The Greatest

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: