By David Levy-Fan Experience Reporter-Football Reporters Online
The Georgia Dome in Atlanta remains a perfectly fine building for professional football. Still a teenager, it is nowhere near long in the tooth. Capacity is enough to accommodate nearly every Atlanta Falcons fan willing to buy tickets.
Arthur Blank, the team owner, craves a new stadium. That seems akin to trading in your car after it has logged only 20,000 miles, but he can well afford it. Blank, the former owner of the ubiquitous American home improvement store chain called The Home Depot, has a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes, and the franchise value has risen 52 per cent since he bought it in 2002 for $545 million.
But wait. Blank expects the quasi-public agency that operates the Dome and the proposed site of a new stadium to issue bonds that would pay some of the costs. That should be 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, sticking it to taxpayers at the same time that funding for public schools in Georgia is being cut.
This sickness is spreading among NFL team owners. In Minnesota, the Vikings' Zygi Wilf has capitalized on the collapse of the Metrodome's inflatable roof amid a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm and the fear of the franchise relocating to Los Angeles in his campaign for a replacement stadium. Of course, citizens would contribute to the project. Never mind that Blank might expect Wilf, worth $1.3bn, to pick up their lunch bill.
The shameless nonchalance of these folks who seem detached from reality has generated a shifting of the winds. We have already experienced it here in New York and New Jersey.
The public, which normally sides with management during labor disputes in American sports, is sympathetic toward the players in a stand-off with owners that has pushed the league to the brink of a lockout. In a poll conducted by Seton Hall University, 35 per cent who participated backed the players, compared to 22 per cent for their bosses. This, even though the same study found that most contend the players are overpaid.
Taxpayers are increasingly fed up with being forced to become stadium-erecting partners with Rolex-wearing, yacht-sailing jet-setters. Economists nowadays agree on little, but one belief they share is that public support of professional sports offers almost nothing financially in return.
The Giants and Jets grew tired of their shared arena and convinced the government to pitch in for a new-and-improved one. The old Giants Stadium was torn down despite carrying more than $100m in debt that must be paid off by the good people of New Jersey. Plus, the season ticket holders are also helping flip the bill on the new one with PSL's. Isn't that double dipping? The nerve!
Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, stands complicit in this wasteful building boom. From his office comes a wink-nod promise of the ultimate in ego gratification for owners: host your own Super Bowl! Just throw up a stadium and you will get the big game. How you bankroll it, that's your business.
Which explains why the 2014 Super Bowl was awarded to New Meadowlands in a region where the average low temperature in February is -2°C. Which also explains why 22 of 32 teams have moved into fresh digs or had their existing ones totally made over in the last two decades.
In that time, teams have been blessed with more than $7bn in taxpayer subsidies for construction and renovation, according to the NFL Players' Association.
The players union reports that, on average, taxpayers put up 65 per cent of the financing for those projects. Owners found a way to avoid putting in any money for 10 of them; for nine others, their contribution amounted to less than 25 per cent.
Further driving public sentiment toward the players are reports on the sport's inherent physical risk, particularly for victims of post-concussive syndrome that has ravaged retirees. Fans are looking beyond the average salary of $1.9m and discovering other statistics:
$770,000, the median yearly pay. Three-and-a-half years, the average length of career. Eleven, the average number of players per team on injured reserve this past season.
While many of us might trade places with the players, the figures show that most of them accumulate more aches and pains than enough wealth to last them a lifetime.
For team owners, it is a different story. Admittance into the club all but guarantees going from rich to richer, experienced from the comfort of a stadium luxury suite.
Fine. That is the American way. But those who knock on government doors seeking handouts to finance mostly unnecessary arenas should instead heed the marketing message aimed at customers of Blank's old home improvement stores.
Do it yourself.
Follow me Twitter @LevysBakeryProd or at LevysBakeryProductions.com
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Orb Networks Apple TV Killer Makes Home Digital Entertainment Simple
And you don't even need a digital television or stereo set.
As the video below, will show (get a cup of coffee and relax because it's 22 minutes long) Mr. Costello and his staff have made a smooth looking, wel, orb called The Orb Caster, that connects with your existing television or stereo and allows you to call up (as an example) videos from any YouTube channel, or Hulu, or ESPN 3, just to give some examples of video sources.
But you can show not only videos, but photos from your smartphone or online platform, too. In fact, Joe demonstrates this in the video.
As you will see, you download the smartphone app that "calls" the Orb Caster from the Orb Networks website.
Here's the video:
Joe Costello is no stranger to the digital space. The former boardmember of Oracle, and CEO of Cadence (which became the world's supplier of Electronic Design Automation or "EDA" software), Joe's an energetic man who's youthful exuberance for his products and company is infectious.
Costello is a great model for any startup entrepreneur because he feels and believes in what he's doing, and knows he's got something that can change how people live in their homes. (And on top of that, he invested in the company himself. The origin of Orb Networks goes back about five years and before Costello; that story's a blog post in itself.)
Orb Networks Blue-Ray
Joe's also excited about his newest offering, the Orb Networks Orb BR software, where "BR" means "Blue Ray." He says "The combined cost of a Blu-ray player and Orb BR software is less expensive
than most of the other Internet TV solutions, like Boxee and Google TV,
while providing more capabilities." In fact, at $19.99 Costello's got a point. In fact, all of the Orb Networks products are competitively priced. The Orb TV is $99 and the Orb Music Player is $79.
It's the same price as Apple TV but with one big difference: the smartphone is the controller, whereas you have to enable Apple's AirPlay provision to use your iPhone with Apple TV. And even with that, some have complained the ability to stream videos from platforms like YouTube isn't yet "fully baked" on Apple TV.
Check out Orb at http://www.orb.com.
Tila Tequila Convinces MTV She Stands for Empowering Women
How buzzworthy - Female Empowerment? Tila Tequila? Over the summer Tila Tequila encouraged her army to attack blogger, Nikky Raney, whose only flaw was blogging objectively about "Miss Tila" and her shenanigans. Now, working as an MTV VIP looking through MTV posts it is seen that Tila has done a Yoko Ono cover to the song "Walking On Thin Ice.
The kicker is what MTV writes within the blog post before posting the video:
We have to give Tila credit for empowering and encouraging women not to tolerate an abusive relationship. Tila said she recorded the song "at a time when my life was complicated and I was emotionally drained." Of the video's violence and abuse, she said, "The video was created in a way where the woman isn't just the victim; she is also a survivor. I want women to see that you can get out of an abusive relationship and hopefully do it BEFORE something horrible happens to you or your partner. I am hoping that people can see that this video doesn't promote or glorify abuse; that in fact, it is promoting change and strength."
The music video will not be included within this blog post, because that would be an insult to Yoko Ono - who originally sang this song.
Although there are personal ties related to why the video won't be posted and within this blog post - it is still a fact that over the summer Tila Tequila was not empowering but insulting. Attacking a 20 year old girl and having her "Tila Army" attack her again and again. The hate mail and the e-mails received from "Miss Tila" were enough to make it unbearable to even go onto Twitter. So, no, the girl who coined the phrase "Piggy Raney" and posted lots of blog posts attacking other celebrities and hating on Rihanna (yes, Tila shows no remorse for what Rihanna went through and always insults her) is not someone who should be commended for female empowerment. The post has gotten a few comments, and it's unsure as to how many views the video has gotten.
Since I no longer go to Tila's personal "celebrity gossip blog" which I have been told is now just a TILA TILA TILA TILA TILA promotion blog I don't know what she has written in regards to the MTV endorsement, but I felt as though I was obligated to write this blog post after what I had to go through this summer with her. I have not watched the music video.
TMZ took Tila's blog off their blog roll after what she did; it was minutes after she posted a blog post bragging that she was on TMZ; unknowing that Zennie62 Media was also.
Oh, this brings back some not-so-fond memories, but that's what got me known on this blog. So this post is a bit of a throwback for me.
UCubed Creates ‘Marching to Madness’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UCubed Creates ‘Marching to Madness’
Washington, D.C., March 10, 2011 – Citing today’s state and local unemployment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Ur Union of Unemployed (UCubed) has created a March Madness-like graphic to bring the grim statistics to life.
“We’re predicting a lot more ‘upsets’ in this tourney – between 25 to 29 million,” said UCubed Executive Director Rick Sloan. “Today’s local unemployment release serves as further proof that state governments and Congress must focus less on destroying good-paying jobs and more on putting jobless residents back to work.”
The “Marching to Madness” unemployment brackets are the latest installment of UCubed’s aggressive ad campaign on Facebook meant to draw more attention to the national jobs crisis. Users are being asked to fill out the unemployment brackets, ranking the city they think is suffering the most. On Friday, March 18, 2011, UCubed will fill in the brackets with actual rankings from the BLS.
“America’s jobless, along with the rest of the country, have for the past few weeks watched the assault Republican governments in Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri and other states are afflicting on hard-working Americans,” said Sloan. “They can’t help but wonder: How does this put me back to work? It doesn’t. Not only will it ultimately send more hard-working folks to the unemployment line, it’s also part of the GOP’s larger strategy to completely ignore and distract from the more pressing issue affecting our country at this time – jobs.
“The jobless want to go back to work. And they want to go back today. The time to create a national jobs agenda is now.”
See UCubed's ad campaign on Facebook.
Ur Union of Unemployed, or UCubed, is a community service project of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) designed to assist the millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans, and to provide them with a structure that allows them to take advantage of their growing numbers. For more information, visit Ur Union of Unemployed.
Go to http://www.unionofunemployed.com/blog/uncategorized/ucubed-creates-marching-to-madness-unemployment-brackets/ and hit the "LIKE"
Newsweek is Officially TheDailyBeast.com
Just received the newest issue of Newsweek in the mail and up on top of the header for Newsweek is a little link that says THEDAILYBEAST.COM - which has never been there before. It is now official. Newsweek.com is no longer in existence and Thedailybeast.com is the new site.
The bottom of EVERY SINGLE PAGE under the page number is a link to thedailybeast.com. Every single page. And the Daily Beast Logo is everywhere.
And then there's a NewsBeast title. Pretty sure Zennie62 Media came up with that one first.
What has happened to Newsweek? The Daily Beast has taken over.
There will be a video to accompany this blog post posted as soon as it has finished loading on Youtube.
Keene State Adventure
There have been a lack of blog posts from blogger Nikky Raney - the reason for this is the lack of Internet while spending time on Spring Break, but there are many videos which are interesting and will be worth watching. The videos were taking with the FLIP CAM that Zennie sent for Zennie62 Media vlogs.
Enjoy seeing what this college girl was up to when she wasn't blogging. She was getting a good use and getting practice with the Flip cam!
Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin, what about Tina Fey?
Media Bistro reports Julianne Moore will be portraying Sarah Palin in HBO's adaptation of the book Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime. written by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.
Tina Fey spent a lot of time on Saturday Night Live portraying Sarah Palin, and it is a bit more realistic that Fey looks like Palin more than Julianne Moore does - when thinking about who would play Sarah Palin in a movie Tina Fey would be the first to come to mind, but maybe this role calls for someone a bit more serious and it would be difficult to take Sarah Palin seriously in a movie if Tina Fey was the actress, but in all honesty: it's hard to take Sarah Palin seriously when she is Sarah Palin - so good luck trying to make her look better.
Media Bistro reports:
Anybody wish they picked Saturday Night Live veteran Tina Fey? Heilemann and Halperin interviewed more than 300 people to write Game Change (2010). The book had three parts: part one covered the Democratic primaries, part two looked at the Republican primaries, and part three examined the race between Barack Obama and John McCain.
 |
| Getty Images. Moore & Palin |
The five things include being on camera naked, having a sexual performance, overdosing on pills, having a British twin and uttering the phrase, "Do you like sex, Mr. Lebowski." All of the aforementioned are things that the actress has done previously in her roles from Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Short Cuts, As The World Turns and The Big Lebowski.
Time Magazine online also begins its article asking: "We wonder what Tina Fey thought when she found out she wasn't playing the part."
Its more in-depth article with Time's blog Tuned In writes:
Another burning question: is Moore's Alaska accent better than the Boston Southie one she put on for 30 Rock? Speaking of which, might she pick up some coaching from Palin-impersonation veteran and 30 Rock producer Tina Fey? And who will fill out the rest of the cast, whose lead characters will presumably (if it hews to the book) include John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary (and presumably Bill) Clinton and John (and presumably Elizabeth) Edwards?
This is bound to be very interesting. Good luck to Julianne Moore - maybe it's good giving Fey a break. It will be interesting to see who will be cast as Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, etc.
99ers Implore HELP - bombard Boehner, Media Non-Stop NOW
NEW PLAN: 99ers must implore HELP and bombard Speaker Boehner & media non-stop now - continuing until such a time as the 99ers bill (HR589) passes the House.
With the shenanigans in Wisconsin last night, it is easy for Americans to feel their wants and needs are insignificant in the wake of the greedy, corrupt politicians - but never fear: WE MUST FIGHT ON & FIGHT HARDER.
We cannot survive on nothing and those who are fortunate enough to land a job are discovering that paying gig is not enough income to even sustain a life of poverty. [See: Democracy Dead in Wisconsin as US Jobless Claims at 20 Million Annual Pace ]
Even as Peter King (NY Congressman) wastes precious time and energy on his useless and controversial hearings on "radicalization" within the American Muslim community, the US unemployment exhaustees continue to suffer devastating poverty those in Washington choose to ignore.
However, according to the article by Crew of 42 yesterday, Lee + Scott Ask Boehner for Meeting on Unemployment Help:
Reps. Barbara Lee and Bobby Scott asked for a meeting with Speaker Boehner and reminded the new GOP Speaker and Majority Leader Cantor of unemployment in their states (OH, VA and MI) as they did so.The bigger issue: Is it at all possible the House GOP will “find” $16 billion in the budget for unemployment assistance? Whether any deal comes (or doesn’t come) under a pay-for agreement or an emergency designation in irrelevant. The process of this sausage (legislation) actually becoming reality will either be brought into reality by complaining constituents back home or it won’t.The bottom line is if House GOP members are returning to their districts and hearing the complaints of unemployed constituents on a regular basis that could tip the political scale. That is the only possible way House Republicans would make a way for a $16 billion budget allocation for unemployment assistance. A sure sign of altering political dynamics would be SpeakerBoehner or ML Cantor actually agreeing to a meeting on this issue. With the absence of political pressure and the White House completely absent from involvement on this issue (along with so many others…) a meeting would be surprising. “The unemployment rate does not discriminate…” Lee and Scott reminded Boehner. The unemployment rate in Ohio is 9.2%. In Michigan it is 10.6%. In Virginia it’s 6.4%.
The Huffington Post reported today: The Democrats in the House of Representatives who are pushing for additional jobless aid for the long-term unemployed say they are willing to compromise with Republican leadership on cutting spending from the budget to prevent the cost of new benefits from adding to the deficit.
In a Wednesday letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) wrote, "We want to work with you to identify how best to finance this legislation and ensure its swift passage."
Read the rest of this article House Dems Open To Compromise On 99ers Bill
In a Wednesday letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) wrote, "We want to work with you to identify how best to finance this legislation and ensure its swift passage."
Read the rest of this article House Dems Open To Compromise On 99ers Bill
The full letter to Boehner, Cantor and Rep. Dave Camp reads as follows:
Dear Speaker Boehner,
Majority Leader Cantor,
and Chairman Camp:
Once again we want to express our deep concern for the plight of millions of long-term unemployed workers across the country. Last week’s unemployment numbers reflect the harsh reality that still exists – while the economy is moving in the right direction, too many workers are still looking for jobs.
For every available job opening, there are 4.7 unemployed workers. And many of those workers have been unemployed for a year or longer. The unemployment rate does not discriminate – the challenges that our constituents face in our districts are just as difficult as the challenges that your constituents are facing in western Ohio, central Virginia and central Michigan. We all have a shared obligation to help our neediest and most vulnerable populations in their hour of greatest need.
The letter we sent you last month requested your assistance in extending emergency benefits for long-term unemployed workers who had exhausted their eligibility. In addition, we requested that these benefits be considered under the emergency designation of PAYGO spending rules, a provision that would exempt emergencies from these rules. We are disappointed that you disagreed with our belief that this is a true state of emergency for these workers.
As we outlined in our previous letter, we believe there is a strong moral and economic case to extend these emergency benefits. Economic experts believe that unemployment benefits provide a stimulative impact to our economy by helping to drive consumer spending. So not only is providing these benefits the right thing to do, but it is sound economic policy. To be clear, we maintain our position that this legislation deserves to exempt from PAYGO spending rules under the aforementioned emergency designation, but we are committed to exhausting every possible avenue to pass this bill. Adding an additional 14 weeks to the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program is estimated to cost up to $16 billion.
We want to work with you to identify how best to finance this legislation and ensure its swift passage. We request a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss alternative ways to address the costs associated with H.R. 589, The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act. We hope that you share our urgent desire to move forward on passing this legislation.
There are dire consequences for millions of long-term unemployed workers who are fighting every day to make ends meet so they can support their families. It is time to get serious about taking care of our long-term unemployed workers who continue to suffer. We look forward to your response and are hopeful that we can meet with you in the near future to discuss the importance of this bill and our plan to pass it. Thank you for your time and consideration of this request.
— Reps. Barbara Lee + Bobby Scott
In my opinion, the Time is NOW for all unemployed Americans to put non stop pressure on the media, the House leadership and every one of our elected officials in our home district offices beginning TODAY and not letting up until we have Obama’s signature on a law that will provide badly needed and long overdue additional UI benefits for the millions of current 99ers and future 99ers alike.
EMAIL CONTACTS:
Dailyrundown@msnbc.com, speakerboehner@mail.house.gov, ed@edschultzshow.com
TWITTER:
@dailyrundown @chucktodd @SavannahGuthrie @maddow @wegoted @theedshow @edshow @alivelshi
For more political contacts see: http://twitter.com/paladinette/politicians/members
For more Media contacts see:
http://twitter.com/paladinette/news-media/members
Lets go people it is time we let them know beyond a doubt that we will no longer be ignored!
Lets go people it is time we let them know beyond a doubt that we will no longer be ignored!
Zennie62.com: Democracy Dead in Wisconsin as US Jobless Claims a...
Zennie62.com: Democracy Dead in Wisconsin as US Jobless Claims a...: "Democracy Dead in Wisconsin as US Jobless Claims at 20 Million Annual Pace News could not be worse for the average unemployed and employed A..."
Democracy Dead in Wisconsin as US Jobless Claims at 20 Million Annual Pace
Democracy Dead in Wisconsin as US Jobless Claims at 20 Million Annual Pace
News could not be worse for the average unemployed and employed American these days. Wages down, Unions being busted, rights being stripped along with dignity and the American dream dying a slow, miserable death.
The problem: rich, corrupt politicians - what else? The question is What are “We the People” willing to do about this unacceptable ongoing conspiracy of middle class genocide by the corporate elite and their politician puppets?
From the Journal Star this week, in an Op-Ed by Robert Reich titled - The real news on jobs
Most of the jobs we've gained pay less than the jobs we've lost.
An analysis from the National Employment Law Project shows that the new jobs created since February 2010 (about 1.26 million) pay, on average, significantly lower wages than the 8.4 million jobs lost between January 2008 and February 2010.
The biggest losses during the Great Recession were jobs paying $19.05 to $31.40 an hour. By contrast, the biggest gains over the past year have been jobs paying an average of $9.03 to $12.91 an hour.
In other words, the big news isn't the slow return of jobs. It's the drop in pay.
For several years now, conservative economists have blamed high unemployment on the purported fact that many Americans have priced themselves out of the global/high-tech jobs market. So if we want more jobs, they say, we'll need to take wage and benefit cuts.
And that's exactly what Americans have been doing.
Employers have been demanding wage and benefit concessions from their unionized workers and usually getting them. Detroit is creating auto jobs again -- but new hires are getting about half the pay that autoworkers were getting before. Airline workers are taking home 30 percent to 50 percent less than they did years ago. And so on.
Conservatives say it's not enough. That's why unions have to be busted --
Millions of non-union workers also have had to accept cuts in pay and benefits just to keep their jobs. Their health benefits have been slashed, their employer pension contributions dramatically cut and their wages reduced or frozen.
Millions of other private-sector workers have been fired and then re-hired as contract workers to do almost exactly what they were doing before, but now without any benefits or job security.
Last night when the “deaf to the People” Republicans in Wisconsin’s State Senate used a procedural ploy to cram through a bill sharply curtailing collective bargaining rights for government workers - they proved beyond any doubt that they only care about making Americans poorer and worse off then they already are. It is now an undeniable fact that the American PEOPLE MUST SAVE THEMSELVES. We can no longer avoid massive demonstrations in the streets if we hope to survive and topple what is now a completely corrupt and oppressive US Government.
It is unrcontionable that the wealthiest Americans keep paying off the politicians to look out ONLY for their own, myopic interests and the US Supreme Court has become as corrupt an enemy of “The People” as Washington DC.
The Wisconsin legislation was separated from the budget measure on Wednesday to break a three-week stalemate created when the Democratic senators all went to Illinois to deny the chamber the 20-member quorum required to take up bills that appropriate funds. The quorum requirement for other kinds of legislation is smaller.
Once the bill was separated, the Republicans pushed the measure through the Senate in less than half an hour by a vote of 18-1, without any debate on the floor or a single Democrat in the room - officially declaring the DEATH of DEMOCRACY in the great state of Wisconsin.
Just last week Ohio pulled their own disgusting end run around proper democratic protocol by approving an even tougher measure that restricts the collective bargaining rights of roughly 350,000 teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees, while Wisconsin's would affect about 175,000 workers and exempt police and firefighters. They did so by pushing that bill through 2 committees in one day in an unprecedented manner. When they did not have enough votes in each of two committees to pass the bill along, they replaced committee members immediately with other republicans they knew would support the “party UNION BUSTING line” - not once but TWICE on March the 3rd.
This is the sort of CRAP they pull in corrupt dictatorship type countries NOT what one expects from the American Democratic process. Henceforth this country is better described as the Republic(an) of American oppression rather than the United States in my opinion.
Adam Green of BoldProgressives.org - last night put it this way:
"CODE RED: Wisconsin's Republican senators just voted to pass Gov. Walker's anti-worker bill -- without Democrats present. They are bending the rules in order to break Wisconsin unions, and they need to be punished for this undemocratic action. We plan on working all night to prepare new online ads and radio ads -- and we'll buy more TV ads in the districts of Republican senators up for recall."
I say RECALL the lot of them and shut down the entire state. Let’s show them how little will get done if NOBODY in the drone worker class bothers to come to work at all.
BTW:
Wisconsin State Senate Republicans Took Hundreds Of Thousands In Government Farm Subsidies
MEANWHILE: New applications for state jobless benefits jumped by 26,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 397,000, the Labor Department reported this morning. Over the past four weeks claims have averaged 392,500, putting them near a three-year low.
That 3 year low still has the US rate of job loss at a pace of over 20 MILLION JOBS PER YEAR - do the math! [392,500 avg per week x 52 weeks = 20,384,000]
So even as unemployment remains at unacceptably outrageous levels, the few jobs that might be out there are paying below the poverty line in most areas. With the gas needed to get to work rapidly approaching $5 per gallon and the food required to sustain life costing us more everyday, how long until America is just another dual class society of the very rich vs the very poor? Come on folks there are so many more of us than them - let’s make it clear to the rich corrupt interests and their dutiful political pawns that we have had all we intend to take and FIGHT BACK NOW!
HOW REPLACING A LEGEND IS REALLY DIFFICULT (Part 2)
By Don Stokes-Senior Writer-Midwest Region-Football Reporters Online
Returning to the aforementioned Miami Dolphin dominance during the early part of the decade with 5 playoff seasons in a row and 3 straight Super Bowl appearances (1971- ’72 and ‘73). In the bright Oakland Coliseum sun the run finally concluded for the Fish. During the 1974 AFC Divisional round the two time defending champion Miami Dolphins lost a slugfest to the Oakland Raiders 28-26. When the Raiders QB Kenny Stabler fluttered an 8 yard pass to RB Clarence Davis in the end zone through the Miami “Sea of hands” with just 24 seconds remaining for the winning score, most football experts at the time stated the 1974 AFC Title game was just completed. The powerful Raiders had beaten the back to back Super Bowl Champions Dolphins surely they would easily beat their next opponent at home and go on to Super Bowl IX and become the NFL’s newest dynasty. Who was the “Silver and Black” opponent in that ‘74 AFC Championship game? The young and hungry Steelers of Pittsburgh, PA.
Pittsburgh did do one thing nearly better than any other team during that 1974 season. Their defense was proclaimed “The Steel Curtain” and played great football all season long. But they had a noticeable Achilles heel. For all of the teams who had made the NFL playoffs in 1974 everyone’s perceived strength was considered Pittsburgh’s biggest weakness. That was of course being the Quarterback position. The Steelers QB was in then his 5th year and still could not play with a level of consistency. Their now starting QB had actually lost his job to a 2nd year player early during that same season. Looking back if any one player had a right to have the preverbal “chip” on his shoulder during that time period it should be the Steelers Terry Bradshaw. Although because of his inconsistency at the position most of ills on the field was of his own accord. In telling Bradshaw’s account one must also mention another QB who just may have helped pushed Bradshaw to finally play up to his potential. The casual NFL fan born after 1970 may not recall the colorful name of one Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam, a lanky, rail thin man of color with a powerful arm. The tale of this duel began with Bradshaw joining an up and coming Steelers team in 1970.
Despite being the 1st pick of that year’s NFL draft the rocket armed University of Louisiana blond bomber Terry Bradshaw struggled the first 4 seasons of his career. Bradshaw still led Pittsburgh to 2 straight playoff appearances in 1972 and 1973 but his play at quarterback was continually erratic. By 1974 the Steelers knew were ready to seriously contend for an NFL Championship. But their 5 year quarterback unfortunately Bradshaw still was not. During the ’74 pre-season Steeler Head Coach Chuck Noll had enough of his gifted but frustrating passer. He also knew third year pro Joe Gilliam had the physical skills to compete against Bradshaw while the other vet on the roster (QB Terry Hanratty) did not. Joe beat out Bradshaw and won the starting job. Gilliam played well early. Beginning with the 1974 season opener, a 30-0 win against the Colts (257 yards) then a week 2 35-35 tie against the Broncos (348 yards) Joe Gilliam was the talk of the National Football League. But Gilliam’s success was short lived. An 8 for 31 passing performance for 106 yards during a week 3 (17-0) loss against the Raiders began the slide. Although the Steelers rebounded with wins against Houston, Kansas City and Cleveland Joe’s play was not impressive. Other factors (to be mentioned later in this piece) may have contributed to Joe Gilliam regression but he began to spiral out of control.
Coach Noll, who some later argued did not show the same patience with Jefferson Street Joe (4-1-1 in his starts)after 6 games as he did with the 4 seasons of unpredictable play with Bradshaw soon pulled the plug on the Joe Gilliam experiment. Terry was returned as the starter for the remainder of the season first beating the Raiders in the AFC Title game, then leading Pittsburgh to their 1st Super Bowl victory against Minnesota 16-6. Regarding the Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam story? It’s a sad one with a “What might have been” ending. Substance abuse dogged his brief career in Pittsburgh. After Gilliam received his 2nd Super Bowl ring Coach Noll, growing weary of his personal issues released him in 1975. His NFL career was over. With Gilliam athletic abilities and raw talent maybe Noll used him to push Terry to become a better quarterback in 1974.
By the 1975 season Terry Bradshaw had become a Pro bowl QB. After back to back championship seasons in 1974-’75 and 1978-’79 the Steelers impressive run had ended by 1980. The final total: 4 Super Bowls wins in 6 years. Terry Bradshaw by that time had become the 2 time Super Bowl MVP Hall Famer bound QB finishing his career at a still high level. Bradshaw most surely would have played a few more seasons if not for an elbow injury which hastened his retirement. Bradshaw played in but one game the entire 1983 season, the final one of the year. Terry started and threw the final two touchdown passes of his career during the Steelers 34-7 win against the Jets. A pop in his elbow after a 2nd quarter TD pass signaled the end of his playing career. With Bradshaw’s elbow being a season long problem it gave an opportunity for his back up 5th year pro Youngstown State’s Cliff Stoudt to show his skills. Stoudt played well enough to win 9 games and lead Pittsburgh to the AFC Central crown.
Terry Bradshaw’s 1978 NFL MVP (top) last winning Super Bowl season and Cliff Stoudt’s (bottom) 1983 best NFL season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
16 368 207 56.3 2915 28 20 84.7
16 381 197 51.7 2553 12 21 60.6
As stated before Stoudt led the Steelers to a playoff berth in 1983 were they were soundly beaten by the eventual Super Bowl Champion LA Raiders in the AFC Divisional round 38-10. With both QB’s interceptions were a problem but in the case of Terry Bradshaw there was much more productivity than Stoudt via the TD passes. With any team success (especially in Steel Town) there is a harsh reality from fans when you follow a successful winner at the hot spot of QB, much is expected. In the case of Cliff Stoudt, after a 9-2 start struggled towards the end of the season losing 3 straight games. To right the ship a tender elbowed Bradshaw volunteered to play the regular season finale at Shea Stadium against the Jets. Sometimes great results by both the media and fans are expected and expected quickly. And, also sometimes for some players the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Or in the case of Cliff Stoudt the green was money from another league: The United States Football League. The USFL Birmingham Stallions signed Stoudt to play for them in 1984. For 2 seasons he played quite well for Birmingham throwing for 60 TD passes. But the league itself was unstable. Unfortunately the USFL took the NFL on in court. And congrats to them, they won their lawsuit. What was the USFL winning judgment? One single lonely buck. The new league was done and for the most part so was Stoudt’s career. After stops with the Cardinals and Dolphins it ended in Dallas on their practice squad in 1991.
As the mighty Steeler dynasty was ending by 1980, a new one began in the City by the Bay in San Francisco, CA by 1981. For many seasons before the San Francisco 49ers were called many different things. They were called also rans, bridesmaids all the like. But they were never crowned an NFL champion until the arrival of Bill Walsh. In the beginning no one would have believed this because the 49ers had fallen upon hard times. Everyone knows the story of Walsh coming from Paul Brown’s Cincinnati’s via Don Coryall’s Chargers and the 2-14 record during his 1st season as 49ers head coach in 1979. During that uneventful ’79 season new head coach Walsh was blessed with not just 1 but 2 young QB studs. The incumbent was the 2nd year starter Steve DeBerg, who started 15 of the 16 games in ’79 and threw for over 3600 yards and led the NFL in pass completions. The other quarterback was a rookie who started just one game that season, a week 14 loss against the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams: A 3rd round pick from the University of Notre Dame, Joe Montana. By the 1980 NFL season both Steve DeBerg (9 starts) and Joe Montana (7 starts) were splitting time at QB with each having their ups and downs. Despite winning but 2 games as a starter in ’80 but still leading the NFL in completion percentage with 64.5% the decision made to keep Montana over DeBerg. After the 1980 season the 49ers traded Steve DeBerg (to the Denver Broncos….. remember DeBerg’s name but that’s another story for later) before the start of the 1981 season and named Joe Montana the full time starter at quarterback.
Some possible reasons: Although not blessed with great foot speed or a rocket throwing arm, what Montana did bring to the table was an ability to find the open man and quick feet to avoid the pressure of a pass rush. Something the somewhat stationary Steve De Berg did not have. Another possible reason was the West Coast offense system that Walsh implemented which calls for a more mobile and accurate type of passer. A bigger reason may have been Montana’s ability to coolly bring his team back from seemly insurmountable odds. One of the two games Montana won that 1980 season was a 38-35 win against the Saints with the 49ers trailing 35-7 at the half that may have helped open Walsh’s eyes about Montana’s leadership skills for his very young team. By 1981 the San Francisco 49ers rise to the top was the surprise of the National Football League with a 13-3 mark. Leading the young 49ers into the NFC Playoffs, Montana led San Francisco over the Giants in the 1st round. Now “Americas Team” the battle tested Dallas Cowboys awaited. With a historic Dwight Clark pass from Montana (“The Catch”) now in NFL lore the San Francisco 49ers moved on to Super Bowl XVI. Joe Montana was voted Super Bowl MVP as the 49ers beat Cincinnati 26-2I. A Super Bowl type layover hit the 49ers in 1982 crashing with a 3-6 strike shortened record.
But by 1984 the 49ers again were back on top of the football world by beating the Dan Marino led Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX 38-16. However by the ’86 campaign Joe Montana, after numerous injuries was feeling the effects of years of lingering back pain and his continued excellent play was at that point in question. With that in mind the 49ers made a steal of a deal that would allow them continued success far into the next decade. The victim of the theft: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs drafted their seemly new franchise QB with their 1st pick of the 1987 NFL draft: The University of Miami’s Vinnie Testaverde. Already on the Buccaneers roster at the end of the 1986 season was veteran QB Steve DeBerg (remember him?) and the extremely mobile but still raw University of Brigham Young QB Steve Young. Coach Walsh was so impressed with the athletically gifted Young he traded an 2nd and a 4th rounder for the USFL castoff. With the arrival of Steve Young by 1987 the 49ers had the QB necessary to remain a football dynasty for many more years to come. But Joe Montana by all means wasn’t finished just yet. Montana and the 49ers returned to the Super Bowl winning in back to back seasons in 1988 and 1989. By 1994 San Francisco with Steve Young finally entrenched under center as the starter won Super Bowl XXIX against the San Diego Chargers 49-26.
Here are the stats for Joe Montana’s (top) 1989 last Super Bowl winning NFL season and Steve Young’s (bottom) 1994 NFL Super Bowl winning season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
13 386 271 70.2 3521 26 8 112.4
16 461 324 70.3 3969 35 10 112.8
Looking at both Hall of Famers stats in those Super Bowl winning seasons their numbers are eerily similar in productivity. Montana played just 13 games in 1989 and still averaged 270 passing yards per game. Young (who started slow because of a thumb injury) averaged 248 yards passing in 16 games in 1994. Their completion % is but .1 percentage point difference. And their passing rating is just .4 points apart. And both were voted the NFL MVP in their respective seasons. But as far as their careers were concerned they ended in very different ways. For Joe Montana a pre-season elbow tendon injury before the 1991 season caused him to miss all of 1991 and all but one game of the 1992 season. With Young’s growth and success on the field this effectively ended Joe’s time as a San Francisco 49er starting QB. Sensing the 49ers split in the locker room Joe requested a trade and found new life as a Kansas City Chief in 1993. Along with another reclamation project RB Marcus Allen, Montana led the surprising Chiefs to an AFC Title game appearance and for him another Pro Bowl. In 1994 the 38 year old Montana again led the Chiefs to another playoff berth. But just as in his very 1st NFL start Joe Montana’s NFL career ended with a loss this time in an AFC Wildcard game against the Dolphins 27-17.
While Montana was traded from Candlestick to Arrowhead in the spring of 1993 Steve Young’s career took off. Only the Dallas Cowboys ended their seasons in both the 1992 and 1993 NFC Championship games. By 1994 as Joe’s career was winding down, Steve Young’s was on the rise. He finally overcame the Cowboys for the NFC Title. A Super Bowl record 6 TD passes by the game’s MVP Young soon followed. He like his QB rival Joe Montana had now become both a 49er and NFL icon. The following years for Steve Young were successful statistically for him as he led the NFL in passing in 1996 and 1997. But not for the 49ers team in general, for they have not returned a Super Bowl since the 1994 season. With Young the injuries began to mount up as the years went by. Being an athletic running type of passer Young suffered numerous concussions through out his career. The final career ender for Steve occurred on a Monday Night Football game week 3 encounter against the Cardinals in 1999. Young was forced to retire with post-concussion syndrome. Just like Montana before him, the doors of Canton opened wide for Steve Young making the San Francisco 49ers one of the few teams in NFL history to have two Super Bowl winning QB’s in the Pro Football’s Hall Of Fame.
Coming soon Part 3: Troy Aikman, Aaron Rodgers and ……… The happy sack play in the desert.
Returning to the aforementioned Miami Dolphin dominance during the early part of the decade with 5 playoff seasons in a row and 3 straight Super Bowl appearances (1971- ’72 and ‘73). In the bright Oakland Coliseum sun the run finally concluded for the Fish. During the 1974 AFC Divisional round the two time defending champion Miami Dolphins lost a slugfest to the Oakland Raiders 28-26. When the Raiders QB Kenny Stabler fluttered an 8 yard pass to RB Clarence Davis in the end zone through the Miami “Sea of hands” with just 24 seconds remaining for the winning score, most football experts at the time stated the 1974 AFC Title game was just completed. The powerful Raiders had beaten the back to back Super Bowl Champions Dolphins surely they would easily beat their next opponent at home and go on to Super Bowl IX and become the NFL’s newest dynasty. Who was the “Silver and Black” opponent in that ‘74 AFC Championship game? The young and hungry Steelers of Pittsburgh, PA.
Pittsburgh did do one thing nearly better than any other team during that 1974 season. Their defense was proclaimed “The Steel Curtain” and played great football all season long. But they had a noticeable Achilles heel. For all of the teams who had made the NFL playoffs in 1974 everyone’s perceived strength was considered Pittsburgh’s biggest weakness. That was of course being the Quarterback position. The Steelers QB was in then his 5th year and still could not play with a level of consistency. Their now starting QB had actually lost his job to a 2nd year player early during that same season. Looking back if any one player had a right to have the preverbal “chip” on his shoulder during that time period it should be the Steelers Terry Bradshaw. Although because of his inconsistency at the position most of ills on the field was of his own accord. In telling Bradshaw’s account one must also mention another QB who just may have helped pushed Bradshaw to finally play up to his potential. The casual NFL fan born after 1970 may not recall the colorful name of one Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam, a lanky, rail thin man of color with a powerful arm. The tale of this duel began with Bradshaw joining an up and coming Steelers team in 1970.
Despite being the 1st pick of that year’s NFL draft the rocket armed University of Louisiana blond bomber Terry Bradshaw struggled the first 4 seasons of his career. Bradshaw still led Pittsburgh to 2 straight playoff appearances in 1972 and 1973 but his play at quarterback was continually erratic. By 1974 the Steelers knew were ready to seriously contend for an NFL Championship. But their 5 year quarterback unfortunately Bradshaw still was not. During the ’74 pre-season Steeler Head Coach Chuck Noll had enough of his gifted but frustrating passer. He also knew third year pro Joe Gilliam had the physical skills to compete against Bradshaw while the other vet on the roster (QB Terry Hanratty) did not. Joe beat out Bradshaw and won the starting job. Gilliam played well early. Beginning with the 1974 season opener, a 30-0 win against the Colts (257 yards) then a week 2 35-35 tie against the Broncos (348 yards) Joe Gilliam was the talk of the National Football League. But Gilliam’s success was short lived. An 8 for 31 passing performance for 106 yards during a week 3 (17-0) loss against the Raiders began the slide. Although the Steelers rebounded with wins against Houston, Kansas City and Cleveland Joe’s play was not impressive. Other factors (to be mentioned later in this piece) may have contributed to Joe Gilliam regression but he began to spiral out of control.
Coach Noll, who some later argued did not show the same patience with Jefferson Street Joe (4-1-1 in his starts)after 6 games as he did with the 4 seasons of unpredictable play with Bradshaw soon pulled the plug on the Joe Gilliam experiment. Terry was returned as the starter for the remainder of the season first beating the Raiders in the AFC Title game, then leading Pittsburgh to their 1st Super Bowl victory against Minnesota 16-6. Regarding the Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam story? It’s a sad one with a “What might have been” ending. Substance abuse dogged his brief career in Pittsburgh. After Gilliam received his 2nd Super Bowl ring Coach Noll, growing weary of his personal issues released him in 1975. His NFL career was over. With Gilliam athletic abilities and raw talent maybe Noll used him to push Terry to become a better quarterback in 1974.
By the 1975 season Terry Bradshaw had become a Pro bowl QB. After back to back championship seasons in 1974-’75 and 1978-’79 the Steelers impressive run had ended by 1980. The final total: 4 Super Bowls wins in 6 years. Terry Bradshaw by that time had become the 2 time Super Bowl MVP Hall Famer bound QB finishing his career at a still high level. Bradshaw most surely would have played a few more seasons if not for an elbow injury which hastened his retirement. Bradshaw played in but one game the entire 1983 season, the final one of the year. Terry started and threw the final two touchdown passes of his career during the Steelers 34-7 win against the Jets. A pop in his elbow after a 2nd quarter TD pass signaled the end of his playing career. With Bradshaw’s elbow being a season long problem it gave an opportunity for his back up 5th year pro Youngstown State’s Cliff Stoudt to show his skills. Stoudt played well enough to win 9 games and lead Pittsburgh to the AFC Central crown.
Terry Bradshaw’s 1978 NFL MVP (top) last winning Super Bowl season and Cliff Stoudt’s (bottom) 1983 best NFL season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
16 368 207 56.3 2915 28 20 84.7
16 381 197 51.7 2553 12 21 60.6
As stated before Stoudt led the Steelers to a playoff berth in 1983 were they were soundly beaten by the eventual Super Bowl Champion LA Raiders in the AFC Divisional round 38-10. With both QB’s interceptions were a problem but in the case of Terry Bradshaw there was much more productivity than Stoudt via the TD passes. With any team success (especially in Steel Town) there is a harsh reality from fans when you follow a successful winner at the hot spot of QB, much is expected. In the case of Cliff Stoudt, after a 9-2 start struggled towards the end of the season losing 3 straight games. To right the ship a tender elbowed Bradshaw volunteered to play the regular season finale at Shea Stadium against the Jets. Sometimes great results by both the media and fans are expected and expected quickly. And, also sometimes for some players the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Or in the case of Cliff Stoudt the green was money from another league: The United States Football League. The USFL Birmingham Stallions signed Stoudt to play for them in 1984. For 2 seasons he played quite well for Birmingham throwing for 60 TD passes. But the league itself was unstable. Unfortunately the USFL took the NFL on in court. And congrats to them, they won their lawsuit. What was the USFL winning judgment? One single lonely buck. The new league was done and for the most part so was Stoudt’s career. After stops with the Cardinals and Dolphins it ended in Dallas on their practice squad in 1991.
As the mighty Steeler dynasty was ending by 1980, a new one began in the City by the Bay in San Francisco, CA by 1981. For many seasons before the San Francisco 49ers were called many different things. They were called also rans, bridesmaids all the like. But they were never crowned an NFL champion until the arrival of Bill Walsh. In the beginning no one would have believed this because the 49ers had fallen upon hard times. Everyone knows the story of Walsh coming from Paul Brown’s Cincinnati’s via Don Coryall’s Chargers and the 2-14 record during his 1st season as 49ers head coach in 1979. During that uneventful ’79 season new head coach Walsh was blessed with not just 1 but 2 young QB studs. The incumbent was the 2nd year starter Steve DeBerg, who started 15 of the 16 games in ’79 and threw for over 3600 yards and led the NFL in pass completions. The other quarterback was a rookie who started just one game that season, a week 14 loss against the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams: A 3rd round pick from the University of Notre Dame, Joe Montana. By the 1980 NFL season both Steve DeBerg (9 starts) and Joe Montana (7 starts) were splitting time at QB with each having their ups and downs. Despite winning but 2 games as a starter in ’80 but still leading the NFL in completion percentage with 64.5% the decision made to keep Montana over DeBerg. After the 1980 season the 49ers traded Steve DeBerg (to the Denver Broncos….. remember DeBerg’s name but that’s another story for later) before the start of the 1981 season and named Joe Montana the full time starter at quarterback.
Some possible reasons: Although not blessed with great foot speed or a rocket throwing arm, what Montana did bring to the table was an ability to find the open man and quick feet to avoid the pressure of a pass rush. Something the somewhat stationary Steve De Berg did not have. Another possible reason was the West Coast offense system that Walsh implemented which calls for a more mobile and accurate type of passer. A bigger reason may have been Montana’s ability to coolly bring his team back from seemly insurmountable odds. One of the two games Montana won that 1980 season was a 38-35 win against the Saints with the 49ers trailing 35-7 at the half that may have helped open Walsh’s eyes about Montana’s leadership skills for his very young team. By 1981 the San Francisco 49ers rise to the top was the surprise of the National Football League with a 13-3 mark. Leading the young 49ers into the NFC Playoffs, Montana led San Francisco over the Giants in the 1st round. Now “Americas Team” the battle tested Dallas Cowboys awaited. With a historic Dwight Clark pass from Montana (“The Catch”) now in NFL lore the San Francisco 49ers moved on to Super Bowl XVI. Joe Montana was voted Super Bowl MVP as the 49ers beat Cincinnati 26-2I. A Super Bowl type layover hit the 49ers in 1982 crashing with a 3-6 strike shortened record.
But by 1984 the 49ers again were back on top of the football world by beating the Dan Marino led Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX 38-16. However by the ’86 campaign Joe Montana, after numerous injuries was feeling the effects of years of lingering back pain and his continued excellent play was at that point in question. With that in mind the 49ers made a steal of a deal that would allow them continued success far into the next decade. The victim of the theft: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs drafted their seemly new franchise QB with their 1st pick of the 1987 NFL draft: The University of Miami’s Vinnie Testaverde. Already on the Buccaneers roster at the end of the 1986 season was veteran QB Steve DeBerg (remember him?) and the extremely mobile but still raw University of Brigham Young QB Steve Young. Coach Walsh was so impressed with the athletically gifted Young he traded an 2nd and a 4th rounder for the USFL castoff. With the arrival of Steve Young by 1987 the 49ers had the QB necessary to remain a football dynasty for many more years to come. But Joe Montana by all means wasn’t finished just yet. Montana and the 49ers returned to the Super Bowl winning in back to back seasons in 1988 and 1989. By 1994 San Francisco with Steve Young finally entrenched under center as the starter won Super Bowl XXIX against the San Diego Chargers 49-26.
Here are the stats for Joe Montana’s (top) 1989 last Super Bowl winning NFL season and Steve Young’s (bottom) 1994 NFL Super Bowl winning season
Games Att Comp Pct% Yards TD INT Rating
13 386 271 70.2 3521 26 8 112.4
16 461 324 70.3 3969 35 10 112.8
Looking at both Hall of Famers stats in those Super Bowl winning seasons their numbers are eerily similar in productivity. Montana played just 13 games in 1989 and still averaged 270 passing yards per game. Young (who started slow because of a thumb injury) averaged 248 yards passing in 16 games in 1994. Their completion % is but .1 percentage point difference. And their passing rating is just .4 points apart. And both were voted the NFL MVP in their respective seasons. But as far as their careers were concerned they ended in very different ways. For Joe Montana a pre-season elbow tendon injury before the 1991 season caused him to miss all of 1991 and all but one game of the 1992 season. With Young’s growth and success on the field this effectively ended Joe’s time as a San Francisco 49er starting QB. Sensing the 49ers split in the locker room Joe requested a trade and found new life as a Kansas City Chief in 1993. Along with another reclamation project RB Marcus Allen, Montana led the surprising Chiefs to an AFC Title game appearance and for him another Pro Bowl. In 1994 the 38 year old Montana again led the Chiefs to another playoff berth. But just as in his very 1st NFL start Joe Montana’s NFL career ended with a loss this time in an AFC Wildcard game against the Dolphins 27-17.
While Montana was traded from Candlestick to Arrowhead in the spring of 1993 Steve Young’s career took off. Only the Dallas Cowboys ended their seasons in both the 1992 and 1993 NFC Championship games. By 1994 as Joe’s career was winding down, Steve Young’s was on the rise. He finally overcame the Cowboys for the NFC Title. A Super Bowl record 6 TD passes by the game’s MVP Young soon followed. He like his QB rival Joe Montana had now become both a 49er and NFL icon. The following years for Steve Young were successful statistically for him as he led the NFL in passing in 1996 and 1997. But not for the 49ers team in general, for they have not returned a Super Bowl since the 1994 season. With Young the injuries began to mount up as the years went by. Being an athletic running type of passer Young suffered numerous concussions through out his career. The final career ender for Steve occurred on a Monday Night Football game week 3 encounter against the Cardinals in 1999. Young was forced to retire with post-concussion syndrome. Just like Montana before him, the doors of Canton opened wide for Steve Young making the San Francisco 49ers one of the few teams in NFL history to have two Super Bowl winning QB’s in the Pro Football’s Hall Of Fame.
Coming soon Part 3: Troy Aikman, Aaron Rodgers and ……… The happy sack play in the desert.
The lockout and the "little people" it will affect
By Rafael Garcia
Sr. Contributing Writer-Southeast Region-Football Reporters Online
March 10th 2011
In a perfect world many things would change. War would not exist and and we would live in peace. Politicians would always tell the truth and actually look out for the people they are supposed to serve. The national debt would be no more and everyone would work. Unfortunately, we do not live in that world so we live with the status quo and deal with it. We look for other things to occupy our time. A way to deal with everyday life like the movies and restaurants. We go on vacations and take the kids to Disney World if we can. Some of us have bad habits and some have good ones. On Sundays many of us go to church to worship and then go eat lunch. A whole bunch of us have another habit that creates a fever. It makes your blood boil. It has been known to cause friction between families.
The NFL on Sunday is a ritual that no fan wants to give up. First of all, they spend way too much money to see the game and buy the merchandise. In a perfect football world there would be football all the time. Owners would never cry about more money and they would stop trying to outdo each other. No need for the best stadium equipped with everything except a spaceship. They wouldn't be so filled with the need for money and ask the players to consider an 18 game schedule. Players would honor their contracts until it expires instead of having one good year and demanding the moon. They would play hard every play and every Sunday instead of waiting until their contract year to showcase their skills. Again, we do not live in that perfect football world so we deal with what we get. A bunch of rich owners that want more games to make more money. They will not open their books, which is their right, for the players to see. For most of us the most important thing we want to know is when there will be football again.
One the biggest issues not talked about enough is the little people that will be affected by a lockout. I have spent time at many venues and LP Field has been my stomping grounds the last several years. I have talked to the concession stand workers from time to time. Hey, I get hungry and thirsty for a good old hot dog and a coke like anyone else. I have gotten to know some of the cleanup crew and lent them a hand at times if I was passing by and they needed the help. Then you have the event staff that stands in the aisles checking your tickets. They provide extra security and customer service for the fans. They brave the cold and rain and all other elements of the game. These people do all of this for a paycheck that feeds their families. These paychecks pay the bills a full-time job cannot pay. This is the second job for those that have to work another job. It is these types of little people that could be crushed by a lockout. They do not have a Plan B fast enough to make it by. They cannot tell their kids that the NFL was worried about their little paycheck. That they were only worried about how to get a bigger piece of the pie for themselves. Families will have to find emergency means to get over this. They will ask for a long time to come, why?
Then there is the NFL player that is not making a million dollars a year. Those that have yet to get, or have never gotten the big contract. Statistics show that a big percentage of players do not make the millions of dollars superstars get. What about the bunch of rookies and undrafted free agents that made bottom of the barrel last year? They made purchases like homes, cars and other things based on the salary they thought they would have every week. Now they have to have a Plan B so they can continue to pay for these things and needs.Their families will be affected as well and nobody comes out the winner.
No matter what happens the NFL is treading dangerous waters. Remember what happened to baseball way back when we lost part of the season and the World Series. Imagine Sunday with no football to watch or even worse, no Super Bowl in February. They extended talks for one week like that will make a difference. We can only hope that the heads in charge remember that they do not want to become the first sport the fans make an example out of. That would not be wise or profitable for anyone of the owners making demands. Each side has made their case and no one wants to budge. All we can hope is that sometime sooner than later some form of agreement will be reached. All the fans and the rest of the football world deserve better than this. They deserve football every Sunday and the fight to the finish we know as the NFL.
Imagine a world where fans buy no tickets or merchandise. Imagine a world that has been deprived of football and fans do not show up when it comes back. Imagine a stadium full of players and coaches, but no fans. Imagine college games being played on Sunday afternoon with a prime-time SEC game on top. How about maybe the four letter network get a deal to put on, say ah, Alabama vs. Auburn for a Monday Night Football special? Now imagine a world that has a playoff system instead of the BleepCS? Imagine that folks. I think not, do you?
Sr. Contributing Writer-Southeast Region-Football Reporters Online
March 10th 2011
In a perfect world many things would change. War would not exist and and we would live in peace. Politicians would always tell the truth and actually look out for the people they are supposed to serve. The national debt would be no more and everyone would work. Unfortunately, we do not live in that world so we live with the status quo and deal with it. We look for other things to occupy our time. A way to deal with everyday life like the movies and restaurants. We go on vacations and take the kids to Disney World if we can. Some of us have bad habits and some have good ones. On Sundays many of us go to church to worship and then go eat lunch. A whole bunch of us have another habit that creates a fever. It makes your blood boil. It has been known to cause friction between families.
The NFL on Sunday is a ritual that no fan wants to give up. First of all, they spend way too much money to see the game and buy the merchandise. In a perfect football world there would be football all the time. Owners would never cry about more money and they would stop trying to outdo each other. No need for the best stadium equipped with everything except a spaceship. They wouldn't be so filled with the need for money and ask the players to consider an 18 game schedule. Players would honor their contracts until it expires instead of having one good year and demanding the moon. They would play hard every play and every Sunday instead of waiting until their contract year to showcase their skills. Again, we do not live in that perfect football world so we deal with what we get. A bunch of rich owners that want more games to make more money. They will not open their books, which is their right, for the players to see. For most of us the most important thing we want to know is when there will be football again.
One the biggest issues not talked about enough is the little people that will be affected by a lockout. I have spent time at many venues and LP Field has been my stomping grounds the last several years. I have talked to the concession stand workers from time to time. Hey, I get hungry and thirsty for a good old hot dog and a coke like anyone else. I have gotten to know some of the cleanup crew and lent them a hand at times if I was passing by and they needed the help. Then you have the event staff that stands in the aisles checking your tickets. They provide extra security and customer service for the fans. They brave the cold and rain and all other elements of the game. These people do all of this for a paycheck that feeds their families. These paychecks pay the bills a full-time job cannot pay. This is the second job for those that have to work another job. It is these types of little people that could be crushed by a lockout. They do not have a Plan B fast enough to make it by. They cannot tell their kids that the NFL was worried about their little paycheck. That they were only worried about how to get a bigger piece of the pie for themselves. Families will have to find emergency means to get over this. They will ask for a long time to come, why?
Then there is the NFL player that is not making a million dollars a year. Those that have yet to get, or have never gotten the big contract. Statistics show that a big percentage of players do not make the millions of dollars superstars get. What about the bunch of rookies and undrafted free agents that made bottom of the barrel last year? They made purchases like homes, cars and other things based on the salary they thought they would have every week. Now they have to have a Plan B so they can continue to pay for these things and needs.Their families will be affected as well and nobody comes out the winner.
No matter what happens the NFL is treading dangerous waters. Remember what happened to baseball way back when we lost part of the season and the World Series. Imagine Sunday with no football to watch or even worse, no Super Bowl in February. They extended talks for one week like that will make a difference. We can only hope that the heads in charge remember that they do not want to become the first sport the fans make an example out of. That would not be wise or profitable for anyone of the owners making demands. Each side has made their case and no one wants to budge. All we can hope is that sometime sooner than later some form of agreement will be reached. All the fans and the rest of the football world deserve better than this. They deserve football every Sunday and the fight to the finish we know as the NFL.
Imagine a world where fans buy no tickets or merchandise. Imagine a world that has been deprived of football and fans do not show up when it comes back. Imagine a stadium full of players and coaches, but no fans. Imagine college games being played on Sunday afternoon with a prime-time SEC game on top. How about maybe the four letter network get a deal to put on, say ah, Alabama vs. Auburn for a Monday Night Football special? Now imagine a world that has a playoff system instead of the BleepCS? Imagine that folks. I think not, do you?
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