The Steelers are 13-12 against Miami in the regular season, and they are 2-2 in the playoffs.
Here are the four playoff matchups:
12/31/1972: In one of the best AFC Title games ever played, the Dolphins beat the Steelers 21-17 in Pittsburgh to win the trip to Super Bowl VII. This game featured what is probably the most famous fake punt in NFL history.
12/30/1979: The Steelers buried the Dolphins 34-14 in Pittsburgh in the Divisional Playoffs on their way to winning Super Bowl XIV.
01/06/1985: In Chuck Noll's last AFC Title game, the Dolphins crushed the Steelers 45-28 at the Orange Bowl in Dan Marino's national coming out party.
01/08/2017: In Pittsburgh, the Steelers rolled 30-12 over the Dolphins in a Wild Card Game.
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.
Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs! When I searched "Kansas City Chiefs" on Google a second ago, fireworks flew across the screen of my laptop.
And deservedly so! For my money, not I of the previous LVII Super Bowls was any more entertaining than last night's event featuring the Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, Travis Kelce, Harrison Butker, Chris Jones and the rest of the victor Chiefs; the worthy San Francisco 49ers; Taylor Swift and (hopefully) her future in-laws; Jim Nantz and Tony Romo; Andra Day, Post Malone and Reba McEntire; Dan Marino; Usher and Alicia Keys, and the rest. Starting at about 5 Central, I watched with my family virtually every second of CBS's remaining five hours of TV coverage from Las Vegas, and, my gosh, I felt so thankful to have gotten to experience the thing.
Furthermore, the Chiefs have now won two Super Bowls in a row, played in four since 2019 (winning three) and now are now 4-2 in all-time Super Bowl appearances. All time, that's the sixth-most Super Bowl appearances and fifth-most victories (along with the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants) for Kansas City, which also won more AFL championships (three) than any other team. What a franchise!
Did you know that the Chiefs' defense from 1966 through 1971 was apparently nicknamed "The Redwood Forest?" I did not. In fact, I don't think I exactly knew that the Chiefs' offense from 2018 through 2021 was apparently nicknamed "The Legion of Doom." I remember hearing Nantz and others say "The Legion of Doom" when I happened to be watching football games off mute during that time period, but I guess I always figured they were just making something up out of thin air to promote some comic-book movie that was out at the time and never paid much attention. Anyway, I learned both of these notes this morning from the Chiefs' Wikipedia page, which I intend to read over the next several days as I think back over my favorite memories from my very fun Sunday night.
Of course, at my typical HP pace, that will likely take me right through to kickoff of the Miami Dolphins' victory in Super Bowl LIX (Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans). Hail to the Chiefs, and comments flow!
30 Nov 1975, Sun The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Alabama) Newspapers.com
Two weeks ago, the Dolphins were 7-1, on a seven-game win streak and looking like Super Bowl contenders again. Then the Oilers and Colts beat them, and now the banner headline at the top of the sports page of this 1975 morning's Miami News reads, "It's 0-1 Morrall against 3-7 Patriots."
01 Dec 1975, Mon The Miami News (Miami, Florida) Newspapers.com
“Funny, the last time Miami played New England it was under similar duress,” Charlie Nobles writes. “The club had lost its season-opening game to Oakland and sat in the locker room at halftime against the Patriots pondering a 14-0 deficit. Head coach Don Shula did a little screaming, the players did a little soul-searching, then fullback Don Nottingham did a lot of running and Miami had a 22-14 victory.”
That was starting to make me feel better, but then Nobles really turned up the volume on my anxieties. Miami's Earl Morrall, he notes, turned pro when President Eisenhower was in office, while New England rookie Steve Grogan is "one of the league's hottest passing arms."
This game was blacked out in Miami--as it is in Madisonville (I'm finding no clips of it on YouTube). So I guess we'll all just have to pretend together.
02 Sep 1975, Tue The Miami News (Miami, Florida) Newspapers.com
Monday night after the Jerry Lewis telethon, we got to see Dolphins-Vikings on Channel 3. And, as you can see, even though it was just a preseason game, the rematch of Super Bowl VIII(!) was given significant play in The Miami News the following morning. It made 1A of the Minneapolis Tribune, too--though not with the above-the-fold, bigger-than-the-masthead alarm visible in passing by newsstands or vending boxes.
02 Sep 1975, Tue Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Newspapers.com
So somewhere between Dec. 21, 1974, when the Dolphins lost to the Raiders, and a Monday night not long after Oct. 4, 1975, is when I tipped into being more interested in the girls than the Dolphins. Now, as to trying to more precisely pinpoint this change, I noted a little braincell of decades-old innocent sadness when I scrolled upon the following story today inside the Sept. 2, 1975, Miami News.
02 Sep 1975, Tue The Miami News (Miami, Florida) Newspapers.com
It was a sense of genuine discovery this morning, as though I felt at the time this was really bad news (and I would've been right; neither Anderson nor Buoniconti played in NFL75) and hadn't revisited the original feeling since. The intensity of that memory might indicate that my girlcraziness hadn't quite claimed dominance in my heart by the time of Monday Night Football game. But there's no way it hadn't taken hold by the Bay City Rollers thing a month later. And while I never quit loving the Dolphins after that, I never again cared about them as much as I cared about the girls.
For pretty much my whole life I've thought it was kind of cruel that the amazing Dolphins turned me on at such a young age, only to never achieve that same success since. But as I type this morning, I see grace and blessing in the timing--the Dolphins were at their best when I was least encumbered in enjoying their success, and whatever disappointments I experienced with them in the years since never consumed me.
In fact, the last moment that the Dolphins actually seemed like they might win another Super Bowl--in the third quarter of the Dec. 21 Dolphins-Vikings game in Week 16 of NFL02--is literally when my eventual wife and I started dating. The 2002 Dolphins were fantastic until the fourth quarter of that game. Then I left Matthew's before the game was over to go see her, and then we decided that day that we would be a thing, and then the Dolphins lost to the Vikings and didn't even make the playoffs, and now we are still a thing.
I've got more girl stuff going in my life than ever now--the wife and since a daughter, a female cat and a female dog. Happily, totally girlcrazy, still. I'm excited about the 2022 Dolphins; I think they might end up being pretty good. Heck, I'm excited about the 1975 Dolphins, and I know they end up being not super. Mostly, though, I'm just trying to be breathy Patti York at the 1975 Jerry Lewis telethon--"so strong and bold as life unfolds its mystery to me."
Once I watch the game, I'll plan to update the standings in the comments, to get us all reset for Week 9 action. And to get us all fired up for the Sunday, Nov. 11, kicksoff, ABC is rerunning a made-for-TV movie shot during the Chicago Bears' 1971 training camp ...
More NFL74 in the Nov. 9-15 Sophia Loren TV Guide ...
Also, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
I really appreciate YouTube user "Wade Randy" for separating this Dec. 3, 1973, NFL Monday Night Football telecast in videos of the first half and second half. It's very appropriate for my experience of childhood.
Everybody's 0-0. Well, everybody but the Giants and Buccaneers, who opened the whole NFL78 season in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday night (but finished too late for me to read about in the morning papers of Sunday, Sept. 4, 1978).
The defending-champion Cowboys host the Colts (with rookie Mike Kirkland starting in place of injured Bert Jones) on the NFL Monday Night Football game. The AFC-champ Broncos host the (O-VER-RA-TED! clap! clap! clapclapclap!) Raiders in a late-afternoon Sunday showcase. Among the noon Central kickoffs is the Dolphins at the Jets (with Don Strock starting in place of Bob Griese, who was hurt in an exhibition game), and we can only hope Channel 6 chooses to air that one.
Week 1, 1978 Earl Campbell makes his debut in Atlanta. Earl had a great preseason and the 3rd time he touches the ball he goes 73 yards for the TD. Little known June Jones gets the start for the #Falcons Despite Campbell’s 137 yards on the ground, #Falcons win 20-14 pic.twitter.com/NKXacZMRRm
Here are the NFL72 standings going into the games of Sunday, Oct. 8:
AFC East
Miami 3-0
New York 2-1
New England 2-1
Baltimore 1-2
Buffalo 1-2
AFC Central
Cleveland 2-1
Cincinnati 2-1
Pittsburgh 2-1
Houston 1-2
NFC West
Kansas City 2-1
Oakland 1-1-1
San Diego 1-1-1
Denver 1-2
NFC East
Washington 2-1
Dallas 2-1
New York 1-2
St. Louis 1-2
Philadelphia 0-3
NFC Central
Detroit 2-1
Green Bay 2-1
Minnesota 1-2
Chicago 0-2-1
NFC West
Atlanta 2-1
San Francisco 2-1
Los Angeles 1-1-1
New Orleans 0-3
Here's the Week 4 schedule:
— Miami is favored at Jets
— Giants are favored at home against New Orleans
— Washington is favored at home against Philadelphia
— New England is favored at Buffalo
— Kansas City is favored at Cleveland
— Detroit is favored at Atlanta
— Cincinnati is favored at home against Denver
— Baltimore is favored at home against San Diego
— Minnestota is favored at home against St. Louis
— Dallas is favored at home against Pittsburgh
— Green Bay is favored at home against Chicago
— San Francisco is favored at Los Angeles
— Oakland is favored at Houston on Monday night
And, of course, I love Here's Lucy , which opened with Flip Wilson as its first guest star. He portrayed Butterfly McQueen in a little-theater production of Gone With the Wind. Here's how CBS promoted each of its Monday-night season openers.
That Stand Up and Cheer thing is actually syndicated. I could see myself getting into it.
Of course, my TV attention is pretty much sucked up by one show on Monday nights in the fall.
It's Christmastime, and it's hard to fit all the good in. So this is not going to be elegant or particularly clear. I'm just going to pile up a bunch of stuff that Hoptown 1970 me wants to look at over the rest of the 12 days.
