Sports Then and Now

It was 50 years ago that the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers met in the Ice Bowl.

There have been a lot of iconic games during the nearly 100 year history of the NFL, but no game has quite combined championship drama with unprecedented weather conditions like the 1967 NFL Championship Game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. Played fifty years ago on December 31, 1967, the game has become known simply as “The Ice Bowl.”

The buildup to the 1967 NFL Championship Game actually started a year earlier when the Packers made a late goal line stand to preserve a 34-27 victory over the Cowboys in the 1966 NFL Championship Game played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Neither team had an easy path through the 1967 season. In actuality, the two best teams in the NFL during the regular season were the Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Colts. However, they were in the same division and only one of the two teams could make the playoffs in an era before the wild card.

Baltimore entered the regular season finale in Los Angeles with a 11-0-2 record, including a 24-24 tie with the Rams during their earlier meeting. Not only did the Colts lose their chance at an undefeated regular season during their 34-10 loss, they also lost a chance at reaching Super Bowl II. Instead, the Rams earned the Coastal Division title and a spot in the playoffs.

Even though the Rams had a better record (11-1-2) than the Packers (9-4-1), their divisional playoff game was played in Green Bay on December 23, 1967. The Rams had defeated Green Bay 27-24 in a hard fought regular season game two weeks earlier, but this time the Packers dominated. Read the rest of this entry →

So, it’s the time of the year when college football is at its peak. The only thing that steals the limelight from them is the tailgates. The tailgating traditions are loved by all. Who doesn’t like experimenting with food and drinks? And to show your hatred towards your rivals, people go to unimaginable extents sometimes. Universities across the country have their own traditions but there are a few we just can’t love. Here’s a sneak peek at such traditions.

• Auburn’s Toilet Paper:

Well, never thought that this would make it to the list but guess what, everyone loves Tping their opponents place. This started in 1972 when Auburn won and is continued until today. Try this out sometime.

• Florida State’s Sod Cemetery:

You never forget where you were for your team’s biggest win but for Florida State Seminoles, this was a start to a tradition. They literally etch the memories in stones. There aren’t any remains in this graveyard except for clumps of grass from the opponents’ fields. This tradition began in 1962. Read the rest of this entry →

Steve Spurrier was the original starting quarterback when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers began their stretch of 26 consecutive defeats.

For the 0-12 Browns, it is all something of a case of deja-vu. This time last year, they were in exactly the same position, and it was only a Christmas Eve win that saved them from a 0-16 season. That makes 28 losses in the last 29 regular season games for the Browns. It’s bad, but that single win against the Chargers last year means Cleveland can’t even make a success of losing, and just miss out on the top losing streaks shortlist.

Streaking to failure – or gambling on spectacular success

There is something almost magical about the streak. Sportsbook fans and casino goers know that it can make gamblers overnight millionaires or bring them to ruin, whether they are putting it all on black 22 at casino-websites.co.uk or trying to hold their nerve in a complex sports betting accumulator.

For sports fans, however, when all else is lost, there is what becomes an almost morbid interest in just how bad your team can become. It is a feeling that Cleveland fans know only too well. Here are some of the biggest losing streaks in sporting history.

NFL: 26 games

Not to rub it in, but had Cleveland lost to San Diego last year, they would have shot straight to the top of the list. As it is, the biggest losing streak stands at 26, and is a record held by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Worse, it came in 1976, when the regular season was only 14 games long and the Bucs were the new kids in town. It took the franchise almost two entire seasons to manage its first victory, a 33-14 win over The Saints in the penultimate game of the1977 season at Tampa Stadium. Read the rest of this entry →

Franklin Field

When most Americans relied on candles to see and washed clothes by hand, the first sports stadium was being laid brick by brick. Now there are more than 200 stadiums in the country, and some come with swimming pools and zip lines. Those interested in original sports stadiums should check out the 10 oldest stadiums still in use today in the United States:

1. Franklin Field

This stadium was built in 1895 for the first running of the track and field competition known as the Penn Relays. It holds the record for many firsts such as the nation’s first scoreboard, the first stadium to have an upper deck of seats and the first to broadcast a football game on the radio and on television. The National Collegiate Athletic Association recognizes Franklin Field as the oldest stadium still operating for football.

2. Harvard Stadium

This stadium was an architectural feat at the time of its construction in 1903. Led by former Civil Engineering professor Louis Johnson, the stadium’s design was the first vertical structure to use reinforced structural concrete. The material was previously only used in horizontal designs such as flooring. Many people were skeptical of the stadium’s design. It was believed that it wouldn’t hold the weight of the crowds or last through the cold New England winters. But the stadium still stands today and it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. Read the rest of this entry →

During the days when the Colts ruled Baltimore, the Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month was one of the most exciting players in the NFL.

For 12 seasons with the Baltimore Colts, Lenny Moore was one of the most versatile and explosive players in the game. Read the rest of this entry →

Professional football is one of the highest-satisfaction professions, as nine out of ten former athletes say they are glad they played the game. But fewer than half these men would want their children to participate in the sport, due to the frequency and severity of the injury. 90 percent of former players suffered at least one major injury during their careers, typically to their ankle, knee, hip, or foot.

To get back on the field faster, many injured football players wear orthotic braces over their injured joint. These devices are not the cumbersome braces they were just a few years ago. Instead, most braces are very lightweight yet also very strong. For example, ankle braces for running can fit snugly without inhibiting a runner’s motion, providing support and stabilization to the vulnerable joint, and helping to absorb the shock of the foot’s impact with the ground.

Don’t miss these notable ankle injuries:

Jerry Kramer, 1961 Green Bay Packers

Both before and after Kramer strained several ligaments in his left ankle during the championship game against the Minnesota Vikings, he was known as one of the toughest football players of his or any era.

As a youth in the 1950s, Kramer lost a fist-size chunk of his right side during a high school workshop incident and he was accidentally shot in the arm with a double-barrel shotgun. In college, doctors left a large, zipper-style scar on his neck after they removed a chipped vertebra.

After joining the Packers in 1958,  Kramer detached his retina during a game against the Los Angeles Rams in 1960. Four years later, he missed an entire season after surgery to remove four large wooden splinters that were lodged in his groin near his spine from a 1953 calf-chasing incident. Read the rest of this entry →