FSD Funny Fantasy Football Team Names

I'm not using any references for today's players with these names. This is about old-school and legendary players and figures in the NFL. I hope you enjoy.

Turkey Legs and Stram: Thanksgiving and Hank Stram
Lombardi Gras: Holiday, Lombardi-style
Begging For Grange: No need to collect coins.
Infectious Unitas: If you're an infected Unitas fan.
Beyond Reasonable Fouts: Famous line with Dan Fouts.
PropaBlanda: Promote George Blanda as your favorite all-time player.
Thorpe-Speed: Star Wars and Jim Thorpe.
Paytonic Cult: If you were a Walter Payton fan, it's better than an evil cult.
Emmitted Edition: If you like Emmitt, you better get this name while you can.
Carmichaeling Bin: Harold Carmichael recycled in fantasy football.

In case you missed it, here's a post I did about George Halas because he died on this day 25 years ago of pancreatic cancer:

Papa Bear George Halas

Okay, these are probably not the best names, but I wanted to do some old school ones anyway. Take care, and be sure to check the Blog Roll list of friends to the right of this page for more great reads out there!

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Papa Bear George Halas Documentary

It was 25 years ago that the NFL lost one it's founding fathers that helped shape the game to what it is today. He's also the face and founder of the Chicago Bears franchise, my favorite NFL team. So today on Halloween, this tribute documentary that I reposted from my Sporting News blog is for "Papa Bear" George Halas. His impact and legacy on the NFL will never be forgotten. Enjoy.



George Stanley Halas was born on February 2, 1895 in Chicago, Illinois. Halas was born into a family of Hungarian immigrants, and had played a variety of sports as a youngster. After he graduated at Crane Tech High School in Chicago, Halas would attend the Univeristy of Illinois.

He played football for Illinois' legendary coach Bob Zuppke as well as playing baseball and basketball for the university. He earned a civil engineering degree while he attended Illinois, and helped the football team win the Big Ten title in 1918. After leaving Illinois, Halas served in World War I, and played football for the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. The team won the Rose Bowl over Mare Island by the score of 17-0 in 1919. Halas won MVP honors for the game after he scored both of the team's touchdowns, and returned an interception 77 yards in the victory. The team was rewarded with military discharges.

In 1919, Halas took up minor league and semi-pro baseball. His skills eventually earned him a promotion to the New York Yankees team that year. Halas played in 12 games in the outfield in 1919, but his career was cut short because of a hip injury he suffered while playing. The Yankees purchased the contract of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox before the 1920 season. Contrary to popular legend, Halas wasn't replaced by Ruth. Ruth replaced Sammy Vick in the outfield. But the lives of both Halas and Ruth would change forever in 1920.

After his career was done with the Yankees, Halas was offered a position at a starch manufacturer in Decatur, IL to be their company representative. He was also a player for the company baseball team as well as player-coach for the Staley company football team that was run by A.E. Staley. Halas then selected the orange and blue colors that he wore at the University of Illinois to be the team's colors.

In 1920, Halas represented the team in a meeting for the American Professional Football Association that was starting up that year in Canton, Ohio. The team was approved to play in the new league as the Decatur Staleys which Halas adopted in honor of the owner. Halas was in control of team operations with Dutch Sternaman. The team went 5-1-2 in their first season while finishing second in the league. The team had a bad year financially, and Halas decided to move the team to Chicago. The franchise won their first pro football title in 1921 while finishing 9-1-1 on the campaign. Before the 1922 season, Halas decided to rename the team the Bears in large part because of the Chicago Cubs franchise, and them playing at their home ballpark of Wrigley Field.

Not only was Halas the coach of the Bears, he played on the offense and defense for the team. His biggest highlight as a player was in 1923 when he stripped Jim Thorpe of the ball, and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown. That was a league record that stood until 1972. Also, he handled ticket sales and the business end of the club in those days, too. The league struggled financially in general, but that would all change for Halas and the NFL in 1925.

It was on November 22, 1925 that forever changed the game of pro football. This was when Halas convinced Illinois star Harold "Red" Grange to sign with the Bears just one day after playing his last collegiate game. Halas signed him to a $100,000 deal that included his salary and ticket sales. Typically, players only made about $100 a game in those days. This was for a 19 game barn-storming tour for the Bears in 1925 that saw fans come out in record numbers to see Grange play. The nation preferred watching college football in those days because they did not like watching paid players play. Grange changed all that as well as Halas to come up with the idea to promote the league at different venues around the country.

In December 1925, the Bears played at the Polo Grounds which was home to the Giants. The crowd was announced to be over 65,000 fans which helped saved the Giants franchise from bankruptcy. That one single move by Halas to go after Grange was so critical in saving the financially struggling league from going under. Both guys deserve credit for this.

After coaching and playing for the team for ten seasons, Halas stepped down from both positions following the 1929 season to run the club. Halas became sole owner for the Bears in 1932 while the team won it's second league title by beating the Portsmouth Lions in the NFL's first unofficial championship game that year. Halas came back to coaching in 1933 to lead the Bears for the next ten seasons mainly due to the fact that he had to cut costs because of a bad season financially and the Great Depression. They won the league's original NFL Championship Game in 1933 after it was brought back due to the success the year before.

In the late 30s, Halas and University of Chicago head coach, Clark Shaughnessy, perfected the T-formation. The team just needed to find someone who could run it, and Halas found the right person by drafting Columbia University quarterback Sid Luckman in 1939. After losing on the final game of the regular season to the Redskins in 1940, Halas unleashed the new formation on those same Redskins a week later in the NFL title game.

The Bears won that game 73-0 which is the largest margin of victory in NFL history. The T-formation was alive and well, and teams around the league began to copy it. The Bears won their fourth title in 1941. It was around this time that the Bears were known as the Monsters of the Midway in football. After the 1942 season, Halas served for the Armed Forces in World War II until he returned to coach the Bears in 1946. The team did manage to win their fifth league title in 1943 on the strength of Bronko Nagurski, who came out of retirement to help the team.

In his first year back as head coach, the Bears won their sixth title in 1946. He would coach the team until the mid-50's while having future NFL legends Bobby Layne and George Blanda on the team at one time. They both moved onto other teams and eventually earned Hall of Fame honors elsewhere. Halas took a break from coaching in 1956-57 before returning to the team for a final decade in 1958. The Bears would win another league title in 1963 which ended up being the last one for Halas. It was also in 1963 that Halas became a charter member into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Bears fell on hard times on the field when he retired as coach after the 1967 season. He did draft Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers in first round of the 1965 NFL Draft in which both guys made their marks on the game. Halas would continue to run the team until his death on October 31, 1983 of pancreatic cancer. His body was entombed at St. Adalbert Catholic Cementary in Niles, Illinois. Bears icon Walter Payton started the George Halas/Walter Payton foundation in tribute to the man who did so much for the franchise. The foundation assists in helping neglected and abused children as well as assisting numerous charities to raise funds.

Halas did refuse to help integrate the league in his early days before signing the league's first African-American player by the name of George Taliaferro in 1933. Taliaferro never played for the Bears, but the team did have the first African-American quarterback to play in a game when Willie Thrower did so in 1953.

Halas was the first coach to have daily practice sessions, anaylze film on opponents, place assistant coaches in press boxes, and to have games broadcasted on radio. Besides helping to create the T-formation, Halas was the first NFL coach to motion guys before a play started. He also shared the team's substantial TV income with other teams in smaller cities because he believed that it was good for the league, and in turn would benefit his own franchise.

Halas was a strict disciplinarian who maintained complete control of team operations, and he absolutely did not tolerate disobedience or any form of misconduct from his players. He was also a firm believer in shaking hands with someone when finalizing a deal believing strictly in integrity as well.

My Take on Halas:

Halas was not a perfect man, but he impacted the game of pro football like no one else. I have to say that it took alot of guts to sign Red Grange to a hefty contract like that, but the impact of the move was most beneficial. The idea he had for the barn-storming tour was exactly what the NFL needed at the time. Halas was a pioneer in pro football that used alot of the tools that NFL players, coaches, and owners still use to this day. He is considered the founding Father of Football for a reason. The NFL is not what it is today without Halas' contributions to the game of pro football. Not only do I have the upmost respect for Halas for enduring the struggle of helping to get the league off the ground, but what he did for the Bears franchise as well. Besides being known as "Papa Bear", he was referred to as "Mr. Everything". All NFL fans should be thankful for what Halas did for the game of football. I know I am. The Chicago Bears historical franchise begins and ends with the name George Stanley Halas.

Facts and numbers about Halas:
-He spent 40 seasons as head coach with only six losing seasons in his tenure for the Bears. Here are the official years that Halas coached the Bears: 1920-29, 1933-42, 1946-55, 1958-67
-He spent 63 seasons as owner for the Bears which makes him the only man in NFL history to be associated with the league for at least the first 50 years of existence. He was honored with being associated with the league for 50 and 60 years in 1970 and 1980, respectively.
-Regular season coaching record: 318-148-31
-Playoff record as coach: 6-3
-Total overall record: 324-151-31
-Six league titles as coach, and eight titles as owner of the Bears. Five of those titles were from the NFL, while one of them was during the APFA days in 1921 which gives him a total of six as head coach. He was owner of the Bears during their NFL Title years of 1932 and 1943.
-He was voted NFL Coach of the Year on two occasions in 1963 and 1965.
-Charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. The Hall of Fame in Canton, OH is located on 2121 George Halas Drive.
-The NFC Championship trophy bears his name.
-ESPN recognized him as one of the ten most influential figures in sports in the 20th Century. ESPN also recognized him as one of the ten best coaches in the 20th Century. He was the only one on both of those Top 10 lists.
-In 1997, a commemorative stamp of Halas was made as one of the legends of pro football.
-Babe Ruth was born just four days after Halas in 1895. Halas was born on Febuary 2 while Ruth was born on February 6. As noted earlier, both paths and lives of each would forever change when one left the Yankees and the other joined them the following season.
-The left sleeves of the Bears jerseys have the initials GHS which is a tribute to Halas.
-His eldest daughter, Virginia McCaskey, remains involved in the front office for the Bears. Her son, Michael McCaskey, was in charge of running the team until 1998 when Virginia named Ted Phillips in charge of the Bears.
-Jack Warden portrayed Halas in the made for TV movie, Brian's Song, which was about the friendship between Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo. Warden won an emmy for his portrayal of Halas.
-The Bears training facility in Lake Forest, Illinois is called Halas Hall.

Quotes from and about Halas:

"Don't do anything in practice that you wouldn't do on the field." ~George Halas

"Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it." ~George Halas

"Nothing is work unless you would rather be doing something else." ~George Halas

"San Francisco has always been my favorite booing city. I don't mean the people boo louder or longer, but there is a very special intimacy. When they boo you, you know they mean you. Music, that's what it is to me. One time in Kezar Stadium they gave me a standing boo." ~George Halas

"There is only one man I embrace when we meet. And only one I call coach -- George Halas." ~Vince Lombardi

Photos courtesy of media.insiders.com and New York Times

This is post a tribute to the founder of the Chicago Bears franchise and the man who helped make the NFL what it is today. Thank you, George Stanley Halas.

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FSD History Flashback: October 30, 1974

On October 30, 1974, one of the most famous boxing matches took place in what was billed as the "Rumble in the Jungle". It was on this day that George Foreman defended the heavyweight championship of the world against Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire.

This boxing match was moved outside the United States because Don King lacked the funding which was to pay $5 million for both fighters. This was King's first venture as promoter, and he eventually worked out a deal with Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko to hold the fight in Zaire because he knew the high publicity it would bring to his country. Both fighters spent the summer training in Zaire so that they could get used to the tropical weather conditions.

It was during this time that Ali used his mind games to win over the Congolese people as his popularity became evident during this fight. Originally, the fight was scheduled for September, but was pushed back because of an injury and cut to Foreman. The fight was rescheduled for October 30.

Foreman became heavyweight champion when he knocked down Joe Frazier six times in two rounds to win the belt in 1973. Foreman, a gold medal winner at the 1968 Olympics, had then dominated Ken Norton in a title defense, too.

Ali, a 1960 Olympic gold medal winner, had lost to Frazier in their 1971 match which eventually gave Foreman a shot at the heavyweight title. Ali had also lost Norton, but he avenged the losses to him and Frazier which allowed him the chance to face Foreman. Foreman was dominant and had dismantled the two fighters that once beat Ali, so it appeared the champion would be able to retain his title without much trouble. But Ali had a gameplan.

In the opening round of the bout, Ali came out attacking the power-punching Foreman. This allowed Ali to get some solid punches in on Foreman, but it didn't do much to stun him. Foreman eventually cut off the ring to prevent Ali from escaping his punching power. This strategy would have tired Ali out, so he had to change his gameplan.

In the second round, Ali began using the famous rope-a-dope style. Ali hung onto the ropes while letting Foreman punch away at him. This strategy was odd considering Foreman's power had overwhelmed his previous opponents. But Ali had a granite chin, and had taunted Foreman to hit him. Ali occasionally threw straight punches to the face of Foreman, and he used other means to tire down the champion.

Foreman was consistently clinched with Ali in the ropes or in the middle of the ring which led him to carrying the challenger's weight along with his own. Ali had also told Foreman to punch harder and more often which he did do. However, the effects of this resulted in the champion tiring out in the middle rounds. Ali used his speed and covered up to absorb many of Foreman's punches.

Foreman's face had also been damaged with the rope-a-dope technique by the punches that Ali threw sparingly enough to throw off the champion. Ali staggered Foreman with a combination in the early part of the 4th round as the champion was showing more signs of fatigue.

By the 5th round, Foreman looked as if he won that round. But Ali hit him with some combinations that continue to stun Foreman. It became more and more apparent that Foreman was out of energy in the sweltering heat of Zaire.

Finally in the 8th round, Ali landed a combination that put Foreman down on the mat. It started when he nailed Foreman with a left hook which enabled Ali to hit him with a hard, straight right-hand to the face. Foreman staggered before falling unconscious on his back. Ali had knocked out Foreman in eight rounds to become heavyweight champion again.

Many historians have said that the strategy by Ali was the best gameplan any fighter has ever used in boxing history. The fact that Ali had a chin to absorb the punching power of Foreman was as big as him wearing down the champion was an advantage. Foreman tirelessly hit Ali was strong punches, but this fight above any proved just how much Ali could take.

Because of Ali winning the heavyweight title from Foreman, this led to a third and final match with Joe Frazier the following year in the famous "Thrilla in Manila" bout in the Phillippines.

Ali and Foreman became friends after this fight. In 1996, it was Foreman who helped an ailing Ali that had trouble walking to the stage when his group accepted an Oscar for the documentary When We Were Kings which was based on the fight in Zaire. Because Ali had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease years earlier, Foreman helped him up the steps to the stage in order to receive the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The documentary is widely acclaimed and received critical praise by most of the media.

This fight has consistently been shown on ESPN Classic, and is also considered by many to be one of the top sporting moments in history.

Photo courtesy of Antiquities of the Prize Ring

Thanks for viewing, and I hope you enjoyed today's FSD History Flashback!

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What If? Don Hutson's 1942 Season

Welcome to another entry of the What If? Fantasy Football edition. This is where I look back at a season long before fantasy football became prominent among us in our society as I figure how the fantasy numbers would look if the fantasy game existed then. Today, we look back at the 1942 season for Hall of Fame Green Bay Packers star Don Hutson. I'm using the default scoring systems for Sporting News and Yahoo! to calculate the point totals.

Here's the point scale for SN(default configuration):
60 points for every touchdown
2 points for every rushing, receiving, and punt return yard gained
1 point for every kickoff return yard gained
2 points for every reception
1 point for every passing yard
-10 points for every kickoff return attempt
-45 points for lost fumble and interception
-2 points for incomplete pass

Here's the point scale for Yahoo!(default configuration):
6 points for every rushing, receiving, and return touchdown
4 points for passing touchdown
1 point for every 10 rushing and receiving yards
1 point for every 25 passing yards
2 points for every two-point conversion
-1 point for every interception
-2 points for every fumble
No points are given for receptions or return yardage in the default configuration.

Here are the stats for Don Hutson in 1942 and fantasy points for the SN games:
Passing yards: NA = NA
Passing touchdowns: NA = NA
Incomplete passes: NA = NA
Interceptions: NA = NA
Rushing yards: 4 = 8 points
Rushing touchdowns: 0 = 0 points
Receptions: 74 = 148 points
Receiving yards: 1,211 = 2,422 points
Receiving touchdowns: 17 = 1,020 points
Fumbles Lost: 0 = 0 points
Total points: 3,598 points
Total points per game: 327.09
Note: Teams only played 11 games in 1942.

Here are the stats for Don Huston in 1942 and fantasy points for the Yahoo! game:
Passing yards: NA = NA
Passing touchdowns: NA = NA
Interceptions: NA = NA
Rushing yards: 4 = 0 points
Rushing touchdowns: 0 = 0 points
Receiving yards: 1,211 = 121 points
Receiving touchdowns: 17 = 102 points
Fumbles Lost: 0 = 0 points
Total points: 223 points
Total points per game: 20.27
Note: Teams only played 11 games in 1942.

Statistical source: Pro Football Reference

Don Hutson may have very well been the most versatile, all-around player in the history of the NFL. He was a standout on both sides of the ball which includes 30 interceptions as a defensive back for the Packers. He had seven interceptions in 1942 which would have made him a great option for IDP(Individual Defensive Player) leagues. He was 33 of 34 in extra point attempts as well as one of 4 in field goal tries which further showed his versatility.

The highlight for him in 1942 included a game against Chicago Cardinals at home on November 1 in which he had five receptions, 207 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns. All three of his touchdowns were 40 yards or longer in that game. He also kicked six extra points in that game as Green Bay won 55-24. Then he had three touchdowns in the following game against the Cleveland Rams. He had one touchdown in nine of the 11 games on the season. He led the league in extra points in 1942, and this was one of the best all-around seasons of any one player in the game's history. It's for that reason that Hutson would have been the No. 1 receiver in fantasy football for the 1942 season. And in leagues that counted defensive and special teams for everyone, his value would have possibly made him the top choice in fantasy drafts, too. Here's the week by week stats for his 1942 season(Note: Some game stats are not available, but touchdown scores are confirmed with the correct games):

Week 1 vs Chicago Bears(Lost 44-28): eight receptions, 147 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns
Week 2 at Chicago Cardinals(Won 17-13): one receiving touchdown
Week 3 vs Detroit Lions(Won 38-7): five receptions, 149 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns
Week 4 vs Cleveland Rams(Won 45-28): 13 receptions, 209 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns
Week 5 at Detroit Lions(Won 28-7): NA(No touchdowns were scored, and no stats are available)
Week 6 vs Chicago Cardinals(Won 55-24): five receptions, 207 receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns
Week 7 at Cleveland Rams(Won 30-12): three receiving touchdowns
Week 8 at Chicago Bears(Lost 38-7): 10 receptions, 117 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown
Week 9 at New York Giants(Tied 21-21): 14 receptions, 134 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns
Week 10 at Philadelphia Eagles(Won 7-0): one receiving touchdown
Week 11 vs Pittsburgh Steelers(Won 24-21): Receiving stats are not available, but he made his only field goal on the season in this game.

The Packers went 8-2-1 on the season which was second best behind the Chicago Bears who went undefeated. This was Hutson's only season with 1,000 all purpose yards, but he's still one of the greatest players ever as evidenced with him being an inaugural member of the first Hall of Fame class in 1963. He scored a total of 104 touchdowns with all but one coming on offense(99 receiving, 3 rushing, 1 passing, 1 INT Return). He went 7-for-17 in field goal attempts as well 172-for-183 in extra point tries, too. His 11-year career included being an 8-time All-Pro. He also helped the Packers win three NFL Titles in 1936, 1939, and in 1944.

If anyone wants to suggest a past player, then you can do so in the comments section. The only thing I ask is that the player and year be before 1990 because fantasy football wasn't as prominent then.

Photo courtest of the Associated Press thru New York Times which shows him in a game against Cardinals in 1945.

Past What If? posts:
Walter Payton's 1977 season
Gale Sayers' 1965 season
Eric Dickerson's 1983 season
Jim Brown's 1963 season
Dan Marino's 1984 season
Jerry Rice's 1987 season
O.J. Simpson's 1975 season
Johnny Unitas' 1959 season
Sid Luckman's 1943 season
Sammy Baugh's 1947 season
Beattie Feathers' 1934 season
Charley Hennigan's 1961 season
Timmy Brown's 1963 season
Rolland Lawrence's 1977 season
Dan Fouts' 1981 season

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FSD History Flashback: October 29, 1929

On October 29, 1929, the infamous "Black Tuesday" was the third day phase in the Wall Street Crash. It's one of the most notable days in history, and the collapse lasted for over a month. Widespread panic was more evident on "Black Tuesday" which began a string of long-lasting effects on industrialized economies around the world. The Great Depression had then put nations into further economic decline as well as instability into job markets and financial institutions. The "Roaring 20s" were seen as a time of rise in the U.S. economy in particular as well as prosperity, too. Warning signs of the Wall Street Crash as well as the Great Depression were evident when an increased amount of selling and high volume trading had taken place to offset rising prices from the period of economic boom in the 1920s. Those two events will always be synonymous with one another. And the effects of the Wall Street Crash as well as the Great Depression had a very serious impact in the sporting world, too.

After the Wall Street Crash, Babe Ruth had negotiated his own deal which was for $80,000. When asked how he was making about $5,000 more than then-U.S. President Herbert Hoover, Rush famously said, "Why not? I had a better year than he did." However, his salary was cut by more than half in 1932. It is true that he was declining with his on-field performance at the time, but he was still a productive player that helped the Yankees win the 1932 World Series over the Chicago Cubs. The Yankees were able to bring in manager Joe McCarthy to help them back to a World Series. Lou Gehrig was still with the team until 1939, and it was a young Joe DiMaggio that came aboard to power the Yankees to four consecutive World Series by the end of the decade. DiMaggio signed a contract worth $100,000 in 1949 - a full decade after the Great Depression had ended. Some other successful clubs weren't so fortunate.

Despite the fact that the Philadelphia Athletics won back-to-back World Series in 1929-30, legendary manager Connie Mack was forced to sell off his best players because of the larger salaries to pay as well as a dramatic drop in attendance at the gates. The Athletics fell off because Mack didn't have other income outside the organization to use in order to sign star players. Furthermore, the Athletics didn't have enough money to invest in a minor league farm system either. The team finished last or next to last in every season from 1935-46 after the Great Depression had financially hurt the franchise.

In 1927, the famous heavyweight title match in boxing took place between champion Gene Tunney and challenger Jack Dempsey. Tunney retained the title, and both pocketed an unprecedented million dollars for this fight which was unheard of at the time. But by the time the 1930s came around, boxing had plummeted along with the struggling economy. Boxers were offered far less money for fights, and this caused many to decline matches as a result. To complicate things even more, Tunney retired as champion in 1928, and the title would be vacated for nearly three years.

Fortunately, one such man came along in the late 1930s that gave boxing a star: Joe Louis. His rivalry with German fighter Max Schmeling helped to reignite the sport with attendance because of Schmeling's association with Nazism. Louis became a hero after beating Schmeling in a rematch in 1938, and had rebuffed any claims of Nazi superiority. Because of the world-wide press this rivalry between the two received(despite Schmeling not actually backing the Nazi regime), boxing began a steady climb back financially.

The Olympic Games were seriously effected by the economy as well. In the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, only 1,332 athletes competed in those games compared to over 2,800 in the 1928 Games in Amsterdam. This was after no other city put in a bid to host the Olympics. Brazil, in particular, had traveled to Los Angeles by cargo ship while also selling coffee on board along the way. A total of 69 athletes from the country left on the ship, but they only off-loaded enough coffee to fund 24 of them for the Summer Games.

One such Olympian by the name of Jesse Owens captured the attention of everyone when he won gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany. Even though it was on German grounds and they believed in superiority over his African-American race, Owens proved them to be wrong on all accounts. Because of his achievements, Owens had helped bring back much needed notoriety to the Olympic Games. Over 3,900 athletes made the trip to Berlin, Germany for the 1936 Games.

The National Football League had gained much needed notoriety in 1925 when Harold "Red" Grange was signed in which he was part of the Chicago Bears barn-storming tour. By the time the Wall Street Crash happened followed by the Great Depression, the NFL was still losing franchises for financial reasons.

One such case was the Portsmouth Spartans. The Spartans came into the league in 1929, and immediately made an impact. They played in the unscheduled 1932 NFL Title Game in a loss to the Bears in Chicago which was a huge financial success. The following season, two divisions were established to have the first NFL Title game for the winners of each division. But as good as the Spartans were on the field, they drew very poor crowds and the Great Depression nearly shut the franchise down. Finally in 1934, a Detroit radio executive by the name of George Richards bought the franchise and immediately relocated them to his city. It was then that they became the Detroit Lions as a team that exists today.

The NFL had ten teams in the league in 1933, and eight of them are still around today. The NFL Title Game was a big success, and it continued to help build the league. But another move, which wasn't as significant at the time, helped to elevate the league, too: The NFL Draft. The first one took place in 1936, and has become the biggest off-season spectacular in sports today.

College football was more popular than the NFL at that time, but they were far from exempt in feeling the effects of the Great Depression. Harvard University's athletic program lost over half it's revenue from 1929 when they brought in over $700,000 to 1934 when they didn't even make $300,000. Ohio State also went from about $430,000 in 1929 to $130,000 in 1932. Many other schools had also dropped other sports because of not being able to afford the costs of them.

One blessing is that many of the major stadiums in college football were built in the Roaring 20s. Memorial Stadium in Minnesota was built in 1924, and had a capacity at the time of 52,000. By the 1930s, the Golden Gophers, led by coach Bernie Bierman, had a dynasty run which resulted in five national titles in 8 seasons between 1934-1941. Eventually, the school played their home games at the Metrodome, and will play their last game there this year before moving into a brand new facility.

Arch-rivals Michigan and Ohio State both opened up new facilities in the 1920s as well. Ohio State had struggled as a program with financing as a result of the state being crippled by the Great Depression in the early 1930s, and Michigan helped revolutionize sports as we know it. Michigan Stadium was the first to use electronic scoreboards, and this concept was duplicated at other venues.

Notre Dame Stadium opened in 1930 which was also helped by their success on the football field in the 1920s when drawing big crowds. One such game in 1935 involving Notre Dame and Ohio State turned the fortunes around that also helped college football.

In 1935, both Notre Dame and Ohio State faced off for the first time ever in Columbus, OH. Ohio State drew a record 81,000 fans to see this contest as Notre Dame eventually prevailed 18-13. This game was called the Game of the Century, and helped one financially struggling program to get back on track. Notre Dame's popularity and dislike by Ohio State fans had also been huge for college football in general.

One of the most notable and influential stadiums built in the 1920s took place in Southern California with the new Los Angeles Coliseum that opened in 1923. Many professional teams shared that stadium with the USC Trojans football team, and UCLA did as well until the early 1980s. It was also the site of the aforementioned 1932 Summer Olympics even though the number of participating nations and athletes had dwindled from the 1928 Games with no other cities willing to host the event. The venue would become the first in the world to host two Olympic events having done so again in 1984. But without the Los Angeles Coliseum, many historians have said that the Olympics may not be what it is today if Los Angeles hadn't hosted the event. No other industrialized nations or cities could fund an event, and Los Angeles had served as a bridge to keep the tradition alive as it would eventually rebound.

In Oklahoma, over a million residents left the state as a result of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl era. Many farmers had their properties foreclosed on, and some did relocate to cities within the state. The Oklahoma Sooners football team was hurt with recruiting and morale as that state was effected from the Great Depression as much as anyone. Many of those young men later emerged on the Sooners teams after being part of the economic collapse as children. After World War II, one man was looked upon for the Sooners to help bring much needed morale to the program as well as the state: Bud Wilkinson. Wilkinson built one of the most powerful dynasties in sports history in the 1950s that included three national titles and a record 47-game win streak. Wilkinson's success along with the Sooners determination and sheer will had helped a state in need of something positive.

College football was a big deal with the new stadiums being built as well as coaches making considerably more money than teachers. Many teachers at universities didn't earn $5,000 a year at the time with some coaches earning at least four times that. History has repeated itself in today's programs, too.

In the 1920s, sports icons like Babe Ruth, Red Grange, the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, Jack Dempsey, and Bobby Jones captured the hearts of Americans everywhere. The Great Depression brought an end to one era of sports, and spawned another. New heroes like Joe DiMaggio, Joe Louis, and Jesse Owens emerged during the Great Depression as they became recognizable names that will forever be remembered by the impact they left in their professions. Important locations like Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago emerged as cities that held sporting events that forever saved their sports or bridged a gap to the next generation. Expansion of new facilities in the Roaring 20s had become vital to many college universities, and some even used those same places as a drawing bin to help with trying times.

The Wall Street Crash and Great Depression forever changed the world's way of thinking. From over a quarter of the American population(about 13 million) that lost their jobs as a result of economic collapse, it showed that a decade of prosperity can soon change and bring a world to it's knees. Through it all, sports have played a big role in helping to cope with trying times in our nation and all of the world. Larger than life sports icons in the 1920s eventually gave way to a new breed that was so important to the growth in those sports. Industrialized cities as well as successful universities played a vital role, too.

So while we're in difficult times with the current state of our economy, let us not forget those before us who survived our most difficult period in history. It is this time we can look upon, and learn that history has a way of repeating itself. And it will again and again.

So thank you to all those athletes, universities, and cities as well as those not mentioned because of the unimaginable sacrifices that you made. Thank you to everyone else as well as those that are still around that survived the most difficult time in our nation's history. Life and sports will go on, but never forget anyone that came before us. Thank you.

For anyone that wants to add a story about your team, school, or athlete not mentioned here in relation to the Wall Street Crash or Great Depression, you're strongly encouraged to do so by replying with a comment. Or if you have something else related to those trying times, you can talk about that as well.

Sources: Reuters, USAToday, Wikipedia

Photo courtesy of Black Tuesday Info.

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The Lost Rivalry: Oklahoma Sooners vs Nebraska Cornhuskers

Back when I was a kid in the 1980s, living in Midwest City, OK(north of Norman and suberb of Oklahoma City), this was the game everyone talked about in the neighborhood I lived in. I think Huskers fans would agree that they probably did the same thing in Nebraska back in the 70s and 80s. I know this from talking to people who lived in Oklahoma, before or since then, that people used to dream and live for college football and the rivalry game between Oklahoma and Nebraska. Yes, Texas has always been a rival of the Sooners. But being they were in a different conference at the time, that rivalry to me, took a backseat to OU's rivalry with Nebraska at that time.

Back in the 70s and 80s, this was for my money, the best rivalry in college football. Every time they played it was for the old, unofficial Big Eight Title. Whoever won would go on to win the conference and also contend for the National Championship. No other conference back then could say that one game every year between two teams would decide the conference champion. That is the truth.

The most memorable game between the two schools took place on November 25, 1971 in the Game of the Century. The Cornhuskers won that game 35-31 in route to winning the national championship.

From 1973 to 1988 when Switzer faced Osborne, the team who won that game took home the Big Eight Conference Title. Yes, it was a good rivalry before both Switzer and Osborne debuted as coaches in 1973, but it peaked when they went head to head. It only took Switzer two seasons to win a National Title in 1974(shared with USC). He would go on to win two more in 1975 and 1985. It took Osborne longer than Switzer, but he built some great teams then, too. Then in the 90s, he had the best Husker teams. They won titles in '94-95 and in 1997(shared with Michigan). Both of these legendary coaches took this rivalry to even greater heights that was never seen before between the two schools.

The expansion from the Big Eight to the Big 12 is obviously a big part of the reason for it being a lost rivalry. But part of it is both teams went through some very rough goings at different times, too. Oklahoma went into hibernation in the early 90s and Nebraska has not been the same since Osborne left. At least for Sooners fans, the Big 12 did help reignite the Sooners-Longhorns rivalry. The Red River Shootout is one of the greatest college football rivalries in the game today and in all of sports. Yes, at least in the last several seasons, the winner of the RRS, went on to play for the conference title against the North winner. But the games have also been to one-sided in recent years, too. The Oklahoma-Nebraska games were almost always close and that game DID decide who won the old Big Eight Title. There was no conference championship game, and the winner almost always contended for the national title.

Both Oklahoma and Nebraska have combined for 12 National Championships(Oklahoma has 7, Nebraska 5). I like the new Big 12 and all, but I will admit, I wish they played each other every year. Nebraska will bounce back eventually with Osborne back in the program. Every great college team goes through times like these. Even when both schools are good, it won't be the same as before.

As a Sooner fan, the biggest memory for me in this great rivalry was 1987(when I was 13 years old) when the Sooners traveled to Nebraska. I remember when everyone questioned Oklahoma's schedule prior to their meeting in Nebraska by saying they played too many cupcakes. The Sooners defense held Nebraska to only seven points and some nifty running by Sooners QB Charles Thompson led the Sooners to a 17-7 victory in Lincoln. The Sooners would go on to play in the Orange Bowl for the National Title in a 20-14 loss to the Miami Hurricanes. The game that year against the Huskers was the last hurrah for the Sooners for awhile.

I had moved to North Carolina in the summer of 1988, and it wasn't much longer after that the Sooners were slapped with probation with the program getting out of control at the time. This caused Barry Switzer to step down as coach, and ultimately, the Sooners as a football program for quite sometime. It wasn't until Bob Stoops came along and brought the Sooners back to prominence when he took over in 1999. It was very sad for me personally at the time to see that happen to the Sooners and their fans after moving as a teenager as well as signifying the end of one of the greatest college football rivalries. But no one knew it at the time.

I still liked the 2000 game between the two schools because the Sooners had won against the No. 1 team in the country while on their journey back to national prominence in college football.

This is for Sooners and Nebraska fans, or college football fans: What was your greatest memory(s) in this great rivalry? And what does everyone think of this once great rivalry that is now lost? Sooners and Huskers fans can reply here. Here's some facts about the rivalry between the two schools:

-Oklahoma leads series 43-37-3.
-First Meeting: November 23, 1912. Nebraska won 13-9.
-First Meeting in conference: October 29, 1921. Nebraska won 44-0.
-Last Meeting: December 2, 2006. Oklahoma won 21-7 in Big 12 Championship.
-Largest margin of victory: Oklahoma won by 48 points three times: 48-0 in 1949, 55-7 in 1954, and 54-6 in 1956. Nebraska won by 62 points in a 69-7 win on November 1, 1997.
-Longest win streaks: Oklahoma won 16 games in row(1943-1958). Nebraska won 7 games in a row(1991-97).
-Nebraska went 16-3-3 in their first 22 games of this series. Oklahoma is 40-21 in the series since 1943.
-Oklahoma won the only bowl meeting between the two teams on January 1, 1979 with a 31-24 win in the Orange Bowl.
-Barry Switzer went 12-5 against Tom Osborne. Eleven of the 17 meetings between the two were decided by 10 points or less.
-Tom Osborne went 13-13 lifetime against Oklahoma.
-Bud Wilkinson went 14-3 lifetime against Nebraska.
-Oklahoma is 4-3 against Nebraska in Big 12 play.
-Nebraska is the only team in the series to have scored more than 60 points in game having done so in 1996(73-21) and 1997(69-7).
-Nebraska shutout Oklahoma 10 times in the series - most recently in 1995 in a 37-0 win. Oklahoma has shutout Nebraska nine times with the most recent being in 1973 in a 27-0 win. Both teams battled to a 0-0 tie in 1937.
-38 games have been played at Oklahoma. Oklahoma is 22-16 at home against Nebraska.
-41 games have been played at Nebraska. Nebraska is 21-18-2 at home against Oklahoma.
-Oklahoma is 3-0-1 at neutral locations in this series.
-Both teams combine for 12 National Titles: Oklahoma with seven in 1950, 1955-56, 1974-75, 1985, 2000. Nebraska with five in 1970-71, 1994-95, 1997.

Okay, now my pick for their game on Saturday......

Offenses will rule in this game like it has all year long in Big 12 play. Sam Bradford will continue to shine in this game, and Joe Ganz has played well for the Huskers this year. Nebraska can become bowl eligible with a win, and stay in the race for the North Division title. Nebraska gave up big plays in the first half last week against Baylor, but rebounded to win against them. Oklahoma got out to a hot start offensively against Kansas State last week and scored 55 points in the first half. The Huskers have a kickoff return and punt return touchdown on the season which is an area Oklahoma has struggled in this year. Nebraska has to figure out a way to slow down the Sooners, and score on special teams and defense to have any chance in this game. I don't see Nebraska slowing the Sooners down, and getting in a shootout isn't the thing to do against Oklahoma. I think Nebraska will score points, but it won't be enough to win in Norman on Saturday.

Predicted score: Oklahoma 52, Nebraska 27

Photo courtesy of www.thefind.com which shows the DVD of the rivalry between the two teams.

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FSD History Flashback: October 27

On October 27, 2002, the rushing record of Walter Payton had been passed by Emmitt Smith. It was on this day that the Dallas Cowboys hosted the Seattle Seahawks with Emmitt needing 93 rushing yards to pass Payton's record of 16,726.

Going into the contest, Emmitt hadn't rushed for 93 yards all season long in a single game. Much of that had to do with the Cowboys having to constantly switch offensive lineman around to benefit the offense. Also, quarterback Chad Hutchinson was starting his first game under center for the Cowboys. The good news was that the Seahawks had the worst rush defense in the league going into this game, and had allowed Marshall Faulk of the Rams to rush for 173 yards the week before. Seattle's defensive lineman Chad Eaton was determined for his team not to allow Smith to get the rushing record.

The Seahawks jumped out to the lead in the second quarter when Shaun Alexander scored on a 2-yard run. Seattle led 7-0 at halftime.

The Cowboys came back to tie the game on a 39-yard pass from Hutchinson to Joey Galloway. Seattle answered in the last quarter when Alexander had a 5-yard touchdown run as the Seahawks led 14-7. Dallas would need a drive to tie the game, and Emmitt was closing in on Payton's record.

During that drive, the Cowboys called the "15 Lead" play as Emmitt was looking for the record run. Emmitt ran for 11 yards on that play to pass Payton as the all-time leader in rushing yards. The game was stopped for an on-field celebration as he jumped into the arms of offensive linemen. Former teammate Darryl "Moose" Johnston was an analyst at the game, and Emmitt thanked him later in a press conference along with other players, coaches, and personnel. Chad Eaton, who said Emmitt wasn't going to break the record that day, also congratulated him.

The record was passed almost three years to the day that Walter Payton died of a rare liver disease on November 1, 1999.

"I feel empty. There's no other way to describe it. This is a great loss. Walter Payton was an inspiration to me, by the way he carried himself," said Smith after Payton's death.

When play resumed, Emmitt scored on a 1-yard touchdown, his 150th of his career at the time, to tie the game 14-14 with under six minutes to play.

Seattle marched down the field on their next possession, and Rian Kindell kicked a 20-yard field goal to put the Seahawks in the lead for good. Seattle won the game 17-14.

But this day belonged to Emmitt passing Payton in front of the home crowd in Dallas. The Cowboys were 3-5 at that point, and would only win two more games the rest of the year to finish 5-11. Emmitt finished the year with 975 rushing yards which marked the first time since his rookie year that he didn't have at least 1,000 in a season. Dallas released him after the season, and he finished his playing career in Arizona before retiring after the 2004 season. Emmitt Smith has 18,355 career rushing yards, and is also the all-time leader with 164 rushing touchdowns.

These days, Emmitt is part of the ESPN's NFL Pregame show, and is also part of the Monday Night Countdown crew.

Photo courtesy of profootballhof.com which shows Emmitt Smith's record-breaking run.

Also, there was another great moment in sports history on this day on October 27, 2004. This was the day that the Boston Red Sox had "Reversed the Curse" to win the clinching game over the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. For today(and because of it being adequately described), I'm going to direct you to the post about the Red Sox' 2004 season that ended in World Series triumph. Checkout tcp's(The Couch Potato) post:

Greatest Moment in Red Sox history

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FSD History Flashback: October 26, 1984

On October 26, 1984, one of the greatest athletes in the history of sports had made his professional debut. It was on this day that the Chicago Bulls hosted the Washington Bullets in the NBA. Michael Jordan, the Bulls first round pick, makes his debut on this day in front of the home crowd.

Jordan scored 16 points in his debut as the Bulls beat Washington 109-93. He also had six rebounds and seven assists in helping the Bulls win in his debut game. This was only the beginning for his dominance in the NBA.

The Bulls got out to a 7-2 start in 1984-85, and it was in his ninth game that he scored 40 points or more in a game for the first time when he had 45 against San Antonio. He would go on to score 40 or more in a game seven times on the season. His game-high on the season was 49 points on February 12 against the Detroit Pistons in a 139-126 victory.

Jordan also had three triple-doubles, and perhaps his best all-around game during his rookie year was against the Denver Nuggets at home when he had 35 points, 14 rebounds, and 15 assists in a 122-113 win. The Bulls did slump after a hot start which included only winning two games in the entire month of February.

Jordan finished the season averaging 28.2 points p/g, 6.5 rebounds p/g, and 5.9 assists p/g. His performance earned him Rookie of the Year for the season as well as first NBA All-Rookie Team honors. He also made the All-Star team when he had seven points, six rebounds, and two assists in 22 minutes of play.

Chicago made the playoffs with a 38-44 record, but were knocked out by the Milwaukee Bucks in four games. Jordan averaged 29.3 points p/g in those four games with a game-high 35 in the Bulls Game 3 win.

Jordan would eventually help Chicago to become one of the most dominant dynasties in the history of sports in the 1990s. The Bulls would win six NBA Titles in eight years with a pair of three-peats in between Jordan's first retirement from the game. Also Jordan is widely considered by many to be the best player in NBA history. He was very well-known for his contract with Nike throughout his career which brought the "Air Jordan" era to the forefront.

On this same day, John Stockton made his debut for the Utah Jazz in a 102-94 loss at Seattle. Charles Barkley also debuted for the Philadelphia Sixers in a 111-101 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The very next day, No. 1 overall pick Hakeem Olajuwon debuted for the Houston Rockets in 122-111 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Because of these four players, many consider the 1984 NBA Draft the best ever. All of these Hall of Fame bound players made the 50 Greatest NBA Players of All-Time list with Jordan being named No. 1 overall.

The No. 3 overall pick in the NBA Draft had begun his rise to being the most recognized and one of the most influential athletes in sports history on this day. The Jordan era forever changed the NBA as well as the city of Chicago and the Bulls franchise. Many publications named him the No. 1 athlete of the 20th Century which includes ESPN's SportsCentury panel of experts.

Here is today's other FSD History Flashback: October 26, 1985 Game 6 of the World Series

Photo courtesy of SI magazine which shows Jordan on the December 10, 1984 cover date.

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FSD History Flashback: October 26, 1985

On October 26, 1985, one of the most controversial moments in sports history took place. It was on this day that Game 6 of what was called the "Show Me State" or "I-70" World Series between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals took place at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Danny Cox was the starting pitcher for the Cardinals facing left-hander Charlie Liebrandt for the Royals.

Both pitchers pitched well with no one scoring until the 8th inning. In fact, Liebrandt had a no-hitter thru five innings until it was broken up with a single by Cesar Cedeno leading off the top of the 6th inning for St. Louis. Cox had allowed seven hits and no runs in seven innings of work for the Cardinals.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, second baseman Frank White got a one-out single. White then attempted to steal second base, and was called out when replays showed he was clearly safe. Rightfielder Pat Sheridan then singled which possibly costed the Royals a run after Cox pitched his way out of the inning.

In the 8th inning, third baseman Terry Pendleton got a one-out single for St. Louis followed by a walk to Cedeno. After Darrell Porter struckout, Brian Harper came onto pinch-hit for Cox, and delivered a RBI single that brought Pendleton home to score. Closer Dan Quisenberry came on for Liebrandt to close out the 8th inning.

Still trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Royals had to face rookie reliever Todd Worrell. Jorge Orta was the first batter he faced, and he hit a ground ball to first baseman Steve Balboni. Balboni flipped the ball to Worrell covering the bag, and first base umpire Don Denkinger ruled Orta was safe. Replays clearly showed that Worrell had covered the first base bag safely. The series of events that followed would send the Cardinals to an ultimate collapse.

With Orta on first, Balboni came to the plate. During the at-bat, Balboni hit a routine foul pop-up near the first base dugout that catcher Darrell Porter had seemingly called for. Porter then claimed he didn't have it, and the ball had fallen harmlessly in foul territory with first baseman Jack Clark not making the play either to keep the at-bat alive for Balboni. Balboni took advantage of the miscue, and singled to leftfield moving Orta to second. Catcher Jim Sundberg was the next batter, and he bunted to try and advance the runners on base. Instead, Worrell fielded the bunt perfectly, and threw out Orta at third base as pinch-runner Onix Concepcion moved to third and Sundberg was on first.

However, Porter allowed a passed ball that went to the backstop which allowed Concepcion to third base and Sundberg to second base. Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog then had no choice but to walk pinch-hitter Hal McRae in order to hopefully intice the Royals to hit into a double-play. Dane Iorg came to the plate to face Worrell next.

Iorg blooped a single into rightfield which scored Concepcion and Sundberg on the hit. Rightfielder Andy Van Slyke made a great throw trying to get out Sundberg, but Porter made an attempt to tag him which allowed Sundberg to score safely. The Royals won the game 2-1, and had tied the series 3-3.

The Cardinals were absolutely livid about the call Denkinger made on Orta at first base to start that inning in which they blamed him solely for the team's loss. Denkinger was the home plate umpire the following night for the series finale. To say the Cardinals self-destructed in the final game is an understatement.

The Royals dominated the Cardinals in Game 7 by winning 11-0 on the heels of World Series MVP Bret Saberhagen's pitching performance. The Cardinals completely collapsed as a team in the 5th inning when the Royals scored six times in that frame. In that inning, pitcher Joaquin Andujar was ejected after challeging Denkinger when he attempted to charge after him because of a not liking some of the calls made. Herzog was also ejected, and he told Denkinger that they wouldn't be here playing Game 7 had he made the right call at first base in Game 6. Andujar ended up serving a 10-game suspension to start the 1986 season because of his conduct in Game 7 which included him destroying property in the clubhouse. The Cardinals lost complete composure in the series, and the Royals erased a 3-1 deficit to capture their first title in franchise history.

There are no disagreements about Denkinger's call being wrong, but he's not entirely to blame for the loss considering the Cardinals could have still won Game 7. First, let's not forget the call that went against the Royals when White was called out trying to steal second base before Sheridan hit a single afterwards which put Kansas City in a hole. Also, there were other key plays by Porter that weren't made in the final inning that could have changed the outcome. Furthermore, the Cardinals only scored 13 runs in the entire series with lead-off man and Rookie of the Year speedster Vince Coleman not playing because of a pre-series injury he suffered. The Cardinals' 13 runs scored is the lowest in any World Series lasting seven games. They would have still been outscored 15-13 had they won this game by a 1-0 score.

Denkinger was the target of hate mail and death threats for the call he made in Game 6. This continued for at least two years until MLB Security was in touch with the FBI over the matter. Two Cardinals fans in particular revealed his home address and phone number. Denkinger was crew chief for the 1991 World Series, and retired in 1998 after 30 seasons as an American League umpire.

The Cardinals would return to the World Series in 1987 when they lost to the Minnesota Twins in seven games in which the home team won every game for the first time ever. They wouldn't return to the World Series again until 2004 while losing to Boston. In 2006, they beat the Detroit Tigers in five games to secure their first pennant since 1982.

The Kansas City Royals have not been back to the playoffs since they won the 1985 World Series. In fact, their troubles as a franchise are also due to being in a small market with attendance that has dwindled for the last several years. They've been one of the most unsuccessful teams the last several years, and the future of the franchise is unclear.

This is part 1 of 2 for today's FSD History Flashback. The other will be coming later today.

Photo shows the bad call at first base made by Denkinger.

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Week Nine Fantasy College Football Top Performers

Okay, here's the top performers for the 9th week in college football. This is according to the Sporting News fantasy college football game on their site. Also, no points are awarded when playing D-1AA opponents, so those teams will not be listed here. Note: Only those with a 1,000 points or more are listed.

Team offenses: Texas Tech put up 63 points, 556 total yards, and had one turnover for 1,166 points against Kansas. Oklahoma put up 58 points, 528 total yards, and had one turnover for 1,088 points against Kansas State. Florida put up 63 points, 446 total yards, and had one turnover for 1,056 points against Kentucky. Missouri put 58 points, 491 total yards, and one turnover for 1,051 points against Colorado. Oregon put up 54 points, 537 total yards, and had three turnovers for 1,017 points against Arizona State. Kent State put up 54 points, 468 total yards, and had zero turnovers for 1,008 points against Miami(OH).

Team defenses: No defenses scored 1,000 points this week. The top two scoring defenses for this week were Missouri with 981 points against Colorado and Army with 973 points against Louisiana Tech.

Here are some of the top individual leaders thru Saturday:
QB Grahama Harrell, Texas Tech vs Kansas: 34-for-42, 386 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, 28 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown
QB Mike Teel, Rutgers vs Pittsburgh: 14-for-21, 361 passing yards, six passing touchdowns, -21 rushing yards
QB Chase Daniel, Missouri vs Colorado: 31-for-37, 302 passing yards, five touchdowns
QB Andy Dalton, TCU vs Wyoming: 16-for-22, 334 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, 21 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown
QB Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M vs Iowa State: 31-for-39, 381 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, 16 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown
QB Ricky Dobbs, Navy vs SMU: 224 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns
RB DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma vs Kansas State: 104 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, four receptions, 63 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns
RB LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh vs Rutgers: 146 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns
RB Eugene Jarvis, Kent State vs Miami(OH): 105 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns
RB Noel Devine, West Virginia vs Auburn: 207 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, one reception, 13 receiving yards
WR Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina vs Boston College: eight receptions, 139 receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns, 31 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown
WR Jimmy Young, TCU vs Wyoming: five receptions, 226 receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns
WR Kenny Britt, Rutgers vs Pittsburgh: five receptions, 143 receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns
WR Jordan Shipley, Texas vs Oklahoma State: 15 receptions, 168 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown, 17 rushing yards
WR Eldred King, Middle Tennessee State vs Mississippi State: 11 receptions, 164 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown

Here are the statistical leaders for the season thus far for passing, rushing, receiving, and defense. This includes all games played.

Passing yards: 3,147, Graham Harrell, Texas Tech
Passing yards per game: 393.4, Graham Harrell, Texas Tech
Passing touchdowns: 31, David Johnson, Tulsa
Rushing yards: 1,373, Javon Ringer, Michigan State
Rushing yards per game: 165.5, Donald Brown, Connecticut
Rushing touchdowns: 16, Javon Ringer, Michigan State
Receiving yards: 1,003, Aldrick Robinson, SMU
Receiving yards per game: 126.1, Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State
Receptions: 66, Casey Fitzgerald, North Texas
Receiving touchdowns: 14, Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech; Jarrett Dillard, Rice
Interceptions: 6, Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech

Okay, that's all for now. Be sure to stop the blogs of my friends to the right of this page for more great reads out there!

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FSD History Flashback: October 25

On October 25, 1986, one of the most remembered games in World Series history had taken place. At Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York, the Boston Red Sox took on the New York Mets in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Boston led the series 3-2 and had their ace Roger Clemens on the hill to try and put away the Mets for their first World Series title since 1918. Opposing Clemens was former Red Sox southpaw, Bob Ojeda.

The Red Sox took the early lead in the 1st inning on a Dwight Evans RBI single. They added another run in the 2nd inning on a RBI single from Marty Barrett. The Mets came back to tie the score in the 5th inning after Ray Knight's RBI single and a double play by Danny Heep that scored a run for the Mets. The Red Sox took back the lead in the 7th on an error by Knight that allowed Barrett to score the go-ahead run. The Red Sox blew a golden opportunity to pile on more runs in that inning, but Mets reliever Jesse Orosco struckout Bill Buckner with the bases loaded.

The very next inning after having the lead, Red Sox manager John McNamara pulls starter Roger Clemens from the game in favor of Calvin Schiraldi. The Mets took advantage of Clemens' departure as they tied the game 3-3 on a sacrifice fly by Gary Carter. The Mets had a chance to win the game in the bottome of the 9th inning after getting the first two men on base. Mets manager Davey Johnson sent Howard Johnson to the plate to sacrifice the winning run to third base. However, Johnson fell behind 0-2 in the count, and struckout after being told to swing away. Lee Mazilli then came up and flied out to deep left that would have scored the winning run had Johnson successfully laid down a bunt. Lenny Dykstra flied out to end the frame, and send the game into extra innings tied.

Mets reliever Rick Aguilera was back on the hill for his second inning of work. Red Sox OF Dave Henderson hit a solo homer, and Marty Barrett's RBI single to drive in Wade Boggs gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead.

The Mets came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning to try and extend the series. Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez were retired with ease to start the inning. The Shea Stadium scoreboard had already congratulated the Red Sox on winning the series at this point.

The Mets stayed alive as Gary Carter and Kevin Mitchell singled in back-to-back at-bats. Ray Knight was the next hitter, and he faced an 0-2 count from Schiraldi. But Knight came up big as he singled to centerfield to score Carter as the Mets cut the score to 5-4 with Mitchell advancing to third base on the hit. This prompted McNamara to pull Schiraldi in favor of Red Sox closer Bob Stanley to face Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson.

Wilson had the count 2-2 against Stanley, and the Mets were down to their last strike again. After fouling off two more pitches, Stanley and cather Rich Gedman got crossed up on a pitch. The ball went sailing towards Wilson's knees and towards the backstop. The wild pitch allowed Mitchell to score from third to tie the game 5-5, and Knight advanced to second on the wild pitch. Shea Stadium was going crazy at this point.

Wilson stayed alive at the plate after fouling off the next two pitches. Then on the tenth pitch of the at-bat, Wilson hit a slow-roller towards first base. The ball somehow goes between Buckner's legs as Knight came around from second to score the winning run as the Mets won Game 6 by the score of 6-5! The Mets had tied the series at three a piece, and would go on to win Game 7 two days later.

The Red Sox would eventually triumph in World Series play after winning the title in 2004 and again in 2007.

My opinion on this matter: This was one of the most memorable moments both good and bad in sports history. I have said it plenty of times, and I will say it again. Buckner is NOT the reason the Red Sox lost this game, and ultimately the series. McNamara made very bad management decisions throughout the postseason that year, and it showed even more in this game. What should be noted also is that he failed to put Don Baylor in as a pinch hitter for Clemens in the top of the 8th inning. Instead, he put in rookie Mike Greenwell, and he struckout on three pitches. He pulled Clemens too early in my book in Game 6, and this was questionable because the Red Sox bullpen had trouble against the Angels in the ALCS as well as World Series. You have to leave your ace in the game knowing the struggles of the bullpen. Also, Buckner was normally pulled from first base late in the game during the season for Dave Stapleton because of Buckner's chronic knees and ankles. MnNamara didn't in Game Six, and even if he fields the ball cleanly, it is very debatable that he could have beaten the speedy Mookie Wilson to the bag. We will never know on that.

My last point, the game was tied when Buckner had the ball go between his legs. It's too easy to assume that the Red Sox still could have won this game later on if the play would have been made. Also, there was another game left to be played, and once again, the bullpen was ineffective for the Red Sox in Game 7, too. I felt bad for Buckner for a long time because he was a solid batter, but his defense was never that good. Still, McNamara shouldn't have put him in that situation in the first place. I was glad to see Buckner being allowed to come back to Fenway Park to throw out the first pitch in a game this year.

Here's a video of the 10th inning of that game. This is a version of the 10th inning by NES' version of RBI Baseball. Note: They don't show the ball getting by Buckner, but instead, it shows him booting the ball. Vin Scully(as he did for this game) is calling the play-by-play, and thanks to Nationalhighfiveday.com for the footage:



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Another One Drafts a Bust

Okay, I'm in one of those moods today for some parody songs, so here's the latest one I made. This song is a parody for Cedric Benson, who flopped with the Chicago Bears(my favorite NFL team) after being a first round pick in 2005. And yes, I realize this song has been parodied by others before, too. This is just in good fun, but at the same time, I think it's very fitting. Enjoy.

Another One Drafts a Bust
Parody of Queen's Another One Bites the Dust
Funkin' Attitude
WBE Records

Benson walks drunk down to his boat,
He shows off to put on a show,
Aint no sound except that the machine is afloat,
Engine is ready go,
Are you ready, are you ready for this?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Out of nowhere, the cops come in,
To the sound of the siren's beat.

Another One Drafts a Bust
Another One Drafts a Bust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another One Drafts a Bust
Hey I took your money, too
Another One Drafts a Bust

How do you think the Bears would get along,
Without him, when he's gone,
He took them for everything he had,
And they kicked him out on his own,
The Bears are happy, they're satisfied,
How much longer can Benson again stand the heat,
Out of nowhere, the cops come in,
To the sound of the siren's beat.

Another One Drafts a Bust
Another One Drafts a Bust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another One Drafts a Bust
Hey I took your money, too
Another One Drafts a Bust

Another One Drafts a Bust
Another One Drafts a Bust
Another One Drafts a Bust
Another One Drafts a Bust
There are plenty of ways you can hurt a team,
And bring them to the ground,
You can cheat them, you can try to beat the law,
You can treat them bad, and not give your all,
Before you leave town,
But Benson was ready, he was ready for this,
He just cannot stand the heat,
Out of nowhere, the cops come in,
To the sound of the siren's beat.

Another One Drafts a Bust
Another One Drafts a Bust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another One Drafts a Bust
Hey I took your money, too
Another One Drafts a Bust

Another One Drafts a Bust
Parody of Queen's Another One Bites the Dust
Funkin' Attitude
WBE Records

~(©) Copyright 2008. Property of WBE and Fantasy Sports Depot. All rights reserved. Any publication or retransmission without the express written consent of WBE and its affiliates, is strictly prohibited.

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What If? Dan Fouts' 1981 season

Welcome to another entry of the What If? Fantasy Football edition. This is where I look back at a season long before fantasy football became prominent among us in our society as figure how the fantasy numbers would look if the fantasy game existed then. Today, we look back at the 1981 season for Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts. I'm using the default scoring systems for Sporting News and Yahoo! to calculate the point totals.

Here's the point scale for SN(default configuration):
60 points for every touchdown
2 points for every rushing, receiving, and punt return yard gained
1 point for every kickoff return yard gained
2 points for every reception
1 point for every passing yard
-10 points for every kickoff return attempt
-45 points for lost fumble and interception
-2 points for incomplete pass

Here's the point scale for Yahoo!(default configuration):
6 points for every rushing, receiving, and return touchdown
4 points for passing touchdown
1 point for every 10 rushing and receiving yards
1 point for every 25 passing yards
2 points for every two-point conversion
-1 point for every interception
-2 points for every fumble
No points are given for receptions or return yardage in the default configuration.

Here are the stats for Dan Fouts in 1981 and fantasy points for the SN games:
Passing yards: 4,802 = 4,802 points
Passing touchdowns: 33 = 1,980 points
Incomplete passes: 249 = -498 points
Interceptions: 17 = -765 points
Rushing yards: 56 = 112 points
Rushing touchdowns: 0 = 0 points
Receptions: NA = NA
Receiving yards: NA = NA
Receiving touchdowns: NA = NA
Fumbles Lost: 7 = -315 points
Total points: 5316 points
Total points per game: 332.25

Here are the stats for Dan Fouts in 1981 and fantasy points for the Yahoo! game:
Passing yards: 4,802 = 192 points
Passing touchdowns: 33 = 132 points
Interceptions: 17 = -17 points
Rushing yards: 56 = 5 points
Rushing touchdowns: 0 = 0 points
Receiving yards: NA = NA
Receiving touchdowns: NA = NA
Fumbles Lost: 7 = -14 points
Total points: 298 points
Total points per game: 18.63

Statistical source: pro-football reference

Fouts set the record for passing yards in a season at the time, but it was broken three years later by Miami's Dan Marino. The highlight of Fouts' season came on November 22 in Oakland when he threw for 296 yards and six touchdowns in a 55-21 rout of the Raiders. Four of those six touchdowns went to tight end Kellen Winslow(who caught five on the afternoon with the other coming from Chuck Muncie). He also threw five of the six in the second half of the game. The Chargers played in the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs in Miami which is remembered for the sweltering heat as well as back and forth affair that ended in overtime as San Diego won 41-38. In that game, Fouts threw for 433 yards and three touchdowns which would have made him a great option for that playoff fantasy game version. Fouts did struggle in the bitter cold in Cincinnati in the AFC Title Game when he threw for 185 yards and had two interceptions as the Chargers were knocked out of the playoffs. Fouts, along with coach Don Coryell, led one of NFL's most potent offenses ever during this period. For his play, Fouts was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

If anyone wants to suggest a past player, then you can do so in the comments section. The only thing I ask is that the player and year be before 1990 because fantasy football wasn't as prominent then.

Past What If? posts:
Walter Payton's 1977 season
Gale Sayers' 1965 season
Eric Dickerson's 1983 season
Jim Brown's 1963 season
Dan Marino's 1984 season
Jerry Rice's 1987 season
O.J. Simpson's 1975 season
Johnny Unitas' 1959 season
Sid Luckman's 1943 season
Sammy Baugh's 1947 season
Beattie Feathers' 1934 season
Charley Hennigan's 1961 season
Timmy Brown's 1963 season
Rolland Lawrence's 1977 season

Photo courtesy of student.britannica.com

Thanks for viewing, and be sure to check the Blog List of friends to the right of this page for more great reads out there!

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You Want Some Funkin' Links To Read?

Before I get into anything, I wanted to bring up the technical issues I had with this site. A couple of on-line friends as well as one where I live who reads my blog, informed me that they couldn't access my site. They said they've seen problems with it for the past few days and one said it lasted a week. I hope I figured out the problems after working on the template as well as page elements on my blog. The issues should be fixed now, but do not hesitate to contact me here or by e-mail if any other problems with this site occur. Thanks to those who informed me of this.

Normally, I promote links in a more creative way like I did going back to the days on Sporting News. But for today, I'm taking the same approach as my buddy MoonDog, so here we go with some links that are Funkin' approved by me:

-InGameNow has a World's Hottest Athlete contest going on that is worth your time to check out. They need help in getting more people involved, so check it out!
-It Is Late is one of the best entries I've seen in sometime. Give MadMan's latest a look, and you'll see why.
-Ocho Has a Friend by the great Football Chick. Ya Dig that entry. Ya Dig her blog. Ya dig her period. Ya dig? Yes, I dig all that.
-Fantasy Matchup by Paul H(aka wwefreak from SN) features Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris. Stop by to see that matchup and your pick on who would win!
-Fantasy Football Names For Week 8 is another great post by Lester's Legends.
-Top Ten Commandments of Fandom by everyone's favorite slacker, tcp. Great post.
-Jack Tatum, one of the most feared football players ever, is profiled on Crazy Canton Cuts.
-World Series Game 1 Thoughts by fanofreds provides his take on last night's opening game of the World Series.
-Week Nine College Football Predictions by Tim, aka 3peatTrojans of SN, which provides his take on the slate of games for this weekend.
-Get to Know the 50 States: Montana is the next state profiled by The Karmic Boomerang.
-8,000 Word Post by JasonWinter of SN is a good one for those who have never seen his site.
-Lessons of the Messed Mojo by morrisseyweb or Mo for short.

If those don't satisfy you enough, then take a look at the links to the right of this page for more great reads out there! Ya Funkin' Dig?

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FSD History Flashback: October 23

On October 23, 1884, the predecessor of what would later become the World Series had begun. It was on this day that the National League Champion Providence Grays faced the American Association Champion New York Mets in a best of three series at the Polo Grounds in New York for Game 1.

Charley Radbourn was the starter for the Grays going against Tim O'Keefe of the Mets. Radbourn got plenty of run support as the Grays defeated the Mets 6-0 in the opening game. Both pitchers threw a complete game, and would face each other in the following game. The Grays won Game 2 by the score of 3-1 to clinch the series.

The teams played a third game at the Polo Grounds with the Grays completing a 3-game sweep with a 12-2 win. Because of the cold weather conditions as well as the series being won by the Grays, only 500 fans showed up for Game 3.

The series of games between the champions of each league wasn't announced to the public until the day before it began. The weekly Sporting Life publication had announced that the series between the two would take place. Sporting Life referred to this as "the Championship of America".

The NL and AA agreed to have the champions of each league face each other for the next several years. They would play each other every year until after the 1889 series was complete. The NL won all those series except in 1886 when the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the AA beat the Chicago White Stockings in six games. Both teams had played the year before, and the series ended in dispute after St. Louis forfeited a game because of a bad call made by an umpire. Both teams claimed the championship, but MLB considers the anything prior to the modern-day World Series as exhibitions so therefore, no one is officially recognized as champions of those series. The 1885 meeting between the Brown Stockings and White Stockings was the first ever meeting between the two as they are today known as the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs.

Eventually, the AA disbanded, and the NL absorbed St. Louis along with Louisville, Baltimore, and a New York team after 1891.

The Providence Grays fell off in 1885 after finishing 30 games out of first place. Attendance had also suffered because of the team not playing as well which resulted in the franchise folding in the off-season. They sold the remaining players of the team to the Boston Beaneaters, who are today known at the Atlanta Braves.

The New York Mets ceased operations because of finances after the 1887 season. Because of the Dodgers and Giants relocating franchises to California in 1959, another franchise was awarded to New York to replace them. In 1962, the New York Mets began play in the National League.

It wasn't until the formation of the American League in 1901 that the modern-day World Series was even a thought. The NL and AL agreed to play each other in the first World Series in 1903 as Boston from the AL had defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in eight games in the best of nine format.

In 1904, the NL Champion New York Giants refused to play Boston from the AL in the World Series due to alleged inferiority of the opposing league as well as unestablished rules. This was actually the biggest factor as to why the 1880s series between the NL and AA had eventually been done away with. But, the World Series was instituted the following year requiring both league champions to play each other at season's end. With the exception of the 1994 MLB strike that cancelled the World Series that year, the two leagues have played each other every year since.

But this day in 1884 began what eventually became the predecessor of the modern-day World Series. This day marked the beginnings of the eventual Fall Classic that takes place every October.

Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com which shows the 1884 Providence Grays team.

Thanks for viewing, and I hope you enjoyed today's FSD History Flashback!

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FSD History Flashback: October 22

On October 22, 1939, the first NFL game to ever be broadcasted on live television takes place. It was on this day that National Broadcasting Company(NBC) became the first to host an NFL game on television as the Brooklyn Dodgers hosted the Philadelphia Eagles at Ebbets Field in New York.

The man who called the play-by-play was Allen (Skip) Walz. According to Walz, only eight people were needed to handle the live telecast of the game. There were only two iconoscopes used in the game with no monitors, screens, or spotters to count on at all. One camera was in the mezzanine section while the other was perched in the box seats at the 40-yard line.

About 500 New York residents owned television sets to watch the game over on NBC's W2XBS channel. The RCA Pavillion at the World's Fair in New York had many others watching the game on a monitor there.

"I’d sit with my chin on the rail in the mezzanine, and the camera was over my shoulder. "I did my own spotting, and when the play moved up and down the field, on punts or kickoffs, I’d point to tell the cameraman what I’d be talking about," Walz recalled.

It was shown via television logs that the game began at about 2:30pm est and was finished in over two and a half hours. There were no commercial interruptions during the game which explains the game completing more quickly compared to the normal three hours that it takes.

A cloudy day did cause problems for the broadcast because there wasn't enough lighting when the clouds covered up the sun. According to Walz, they had to revert to a radio broadcast when this happened during the game.

Over 13,000 fans came to Ebbets Field to see Brooklyn beat the Eagles 23-14 on that day.

NBC carried NFL games which included the rights to the NFL Title games and Super Bowls. By 1970, NBC had exclusive rights to carry AFC games on their network until CBS took the rights to those games after the 1997 season was completed. The last Super Bowl to date that the network carried was Super XXXII when the Denver Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers in the famous "This one's for John!" game in which John Elway won his first championship.

NBC now carries NFL games on Sunday night which has happened since bringing back coverage in 2006. They have a veteran play-by-play team of former NFL head coach John Madden and former Emmy award nominee Al Michaels calling games.

NBC made history on this day, and this is one of the most significant events in NFL history as the league went onto become the most popular sport in the United States.

Photo courtesy of weblogs.newsday.com

Thanks for viewing, and I hope you enjoyed today's FSD History Flashback!

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What If? Rolland Lawrence's 1977 Season

Welcome to another entry of the What If? Fantasy Football edition. This is where I look back at a season long before fantasy football became prominent among us in our society as figure how the fantasy numbers would look if the fantasy game existed then. Today, we look back at the 1977 season for former Atlanta Falcons defensive back Rolland Lawrence. I'm using the default scoring system for Sporting News to calculate the totals with individual points counting for him in the same fashion as it would be for team defensive points. Then I'll explain why I chose to profile him and this season.

Here's the point scale for SN(default configuration):
60 points for every touchdown
2 points for every rushing, receiving, and punt return yard gained
1 point for every kickoff return yard gained
2 points for every reception
1 point for every passing yard
-2 points for incomplete pass
-10 points for every kickoff return attempt
-45 points for fumble or interception by offensive player
45 points for forced or recovered fumble IDP
45 points for interception IDP

Here are the stats for Rolland Lawrence in 1975 and fantasy points for the SN games:
Passing yards: NA = NA
Passing touchdowns: NA = NA
Incomplete passes: NA = NA
Interceptions thrown: NA = NA
Rushing yards: NA = NA
Rushing touchdowns: NA = NA
Receptions: NA = NA
Receiving yards: NA = NA
Receiving touchdowns: NA = NA
Kickoff return attempts: 1 = -10 points
Kickoff return yards: 13 = 13 points
Punt return yards: 352 = 704 points
Forced Fumbles: 0 = 0 points
Fumble Recoveries: 3 = 135 points
Interceptions: 7 = 315 points
Defensive touchdowns: 0 = 0 points
Total points: 1,157 points
Total points per game: 82.64
Note: Teams only played 14 games in 1977.

Although his fantasy numbers would have been far from stellar, he would have been okay to use in IDP(Individual Defensive Players) leagues because of his return ability as well as with the turnovers he had. Rolland Lawrence was a First-Team All-Pro for the Atlanta Falcons in 1977. The Falcons ranked first in pass defense in large part because of the play of Lawrence as he led the team in interceptions with seven in 1977. They also ranked first overall in points allowed and second in total yards while finishing with a 7-7 record. They allowed only one team all year to throw for over 200 yards in a single game(Minnesota had 212 passing yards in Week Seven). His 39 interceptions still rank him first in Falcons history. He had an 87-yard interception return touchdown on November 30, 1975 when he picked off Ken Stabler of the Oakland Raiders. His only other career touchdown came off a blocked punt in the 4th quarter on this very day of October 21, 1979 against the San Francisco 49ers. The 3-time Pro Bowl player never missed a game in his 8-year NFL career after signing as an undrafted free agent. He also started every game for the team in his last seven years at cornerback. Now, why I really chose him......

A few years back, I worked in Harrisburg, PA at an Office Depot store that has since shut down. I worked with Rolland's older brother Elu Lawrence, who at the time I started had been in our Copy & Print Department not long after I transferred there. Elu had moved from Pittsburgh to come to our store, and I worked with him for about a year. I had never heard of Rolland Lawrence until he brought an old football card of him into work one day. He then told me that was his brother, and I was stunned. I could tell they were related by looking at the football card though.

Nonetheless, he told me about his playing days, and that he was a former Pro Bowl player. He also told me that he came from a big family, which included nine brothers and four sisters. Three brothers and one sister are still alive, and Rolland is the youngest of the bunch that's still around according to what Elu told me. Rolland still attends various outings for the Falcons organization in Atlanta. I occasionally talk with Elu over the phone, and he currently lives in Harrisburg, PA. Rolland was born in Franklin, PA, and currently resides there. I plan on taking a trip up to PA this Thanksgiving because I have family and friends there, and we're going to meet up sometime when I go. Thanks to Elu for providing the additional information about his brother Rolland Lawrence, and now you know why I chose to write an entry about him.

Here's a post by 3rdStoneFromTheSun about Rolland Lawrence and some other past NFL Greats for you to checkout if you haven't done so yet:
Never Forget

Past What If? posts:
Walter Payton's 1977 season
Gale Sayers' 1965 season
Eric Dickerson's 1983 season
Jim Brown's 1963 season
Dan Marino's 1984 season
Jerry Rice's 1987 season
O.J. Simpson's 1975 season
Johnny Unitas' 1959 season
Sid Luckman's 1943 season
Sammy Baugh's 1947 season
Beattie Feathers' 1934 season
Charley Hennigan's 1961 season
Timmy Brown's 1963 season

Photos courtesy of beckett.com and checkoutmycards.com

Thanks for viewing! Be sure to give the Blog List of members to the right of this page a look! They'll appreciate you stopping by!

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