MLB Update

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Divisional Winners:

Milwaukee (C)

Philadelphia (E)

Los Angeles (W)

Milwaukee and Philly will get the two byes.

Wild Cards:

Chicago

San Diego

Eliminated:

Arizona

San Francisco

St. Louis

Miami

Atlanta

Pittsburgh

Washington

Colorado

The Reds (82-78) and the Mets (82-78) are battling for the last wild card spot.  The Reds' last two games are in Milwaukee.  The Mets' last two games are in Miami.

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

Divisional Winners:

Seattle (W)

Seattle will get one of the two byes.  The other bye will go to the winner of the AL East.

Playoff Spots Clinched:

Toronto

New York

Boston

Boston will be a wild card.  New York (93-68) and Toronto (92-68) are battling for the championship of the AL East.  The Yankees have already beaten Baltimore 6-1 today; the Blue Jays lead Tampa Bay 3-0 in the bottom of the 4th.

Eliminated:

Texas

Kansas City

Tampa Bay

Oakland

Baltimore

Los Angeles

Minnesota

Chicago

Either Cleveland (86-74) or Detroit (86-74) will win the AL Central.  Whichever of those teams loses the AL Central can still make the playoffs if they beat out Houston (85-75) for the last Wild Card.  Detroit's last two games are in Boston.  Cleveland's last two games are at home against Texas.  Houston's last two games are in Orange County, California against the Angels.

Ryder Cup Update

We like to pretend that the Ryder Cup is somewhat competitive, but it's really lopsided.  Since 1995, our record in the Ryder Cup is 4-10.  To put that figure in perspective, consider that Auburn went 5-12 against Nick Saban in the Iron Bowl.  So we beat Europe about as often as Auburn beat Nick Saban.

MLB Update

The Reds beat the Pirates today 2-1.  One of the following three teams will get the last NL playoff spot:

New York:  81-77

Cincinnati:  81-78

Arizona:  80-78

The D-Backs are currently losing 8-0 to the Dodgers after 4.

Meanwhile, in the American League, three of the following four teams will get the remaining playoff spots:

Boston:  87-71

Cleveland:  86-72

Detroit:  85-73

Houston:  84-74

Right now, Houston leads the A's 7-0 in the bottom of the 4th.

NFL Power Rankings and Survivor Pool, Week 4

Here are the top ten teams in ESPN's NFL Power Rankings:

1.  Philadelphia:  3-0

2.  Buffalo:  3-0

3.  Detroit:  2-1

4.  San Diego 3-0

5.  Green Bay:  2-1

6.  Tampa Bay:  3-0

7.  Baltimore:  1-2

8.  Los Angeles:  2-1

9.  Kansas City:  1-2

10.  Washington:  2-1

Miami is currently number 28.

This is the week the NFL starts to play games with the schedule, as we get our first European game on Sunday morning.  Soon the byes will start up.  On the other hand, the Game of the Week is a good one, as the Number-1 Eagles will visit the Number-6 Bucs as part of the noon lineup on Sunday.  I always like it when they play the Game of the Week in the noon hour.  At 3:25 PM on Sunday, we get the Number-7 Ravens visiting the Number-9 Chiefs.  That's a full day of good professional football.

Buffalo pulled out a tough win over Miami last Thursday, so we survived for another week.  Buffalo is heavily favored over the Saints this week, but we already took them so we can't use them again.  Of the remaining games, Detroit jumps out as an obvious favorite to beat the Browns in Detroit on Sunday.  So we are going with the Lions.  Survivor games so far:

Week One:  Denver 20 - 12 Tennessee

Week Two:  Baltimore 41 - 17 Cleveland

Week Three:  Buffalo 31 - 21 Miami

Classic SEC Standings

Based on the CBS Sports rankings, they look like this:

3.  Georgia:  3-0

4.  LSU:  4-0

13.  Ole Miss:  4-0

15.  Tennessee:  3-1

16.  Ga. Tech:  4-0

18.  Alabama:  2-1

19.  Vandy:  4-0

27.  Auburn:  3-1

32.  Miss. St:  4-0

34.  Tulane:  3-1

59.  Florida:  1-3

63.  Kentucky:  2-1

I have also decided to go with the Classic Pac-8 instead of the Pac-10.  The Classic Pac-8 looks like this:

6.  Oregon:  4-0

21.  U.S.C.:  4-0

31.  Washington:  3-0

54.  California:  3-1

68.  U.C.L.A.:  0-3

85.  Washington St:  2-2

86.  Stanford:  1-3

91.  Oregon St:  0-4

With Arizona and Arizona St. now out of the Pac-8, we can recreate one of my favorite conferences, the Classic Western Athletic Conference.  The standings for the Classic WAC now look like this:

24.  Utah:  3-1

29.  B.Y.U.:  3-0

33.  Arizona St:  3-1

43.  Arizona:  3-0

88.  New Mexico:  2-1

89.  Colorado St:  1-2

120.  Wyoming:  2-2

126.  U.T.E.P:  1-3

One other thing:  I've decided to start rooting for U of L in all sports, because it's now obvious to me that the goal in Lexington is not to beat Tennessee -- it's to beat Louisville.  So the stronger U of L is, the more pressure UK will face to improve.  Louisville is currently ranked number 26 in the country, with a record of 3-0.  So that's a good sign for Kentucky football.

In men's basketball, on the other hand, ESPN's latest bracketology has UK as the number-3 seed in the West Regional, with U of L as the Number-5 seed in the same region.  Joe Lunardi has really outdone himself in the projected West Region.  If all the favored seeds won, the Second Round would look like something Matt Jones made up to boost ratings at Kentucky Sports Radio:

(1) Purdue v. (8) Cincinnati

(4) Arkansas v. (5) Louisville

(3) Kentucky v. (6) Michigan St.

(2) B.Y.U. v. (7) U.S.C.

MLB Update

Regular season ends Sunday.

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Division Champions:

Milwaukee (C)

Philadelphia (E)

Clinched Playoffs:

Los Angeles

Chicago

San Diego

Eliminated:

Atlanta

Pittsburgh

Washington

Colorado

The last playoff spot will go to the Mets (66.8 percent chance), Reds (21.3 percent chance), or D-Backs (11.7 percent chance).

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

Division Champions:

None

Clinched Playoffs:

Toronto

New York

Seattle

Eliminated:

Tampa Bay

Oakland

Baltimore

Los Angeles

Minnesota

Chicago

The last three spots will go to three of the following four teams:  Red Sox (96.2 percent chance), Cleveland (79.9 percent), Detroit (80.5 percent), or Houston (43.5 percent).  I, for one, would love to see the Astros miss the playoffs.

MLB Update

One week left in the regular season:

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Division Winners:

Milwaukee

Philadelphia

Clinched Playoff Spots:

Los Angeles

Chicago

Eliminated:

Atlanta

Pittsburgh

Washington

Colorado

According to ESPN, the Padres have a 99.9 percent chance of making the playoffs, while the Mets (51.7 percent), Reds (42.0 percent), and D-Backs (5.9 percent) are battling for the last spot.

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

Division Winners:

None

Clinched Playoff Spots:

Toronto

Eliminated:

Tampa Bay

Oakland

Baltimore

Los Angeles

Minnesota

Chicago

According to ESPN, the Yankees, Mariners, and Red Sox are all better than 92 percent to make the playoffs.  The last two spots will go to two of the following three teams:  the Tigers (80.9 percent chance), Houston (73.2 percent), and Cleveland (53.5 percent).  Detroit was one of the best teams in baseball for the whole season, but the Tigers have gone 1-9 in their last 10 games, while Cleveland has gone 9-1.  Meanwhile, the Mariners have won nine of their last ten games, so Houston (which trails the Mariners by three games) is scrambling for a wild card slot.

The Greatest Football Coach in the History of the South

Here are the records of two Alabama coaches.  It's close, but there's a clear difference:

2007-2023:  Nick Saban:  Overall record 206-29 (.877)  Conference record 120-18 (.870).  Six AP national titles (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020).

1958-1982:  Bear Bryant:  Overall record 205-42-9 (.818)  Conference record 125-25-5 (.823).  Five AP national titles (1961, 1964, 1965, 1978, 1979)

The Alabama folks are going to miss Nick Saban a lot.

NFL Power Rankings and Survivor Pool, Week 3

Here is the latest top ten from ESPN's NFL power rankings:

1.  Buffalo:  2-0

2.  Philadelphia:  2-0

3.  Green Bay:  2-0

4.  Baltimore:  1-1

5.  Detroit:  1-1

6.  Los Angeles:  2-0

7.  San Diego:  2-0

8.  Kansas City:  0-2

9.  Washington:  1-1

10.  Tampa Bay:  2-0

Miami is Number 28.

I don't really like any of the Survivor Pool options this week.  I think Green Bay will beat Cleveland, but the Packers are on the road.  I think Tampa Bay will beat the Jets, but the Bucs are offensively challenged.  I think the Chiefs will beat the Giants, but the Chiefs are on the road -- and are also offensively challenged.  And so I am going to take the Bills to beat the Dolphins.  I don't like a lot of things about this game -- it's a division game, it's on Thursday night, and it's exactly the sort of game Buffalo has had trouble with in the past.  But Buffalo is the best of a bad lot, and I'm taking them.

Past survivor pool picks (home teams listed first):

Week One:  Denver 20 - 12 Tennessee

Week Two:  Baltimore 41 - 17 Cleveland

MLB Update

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Clinched division:

Philadelphia

Clinched playoff spots:

Milwaukee

Chicago

Eliminated:

Pittsburgh

Washington

Colorado

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

Clinched division:

None

Clinched playoff spots:

None

Eliminated:

Baltimore

Oakland

Los Angeles

Minnesota

Chicago

In reality, we've known for months who is going to the playoffs.  In the NL, the other three playoff teams will be Los Angeles, San Diego, and New York.  In the AL, the six playoff teams will be Toronto, Detroit, New York, Houston, Seattle, and Boston.

Tree Today

 

1978: What's on TV Friday Nights?

I was disappointed to learn that Donny & Marie have ditched the ice dancers for Season 4.  

But the truth is that 1978 me was probably moving away from that perky show for my TV79 Friday nights, anyway. NBC has my 7/7:30 Central eye wandering with new sitcoms showcasing Broadway Joe and Chachi!

As GoHeath noted, TV79 is not going down as a proud-as-an-anything moment in NBC history.

But there's a pretty good chance I'll give Channel 6 the benefit of the doubt with its new entries bookending old-standby Rockford Files Season 5.

And if I lose the Channel 6 steam by Eddie Capra at 9, I will happily flip to Flying High on Channel 12. I caught the preview pilot the other night, and that thing feels like it is poised to deliver the absolute best kind of made-for-TV movie (no guns/killing, more laughs than drama, familiar faces, lots of love) every freaking Friday night.

But, just to be clear, none of us is watching any of that stuff on this particular Friday night in 1978.

Well, I guess 27 percent of us were watching something else at 7 Central Sept. 15, 1978. Per the Associated Press, "The biggest audience ever for a televised sporting event watched ABC’s broadcast of the heavyweight championship rematch between Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks live from New Orleans. ABC estimated the audience for the 15-round fight at 90 million and said that meant 73 percent of the sets in use at the time were tuned to the fight."

MaxPreps Kentucky Rankings

After four weeks of high school football, we have enough data to use the MaxPreps rankings for the KHSAA.  Here is the top 20:

1.  Lou. Trinity:  3-1

2.  Christian Academy-Louisville:  4-0

3.  Lou. St. Xavier:  3-0

4.  Boyle Co:  3-1

5.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  3-1

6.  S. Warren:  4-0

7.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  1-3

8.  Cooper:  2-2

9.  Franklin Co:  4-0

10.  Scott Co:  4-0

11.  Lou. Manual:  3-1

12.  Corbin:  3-1

13.  Lou. Male:  2-1

14.  Beechwood:  3-0

15.  Cov. Catholic:  2-2

16.  Pad. Tilghman:  3-1

17.  Bowling Green:  0-4

18.  Johnson Cent:  4-0

19.  Ryle:  2-2

20.  Woodford Co:  3-1

And here are the Power Eleven for western Kentucky:

16.  Pad. Tilghman:  3-1

29.  Mayfield:  3-1

30.  Madisonville-N. Hopkins:  4-0

42.  Union Co:  2-2

58.  Murray:  4-0

59.  Henderson Co:  1-2

61.  Graves Co:  1-3

73.  McCracken Co:  1-3

81.  Hopkinsville:  3-1

105.  Caldwell Co:  3-1

111.  Crittenden Co:  2-2

UCFC Update

On Saturday, Miami (Fla.) crushed South Florida 49-12 to take the Unofficial College Football Championship.  Miami will defend the title at home on Saturday against the University of Florida.

MLB Update

The Washington Nationals (62-87) and Minnesota Twins (65-84) have been eliminated.

The Milwaukee Brewers (91-59) and Philadelphia Phillies (89-61) have become the first two teams to clinch playoff spots.

1978: What's on TV Thursday Nights?

Mom pitched camp in the kitchen Thursday nights in 1978. Her portable was absolutely locked in all prime time to Channel 12.  

But, for me, it's more 7-9 p.m. Central sitcom domination by ABC.

The new show (a last-second shift from Monday nights) is the stud of the Channel 3 Thursday bunch. I found both Mindy and Mork to be adorable in their own ways.

And I'm satisfied to roll the next 90 minutes with What's Happening!! Season 3, Barney Miller Season 5 and Soap Season 2. Mom's Waltons/Hawaii Five-O/Barnaby Jones bender is helpful in this regard, as it is likely to keep her distracted from helicoptering the Channel 3 storylines on the portable in my bedroom.

As for 9 p.m., the new NBC show about broadcasting doesn't sound like nearly as much fun as the new CBS show about broadcasting. 

I might opt for a Season 4 Quincy, M.E. on SelectaVision. Or, every other Thursday night, I might expand my horizons with some public broadcasting, as PBS is bringing to its national audience an appealing creation germinating from its Chicago affiliate.

1978: What's on TV Wednesday Nights?

It honestly had never occurred to me until my year-by-year nostalgia slog at the HP just how hard I fell in love with newsrooms and newspeople through TV shows like Eight Is Enough and Lou Grant in the wake of Watergate and All the President's Men. In fact, I think Eight Is Enough might've been the most formative for me of all of the newspaper art of the 1970s. 

I really, really dug Dick Van Patten's Tom Bradford, an editor with a secretary and lots of professional respect--but a guy who ultimately seems to spend most of his time and emotional energy hanging out with with his wife, children and friends. Also, he's forever playing football or tennis or some sport. I see now that this dude was a total hero for me. I watched Eight Is Enough regularly when it was on; I skipped a lot of class in my first year or two at Western watching daytime reruns of the show on one of the two channels I could tune in on my dorm-room portable TV, and my wife and I even now and then put on an episode on Tubi (she liked/likes it, too).

So, Eight Is Enough Season 3 is my solid Wednesday-nights TV79 opener.

I don't know that I ever actually loved The Jeffersons, but I did come to love George, Louise and all of their family and friends, as I can't imagine that there's an episode that I haven't seen at least some of. So Jeffersons Season 5 is a likely SelectaVision situation for me at some point later in the evening.

The new shows? Meh.

I think it makes total sense that NBC in 1978 would take a flier on Dick Clark as ringmaster of an SNL for squares, but, in hindsight, it sure seems clear that the Ed Sullivan era was just solidly passed.

I watched a lot of the Vega$ pilot movie, and I found it surprisingly compelling. Still, I never watched that show when I was a kid; it's just not the kind of fun I'm usually looking for from TV. I'm not holding space for it.

Of course, 1978 me will give the new Channel 12 sitcom, In the Beginning, a go. It's clear CBS had high hopes for this Norman Lear sendup of Going My Way. Here is a very entertaining reel of promos that the network put together, apparently, for affiliates or advertisers or some B2B audience, and In the Beginning ("a different kind of comedy with impact for on both children and adults") is introduced as a big-tent Social Gospel meditation:

That back end of TV79 Wednesdays ultimately looks like movie territory for me, however. Here's what most grabbed me from the borrowed-from-box-office summary that TV Guide compiled for the new season:

• Airport '77
• Bad News Bears
• Black Sunday (just for the football parts)
• Blume in Love
• Fun with Dick and Jane
• Gone with the Wind
• Harry and Tonto
• Lady Sings the Blues
• Mother, Jugs and Speed
• Network
• Norman, Is That You?
• Orca
• Prisoner of Second Avenue
• Rocky
• Two-Minute Warning (again, football parts)

1978: What's on TV Tuesday Nights?

Channel 12 did a special preview of The Paper Chase the other night in 1978, and I thought it was excellent! 

However, there's just zero hope of any other network's breaking ABC's hold on me 7-9 Central Tuesday evenings. 

Jumped-the-shark Happy Days is starting Season 6 with an hour-long visit to a Colorado dude ranch. I am embarrassed to admit that I failed to note that Laverne & Shirley Season 4 actually kicked off last week in 1978, so we will have to hope to catch the hour-long "Festival" extravaganza in rerun. As previously noted, Three's Company (Apartamento para Tres) Season 3 gets going with "Double Date." And, then, at 8:30, one of my favorite shows of all time debuts.

For my money, there is no better sitcom pilot than Taxi's first episode, which includes the following phenomenal scene in which the coworkers learn that the pay phone in the garage is broken in such a way that they can place calls anywhere and get their coins back. So Bobby calls the National Theatre of Great Britain; Tony tries to call a Bangkok masseuse whom he met on R&R during the Vietnam War, and Alex initially declines to call his estranged daughter. It's such a clever, clever way to introduce these characters' back stories and shared station in life, and the actors are so immediately lovable and believable.

Well, anyway, I'm back open to offers at 9 Tuesday nights, which means Grandpa Goes to Washington might get some SelectaVision love during that hour.

But, more likely (sorry, Jack Albertson), I'm going to use that hour to catch up on Paper Chase or the last hour of the NBC special or CBS movie. Speaking of which, in the "Wednesday Nights" edition of this HP series, we'll take a look at some of the exciting-to-me movies that the networks have licensed for my pleasure in this dawning, glorious TV79.

1978: What's on TV Monday Nights?

Once NFL78 finishes its regular season, Monday nights portend as a Channel 12 situation from prime-time wire to prime-time wire ...

However, football season is only now getting started and extends to 16 games for the first time, and so here's a coin (apparently created by or for a Lexington TV station, now offered by an eBay seller in Bagdad) embossed with the 1978 lineup of ABC's NFL Monday Night Football games in 1978 for us all to coordinate calendars accordingly ...

As for that 7-8 p.m. Central hour before kickoff, I was never that much of a Kotter guy, anyway, so I'm not going to be any too conflicted about giving WKRP ("a hilarious, new comedy with exceptionally strong youth appeal") a try. And I imagine I will stick right with Phyllis George, whom I love (and with whom I once rode on a helicopter from Barkley Regional to a field somewhere down in Graves, Fulton or Hickman counties), until time for Frank, Howard and Dandy Don on Monday nights this fall or M*A*S*H Season 7 and One Day at a Time Season 4 in the new year.

Finally, I want to send a special 1978 Desk shoutout to Lou Grant (and YouTube compiler "mtmepisodes2"). The show's 1977-78 Season 1 (TV78) was fantastic, and Season 2 episodes don't start until Sept. 25. So that leaves us all time to acquaint or re-acquaint ourselves with "Animal," Mrs. Pynchon, Billie, Joe and all of Lou's new friends around the Los Angeles Tribune newsroom.

CBS Ranks the Top 25 College Basketball Programs of the last 25 Years

1.  Duke:  720-171 (National Champs in 2001, 2010, 2015)

2.  Kansas:  717-175 (2008, 2022)

3.  Connecticut:  590-262 (2004, 2011, 2014, 2023, 2024)

4.  N. Carolina:  639-251 (2005, 2009, 2017)

5.  Michigan St.:  617-254

6.  Kentucky:  651-222 (2012)

7.  Florida:  608-258 (2006, 2007, 2025)

8.  Villanova:  594-258 (2016, 2018)

9.  Syracuse:  579-278 (2003)

10.  Gonzaga:  716-143

11.  Louisville:  559-283 (2013)

12.  Maryland:  545-293 (2002)

13.  Virginia:  527-278 (2019)

14.  Baylor:  513-301 (2021)

15.  Houston:  528-296

16.  Memphis St:  621-236

17.  Arizona:  624-234

18.  Wisconsin:  595-258

19.  Purdue:  544-294

20.  U.C.L.A.:  559-284

21.  Ohio St:  574-277

22.  San Diego St:  579-254

23.  Va. Commonwealth:  587-249

24.  Illinois:  550-302

25.  Creighton:  578-269

I would rearrange the top 10 as follows:

1.  UConn

2.  Duke

3.  Kansas

4.  UNC

5.  Florida

6.  Kentucky

7.  Villanova

8.  Michigan St.

9.  Syracuse

10.  Gonzaga

I think I would also rank UVA ahead of Maryland, and I would put Arizona and Wisconsin ahead of Memphis.  But the rest of the list looks pretty good to me.

NFL Week Two Rankings and Survivor Pick

Here is the latest NFL top ten from ESPN:

1.  Buffalo:  1-0

2.  Philadelphia:  1-0

3.  Baltimore:  0-1

4.  Green Bay:  1-0

5.  Kansas City:  0-1

6.  Washington:  1-0

7.  Los Angeles:  1-0

8.  Detroit:  0-1

9.  San Diego:  1-0

10.  Tampa Bay:  1-0

Miami is number 26.

Once again, the NFL schedulers are generous with the fans.  Tonight, we get the Number-4 Packers hosting Number-6 Washington.  Sunday afternoon we get a Super Bowl rematch, with the Number-5 Chiefs hosting the Number-2 Eagles.  So it should be another good weekend in front of the tube.

Now for Survivor Pool.  We barely made it last week, but in Survivor Pool we just say how, not how many.  This week one game stands out:  the Ravens, at home, are favored by 11 1/2 points over the Browns.  I normally avoid divisional games, but this game is far and away our best chance given the rest of the schedule -- and I really don't think the Ravens are going to start the season oh and two.  So I'm picking Baltimore to survive.

Survivor picks so far (home teams listed first):

1.  Denver 20 - 12 Tennessee

1978: What's on TV Sunday Nights?

The 6 p.m. Central Sunday block was almost always a disappointment to me. Occasionally, there was a Disney show or 60 Minutes segment that interested me, but, for the most part, I was always rooting for the late-afternoon NFL games to run late or wished this hour would've been given to the local affiliates to plug in old sitcom reruns and game shows.

But, at 7, now we're talking ...

It felt like every other 10-year-old boy in the United States was more into science fiction than I was in 1978, but, still, I was kind of into it. That's how huge science fiction was. I liked Star Wars. I really liked Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And I loved the toys. So while I almost certainly won't stick with it, I'll give Lorne Greene in space a go.

And I'm totally, totally down for Mary Tyler Moore getting a big Sunday-night variety showcase ...

I would've preferred that she just kept on making her sitcom, but this is good. CBS did a giant, self-congratulatory anniversary special over the course of a week this summer in 1978, and I really enjoyed that. Mary Tyler Moore ushered us through that whole deal, and she was just absolutely in command of the role.

So, I have high hopes for Mary, and, indeed, I don't envision myself tuning away from Channel 12 from 7 straight on through 9 on Sunday nights. I'm only OK with All in the Family, but I'll give it a fresh chance at 8 with the cast and story evolutions in light of the Stivics' move. I adore Alice, so I'm locked in there at 8:30.

Neither of the new shows at 9 p.m. grabs me ...

So that's probably when I'll fire up the ol' SelectaVision and a tape of that night's Battlestar Galactica or some NBC Big Event special. Speaking of which, here are the specials scheduled for the 1978-79 TV season that TV Guide has me especially juiced for:

• One in a Million made-for-TV movie, CBS, with LeVar Burton as Detroit Tigers outfielder Ron LeFlore, scheduled for Sept. 26
• A Salute to the American Imagination special, CBS, marking Ford Motor Co.'s 75th year, Oct. 5
• 10th Anniversary Hee Haw special, NBC, Oct. 22
• Bud & Lou made-for-TV movie, NBC, about Abbott & Costello, Nov. 15
• Benji's Very Own Christmas Story, NBC, Dec. 7
• A Woman Called Moses miniseries, NBC, with Cicely Tyson as Harriet Tubman, starting Dec. 11
• Perry Como's Early American Christmas special, ABC, Dec. 13
• Bob Hope All-Star Christmas Show, NBC, Dec. 22
• Dolly & Carol in Nashville special, CBS, starring Parton and Burnett, Feb. 14, 1979
• Roots: The Next Generations miniseries, ABC, starting Feb. 18
• Friendly Fire made-for-TV movie, CBS, with Carol Burnett as the mother of a soldier killed in Vietnam, April 22
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings made-for-TV special, CBS, with Esther Rolle, Ruby Dee and Diahann Carroll starring in the dramatization of Maya Angelou's book, April 29
• Ike: The War Years miniseries, ABC, with Robert Duvall as Gen. Eisenhower, starting May 3

I love television.

1978: What's on TV Saturday Nights?

TV Guide's 1978 fall-preview is out, and I'm thankful to have the distraction from both the 1978 and 2025 Dolphins.

I'm also thankful that VCRs are out so that I can record one of those 7/7:30 p.m. Central Saturday blocks of sitcoms. In fact, maybe I'll get a RCA SelectaVision and a Magnavox so that I can tape both the ABC and CBS shows while watching CHiPs. I like everything at 7 and 7:30, and, other than the occasional Love Boat, nothing much excites me from 8 on ...

CHiPs is one of the very, very few cultural artifacts of the day on which my father and I agreed and actually shared in proximity to one another. 

Unlike so many homes of the day, my family did not gather around a single TV set. We had a big console color television in the living room, but it was out of commission (but still present) almost all of my childhood. Instead, we typically spread out among three black-and-white portable jobs. There was one in Mom and Dad's bedroom, one in the kitchen and--after my last older sibling moved out--one in my bedroom. Even if we were all watching the same game, news event or (very rarely) weekly program, Dad, Mom and I would often fan out among the three sets and just yell back and forth to each other across the house at commercial breaks or whatever.

But CHiPs was different. For some reason, Dad and I got into watching CHiPs together. It wasn't the favorite show for either of us. But we both liked it enough to watch it together, and we both found it non-engrossing enough to play Othello together as we watched. After supper, Dad and I would set up the Othello game on his and Mom's bed and play to the show on Channel 6, while Mom did whatever Mom did out in the kitchen and watched whatever she watched on some other channel.

I loved Carter Country and Rhoda, and I liked Good Times. And I also actually remember giving Apple Pie a chance (it didn't take) because of Jack Gilford, with whom Mom and I once rode an elevator at a Hilton in Arlington Heights, Illinois!

10 May 1978, Wed The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

20 Apr 1978, Thu The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

UCFC Update

On Saturday, September 6, the South Florida Bulls defeated the Florida Gators 18 to 16 in Gainesville, Florida.  With this victory, the Bulls to the title of Unofficial College Football Champion, which the Gators had held since November 23, 2024, when the Gators defeated the Mississippi Rebels 24 to 17.

Life doesn't get easier for the Bulls.  On Saturday, September 13, the Bulls will defend the U.C.F.C. in Miami, Florida against the University of Miami Hurricanes, who are currently ranked Number 5 in the AP Poll.

1978 NFL Predictions

The new NFL season kicks off tonight, Saturday, Sept. 2, 1978, with the New York Giants playing the Buccaneers in Tampa, Florida. However, that game will not be on TV; instead, Channel 3 is showing this:

1978 me is about as excited as I can possibly be to put the game on and then splay out my football cards on the living-room floor and get them all sorted out for the new season. Here's how I project things to go, by the way:

This, of course, would be a crushing result for us Miami Dolphins fans, but the numbers of my super-secret rating system are what the numbers of my super-secret rating system are. And the numbers are significantly worse for the Dolphins after A.J. Duhe was sidelined by injury early and Bob Griese late during the preseason. 

The NFL slimmed from six to four exhibition games this summer, but injuries have remained a huge part of the story of the leadup to the regular season. In addition to Miami defensive end Duhe and quarterback Griese, injuries apparently have shelved for one or multiple weeks of the regular season Baltimore Colts quarterback Bert Jones, New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley, Cincinnati Bengals qurterback Ken Anderson, Giants defensive lineman Troy Archer and Chicago Bears cornerback Allan Ellis. These players projected among the league's very best players at their positions. How quickly they return to action and which others are sidelined when will have giant influence on how things actually go on the field, and neither of those influences is factored into my predictions.

Nor, really, is the possible impact of rookies. Houston Oilers running back Earl Campbell looks amazing. New Orleans Saints wide receiver Wes Chandler, San Diego Chargers wide receiver John Jefferson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Doug Williams, Denver Broncos nose tackle Don Latimer and Dallas Cowboys tight end/fullback Todd Christensen also have looked great. Kansas City Chiefs defensive linemen Art Still and Sylvester Hicks, San Francisco 49ers tight end Ken MacAfee, Cincinnati defensive end Ross Browner, Detroit Lions safety Luther Bradley, Atlanta Falcons tackle Mike Kenn, Green Bay Packers linebacker John Anderson and Los Angeles Rams kicker Frank Corral appear as though have wide-open immediate opportunities to contribute to their team's fortunes in big ways.

And then there's coaching. I came up with my super-secret rating system only last season, and I haven't quite figured out how to suss out the specific impact of coaching. Of course, it is tremendous. The Dolphins (10-4), Cleveland Browns (6-8), Broncos (12-2), Washington (9-5) and Falcons (7-7) all fared significantly better than I projected them to in NFL77, and I can't help but believe that head coaches Don Shula, Forrest Gregg, Red Miller, George Allen and Leeman Bennett (of Paducah!) were the primary reasons why. 

Better projecting the likely impact of rookies and measuring that of head coaches are this season's major points of emphasis in refining my super-secret rating system.

Interestingly, neither Gregg nor Allen is back with the team he coached in NFL77, and now neither is employed by any team as NFL78 dawns. Gregg took an assistant-coaching job with the Chargers but then decided his heart wasn't in it. Allen was hired away from Washington by the Rams, but then Carroll Rosenbloom decided his head hadn't been in it. "I made a serious error in judgment," he was quoted as saying after Los Angeles's 0-2 start in the preseason. He fired Allen and promoted assistant coach Ray Malavasi to guide the Rams.

But Shula is back in Miami, which gives me hope that the Dolphins will outperform my expectations. And Bennett is back in Atlanta, which I bet keeps the sports desks at The Paducah Sun (no longer the Sun-Democrat) and Channel 6 dialed in all autumn. And Miller is back with Denver, which I think is going to win the whole thing. 

For most of the preseason, my super-secret rating system actually had the Broncos going undefeated in NFL78. But then the Oakland Raiders picked up one of the league's top defensive players, cornerback Monte Jackson, from the Rams, and, in perhaps the only moment in my entire actual life that I was happy about the good fortune of the Raiders, that acquisition tipped Week 14 Broncos-at-Raiders in favor of the home team. ("Phew!" 2025 and 1978 me simultaneously exclaimed in honor of the 1972 Dolphins.)

Thank you, Matthew, for inspiring me to work through this fun project over the last several weeks, and thank you, GoHeath, for sustaining my enthusiasm throughout the period. Let's go NFL of every year, indeed!

Thirty-Two Franchises: Baltimore Ravens

Have participated in the NFL since the 1996 Season.

All-Time Record:  268-199-1 (.574)

The Baltimore Colts played 423 regular season games in the NFL.  The Baltimore Ravens have played 468.  If the two Baltimore franchises were combined, then their history looks like this:

1953-1983:  222-194-7 (.534)

1996-2024:  268-199-1 (.574)

Total:  490-393-8 (.554)

So the Baltimore teams, combined, have a better winning percentage than any Franchise other than Dallas and Green Bay.  Baltimore also has three Super Bowl Titles -- despite not having a team from 1984 through 1995.  Lots of towns take pride in their "Blue Collar" football culture, but most of them have not been able to keep pace with Charm City.

Super Bowl Record:  2-0 (XXXV, XLVII) (2000, 2012)

Top Passer:  Joe Flacco (38,245 yds)

Top Rusher:  Jamal Lewis (7,801 yds)

Top Receiver:  Derrick Mason (5,777 yds)

Top Coach:  John Harbaugh (172 wins)

Top All-Time Player Based on Approximate Value:  Ray Lewis (AV of 224)

And that's all.  Let's go 2025-26 NFL!

Thirty-Two Franchises: Dallas Cowboys

Have participated in the NFL since the 1960 season.

All-Time Record:  569-423-6 (.574)

Super Bowl Record:  5-3 (VI, XII, XXVII, XXVIII, XXX) (1971, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1995)

Here are the three eras of Cowboy football:

1960-1988:  Tom Landry Era:  250-162-6 (.607) (Two Super Bowl Championships)

1989-1993:  Jimmy Johnson Era:  44-36-0 (.550) (Two Super Bowl Championships)

1994-2025:  Jerry Jones Era:  275-225-0 (.550) (One Super Bowl Championship)

The Cowboys have not played for the NFC title since the 1995 Season.

Top Passer:  Tony Romo (34,183 yds)

Top Rusher:  Emmitt Smith (17,162 yds)

Top Receiver:  Jason Witten (12,977 yds)

Top Coach:  Tom Landry (250 wins)

Top All-Time Player Based on Approximate Value:  Emmitt Smith (AV of 162)

Emmitt Smith has the highest AV of any running back.

Thirty-Two Franchises: Green Bay Packers

Have participated in the NFL since the 1921 Season.

All-Time Record:  810-604-38 (.572)

The Packers have the best record of all the NFL teams that were in the League before World War II began:

Packers:  .572

Bears:  .553

Steelers:  .538

Giants:  .522

Rams:  .507

Eagles:  .500

Washington:  .497

Lions:  .461

Cardinals:  .422

Super Bowl Record:  4-1 (I, II, XXXI, XLV) (1966, 1967, 1996, 2010)

Remarkably, for all their success, the Packers have been to the Super Bowl only once since 1997.  During that time, the Packers lost the NFC title game in the following seasons:  2007, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2020.

Top Passer:  Brett Favre (61,655 yds)

Top Rusher:  Ahman Green (8,322 yds)

Top Receiver:  Donald Driver (10,137 yds)

Top Coach:  Curly Lambeau (209 wins)

Interestingly, the Packers won five NFL titles between 1961 and 1967, but no one from those teams is represented on the list above.  

Top All-Time Player Based on Approximate Value:  Aaron Rodgers (AV of 231)

Rodgers's regular season record as a starter at Green Bay:  153-87-1 (.637)

Favre's regular season record as a starter at Green Bay:  160-93-0 (.632)

Bart Starr's regular season record as a starter at Green Bay:  94-57-6 (.618)

Vince Lombardi's regular season record at Green Bay was 95-36-5 (.717).  Lombardi's record in the playoffs at Green Bay:  9-1.