Since the Atlanta Falcons’ top two players are Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, a “top of my head,” Jones for this, Ryan for that.” (cue Boz Scaggs).
In a ’69 semi/NLCS, the eventual world champion Mets with Cleon Jones and Nolan Ryan, playing key roles swept the Atlanta Braves in 3 straight games. I always note the great Hank Aaron, albeit in defeat, homered in all three tilts.
The lone Atlanta title team, the ’95 Braves had a top player named Jones, Larry “Chipper” Jones.
Two Braves World Series losing teams, in ’96 and ’99 vs the Yankees had both Chipper and Andruw Jones.
Before losing three straight World Series to the Yankees in ’58 and aforementioned ’96 and ’99, the Braves of Milwaukee (they were there from ’53-65), won in 7 vs the Yankees in the ’57 World Series.
Their third base coach was Connie Ryan.
As stated in my most recent post, this will be the 13th Super Bowl following a presidential election in this country.
The AFC team has won the Supe in 8 of those 12 situations, riding a 4 Supe winning streak in presidential election years (’68 Jets, ’72 Dolphins, ’76 and ’80 Raiders) and a current one, on the line this Sunday, (’00 Ravens, ’04 Pats. ’08 Steelers and ’12 Ravens).
Twice in as many possibilities, conference 4 game Supe winning streaks in such games following U.S. presidential elections have come to an end, as the NFC also had a 4 game win skein (’84 and ’88 S.F. 49ers, ’92 Cowboys and ’96 Packers).
“Bay Area” teams, the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers won 4 straight presidential election year Supes (’76,’80,’84 and ’88), another streak that ended at four.
The top three and two of the three teams tied for third in Supe wins won a “presidential year” such game.
Pittsburgh (Steelers) with the most Supe wins (6) won in ’08, S.F. and Dallas each with 5 crowns, won twice (’84 and ’88) and in ’92 respectively.
Two of the three teams with 4 Supe crowns, the Pats (’04) and Packers (’96) also won crowns in such games. Only the Giants, also with 4 Supe wins did not, dealt their only Supe loss by the Baltimore Ravens, in presidential election year, 2000.
“R”egarding “R” teams, the Raiders and Redskins are next in Supe wins with three apiece, Oakland (Raiders) gaining two in presidential election seasons while Washington (Redskins), though where the president and until this year, his wife were to be housed, has never won a title in a presidential election season.
Additionally both “R”avens, of near by, Baltimore crowns, were won in presidential election seasons.
Eleven of the 12 presidential election season Super Bowl winners, encompassing 8 teams, have at least two crowns as the Miami Dolphins, undefeated Supe winners in presidential election season 1972, repeated as champions, with not so arguably, a better team in 1973.
Only the first such presidential election season, Supe winner, the 1968 New York Jets have not only won just that one title, but also have appeared in just (that) one Super Bowl game.
This Sunday February 5th, thirty six days into calendar 2017, the 2016 sports year, if not all things 2016, concludes with the 51st Supe, matching N.E. (minus 3, doubt it will go off that very powerful #, but ‘they’ seem to bet late, these days and one never knows) vs Atlanta.
As 2016 sports is about to conclude, it is perhaps noteworthy, certainly by me, as I thought it, that this will be the 13th of the 51 Super Bowls, that followed a presidential election.
A quick association of 13 and 51 yields 1951 with Ralph Branca, dead at 90 in 2016. He wore “unlucky” 13 and threw the pitch, on which Bobby Thomson’s home run won the 1951 National League pennant.
One more tribute to three sports greats, Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer and Gordie Howe, who also died in 2016.
In my next post, presidential election year/Supe notes.
So much I could say, but simply put, Don Mueller who had a big hit in the Giants’ pennant winning rally on October 3, 1951, could hit.
I actually heard Mueller say, what he has been quoted as saying, 50 years after that game.
At a dinner commemorating the ’51 N.L. race, (of course with the wild card presence a race such as ’51 can never be), a fan asked Mueller if Gil Hodges should have been “holding” the runner, Alvin Dark on first base, with a (4-1) lead and left handed hitting Mueller at the “dish.”
Don, who fifty years earlier hit the ball past Hodges for a hit, said “if he was not playing there, I would have hit the ball someplace else.”
The fan laughed and agreed, saying simply Don’s nickname, “Mandrake The Magician.”
Another true great, John Hurt died last week.
His performance as John Merrick in “The Elephant Man” was transcendent.
I still have trouble containing my emotions while watching the film.
There is so much to the story and in trying to deal one’s lesser but real problems juxtaposed with what Merrick endured as portrayed in Hurt’s magnificent performance.
In one of my recent posts, I cited Natalie Portman’s fine performance as Jacqueline Kennedy in “Jackie”
There were many good scenes but her/Mrs. Kennedy’s scenes and dialogue with a priest, Father Richard McSorley, the man who advised/consoled Mrs. Kennedy after the tragic event in Dallas, Texas, were the best. Mr. Hurt portrayed Father McSorley.
It was another great performance by a truly great actor.
John Hurt, pictured above.
During the boring, recent NFC title game, I noticed a “graphic” on Atlanta’s one sports title in how many seasons.
I did not write down “their” number, maybe they got it right.
Going into this the Atlanta Falcons’ second Supe/NFL finals, (they lost in their other on the NFC network, to a second straight Denver title, with the over rated, but I begrudgingly call great, John Elway and for the record coached by Mike Shanahan, this week another Shanahan, son Kyle resurfaced as a Bay Area team coach, as did eventually his playbook) the city of Atlanta’s major professional sports teams have won but one title in an aggregate 167 completed seasons.
The one title was won by the 1995 baseball Braves. It is one of only five called by Bob Costas in a major sports league (“BaseKetball” does not count as such), which sadly, is in sharp contrast to the 24 Joe Buck will have called, after again what hopefully will be a boring, low rated Supe for he and Fox.
The Braves in 50 completed seasons (’66-’93 and ’95-2016, need I tell you an exciting ’94 season was obliterated, have that one title, failing in 4 other World Series appearances.
Atlanta (Falcons) failed to title in their first 50 seasons (’66-2015) losing, as stated earlier in their only Supe/NFL finals appearance in ’98.
The NBA Hawks’ record is the most woeful, among the five Atlanta sports teams, past and present. They have never reached a league final, losing in all three “semis,” going a pathetic (1-12) in individual games (lost in 5 to the Lakers in ’69, in 4 to another eventual, finals losing, L.A. team in ’70 and to another eventual finals loser, the ’15 Cavs also sans a win in 4 games).
The city no longer has an NHL team. The Flames played in Atlanta as an expansion team (’73-’80) never winning in six ‘offs rounds, going (2-15) in games. Meanwhile the Thrashers, now the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets, played 11 seasons in Atlanta ’01-’11 (no NHL season in ’05), making the ‘offs but once, sans a win as they were swept out by the New York Rangers in the first round of the 2007 playoffs.
Please in addition to all the inane questions, try, you lucky reporters doing what many of us would love to be doing, to get your facts correct.
An example of this and frankly an arrogance that includes yell first/research second, if at all is often displayed by a blight of epic proportions on reporting in the person of Stephen A. Smith.
I could not possibly listen enough to Stephen A. Smith just to find and cite factual mistakes, but today I somehow endured this latest, and one of the greatest pieces of evidence of our nation’s decline.
Rather than cite how abrasive and ridiculous this man Smith is (guess I just did), perhaps he needs more fingers, on which to count.
He thankfully has ten, but Brady has played in ELEVEN AFC title games, NOT ten as Smith, in his most arrogant and factually incorrect way stated earlier today.
Please come back “Big Ben,” they can “sink” your title hopes but not your paycheck.
Do not leave the game you play so well, with the knowledge you and Tomlin called an atrocious game, not “sneaking” at the N.E. goal contrasted with Mr. Brady doing same in the middle of the field.
The sink, to me can be forgiven but alas the mirror test, I know, is much more difficult.
Recently I saw a performance of “Our Lady Of 121st Street,” a truly extraordinary play, currently at The Actors Studio at 132 West 44th Street.
There were many entertaining and meaningful twists and turns, which combined pathos and humor, usually and surely applicable here, a good sign that it was a very good play.
All members of the 14 person cast deserve citation. Check these names for future reference, as all directed by the great Estelle Parsons, dug deep in Actor’s Studio fashion to give a truly revealing performance.
Bryan Hickey, Javier Molina, LeLand Gantt, Jay Johnston, RyanF. Johnson, Stephen Dexter, Delissa Reynolds, Suzanne DiDonna, Jason Furlani, Gabriel Furman, Myla Pitt, Natalie Hall, Tony Naumovski and David Fraoiola made up the cast.
The play written by Stephen Adly Guirgis will appear again. Please look for it.
The great Estelle Parsons pictured above.
After the home team Atlanta Falcons’ victory in the “first slot” two weeks ago, vs the Seattle Seahawks, the second such win in Atlanta annals, the home team record in those first slot/first game of the divisional round games rose to (38-9).
That is the same score by which Oakland beat “Wash” in the ’83 season Supe on the NFC network, a score/rout one can only hope for in next week’s game.
Alas just as I know regarding Trump and so much evil greed, do not “hold your breath,” in anticipation of such a good result. One can only dream the awful quartet of Buck, Aikman, Parrera and Andrews be saddled with a boring rout. Even so they get paid and bettors would stay tuned.
Before the advent of night “slots” games began in 2001, the home team was (27-4), slightly better than the great Ed “Whitey” Ford’s mark in ’61 (always cite Luis Arroyo, for his contribution thereof), in such games from (’70-‘2000).
The five losses in such games since, represent one more than those “suffered” by the home team in one less than double the number of games (31 vs 16).
The four road wins/home losses from (’70-’00) were Dallas over Minne in ’71, Oakland at the “Balti” Colts in ’77, “Sea” at Miami in ’83 and the Bills at “Pitts” in ’92.
Four of the five instances starting in ’01 were followed by New England games. The Eagles won at “Chi” in ’01, only to lose the NFC title tilt as expected to the favored ST LOO Rams (I think Phil covered in defeat). Then the Pats pulled a big upset vs the Rams.
New England about to play in a record 9th Supe, was a huge underdog in their first three, but favored in the next six.
In ’03, after Carolina (Panthers) won at St. Louis in slot 1 and took the Eagles in the title tilt, N.E. again got a Supe winning field goal from Adam Vinatieri, to no cover “Car” in the “ultimate” game. (As Duane Thomas said re the Supe, “if it is the ultimate game, why do they play it every year?!).
In ’06, give him credit Pey Manning and his Colts won at “Balti” and then the team won vs N.E. in the title tilt and subsequent Supe.
In ’12, the Ravens /Balti won at Denver with Manning in slot 1 and then not only at N.E. in the title tilt, but in the subsequent Super Bowl.
In ’08, the Ravens won at Tennessee, only to lose at Pitts in the subsequent title tilt.
One worthwhile one is reliever Luis Arroyo helped Whitey Ford in many of those ’61 season wins or so it is said.
Let’s see, the Mets are playing the Pirates, my father and I Jewish, Michael Santasieri, Italian and Catholic, watch the Mets score the winning run.
However, though all three of us are rooting for the Mets, we sit amazed and in awe, that Roberto Clemente, a man from Puerto Rico, just made a throw to make the play a bit close, that defied belief.
I am sitting in Shea Stadium on May 8th, 1981 watching Fernando Valenzuela pitch, marveling as I said into my tape recorder, “this cool youngster from Mexico.”
There had been riots in the Watts section of Los Angeles maybe a month or two earlier. The Dodgers had just won the 1965 World Series in Minnesota, with Sandy Koufax of the Jewish faith, pitching a three hit shutout.
Lou Johnson a black man, who had played so long in the minor leagues hit a home run in that game and as Sandy said “carried the club” for 2 weeks, after the great Tommy Davis had broken his ankle early in that glorious ’65 season.
Johnson said “Sandy you are the greatest.”
As in “Meat Loaf’s,” “Paradise By The Dashboard Light,” “stop right there,” no, not to save your so called “virtue,” but to contemplate why what someone’s race, religion or ethnicity would matter so much, if at all, when it is what they do, say, contribute, that is infinitely more important.
Why have we not only NOT moved anywhere near as far forward as that “advanced society in space” might have “manual-ed,” but now with a man truly in need of psychiatric help/evaluation as president, have moved so far backward, that it seems there is a WALL, blocking our communication and progress.
Somewhere in a better place, a woman named Coretta is consoling her husband Martin, saying “it was only a dream.”
Alas, Martin, who one TODAY had a dream, knows when it is a nightmare.
Enough “rocks” of any kind, even those of warning, in hope of better.
Click below to view Dr. M.L. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech and note for you sports fans, that is future USC (also Washington State and Iowa) basketball coach George Raveling, prominently displayed, standing to Martin’s right.
Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech
The NFC champion Atlanta Falcons’ first season was 1966. The NFL had 15 teams, eight in Eastern Conference which housed Atlanta and seven in the Western Conference.
Atlanta played each of the 14 other NFL teams once while the other 14 teams played their six (other in the Eastern Conference) conference opponents twice each and but one inter conference tilt.
Atlanta went (3-11) winning two of their last three games. There were five games against teams they played 50 years later in the 2016 NFL regular season.
This season Atlanta, of course had a total of six games vs fellow NFC South teams, the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers. None of those teams existed in 1966.
Additionally the ’16 Falcons faced all four teams from the AFC West, oddly all around in ’66 as the Chiefs, Raiders, Chargers and Broncos were all original AFL teams, but though the NFL and AFL had agreed to merger terms and did play a championship game that ’66 season, no NFL/AFL regular season tilts were played.
That leaves 6 possible games for a 2016/1966 match and five met the bill.
Three of the four NFC West teams the ’16 Falcons played and by the way defeated, were also 1966 opponents.
Start with the L.A. Rams, in both seasons playing in “Tinseltown” with time and a ’99 title in St. Louis in between.
Speaking of St. Louis, that was where the now Arizona Cardinals played in 1966. The Falcons defeated them in both ’66 and ’16.
S.F (49ers) are the third NFC West team around in ’66 and thus an “Atl” opponent in that their first season, the “Bay” team victorious in ’66 but not so in ’16.
The fourth NFC West team, the Seattle Seahawks, not around in ’66, defeated the Falcons in a “reg” tilt with Chris Myers presiding, aided and abetted by a non interference call. I can still see Atlanta coach and former “Sea” title team assistant coach, Dan Quinn raging and rightfully so regarding the call.
However, with help from the Cards who “dealt” (pun intended) “Sea” a key late season loss, “Atl” got the NFC “2” seed and eventually a home “slots” victory vs Sea, a second such victory in five seasons, this time covering the spread.
In ’66 both the Philadelphia Eagles and eventual first Supe, then the NFL/AFL championship game, victors, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Falcons.
Fifty years later, each was an additional NFC opponent for Atlanta.
The Eagles, whom the Falcons defeated for a victory in their first ever ‘offs game in 1978, won this season.
Meanwhile Atlanta, routed (56-3) by the ’66 Pack, defeated “G.B.” in both the regular season tilt played exactly 50 years and one week later and routed them in the NFC title game/NFL “semi” to gain entry into the Supe for just the second time in their 51 year history.
The great player Tommy Nobis, pictured above, was a rookie on the ’66 Falcons.
Few would detail and wax poetic about NFL 1966, as I just did above. Alas I was 11 and unaware, not that it was not great, less publicized and a good memory.
I was unaware of Nobis’ situation, but well aware of the NFL’s greed and desire to hide such things.
Please read this fine article by Terence Moore. Click below.
Inside the sad post-football life of Tommy Nobis. | Sports on …
Andy B Sports 