The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Super Bowl XXV “Wide Right”

Posted on January 29, 2011 by thesportsarchives

It was to become one of the defining moments in Super Bowl  history.  The closing moments to one of the tightest Super Bowl games ever played.  Super Bowl XXV, played on January 27, 1991,  had the Buffalo Bills favored by 7 over the New York Giants.

Buffalo was up 12-10 at halftime, but the Giants used over 9 minutes of the third quarter and closed out the drive with a touchdown to go up 17-12.  The Bills regained the lead, 19-17, on first play of the fourth quarter, but the Buffalo defense could only stop the Giants at the Bill’s 3 yard line after another long drive by New York of over 7 minutes.  Matt Bahr kicked the field goal to put the Giants up once again 20-19.

The Giants defense held tough and Buffalo only managed to drive to New York’s 29 yard line with just 8 seconds remaining in the game.  That set the stage for Scott Norwood to live the pressure of every field goal kicker’s dream… or nightmare…kicking the field goal to win the Super Bowl in the closing moments of the game.  Norwood had not had a good history of field goal completions from over 40 yards on grass, just 1 of 5.  He made sure he had the distance when he kicked it, but was slightly off the mark – “wide right”.

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – NFL’s “The Catch”

Posted on January 26, 2011 by thesportsarchives

One of the greatest moments in NFL sports history was a clutch play made by the San Francisco 49ers during the 1982 NFC Championship game.

The Dallas Cowboys were battling the 49ers in an evenly played match and were up 17-14 at halftime.  Dallas found themselves down after the third quarter, 21-17, but took the lead back late in the fourth, 27-21.  That set the stage for the 49ers comeback drive led by Joe Montana. San Francisco started at their own 11 and pushed the Dallas defense back to their 6-yard line.  It was third down and three with 58 seconds left in the game when Montana rolled out of the pocket to his right.  He looked in the end zone only to see all his receivers in tight coverage.  Feeling the ominous presence of Ed “Too Tall” Jones and a few other Cowboys baring down on him, he pump-faked to stall Jones just enough to loft a ball over him into the back of the end zone where Dwight Clark was supposed to be and was!  Clark jumped to the sky to retrieve the ball brought it down and put the 49ers in the lead for good.

This play was recorded in the sports archives of NFL history as “The Catch”.

See “The Catch”.

The Catch

Dwight Clark goes up for "The Catch".

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Super Bowl XXXIV “One Yard Short”

Posted on January 22, 2011 by thesportsarchives

It was to become one of the greatest moments in sports history.  The final play of Super Bowl XXXIV between the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans would decide if the Titans would
once again pull off a miracle in their successful playoff run.  We all remember the “Music City Miracle”; could Tennessee achieve another during the same playoffs?

The Rams were up 23-16 when the Titans called their final timeout with just 6 seconds remaining.  They needed 10 yards for the touchdown.  The Titans had the play all setup, tight end Frank Wycheck would make a straight run to the end-zone with the intention of moving linebacker Mike Jones towards him and away from wide receiver Kevin Dyson who would run a slant towards the end zone on the same side.  The idea was to pass to Dyson at or just before the goal line and hope for the catch and his momentum to drive him over for the score.

As the play started, Dyson was in motion and faked a run across the scrimmage with the attempt to shake up the defense.  The play was executing flawlessly, however, Mike Jones, using his peripheral vision saw what was happening and just got over in time to grab on to Dyson’s legs after the catch and prevent the leap to the end-zone.  Dyson’s attempt to stretch his arm with the ball in his hand across the goal was futile and the photographer’s snapped up the opportunity to prove on Tennessee’s disappointment.

Time ran out,  and the play stands in the sports archives to be known as “One Yard Short”.  The play is also known as “The Tackle” in which Mike Jones tried to copyright.

One Yard Short

"One Yard Short"

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Tennessee Titans “Music City Miracle”

Posted on January 21, 2011 by thesportsarchives

In probably one of the greatest Wild Card Playoff games in NFL sports archives history, on January 8, 2000, the Tennessee Titans pulled out a squeaker over the Buffalo Bills by executing a kickoff return play, flawlessly, in the closing 16 seconds to win in front of their hometown “Music City” fans!

The Bills had come back from a 12-0 deficit and took the lead 13-12.  The Titans regained the lead 15-13 with 1:48 remaining in the game.  Once again, the Bills drove down field and took back the lead, 16-15 on a 41-yard field goal with 16 seconds left.

This set the stage for what is called the “Music City Miracle”. The ensuing kickoff was received by Titans’ Lorenzo Neal who handed the ball off to tight end Frank Wycheck.  Wycheck began running to his right, stopped, looked left and controversially threw a lateral of the ball to wide receiver Kevin Dyson. Dyson didn’t look back and needed only to beat the kicker in order to secure the victory, 22-16, for the Titans!

The play was practiced and named the “Home Run Throwback” by the Titans, but it made sports history as the “Music City Miracle”!

More about the “Music City Miracle”.

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Super Bowl’s Youngest Winning Quarterbacks

Posted on January 20, 2011 by thesportsarchives

As of January 20, 2011, the sports archive for the youngest winning quarterback in Super Bowl sports history goes to Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Roethlisberger was 23 years old when he led the Steelers over the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10 in Super Bowl XL in 2006.

The 21st Century also brought to us, Tom Brady, now the second youngest quarterback to win the Super Bowl, who in 2002,  led the New England Patriots over the favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI at age 24.

Before this decade, we had to go back to 1982 for Super Bowl XVI and 1969 for Super Bowl III when Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers and Joe Namath of the New York Jets beat their opponents, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Colts, respectively, at the young age of 25 years and 227 days old.  That’s right, they were the same age when they won their first Super Bowl!

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The Sports Archives Greatest Rivalries – Tennis Siblings

Posted on January 19, 2011 by thesportsarchives

Who can write a sports archives blog about sibling rivalry in tennis without mentioning Serena and Venus Williams? The Williams sisters have pushed their own limits as well as each others buttons for the longest time, both growing up and in tournament play.

It seems Serena has been the underdog to her big sister Venus in the early years losing to her in a junior tournament at 9 years old and then having lost 5 of their first 6 professional matches. However, the turnabout happened in 2002 and Serena beat Venus in the French Open, at Wimbledon and the US Open. Serena ranked #1 and Venus ranked #2 in late 2002. That must have been some Thanksgiving at the Williams house!

We go back to 1884 when another pair of sisters, Lillian and Maud Watson battled each other in the first Wimbledon women’s final. Maud felled her sister in three sets. William Renshaw took bragging rights in his family having beat his brother Ernest in the Wimbledon finals of 1882, 1883 and 1889.

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The Sports Archives – Venus Williams Wins In Style

Posted on January 18, 2011 by thesportsarchives

What caught fans eyes yesterday at the Australian Open was not that it was Venus Williams who was playing nor the fact that she won 6-3, 6-2, but rather the fact that so much of her talent was revealed.  Not of course by just the fact that she won when she was up against Sara Errani but rather based on the fact that her tennis outfit was even more revealing than ever.  In fact, she has come to be known for sporting such revealing outfits such as when she wore her extremely flashy dress at the New York 2010 US Open or when she wore her can-can dress last year at this same Australian Open.

But perhaps Ms. Williams believes she is entitled to wear such eye-catching outfits since she knows that she is ranked as the World No. 5 in Singles and the World No. 5 in doubles.  Clearly, despite her taste in clothes she is still known as one of the world’s top women tennis players and she clearly played up to her reputation at the Open yesterday.  In addition to this, Ms. Williams has also won three Olympic Gold Medals, one for women’s singles and two Gold Medals for women’s doubles.  She has even more brag rights, having earned more Olympic Gold Medals than any other female tennis player.

O.K. Venus.  I guess you have earned the right to strut your stuff.  Revealing outfit or not, she clearly kept true to her image at the Australian Open yesterday and showed what a truly amazing women tennis player she is.

More of Venus Williams here.

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The Sports Archives Greatest Upsets – Islanders beat Penguins in 1993 Playoffs

Posted on January 17, 2011 by thesportsarchives

It was the 1992-93 NHL hockey season and the Pittsburgh Penguins were dominating play.  Mario Lemieux was top scorer and season MVP.  The New York Islanders came into the playoffs 32 points behind Pittsburgh but upset the Washington Capitals in the division semi-finals 4 – 2.    That set the stage for an Islander – Penguin showdown for the division finals after Pittsburgh glided by the New Jersey Devils.

Pittsburgh had the big guns with Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis. However, the Islanders’ hot goaltending from Glenn Healy and a combined overall work effort from all four lines saw the Islanders tied with the Penguins going into game 7 overtime!  Then, out of nowhere, on a 2 on 1 break, unsung hero David Volek scores the winning goal at 5:16 of overtime stifling the Pittsburgh arena and the Penguins’ hopes of winning the Stanley Cup.

The Islanders fizzled out against their next opponent, the Montreal Canadiens who eventually went on to win the Stanley Cup.

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The Sports Archives Greatest Moments – Boxing’s “The Fighter” Micky Ward

Posted on January 15, 2011 by thesportsarchives

The movie, “The Fighter”, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale is about the life and times of former junior welterweight boxer, “Irish” Micky Ward.

Ward started his career out strong, winning his first 14 fights, but then took time off after losing 4 consecutive bouts.   After surgery on Ward’s right hand, his half-brother and former boxer, Dicky Eklund (played by Christian Bale) convinced Ward to go back into the ring, during a time when Eklund was experiencing his own personal trauma.

Ward’s return to boxing was a success and it set the stage for what would become three of the most tenacious fights against evenly matched Arturo Gatti. The fights were so intense that both men required trips to the hospital.  Ward managed to win the first of the trilogy, however, Gatti was victorious in the last two.  All were won by decision despite knockdowns by both boxers!

Sugar Ray Leonard, who beat Dicky Eklund in a unanimous decision in 1978, makes a cameo appearance.

The Fighter

"The Fighter" Theatrical Poster

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The Sports Archives History Lesson – Rocket Richard Riot

Posted on January 12, 2011 by thesportsarchives

The anglophone and the francophone have shared a history in Canadien hockey.  Perhaps in the 1950s, there was more of a rivalry then one cared to notice.  The francophone Maurice “The Rocket” Richard did more than score goals, he also amassed many penalty minutes for his rough style of play.  Consequently, he was handed down many fines and suspensions from the NHL President and anglophone, Clarence Campbell, as disciplinary action.

On March 13, 1955, in a game between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, Richard injures a Bruin in deliberate fashion and punches a linesman.  Campbell responds harshly, suspending Richard for the rest of the season.  This causes quite a stir because Richard was seeking to win the scoring title and the Canadiens were in first place seeking another Stanley Cup.

Well, Campbell must have had a death wish, because he goes and attends the next Montreal home game at the Montreal Forum and that was just too much for the Habs.  They throw food at him and a riot ensues inside and outside the Forum, complete with looting and tear gas.  So goes the “Rocket Richard Riot” of St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1955.

More about “The Rocket” and the riot here.

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