Sports Then and Now

Previously, we touched on the unknowns of Rob Gronkowski’s ankle injury, but there are some things we know about these teams for sure. The Patriots secondary is very bad, and the Giants wide receivers are very good. The single largest mismatch in this game belongs to Eli and the G-Men, and if the Patriots are to win their secondary will have played no small part.

For a lot of Patriot fans that declaration may be disconcerting, but let’s not forget the first meeting between these teams in 2011. Their week eight match up was deadlocked at zero at the half, and the Giants entered the fourth quarter of that game with all of ten points. Granted the Patriots had only scored three points, but that’s beside the point. A shutdown defensive performance just isn’t in the cards for Belichick’s gang, but they proved capable of slowing Eli Manning in that game.

Manning completed just over 50 percent of his passes on the day, and the Patriots limited him to 250 yards through the air. Such a yardage total is not normally something to write home about, but when you consider the talents of Manning and the talent he has it’s a little more encouraging.

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Joe Paterno became an assistant coach at Penn State in 1950 and head coach in 1965.

News of the death of former Penn State head football coach is a reminder of just how quickly things can change.

It was less than three months ago (October 29, 2011) that Paterno led Penn State to a 10-7 victory over the University of Illinois to become the winningest coach in all of Division I football history and I wrote an article with the title “Joe Paterno and the Penn State Nittany Lions Keep on Ticking.”

No one could have imagined that Paterno would be fired from the school less than two weeks later without coaching another game and then less than three months later the iconic 85-year-old football coach would be dead following complications from lung cancer that was diagnosed just days following his dismissal.

Paterno now joins one of the men he passed on the way to the all-time wins record, Paul ‘Bear” Bryant, as an all-time iconic coach who passed away just months after the end of his coaching career.

However, thanks to the scandal that has engulfed Penn State football over the last two and a half months, unlike Bryant, who is still a legendary figure in college football, Paterno’s final legacy will likely be a combination of respect and disappointment. Read the rest of this entry →

The New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers have played some memorable playoff games over the last 30 years.

When the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants meet for the NFC Championship on Sunday it will mark the eighth time the two squads have met in the playoffs and second time with the Super Bowl on the line.

Given that these two squads have a combined total of eight Lombardi Trophies, it is hard to believe that when they first met in the playoffs thirty years ago, neither team had ever made a Super Bowl appearance.

In the first playoff game of the Joe Montana and Bill Walsh era, the 49ers jumped out to a 24-10 halftime lead and went on to register a 38-24 victory. They would go on to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI.

That game proved to be the first of five playoff meetings over the next decade.

The 49ers claimed the second matchup three years later with a 21-10 victory on their way to their second Super Bowl title.

However, the tide would soon turn as the Giants won 17-3 in 1985 and then in 1986 completely demolished the 49ers 44-3 on their way to their first Super Bowl title.

The two teams would not meet again in the playoffs until the 1990 season and for the first time they were playing in the NFC title game.

San Francisco was shooting for a third straight Super Bowl title, but in what would prove to be his final playoff start as a member of the 49ers, Joe Montana suffered a huge hit from defensive end Leonard Marshall that knocked him out of the game for nearly two years.

The 49ers led the game 13-6 in the second half, but three Matt Bahr field goals, including the game winner following a Roger Craig fumble, allowed the Giants to steal a 15-13 victory and end the dreams of a third straight Super Bowl for the 49ers.

New York went on to defeat the Buffalo Bills 20-19 to win their second Super Bowl under head coach Bill Parcells. Read the rest of this entry →

Without Peyton Manning in uniform in 2011, Jim Caldwell was unable to keep the Colts as winners and ultimately lost his job as head coach.

The Indianapolis Colts have parted company with head coach Jim Caldwell after they finished their season with a 2-14 record.

Caldwell became the third high-profile dismissal at the club following the departures of vice-chairman Bill Polian and his son, general manager Chris after a campaign that saw the team produce their worst season in 20 years. Those looking at the American football odds will have been unimpressed.

Team owner john Irsay had reportedly grown tired of his side’s struggles and although he admitted it’s always tough to sack people, he believes it’s the best decision for the franchise as they move forward.

“This is obviously a big transitional time for us, and I know we’re excited moving forward and it’s hard when you say goodbyes to some people,” Irsay said. “But it’s part of the business.” Read the rest of this entry →

Larry Csonka

The January Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month was the leader of a running attack that was the cornerstone of two Super Bowl Championship teams, including the only undefeated squad in NFL history.

With his distinctive headgear and a body suited for punishing contact, Larry Csonka looked the part of a fullback and for 11 NFL seasons delivered and took regular punishment on his way to the Hall of Fame. Read the rest of this entry →

Much like the BCS Championship Game, the competition to defeat the College Football Zultan during the Sports Then and Now Bowl Challenge proved to be a relative mismatch. Of the many who tried to top the Zultan, only nine individuals were able to exceed his 9-5 record in the major bowl games.

As has been the case for much of the season, the Achilles Heel for the Zultan, as well as many of his challengers, was the Big Ten. The Zultan was burned by Ohio State, Northwestern and Nebraska as all three lost to SEC (or in the case of Northwestern against Texas A&M soon to be SEC) schools. The losses further reminded Big Ten fans that they still have a ways to go to reach par with the top conference in college football.

The Zultan (along with 82% of those who took the bowl challenge) were burned by the Clemson Tigers as West Virginia made a huge statement with their 70 point performance.

Though it doesn’t necessarily take a crystal ball to predict that Nick Saban would out-coach Les Miles in the BCS title game, the Zultan still believed that LSU had a stronger squad than the Crimson Tide and would ultimately pull out the victory. Read the rest of this entry →