NMU PACKER WEEKEND XXVIII (-I): Football Alums Making Titletown Great Again since 1989. FOUR!!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
SUPER BOWL-THEMED SOME-E-CARD OF THE DAY
SUPER BOWL INFOGRAPHIC OF THE DAY
Using the amount of team likes on Facebook, Facebook has made a very convenient map displaying regionally favorite teams across the nation. What’s your guess for your county’s favorite NFL team?
Do these results surprise you? Packers own Wisconsin and most of the U.P., also have surprising strenght in parts of the Great Plains, the West, and Alaska. Bears own Illinois (but for Rams fans along the Missippi River) and bleed into Iowa, Northwestern Indiana, and Southwest Michigan Vikes have a pretty impressive footprint as well. Saints go into Teja (thanks Katrina), Arkansas, Missippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle.
FacebookAnd below is each county’s choice for who will win the Super Bowl this Sunday. Some Ravens love happening in the Mitten while Wisky and the Land of Lincoln are Niners Country. Facebook
UNCLE JESSE vs STRINGER BELL?
Jesse Cochran: [to DJ and Stephanie when they sneak out of bed] Shouldn't you girls be dreaming about Tweety Bird or Big Bird or Larry Bird?
Published: January 30, 2013 Comment, New York Times
Does defense win championships? Stat-geek sports fans like me tend to distrust this old saying. Scoring a point helps just as much as allowing one hurts. And in football, the proposition risks ignoring the role played by the likes of Tom Brady.
It is the case, however, that the better defensive team has usually won the Super Bowl — and done so far more consistently than offensive juggernauts. The Web site Pro Football Reference publishes a statistic called the Simple Rating System (S.R.S.), which evaluates each team’s offense and defense based on the number of points it scored and allowed relative to the league average and adjusted for strength of schedule.
Of the 92 teams to have played in the Super Bowl before this year, I identified those with the 20 best defensive and offensive ratings, according to S.R.S. (see charts above). The defensive list contains teams that you would expect, like the 1985 Bears. These teams have compiled a 14-6 record (.700) in the Super Bowl. Their winning percentage is actually nearly 80 percent when you ignore the three cases, Super Bowls IV, VIII and XLV, when two of the all-time great defensive teams faced each other.
The 20 best offensive teams, however, are just 10-10 in the Super Bowl. There have been successes in this group, like the Saints under Drew Brees, but there have been just as many failures, including two of Brady’s Patriots teams. (During his three championships, the Patriots had a much better balance between offense and defense.)
The reasons that exceptional defenses fare so much better in the Super Bowl are still somewhat murky, but this factor bodes well for this year’s 49ers, whose defense belongs in the elite group, according to S.R.S. (it ranks 17th among Super Bowl teams). The Ravens, despite all the hype surrounding Ray Lewis, allowed a rather pedestrian 21.5 points per game this year. The 49ers also have the better offense, according to S.R.S., so there isn’t much to recommend the Ravens . . . unless you look at the more sophisticated rankings published by Football Outsiders. Their system, known as Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (D.V.O.A.), accounts for a team’s success or failure on every play it ran during the year and not just on final scores.
Notes: Program references the game as being for the "NFL Championship and the Vince Lombardi Trophy," but the ticket refers to it as the "AFC-NFC World Championship Game." Program and ticket are not identical, with the ticket having a more artistic representation of the Roman numerals and a different color backdrop. Face value is $15.00 and kick-off is at 3:30 Eastern.
TICKET STUB
SUPER BOWL VIII QUOTE OF THE DAY
"[H]e was nothing, he offered nothing, and he promised nothing. He had no humor. He was insignificant in every way and consequently I didn't pay much attention to him. But when he passed out in my bathtub, then I noticed him. I'd been in another room, talking to the bright people. I had to have him taken away."
- Gonzo Writer Hunter S. Thompson on meeting Future President George W Bush at Thompson's Super Bowl party in Houston in 1974. Thompson was covering the Super Bowl for Rolling Stone.
This was the last Super Bowl to feature goal posts at the front of the end zone.
Many Dolphin players wore a slightly different helmet decal than the rest...starting with the final regular season game of the 1973 season (and continuing throughout the playoffs) many players, mostly linemen, wore the decal that the team would adopt in 1974 (with the mascot dolphin leaping through the sun), while others wore helmets with the 1969-1973 decal (with the mascot dolphin halfway through the sun).
This was the Dolphins third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. They posted a 12-2 record during the regular season, then defeated the Cincinnati Bengals and the Oakland Raiders in the playoffs. The Vikings were making their second Super Bowl appearance after also finishing the regular season with a 12-2 record, and posting postseason victories over the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys.
Super Bowl VIII was largely dominated by the Dolphins, who scored 24 unanswered points during the first three quarters, including two touchdowns on their first two drives. Minnesota's best chance to threaten Miami occurred with less than a minute left in the first half, but Vikings running back Oscar Reed fumbled the ball away at the Dolphins' 6-yard, and his team was unable to overcome Miami's lead in the second half. The Dolphins' Larry Csonka became the first running back to be named Super Bowl MVP; both his 145 rushing yards and his 33 carries were Super Bowl records.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
NINERS PIC OF THE DAY
DAILY DOSE OF HARBAUGH HUMOR: 'SAVED BY THE BELL' EDITION
Admit it, it was more than just me and Bubba who loved Saved by the Bell during our senior year of college.
Ohh, you were too cool to watch. Super Bowl Coach Jim Harbaugh wasn't . . . Go Bayside!
Posted by Taylor Price on September 15, 2011 – 2:16 PM
The NFL is bringing its female fans even more ways to show off their team pride this season with a new advertising campaign and website. Sarah Harbaugh, wife of 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh is featured prominently in the ads along with sister-in-law Ingrid Harbaugh, wife of Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
SUPER BOWL VII PROGRAM COVER
TICKET STUB
Notes: From hippie-ish album cover art in VI to groovy seventies graphics in VII just one year later. Art is consisent on both the program and the ticket. Program for the second straight year references this as a game for the "NFL Championship and the Vince Lombardi Trophy," not a "World Championship." Face value is $15.00 and kick-off is 3:30 pm Eastern.
PRESS PASS
SUPER BOWL VII QUOTE OF THE DAY
"If we lose this game I'm going to hang you up by one of your ties!"
-Dolphins LB Nick Buoniconti to Kicker Garo Yepremian after his famous botched field goal attempt and intercepted pass near the end of SB VII which led to the Redskins only touchdown of the game. This was of course the Dolphins famed 17-0 undefeated team. 0] Nevertheless, "Garo's Gaffe" made Yepremian famous and led to a lucrative windfall of speaking engagements and endorsements. "It's been a blessing," says Yepremian.[17]
This was the Dolphins' second Super Bowl appearance after losing Super Bowl VI. They posted an undefeated 14-0 regular season record before defeating the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs. The Redskins were making their first Super Bowl appearance after posting an 11-3 regular season record and playoff victories over the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. Despite being undefeated, the Dolphins were actually 1 point underdogs, largely based on the weakness of their regular season schedule.[2]
Super Bowl VII was largely dominated by the Dolphins, and remains the lowest-scoring Super Bowl to date with a total of only 21 points (3 touchdown and 3 extra points). The only drama was during the final minutes of the game, in what was later known as "Garo's Gaffe".[3] Miami attempted to cap off their 17-0 perfect season with a 17-0 perfect score shutout with a 41-yard field goal by Garo Yepremian,[4] but instead the game and the season was jeopardized when his kick was blocked. Instead of falling on the loose ball, the Dolphins kicker picked it up, attempted a forward pass, but batted it in the air, and Redskins' cornerback Mike Bass caught it and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown. This game also remains as the longest period in a Super Bowl for one team to be shut out, as Washington was held scoreless until 2:07 remained in the fourth quarter.[note 1]
Dolphins safetyJake Scott was named Most Valuable Player. He recorded two interceptions for 63 return yards, including a 55-yard return from the end zone during the 4th quarter. Scott became the second defensive player in Super Bowl history (after linebackerChuck Howley in Super Bowl V) to earn a Super Bowl MVP.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
SUPER BOWL VI PROGRAM COVER
TICKET STUB
PRESS PASS
Notes: Very ornate art scheme which conveys a New Orleans Garden District Look, but also collage which includes helmets of all past winners and the Lombardi Trophy. The Roman number reference is now official on both the program and the ticket. Artwork is identical on both.
Program refers to game being played for the "NFL Championship" not a "World Championship" of some form as in all prior program covers. Face value is $15.00 and kick-off is at 2:30 Eastern.
SUPER BOWL VI QUOTE OF THE DAY: A REPEAT THAT BEARS REPEATING
"If it's the ultimate game, how come they're playing it again next year?"
-Cowboys RB Duane Thomas, Super Bowl VI. One of the NFL's all-time great malcontents. This stands out as probably the greatest Super Bowl quote of all-time, certainly the most existential, as it questions the very nature of the game itself.
The Cowboys dominated Super Bowl VI, setting Super Bowl records for the most rushing yards (252), the most first downs (23), and the least points allowed (3). They remain the only team ever to prevent their opponent from scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl. The game was close in the first half, with the Cowboys only leading 10-3 at halftime. But Dallas opened the third quarter with a 71-yard, 8-play touchdown drive, and then Dallas linebacker Chuck Howley's 41-interception return in the fourth quarter set up another score.
This would be the last Super Bowl to be blacked out in the TV market in which the game was played. Under the NFL's unconditional blackout rules at the time, the Super Bowl could not be broadcast locally even if the local team did not advance to the Super Bowl, and it was a sellout. The following year, the league changed their rules to allow games to be broadcast in the local market if sold out 72 hours in advance.
MY THOUGHTS
An interesting pattern developed in the early Super Bowl era. A team loses one year, only to prevail a season or two later. For example:
Chiefs lose Super Bowl I decisively and win Super Bowl IV.
Colts lose Super Bowl III and win Super Bowl V over the Cowboys.
Cowboys lose Super Bowl V, but win Super Bowl VI over the Dolphins.
Dolphins lose Super Bowl VI and go on to win Super Bowl VII with their undefeated 1972 team the very next year.
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF HARBAUGH HUMOR:
TWITTER EDITION
SUPER BOWL V PROGRAM COVER
TICKET STUB Notes: First official use of Roman numerals! Program cover and ticket art again match after two (2) years of not matching. Game is referred to as being played for the "World Professional Football Championship."
First official reference to the "Vince Lombardi Trophy." Lombardi died several months earlier in September 1970. Ticket price holds at $15.00, kick-off moved up to 2:00 p.m Eastern.
Monday, January 28, 2013
SUPER BOWL V QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Frustration. I did it out of frustration.”
-Hall of Famer Bob Lilly about why he famously threw his helmet 25 yards though the air (some say it was more like 50 yards) after the Cowboys lost to the Colts.
This was the first Super Bowl played after the completion of the AFL-NFL Merger. As per the merger agreement, all 26 AFL and NFL teams were divided into 2 conferences with 13 teams in each of them. Along with the Colts, the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to join the 10 AFL teams to form the AFC. The remaining 13 NFL teams formed the NFC. This explains why the Colts represented the NFL in Super Bowl III, but not the NFC for Super Bowl V. Baltimore advanced to Super Bowl V after posting an 11-2-1 regular season record. Meanwhile, the Cowboys were making their first Super Bowl appearance after posting a 10-4 regular season record.
The game is sometimes called the "Blunder Bowl" or the "Stupor Bowl" because it was filled with poor play, penalties, turnovers, and officiating miscues. The two teams committed a Super Bowl record 11 combined turnovers in the game, and the Colts' 7 turnovers are currently the most ever committed by a winning team in a Super Bowl. Dallas also set a Super Bowl record with 10 penalties, costing them 133 yards. It was finally settled with five seconds left when Colts rookie kicker Jim O'Brien kicked a 32-yard field goal. In order to win the game, Baltimore had to overcome a 13–6 deficit at the half, losing their starting quarterback in the second quarter.
It is the only Super Bowl in which the Most Valuable Player Award was given to a member of the losing team: Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley, who intercepted two passes (sacks and tackles were not yet recorded). Howley, the first non-quarterback to win the MVP award, refused to accept it because it was meaningless to him after his team lost. In a similar vein, Colts defensive end Bubba Smith (another fine MSU grad) would later refuse to wear his Super Bowl V ring because of the "sloppy" play.[2]
The NFL is bringing its female fans even more ways to show off their team pride this season with a new advertising campaign and website. Sarah Harbaugh, wife of 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh is featured prominently in the ads along with sister-in-law Ingrid Harbaugh, wife of Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
