Sports Then and Now

Oakland Raiders managing partner Al Davis has passed away at the age of 82.

For all the jokes that have been made about the Oakland Raiders in recent years, there has always been a special aura around the “silver and black”. The reason for that was the man who built the Raiders practically from scratch, Al Davis. His death at the age of 82 is a huge loss not just for the Raiders, but for all of professional football.

Few could have predicted when the 33-year-old Davis became the youngest person in the history of professional football to hold the position of head coach and general manager at the same time that Davis would turn the Raiders into one of the iconic sports franchises in America.

Though he showed glimpses of brilliance immediately as the Raiders went 10-4 and Davis was named AFL Coach of the Year during his first season as head coach. He spent two more seasons as head coach and compiled an overall record of 23-16-3.

In April of 1966 Davis was named commissioner of the AFL, but his tenure would prove to be very short. While Davis was working to make the AFL stronger and more formidable in their competition with the NFL, other owners (without his knowledge) were working on an agreement to merge with the NFL. Davis ultimately opposed the merger because he felt the NFL was receiving excessive compensation from the AFL teams, but the merger still went through.

He ultimately resigned as commissioner and returned to the Raiders where he bought a 10 percent share of the team and became one of three general partners.  He also served as head of football operations as the Raiders played in Super Bowl II and continued to build a squad that would be among the best in football during the 1970s.

In 1972 he took control of the Raiders as managing general partner and served in that role until his death. Read the rest of this entry →

Lionel Taylor

It was 50 years ago that the October Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month became the first player in professional football history to catch 100 passes in a single season.

Reaching the century mark for receptions in a season has been accomplished by at least one NFL player in every season except one since 1990, but when Lionel Taylor caught 100 passes in just 14 games for the Denver Broncos it was an accomplishment that had never previously been approached.
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When the Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Falcons met in week 13 of the 1983 NFL season, it seemed almost a guarantee that the game would be a high-scoring affair that would be decided in the final seconds.

The Packers entered the game with a 6-6 record, thanks to their offense which had averaged 27 points per game up to this point.

The offense was led by quarterback Lynn Dickey, who would finish the season with 4,458 passing yards, and a receiving corps that featured John Jefferson and all-Pro James Lofton.

Despite their high-octane offense, the Packers had one of the worst defenses, which had given up 332 points through the 12 games and had a hard time maintaining leads the offense had given them.

When Green Bay traveled to Atlanta, they must have felt they were looking into a mirror as the Falcons also had a high-scoring offense and suspect defense.

The Falcons had a 5-7 record under first-year head coach Dan Henning with an offense that featured quarterback Steve Bartkowski, running back William Andrews, and wide receiver Billy “White Shoes” Johnson who would go to be named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year for 1983. Read the rest of this entry →

Four games into the season, Tony Romo is playing like a pendulum. Good in one game, bad in another. Romo has even played good and bad in the same game, some ending in victory and others in defeat.

The results of this swing game have left the Dallas Cowboys in mediocrity. The Cowboys are 2-2 after the first quarter of the season. Romo has thrown for 1,273 yards on the young season. His seven touchdown passes have been offset by five costly interceptions.

Tony Romo ponders the situation in a recent home loss to Detroit in which Dallas surrendered a 24-point lead.

A closer look at Romo’s play suggests that Dallas could easily be 4-0 and in first place in the NFC East Division or 0-4 and in last place in the division. That is how much the fortunes of an NFL team can be altered by the play of its’ quarterback. This concept is magnified when you are the quarterback of the Cowboys, a five-time Super Bowl Champion which has an NFL record tying eight trips to the big game among its’ legacy.

Like other glamour positions in professional sports, Romo occupies a catbirds seat. Playing quarterback for Dallas comes with more expectations than that of quarterbacking a lot of other NFL teams. Romo follows a Cowboys’ quarterback roll call that reads Eddie LeBaron, the late Don Meredith, Craig Morton, Roger Staubach, Danny White, and Troy Aikman. Both Staubach and Aikman are in Dallas’ Ring of Honor and each are also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Any such honors for Romo are not even close at this time. In his fifth full season as Dallas’ starter and ninth overall, Romo needs to focus on getting better and playing more consistently good in order for the Cowboys to become a great team. While he has led Dallas to their two wins this season while playing with a broken rib, staying healthy would also help. Romo has battled injury in three of the last four seasons dating back to 2008 when he missed three full games with a fractured right pinkie on his throwing hand. In 2010, Romo missed 10 games with a broken left clavicle.

Romo’s play in 2011 has sent the Cowboys on a roller coaster ride. There have been peaks with some of them being maintained for multiple quarters and even most of a game which have factored into wins. There was the adrenaline rush Romo felt of leading Dallas to the comeback in the fourth quarter and overtime in the win at San Francisco. Then, there was Romo’s big pass play to Dez Bryant that set up the game-winning field goal against Washington. Read the rest of this entry →

Iowa State self destructed last week.

It was an agonizing week for the all-seeing seer as four of his ten picks went South on October 1.

In retrospect, Zultan offers these occult words of wisdom to the Iowa State Cyclones, “In the future, if you are going to shoot yourself in the foot, do not use a sub machine gun.”

Prior to the Texas vs. Iowa State debacle, Arkansas came back to thwart Texas A & M as the Aggies failed by five points. Zultan could not believe his eyes as he watched A&M’s second collapse in a row. Someone must tell the Aggies that the game lasts 60 minutes, not 45.

Even playing in Columbus, Ohio State could only hold on, losing by three. It could have been even uglier. But MSU quarterback Kirk Cousins spared the Buckeyes abject humiliation by doing his own Spartan version of self-destruction in key moments.

Zultan blames his cloudy crystal ball which continues to conjure up  images from 2010.

But the pigskin prognosticator’s biggest miss was Clemson who stomped on Virginia Tech 23-3 without mercy. This Tiger is all business and will claim the ACC in 2011.  Zultan made a note to himself—C Rules in ACC.

What is more—to heap on massive degradation— almost three score of you recorded better results that the Mighty One. Zultan has barricaded himself in Mom’s garage, pouting and throwing rocks at a poster of Paul Rhoads.  Where was the triple overtime win when you really needed it, Coach?

Those surpassing the great one will be listed at the end of this article along with appropriate, if begrudging accolades.

Next up for the all-seeing seer—Week 2 in the Big Ten, Week 6 overall in the college football season.

Zultan offers you another week of difficult picks daring you to try to outguess him again.  If you feel lucky, or even if you don’t, click here to make your picks and see if you can surpass the big Z this coming Saturday.

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The annual Texas-Oklahoma game is almost always one of the most anticipated games of the college football season, but the 1984 edition of the “Red River Rivalry” had even more hype as both teams entered the game in the top three of the AP Poll.

Texas was 3-0 and the #1 team in the country thanks to wins over then #11 Auburn and #4 Penn State.

Despite the fact they had lost 17 players to the NFL from the 1983 team that finished the season with a 11-1 record, the Longhorns were led by a number of seniors including quarterback Todd Dodge, wide receiver Billy Boy Bryant, defensive tackle Tony Degrate and all-American safety Jerry Gray, all under the direction of eighth-year head coach Fred Akers.

Oklahoma entered the game with a 4-0 record and a #3 ranking, but were hoping try to avoid their fourth straight four-loss season under head coach Barry Switzer, who had led the Sooners to at a least a share of the Big Eight championship in his first eight seasons and two national championships.

The Sooners’ rise to the top was due in large part to their defense, which had allowed only 38 points through the first four games, led by all-American defensive tackle Tony Casillas and freshman linebacker Brian Bosworth.

It would be a game dominated by the defenses as torrential rains had the Dallas area and caused players to slip and slide on the Cotton Bowl turf.

The wet conditions were a factor in the first turnover of the game as Oklahoma punter Mike Winchester dropped a perfect snap and could not get the punt off, giving the ball to Texas at the Sooners’ 26-yard-line. Read the rest of this entry →