Sports Then and Now

‘Twas the night before Christmas…

An Iowa Hawkeye Holiday Tale...

George Bailey felt bitterly disappointed at the hand life dealt to him through chronically forgetful Uncle Billy and mean-spirited Mr. Potter.

The proprietor of Bailey’s Savings and Loan ruefully regretted his life, wishing he’d never been born. It took a wayward angel to show George that he’d really had a wonderful life.

Once again it is the holiday season. That means that it is time to watch the overly sentimental film It’s A Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra, starring Jimmy Stewart and Iowa native Donna Reed––as well as view an explosion of “bowl” games.

As some of us weep over the saccharine holiday tale, we recognize that now is the time for being thankful for family and friends.

For Iowa Hawkeye fans, it means being thankful for an Iowa team that gave us some thrilling moments in 2010, even if the whole season was not everything we had had hoped for.

As coach Kirk Ferentz pointed out once Iowa’s preseason ranking came out in August of 2010––It is not where you start but where you end that is important.

Iowa began the season ranked No. 9 in the 2010 AP Football Poll, and they ended the season unranked––except on the disappointment meter.

What happened?

There are any number of reasons that singularly or in concert contributed to the letdown Iowa suffered at the end of the season. No one will ever answer that question to the complete satisfaction of fans who dreamed of ultimate glory.

But take consolation in this. Iowa, 7-5, is going to play in a very prestigious Insight Bowl against a ranked opponent where the Hawkeyes have the ability to make a statement and regain some dignity lost during the 2010 season.

More importantly, remember, there were five seasons with greater disappointment for Iowa fans…

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Roger Federer captures WTF in London against Rafael Nadal.

The World Tour Finals in London brought the climax to the tennis season that most fans dreamed of.

And as a result, there will be only one story in the tennis headlines for the rest of 2010.

With apologies to the Serbian and French men now summoning up their final reserves of energy for the Davis Cup final, it looks set to be the Roger-and-Rafa show from now until the next Grand Slam in Australia.

One or other of them has topped the tennis rankings for the last seven years and, despite the occasional flurry of excitement as Novak Djokovic overtook a Federer finding his way back from illness in early summer and the musical chairs between Djokovic, Andy Murray and Robin Soderling in the closing months of the year, Roger and Rafa have opened clear water of more than 3,000 points between themselves and the following three.

Nadal—riding high on his best ever season—can now begin to see the super-Swiss in his rear-view mirror, despite remaining over 3,000 clear. Only right, then, that they should fight it out at the bitter end in a bitter London.

But below them, only 455 points separate Nos. 3, 4 and 5, and barely a 1,000 separates the rest of the top 10. These bare statistics, though, cannot disguise the drama that has surrounded the top two protagonists in the last 12 months.

Just a year ago, Nadal had the worst possible end to 2009 with three Round Robin losses at the World Tour Finals. Last week in London, he won all three, then a pulsating semi against Murray and went the distance in a show-stopping final against Federer.

In the interim, Nadal had won the “Clay Slam,” three out of four Grand Slams, claimed a “career Slam” and opened up a mammoth lead of 4,500 points in the rankings.

Meanwhile, Federer’s year slid from the heights of Grand Slam victory in Melbourne, via a lung infection in the spring, to early exits in three Masters on the bounce to players who had never beaten him before—squandering match points along the way.

He then brought an abrupt end to his record of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semis at Roland Garros. And his fall in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon was the first time he failed to reach the final since 2002.

In July, Federer dropped to No. 3 for the first time since November 2003. Within a month, though, he was back to No. 2 and on the up escalator, finishing the year with a glut of titles and points.

So the Roger-and-Rafa drama was destined to go all the way to the 2010 finishing line, as these two charismatic and charming champions first shared the major ATP end-of-year trophies and then fought for the WTF title in their 22nd match, their 18th final, but only their fourth contest in almost two years.

It was the match between the winners of 21 of the last 23 Grand Slams tournaments. And while the head-to-head odds were in the Spaniard’s favour—14-7—the Swiss had won both their previous indoor encounters, both of them at the year-end tournament.

It turned out to be a nail-biter that swung first Federer’s way, then Nadal’s, then back to the Swiss playing some of his finest tennis of the year. The win has determined the final placing of the 2010 Power Rankings and provides the perfect launch pad to the 2011 season for one of the greatest sporting rivalries of our age.

This final appraisal of the year also provides an opportunity for a review of the high-spots of the crème-de-la-crème: the eight World Tour Finalists.

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Ryan Fitzpatrick has experienced both ups and downs since taking over as quarterback of the Buffalo Bills.

Many Buffalo Bills fans were quick to jump on the Ryan Fitzpatrick bandwagon after he won the starting position from Trent Edwards. Many of the same fans are also the first to throw him under that bandwagon, after his first bad game in seven starts. The focus on drafting a franchise quarterback is on again in Bills Country, after being muted for a while as the Harvard quarterback created offensive numbers not seen in Buffalo since the early days of Drew Bledsoe’s ill-fated tenure. Fitzpatrick joins Bledsoe, Johnson, Losman, and Edwards on the scrap heap of premature faith blown up.

It is true that by his performance against the Vikings in the 31-14 debacle in the MetroDome (oh, excuse me, “Mall of America Field”) Fitz took a step backwards. But was it simply that—a step backwards after six consecutive brilliant and inspired performances– or is it more that he was playing over his head for a while and the Vikings game exposed the man behind the curtain?

It is certainly true that Fitz’s play in Minnesota often resembled that of his predecessor, derisively dubbed “Captain Check Down” by Bills fans, when he made little dump passes after being unable to find any targets downfield.  Yes, he may have seemed intimidated by the Minnesota defensive line at times, and his fumble on the Minnesota one yard line was less than we have come to expect from Fitzpatrick’s leadership since he assumed the starting role.

You can’t blame Bills fans for being quick to judge, the moment the first little hole pops up in the blue superhero tights. It is a self-defense mechanism often observed in people who have been burned in relationships a series of times. The more often people are burned in love, the more quickly they anoint the new squeeze as the love of their life, but in turn the more quickly they dispatch said person after the first crack in the veneer is spotted. Falling fast is usually followed by falling hard. Read the rest of this entry →

In December the 2010 college football landscape lays wasted after a full season of all-out assault featuring vicious sacks and bone-cracking tackles.

The aerial attacks landed bomb after bomb as receivers somersaulted into opponents’ end zones to light up the scoreboard.

Finally, the victors have risen through the ranks undefeated to lay claim to the No. 1 ranking. This year we are sure––there can be no lingering doubts about who has the best football team in the nation? That indisputable team will be crowned on January 10th. Right?

On then to the anachronistic bowl system which will provide further clarity to the overriding question of who deserves to be playing in the final game of the season. It will all be clear at the end, won’t it, since we have the computer rankings – the infallible BCS?

If you believe this propaganda, you live in Fantasy Land. The All-Seeing Zultan spits in the eye of the BCS and the hordes of college football analysts pocketing millions of dollars who hawk this meaningless bowl system as scientific. Pah-leez.

These network and cable drones know no more than hapless Zultan who––like Chris Fowler–– wishes to see a true play-off system in place.

Crowning a national champion remains largely one huge popularity contest based on tenuous circuitous thought processes. You have major college football conference opponents generally playing a slate of cupcakes during the non-conference season––followed by beating each other up during a hard-fought schedule of conference games.

Because all the meaningful contests during the college football season are held between conference rivals, the only thing we really know for sure is which teams are the best in their respective conferences.

Ranking the conferences against each other is all smoke and mirrors. This year we assume the SEC and the Big Ten are the two best.  Based on what?  Scant statistical evidence if you ask me.

Why not give a berth to each team that has better than a 500 mark in their conference and send them off into a playoff system.  Details could be developed to enhance and complement the current bowl system and money could be made once again for everyone except the players who provide the game.  The irony never escapes the All-Seeing Zultan.

In the current bowl system, Zultan complains vehemently, Michigan State and Boise State, to name two, got royally clipped. Michigan State at 11-1 has every right to play their way into a national championship game––just as does Boise State, Alabama, Stanford, Ohio State, Wisconsin, TCU and on and on.

All teams ranked in the top ten or even the top 25 deserve a chance to go for the Championship. Because, realistically, how excited do you think Oklahoma or Alabama  is going to be playing in the Acme Chipped Beef Bowl after working all season for a shot at the top spot?

Zultan ended his regular season gig spinning in the Toilet Bowl, going down 4-6 in his last forecast where once again he picked against Auburn. Click here to find out all the winners who scored well against the All-Seeing One throughout the 2010 season as well as all other prize winners.

But here it is again – the great Zultan’s Bowl Challenge––a whole new contest and a new chance to win something.

Click here to enter your picks and let us see who is better at selecting winners––you or me, the Mighty Zultan, who promises either to come to your house and sing the theme song for Goldfinger or give you a prize worth something.

Actually anyone who does better than the Big Z will be entered into a drawing for $100 PayPal card and everyone who enters will be entered into a drawing for one of three $15 iTunes cards. These prizes provided by our sponsor Sports Then and Now.

Let the games begin!

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It was quite a journey for Rocky Balboa from a Philadelphia meat locker to the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Since the day he first burst onto the boxing scene with his improbable performance against Apollo Creed on January 1, 1976, it was probably inevitable that one day Rocky Balboa would take his rightful place as a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Of course the only trouble with that hypothesis is the reality that Rocky Balboa was a fictional character created by actor Sylvester Stallone and not actually a real-life boxing icon.

So, instead of actually inducting Balboa, the Boxing Hall of Fame has done the next best thing and bestowed that honor on Stallone, who not only created the character, but then played Balboa in six installments of one of the greatest sports movie franchises in history.

Because all of the Rocky movies have now been on television so many times that even casual Rocky fans can recite most of the lines and the story line has been hijacked in countless other movies, it is easy to forget the initial impact of this Cinderella story.

When Sylvester Stallone wrote and starred in the original Rocky in 1976 he was not the internationally recognized action star he has become over the last 35 years.

Rocky was filmed on a budget of $1 million and shot in 28 days. But this dark-horse movie immediately struck a cord with the American public and made over $225 million (a huge box office gross for 1976).

The film was so well thought of that it received 10 Oscar nominations and won three statues, including best picture.

History now tells us that the studio originally looked at such big-time stars as Robert Redford, James Caan and Burt Reynolds for the title role. I contend that had they decided to cast an already established actor the movie would never have reached the iconic level it enjoys today. Read the rest of this entry →

On December 8, 1987, Ron Hextall became the first goalie in NHL history to score a goal.

Today is the anniversary of one of those interesting sports footnotes that were truly unique and deserve to be remembered. It was 23 years ago that Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ron Hextall did something that had never previously been accomplished in an NHL game.

When you watch the replay, it doesn’t seem all that difficult a feat to accomplish, but before Hextall whipped a shot the length of the ice into an empty net on December 8, 1987, no goalie had ever actually scored in an NHL game.

The accomplishment came at the end of a contest against the Boston Bruins. With Philadelphia leading 4-2, the Bruins pulled their keeper, Rejean Lemelin, to add another offensive player. After Hextall picked up a loose puck near his goal, Hextall whipped it the length of the ice and it easily nestled into the net.

Hextall would repeat the accomplishment on April 11, 1989 in a playoff game against the Washington Capitals to become the first goalie to score in a playoff game.

Interestingly, Hextall was not the first goalie credited with a goal.  Because of hockey’s score keeping rule that credits a goal to the last offensive player to touch the puck, on November 28, 1979, Billy Smith of the New York Islanders  was the first NHL goalie to be credited with a goal even though he didn’t actually shoot the puck into the net. Smith was awarded the goal during a game against the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies’ goaltender left the ice for an extra skater after a delayed penalty was called on the Islanders. During the ensuing play, Smith made a save, then a Rockies player passed the puck to a vacant point, and it traveled the length of the ice into the empty net.

There have been a total of 11 goals credited to goalies in NHL history with six of them resulting directly from a goalie shooting the puck into the net. Following the two goals by Hextall, the next to accomplish the feat was Chris Osgood in 1996. Martin Brodeur, Jose Theodore and Evgeni Nabokov are the others with Nabokov being the last to do so in 2002.

Below is a look at Hextall’s historic goal.