Baltimore in 1970, first with an Orioles team that won 108 games and then with an (11-3) Colts’ team was the first city to win the World Series, followed by the Super Bowl in the same year.
The next to do so was Pittsburgh in 1979, the Pirates last World Series crown or even appearance was followed by the Steelers’ 4th Supe crown in 6 seasons, something the Patriots will try to match next season.
New York “turned the trick,” (was Times Square different? — I believe so) in 1986, first the Mets handing the Red Sox an excruciating World Series loss, followed by the Giants first NFL crown in 30 years.
Boston’s Red Sox had gone 86 years sans a World Series victory, the aforementioned 1986 loss by a gallant team that included Dwight Evans, before winning the World Series in 2004. The Patriots followed that with their third NFL/Super Bowl crown in four seasons, winning the 39th Supe.
Last Sunday, a scant 14 weeks after the Red Sox fourth crown in 15 seasons (’04-’18), the Patriots won their sixth in 18 seasons, (’01-18), making Boston, as cited yesterday the first city/area to twice win the World Series followed by the Supe in the same year/season.
Two days ago, I cited New York winning the World Series followed by gaining an NFL championship via a title game win in both 1938 and 1956.
New York’s Giants are also credited with the 1927 NFL crown, based on the final regular season standings as there was no post-season play. Before that, the legendary 1927 New York Yankees, led by Babe Ruth (60 home runs) and Lou Gehrig, who smacked 47, won the ’27 Fall Classic/World Series.
One other city won the World Series followed by the NFL crown in the same year. Detroit did so, winning the ’35 World Series, their first, having been denied in appearances in three straight years (1907-1909), followed by the Lions first NFL title as they won the NFL’s third title tilt in December 1935.
This was an incredible episode of What’s My Line which included the fabulous Tony Bennett as the mystery guest and Brian Epstein, the prescient great, who led the Beatles to our sight and sound.
Panelists on this October, 1964 show were Arlene Francis, Paul Anka, Dorothy Kilgallen and Bennett Cerf.
The host is John Charles Daly.
Click below to view this great episode of “What’s My Line.”
Boston became the first city/area to twice have the World Series and Super Bowl winner (the Red Sox and Patriots respectively) in the same year, having also done so in 2004.
The city was denied the feat after the 2007 NFL season, after a Red Sox title, as with the 2018 crown, clinched on the road on Sunday October 28th, when the New York Giants beat an (18-0) Pats team in the Super Bowl.
New York with a total of three teams involved, has thrice won the World Series followed by the NFL crown in a championship game.
It happened in 1938, 1956 (Mickey Mantle’s Triple Crown season) and 1986, the first two with the Yankees winning the World Series and the Giants winning a home NFL Title game, the one in ’86 a Mets’ World Series and Giants’ Supe win.
Bill Belichick, pictured here for the second straight day, after winning his 8th Super Bowl (6 as head coach of the New England Patriots and two as a New York Giants’ defensive coordinator), was part of the two titles/same city feats of Boston in ’04 and ’18 as well as New York doing so in ’86.
The New England Patriots won a record tying sixth Super Bowl (tying the Pittsburgh Steelers), winning a dull, but “largely in doubt” , lowest scoring ever Supe, (13-3) vs the L.A. Rams.
Julian Edelman, the Pats superb receiver gathered in 10 Tom Brady (a rare, not so hot big game for Mr. Brady, but alas a record 6th Supe title for him, breaking the record for most player Supe wins, he had shared with Charles Haley), passes for 141 yards and was named the game’s most valuable player.
The big offensive play, occurring with the game incredibly tied (3-3), mid 4th quarter, was a perfectly thrown Brady pass to Rob Gronkowski, which gained 29 yards to the L.A. 2.
From there, rookie Sony Michel, who scored the game’s first touchdown in all 3 Pats’ ‘offs games, scored the game’s only touchdown. Michel denied a college title in last year’s college title tilt, totaled 6 touchdowns in the ‘offs, playing a vital role in helping the Pats win their 6th crown.
After the Rams had driven to the N.E. 27 and just missed on the play before, Stephen Gilmore, a Pats defensive standout, intercepted a Jarrod Goff pass and led by Michel, #26 and his 26 yard run, and another of that distance, by AFC Title Game star, Rex Burkhead, N.E. drove to the Rams 24, with Stephen Gostkowski (2 of 3 on field goal attempts), accounting for the game’s final points, connecting on a 41 yard field goal.
The great coach Bill Belichick, pictured above.
Bill moved ahead of legendary coaches Vince Lombardi and George Halas with his sixth NFL title won in a championship game.
George Halas and Earl “Curly” Lambeau are also credited with 6 NFL titles as head coaches, Halas winning 5 in title games and Lambeau doing so 3 times.
The New England Patriots, seeking to tie the Pittsburgh Steelers with 6 Supe crowns today, vs the L.A. Rams, won their first two titles on last play Adam Vinatieri field goals.
Vinatieri, still an all-time great kicker despite some horrible misses of late, played on two more title teams, one With N.E. and the other with the Indianapolis Colts, with whom he still plays.
The other last play/essentially last play, Super Bowl winning field goal, as with both of Vinatieri’s the score was tied, was booted by Jim O’Brien of the then Baltimore Colts, after the 1970 season.
Tom Goode (alas ball playing WAS allowed on poly-turf) snapped the ball, Earl Morrall held it and from 32 yards away, O’Brien kicked the Colts to a Supe 5 win a scant 2 years after a loss in the third one to the New York Jets, also at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.
A great broadcaster, Ted Moore then affiliated with the Colts is heard calling the historic play at the very beginning of the NFL Films feature, below.
The other local broadcaster, also a great one, to call a Supe/NFL Title winning, last or virtual last play game winning field is Gil Santos.
Gil called both Vinatieri Supe winning field goals with Mr. Cappelletti, the game analyst. They are pictured above with Mr. Santos on the left and Gino on the right.
The Rams will be playing for the NFL crown for the ninth time, (6th as the L.A. Rams) in tomorrow’s Super Bowl, in Atlanta.
As the St. Louis entry, in just their 5th season there, the Rams won a Super Bowl game in Atlanta, after the 1999 season.
They played in one other Supe as the St. Louis Rams, losing to the New England Patriots, of course the Rams’ opponents tomorrow, in the 2001 Super Bowl.
This will be the Rams first Super Bowl appearance, in their second incarnation as the Los Angeles Rams. It comes the fastest of any of their 4 incarnations, in only their third season back in L.A.
In their first L.A. stint, the Rams played for the NFL crown, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles’ repeat 1949 NFL champions, in just their 4th season in Los Angeles.
They moved to Los Angeles from Cleveland after winning the NFL crown in their last game as the Cleveland Rams in 1945. The team played 8 seasons in Cleveland and only in 1945, did they make the title game.
The Rams played in an American Football League in 1936 and suspended operations for the 1943 season. They made the title tilt in their third, fourth, fifth and eighth seasons in their 4 incarnations, winning 3 crowns.
Entering Sunday’s 53rd Super Bowl, teams from the conference or league, whose network is exclusively telecasting the game in the United States, have a record of (23-17).
Sunday’s game is on CBS and will be the seventh Supe it telecasts with AFC affiliation. CBS telecast 12 exclusively, as the NFL and NFC network. (The NFL or NFC team was (7-5) in those games).
Altogether, the CBS conference or league affiliated teams have also won two thirds of such games, (5-1) as the AFC.
Current NFC network, Fox has telecast eight Supes, with the “other” conference (AFC) winning five times.
Meanwhile NBC, now a “neutral” network in these “matters” (as if this matters, but hey….) telecast 14 Super Bowls as either the AFL or AFC network. Its AFL or AFC teams won the first 7 such games, but only one of the next seven, to finish (8-6).
Eleven Super Bowls were on the “neutral” network (the first seven of those on ABC, the next four on NBC).
The first Supe was telecast by both CBS, the NFL network and NBC, the AFL carrier.
It was NBC’s Charlie Jones, who, before the first such game before it was known as The Super Bowl, famously stated the broadcasters would be relieved of the tension, after the “first verb.”
Elijah Pitts, pictured above, carrying the ball for the Green Bay Packers’ in their (35-10) win vs the Kansas City Chiefs, in the first of these games.
Before the 53rd Super Bowl to be played in Atlanta, Georgia, a city with but one major North American Professional sports league title, Boston has 38 titles, double that of opponent Los Angeles, which has 19.
The Boston Celtics have 17 NBA crowns, the Red Sox have won the baseball World Series 9 times, (the once Boston Braves titled once), while the Patriots hope to tie the NHL Bruins, with a 6th title this Sunday.
Los Angeles has 11 Lakers’ titles and 5 Dodgers’ World Series victories. The NHL Kings have 2 NHL titles and the Rams won L.A.’s first pro title in 1951.
One could add the L.A. area Angels 2002 World Series victory as well as the NHL Ducks’ 2007 NHL title even the L.A. Raiders’ ’83 Supe win, to make the total 22, or not count the Braves’ 1914 World Series victory, as they no longer are a Boston based franchise, having moved to Milwaukee and then Atlanta, winning one title in each city.
The New England Patriots have won in their last 5 meetings vs the Rams. That includes New England’s first Supe win, after the 2001 regular season.
The last Rams’ win vs N.E. was in that 2001 regular season.
A most memorable regular season game was the Patriots’ (30-28) victory at the Rams, then playing home games in Anaheim, on November 16, 1986.
I believe the Tony Eason to Irving Fryar “tipped/miracle/ last play, save the extra point, catch was roughly at the same part of Anaheim Stadium as Dave Henderson’s tremendously important, but far from decisive, 2 run home run for Boston (Red Sox) vs the L.A. area Angels, in game 5 of that season’s ALCS, just over one month earlier.
That same November 16, 1986 day, a New York Giants team, destined to win their last twelve games, certainly the last five with pretty much ease, en route to their first Super Bowl crown, “pulled a game out,” themselves, (22-20) at Minnesota, vs the Vikings.
Their assistant coach and of course long time Patriots’ head coach, Bill Belichick, walked off a Super Bowl field victorious that season and to this point, 6 more times, in his great coaching career.
One more Pats/Rams “reg” game note: In ’74, the Pats, an upstart team went to (3-0), beating the Rams in a New England home game.
The last touchdown of the game in that Rams loss, was the last touchdown of Lance Rentzel’s career, as he collected a pass from John Hadl.
Despite a (5-0) start, the Patriots failed to make the then 8 team/4 in each conference, playoff field. The Rams made the ‘offs for the second straight season, losing in the NFC Title Game at Minnesota.
L.A. (Rams) made the ‘offs 8 straight seasons from (’73-’80), advancing to one Super Bowl, in which they lost in a well played game to the great Pittsburgh Steelers. That was their last previous Supe appearance, as the Los Angeles Rams.
Click below to view the end of Pats/Rams on November 16, 1986. The classy Dick Enberg and the great one time Rams player, Merlin Olsen are the respective play by play and color announcers.
Irving Fryar Hail Mary catch, Patriots-Rams 1986
Today a vintage “What’s My Line” episode that featured two great mystery (type) guests and two other contestants.
Writer Jacqueline Suzanne, appeared and the panelists wore blindfolds. Ms. Suzanne was celebrating the one year anniversary of her topping the best seller list with her great “Valley of the Dolls.”
The incomparable Judy Garland was the mystery guest. Ms. Garland’s daughter, Liza Minelli’ wedding to Peter Allen, just two days before was referenced. Names were not mentioned, save it was Judy’s daughter.
Panelists on this great show were Arlene Francis, Sue Oakland, Tony Randall and Bennett Cerf.
Mr. Cerf and his wife had flown to Miami, Florida and back to New York City, having seen Frank Sinatra perform the night before.
John Charles Daly was the host.
Click below to view the show.
Andy B Sports 