NBC Sports: NFL 1980- Super Bowl-Oakland Raiders vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Full Game

Source:The New Democrat

Super Bowl 15, was a very interesting matchup between two very good football teams. The 1980 Raiders, perhaps one of the most talented teams on both sides of the ball to ever play in the Super Bowl. The 1980 Eagles, were very good, perhaps not deep in great talent, but with a lot of good players. The 1980 Raiders, might be the best 11-5 team that has ever played. They were 2-3 at one point that season and at around 500 at the half point of the season. Jim Plunkett, wasn’t their starting quarterback going into the season. Dan Pastorini, was their quarterback going into the season and got off to a bad start, as did the Raiders. And was replaced by Plunkett and the Raiders started to put it together and almost won the AFC West.

The Eagles, were already good in 78 and 79, making the NFC Playoffs both seasons. And saw 1980 as their season to step up and make a run at the Super Bowl. Especially with the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams both slipping and the Minnesota Vikings no longer a Super Bowl contender. The Redskins, struggling in the NFC East and hadn’t made the playoffs since 1976. 1980, was seen as the year for the Eagles, if they got past the Cowboys and won the NFC East. Which was a big goal of there’s. Win the East so they don’t have to play in the NFC Wildcard and win the NFC Divisional to get to the NFC Final. And Head Coach Dick Vermeil, put together a very tough physical blue-collar team. That played great defense and ran the ball real well and could throw the ball to keep defenses balanced.

I think this was a matchup of two of the toughest teams to ever play in the Super Bowl. That had great coaching and character and didn’t expect anyone to give them anything and worked very hard for everything that they accomplished. And they met in the Super Bowl, but I think there were several differences in this game that all favored the Raiders. Not just Super Bowl experience, but experience winning the Super Bowl. Twelve Raiders, were on the 1976 Raiders Super Bowl team. The Raiders also had more weapons on offense and could kill you with the pass and run. And the Raiders defense could take away the Eagles strength which was their power running and make them throw more than they wanted to. And throw when they didn’t want to and you see these differences in this game.

CBS Sports: NFL 1979- Week 16- Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys: Full Game

Source:The New Democrat

If you look at the 1979 Redskins, not a deeply talented team with great players at every position. Their leading receiver Danny Buggs, caught 46 passes the whole season. They were primarily a power run ball control football team on offense, led by the great fullback/tailback John Riggins. With a short passing game where they threw a lot to their running backs. And a team on defense, that was solid against the pass and somewhat weak against the run, that caused many turnovers. They along with the Tampa Buccaneers were the surprised teams in the NFC in 79. Two teams expected to not do much of anything going into the season and they both won 10 games.

The Dallas Cowboys in 79, were defending NFC champions as well as NFC East champions. And were looking to get back to the Super Bowl and perhaps were the favorites going in. They were once again very good on both sides of the ball. QB Roger Staubach, at 37 and in his last season, was perhaps still the best quarterback in the NFL at this point. And he still had the great Tony Dorsett and Robert Newhouse at running back. And Tony Hill and Drew Pearson and Bill Joe Dupree as his receivers. And they still had the Doomsday Defense. With Randy White, Ed Jones, Harvey Martin and Larry Cole upfront. They were still a very good football team.

But one of the things that made the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry great in the 1970s and 80s and I believe the best rivalry in the NFL at this point, was that both teams didn’t need to be great on paper and deep in talent for the games to be great. Both teams didn’t even have to be good for these games to be great. The 3-13 Cowboys, beat the defending Super Bowl champion Redskins in 1988. And that is just one example. And this is an example of that, where the Redskins had a good record in 1979, but didn’t have great personal. But had enough good players and a few great ones and great coaching to make this team play better than their talent perhaps says they would. Which is why the Redskins played so well against the Cowboys in 79

Sorry Haterss Canal: Video: Shamus 1973: A Private Eye Gets What's Coming To Him

This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on WordPress

To be completely honest with you, I watched Shamus because Dyan Cannon and Burt Reynolds were in it. Two of my favorite actors and one of the best comedic duos you could ever put together. Dyan, is so adorable, as well as sexy, gorgeous and then she’s also a hell of an actress and one of the funniest actress’s who has ever lived. They especially make a great male/female comedy duo. And they were both great in this movie, but they were great together. Not saying the movie wasn’t a good movie. Because it is a very entertaining and good action/comedy. Especially when you consider that Dyan, Burt, and Joe Santos, are the only names in the movie. The only well-known actors who’ve had long successful careers.

Shamus, is about a very good, but perhaps not a very well-known Brooklyn private detective. But someone who is very good at his job who have very good and useful friends and references. Who is hired by a New York crime boss played by Ron Weygand to find out who robbed one his jewelry stores. Shamus McCoy, played by the great Burt Reynolds, perhaps the best action/comedic actor who has ever lived, takes the job, but is suspicious of his new client right away. And digs up dirt on his client to find out what he’s about and who would rob them and why. Another crime group separate from Shamus’s client, somehow finds out quickly that Shamus is working for the man they just robbed. And try to get him off the case, if not put him out of business all together.

Dyan Cannon, plays the sister of one of the people who this group robbed. And Shamus uses her to get to her brother and his connections. That have all of these things that the group has stole and wants to steal more of. Including military surplus equipment. Shamus decides that his new and only wealthy client is no longer worth working for. And ends up taking Alexis, played by Dyan as his new client. Because she wants to know who is trying to hurt her brother. This is a fairly complicated movie and fairly violent movie as well. Where Shamus is not the Devil or the Saint in the movie. And uses a lot of ruthless and abusive tactics to solve the case. Even though he doesn’t have a full-time client in the movie. And is an interesting and funny action/drama. With a lot of humor in it, mostly coming from Burt. Who of course is a master smartass.

NBC Sports: NFL 1978-Super Bowl-Dallas Cowboys vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: Full Game

Source:The New Democrat

If you look at the two teams in this game and their personal and the two coaching staffs, led by Tom Landry and Chuck Knoll respectfully and how great both teams were in 1978 and the fact that this game decided who would be the NFL franchise of the 1970s, the Cowboys or Steelers, this is the best Super Bowl at least of the first thirteen, of all-time. I still believe it is the best Super Bowl of all-time, especially if you look at the two teams involved and how they played in this game. The second Cowboys-Steelers Super Bowl and the second Super Bowl that they played against each other that went down to the last possession of the game. That is how close both teams were and how well they played against each other.

This Super Bowl was so good as far as how they game was played, it was almost like an all-star game. If you look at the talent of both clubs. Each team with a Hall of Fame head coach. Hall of Fame quarterbacks for both teams. The Steelers starting two Hall of Fame receivers in John Stallworth and Lynn Swann. The Cowboys with two Pro Bowl receivers in Drew Pearson and Tony Hill. Pearson, at least should be in the Hall of Fame. Two of the top three tailbacks in the league at the time and who are both in the Hall of Fame. Franco Harris, with the Steelers and Tony Dorsett with the Cowboys. And that is before I get to the Steel Curtain Defense of the Steelers and the Doomsday Defense of the Cowboys.

The Super Bowl, is supposed to be the game between the two best teams in the NFL. It is called the Super Bowl for a very good reason. It’s supposed to be a great game between two great teams. The first twelve Super Bowls were blowouts for the most part. The Cowboys won two of those blowouts. This wasn’t the first real Super Bowl. Super Bowl 10, again between the Cowboys and Steelers was also a real Super Bowl. Super Bowl 7 between the Dolphins and Redskins was also a good game. But Super Bowl’s 10 and 13, were exactly that. They were true Super Bowl’s and the only two of the first thirteen. And again, if you look at both teams and how they played in this game and it went down to the last possession of the game, this game is the best Super Bowl ever.

The Onion: 'Hillary Clinton To Nation: Do Not Fuck This Up For Me"

Source:The New Democrat

Source:The Onion

I can speak freely about Jack Benny’s famous “I’m always 39″ joke, because I’m actually 39 right now. I have a birth certificate to prove it, that says I was actually born in 1975. Exactly when in 1975, I was born, you have to know me well enough and I have to trust you in order for you to find out. But I would hate to be 39 the rest of my life. Why, because that would mean I would die sometime between now and I next birthday. Imagine having less than a year to live, with still so much you want to do and simply not enough time to accomplish those things before you die.

And as far as aging and this might sound corny. (Gee I hope not) But age is really just a number, seriously, it really is. We now have Americans who are healthy and working and their seventies and eighties. And not all of them are still working because they forgot to save for their retirement, (Gee, it just slipped my mind) or their 401K’s were flushed down the toilet, hopefully accidentally, but because they don’t want to play golf everyday. And even though they love their grandkids, they are glad their kids are already grown up and have moved out. Ao they don’t have to spend so much time with their kids.

We have older Americans in age, who still want to work and are still damn good at their jobs and still very productive. And why are they, because they bothered to take the time to take care of the one person they have the most control over, which is themselves. If you live well, you’ll live well, because you take care of yourself, which allows for you to enjoy life for a very long time. And it gives you a lot more choices as far as what you can do in your senior years. Just relax and enjoy yourself, or do those things as well, but do something else you also enjoy which is working and producing.

NBC Sports: NFL 1976-Super Bowl-Oakland Raiders vs. Minnesota Vikings: Full Game

Source:The New Democrat

I can’t think of two head coaches that are more different from each other than Bill Parcells and Joe Gibbs. But they did have one thing in common when it came to coaching in the NFL that served them both very well. And a big reason why they are both in the Hall of Fame. They both believed and focused with their coaching that the way you win NFL games is at the line of scrimmage. You win games by running the football well and stopping the other team’s run. You protect your quarterback and attack the other quarterback. You come up with a couple of takeaways and protect the football. If you do these things well, you’ll win a lot more than you lose. And if you look at the Giants and Redskins of the 1980s they were both very strong upfront on both sides of the ball with good quarterbacks.

I only mention this because that is how this Super Bowl was one. The Raiders didn’t just dominate the Vikings in this game. But they dominated them better than anyone else previously in the Super Bowl. They ran the ball down the Vikings throat in this game. Viking Pro Bowl and I believe Hall of Fame defensive end Jim Marshall, was completely shut out in this game. By Raiders offensive tackle Art Shell, arguably the best offensive tackle of all-time. If he isn’t, I sure as hell would like to know who is. The Vikings didn’t run the ball worth a damn in this game. Their Pro Bowl running back Chuck Forman got most of his yards receiving in this game. The Raiders, hit Vikings Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton the whole game. And the Vikings defense, spent most of their time trying to get close to Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler.

When you control the line of scrimmage, the whole world opens up to you. You can run whenever you want or need to. And because of that the defense is always concern about the run. They have to be, otherwise they’ll never get off the field. And because of this you can throw the ball whenever you want to and generally looking at man coverage. And when your receivers are Cliff Branch, Fred Biletnikoff and Dave Casper, man to man coverage all day for the defense is asking a lot. The Raiders simply went at the Vikings the whole game. The Vikings being a real quick, but undersized defense, can only stop that for so long until they start breaking. Especially when their offense is not producing and that is how this game was won.

CBS Sports: NFL-1985-Week 11-Chicago Bears @ Dallas Cowboys: Full Game

Source:The New Democrat

Going into this game, it is no wonder why CBS Sports had their top broadcast duo of Pat Summerall and John Madden call this game. Great matchup at least on paper with perhaps the two best teams in the NFC in 1985. The history of the two great franchises and the members of both clubs that worked with the other team, or was from Chicago or Texas, or played there. Like Mike Ditka, who was a long time assistant coach under Tom Landry in Dallas. And then of course of how dominant the Bears were in 85, 10-0 at this point going up against a Cowboys team that was still very good, at least as far as talent. That dominated the NFC and NFL in the 1970s and was still one of the better teams in the league at this point.

But when you don’t protect your quarterback, you don’t protect your punter and get punts blocked and turn the ball over the way the Cowboys did in the second quarter that led to 17 points and 24-0 halftime Bears lead, horrible things happen to you. The student’s teams beat the hell out of the teacher’s team in this game. The Bears played on completely taking your offense out of the game. And beating the hell out of your quarterback and runners with their 46 Defense. That dared teams to throw deep against them. And if your receivers didn’t get open quickly and your quarterback didn’t get rid of the ball quickly, horrible things happened to you. Huge sacks and turnovers. That Bears the offense could score from and many times that season the Bears defense did the scoring.

It was already pretty clear that Cowboys at this point in the 1980s had started stagnating, if not in decline. With the San Francisco 49ers, Redskins, Bears and New York Giants already taking steps up to becoming the new powers in the NFC. And they all had great games against each other in that decade. But this 44-0 ass kicking by the Bears in 1985 was sort of that tipping point and perhaps final nail. That the Cowboys not only were not the main power in the NFC, but several teams had passed them. And the Cowboys were no longer a team that was expected to go to the Super Bowl or even NFC Championship. But a team that making the NFC Playoffs, or winning the NFC East was a good year for them. When in the 1970s and early eighties that was expected of them.