The Greatest game ever. 50 years later

December 28, 1958 NFL fans gathered at Yankee Stadium to see the Baltimore Colts play against the New York Giants. The Giants where the darlings of the NFL and the Colts where just starting to emerge as a good football team. In this game their were 17 individuals who would go on to the Hall of Fame. Back in a time when the average salary was 4,500 and a franchise was worth 1 million. In this time football was not a big sport and sports such as boxing and baseball where bigger. At the time Baltimore was economically troubled and it is a fact that this game would help out. When over 4 million fans tuned into NBC and filled in to Yankee Stadium there is no way they thought they where about to witness the greatest game ever played.

Around 7 weeks earlier the Colts met the Giants in the regular season and won the game 24-21. Johnny Unitas the Colts starting QB was out with broken ribs and a punctured lung. Johnny U lead the Colts offense against Sam Huff and the rock solid defense of the Giants. The field on this day was frozen over causing players to slip. There also was not much grass on the field. Early on in the first quarter Colts kicker Steve Myhra lined up for a field goal. Myhra was not a real consistent or reliable kicker but got his kick blocked. The Giants would then go down the field and kicker Pat Summerall kicked a field goal to give them the early lead 3-0. The Colts would fire back with a strong running game with Lenny Moore and Alan Amache as Amache ran it in for a one yard TD which wouldn't be his last. This is when the Colts started to pull away. In the second quarter the Giants defense started to fall apart as Unitas started to pick them apart. He would hook up with Amache for a TD. 14-3. This would be the score at halftime as it looked like the mighty Colts would win this one easy. In the 3rd quarter the Colts where threatening once again but a mighty goal line stand by the stingy Giants D caused it to be 4th and 1. Coach Weeb Ewbank decided not to kick the field goal. The called play was a pitch to Amache for him to then throw it. Amache didn't here the call right and ended up getting dragged down and the 5 yard line. This would be a huge momentum shifter as it took just two great plays for the Giants to score and make it 14-10. At the end of three it looked like a game and it would turn out to be a great one. In the 4th quarter QB Charlie Conerly hooked up with RB Frank Gifford who had a great game and put the Giants in front 17-14. Later on in the 4th Colts kicker Steve Myhra missed a field goal which gave the Giants the ball. They were going to run the clock out now.On 3rd down Gifford was running to the outside and a controversial call would be made. It was said that he did not make the first down causing the Giants to punt with 3 minutes left. The truth of this call would be unknown untill early tonight where the game was being re-aired on ESPN. They brought in a car crash expert who used technology to show us whether or not he made it. He used the 40 and 45 yard lines as what appeared to be parralell lines but they did go back to a common point. He then traced back that common point and found out that point was the first down line. He showed where Gifford landed and showed he was short about 9 inches. I found this very interesting as was the whole ESPN telecast. This call was at first believed to be changed by an injury to Gino Marchetti he was screaming and it is belived that the ball was moved back several inches due to this. Even with the Giants punting several people on the team where confident that they had this game. Great communication between Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry helped them throughout the whole game and it helped them drive down and with 10 seconds on the clock got Myhra out there. With the whole stadium watching Myhra hit the field goal and sent the game to OT. We found out that 50 years ago Donovan McNabb wouldn't have been alone because many people didn't know that the game would go to overtime. With OT starting the Giants won the toss. They didn't get anywhere though as they where forced to punt. Now Colts players got confident and Johnny U and Alan Amache led the team down the field where the most famous picture would be taken from this game. Amache running it in for a one yard score and the win. The Colts won the game and the championship.

Now what made this game so great? Well to start off it had so many ups and downs, it was a see-saw game, there where 17 individuals who would go on to the Hall Of Fame, and that it was the first championship game to go to overtime. This game boosted the NFL's popularity to what it is today. The game was shown on NBC to thousands of viewers. At the time no one thought it would become the greatest game. This game also inspired the start of the AFL which made many of the teams in our league today. Johnny U among other players became famous from this game. I currently live in Maryland and I can tell you that many people around here idolize Johnny U and he is a loved player here. Of course the Colts left Baltimore and went to Indianapolis. At the end of the article I will post all of the Hall Of Famers involved so you can see. Of course there was Giants offensive coordiantor Vince Lombardi who went on to coach the Packers, win many Super Bowls, and get the trophy named after him. One last thing that I would like to take from this game is the similarity between these two teams and their championship teams from the past two years. To start off Peyton Manning looks very much like Johnny Unitas and the realationship Unitas had with Raymond Berry reminds me alot of the Manning & Marvin Harrison realationship. Both of these teams won the super bowl with a strong offense, strong QB, and a tough D. Now the Giants last years champs who won on pure defense. The Giants shut down Tom Brady in last years super bowl. Even thought they failed to do that to Unitas they still made him struggle sacking him 5 times. Once again there is no doubt this was the best game ever as it opened up oppurtunities to many people and gave us all the sport that we love.

Here is the list of Hall Of Famers

Giants:

OL Rosy Brown
HB Frank Gifford
LB Sam Huff
WR Don Maynard
DE Andy Robustelli
DB Emlen Tunnell
Offensive Coordinator Vince Lombardi
Defensive Coordiantor Tom Landry
Owner Tim Mara
Vice President/ Secretary Wellington Mara

Colts:

WR Raymond Berry
DL Art Donovan
DL Gino Marchetti
HB/WR Lenny Moore
OL Jim Parker
QB Johnny Unitas
Head Coach Weeb Ewbank

And the 74th Heisman is... Sam Bradford!

I am going to start this off by officially congradulating Sam Bradford on winning the Heisman and having one hell of a season. Ok now before the presentation I was pretty confident that Tim Tebow was going to walk away with the trophy once again. But when I started watching the presentation at 8:00 I keep going back and forth between all three of the candidates thinking to myself " You know what, any of these guys can win." But when Sam Bradford was announced I didn't have any problems with it because Sam Bradford lead a historic offense and was the best QB in the nation. The competition between these three was so close with McCoy coming in 2nd and Tebow coming in 3rd. The interesting thing was that Tim Tebow had the most 1st place votes but didn't win the Heisman. All three of these guys are great people and great QB's. And the best part of it is that we could see all three of them in this same place one year from now.

Getcha popcorn ready for T.O's latest act

Well this week we were all surprised to hear that Terrell Owens was complaining about not getting the ball. Yeah right. Only this time T.O's putting a spin on it. He's claiming that Tony Romo and Jason Witten are trying to keep him out of the gameplan. Well Terrell the reality of it is that your thrown to then any other Dallas wide receiver. About 30 times more actually but Jason Witten comes up with 20 more catches. This time though T.O wasn't complaining by himself. He dragged teammates Roy Williams and Partick Crayton in. Williams shouldn't really be there complaining because he is new to the system and Crayton I honestly don't know what he's doing there. He isn't as experienced or good as any of the other receivers so he should just sit back right now and wait for his chance. T.O though is a real team cancer and leaves the team he was previuosly on in oblivion. Ever since T.O left in 2004 the 49'ers have had a 22-54 record and haven't made it to the playoffs since. They haven't had a 6 year span of not making the playoffs since 1973. Then their is the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles have faired better than San Fransisco actually putting up a better record of 31-34-1 but that still isn't a winning record in the span Terrell has been gone. You wouldn't think that was too bad but when you look at the 5 years that the Eagles had before T.O they went 51-29 with 3 straight NFC East titles and three straight confrence championship matches (all lost). Now the Eagles have finished 4th, 1st, 4th, and 3rd each year and are probably looking towards another 4th place finish again. So what fate does this leave the Cowboys when T.O leaves. Well if he is traded or release I think the T.O bug will create the fall of America's team.

Was Graham Harrell cheated out of the Heisman?

When the finalists where announced for this years Heisman many people where expecting Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell to be there. Well Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, and Colt McCoy were announced but one person was left out. Graham Harrell. Now I'm not saying I believe that he was going to win but Graham Harrell's stats where packed and much better than any of the other QB's. Do I agree with not sending him though? Yes, I do believe Graham Harrell should have been left out. He had great stats but he threw many more attemps than any of the other QB's. Harrell was also on Texas Tech who finished lower ranked then any of the other QB's. Another factor in his stats was that he had an amazing reciever to throw it to every time he dropped back. He had sophomore wide reciever and possibly the best wide out in the nation Micheal Crabtree. Now is it Graham's fault he was paired with an All American wide out, no. Harrell's Texas Tech did lead the NCAA in passing but like I said this was becuase they threw the ball more times than any other team. Colt McCoy only threw 375 times, Bradford 442, and Tebow 350 compared to Harrell's 568. I am not saying that his season was not Heisman worthy but I do believe that there are more worthy candidates. Harrell made the claim that he was not chosen because they chose the people from the bigger name schools like Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma. This is a false stament because Texas Tech had the spotlight all year with their explosive, high flying offense and #1 ranking. I think Graham should just take in the fact that there where three more deserving QB's. Graham can look on the bright side that he's the 4th best QB in college football and he could have a bright future in the NFL

Who's in and Who's out? NFC Edition

Who's in and Who's out? NFC Addition
December 10th, 2008. 8:00 PM




With the playoffs arriving it is time to take a look at who is in and who is out in the NFC. Starting in the NFC West where the Cardinals have already clinched the division. As for the rest of the division, they can start preparing for next year. In the NFC South there is the best race in all of the NFL with all 4 teams within 3 games of each other. New Orleans is likely to miss the playoffs but anything could happen especially with the play of their MVP frontrunner QB Drew Brees. Not liking their chances though. The Atlanta Falcons are looking good though and even though I like their chances I think that Carolina will grab get it. As for the one winning this division I would have to go with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Even though they lost the head to head matchup against the Panthers I like the play of the team and QB Jeff Garcia who has experience in the playoffs. As for Carolina I think they will drop out if the division lead but will grab on to the first wild card spot. In the NFC North I like the Vikings who tripped up at the start to hold on to the division. But don't sleep on Chicago as they have a very good shot at coming back. The NFC East has been locked up by the Giants but I do like my last wildcard coming from this division. With three teams fighting for the spot I like the Dallas Cowboys. They have looked good despite last weeks breakdown at Pittsburgh and I think Tony Romo and Marion Barber will help them in. Barber has something to prove now that he's been called out. But don't expect them to get far.

Who's in and Who's out? AFC Edition

Who's still in and who's out? AFC addition.
Wednesday December 10th, 2008. 7:12 PM



So with the playoffs coming soon and only two teams are in for sure I ask the question. Who is still in the hunt and who better pack it up right now? To start off with the AFC West which is all but locked up by the Denver Broncos and with the Chargers showing no signs of life I think the Broncos are in. And for the rest of the AFC West. No. The AFC South is already taken by 12-1 Tennessee but they do have the Colts in there division who currently are in the wild card position. I think that at the end of the year the Colts will be in as the first wild card #5 seed. As for the rest of the division, they are out. Into the AFC North I like the Steelers as the winners of the division in the long run. Ravens are running into a tough schedule facing the Steelers, Cowboys, and Jags. If they can beat the Steelers they have a good shot. I don't like anyone else in the division and I think with their tough schedule the Ravens will miss out. In the AFC East it is currently a three team tie and only two of them will make it. They are all good teams but at this point I like the Patriots with the division and the Miami Dolphins with the last wild card as the #6 seed. The Jets are struggling and have lost 2 straight to teams they should have beat. It could come down to the last week as the Dolphins face the Jets.

Who is your Heisman?

Who is your Heisman?
December 8th, 2008 6:50 PM



The Heisman. The most coveted trophy in college football. It can make you stand out among the many people who have played college football. This year's Heisman could go to 1 of 4 quarterbacks. Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Graham Harrell and Tim Tebow. When the day of the presentation comes I believe the one holding the Heisman trophy, for the second year in a row will be Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow has thrown for 2,215 yards which is nothing compared to the yards Sam Bradford and the other QB's have thrown for. But Tebow has something that none of the rest of them have. Tebow has his legs which make him the best all around player in college football. Tebow has rushed for 564 yards and 12 touchdowns. Tebow also has the 5th best QB rating in the nation. Tebow has faced alot of tough teams such as Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Florida State and then lead Florida back to the win against #1 Alabama. All three of the other QB's play in the Big 12 which is more of a pass heavy conference. The SEC is a harder defense which makes me even more sure that Tim Tebow will be the Heisman winner for the second year in a row.

Are today's athletes about the game?

Are today's athletes about the game?
Saturday November 29th. 1:27 AM



In today's game one could question whether the athletes are about the game or if they are about the money, fame, and life that comes out of being a star. Most recently this has come in the NBA though it has been seen in other sports. On Thanksgiving Allen Iverson skipped practice as he has done several other times in his career. Iverson gets paid alot of money and I don't think it would kill him to go to practice especially when he is trying to fit in with his new team the Detriot Pistons. One of the reasons he was traded from Denver was missing practice. It is unexceptable but he is not the only one who is doing it. In New York Stephon Marbury refuses to play in the game because they didn't want to play him but now that they needed him he refuses. I have different views on this but if his team needs him to play and he gets paid then he should pay them. There was a third instance of this earlier in the season only this time it was in the NFL. New York Giants wide reciever Plaxico Burress missed practice and a doctors meeting so the team suspended him one game. All of these players teams have suspended them but is this really doing anything to them? They'll probably go do it again and what happens then? Another one game suspension? It's just not going to work. This is why teams thrive for players like Chris Paul and Peytin Manning who just go out there and play. Play the game for the love of the game not the fame.