, and remember debates I had both within my house and at school. I have been wrong on many Super Bowls in my life, but I always liked my reasoning for preferring Miami in that one. I suspected Washington could no way duplicate the dynamics of that win over Dallas, as it wasn't going to be playing at home, so no RFK advantage (which was significant), and the Miami defense was probably going to be the best platoon on the field, and the ultimate deciding factor. That Skins team, and almost all Allen teams, played on emotion, which RFK helped fuel. The sterile Super Bowl environment couldn't come close to providing that sort of atmosphere, and Miami's workmanlike, even-keel personality sutied the neutral-site Super Bowl dynamic quite well. Kilmer needed just the right situations to be effective, and I still maintain that the Skins would have been better with Jurgensen, who was apparently in George Allen's doghouse those few years at the end of his career. Sonny got few chances in '71 & '72, but did fuel a home win over the Cowboys in mid-October '72. Even at this stage of his career, I always thought Jurgensen was a better option than Kilmer, but George Allen loved 'ol Billy.

In retrospect, the Dolphins were simply better than the Redskins, but the fact Miami was a slight underdog (and it was slight, just a 2-point line, I believe) in the game was no surprise in the day. Remember, the Skins had looked better in the playoffs, holding Green Bay and Dallas each without a TD (only a measly FG for each), and that 26-3 romp past the Cowboys in the NFC title game was an enthralling win. That late afternoon/night at RFK, not sure any '72 team could have beaten that Washington side, and that win over the Cowboys, which might have been the single most impressive performance by a team that '72 season, was the freshest memory as the Super Bowl line was posted. The Dolphins had survived the AFC portion of the playoffs, but not without difficulty, the struggle vs. a less-than-powerful Cleveland in the 1st round suggesting the team could be had, and Griese had only returned in the AFC title game. The public wagered accordingly.

Those Skins did have some attributes. Brown enjoyed an MVP season; Charlie Harraway was a fine complementary FB who gained over 500 YR that year; Roy Jefferson teamed with Charkey Taylor for a formidable pair of wideouts, and Jerry Smith was a highly-regarded TE (though he didn't catch as many passes that year as he had in the past). Kilmer had his limitations at QB, but seemed a perfect fit as a leader for that team. The defense, though old, was good, and there was the George Allen factor. The Skins had also been running almost neck-and-neck with the Dolphins that season, at 11-1 vs. Miami's 12-0 through 12 weeks, with the only blemish a 1-point early loss at New England. The last two regular season games were meaningless, and the Skins did drop those two, at Dallas (34-24), and, subbling liberally, to the Bills in the finale (24-17).

The Skin schedule was not that much harder than Miami's in '72, the only difference being the two, actually three, games against Dallas, which at the time was regarded as the team to beat (even with Morton in at QB for most of that season in place of the injured Staubach). Staubach returned at the end of the regular season from his shoulder injury, but Landry didn't really switch to him until the late going of that 49er playoff game. But beating the Pokes 2 out of 3 was seen as a huge feather in the Redskins' hat, er, head dress.

The Dolphins beat the Skins because they were the better team, and in the end that is how we must measure the teams. The Skins were favored, however, because, well, they were. As for the Raiders in '72, had they been able to host Miami in the AFC title game, they probably would have been a very slight favorite, or perhaps pick'em, in the AFC title game at Oakland vs. Shula. The Raiders might not have won, but the fact is the game would have been rated something of a toss-up. I still have no feeling if Miami would have survived such a matchup in '72, and no one can say the '72 Dolphins would have been a sure thing at Oakland, for that would have been their most-difficult test of the season (though it could be argued the 21-17 AFC title win at Pittsburgh was at least as difficult an assignment). But it doesn't matter, because the Raiders lost to the Steelers the week before, so this is a debate with no resolution.

Historically, there are a couple of other footnotes regarding the '72 Dolphins. They were great, but they were not a dominant champion. Margins of victory and such stats are quite overblown, but as long as we're measuring, we must note that the '72 Dolphins won their three playoff games by a score of 55-38, or a combined margin of only 17 points. This should not in any way disqualify them in an argument for all-time great team, but we have to note that of every other post-merger Super Bowl winner, the only teams with lesser combined margins of wins in the playoffs were 2001 New England (won its three playoff games by 13 points total) and 2003 New England (won its three by 16 points total). The 1981 49ers won their three games by 20 points combined, but almost all of the other 31 Super Bowl winners were more dominant in the playoffs than '72 Miami, some much more dominant. That wasn't the '72 Dolphins style, as they just won. Again, a potentially meaningless stat, but those are the numbers.

This is all subjective debate, anyway, and there is no answer, which makes such discussions fun. As I have written a couple of times in TGS over the past few years, I always thought the '73 Dolphins were slightly better than the '72 Dolphins. Many pro football aficionados will confirm. The '73 Dolphins lost twice, but their schedule was significantly tougher than in '72. In '73, the Dolphins had to face Oakland (at Berkeley in Week 2, a game the Dolphins lost), Pittsburgh, and Dallas, not to mention a more-menacing division foe in a much-improived, 9-5 Buffalo. In the playoffs, the '73 Dolphins rolled through a tough slate, beating the Bengals, Raiders (those first 2 at home), and Vikes (a stronger Super Bowl foe than the previous year's Redskins) by a combined 85-33, or 52-point margin. The 27-10 win over Oakland was especially impressive since Miami threw only 8 passes in the game. It was pure, Shula ball-control offense and tough defense at its best, but to suggest a similar outcome the previous year in a game at Oakland, when Griese would have been taking his first snaps in 2 1/2 months, is a reach. One could also claim that the Raiders' 12-7 reg.-season win over Shula in '73, because that game was on the west coast, might have been a better clue to an AFC title matchup between the two the previous season, but that is just as hard a sell. We'll never really know how that matchup would have played out in '72, and never will.

I watched the '72 and '73 Dolphins, and my contention is that the '73 team was slightly better, because of the way they manhandled those teams in the playoffs.

As far as the all-time best pro football team, who knows? What the '72 Dolphins can continue to say, however, is that they're the only modern-day unbeaten, untied team. No Packer, 49er, Steeler, Cowboy, Bronco, Patriot, or any other modern-day champion (even the '73 Dolphins) can say as much, so we'll leave it at that.

Not that it matters in anything other than putting together discussions such as these. Amzingly, when I write these retro stories in TGS, I seem to get more feedback from readers than a normal handicap-oriented story, and get the attention of radio shows in which I am a guest. That's why I want to do this upcoming Super Bowl story in retrospective mode. We might be the only ones ranking the first 39 of them.

So feel free to send along those Super Bowl memories!...

The Undefeated Dolphins

Great travelogue boys, but since it's play off time and bowl time I'd like to get back to some football. Brucie served to remind me that the 'Skins were favored in SB VII despite the fact that Miami had yet to lose a game. This is incredible to me. The 'Skins were simply the best of a mediocre NFC. Both the Vikings and Rams had down years. If you recall the Pack had a fluke 10 -4 year, their only play off appearance in the Devine era. The Niners won the West with an 8 - 5- 1 record. Dallas was the only other NFC team that was any good. The 'Skins had 6 gimme wins in the NFC East from the Giants, Cardinals, and Eddie Khayat's 2 -11 -1 Eagles juggernaut.

The 'Skins had a one dimensional offense predicated on the running of Larry Brown who had a great year. Their passing game was weak. Billy Kilmer, while a great locker room leader, couldn't pass worth a lick. His arm was weak and he couldn't throw a spiral. Charley Taylor was very good receiver but was on the downside of his career.

On the other hand, Miami had perhaps the best running game since the Lombardi Packers. Griese didn' t have to throw a lot but was very effective and accurate when he did. He had the great Paul Warfield as well as other capable receivers. Remember Jim Mandich's catch in the Supe. Also the Dolphins had a superb defense which was underrated. Could this have been racial?

The superiority of Miami was evident and they should have won the game 17 -0 or at the very least 14 - 0, if not for Garo's bonehead play. I also believe that almost all of the other AFC play off teams would have beaten the 'Skns that year. The Raiders and Steelers definitely woudl have beaten them and the Browns would have given them a tough battle.

As for the undefeated season, we will never see it again under the current format. The talent is too diluted and the salary cap prevents teams from keeping all of their players. The Colts of '05 and the Broncos of '98 are the closest we'll ever get. Look at the stats. In the last 30 years there have been only three Supe winners with one loss. They would be the '76 Raiders, '84 Niners, and '85 Bears.

Just when you think NY politics can't get any worse

Oh, for the days of Reagan, when illegally striking workers were fired, the case was closed, and the country moved on, braced by the bold and decisive action of the Chief Executive. 1981 is getting farther and farther away...

Sightseeing on the UP: Tahquamenon Falls, and more!

Memories of that trip in '93 are coming back to me...

The twins were 15 months old and I decided that it would be fun to take a hike through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to see one of the highest waterfalls in that part of the country. To get there, we left Mackinac City, crossed the Mighty Mac (I remember thinking that as unnerving as it was crossing that bridge on a misty, low 50's late summer day, I couldn't imagine crossing in the winter with the wind howling and the snow flying - plan your visit in July, Bruce!), and drove into some pretty pristine wilderness. At a critical juncture on the trip, the (barely) paved road went straight ahead, but the dirt road to the left was our route. We blew past the turn, but turned back, fearing that we were going the wrong way. A small diner was located at the "intersection" (such as it was); we grabbed cups of coffee and confirmed that the dirt road was indeed the correct route.

After we had traveled about 5 miles, we began to worry that we were lost (again). Not that we could have made a wrong turn, as there were no turns to be made, but all that we could see were 40+ foot evergreens on either side of the dirt road, and not a soul around. Angela congratulated me on having discovered the middle of nowhere. But we pressed on, and eventually reached our destination: The Tom Sawyer riverboat cruise. This was a rickety old boat that we shared with about 25-30 senior citizens and one other young couple. The young couple's great contribution to the trip was that they packed Cranberry Newtons, a new entry in the previously stodgy fig-only Fig Newton line-up. They graciously shared them with Dom and Emmy.

When the boat finished its trip up river, we got out for about a 1/2 mile hike. Angela and I each had a backpack with a kid and lots of parenting stuff, and trekked along a muddy path to reach the top of the falls. There was a log "staircase" built into the side of the sheer wall that led to the bottom of the falls. My main thought was that not all of those seniors were going to make it back up, and that Angela and I would be performing CPR. However, no collapsing oldsters marred the day, and we got to view the falls top and bottom. In truth, the falls weren't worth a long trip, but the long trip was enough fun in its own right to have been worth it.

We then hiked back to the riverboat (another memory of that boat was the gosh-awful PA system; I don't think I understood a single word the guide said!), got to our car, and headed out to St. Catherine's. We didn't have a special plan to go to St. Catherine's per se; it's just that the travel guide showed the prices there versus Niagara Falls, another 10 miles on, and the prices were half those in the Falls. We stopped for dinner along the way in Barrie, Ontario, at a "mall", which defined "rustic" but strained to reach our idea of a "mall". I do remember the people being extraordinarily nice, doting on the twins, and making us feel welcome. I also remember heading south toward Toronto, and approaching SkyDome on the main highway. Little did I know what was to occur there a few short weeks later.

So it was on to a HoJo in St. Catherine's for the evening, and then The Maid of the Mist the next day. Another memory of that trip was how disappointing Niagara Falls, New York was as a city: crappy, touristy, dirty. I remember we went to the supposed visitor's center in a dingy, dirty mall with lots of empty storefronts and a Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. The Canadian side had a beautiful garden, small cafes, and was clean. I generally don't go in for America-bashing, but it applies in this case.

The Maid of the Mist tour got off to an inauspicious start: Dom had fallen asleep and was known to be a real slug when it came to have to carry him. When it came time to don the slickers before boarding the boat, we laid out his slicker on the concrete walkway, placed Dom on top, and wrapped him up as we picked him up. The photo I mentioned in the earlier post was made funnier by the exasperated visage of Angela, who now had to hold two kids, including the normally hard-to-handle (and now also wet) Domenic in addition to Emmy, so that I could take pictures. She managed a smile when I took her picture, but it was through clenched teeth!

That night we left Niagara Falls and headed east through the Finger Lakes region, the first time I had been in this part of the state. We stayed in Elmira, but backtracked to Corning the next morning to check out the Museum of Glass, which was a surprise find - totally unexpected, but a real treat, even with rambunctious 15-month-old twins on our backs. We had to cut short the visit to hit the road and ensure our arrival in Wilkes-Barre for the rehearsal dinner. I also remember getting a bit lost coming off the highway, but we made it. Now every time we pass the Bear Creek Road exit on our way to Philly we are reminded of the wedding and the magnificent journey that preceded it.

More Millau Viaduct Bridge...

Paulie-

I have on my agenda to get to Mackinaw City just to ride over Mighty Mac one of these days.

For a moment I thought you might have taken that photo from the tower of Mighty Mac. I might have believed you if you said you did.

Whenever you mention your ride to Mark's wedding, I always recall the story you tell of driving through the midwest in your van on the previous Sunday, when the only NFL game you could watch on the backseat TV was a wretched Colts-Bengals game, circa '93 (as opposed to '05).

Another view of Millau Viaduct Bridge to enjoy. This bridge is supposedly becoming a tourist attraction as well, people make this drive even if they're not going anywhere, other than to just to see the bridge. It is apparently on the road between Barcelona and Paris (which is no short ride, about 700 miles, 12 hours or so by car), in the southwestern portion of France, probably not too far from Montpellier...




Thursday, December 29, 2005

Bridges

Bruce:

Kudos on posting photos - I did this quite a bit on the campaign blog, but I haven't done it here much (except when you teased us with those "separated at birth" posts and I felt the need to provide the comparative photos).

This reminds a bit of our crossing of the Mackinac Bridge in September 1993, on the way to Mark's nuptials. We traveled from Nashville to Greencastle, Indiana, where we visited college-era friends of Angela, who matriculated at DePauw (aka, Dan Quayle U). From there we went to Mackinac City, spent an afternoon on Mackinac Island, and traveled across Ontario to reach St. Catherine's. The next day was spent at Niagara Falls (I will have to pull out the famous photo of a bedraggled Angela in her slicker, holding onto the infant twins in their rain gear, while I was hopping around the deck taking photos and video). From there we drove to Corning, where we spent the day at the Corning Museum of Glass (highly recommended), before reaching Wilkes-Barre for the rehearsal dinner and wedding.


Here are two web images of the Mighty Mac:


More photos of Millau Viaduct Bridge...


Here's another look...

Yes, this is real...

Check out this bridge!

This is the Millau Viaduct Bridge in France. Those who hate France might not want to look...this bridge is beyond an architectural marvel. But I don't know if I would have the nerve to drive over it...

How bad was it???

Paul-

I don't know that I've ever really tried to put the 55-10 49ers-Broncos Super Bowl into perspective, probably because I never saw fit to think much about it after that fiasco.

But, upon hearing your tale of that day, I think I can at least say this:

I would rather have been presenting autopsy findings to a group of Internal Medicine residents than watch that game!

Chicago Trib on Iraq War

I haven't read all the individual articles (links here), but the link to the concluding editorial is in the title above. It's about time some major media organ acted responsibly and did this kind of news analysis. Not that I necesssarily agree with all of the conclusions, but at least the approach is proper - and all too rare.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

SB XXIV Memory

Bruce:

I will have to cogitate on the best and worst Super Bowls, but let me share with you an anecdote that marries my training days at Vandy with one Super Bowl to which you alluded:

As pathology residents, we had to present autopsy findings to the Internal Medicine residents at their noon conference each Monday. This entailed having a bunch of photos ready, reading up on the relevant diseases, knowing the patient's medical history, etc. The head of the Medicine department, John Leonard, was a skilled physician who wasn't without his eccentricities. One thing in particular I remember was that the guy, brilliant as he was, couldn't figure out how to translate military time notation to civilian and vice-versa. He apparently could master the intricacies of human disease, but adding and subtracting 12 eluded him.

Anyway, one of the things he would do is "pimp" the residents - medical school speak for putting trainees on the spot with questions. He would always get carried away and go real long on the first case, leaving just a few minutes for the second. We wouldn't know going in which case would be presented first, so we had to prepare as if our case would be the first one, which would be beaten into the ground. Then the second case, which took as long to prepare as the first, would get short shrift.

So the day of the 49ers-Broncos Super Bowl, I was at the hospital preparing a case. I remember having missed all of the first quarter and a bit of the second, and then passing a TV in a waiting room on the way out - it was already a blowout. So now I was miffed: I missed part of the SB, and the part that I was going to be able to watch was already in garbage time.

So you probably have guessed by now that my case went second. And Dr. Leonard, the medicine chairman, spent the first 55 minutes or so on the first case. It was a scheduled one hour conference that usually went a few minutes late. So when I got up to present, I turned to a colleague and said: "What's the significance of 55 to 10?" He said "The Super Bowl?" I said, somewhat wistfully: "No, the amount of time Dr. Leonard allots to the two cases!"

Go Markie!

Amen to Markie on the Hillary and NY GOP bashing! We had missed his insightful ranting for too many months. I have my own rant against Hillary (including incredulity at the mainstream press for pooh-poohing her connections to the nefarious Marc Rich and wife Diane) in the oven, though have to bake the upcoming Gold Sheet and Euro Soccer editions first.

Not sure that Cali GOP is much better than in NY these days, indeed politics in this state must have Ronald Reagan rolling in his grave. How else can a state that elects Barbara Boxer as a US Senator be described?

In retrospect, one of George H.W. Bush's last acts of consequence in office was inadvertently helping Boxer get elected in '92. Bush basically wrote off California in '92, and with it the two Senate races that took place that year (remember, Diane Feinstein ran in a race against Tom Campbell to fill the end of Pete Wilson's term after the latter won for Governor in '90). Of those two, Boxer's was the one most up for grabs, against conservative Bruce Hershenson, and by kissing off the Golden State during the latter stages of the campaign, Bush-41 helped hand her a close verdict, the consequences of which we have lived with for the past 13 years and must endure for at least another 5 more. Maddening, and I have yet to forgive Bush-41 for that final bit of poor judgement...

Lastly, the topic of Florida and the 2000 election occasionally comes up at my work. Given the local territory, you can guess the rhetoric. The last time it came up, however, I had to remind them that Al Gore could have rendered the Florida result meaningless in '00 had he either won his home state of Tennessee (his home state, for gosh sakes!) or the small state of West Virginia. It's all retrospect, of course, and a lot of states were too close to call in '00 (New Mexico ended up in Gore's column almost as close as Florida went for W Bush), but Gore's defeat can be laid as much as the hands of his strategists as anything else.

Jumping ahead to an upcoming blog, the Dems had their shot in '04, too, if they could have managed to swing only about 59000 votes out of the over 5,6000,00 cast in Ohio. Poor "strategery" again proved their undoing almost as much as their cartoon-faced candidate, but I am a genuinely worried about the prospects of the Madame in '08, as the Clinton machine would be unlikely to make the same mistakes. Underestimate these people politically at your own risk. I fear her candidacy, not as much for what Pirro or the GOP could have done to her in '06, but what her own opponents within the Democratic party WON'T do in the '08 primaries. They could go after her, too, but I don't think they will.

Yes, it's not too soon to worry about Hillary, and dealing her some serious body blows in NY next year would have been be a great place to start. More to come soon...

Old Eagle fans, check out new TGS...and a Super Bowl favor to ask

When your TGS arrives later this week, check out my front cover story, where reference is made to the 1968 Eagles and their 12-0 Thanksgiving win over the Lions. Safe to say it is the only publication in the country where that mudbath of 37 years ago is mentioned this week.

Also, though we are still a few weeks away, I am going to do a different twist on my Super Bowl story this year. With this being the 40th Super Bowl, I am going to attempt to rank the previous 39, from best game to worst game. Granted, this is a totally subjective exercise, and already I am feeling some compromises within, as some of the more-breathtaking blowout games might get decent mention simply because one side was so good in the game (like the Bears vs. Patriots or 49ers vs. Broncos, ouch).

Admittedly, the Super Bowl has featured a lot of dud games, but upon inspection there are more good ones in the mix than one might first imagine. So, any bloggers with their own ideas about their favorite Super Bowls, or least favorite Super Bowls, feel free to pass along...

Sheepishly...

After reading Paulie's Kwanzaa update, I feel a bit embarrassed for my earlier pro-Kwanzaa post. Perhaps it was just Christmas cheer that clouded my commentary. Upon further research, I have also discovered those and other disturbing things about Karenga, and am a bit ashamed that my alma mater CSULB caved to liberal pressure and political correctness by keeping him on faculty for so long. Maybe Kwanzaa is a perfect holiday for Hillary after all.

Our track record on contributions to society is a bit iffy at CSULB. First Jerry Tarkanian, then Karenga, and of course me, carrying the sins of The Gold Sheet to the masses. Hardly a trifecta of note.

Though we can take credit for Herb "the Praying Tailback" Lusk!

Prosit!

Mark is dead on about the NY GOP - it's a moribund organization with no leadership and no hope. I think an important point that can't be emphasized enough is that the local GOP actively worked in cahoots with the Democrats to ensure our loss of the legislature, the city council, and the mayoral race (although, in fairness, the last was a losing proposition to begin with).

What can you say about a party that doesn't think that winning elections is its raison d'etre? It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the pressure on Pirro to withdraw was not at all based on the phony sell that they are attempting (namely, that she couldn't win - I agree with Mark's assessment that she is a strong candidate to unseat Hillary!), but that this is a coordinated thing: the Dems won't run a credible AG candidate in return for this "favor".

PS: This line from Mark is a candidate for Best of the Quad Squad 2005: NY isn't just a blue state, it's clinically depressed. Awesome!

Kwanzaa: The Seamy Underside

A long post at Hugh Hewitt's site, with a link or two worth following; two excerpts:

Revealing that Kwanzaa was created by Ron Karenga leads to revealing Ron Karenga, and that subject is hardly one that's fit for a second-grade classroom.

Why? Because at various times during his life, Karenga was head of a black nationalist group not known for its non-violent tactics; he was convicted and served time for torturing two women-- members of his own group-- by whipping them with electrical cords and burning their mouths and faces with a hot iron; he invented Kwanzaa as a way to "de-whitize" Christmas, as Al Sharpton once put it, expressly as a way to separate the races.

{more}

Now, I'm not trying to be the grinch who stole Kwanzaa here, but I think it's a sin that the rather radical, Marxist, black nationalist origins of the holiday are ignored every year-- ignored with the power of a thousand suns.

It is a shame that everyone acts as if Karenga's violent crimes are immaterial, despite the fact that he was convicted and sentenced for them several years after he invented Kwanzaa. It's not as if he reformed, then became the father of Kwanzaa.

These things are not the whole story of Kwanzaa, but they are part of it, and they should be told. They are not pleasant, but I don't ever remember being told about our Founding Fathers' accomplishments in school without also hearing about their failings.

Surely, Ron Karenga should be subject to at least the same scrutiny as George Washington in a public school setting.

I have a feeling that won't happen, though, because a lot of people feel like "you just can't write stuff like that. Just because...you just can't."

She Coulda, Woulda, and Shoulda Been a Contenda

Just when you think things can' t get any worse in New York, the moronic NY "Republican" Party strikes again. You would expect NY Dems to be whacko, PC, Socialists, but you know things are really bad when the Republicans are nothing more than Socialism Lite. NY isn't just a blue state, it's clinically depressed.

We've already seen the idiocy and unconscionable behavior at the local level as witnessed by the sabotaging of Doc Paul's reelection in Cortland County. I hope he successfully sues their pants off and forces a new election. If that wasn't bad enough, the Party hacks in Albany are now getting into the act.

These geniuses have essentially forced Jeanine Pirro out of a possible Senate run against Madam Rodham - Clinton and have decided in their infinite "wisdom" that Ms. Pirro should run for NY Attorney General instead. It's obvious that the morons who run this party couldn't score in a house of ill repute with one hundred dollar bills hanging out of their pockets.

As a Conservative, I usually have no use for moderates who have cost the Republican Party many elections over the years, i.e. Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Bob Dole. However, in this case it made perfect sense for Pirro to take on the Madam. First, no conservative could ever win in NY. Second, and more importantly the Madam must be defeated at any cost in '08. Her defeat should be the primary goal of all Conservatives regardless of party affiliation. In order to defeat her in '08, the stage msut be set in '06.

Pirro is the type of strong, independent, self -made woman that Rodham bills herself as, but clearly she is not. The junior Senator who is fond of telling us that she didn' t need a man and could make it alone as a woman ,clearly speaks with forked tongue. Let's look at the facts. It's obvious that Ms. Independent went to law school to marry a husband and she indeed ended up marrying Bill. The rest of her career has been spent riding his coattails.

She was not hired at the Rose law firm until Bill became attorney general of Arkansas. She didn't become a partner until Bill became Governor. She only became a carpet bagging Senator because Bill was the President and his administration funded and ran her campaign. On the other hand, Ms. Pirro is a tough as nails prosecutor with a distinguished track record. She didn't achieve that record of distinction because of her husband. Also she is a very able debator and makes a professional appearance.

I know that there was fear on the part of Republicans in NY that the Madam would make an issue of the troubles of Ms. Pirro's husband ,which could have been both embarrassing and damaging. I say if we're going to attack the candidates' husbands, let's bring it on. What a huge target Pirro would have had to shoot at, literally and figuratively. Any problems that Ms. Pirro's huband may have had, would have paled in comparison to those of Bill Clinton.

It would have been great for Ms. Pirro to have reminded NY voters as well as the rest of the country about the sleazy practices and terrible mistakes of the Clinton Administration. What would Hilary have had to say about China - gate when her husband allowed secret, military technology to be sold to Communist China in exchange for contributions to Bill's 1996 reelection campaign. How does the Senator feel now that China has the ability to launch ICBM missile strikes at American cities with the technology that her husband sold them ? Did she support this illegal sale of technology ? If she was co - President, why didn't she stop it ?

How about the information that is coming out in the early stages of the Able Danger investigation. Did the Madam support the Clinton Administration's policy of building an intelligence wall, so that various intelligence agencies could not communicate with other ? With this kind of record, how could the Madam present herself as being tough on terrorism in '08 ?

Furthermore, in this one instance Pirro's moderate views on social issues, though I vehemently disagree with them, would have been an advantage. She would have pushed the Madam to the fringe Left on these issues and into the waiting arms of Michael Moore. However, even she couldn't have pushed her into his lap because he doesn't have one. But that's another story. This would have created a far, left record that would have caused grave problems for Rodham in '08 and made it impossible for her to triangulate on these issues.

Also Pirro would have forced the junior Senator to divulge her plans for '08. Pirro would have been able to tell the voters that she was committed to NY, and would serve her entire 6 year term given that she has no other ambitions. If Clinton attempted to make the same claim to NY voters and then announced for President the next year she would have looked like a liar.

I firmly believe that if Pirro had stayed in the race, she could have won or at least forced a close election, both of which would have been favorable outcomes. In either instance Rodham would have been weakened in any future race. It is also possible that Rodham may have dropped out if Pirro ran and focused on '08 which also would have been a positive, because it would have forced the Madam to show her hand early.

It's damn shame that the idiots in the NY " Republican " can't see the light. A run by Pirro was the perfect opportunity to take it to Hilary and expose her. If Pirro were allowed to run and she seriously damaged the Madam's future presidential aspirations, it would have been the greatest gift given to the country by a moderate Republican since former San Francisco Mayor George Christopher lost to Ronald Reagan in the 1966 California Gubernatorial primary.

More thoughts from June 1976

The year of 1976 was a great one for me. It was the year of the Bicenntennial which made living in Philly more exciting than usual. From a sports perspective, that spring was awesome as the Phils raced out to a 50 -20 start and a nine game lead in the Eastern Division. Of course it was also the year I graduated high school. The graduation ceremony took place on the evening of June 4, the same night as Game 5 of the Finals between the Celtics and the Suns who were led by rookie center Alvan Adams and Paul Westphal. Who can ever forget Gar Heard and the shot heard round the world. The only other shot that was as exciting and as crucial, was the shot Laettner hit against Kentucky in the '92 tourney.

As for gifts, my friend Pete Bruno received a 1976 sky blue and white Chevy Blazer. After the graduation ceremony a bunch of us climbed in and Big Pete took it off road and made a bee line for the track and football practice field which were located down a large, steep, ravine - like hill. Pete hit that hill at full speed and the Blazer literally took to the air. Then he sped around the quarter mile track, blaring his horn the whole way with the rest of us yelling and laughing. After the victory lap, Pete sped back toward the hill and we began the steep ascent. I thought I was either going to fall out the back or we were going to tip over, but we made it and then we headed out to various parties.

Another highlight was heading to the shore the next day for Senior Week. It's 30 years later, and I still look back on that week and smile. I look forward to my 30th reunion next year. Recently, Paul, Carolyn, and I went to a general reunion at our parish grade school. It was hilarious seeing people who I had not seen in 33 years. What a blast.

Brucie, I remember that second Foreman - Frazier fight. The commercials were hilarious with both guys donning colonial wigs and garb. I also remember Smokin' Joe's shaved head. You know that Stallone got the idea for the setting of the fight in Rocky from this fight. Particularly the scene where Apollo Creed enters the ring as George Washington.

Does anyone remember that Ali defended his title a few weeks later ? He fought Jean Pierre Coopman, the Lion of Flanders. The lion turned out to be a mouse and the fight was a joke. That same year Ali fought a Japanese wrestler, Antonio Inoki. This guy laid on his back the whole fight and repeatedly kicked Ali in the legs causing a blood clot which required hospitalization. It was a sorry exhibition.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Great Christmas Memories part II

I also have very fond memories of Christmas in the late 60's and early 70's after moving to Springfield. In '69 I was especially pumped because I got Electric Football which was all the rage then. I still remember coming down the stairs and seeing that huge cardboard box standing upright with a picture of a football player. You all remember electric football, it took 15 minutes to set up the players for each play and once you were ready to go half the players would lock arms and waltz in a circle. I used to love the felt football, the QB with the slingshot arm, and the kicker with the swingin leg.

Circa 1970 I got both Monday Night Football and the infamous Photo - Electric football. That was the one where you placed offensive and defensive formation cards on the "field", with one on top and one on the bottom. You then flicked on a light switch to see if the play worked. Doc Paul will remember us all sitting around the table playing with our cousins and friends. I also received another cool gadget that same year. It looked like a transistor radio and you inserted these little plastic discs which looked like CDs. There was a CD for each football player that came with that pack. I remember that I had discs for Daryle Lamonica and Dick Butkus. I know Doc Paul will remember the announcer on the Butkus disc shouting out in a weird voice and accent, " the QB fades back, he's being chased by Dick Butkus."

Another big hit was table top hockey which I got in '70 or '71. That was the game with the rods and you could spin the players around. It came with two different kinds of pucks. One was a solid black plastic puck, and the other one had a pin ball in the center. I remember having a tournament one Christmas day with our cousins, when there about 6 of us sitting around the kitchen table screaming and pucks were flying off the game table and onto the floor. All of these games were classics and we got years of fun out of them.

Great Christmas Memories

My earliest recollection is about the age of 4 after my parents moved from G- Town to West Philly. I would wake up on Christmas morn and my grandparents would be there. They didn't drive, so they must have hopped a 5 am bus to get there to see me open my presents. I would run downstairs and see them and then see my toys under the Charley Brown tree ( it had about 2 branches, and would experience abolsute joy. It was the childhood equivalent of watching the birth of your child as an adult.

Monday, December 26, 2005

How 'bout that Kwanzaa!

Wow, Paulie has done it again, I never knew Kwanzaa had such honorable origins. The whole concept of Kwanzaa is indeed very cool. I will be glad to celebrate it with my CSU Long Beach brothers...and based upon its principles, I don't think Hillary is invited!

Long Beach State's other contribution to the country

...in addition to Bruce, of course!

The Word of the Day for December 26:

Kwanzaa \KWAHN-zuh\ noun: an African-American cultural festival held from December 26 to January 1

Example sentence:
A joyous family spirit pervaded the Marshall family's Kwanzaa celebration as three generations came together for a delightful meal and a beautiful candle-lighting ceremony.

Did you know?
In 1966, Maulana Karenga, a Black-studies professor at California State University at Long Beach, created a new holiday patterned after traditional African harvest festivals. He called it "Kwanzaa," a name he took from a Swahili term that means "first fruits." The holiday, which takes place from December 26th to January 1st, was originally intended as a nonreligious celebration of family and social values. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of seven principles: unity, self-determination, collective responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.

And here I thought today was the day to celebrate Boxing!

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Great memories from Christmas past...

Whenever it comes to open-the-presents time on Christmas morning (yes, my girls still get exicted, even in their 20s), I harken back to similar mornings in the mid '60s. I hung on to the Santa dream for a while, reckoning that the sounds I heard late at night on Christmas Eve 1963 (when I heard someone experimenting with a toy machine gun I opened the next morning--talk about a politcally-incorrect gift today!) were indeed those of Santa himself.

But I always got a chuckle out of my little brother Brad, a few years later, when he was 5 or so, who had finally learned to use and dial the telephone and excitedly called up cousin Brian (who was Brad's age) to talk about their Christmas gifts.

Brian would say, "Hey, I got this ______!"

Brad would say, "Hey, I got the same thing! And I also got this _____!"

Brian would say, "Hey, I got that, too! And I also got _____!".

Brad would say, "Wow, I got that one, too!"

Right around then, I think Brad and Brian had figured out that those same gitfts were more than coincidences, that Santa's helpers were indeed my Mom and Aunt Rose, and that Santa would send them to the same store, where they naturally bought the same gifts for their youngest sons.

Though I always wondered if my Mom and Aunt Rose could have kept the mystery going a bit longer for Brad and Brian if they'd just bought different colors of the same shirt or different Hot Wheels cars for the little guys!

By the way, one of my favorite parts of holiday season is knowing that my Mom and Aunt Rose still do their Christmas shopping together...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to all blog-o-natics!

And Happy Kwanzaa to Hillary...

Santa must be bushed...

just from his work here! A very merry Christmas for all!

I hope yours is every bit as happy as ours has been. Santa came up to the bed to lie down - a nap may be in his near future.

Saturday, December 24, 2005

A Christmas Eve Tradition

Track Santa with the help of NORAD.

Merry Christmas

To all my fellow quad squaders and all of you in the bloggosphere, here's wishing you a very Merry Christmas !

Last thought June '76...

There's a follow-up to my high school Strat-o-matic story I am compelled to pass along, lest anyone fingers me as some sort of hellion from school days.

When it came time for high school graduation, most everyone I knew was given some sort of gift by their parents (or in some cases a double dose of gifts if their parents were divorced and remarried by then). For the most part, the gifts weren't especially elaborate, though a few people I knew cashed in with some nice prizes.

For me, however, I felt embarrassed by the whole thing. Graduating from high school was nice, but I figured it was the least of what was expected of me. And since I probably concentrated more on sports and things like Strat-o (and conducting the opening day of our '76 season in the back row of Mr. Schmidt's 4th period Marine Biology class) than I did school work, I felt a bit ashamed to accept any gift for merely getting a diploma.

My dad must have let my mom in charge of the gift, and once she got wind of a few of the "gifts" other kids in my grade were receiving and, very kindly, asked me what I would like, within reason, as a graduation gift. When I told her that I really didn't want anything, I realized that her feelings might be hurt, that it wasn't as much the gift, it's just that she wanted to do something nice for me.

She insisted that she had to get me something, though I was a tough sell. Clothes might have been an option for some kids, but, as anyone who has ever seen my wardrobe can attest, that's never been one of my strong suits. (Indeed, looking at my present-day collection of t-shirts, sweatshirts and varied jogging suits, I am reminded of Andy Rooney's long-ago comment about old Army buddy Lindsey Nelson, of whom Rooney said, "He's the only guy I know who dressed better during the war than he does now"). How about a new watch? No need, I was using one of my dad's old ones, and it told time just right. But the more I resisted, the more my mom pushed forward. "I've got to get you at least a little something, just to make me feel good," she said. "Are you going to make me buy you a nice shirt or pair of pants and make me take them back?"

Well, I finally realized that I might not get too many more of these offers, even though I was terribly reluctant to ask for anything. But, just as my mom was about to storm out to Penney's and buy me a shirt or something, I blurted out a new idea. "Hey, George Foreman is fighting Joe Frazier tonight, and I would love to go see the fight on closed-circuit TV at the Long Beach Arena," I said. Hardly a traditional graduation gift request, but it was good enough for my mom. "How much does it cost?," she said. I looked at the ad in the Long Beach Press-Telegram and it said tickets were $5-$25. I certainly didn't need the best seat in the house, but when I told her "About $10," she promptly handed me $30. "You probably don't want to go alone, so call up a friend to go with you, and you can pay for him, too, and get something to eat," she said.

Wow! I was suddenly ecstatic, so I called my friend Bob Carter, who was more than willing to accompany me, especially since this was my treat. We bought a couple of $10 seats, then moved down closer to the big TV screen for a better view. Parking was only $2, I believe, and the rest of the money bought each of us a hot dog and a drink.

This was a couple of nights before our HS graduation, and it was Foreman-Frazier II, held at the Nassau Coliseum, home of the Islanders. You might remember some promotional photos the two did before the fight, trying to recapture the bicentennial theme (one photo in particular that I thought hilarious at the time was of Smokin' Joe dressed in a Betsy Ross outfit). What we remember most about the fight is how Joe came into the ring and flung off his hooded robe, unveiling a completely shaved, bald head, which drew roars from the crowd. This was long before head shaving became the "in" thing, and I wondered if Joe did it because he noticed that Earnie Shavers had recently shaved his head, too. Foreman was hardly fazed, however, and this fight was only a bit less one-sided than their first bout over 3 years earlier. Foreman scored a 5th round TKO. On the undercard was a rather-boring 10-round heavyweight bout between Howard Smith and Johnny Boudreaux, the former a So Cal product I followed in those days, the latter having been recently featured in an SI article about up-and-coming heavyweights (with Larry Holmes and Dino Dennis...remember?). However, Boudreaux couldn't crack an egg with his punches, and despite some slick boxing skills, was eventually outpointed by the capable Smith, who scored a split-decision win.

Still, it was exciting just to be in there, watching the closed circuit, and once I began to work and earn my own money, I would spend some on almost any upcoming closed-circuit fight. Carter was so enthralled by the whole experience that we made sure to buy closed-circuit tickets for that September's Ali-Norton III at Yankee Stadium the day they went on sale, and we had near front-row seats in the LB Arena to watch on the big screen that night. A story for another day. I had been to a handful of closed-circuit fights with my dad in years past (including Frazier-Ali I), and there really was a special buzz inside a theater or arena when it was closed-circuit time. It's a crowd buzz and anticipation that is hard to replicate.

In retrospect, I still remember that HS graduation gift joyfully, and I have to wonder of all of the gifts my classmates received for graduating, if anyone remembers theirs as fondly as I do mine!

Merry Christmas to all

I hope that all of you have a wonderful Christmas. We will be at home in Cortland, where the snow is still on the ground, but the temperature in the 40's is threatening to turn Christmas green.

Luca assures me that he will be getting his two most wished-for presents (Spider Man Mega-Morph and Gotham City Transforming Playset) because he has been "super good". I am not sure Angela shares that assessment, but Santa can believe anything, so I think the little guy won't be disappointed.

Gabey is just at the edge of comprehension: he gets that Santa brings toys, but he thinks he should just wait and see what the Big Guy has for him. Not that he doesn't mention certain toys (that Gotham City thing seems to be the winner with him, too), but I don't think he feels that it's appropriate to ask. He has very good manners!

Dom and Emmy are of course into the teenage years, so Christmas is a little different for them. Emmy has been taking sewing lessons and has sewn gifts for me and Angela (she made Angela an embroidered apron). She only tells me that "you better wear what I made you". I ask her what it is that she could possible have made that I wouldn't wear: adult diapers? a bib? a turban? She rolls her eyes heavenward, tells me I'm weird, and reiterates that I had better wear it. Dom is pretty low key, as he is about most things. Angela is great at making the season special for all of us, from decorating to baking to making great meals - tonight is the seafood feast.

Here's hoping that all of the kids are as happy tomorrow as they are excited today - and that all the right teams win!

PS: As I was composing this on the laptop, Luca was playing a video game and Gabe was seated next to me, watching the action on the TV screen. He just turned to me and said "I love you daddy". A very good Christmas indeed.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Roger Freed...oh my!

That's a pretty good Strat-o memory you have. Not sure I would have punched Dave Silverman, either, but I know a few other more-irrational Strat-o buddies who would surely have taken a swing at him in similar circumstances. I have indeed heard stories of Strat-o brawls from a few fellow fanatics throughout the years.

You are right about Freed, but we decided to forego any warnings about overusing Freed and included him in all of our 1978 leagues (using '77 cards). Since we drafted those "All-Star" teams, Freed was always the first selection. I had Freed on my teams a few times, and opposing managers would often intentionally walk Freed rather than let me roll the dice, and I would sometimes do the same if I was pitching to Freed in leagues where he was on opposing teams. A couple of times we had "All-Star" leagues where we would combine teams from several years, such as the the '74-75-76-77-78 Cardinals (as an example), and in those cases we would have the teams remain as they were, all Giants, all Cubs, all Tigers, etc. The Cardinals were always in demand simply because of that Freed card from the '78 set. In those leagues, players would often play against themselves, when a much-traded guy like Bobby Bonds could be on as many as 4 different teams.

As for Freed, Barry Bonds had nothing on him, Strat-o wise, that is. Freed inspired fear and awe in all Strat-o managers, sort of a Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth rolled into one.

I always thought the Strat-o game designers had a little bit of a devilish streak in them to include cards like Freed's and that of Pepe Frias the following year. There was a set of "extra" players we could buy every season, I'm not sure if Freed was one of those for the '78 set but I know Pepe was one from the 1979 set. Pepe's card was, if possible, even more menacing than Freed's, and the most-unique we had ever seen. Nothing came close. In 15 at bats (that's all), Pepe lashed two doubles, a triple, and a single, so his card, if memory serves me correct, had doubles at juicy numbers like 1-6, 1-7, and 1-8, the same on the 3 column, with triples at 1-9 and 1-10, and 3-9 and 3-10 (I believe), and maybe another spot. All prime numbers!

Frias' card was so fun that we used him like any player, even though he had only a handful of at-bats that season. We were, however, sticklers for pitchers and how long they could pitch. Their "limits" were always listed on the back of the card, and the only exceptions we would make is if the pitcher was throwing a no-hitter beyind his allotted innings. Indeed, the only Strat-o no-hitter I ever had came with Ron Reed, of all pitchers (the '76 card, I think), and his limit was only 5 innings. But he stayed in that game because he was throwing a no-no, and I believe it was the only "perfecto" in my Strat-o history.

Interestingly, good relievers in those days, like Sutter and Gossage, usually had 3-inning limits. Some relievers had 2 inning limits. I haven't seen a new Strat-o card in over 20 years, but I bet most of the top relievers have 1 inning for their Strat-o max, because that's all most of the closers work these days.

In old Strat-o lore, Freed and Frias are legendary. And to this day, some of our old Strat-o buddies have similar memories. Freed's passing a few years ago was acknowledged by all of us who played in the league that year ("Did Roger Freed really die yesterday???!!!???"), hoping it wasn't true. The same with Jim Spencer, who had a legendary Strat-o power card from '79, I believe. Upon his passing not long ago, Dave Mault, one of our old Strat-o buddies and still involved with me in rotisserie and fantasy leagues, sent emails to all of the old Strat-o bunch, with a message something like this: "Jim Spencer, RIP. P.S.--1-7, GONE! 1-8, GONE! 1-9, GONE!"

Something tells me a Strat-o website, where guys could reminisce and tell their own Strat-o tales, might be a big hit. Maybe one already exists. I'll be checking...

Strat-O-matic memories

Bruce:

I can't come close to your tale of the Saints 21-0 shutout of the Colts, as I was much more of a baseball Strat-o guy. I did buy the football version and it came with season cards circa 1978, but only David Silverman and I played (I never could get Mark interested), and we never evolved a league.

Mostly, we played baseball with sets of cards from the early '70's playoff teams - I had an affinity for the Oakland A's, and even though they listed Rollie Fingers as a reliever/starter, I stretched the truth and started Rollie frequently. I think he was limited to 6 innings by the Start-o rules, but if Chris had wanted to argue with me that my game play didn't reflect reality, I could have only sheepishly plead guilty.

David brought in a third player, who didn't have the Strat-o mojo that we had - he didn't last long, and our grand plan to draft All-Star teams using the complete set of 1976 or '77 cards came to naught. Silverman and I would play all sorts of variations for hours on end - All Star teams, teams from different years, post-season replays from the prior year. I remember the closest we came to a fight was a game where I trailed by a lot going into the ninth and rallied. I got a single that would have loaded the bases, pulled me within three, and given me a shot to win with two outs. But without seeking my permission (a Strat-o no-no), he decided to send my runner from second home, as he was a fast runner and his OF has a + rating on his arm, making the safe to out split 1-19 (safe) and 20 (out). I didn't want to send him as his run didn't mean anything, but Silverman ripped the top card off the deck and it was a 20. He celebrated, I protested, and I rolled the dice - grand slam! I should have won that game but he argued that I would have sent the runner. It didn't make sense, but he was probably too embarrassed to have blown a 5 or 6 run lead in the ninth, and was clinging to his bizarre idea that I would have sent the runner home with a meaningless run.

Those were the days, huh? Do you remember some of the cards that came with warnings, because guys with only a few at bats but stellar stats had unbelievably good cards? The apotheosis of this was Roger Freed in 1977, who in 89 ABs hit .398 with 5 HR and 21 RBI. His card was like a pinball game - the sheet for that season's packet warned against using him as anything more than a pinch hitter or else he alone would skew outcomes all season long. Roger was the first player to homer in the Vet, by the way.

Somewhere in an attic, or maybe long since donated to charity, is a red box with cartoonish drawings of baseball players and an umpire. Inside that box are cards that made memories. Supposedly there is a computer version of Strat-o, but I haven't tried it. It seems almost sacrilegious to contemplate Strat-o without numbers-laden cardboard player cards and three dice. I just can't bring myself to try a version with electrons.

The good 'ol days...and Strat-o!

With my 30th high school reunion coming up next year, we recently received one of those typical questionnaires about remembrances from high school, etc. One of those was the wackiest thing we did during high school that we can admit we did 30 years later. I suspect the statute of limitations would never expire for some of the really nutty things many of us had once done. I wasn't much of a rabble-rouser, but I'm sure my answer in the only one of its kind. "The night Bob Thronson and I littered Matt Murray's lawn with 'Houston Flournoy for Governor' flyers before the California Governer Election in 1974."

Matt Murray was the resident king Democrat in HS, and his folks were big Dem supporters and would probably have have eventually been classified as limousine liberals (this was before there were such labels in '74), though I always suspected his dad's liberal convictions were somewhat sincere, and his glamorous wife (she really was; imagine a "nuclear" Susan Lucci!) just followed along. Best of all, though, this stunt of ours came the night before they were hosting a fund-raiser for Jerry Brown at his house in '74. And this wasn't just a few flyers we threw on the lawn. Thronson had thousands of these things, and we did a teepee job any sorority or frat would be proud of. We know it shook those folks up pretty good, especially with Brown himself due there the next night. But good thing we didn't try it the night of the fund-raiser, with Brown in attendance, as the security detail (there must have been one, no?) would probably have caught us red-handed. We also did this dirty deed the same night at the nearby Moskowitz house (guess which candidate they supported?), and David, in our grade, threatened revenge after learning it was us. As for Murray, he always suspected we were the culprits, though we never admitted as much in the day.

As for Flournoy, he was the Republican candidate who made up an incredible amount of ground in '74 and almost nailed Brown at the wire. Remember, this was only a few months after Nixon resigned, and in retrospect, it is remarkable that Flournoy made a race of it like he did, as he narrowed an over 20 percentage-point lead in the polls down to almost nothing by election day.

No, Flournoy didn't put us up to it, Thronson and I drummed this up on our own. Maybe we were motivated by Don Segretti in those days, this must have been our attempt at political trickery, circa 1974. Looking back, I think it's all pretty funny.

Another reminiscence from the questionnaire was when we were asked about some of the highlights of our lives. I don't know if I cringe more at having to answer such questions, or when having to read others brag about themselves.

So, a perfect time for some humor. And I listed as one of my highlights the night I beat my friend Jeff Powars and his 1977 Baltimore Colts with my 1977 New Orleans Saints, 21-0, in Strat-o-matic football!

In retrospect, I do consider this an accomplishment worthy of some recognition. And it's funny that as far as old Strat-o games go, I mostly recall my triumphs, whereas in days at The Gold Sheet, my recollections are mostly of games we lost, especially the more-bitter defeats. Maybe that's because I still feel guilty that customers might lose real money when they lose with our recommended TGS picks. In Strat-o, I only had to worry about myself.

The days of Strat-o were wondrous. It's a good thing that I didn't start playing Strat-o until 1975, I could see how it could have really distracted me if I started playing before I could drive and do other things. Had I became a Strat-o-matic fanatic in grade school, I might have never graduated from the 6th grade, never mind junior high, high school, or college.

Baseball was big Strat-o stuff in the day, and as another humorous aside, I am thinking of adding to the reunion questionnaire the little-known-fact that we began the 1976 Strat-o season (with '75 cards) during Mr. Schmidt's Marine Biology class.

I was in 12th grade and a few months from graduating at the time, and we were kind of care-free, especially after basketball season had concluded. It was just pure fun, those last couple of months in high school. And Mr. Schmidt was kind of a low-key teacher, so we deemed it appropriate to begin our season in the back row of his classroom, during 4th period.

In the day, we were so nuts for Strat-o that we had to play some of the games during school time, and not just wait until after school to roll 'em.

Besides, the previous season (my first with Strat-o), we had set a precedent of sorts with the season opener held during school hours, that one inside of the school library, drawing the ire of the no-nonsense librarian when we made too much noise. At other times, we would play games during the lunch break. We drafted our own "All-Star" teams during those days, and I still remember that first game of the '76 season in Mr. Schmidt's class, when I had to summon Paul Lindblad (well, his Strat-o card) out of the bullpen to save an 8-7 win over Don Dugas' team, which rallied with 3 runs in the top of the 9th on a Don Baylor homer. Lindblad got credit for saving a win for Gaylord Perry.

I admit to being ashamed that I probably remember more from that Strat-o opener, 30 years on, than anything I learned from Mr. Schmidt's class. Mr. Schmidt was great, however, maybe the funniest teacher I ever had, with a Jay Ward-type humor that often flew over our heads. In retrospect, he probably deserves better than me remembering Strat-o more than his lectures. Sorry about that, Mr. Schmidt.

In Strat-o football, however, we didn't draft All-Star teams, we used to play with the regular teams, be it the Colts, Giants, Dolphins, etc. In baseball during high school days, we might have 10-12 guys in a league. After high school, our leagues condensed a bit, and my brother Bradley started to play, so in Strat-o football he and I and four or five others would each have 3-4 teams, and would play a schedule comprising of 10-12 games, then have a playoff, and championship. We did much of this in the summer, and the "league" would take a few weeks before we would start another one. In one of the leagues, we got tired of always facing the good teams like the Cowboys and Raiders (everybody would take a good team when it came time to pick a squad), and we decided that only non-playoff teams from the previous season could be taken. That league involved 1978 teams, and I remember steering the wretched Giants into the championship game that season against the Jets, coached by Brad. I still recall the title game, when Joe Pisarcik, who could occasionally hit the deep pass (but woefully erratic on the short and intermediate stuff, and, of course, unreliable on handoffs to Larry Csonka), was enduring a difficult time vs. the Jet defense. Though he hit Jimmy Robinson with a 50-yard score to cut the deficit to 16-13 early in the 4th Q, Brad was using Richard Todd well in that game, and Todd hit Wesley Walker with a back-breaker shortly thereafter, and the Jets won 23-13.

By the time we were doing the non-playoff team league (that Giants-Jets title game season), we were playing advanced Strat-o football, but the first year or so of our Strat-o football in '78 (with '77 team cards), we played the "basic" version of the game, which made that Saints shutout over the Colts all the more remarkable. If you could strategize well enough, you at least had a chance to camouflage weaknesses in the advanced game, but no such luxury existed in the basic game outside of merely guessing "run" or "pass" correctly with your defenses.

The Saints had one of the all-time worst defenses in 1977, and were simply helpless against the run. Opponents could simply batter away mercilessly against the soft Saint defensive interior, and if an opposing coach was patient enough, he could simply off-tackle and line buck that Saint defense into submission. I endured much difficulty that particular Strat-o season (which might last about 3-4 weeks in real time) with the Saints, as for the most part I simply couldn't overcome that wretched defense.

Meanwhile, Bert Jones' 1977 card was regarded as one of the great Strat-o QB cards of his time. The '77 Colts were omnipotent, with plenty of balance thanks to Lydell Mitchell's runs, and Roger Carr'a ability to go deep presented a frightening combo for opposing defenses to deal with. In Strat-o terms, the '77 Colts should have been about 3 TD favorites over the '77 Saints.

I still don't know how I managed to get the Saints to pitch that remarkabale shutout, especially since Jeff Powars was a very capable Strat-o coach. We were beneficiaries of some turnovers, but I did emphasize a ball-control offense to keep the pigskin out of the Colts' hands. Easier said than done, especially when Powars got wise what I was up to, as there was only so much I could do with a low-risk attack, hoping to soften the Colts with Mike Strachan, Chuck Muncie, and Tony Galbreath pounding away, with an occasional short pass to TE Henry Childs (this was pre-Wes Chandler days). On some 3rd downs, however, when Powars guessed "pass" with the Colt defense, I would call "end run Archie," and Manning was even more dangeorus on the run when the opponent guessed wrong. If successful, we would take up more time on the clock than if we threw an incompletion, and I was hellbent to keep the Colts offense off the field. A couple of those Archie scrambles set up the lone score of the first half, and we went into halftime ahead, 7-0.

Behind to the Saints at halftime 7-0 was humiliating to the normally affable Powars (a USC guy), who began to get angry. As I remember, in the 3rd quarter, he finally got the Colt offense in gear, but one of those unforgettable Strat-o memories occurred next, when Bert Jones had driven the Colts inside the Saints 10, ready to level matters and surely take charge of the game. I guessed "pass" on 1st down but Powars had Jones throwing, too (Powars was incensed that I had guessed the same way as him on the rare 1st down pass), and wouldn't you know that we sacked Jones and forced a fumble, which we recovered. (I always credited that sack to Derland Moore, though we couldn't know for sure unless we were playing the advanced game). We broke off a few big plays and next thing you know, the Saints were up 14-0 late in the 3rd Q, and I started to think about the impossible shutout, which in this scenario would have been the Strat-o equivalent of Wilt's 100-point game.

Anyway, Powars panicked and abandoned the ground game, which was still the best way to attack the Saints, and started to go deep too often, and I realized as much and started to defend against the pass. The dice were certainly not rolling Jeff's way this day, and we extended the lead to 21-0 in the 4th Q before the Colts made a last stab at avoiding the humiliating shutout. Powars drove the Colts deep on their last possession, but another sack on the last play, with the Colts inside of our 10, preserved the whitewash. Saints 21, Colts 0! Still the most impossible Strat-o result of all time!

No, I hardly remember every Strat-o game I played like I do this one. At the time, however, I knew this one was unique. Plus, the fact I have recently located that same, old notebook with all of the play calls from that season has helped jog my memory about Saints-Colts, too!

Some other humorous asides in that great Strat-o season of 1978 (with the '77 cards). In a subsequent league, brother Brad had the Saints, and I had the Raiders, and, knowing the Saints' vulnerability against the run, I decided to hammer away mercilessly with Mark van Eeghen, who ended up with 46 carries in the game. Brad, meanwhile, ran Manning on those "end runs" 17 times, and while I complained that Manning would never run 17 times in a game, Brad exploded back that I was playing even more unrealistically and would have shattered the all-time NFL carries record with van Eeghen, and would have been jailed if this were real-life for my inhumane treatment of the Colgate hammer. "My" Raiders won that one, 34-20.

And, yes, occasionally, Strat-o would descend into fisticuffs, though we kept those mostly within the family, so it meant Brad and I would occasionally fight. We engaged in a handful of "flash" battles (a punch or two, nothing serious) in some of the most-heated Strat-o moments, as well as throwing projectiles such as pencils, pens, the occasional notebook in which we recorded our plays, or books.

My vote for the dullest team of all-time goes to the 1977 Falcons, who had a great defense (early version "Grits Blitz") for Leeman Bennett but a wretched, impotent offense. In one Strat-o game that season, when I had those Falcs, we went up against the '77 Bills, whose sieve-like defense was reminiscent of the soft Saints stop unit. Scott Hunter was the Atlanta QB, and had a horrific Strat-o card, so I simply abandoned the pass that game and decided to hammer at will at the soft Buffalo "D" with Haskel Stanback and Bubba Bean. At the end of the game, we had run 72 plays, 68 of them being rushes, and only 4 incomplete passes. Bean, I believe, scored on a long TD run, and we scored a defensive TD, and ended up 13-10 winners. Brad also coached those Bills that day, and was again vociferous in his complaints to me about running such an unrealistic game plan with those Falcons.

That's the way it went in the days of Strat-o football. In retrospect, one of the curious by-products of those games was that we rarely, if ever, showed mercy to one another in those games. Sportsmanship be damned, if we were up 4 or 5 TDs in the 4th Q, we would go for the throat, rarely substitute our starters, and would still be throwing the ball deep in the late going, trying to extend the leads. On a few occasions, coaches got burned when key starters would suffer injuries in those meaningless situations, but for the most part we didn't care. If we were up 45-0, we'd want to make it 52-0 if we could...

There must be some Strat-o publications somewhere that would like to have these stories. Any similar Strat-o tales from the blog would be most welcome!...