As of the morning of Saturday, Dec. 14, 1974 ...
Please rise ...
Comments flow ...
Showing posts with label NFL74. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFL74. Show all posts
Monday, December 14, 2020
Monday, November 23, 2020
What's On TV This Week (1974)?
There's something about November that brings out the best in television. Of all the months of the year, it is the one that is likely to have the most abundant and most varied array of special programs.
It's no accident, of course, that all the networks cluster so many of their specials in this autumnal month. It's the time of year when cold weather is setting in throughout much of the continent, and people are spending more time indoors, where their television sets are.
And it's the time of year when sponsors are eager to find vehicles that can carry their messages prodding viewers to get started on their Christmas shopping ...
Now it's time for November's main event--Thanksgiving week, which is so crammed with special programs and special events, it's hard to sort them all out ...
Happy reading, happy viewing. Happy Thanksgiving!
The big deal on Saturday, Nov. 23, 1974, is going to be college football, of course ...
But, clearly, we are going to be needing our HP-exclusive e-IHOP NFL Magnetic Team Standings Board in the next few days ...
Comments flow!
Monday, November 9, 2020
The Freakin' Weekend (1974)
Here's the game from Week 8 of the 1974 NFL season that NFL Films deep dove into for its NFL Game of the Week telecast ...
Sports Illustrated got excited about the same game and dispatched Joe Marshall to Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, for the lowdown. Plus, SI uprounded the rest of the Sunday games, so I know how all of those came out. But given that Nov. 11 Ali/Foreman issue's coverage cut off at Nov. 3 and I was busy watching a lot of 2020 stuff last week, I don't know how the Nov. 4 NFL Monday Night Football episode comes out ...
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!
Sunday, September 13, 2020
The Freakin' Weekend (1974)
It's all happening. Rockford Files debuts at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, 1974, on Channel 6 ...
Lawrence Welk is on The Tonight Show at 10:30 that night ...
It's the big Evel Knievel episode of Wide World of Sports at 4 p.m. Saturday on Channel 3 ...
NFL74 starts at noon Sunday on Channel 6 with Browns at Bengals (instead of Dolphins at Patriots, though that's probably for the best) ...
Finally, Monday Night Football on Sept. 15 kicks off its new season on Channel 3 with Raiders at Bills ...
Just a huge, huge, huge weekend.
Sunday, September 6, 2020
The Freakin' Weekend (1974)
Channel 3 at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, 1974 ...
Channel 6 at 7:30 p.m. Friday ...
Channel 6 at 10:30 p.m. Friday ...
Channel 3 at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 ...
In conclusion: TV! Football!
Comments flow ...
Saturday, July 25, 2020
MLB20 Update
Here's my current projection for pairings in the best-of-three Wild Card Series in the 2020 Major League Baseball playoffs:
-- Houston Astros (1) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (8)
-- Oakland A's (4) vs. Cleveland Baseball Team (5)
-- Minnesota Twins (3) vs. Boston Red Sox (6)
-- New York Yankees (2) vs. Texas Rangers (7)
-- Los Angeles Dodgers (1) vs. Atlanta Braves (8)
-- Chicago Cubs (4) vs. San Diego Padres (5)
-- New York Mets (3) vs. Miami Marlins (6)
-- St. Louis Cardinals (2) vs. Cincinnati Reds (7)
I'm basing this on current standings, with last season's regular-season performance breaking ties. My initial two thoughts about the pairings are, one, that Cardinals-Reds series would be huge around here, and, two, if I were a Dodgers fan, I would be a little wary of the Braves after they charged out of nowhere to take the National League's eighth berth.
The A's are 1-0, and I stayed awake until right before they actually won it. I have an anonymous source who emailed the following (italicized) observations as the glorious, 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels played out. He might choose to GOaHEAd and reveal himself, but I am not going to divulge.
Subject: I'm watching the A's and the Angels
Date: July 24, 2020 at 10:51:16 PM CDT
I would guess that approximately 80 percent of the A's games I've watched over the last 10 years involved the Angels.
This was the first of Oakland's 60 regular-season games, probably 45 of which will be against the Angels.
Baseball Reference is amazing. So, as previously noted, is the internet. I'm sitting here in my living room in Madisonville, Kentucky, watching the MLB74 All-Star Game on YouTube while also browsing Mike Trout's career splits against different opponents (and checking out some gorgeous custom-made, 1970s-style football cards).
Richard Justice is ga-ga for Mike Trout, and Richard Justice is great.
I believe Richard Justice, but I do not have my own authentic sense of the greatness of Mike Trout's career. Because the only games I watch on TV are A's games or playoff games, and because the A's play the Angels two out of every three games and the Angels do not participate in the playoffs, my sense of Mike Trout is based only on his thousands of games against the A's, and Mike Trout has been better against the rest of the league than he has against the A's.
For example, Mike Trout's on-base percentage ((hits plus bases on balls plus + times hit by pitch) divided by (AB plus BB plus HBP plus sacrifice flies)) is .396 in 613 career plate appearances against the A's. That's really good. Carl Yastrzemski led the entire American League with an OBP of .395 in MLB65. However, Mike Trout has led the American League in OBP for each of the last four seasons with nothing lower than last year's .438. His career OBP is .500 against teams with less than a .500 record and .406 against above-.500 teams. He's played eight career games against the Milwaukee Brewers, and his OBP against them is .594!
(Oh, my gosh, Barry Bonds's OBPs were .515 in MLB01, .582 in MLB02, .529 in MLB03 and .609 in MLB04. No one has had an OBP above .500 since, and no one had one in the 1900s had one other than Ted Williams, Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby—and none of those guys got close to .609. Cheating is the worst.)
So, back to Mike Trout, Mike Trout to me is a very good player but not nearly as great as Richard Justice knows him to be. (And, again, I do know that Richard Justice, who watches all of the baseball games, is correct.)
Mike Trout has played most of his games against the A's, Mariners and Rangers, who have always been in his division. The A's have intentionally walked Trout a lot less than those other two teams have, but they did so last night.
Subject: The A's no longer have a flagship radio station
Date: July 24, 2020 at 10:53:43 PM CDT
They've gone to a streaming model, although there are still 11 stations in Northern California (mostly in rural areas) that still carry the games. I can still get the radio broadcasts online, so I'm fine.
On my scoreboard at home, I've decided to go with all logos from the 1970's as much as possible. I also have the Angels listed on the scoreboard as "Cal."
I had to look up what the Angels are calling themselves now. I seriously thought they were currently going by "Anaheim."
Subject: The A's have designated their field
Date: July 24, 2020 at 10:57:54 PM CDT
As "Rickey Henderson Field."
I would have gone with "Reggie Jackson Field."
-- Houston Astros (1) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (8)
-- Oakland A's (4) vs. Cleveland Baseball Team (5)
-- Minnesota Twins (3) vs. Boston Red Sox (6)
-- New York Yankees (2) vs. Texas Rangers (7)
-- Los Angeles Dodgers (1) vs. Atlanta Braves (8)
-- Chicago Cubs (4) vs. San Diego Padres (5)
-- New York Mets (3) vs. Miami Marlins (6)
-- St. Louis Cardinals (2) vs. Cincinnati Reds (7)
I'm basing this on current standings, with last season's regular-season performance breaking ties. My initial two thoughts about the pairings are, one, that Cardinals-Reds series would be huge around here, and, two, if I were a Dodgers fan, I would be a little wary of the Braves after they charged out of nowhere to take the National League's eighth berth.
The A's are 1-0, and I stayed awake until right before they actually won it. I have an anonymous source who emailed the following (italicized) observations as the glorious, 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels played out. He might choose to GOaHEAd and reveal himself, but I am not going to divulge.
Subject: I'm watching the A's and the Angels
Date: July 24, 2020 at 10:51:16 PM CDT
I would guess that approximately 80 percent of the A's games I've watched over the last 10 years involved the Angels.
This was the first of Oakland's 60 regular-season games, probably 45 of which will be against the Angels.
Baseball Reference is amazing. So, as previously noted, is the internet. I'm sitting here in my living room in Madisonville, Kentucky, watching the MLB74 All-Star Game on YouTube while also browsing Mike Trout's career splits against different opponents (and checking out some gorgeous custom-made, 1970s-style football cards).
Richard Justice is ga-ga for Mike Trout, and Richard Justice is great.
Mike Trout has finished 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd and 1st in AL MVP voting in his first five full seasons. No one ever ever ever has done that.— Richard Justice (@richardjustice) November 17, 2016
Mike Trout is on pace for 51 homers, 132 runs and 14.3 WAR.— Richard Justice (@richardjustice) June 4, 2018
Mike Trout's 64.2 career WAR is currently ahead of Ty Cobb (63.4) for tops all time by a position player through age-27 season.--@Angels— Richard Justice (@richardjustice) April 1, 2019
I believe Richard Justice, but I do not have my own authentic sense of the greatness of Mike Trout's career. Because the only games I watch on TV are A's games or playoff games, and because the A's play the Angels two out of every three games and the Angels do not participate in the playoffs, my sense of Mike Trout is based only on his thousands of games against the A's, and Mike Trout has been better against the rest of the league than he has against the A's.
For example, Mike Trout's on-base percentage ((hits plus bases on balls plus + times hit by pitch) divided by (AB plus BB plus HBP plus sacrifice flies)) is .396 in 613 career plate appearances against the A's. That's really good. Carl Yastrzemski led the entire American League with an OBP of .395 in MLB65. However, Mike Trout has led the American League in OBP for each of the last four seasons with nothing lower than last year's .438. His career OBP is .500 against teams with less than a .500 record and .406 against above-.500 teams. He's played eight career games against the Milwaukee Brewers, and his OBP against them is .594!
(Oh, my gosh, Barry Bonds's OBPs were .515 in MLB01, .582 in MLB02, .529 in MLB03 and .609 in MLB04. No one has had an OBP above .500 since, and no one had one in the 1900s had one other than Ted Williams, Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby—and none of those guys got close to .609. Cheating is the worst.)
So, back to Mike Trout, Mike Trout to me is a very good player but not nearly as great as Richard Justice knows him to be. (And, again, I do know that Richard Justice, who watches all of the baseball games, is correct.)
Mike Trout has played most of his games against the A's, Mariners and Rangers, who have always been in his division. The A's have intentionally walked Trout a lot less than those other two teams have, but they did so last night.
Date: July 24, 2020 at 10:53:43 PM CDT
They've gone to a streaming model, although there are still 11 stations in Northern California (mostly in rural areas) that still carry the games. I can still get the radio broadcasts online, so I'm fine.
On my scoreboard at home, I've decided to go with all logos from the 1970's as much as possible. I also have the Angels listed on the scoreboard as "Cal."
I had to look up what the Angels are calling themselves now. I seriously thought they were currently going by "Anaheim."
Subject: The A's have designated their field
Date: July 24, 2020 at 10:57:54 PM CDT
As "Rickey Henderson Field."
I would have gone with "Reggie Jackson Field."
One thing they said on ESPN last night that surprised me is that Marcus Semien has more opening-day starts at shortstop than any other A ever. That is great! I absolutely would've guessed Bert Campaneris, who was my favorite of the '70s A's. But I'm very happy for Marcus Semien, who was born Sept. 17, 1990, in San Francisco, just a few weeks before the A's were swept by the Reds in the World Series. I watched those games with a bunch of Reds fans in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and those guys still remind me of it two or three times a season.
Subject: The A's have crowd noise on their radio broadcast
Date: July 25, 2020 at 12:06:50 AM CDT
It's quite good -- they have organ music, and a PA announcer, and you can hear the crowd reacting to the events in the game. If you were only listening to the radio, you would think it was a normal game.
Date: July 25, 2020 at 12:06:50 AM CDT
It's quite good -- they have organ music, and a PA announcer, and you can hear the crowd reacting to the events in the game. If you were only listening to the radio, you would think it was a normal game.
I particularly enjoyed the pictures of people in the seats. Tony La Russa and Sal Bando were among those. It's so great to have baseball back.
Subject: 3-3 after 9
Date: July 25, 2020 at 12:33:04 AM CDT
The A's and Angels become the first teams in Major League history to start the 10th inning with a runner on second base.
This is when I turned it off to go to sleep. I was really tired, and, besides, my wife wanted to show me a video of Lin-Manuel Miranda playing one of those arcade games where the claw drops down and grasps at a stuffed animal or whatever. He's really good at it!
Subject: A's walk off the Angels with a GRAND SLAM
Date: July 25, 2020 at 1:02:58 AM CDT
A's win 7-3 in 10, move to 1-0 on the year.
#GREENCOLLAR!
Saturday, July 11, 2020
The Freakin' Weekend (1974)
Current World Football League standings as of Thursday, July 11, 1974:
Eastern Division
Florida Blazers 1-0
Philadelphia Bell 1-0
New York Stars 0-0
Jacksonville Sharks 0-0
Central Division
Birmingham Americans 1-0
Chicago Fire 1-0
Memphis Southmen 1-0
Detroit Wheels 0-1
Western Division
Houston Texans 0-1
Portland Storm 0-1
Southern California Sun 0-1
The Hawaiians 0-1
The league kicked off last night with 10 games, and tonight we have the first nationally televised contest, the New York Stars at the Jacksonville Sharks, syndicated by TVS (check your local listings).
I actually hate the WFL. It's going to have a big hand in killing the Dolphins. But by this point in the summer, 1974 me is willing to watch whatever football you're willing to give me. We'll see how much interest I have left in the WFL in a couple of weeks.
MLB74 is going on ...
The big sports news of late, though, has been Wimbledon. Lovers Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert won the men's and women's singles titles, and they are on the covers of both the current SPORT and Sports Illustrated magazines. SI has the couple posing with their trophies. Monthly SPORT, of course, had to go to press before the tournament was played, so its cover shot of Connors and Evert leaping the net together is especially impressive. Newsweek also had tennis on a cover earlier this month, but it guessed wrong and went with Sweden's Björn Borg.
I like playing tennis. 2020 me, in fact, played just this past Thursday, July 9 (and won my best-of-three-sets match at the Madisonville Community College Garnett "Penny" Pennington courts, 6-2 and 6-3). I just have never much been able to get into it as a spectator sport, however. I didn't even read the SI coverage and was actually more interested in some of the ads.
Eastern Division
Florida Blazers 1-0
Philadelphia Bell 1-0
New York Stars 0-0
Jacksonville Sharks 0-0
Central Division
Birmingham Americans 1-0
Chicago Fire 1-0
Memphis Southmen 1-0
Detroit Wheels 0-1
Western Division
Houston Texans 0-1
Portland Storm 0-1
Southern California Sun 0-1
The Hawaiians 0-1
The league kicked off last night with 10 games, and tonight we have the first nationally televised contest, the New York Stars at the Jacksonville Sharks, syndicated by TVS (check your local listings).
I actually hate the WFL. It's going to have a big hand in killing the Dolphins. But by this point in the summer, 1974 me is willing to watch whatever football you're willing to give me. We'll see how much interest I have left in the WFL in a couple of weeks.
MLB74 is going on ...
The big sports news of late, though, has been Wimbledon. Lovers Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert won the men's and women's singles titles, and they are on the covers of both the current SPORT and Sports Illustrated magazines. SI has the couple posing with their trophies. Monthly SPORT, of course, had to go to press before the tournament was played, so its cover shot of Connors and Evert leaping the net together is especially impressive. Newsweek also had tennis on a cover earlier this month, but it guessed wrong and went with Sweden's Björn Borg.
I like playing tennis. 2020 me, in fact, played just this past Thursday, July 9 (and won my best-of-three-sets match at the Madisonville Community College Garnett "Penny" Pennington courts, 6-2 and 6-3). I just have never much been able to get into it as a spectator sport, however. I didn't even read the SI coverage and was actually more interested in some of the ads.
I might have to add some of those books to my Christmas list.
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Merry Christmas 1974/2020
It's six months until Christmas.
-- 46, 48, 49, 182, 186, 188, 189, 191 and 192 (would need to write to Sears and ask if they could specially produce each item in men's XL);
-- 50 (items 1 and 4 for those quiet nights at home with the wife);
-- 187 (both Miniature Football Helmet Kits in the bottom left);
-- 286 (Item 1);
-- 318 (their most popular Butter-Ring Popper, in green);
-- 353, 354 and 355 (all items);
-- 378 (items 3N660893, 3N4295 and 3N4568);
-- 386 (Item 1);
-- 395 (Item C6N10843--and welcome to the team, Gordie Howe!);
-- 408 (11 each of all nine models of the one-piece Helmets of rugged Cycolac(R) plastic);
-- 411 (Item T6N15288);
-- 520 (items 4, 6, 8 and 12), 521 (items 16 and 20) and 522 (all items--especially Sub Search but maybe not Probe, because I might already it);
-- 526 (Your America);
-- 528 (One-on-One Basketball and (just in case the one I already have breaks) BAS-KET);
-- 533 (Electric Baseball and Baseball-Football Game Set);
-- 535 (all items, about a dozen each, just in case--especially O.J. Simpson See-Action Football Game (!), which I no longer have and is amazing), and
-- 575 (all Evel Knievel toys, again).
Thank you, God, for christmas.musetechnical.com, Sears, football, Mom, Dad, the wife, fun and Christmas.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Tree(s) Today/#Stamps/The Freakin' Weekend (2020/1974)
First, it's almost Saturday in 2020, and you know what that means: It's about time to get our stamps on!™
Second, my YouTube Watch Later queue is working again, and that makes everything better.
Third, I've got some 1974 media (pictured with Ella) backed up and ready for consumption, and so what I'm saying is this weekend is about to blow up!
Monday, September 16, 2019
HP SPECIAL REPORT: Melvin Baker!
I know everyone's refreshing and refreshing this page in anticipation of my observance of the start of th NFL73 regular season on Sunday, September 16, 1973, but I am delighted to blow your minds with this delivery of an NFL74-oriented HP Special Report: The NFL74 Dolphins had a rookie wide receiver named Melvin Baker (82 and helmetless, below)! In fact, this man played four NFL seasons with seven teams. I honestly don't believe I had ever heard of this guy, and I am so, so excited to have been introduced to him by NFL Films and YouTube user "Gray Beard." Melvin Baker and Billie Eilish, both on the same Monday morning! Huge!
Monday, October 29, 2018
NFL72 Update
It's the last season at War Memorial Stadium for the Buffalo Bills, and it's the first season back for Lou Saban, who coached the Bills to the 1964 and '65 AFL championships but spent the last five seasons with the Denver Broncos. Things didn't go so hot for Saban in Denver, but things didn't go so hot for the Bills without Saban. So, after a one-win NFL71, Saban is back in Buffalo, and, in Week 7 of NFL72, it's the 4-2 Pittsburgh Steelers in town to face the 2-4 Bills on Sunday, Oct. 29. The Steelers win, 38-21, but the game is notable for the 189-yard rushing explosion by Buffalo's O.J. Simpson.
Since we last checked in with Orenthal James, Simpson has been plodding along in Buffalo, averaging about four yards per carry each of his three seasons and accumulating no more than 742 yards in any of them. But in NFL72, despite Buffalo's losing five guards and two other offensive linemen to injury, Simpson logs a league-leading 1,251 rushing yards, including a 94-yarder in this loss to Pittsburgh.
Of course, there was one team that Saban, Simpson and the Bills could never quite get around during that era.
Since we last checked in with Orenthal James, Simpson has been plodding along in Buffalo, averaging about four yards per carry each of his three seasons and accumulating no more than 742 yards in any of them. But in NFL72, despite Buffalo's losing five guards and two other offensive linemen to injury, Simpson logs a league-leading 1,251 rushing yards, including a 94-yarder in this loss to Pittsburgh.
Then, in the NFL73 draft, Saban will bolster Simpson's blocking with selection of offensive linemen with each of Buffalo's first three picks (including eventual-hall-of-gamer Joe DeLamielleure). And that will precipitate Simpson's record-breaking NFL73 of 2,003 rushing yards, and Buffalo's first winning record (9-5) in seven seasons. Saban will, in fact, coach the Bills to three straight winning seasons starting in NFL73, including one playoff appearance.
Of course, there was one team that Saban, Simpson and the Bills could never quite get around during that era.
Previous and future NFL72 reports:
- Jan. 13, 1968, NFL67 wrap
- Jan. 11, 1969, NFL68 wrap
- Jan. 11, 1970, NFL69 wrap
- Jan. 15, 1971, NFL70 wrap
- Jan. 16, 1972, NFL71 wrap
- Feb. 1, 1972, Draft party
- Aug. 18, 1972, Plimpton! The Great Quarterback Sneak
- Aug. 20, 1972, Dolphins over Bengals
- Aug. 21, 1972, Rest in peace, Ray Jamieson
- Aug. 22, 1972, The GOP comes to Miami
- Aug. 23, 1972, Del Gaizo vs. Morrall
- Aug. 25, 1972, Atlanta Falcons preview (with original Dick Shiner artwork)
- Aug. 29, 1972, Week 1 ("Larry Little and Larry Csonka ... are the symbol of football")
- Sept. 24, 1972, Week 2 (Welcome to Philly)
- Oct. 2, 1972, Week 3
- Oct. 8, 1972, Week 4
- Oct. 9, 1972, Are the Steelers ever going to get better?
- Oct. 23, 1972, Week 6 (with the Hartleys tuning in for Monday Night Football)
- Oct. 29, 1972, Week 7 (Lou Saban, O.J. Simpson and the Bills)
- Nov. 11, 1972, Week 9 (with NFL Strategy innovation)
- Nov. 23, 1972, Steve Owens's little brother against Nebraska
- Nov. 26, 1972, The Raiders close in
- Dec. 7, 1972, "Pete Roselle had it blacked out"
- Dec. 14, 1972, Bruce Dern is a Rams fan
- Dec. 16, 1972, Week 14 (with prayer)
- Dec. 29, 1972, Divisional playoffs (featuring Partridge Family #freakinweekend kickoff)
- Dec. 31, 1972, Conference championships (thank you, Rob and Sam)
- Jan. 17, 1973, Bob Hope and the Rams
- April 30, 2014, Rest in peace, Earl Morrall and Dotty Shula
- April 16, 2015, Super Bowl VII revisited
- July 27, 2015, Rest in peace, Bill Arnsparger
- Sept. 13, 2015, NFL15 preview (justice)
- Jan. 8, 2017, NFL16 review (perspective)
- Sept. 1, 2018, I love to write
Sunday, January 8, 2017
NFL16: It Was a Good Season
The Miami Dolphins lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the playoffs today, 30-12, and that ended my favorite team's 2016 season. It was a good season.
The Dolphins and I are about the same age. They've played 51 seasons, and I've been around for 49 of them. There are probably more loyal or avid Dolphins fans in the world, but, whatever, I've been a pretty big fan (these pictures are from my family's utility room) for pretty much the whole time they've been around. And I'm here to tell you that this was a good Dolphins season.
Miami won 10 games this season. That's a lot, I've come to learn. It really is. From the time I was 2 until I was 17, the Dolphins won at least 10 games in a season all but three times, and that was amazing. I was thankful while that was going on, but, in retrospect, I should've been even more thankful. It has happened only nine times since. There was even one season where they won only one game the whole season. So winning 10 or more times in the same season is quite good.
I didn't get to watch all 10 of the wins this season, but I did get to pay attention to all but one of those wins while they were going on, at least for part of the time they were going on. It's really fun to win, so that's nine definitively fun experiences this season. And Dolphin wins always have an afterglow effect on me for at least three or four days following. So that's somewhere in the range of 30 to 50 days since August in which my mood and general outlook on life were lifted by a Miami victory. That's a lot. That's a good season right there.
Additionally, the Dolphins made the playoffs. Again, that's a great and not terribly common thing to have happen. Miami has failed to make the playoffs more often than it hasn't in our history together. This was only the 23rd time the Dolphins have ever made the playoffs. It feels like that number should be higher, but that's because they've had three five-year strings where they never missed the playoffs:
-- NFL70-NFL74 (my ages 2 through 6),
-- NFL81-NFL85 (my ages 13 through 17) and
-- NFL97-NFL01 (my ages 29 through 33).
Fortunate strings like that will start to trick a human into thinking he or she deserves fortunate things happening to him or her. It's a treat to get to go to the playoffs, and I'm thankful to have gotten to experience it again. You better bet that's a good season.
Now, of course, it would've been fun to win a game in the playoffs. Of course, it would've. That's happened only 12 times, where the Dolphins both advanced to the playoffs and actually won a game once they got there. It's really, really rare. The last time it happened was Dec. 30, 2000, and that took pretty much the greatest individual effort by any football player in any game ever.
Also, today wasn't even a particularly heartbreaking one-and-done loss (like the NFL74 "Sea of Hands" loss at Oakland, the NFL82 Kellen Winslow loss to the Chargers or the NFL83 Steve Largent loss at Seattle). The NFL17 Dolphins aren't as good as the NFL17 Steelers, and this game was in Pittsburgh, and we were missing our starting quarterback and a bunch of guys on the offensive line and in the defensive backfield. I mean, really, I'm not even sad that they lost, and it feels great to not be sad. I would've preferred that they won, but I would've preferred that they lost today to Pittsburgh today than potentially next week at the New England Patriots (who are allowed to cheat to win). And you might think that makes me a loser. That's fine. Go ahead; believe that if you want. Who cares? I'm 48 years old, and I know that this is nothing to be sad about, and I'm thrilled that it turns out I'm actually not sad.
So, in conclusion, I just want to say, hooray for football! It was a good Dolphins season, and now I'll be rooting for the Texans (they play the Patriots next week); the Chiefs (for Go Heath); the Steelers (I've got a lot of friends who are Pittsburgh fans, and I think they actually could really beat the Patriots in New England, even with the Patriots getting to cheat in all sorts of ways); the Seahawks (for my favorite former college-basketball player, George Fant); the Giants (for beating New England); the Cowboys (my sister's a fan), and the Packers (they're adorable, and Matthew and I once went to Lambeau Field).
The Dolphins and I are about the same age. They've played 51 seasons, and I've been around for 49 of them. There are probably more loyal or avid Dolphins fans in the world, but, whatever, I've been a pretty big fan (these pictures are from my family's utility room) for pretty much the whole time they've been around. And I'm here to tell you that this was a good Dolphins season.
Miami won 10 games this season. That's a lot, I've come to learn. It really is. From the time I was 2 until I was 17, the Dolphins won at least 10 games in a season all but three times, and that was amazing. I was thankful while that was going on, but, in retrospect, I should've been even more thankful. It has happened only nine times since. There was even one season where they won only one game the whole season. So winning 10 or more times in the same season is quite good.
I didn't get to watch all 10 of the wins this season, but I did get to pay attention to all but one of those wins while they were going on, at least for part of the time they were going on. It's really fun to win, so that's nine definitively fun experiences this season. And Dolphin wins always have an afterglow effect on me for at least three or four days following. So that's somewhere in the range of 30 to 50 days since August in which my mood and general outlook on life were lifted by a Miami victory. That's a lot. That's a good season right there.
Additionally, the Dolphins made the playoffs. Again, that's a great and not terribly common thing to have happen. Miami has failed to make the playoffs more often than it hasn't in our history together. This was only the 23rd time the Dolphins have ever made the playoffs. It feels like that number should be higher, but that's because they've had three five-year strings where they never missed the playoffs:
-- NFL70-NFL74 (my ages 2 through 6),
-- NFL81-NFL85 (my ages 13 through 17) and
-- NFL97-NFL01 (my ages 29 through 33).
Fortunate strings like that will start to trick a human into thinking he or she deserves fortunate things happening to him or her. It's a treat to get to go to the playoffs, and I'm thankful to have gotten to experience it again. You better bet that's a good season.
Now, of course, it would've been fun to win a game in the playoffs. Of course, it would've. That's happened only 12 times, where the Dolphins both advanced to the playoffs and actually won a game once they got there. It's really, really rare. The last time it happened was Dec. 30, 2000, and that took pretty much the greatest individual effort by any football player in any game ever.
Also, today wasn't even a particularly heartbreaking one-and-done loss (like the NFL74 "Sea of Hands" loss at Oakland, the NFL82 Kellen Winslow loss to the Chargers or the NFL83 Steve Largent loss at Seattle). The NFL17 Dolphins aren't as good as the NFL17 Steelers, and this game was in Pittsburgh, and we were missing our starting quarterback and a bunch of guys on the offensive line and in the defensive backfield. I mean, really, I'm not even sad that they lost, and it feels great to not be sad. I would've preferred that they won, but I would've preferred that they lost today to Pittsburgh today than potentially next week at the New England Patriots (who are allowed to cheat to win). And you might think that makes me a loser. That's fine. Go ahead; believe that if you want. Who cares? I'm 48 years old, and I know that this is nothing to be sad about, and I'm thrilled that it turns out I'm actually not sad.
So, in conclusion, I just want to say, hooray for football! It was a good Dolphins season, and now I'll be rooting for the Texans (they play the Patriots next week); the Chiefs (for Go Heath); the Steelers (I've got a lot of friends who are Pittsburgh fans, and I think they actually could really beat the Patriots in New England, even with the Patriots getting to cheat in all sorts of ways); the Seahawks (for my favorite former college-basketball player, George Fant); the Giants (for beating New England); the Cowboys (my sister's a fan), and the Packers (they're adorable, and Matthew and I once went to Lambeau Field).
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
NFL70: Steelers
Jack and Brenda Zanger's Pro Football 1970 is one of my all-time-favorite books.
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It’s so easy to look at the orderly drawing together of the Super Bowl Steelers and become smitten with the stunning meticulousness of Pittsburgh’s drafting: Draft 1969 garners Hall-of-Famers Joe Greene and L.C. Greenwood; Draft 1970 brings Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount; Jack Ham comes in 1971, and so on. We’re going to do a good bit of that admiration, in fact, here in just a bit.
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It’s so easy to look at the orderly drawing together of the Super Bowl Steelers and become smitten with the stunning meticulousness of Pittsburgh’s drafting: Draft 1969 garners Hall-of-Famers Joe Greene and L.C. Greenwood; Draft 1970 brings Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount; Jack Ham comes in 1971, and so on. We’re going to do a good bit of that admiration, in fact, here in just a bit.
But it’s
easy in that sort of retrospective thinking to overestimate the necessity of
any of these individual talents to the success of the whole team. Was
Bradshaw the precise one-of-a-kind talent that Pittsburgh had to have
to quarterback the Steelers to four Super Bowls? Or would Chuck Noll and
his staff have forged a championship team had the Steelers’ choice at No.
1 overall in 1970 been Mike Phipps of Purdue (instead allowing Louisiana
Tech’s Bradshaw to slide to Cleveland at No. 3)? Or, note how the Steelers
got Blount at No. 53 overall—the first choice of the third round—in that same
draft, 12 picks after Green Bay got a cornerback, Al Matthews of Texas
A&I; had Matthews still been available, would Pittsburgh have taken him
instead of Blount and still done just as well?
Well, who
knows? What we do know is that, man, the meticulousness of Pittsburgh’s
drafting in this era is freaking stunning.
Take a look
at the Steelers' 22 offensive and defensive starters in Super Bowl X, and four
were on the roster when Noll arrived as head coach in 1969. Pittsburgh
drafted the rest:
— with
first-, third- and 10th-round selections in ’69;
— with
first-, second- and third-round picks in ’70;
— with
first-, second-, fourth-, fourth-, fifth-, eighth- and 11th-round picks in ’71;
— with
first- and second-round picks in ’72;
— with a
first-round pick in ’73, and
— with a
second-round pick in ’74.
And that
’74 draft? In addition to middle linebacker Jack Lambert in Round 2, it yielded
three other eventual Hall-of-Famers who just hadn’t made the starting
offensive and defensive lineups yet as rookies in Super Bowl X: Lynn Swann, John Stallworth and Mike Webster. That’s
some drafting right there, baby.
Now, back
to 1970, the Steelers were coming off a 1-13 season, and the Zangers looked at
the muddle and forecasted another last-place divisional finish. But, for
sure, decades later, it’s clear to see now that Noll’s development program was already
distinctly underway then. The
Zangers’ projected depth chart in Pro
Football 1970 (below) doesn’t anticipate how quickly things are changing in
Noll’s Pittsburgh.
Only three 1969 starters on offense—center Ray Mansfield, left guard Bruce Van Dyke and left tackle John Brown—are going to turn out to be the primary starters at their positions in 1970. How often does a team overturn its entire set of offensive skill starters from one season to the next?
Only three 1969 starters on offense—center Ray Mansfield, left guard Bruce Van Dyke and left tackle John Brown—are going to turn out to be the primary starters at their positions in 1970. How often does a team overturn its entire set of offensive skill starters from one season to the next?
—
Quarterback Dick Shiner, traded to the Giants, is out, in favor of Bradshaw,
the No. 1 pick.
— Halfback
Dick Hoak, the starter for two straight seasons, will play behind Preston
Pearson, picked up from Noll’s old club, Baltimore.
— Fullback
Earl Gross, another starter for two years, is gone to New Orleans and replaced
by John Fuqua, from the Giants.
— One wide
receiver, Roy Jefferson, whom Zanger identified as one of the team’s two
strengths, has been traded to Baltimore, and the other, J.R. Wilburn, is
down to six more games in his professional-football career after two years
of being a primary Steeler starter. The new guys both come from the draft:
second-rounder Ronnie Shanklin from North Texas and eighth-rounder Dave
Smith from Waynesburg.
— John
Hilton has been traded to Green Bay to solve its tight-end problem, and
Pittsburgh is going to roll instead with an undrafted rookie, Dennis
Hughes from Georgia.
The 1970
defense will be more familiar to Pittsburgh fans—Noll is leaving his ’69
defensive line intact—at least until the Steelers drop into pass coverage.
Not only is young, good middle linebacker Ray May headed to Baltimore in
his prime, to be replaced by old Charger hand Chuck Allen, three of four
Steeler 1970 defensive backs are new (or mostly new):
— Blount,
the third-round rookie, and John Rowser, picked up from Green Bay for the tight
end, Hilton, are going to start 10 and four games, respectively, at
cornerback, on the left side previously occupied by Bob Hohn, who is done
with pro football.
— Ocie
Austin, who Noll would remember as a rookie reserve on the ’68 Colts NFL
champions, is the new starter at safety in place of old pro Paul Martha,
now with Denver for one last season of action.
— Lee
Calland, a starter after being picked up from Chicago during the ’69 season,
will be the man at right corner the whole 1970 season, and Jim Shorter is
through.
The method
to Noll’s madness, however, was not evident to even the closest observers at
the time. Check out the tone of Jack Sell’s May 1, 1970, coverage from the Steelers beat in Pittsburgh’s Post-Gazette of the Shiner trade to New York.
In just a few seasons, Noll’s trade is going to be an obvious fleecing in
Pittsburgh’s favor. But look at how this story instead focuses instead on how
this trade—a No. 1 quarterback for two former 11th-round draft
choices—is notable mostly as a marker of failure of a trade two springs before.
One more
thing about the comings and goings of the 1969 and ’70 Steelers, about that
trades of wide receiver Jefferson and middle linebacker May to Baltimore.
That’s interesting for at least a couple of reasons. One, what are the
Pittsburgh fans thinking after the 5-9 1970 regular season, when Jefferson and
May end up starting for the Colts in their Super Bowl V victory following
that season? And, two, it’s pretty interesting how Noll had a strong hand
in helping his old friends in Baltimore get over the hump with the delivery of
those two young veterans to the Colts.
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