Let’s all be honest with each other. Nothing happened in sports last night. Nothing. Therefore, this blog is not incredible this morning without some help from me. So, here it goes. Something that I was going to save for the show, but today, you get an exclusive early look for free.
Years ago, I got an email that sort of looked like this:
Dear Bob,
My friends and I have been debating who is the single greatest NFL franchise since the inception of the Super Bowl. Trouble is, we don’t have any way to calculate it. Could you figure out a way to rate all of the NFL teams in order of accomplishments since the Super Bowl was born?
Thanks,
Sports fan in Dallas
So, I had my assignment. After much deliberation, I decided that I must devise a points system to make sure this is objective. Also, this point system must not be affected by the many changes in the playoff format over the years. It should not deal in Wildcard wins because those were not always available. It should not deal in total regular season wins since the schedules are unbalanced, and the length of the season has evolved several times since the inception of the Super Bowl.
Therefore, I kept it simple. Here is the points system:
10 points = Super Bowl win
5 points = Super Bowl loss
3 points = NFC or AFC championship game loss
1 point = playoff appearance
There. It is hardly perfect, but it is mine. I have kept this for 5 years or so, and despite the fact that there are still points to be rewarded when these final 3 games of the season are played in the next little while, here are the up to the minute stats (January 18, 2006) of the top 10 and bottom 5 franchises since Super Bowl 1.
Bottom 5 NFL Franchises Since Super Bowl 1
32. Houston Texans (hardly fair, I know) = 0 points
31. Arizona/ St Louis Cardinals = 4 points
30. New Orleans Saints = 5 points
29. Jacksonville Jaguars = 9 points
28. Detroit Lions = 11 points
Of course, it should be noted that some of those teams are not very old, while the Lions and Cardinals are two of the oldest franchises in American Sports.
Top 10 NFL Franchises Since Super Bowl 1
10. New England Patriots – Green Bay Packers, 47 points each
9. Minnesota Vikings, 48 points
8. St Louis/ Los Angeles Rams, 49 points
7. Washington Redskins, 52 points
5. Denver Broncos – Miami Dolphins, 55 points each
4. Oakland Raiders, 74 points
3. Pittsburgh Steelers, 78 points
2. San Francisco 49ers, 80 points
1. Dallas Cowboys, 100 points
For those of you who don’t know me, I can assure you that the Cowboys are #1 no matter how you run this formula. I never realized it, and given my body art, I certainly was not campaigning for it, But it is not deniable. The Dallas Cowboys are, by a large margin, the most accomplished NFL franchise since Super Bowl 1. Of course, the most accomplished NFL franchise EVER lives in Wisconsin, but you have to include the leather helmet days to get those figures...
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Mavericks are in Houston tonight. I will grant you that I was one who certainly thought that after last years playoff series that Houston would be a force to be reckoned with. But, given the injury bug, that certainly has not been the case …The Rockets are struggling…
Rangers get deals with Teixeira, Eaton, and Wilkerson to keep from hurting feelings in arbitration, while they are not nearly as concerned about Mench’s feelings …they have never liked the guy, so turning the screws in the process will be their pleasure…
The Rangers still have three unsettled cases: Outfielders Kevin Mench and Gary Matthews Jr. and pitcher Vicente Padilla. The Rangers were $600,000 apart with Mench, who requested $3.05 million, while the Rangers offered $2.45 million.
By far, though, the most significant development of the day was the Teixeira deal. He will receive $6.4 million this season and $9 million in 2007. It gives the Rangers and Teixeira plenty of time to discuss a longer-term deal before his free agency season of 2008.
And, perhaps most importantly, it allowed the sides to avoid the often-acrimonious arbitration process – at least the first two times around. The process, which requires clubs to tell an arbitration panel why a player isn't worth his desired salary, often leads to permanently strained feelings between the team and player.
Seahawks look to change history get to first Super Bowl …
Seattle is attempting to reach its first Super Bowl and escape a group of seven franchises that has yet to experience one of sports' grandest events. Last week, the Seahawks ended the NFL's longest playoff victory drought (winless since 1984) by beating Washington.
Now the Seahawks are looking for more as they host Carolina in the NFC Championship Game at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. It is only the second time in the Seahawks' 30-year history they have reached the conference championship game.
In the 1983 season, the Seahawks lost to the Los Angeles Raiders 30-14 in the AFC Championship Game. If Seattle reaches Super Bowl XL, it will be the third time in the past four years that a team will make its first appearance.
Ovechkin’s shot was heard around the world …
Payton takes the Saints job …and now the Cowboys need a new guy to be called the play caller, as Parcells acts like he doesn’t call the plays…
Payton will succeed Jim Haslett, whose tenure lasted six years. The Saints were 3-13 in 2005, a season in which all of their "home" games were played on the road because of Hurricane Katrina. The Saints were a .500 team during Haslett's first five seasons combined.
Payton has said the Saints' poor showing in 2005 did not deter him from seeking the job.
"It's hard to look at their talent now compared to their record with all of the circumstances and things that they've gone through," Payton said last week. "It's a team that's certainly shown that they can be competitive and I would look forward to that challenge."
Payton's background as a quarterbacks coach -- he also had a very brief pro playing career at that position in the CFL and as a Chicago Bears replacement player in the 1987 strike season -- could serve him well in New Orleans, which is expected to draft a quarterback with the second overall pick in the NFL draft.
Wow, a scab? Nice.
Steelers fan has heart attack …
"I wasn't upset that the Steelers might lose," he said. "I was upset because I didn't want to see him end his career like that. A guy like that deserves better. I guess it was a little too much for me to handle."
O'Neill, who was recovering at a hospital, credits two firefighters with saving him.
"The Steelers won the game and I'm still alive, so I guess I'm doing pretty good," he said.
And lastly, there is this:
19 comments:
What, no Bobby Knight talk? He gave major props to the Longhorns last night, gave me a chub.
Bob,
Being a sports dork like yourself, there is nothing better than the NFL and its history.
Having said that, being 30 years old and having grown up here in Dallas, it is amazing how great this franchise really is when you take a big picture view of it. Having set the bar so high in this city, it is still amazing that our last Super Bowl opponent may make it back before we do and they have done it all with one man running the show for so long. Bill Cowher
Let's give him some due. Is he a Hall of Fame coach right now? If they win this year, without question he is. As we live in the "what have you done for me today" NFL with coaches that come and go and the obesession with coordinators is so annoying.. Cowher, in my opinion is a top 3 coach in the league and I am hoping for a Steeler win in the Super Bowl.
For the record, Dan Campbell is MY homeboy.
Since "obviously nothing" happened in sports last night, does that mean we get 3 hours of Bob's Bag-O-Bits & Big Mac yelling at Gribble today?
Interesting formula Bob (and people thought you were a sports geek).
I completely agree with Fake Sturm that some people have forgotten how F-ing insufferable Steeler fans used to be. Do NOT give them a chance to return to their a-hole ways. Trust me, root against them....always.
While the Cowboys are the better franchise, I'd argue that the 49ers had the better dyansty.
Due to the losing in the 80s, the Jerry Jones years are seperated from the Meredith/Staubach/Danny White years.
Both the Cowboys and 49ers had a great run of 18 years; the Cowboys from 66-83 and the 49ers from 81-98.
Some results that I pulled a while back:
49ers 81 - 98
16 playoff apperances
10 NFC Championship games
5 NFC titles
5 Superbowl titles
Cowboys 66 - 83
17 playoff apperances
12 NFC Championship games
5 NFC titles
2 Superbowls
Too bad the Cowboys ran into the Steelers of the 70s, or it would be a lot harder to make the call.
I think we all can agree though, that what really needs to happen is the leagues too best franchises need to get back to kicking the crap out of the rest of the league and the NFC championship game is the Superbowl every year.
FakeSturm,
I am just saying that for the teams that are left... I like Pittsburgh just because they are the most likable today! Never question my Cowboy loyalty!! I agree that the persona of the Steeler franchise is A-Hole. But for now, they deserve to go to the Super Bowl. that doesn't mean that my Cowboy stance changes..
As a die hard Cowboy fan, I totally agree with the results of Sports Sturm formula. I would also like to add that it is also very difficult to find a franchise that has had success whether it be a dynasty or a Super Bowl victory with different management regimes in place. The Cowboys have had it with Shramm/Landry & Jones/Johnson. The Niners have not had the success without Bill Walsh. The Redskins have not had succes without Joe Gibbs or the Dolphins without Don Shula. It remains to be seen whether the Pats will have success when Belichek coaching career ends or whether the Raiders will succeed without Al Davis.
FakeSturm,
Point taken. It sounds like the Old school Steeler teams had more of an impact on your life than mine (given my age). If I knew the older teams better, I may be right on board with you. I just qualify my sports opinions with my own perspectives on teams today, but you have a good point as well. Party on.
Call me a "Nay-sayer" but I can't believe all the hype Ovechkin is getting over that goal. I mean, I've looked at it a zillion times and it seems to me that he just kind-of blindly "flung" his stick to nudge it in the general direction of the goal. The path that the puck takes even heads due left and barely clears the post. A little more to the left and it's a routine miss on a busted play. Because it went in, Ovechkin's like the next Gretzky or something. Granted, he may be the next Great One but not based on this goal alone. Anyone with me on this? There's got to be a more spectacular goal somewhere.
check this out...another station trying to be sports radio 1310, the ticket.....
http://www.kkns.com/
kkns has hotter a ticketchick of the month even though they're in cartoon version. And Sturm's bald head is on the front page.
Come on Luis, lets hear what you got.
P1 Anon 10:49
If you're talking about Sidney Crosby getting a ton of east coast hype, you may want to look at Pittsburgh on a map. It should be easy to locate. Just look for the spot where the paper is all wet from Bill Cowher's mouth foam.
If you don't think that Pittsburgh is part of the East Coast sports scene then you are sadly mistaken.
I consider myself an expert on the east coast media bias, since all I have to do to be exposed to it is read the Post over somebody's shoulder on the D train. Pittsburgh teams are mentioned about as often here as their counterparts in Buffalo and Toronto.
When you're talking about the east coast media bias, there's Boston, NYC, Philly, Jersey, and D.C. If you want to get real inclusive, Baltimore. The bias also applies to UConn basketball and Yale/Harvard football.
I'm not even going to dignify it by posting a link (if you want to read his drivel, go to DMN's website), but Blackistone is at it yet again. How does he keep his job? He has one bit and one bit only, the race card. To call him a "journalist" is an insult to the profession. The guy is nothing but a freaking punch line these days with his predictable articles. I still crack up at his column last year about how big of a mistake Notre Dame was making when they fired Tyrone Willingham and hired Charlie Weiss, and that it was racially motivated. Hmm, how is that decision looking now a year later Kevin?
Exhibit Z why Dallas > Houston...tonight's game.
Hey, Phil, sure Ovechkin scored what looked like an ordinary goal to you; but how many others players in the league can keep control of the puck while sliding and rolling over?
No, no, no, no, no, no....No! (said in Norm-voice). I didn't say it was "ordinary." It's a great goal. BUT, I'm not sure I buy the line being spread: "This is the greatest goal any hockey player has ever scored."
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