Yesterday as an epic storm blanketed the region with snow, I enjoyed some episodes of the fine television series “Kojak” starring Telly Savalas, as part of what was promoted as a “Kojak binge” by the Decade Channel.
In watching a couple of episodes, I noticed two future stars.
F. Murray Abraham, a superb actor is one.
The other and give him so much credit for perseverance and his recent Academy Award nominated performance in “Creed,” is Sylvester Stallone.
Savalas as New York Police Lieutenant Kojak always dazzled.
Yesterday watching him walk out onto a New York street in the darkness and in kissing the great actress Ruth Gordon’s character’s hand, I do say “who loves you baby” to Savalas and the show Kojak for nice entertainment on a dark, snowy day.
Telly Savalas with his lollypop as “Kojak.”
Last week though they played poorly in the second half, the Carolina Panthers scored an impressive, easy victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional playoffs.
I, somehow forgot to predict the Carolina Panthers to win the game (again, so help me as I typed “win” the radio played “Jeopardy,” all-time champion, Ken Jennings saying “win,” which he did not vs the computer, “Watson.”) last week.
It will not be easy this week, kind of like Alabama vs Clemson and its quarterback named (Deshaun) Watson, but certainly not “Watson” the computer.
My prediction:
Carolina Panthers, a 3 point favorite, 20 Arizona Cardinals 12.
WFAN radio Mike Francesa’s prediction for the AFC title game, matching the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos at Denver, reveals so much of who he is.
Not only does he continue predicting the favorite (New England Patriots) but does so with the caveat that he is rooting so hard for the underdog team (Denver Broncos).
His prediction:
New England Patriots minus 3 points.
He has made it known he dislikes New England. Why though is he so pro Peyton Manning and Denver, saying he would love to see Manning and Denver not only win vs Denver but also win the Super Bowl. (So help me on the radio as I typed Super Bowl, the phrase “super uncomfortable” was uttered).
Why? He, with all his success, (to me completely out of proportion with his talent and work, (minimum he and others like him are compensated in a subjective endeavor), seethes at the success of coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots, who objectively have clearly achieved win or lose today, by any objective standard, one of the great “eras” in major team sports’ history.
We all have elements of, if not full fledged “deadly sins.” In my opinion Francesa is clearly envious of the fact that Bill Belichick and not his choice Bill Parcells, is considered near the top, if not the top of the list regarding all-time NFL coaches.
Tomorrow the Carolina Panthers will host the NFC title game for the first time in their 21 year history.
It will be the third of three possible playoff levels in which the Panthers will be hosting the Arizona Cardinals.
Last week the Cardinals, who have hosted one NFC title game in their 46 possible years of doing so, played a divisional round game at home, also for the first time in 46 possible seasons.
Going back, the Cardinals have hosted but two title tilts, the first in 1947, their only title season and that NFL title game was for all the marbles. The other was in 2008 vs the Philadelphia Eagles for the right to play for the NFL crown in the Super Bowl.
Last week, the Cardinals won and the Pittsburgh Steelers lost. That was not the case in the 2008 Super Bowl when Pittsburgh won the title, no covering the Cardinals.
Last week, the Cardinals won but did not cover. Last week the Steelers, 7 point underdogs, lost by 7 points.
The Panthers defeated the Cardinals in the 2015 wild card round. That game as well as a Saturday night divisional round game between the Panthers and Cardinals was hosted by the Panthers. The Cardinals won that 2008 divisional round game.
Tomorrow will be the 46th NFC title game, the first being in 1970.
It will be the 50th time teams from the NFL/NFC (as they say “rinse and repeat” concerning the AFL/AFC), will be meeting with a Super Bowl berth on the line.
Four times the NFL and AFL teams met for the world title, in what now are referred to as Supes (1-4), with the AFL bouncing back from two big score losses vs Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers to win the last two Super Bowls contested between the AFL and NFL.
The two winning AFL teams, the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs have failed to make a Super Bowl appearance in the 46 AFC/NFC configuration seasons that have been played.
In the first NFC title tilt, the Dallas Cowboys went to San Francisco and defeated the 49ers in what was the last game ever played at Kezar Stadium.
The legendary great player and humorous Art Donovan talked of the plethora of “calling card material” left by seagulls at “Kezar.”
Two weeks hence the 50th Super Bowl will be played at a spanking new corporate named stadium in the San Francisco area and I, tilting futilely vs yet another windmill prefer the “calling card material” left by the seagulls at Kezar to the similar stuff, the NFL with its horrible presentation has become.
Green Bay Packers’ CoachVince Lombardi and his assistant coach Phil Bengston (closer) on the sidelines in a December 1962 game at Kezar Stadium.
WFAN radio’s Mike Francesa is (5-2-1) on his predictions thus far in the NFL post-season games.
What follows is his prediction for tomorrow’s NFC title game matching the host Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals.
Francesa claims to be rooting for the Cardinals.
His prediction:
Carolina Panthers minus three points.
He called Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer’s performance in a WIN last week vs Green Bay “awful” maybe worse. Typical Francesa, but this season the mostly “favorite picking” Francesa, has a good record.
As the first snow plows arrive on the street, Francesa’s advice of get the people in your house to help shovel snow or pay a kid in the area to do so, register as rare “good stuff” emanating from Mr.Francesa.
I am going way out with esoteric notes because the hype regarding Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and its presentation with the usual loudmouthed suspects (if only we could not “round them up” but silence them/it) is too much.
A look at New England Patriots coaching history evokes thoughts of “Two elsewhere titles,” and perhaps some interesting notes.
Of course, though such near, if not legendary, football figures as Raymond Berry, Pete Carroll and Bill Parcells have coached the Patriots to the playoffs, only current coach, Bill Belichick with 4, has brought a title to New England.
Belichick starts our “Two Elsewhere” “reach” as he was an assistant coach on two New York Giants’ Super Bowl winning teams. He also was the losing coach, in games in which the Giants secured their other 2 Super Bowl wins.
The head coach in the two Giants’ Supe wins with Belichick, is the aforementioned Parcells, giving him “Two elsewhere” titles.
Last year’s 4th New England Super Bowl win was against another former coach, who guided them to playoff appearances (1997 and 1998), Pete Carroll.
Carroll’s decision not to run Mar Lynch near the goal in the game’s final minute will be long remembered.
Alas perhaps so should the “Two Elsewhere” titles not in the NFL (there he has one) but in college, a shared title in 2003, and an undisputed one with USC in 2004.
While Parcells and Carroll are near great coaches and Belichick is a great one, none come close to exuding the class of the 1985 season Pats’ coach, Raymond Berry.
He is a truly good, understated man (for the record I like Belichick and never met him, am not thrilled with Carroll but never met him and the less said about Parcells, the better) who won three road playoff games with the 1985 team, before they were trounced by the Chicago Bears in that season’s Super Bowl.
The “Two Elsewhere” involving Mr. Berry, were titles won as a great receiver of famed John Unitas passes in both 1958 and 1959 title winning seasons.
It comes full circle in this sense. Berry’s heroic pass catching of Unitas passes in the 1958 title game in media capital, New York was the start of pro football’s incredible popularity.
This week’s hype with all of those “usual suspects” probably would not have manifested without Berry’s great performance in 1958.
However, Berry’s greatness and memories of that somewhat pure great game remain, as I tune out the hype so inherent in the present monolith NFL.
Raymond Berry, Catches #’s 9 & 10 @ 1958 NFL Championship
“Unitas to Berry” indeed!
Theoretically the conferences should alternate in having the better rated later title game.
This will mark 20 straight seasons in which that has been the case. Starting with the Bill Parcells coached New England Patriots’ home win vs the Tom Coughlin coached Jacksonville Jaguars after the 1996 regular season, the AFC has been the conference with the later title tilt in 10 consecutive even years (1996-2014) while the NFC will have ten straight odd year seasons after Sunday (1997-2015.
The other 25, (in the strike marred 1982 NFL season, there were title games played on both Saturday and Sunday) beginning with the AFC/NFC configuration in 1970 were not evenly distributed. The NFC “highlighted” by a streak of 8 (1988-1995) had 17 of the 25 later conference title games in that period. Altogether the NFC has played its same day conference title game later than the AFC, sixty percent of the time (27 of 45).
Perhaps they deserved it as in the aforementioned 8 straight seasons (1988-1995) that the NFC had the later title tilt, the NFC representative won all 8 Super Bowls later contested vs the AFC representative. That was part of a 13 game win skein in the Super Bowl by NFC teams, (1984-1996).
With far less power, the AFL, the far newer league, played its title game later than the NFL in 3 of the 4 instances before each league’s winner met in the Super Bowl (1966-1969).
Click above for a more interesting and certainly humorous look at an “interpretation” of numbers.
Sidney Fields, pictured above was also involved in the classic bit.
Apparently Serena Williams, truly not deserving of the once esteemed Sports Illustrated Sportsman or Sportsperson or Sportswoman of the year award demolished a teenage opponent in Australian Open tennis action.
She then offered kind words. I say big deal.
I am still upset that Williams, who failed in her quest for a “calendar grand slam” last year and followed that with less than good behavior in the moments that followed, was given the award.
Steph Curry, who led the Golden State Warriors to the NBA title and a great record in the 2015 part of the following season was my choice. as 2015 Athlete of the Year.
Surely Serena Williams, pictured above, is great at what she does, play tennis. How great is the question. In my opinion, especially after the loss in the U.S. Open, not deserving of top athlete status.
On Sunday for the second time in three seasons, the Denver Broncos will host the New England Patriots in the earlier title tilt.
Though Denver is pretty far to the west in “these here United States,” this will be the fifth time in seven home title games, that the one emanating from Denver, is the earlier of the two conference title games.
Jim Nantz will be the CBS network lead announcer for this game, making it 12 straight seasons in which that has been the case.
This will be the Patriots’ 5th straight appearance in the title game and either the Pats, Peyton Manning or the Steelers have been involved in all 12 Nantz title tilts.
That fact was guaranteed after the Pats beat the Chiefs last Saturday leaving Manning and the Broncos, the Pats with the great Tom Brady and Steelers as the remaining AFC teams.
Embellishing the “earlier” title game involving the Denver Broncos. All three road AFC title games involving the Broncos were the earlier title game. Thus after Sunday, eight of the ten Broncos’title games were earlier starts than the NFC title games played that same day. Knowing that and what is it two dollars and seventy five cents will get you aboard a New York subway.
Andy B Sports 