Oh I want to be positive, but it is so difficult when Hall of Fame voting is involved.
Anyway, it’s about time, and better late than never: Ray Guy, the great Raiders punter, is finally going into the Football Hall of Fame.
He is the first punter to get the honor. Why only one and why so long?!
Maybe the “league forces” not only made Guy wait until Al Davis (Oakland and LA Raiders owner) died, but until his body got much colder.
This before the greatness of Guy and the genius of Davis making him a first round draft pick, would be recognized.
The Seattle Seahawks became the 19th NFL franchise to win the Super Bowl, after annihilating the Denver Broncos in the 48th edition of the game.
Seattle’s Super Bowl record is now (1-1), having lost in their first Supe appearance to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The city of Seattle is now (2-3) playing for championships. In the NBA, Seattle’s SuperSonics were (1-2). They can win no more titles for Seattle as they became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Broncos are now (2-5) in Super Bowls. They yielded over 35 points in four of those losses and lost by at least 17 points in all five.
The city of Denver is now (4-6) playing for championships. The NHL Colorado Avalanche are (2-0) while the MLB Colorado Rockies were swept by the Boston Red Sox in their only World Series appearance.
Denver vs Seattle
The Seattle Seahawks routed the Denver Broncos (43-8) and won their first NFL championship.
It was the first Super bowl rout in 11 years, as Seattle built a (36-0) lead vs Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll became the third man to coach both a college and pro champion.
In 2005, Carroll’s USC team lost in the finals/championship game. That same year, the Seahawks were denied a championship, losing in the Super Bowl.
Now together, Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks have won it all.
Both Super Bowl participants lost in the divisional round last season. Each lost when their opponent kicked a field goal.
The Denver Broncos lost to the Baltimore Ravens in overtime. That was the first game of the divisional round. Justin Tucker’s overtime field goal eliminated the Broncos.
The next day the Seattle Seahawks lost a heartbreaking game to the Atlanta Falcons. Matt Bryant’s field goal in the waning seconds eliminated the Seahawks.
Now they face each other in the Super Bowl. Of course one team will have to lose. Recent history suggests a close game, a field goal difference, a distinct possibility.
I will predict close, not that close. Denver to win (24-16).
In the midst of all the Super Bowl hype, my thoughts turn to baseball, pure baseball when teams had to finish first and publications other than The Wall Street Journal were popular reading matter among the players.
Where oh where is 1962 in the National League? That year as was the case 11 years earlier, the Giants rallied in their last at bat of a decisive third game of a playoff, to win the pennant vs the Dodgers. In 1951 the New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers.
In 1962,the teams were situated three thousand miles to the west, the Giants in San Francisco and the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Again the losing Dodgers had to go home, not to the post season as the wild card team. The drama was so much greater than if there had been the “safety net” of a wild card berth for the playoff or pennant runner up.
Thoughts abound concerning the likes of Orlando Cepeda and his 46 home runs in 1962. Willie Mays also of the Giants and his two home runs in the first playoff game.
Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers stole 104 bases and Tommy Davis also on the L.A. team, had one of the great offensive seasons ever.
Also 1962 was the New York Mets’ first season. A great year indeed!
Click for a surprising 1962 video
Both coaches in this year’s Super Bowl are seeking their first pro championship.
Seattle Seahawks’ coach Pete Carroll, in his first Super Bowl, hopes to join Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer as the only coaches to win both college and pro football championships.
Denver Broncos’ coach, John Fox
lost in his only previous Super Bowl when he coached the Carolina Panthers. The New England Patriots, coached by Bill Belichick, won that Super Bowl game by three points.
In this year’s AFC Championship game Fox’s Broncos defeated the Patriots and their coach Bill Belichick.
I think both men are fine coaches who take chances. Carroll’s decision to go for it and not attempt a field goal in a 4th and 7 situation in the NFC Championship game, was a great example of such coaching decisions.
John Fox
Pete Carroll
One of my favorite Super Bowl games was #5, played in January 1971. In the game, the Baltimore Colts edged the Dallas Cowboys on Jim O’ Brien’s last second field goal.
The Colts had opened that season with a win against the San Diego Chargers, also on a last minute O’Brien field goal.
The 5th Super Bowl was considered a comedy of errors by some, a hard hitting thriller between two teams stocked with future Hall of Famers, by ones who know better.
Ted Moore had been the radio announcer for the Green Bay Packers championship run during the 1960’s. Two of the great Green Bay wins were vs Dallas, consequently were also heartbreaking Cowboys’ losses.
By the time of Super Bowl 5, Moore, another great announcer from the past, was the voice of the Baltimore Colts.
I remember being surprised at this coincidence when I bought the Colts’ record album from Fleetwood Recording Company.
That Super Bowl provides great memories of Colts like John Unitas, Earl Morrall and Ted Hendricks, “The Mad Stork.”
There are equally great memories of Cowboys Bob Lilly, Duane Thomas and Chuck Howley.
Lilly having suffered yet another heartbreaking defeat leaving he and the Cowboys still in quest of their first Super Bowl win, threw his helmet high in the air after O’ Brien’s field goal.
The next year would be Lilly and the Cowboys’ moment, another of my favorite Super Bowl games, when Dallas beat the Miami Dolphins.
click to see some Super Bowl V moments
The city of Denver will have a major league sport’s final game/series for the tenth time, with the Broncos’ appearance in next week’s Super Bowl.
The city’s record in this round is (4-5) but they started with 4 straight losses, all by the Broncos in the Super Bowl.
Since the San Francisco 49ers rout win vs the Broncos in the 1989 Super Bowl, Denver teams have won four of five major North American sports’ league finals.
A finals winning streak of four started with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey league winning it all in 1996. That was their first year in Colorado, after years as the Quebec Nordiques.
The Broncos won back to back Super Bowls following the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
The Avalanche won their second Stanley Cup in 2001.
The loss was in the 2007 World Series when the Boston Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies.
The city of Seattle will be in a major sports league final for the fifth time.
This will be the Seahawks second appearance in the Super Bowl/NFL final. The basketball Seattle SuperSonics, now the Oklahoma City Thunder, were in three finals.
In their previous Super Bowl after the 2005 season the Seahawks lost to the favored, albeit, wild card, Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 1979 Sonics won the only Seattle sports championship. They lost in their other two NBA Finals, and in fact the Oklahoma City Thunder lost in their only NBA finals series.
Both the NFC title game teams, the 49ers and Seahawks had lost in the semi final/ championship game round 30 years ago.
I was watching an old movie on TCM yesterday. Joan Crawford starring in “Mildred Pierce.” It put me in a better place, especially important on a bitter cold day.
Ms. Crawford won her only Academy Award for her performance as the title character in the 1945 film.
Ben Mankiewicz did a good job both introducing and wrapping up the presentation. He revealed Crawford had to audition to get the role. It was her first with Warner Brothers after years with MGM Studios.
The whole cast was great with special kudos to both Jack Carson and Ann Blyth.
Ann, who has talked about her special relationship with Ms. Crawford, plays a spoiled teenage daughter. She was quite convincing.
Later in her career, she would be the kind mom in Hostess cakes ads, allowing the “special treats” for her kids. It is an impressive and on some level scary, “range” exhibited by the classy, talented Ms. Blyth.
