“Jack Webbing” It (“Just The Facts”) Today, No Opinions

“T”ampa Bay will be playing in their 4th Conference Title Game, a third on the road. Four is operative as if they score more points than the Pack Sunday (they are 4 point underdogs) they would become the first team to play a home Super Bowl, albeit with the circumstances involving a pandemic inherent in the matter.

That pandemic caused much including NHL and NBA ‘offs in the late summer and early fall and 4 rounds of baseball ‘offs (the other leagues also had or added to make only the NFL Conference 1 seeds IMMUNE to having to win 4 rounds/games to title).

Los Angeles is in the veritable “clubhouse” ahead with 10 rounds played, 9 rounds won

and 2 titles. (The Lakers tied the Celtics with their 17th, the Dodgers as was the case with the Lakers, won a crown 32 years later, giving them 7, while the Rams won a round and lost in their second).

Tampa Bay, with the Buccaneers’ fate yet to be determined, will play in its eleventh round, having won 9 (those #’s) with one title, that the second in franchise history for the NHL Lightning. The baseball Rays lost the World Series played in neutral? Texas to L.A.

Mr. Brady is “Robert Reeding” in his 14th semi, half on the road. His teams are an incredible (12-2) in the slots/quarters/divisional round to get to those 14 title tilts, in which they are (9-4) in previous such games.

Quickly (Mike Quick did analysis for the ’17 champion Eagles) Andy Reid is the only coach to guide his team to 3 straight home conference or for that matter any semi round or title round in NFL annals (off the top of my head, clearly the great Celtics teams had “home” in 10 straight title rounds, winning 9 from (’57-’66, losing only in ’58 to the Bob Pettit led St. Louis Hawks and the also great Montreal Canadiens had “home” in the NHL final round in all 5 Cup winning years (’56-’60). They also appeared in the final round 10 straight seasons from (’51-’60, winning 6 times. In baseball where title round home advantage was certainly not based on best record from 1903 until I think 2019, no team had home advantage in the title round/World Series in 3 straight seasons and with maybe one or two exceptions even 2. The same certainly goes for football with its neutral field Supes (maybe not this season, but certainly next season will not have a Bucs home Supe) and alternating conference hosting in the old NFL and also AFL title rounds).

Reid has now done so twice. His Eagles (I did say quickly, referenced Mike Quick and rambled on) went (1-2) in such losing to Tampa Bay (the Bucs are (1-2) in title tilts going into their 4th at G.B. on Sunday) in ’02 and Carolina in ’03.His Eagles defeated Atlanta in ’04. The Reid coached Chiefs split the title tilts in ’18 and ’19, losing the latter in overtime to Brady and N.E. in the former and repeating an “AFL all the way–cue Eric Carmen and “The Raspberries”–1962 triumph when they were the Dallas Texans vs the Tennessee Titans nee Houston Oilers (the Oilers they were in ’62).