TIME FOR SOME ANSWERS TO SOME QUERKY SPORTS THOUGHTS

With all the sports seasons colliding at the same time, now might be a good time to sort through some of the myths about sports and teams and see who they really are.

For instance, the Dallas Cowboys have been called "America's Team" for quite a while now.  Actually, it couldn't be further from the truth.  While the Cowboys are the only NFL team to record 20 straight winning seasons (from 1966 to 1985) during which they missed the playoffs only twice (1974 and 1984), they have not been a superior team.  The last time Dallas made it to the Super Bowl was in 1996, when they played in Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cowboys won 27-17 for their 5th Super Bowl Championship.  So, it's been 29 years since Dallas was on top.  Altogether now, let's say it.....they are not America's Team anymore.  And we can thank owner Jerry Jones for that.     

No Jerry, you are not #1 

It used to be if the New York Yankees weren't in the World Series it wasn't an official championship.  That notion came from the Bronx Bombers dominance.  Last year the Yanks made it back to the Fall Classic losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to one.  Prior to that though, it had been 15 years since the Yankees were in the Series.  The Philadelphia Phillies were their foe in 2009 when they won world title number 27.    

A number of pro football fans have become fed up with the constant dribble of mega-star Taylor Swift and all-pro TE Travis Kelce.  Many have suggested Swift is a distraction to her newly engaged partner.  In truth, it's more likely we football crazies are the more distracted.  I'm part of that group.  Swift has attended 16 Kansas City Chief games between September 2023 and the 2025 Super Bowl, during which Kansas City won 13 games and lost 3, securing a remarkable 81%-win rate in her presence.  It seems this duo is going to entertain us for at least one more season.  That is, if Kelce retires after this season.    

It was Game 1 of the 1936 Stanley Cup playoffs and a game featuring the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Maroons.  The game began at 8:30 p.m. at the Forum in Montreal and ended at 2:25 a.m.  176 MINUTES!!  Mud Bruneteau, a rookie who had been called up two weeks earlier, scored at 16:30 of the sixth overtime, beating Maroon goaltender Lorne Chabot to win the game, 1-0.  Red Wing goalie, Normie Smith earned the shutout win with more than 90 saves.  The date-March 24th 1936.  Info courtesy of the Detroit Free Press.  

How about some strangeness in the basketball world?  The first dunk in a game came from George Mikan in 1944.  This past regular season saw that part of the game explode with some unusual numbers.  Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers was at the head of the class with 173 dunks. He shot 55.1% from the field.  No wonder.    

You want greatness?  The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program was darn near unbeatable in the 1960's and 70's.  John Wooden led the Bruins to 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975.  They won seven straight from 1967-1973 and went undefeated a record four times during that run.  

Now for some quick facts:  

Golf was the first sport played on the moon by Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard in 1971.

There are over 8,000 plus sports played around the world!  Despite this, there were only 33 sports played at the Olympics in 2021.

The world record for the most number of non-stop push-ups is 10,507 by Minoru Yoshida of Japan. He accomplished that feat in 1980.  

Hmmmm.  Wonder how many I could do?  Don't laugh, how about you?  

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

I've taken a couple of weeks off to digest college and pro football training camps.  I've read at nauseam the analysts take on who's going to win the National Championship and the Super Bowl.   More often than not, I wonder what they're smoking.  Maybe that's why fans are so off kilter with realistic expectations for their teams.  Because it sure seems like they've gotten their share of secondhand smoke.    

Singing to the high heavens (courtesy of Gameday Gallery}

It's common place to be thrilled about the coming football season. In college, if your team returns a number of great players and hit on some new recruits, you're no doubt excited.   Professionally, if your team made some trades, added a couple of nice draft picks or grabbed a free agent or two you should be pumped.  But tap the brakes of reality.  Training camp is essentially that.  Some rise to the surface, but more often than not, camp excitables are just that.  Many are never heard from again. 

How many of the 136 eligible Division 1 teams and how many of the 32 professional ballclubs are realistically all in on a run for the title?  That's where your thinking should start before you go head over heels about your team.  Of the 136 only 12 make it to the college playoffs.  That's a 0.088 chance you have in seeing the promised land.  In professional football your odds a quite a bit better.  Of the 32, 14 make the playoffs, a 43 percent chance.  

Let's tackle the pro's first.  Yes, there might be a 43 percent possibility of reaching post-season play...but those numbers are very, very misleading.  I had an NFL scout tell me a number of years ago, " you'd be surprised of the NFL teams that are truthfully in it for the prize.  If you watch how their front office works, you can easily see if they're in it to win.  The teams that show risk, creativity and spend wisely are usually going to make post-season.  "The others, clearly have no chance".   Why is that?  Is it more important for ownership to keep moving up the potential sale price of their team or truly play for the fan base?  

Let's take the New York Jets for example.  They haven't made the playoffs in 14 years.  That's the longest current drought in the NFL.  The Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons are next with 7.  It would be easy to say that many teams are making the playoffs.  But making and having a serious shot

are two different things.  

   

So, with that being said, here are my projections for the coming NFL season.  In the AFC, I think it's truly time for the Buffalo Bills to make their way to the Super Bowl.  And this time to win it!  Baltimore will be a tough out and so of course will the Kansas City Chiefs.  They always are.  And then maybe Denver or Houston.  Home field advantage might have more of a play into the AFC entrant into the Super Bowl than it ever has.  Then there's the injury bug.  If anyone of those teams loses their star quarterback, they're toast.  None of them has a capable backup. 

In the NFC, things become a little more interesting.  Yes, Philly could repeat, or Washington makes a real run.  If the Commanders don't solve their WR Terry McLaurin contract issue, then they're out.  The North could offer any of the four teams in the division.  Yes, any of the four.  Without question, this is the toughest four team division.  Other than that, Tampa Bay may have an outside chance and the LA Rams, if they get Matthew Stafford healthy, they could be considered a threat.  In the end, I think the Eagles are back in the Super Bowl.  My dark horse is Washington.  But how can you root for a team with a head coach that has his hat on backwards?  That of course would be the Commanders Dan Quinn. I could be mistaken but I believe he is the only head coach in a major sport that wears his hat backwards. Something to me just doesn't look right with that from the leader of your team.  That's just me.  

In college, the new expanded playoffs were to offer some changes as to who could make a run to the National Championship.  I'm thinking not.  There might be an outsider or two that makes the final 12 but only because it's designed that way.  The field will no doubt come down to Texas, Ohio State, Penn State (as much as I hate to say it), LSU, Clemson, Notre Dame or Oregon. Three of those teams spent crazy money in the NIL world.  Texas was first, followed by Texas Tech, Ohio State and Oregon.  

As I said earlier, the teams with the best likelihood to win are those being led by front offices or administration's that aren't looking to compete, they're looking to win.  That's their bottom line and in the end, it will no doubt boost their bottom line, financially.  That's how the game is being played today.  Texas and Oregon in the National Championship.  And the Longhorns reel in the top prize.

ADDED NOTE:

For a year and a half now, I've heard nothing but criticism of the Bears QB Caleb Williams.  Considering the pathetic team around him last year, I believe he showed some nice signs of being a top-rated NFL signal caller.  Now, with new head Coach Ben Johnson at the helm, you're going to see some further growth in his abilities.   And that's why Ben is called, "the QB Whisperer".  Go Bears....