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Sports Then and Now



Classic Rewind: Falcons Fly Past Eagles For Wild Card Win 3

Posted on October 13, 2010 by A.J. Foss

In 1978, the National Football League expanded not only its regular season from 14 to 16 games, but also its playoff format from eight teams to 10. With the inclusion of one extra playoff team per conference, a game between the two wild card teams would be played one week before the three divisional winners began their postseason.

Thus, the Wild Card playoff round was born and in the very first NFC Wild Card Game the Atlanta Falcons would host the Philadelphia Eagles in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

The Eagles were making their first postseason appearance since they won the NFL championship back in 1960.  Following that season, the Eagles went into freefall as the franchise had only two winning seasons from 1961-75.

After a 4-10 season in 1975, the Eagles hired UCLA head coach Dick Vermeil, whose team had just defeated #1 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, to the same position.

By his third season, Vermeil had turned the Eagles into a winner as the team finished with a 9-7 record to clinch one of the two NFC Wild Card spots for the team’s first playoff appearance in 18 years.

While the Eagles were returning to the postseason, the Atlanta Falcons were making their first foray into the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry →

Cowboys 0-2 Start Cause for Concern, Not Panic 2

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Chris Kent

Two games into the season, the Dallas Cowboys are staring at 0-2. While most fans are screaming for the heads of players and coaches, not all is lost. It is early in the season and too early for anyone to be throwing it all away.

Statistically, teams that start 0-2 don’t always make the playoffs. One team that did start 0-2 was the 1993 Cowboys. That team won the Super Bowl. There is a big asterisk by that team as it was without hall-of-fame running back Emmitt Smith who was holding out due to a contract dispute.

Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, was signed in time to play week three and the Cowboys reeled off seven straight wins en route to a 12-4 season and their second straight Super Bowl win. However, there is not a running back the caliber of Smith this time around. Furthermore, Dallas does not have a dominating team like it did in 1993.

Dallas linebacker Anthony Spencer converges on the Bears' Jay Cutler

While the Cowboys have promise and potential, they are young. They are good enough to give it a good run this season and are capable of making the playoffs. However all that is just talk right now. Dallas has to focus on playing better football.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier. Dallas plays at Houston – who beat the Cowboys in the preseason – next week. With a bye the following week, the Cowboys face a must win against the Texans. No team wants to go into a bye off a loss and no team wants a week off to dwell over 0-3.

After the bye, the schedule really becomes competitive with home games against Tennessee, division foe New York, and Jacksonville along with a road game at Minnesota, also 0-2. There is time to turn a dismal start around. Focus, preparation, and execution are needed. Pointing fingers, letting these two losses linger with you, and panicking are not. Read the rest of this entry →

2010 NFL Preview: Packers and Ravens Will Rule The Day 3

Posted on September 08, 2010 by Dean Hybl

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay faithful should have lots to celebrate in 2010.

A year ago I made the bold prediction that the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers would meet in the Super Bowl. As it turns out, I think I may have had the right picks, just the wrong season. Both the Ravens and Packers enter the 2010 season as good bets to be playing in the House That Jerry Built come February.

It won’t be easy for either team as both conferences include a number of teams with enough weapons capable of making a run toward the post season. Plus, being that this is the NFL, you can always bet on at least one team that struggled a year ago to be in the playoff mix.

Here are my picks for 2010:

NFC

NFC East: Some are predicting that the Dallas Cowboys could become the first team ever to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium. With a solid quarterback in Tony Romo, a strong running game and one of the best defensive players in the league in DeMarcus Ware, the Cowboys definitely have the weapons to make a run. However, under Wade Phillips the Cowboys have generally come up a bit short in big games and I don’t know that they have the full stable of talented players needed to be a Super Bowl team. They should win the division as the New York Giants have, at-best, Wild Card talent and the Eagles and Redskins both look to be a year away from contending. However, with a veteran coach and veteran quarterback, the Redskins could be a candidate for making a big turnaround in 2010. Read the rest of this entry →

Chicago College All-Star Game: An NFL Exhibition That Meant Something 9

Posted on August 08, 2010 by Dean Hybl
From the initial game in 1934 through 1976, the annual Chicago College All-Star Game was a fan favorite and provided a glimpse into the new talent of NFL stars.

From the initial game in 1934 through 1976, the annual Chicago College All-Star Game was a fan favorite and provided a glimpse into the new talent of NFL stars.

Imagine a crowd of 105,840 people turning out to watch an NFL preseason game. Probably wouldn’t happen today unless it included a dance-off between Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens.  However, for more than 40 years the Annual Chicago College All-Star Game was a fan favorite while helping establish the NFL as a premier sports league.

In the 1930s, the NFL was still a fledgling league looking for a foothold in a sports world where baseball and boxing were the kings. In fact, professional football players were often seen as mercenaries while the college players were better known and more popular across the country.

A year after organizing the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Comiskey Park, Arch Ward, the sports editor for the Chicago Tribune, cultivated the idea of hosting an annual game between the defending NFL Champions and the best of the recently graduated college football stars.

Read the rest of this entry →

Jack Tatum: Fine Line Between Being Aggressive and Dirty 12

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Dean Hybl

Jack Tatum fit perfectly into the rebellious reputation of the Oakland Raiders of the 1970s.

In many ways, former NFL safety Jack Tatum, who died earlier this week, perfectly epitomized the hard-hitting NFL of the 1970s and the renegade reputation of the Oakland Raiders of that era. Known as “The Assassin”, Tatum played hard and made no apologies for his style or the repercussions.

Sadly, he is probably best known for his hit on New England Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley that left the wideout paralyzed for the remainder of his life. The hit, which occurred in a preseason game, was a legal hit, but many thought that Tatum played with a dangerous recklessness that was beyond the normal violence associated with the NFL.

Tatum fed off his reputation, a fact that some think is one reason he has received little consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

His biography was called “They Call Me Assassin” and in the book he wrote that “I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault.”

Tatum and Stingley never reconciled, though in his 1980 autobiography Tatum wrote, “When the reality of Stingley’s injury hit me with its full impact, I was shattered. To think that my tackle broke another man’s neck and killed his future.”

In recent years Tatum endured physical hardship of his own. He suffered from diabetes and had a leg amputated. He died from a heart attack. Read the rest of this entry →

Former Bronco Karl Mecklenburg Helps Youth REACH for the Stars 3

Posted on June 06, 2010 by Todd Civin

Mecklenburg is a member of the Denver Bronco's Hall of Fame

“Today a Reader…Tomorrow a Leader” ~ Margaret Fuller

I remember so vividly how my first grade teacher used to assemble the whole class in the reading circle at the back of our room at Pleasant Street School. We’d all carry our little wooden chairs to the rear of the classroom and place them in a circle underneath a big bulletin board decorated with brightly colored construction paper. These were the days before some unnerved “teaching professional” placed tennis balls on the leg of each chair, so each seat made a loud clunk, followed by a screech as it was pushed into position ’round the reading circle.

Ten or twelve of us, at a variety of different reading levels, would sit around the slightly, mis-shaped sphere and learn of the escapades of Dick and Jane, or Horton and his Who or occasionally read rhymes about Mush and Brush and Hush. To the right of our non-exclusive group sat John Higgins.

John was a couple years older than the rest of us and sat in a small rocking chair with a picture book in his hand. He rarely looked at the book, but instead looked out the window and rocked. Every few minutes he would think of something that disrupted our group. Our teacher would look over at John and bring her hands to her lips, shoosh John and encourage him to look at his picture book. Read the rest of this entry →

  • Vintage Athlete of the Month

    • Louie Dampier: The First 3-Point King
      November 13, 2024 | 1:02 pm
      Louie Dampier

      Louie Dampier’s name might not resonate as widely as other basketball legends, but the Sports Then & Now Vintage Athlete of the Month’s impact on the game, particularly during the American Basketball Association (ABA) era, is undeniable. Known for his pinpoint shooting, exceptional ball handling, and relentless work ethic, Dampier enjoyed a stellar basketball career that saw him thrive in both the ABA and NBA. As one of the most consistent and prolific guards of his time, Dampier left a lasting legacy, and his role in the ABA’s history solidified his place in the annals of basketball greatness.

      Read more »

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