While the state of North Carolina has claimed 12 NCAA basketball titles (5 each by Duke University and North Carolina U. plus two more by North Carolina State University), a limited pro history has produced but one title.
The team that won it, the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL won it all in the 2005- 2006 season, the first one after no season the year before.
That title made famed North Carolina resident, the late great actor Andy Griffith happy. What would not have is the fact that his image or career was not remembered at the Academy Award ceremonies’ tribute to those who passed on, in the first such ceremony after Mr. Griffith’s death.
I digress, of course.
The Hurricanes are (1-1) in finals, winning vs the Edmonton Oilers in the maximum 7 games in 2006 while losing in 5 games to the Detroit Red Wings in the 2002 final.
The Carolina Panthers, who get another title shot this Sunday lost in their lone previous Super Bowl/final by three points to the New England Patriots after the 2003 season.
There are a few team names that appear in more than one of the major North American sports leagues, the NFL, MLB, NBA and the NHL.
One is “the Panthers” and both teams with that name are excelling at this point.
The Carolina Panthers are 6 point favorites to complete an unbelievable season. At this point, they are one of just four teams to enter the Super Bowl with as many as 15 regular season wins.
Meanwhile the Florida Panthers lead in the NHL Atlantic Division as the league gets ready to resume play after its All Star break.
Both Panthers’ franchises are (0-1) in its previous sojourns to the league final.
The NHL Panthers were swept by a Denver team, the Colorado Avalanche in the 1996 NHL finals.
The NFL Panthers, who of course will face another Denver team the Broncos) in its league’s final on Sunday, lost in its lone previous final, a 2003 season loss to the New England Patriots.
The 50th Super Bowl, now less than a week away, will be the 20th telecast by the AFL or AFC network.
AFL or AFC teams have a (12-7) record in the previous 19 such games.
With the AFC team in this year’s Supe, the Denver Broncos a six point underdog, perhaps it is significant and I suppose noteworthy that the AFL or AFC team is (14-5) vs the point spread in Super Bowls telecast on its network.
Clearly two AFC teams that lost the game, covered the spread in games on the AFC network.
Those teams were the 1988 Cincinnati Bengals vs the S.F. 49ers and the 1995 Pittsburgh Steelers vs the Dallas Cowboys.
Though the AFC network, then NBC, telecast two straight Supes both manifesting in the NFC Dallas Cowboys’ decisive wins vs the Buffalo Bills and other changes involving which network telecast the big game, somehow after Sunday, both the NFL/NFC and AFL/AFC networks will have telecast 20 Super Bowls each.
One of the AFC network Super Bowl telecasts was the 11th Supe (1976 season) won by the AFC Oakland Raiders with their great quarterback, Ken Stabler pictured above. The under appreciated Curt Gowdy was the NBC/AFC network lead announcer that day.
Sally Field working with Robert Osborne on TCM’s The Essentials said it very well in hoping that actor Jack Nicholson appreciates the greatness and opportunity that manifested regarding he and his extraordinary performance in “one Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” now over 40 years ago.
In watching the movie last night on TCM, I agree and always thought that way about the fact “Cuckoo’s Nest” was a great ensemble performance and that Louise Fletcher, as was the case with “Jack,” (as I say regarding President Kennedy, who the bleep am I to call him Jack?!!), an Academy Award winner for the film, was spectacular.
Yet I also agree wholeheartedly with Ms. Field and Mr. Osborne that not only did his performance in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” vault Nicholson to the “moon,” but that it was a transcendent effort.
It really is difficult to express how great the film, directed by Milos Forman was and the incredible emotions that it elicits.
So the easy part for me and some baseball that was referenced in the film.
Jack’s “R.P. Mc Murphy wants to watch the first two games of the 1963 World Series and the great announcer Ernie Harwell’s voice is heard in an authentic tape of his preview of game 2.
The L.A. Dodgers defeated the Yankees in 4 straight games in that World Series.
Yet 4 Yankees, Al Downing, (by Harwell as the Yankees’ game two starting pitcher), the “great Mickey Mantle” and he was, Tom Tresh and Bobby Richardson are cited to just one Dodgers player, pitcher Sandy Koufax, whose curve ball could break “expletive deletive” well as cited by Mc Murphy which sure was the “emmas” (an Italian word ha ha) regarding Koufax, a Jewish pitcher.
Jack Nicholson left and Will Sampson as “The Chief” in the great film, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
The Denver Broncos were the losing team in some of the most one sided games among the 49 previous Super Bowls.
Their loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the 1989 Super Bowl was the record margin, 45 points.
Other Broncos’ defeats were by 35 points to the Seattle Seahawks two years ago, by 32 points to the Washington Redskins in the 1987 season Supe as well as 19 and 17 point defeats at the hands of the 1986 New York Giants and 1977 Dallas Cowboys respectively.
Their victories were by 15 points vs the Atlanta Falcons after the 1998 season and a close 7 point win vs the Green Bay Packers after the 1997 season.
Thus their 5 Supe losses all were by greater margins than either of the their two Super Bowl wins.
While, as cited here the other day, only four of the 32 NFL franchises (one eighth-there are those fractions again), have never appeared in a Super Bowl, nine additional teams have failed to win a Super Bowl.
Thus 13 of the 32 teams, roughly 41 percent of the NFL teams, including the (0-1) in Supes, current entrant and 6 point favorite, Carolina Panthers have never won one.
The Detroit Lions (4), Philadelphia Eagles (3) and Arizona Cardinals (1 as the Chicago Cardinals) are the only franchises to have won an “all the way” NFL title(s) and not won a Super Bowl.
The Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans (2 as the Houston Oilers with George Blanda as their quarterback) and San Diego Chargers did win AFL titles, before Super Bowl play.
Franchises sans both Super Bowl and “all the way” (cue Eric Carmen and The Raspberries) title wins are the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, the Supe 50 favorite Carolina Panthers, and Cincinnati Bengals.
As cited the other day, in addition to the Lions, three other teams, all expansion teams, the Jacksonville Jaguars, new Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans have failed to make a Super Bowl appearance.
The reason for the “all the way” reference is that the 1969 Vikings did win an NFL title game, but failed to go “all the way” as they were beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs in the subsequent Super Bowl.
Click above to view Eric and the Raspberries’ great hit “Go All the Way.”
Two weeks ago I cited the fact that when Arizona (Cardinals) ousted the Green Bay Packers, it assured the fact that the NFC starting quarterback would be one, barring injury, with six letters in his last name. The possible “qb’s” were Cam Newton, Carson Palmer and Russell Wilson.
When the Carolina Panthers took out the Seattle Seahawks, it assured the NFC team would have both its starting quarterback and head coach with six letters in his last name. The possible coaches were Ron Rivera and Bruce Arians.
Now with Carolina, coached by Ron Rivera, facing the Denver Broncos, coached by Gary Kubiak, in the 50th Super Bowl, it marks the first time both Super Bowl head coaches will be ones with six letters in their last name.
Angelique Kerber won her first Grand Slam tennis title dispatching the incredibly poor choice as Sports Illustrated’s top athlete of 2015, Serena Williams, in straight sets to win the women’s title at the Australian Open.
Kerber, over a 7 to 1 “man to man-or woman to woman” (Cara Miller on Innovation Hub said woman as I wrote it.) underdog winning means there will be no “calendar Grand Slam” title for Williams.
There will be less hype surrounding her which is better for all concerned, perhaps most important, to Ms. Williams.
Given the title winning year and subsequent great start that Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors led, I still find it an inexcusable “joke” that the once fine “Sports Illustrated,” named Williams its “Sportsman/woman/person” of 2015.
The eventual 1977 NBA champion Portland Trail Blazers did not have the home advantage in both the semi-finals nor finals.
They were a truly great team, even better the year after, but injuries especially to their great center, Bill Walton cost them a chance to repeat as NBA champions.
Some memories of that championship season follow.
In 1977, Portland went (10-0) at home in the playoffs.
Herman Gilliam was a big factor in their win at L.A. vs the Jerry West coached Lakers in game 2 of their semi-final series.
Recently fired as Brooklyn Nets coach, a fine player, Lionel Hollins can take solace in his big game vs the Chicago Bulls, in the decisive game of the 1977 preliminary series vs the Chicago Bulls.
Maurice Lucas, pictured above, was a truly great player on those Portland teams.
The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots (then known as the Boston Patriots), met in the first AFL game ever played back in 1960.
The teams have clashed five times in the NFL playoffs, (they never met in the AFL playoffs), with Denver holding a (4-1) edge.
All five games have been won by the home team which is also the case in playoff tilts involving the great quarterbacks, Tom Brady of New England and Peyton Manning currently with the Broncos, but also in three playoff games vs Brady and New England, as a member of the Indianapolis Colts.
Two of the 5 home team wins in the Denver/New England playoff annals were games in which Manning and Denver prevailed vs Brady and New England.
With Brady as quarterback New England won a home divisional round game vs Denver and its quarterback, Tim Tebow in 2012.
Denver with Jake Plummer as its “Q.B.” ended a run of 10 consecutive New England playoff wins (before that loss Brady was (10-0) in the playoffs, as a starting “Q.B.” having been relieved in one of those wins, the 2001 AFC title tilt, by Drew Bledsoe) in a 2005 divisional round game.
That game marked the end of New England invincibility.
Denver also won a divisional round game vs New England in 1986, a game remembered by bettors for the fact a late safety, scored by Denver, covered the point spread.
Jake Plummer, pictured above was the Denver Broncos quarterback in the 2005 divisional round game in which the Broncos handed Tom Brady his first post-season defeat.
Andy B Sports 