Center Ice
Just an observation and not a permanent part of this column. In 1990, the
worth of Canadian franchises was about $4 mil more than American franchises.
In 1991, that turned into a $2 mil deficit and that gap has increased from
$4 mil, $7 mil, $13 mil, $16 mil and $21 mil over the last 7 years.
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The Sidelines
Have to laugh about the "America's Team" in Green Bay. You see, my sister
married a Packer fan and he's just so convinced (as are many of the fans
and the players) that GB is the center of the universe that it's hard for
him (them) to believe otherwise. Green Bay's appearances on TV nationally
were all rated lower than the Cowboys and their Super Bowl appearances
have been nothing to write home about. Their appearance this year was
called "The highest rated Super Bowl since 1987 NOT involving the Dallas
Cowboys." In the last 10 years, the two Packers appearances are 4th and
5th highest, however; they are only the 13th and 18th highest of all-time
(among 32 Super Bowls) and their other appearances are 30th and 32nd. The
Cowboys last 3 appearances have resulted in the 9th, 11th and 12 highest
ratings and they have 2 other appearances in the top 10 and 5 overall
in the Top 15 (Compared to GB's 0 and 1 in each category). Talk about
SHARE and the top 4 appearances involve Dallas and 5 of the top 10
involve Dallas (Pittsburgh is also high on this list. 2 of their 3
games against Dallas are in the top 5 and their third game against the
Pokes also made the Top 10. An appearance against Minnesota gave them
4 games in the Top 10).
If it were NOT for the Broncos, the game would have been one of the lowest
rated in the last 10 years (Probably of all time). The game was in the very
low 40s in the 1st quarter, despite it being a close game and it barely
inched up in the 2nd quarter. It wasn't until after the 3rd and 4th quarter
that the game managed to be respectable and if it wasn't for Denver's
victory, the game wouldn't have been rated better than last year. Let's not
forget that the game last year was close AND still in doubt for a LONG
time (Dismal Howard's KO return for a touchdown came with 3 minutes left
in the 3rd quarter). If Green Bay had won this game, NBC would have had
a lot more to cry about than just losing the NFL (BTW, their appearances
in the NFC championship sans Dallas have also been significantly lower
than those involving Dallas).
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Who is the greatest, Barry Sanders or Jim Brown? As much as I like Jim,
I've gotta go with Barry. I'll give you that Jim was a brutal runner and
in his day, the greatest of his era, however; let's not forget that he
brutalized defensive linemen that were on the average, 14 to 20 lbs heavier
than him while Barry has done it against defensive linemen who are between
70 to 100 lbs heavier.
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Looks like Carroll needs to make sure that his kicker is in great condition
now that Ernie Zampese has joined his staff as offensive coordinator.
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One thing that we can look forward to is the fact that Al Davis WILL NOT
sign another MVP bust as Terrell Davis is signed for a while (but could
get an adjustment in his contract).
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One two pointer and we would have had identical scores for the Pro Bowl
and the Super Bowl.
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Isn't it ironic that when NBC loses the AFC, the AFC finally wins? BTW,
NBC had as good a Super Bowl as they've ever had. I will miss Dick Enberg
calling the games as he made even boring games sound exciting.
The Baseline
What makes me laugh is talk of Kevin Willis being the MVP for the Rockets.
What fool came up with that one? The Rockets are floundering all over the
place without Olajuwon and when they DO win, it's because of Barkley not
Willis. The way that Barkley's night goes has far more impact on whether
the Rockets win or lose than what Willis does.
When the Rockets won several years back, they had two things going for
them: Chicago was weakened at guard one year and at power forward the
year AND they had a team very similar to the Bulls - a superstar and
a bunch of players that would do most of the dirty work. When they
fell to the seduction of "More is better" and they chucked the heart
and soul of the team for the Chuckster, they gave up their chances of
winning a championship (Anyone that needs a hard lesson in this should
look back at the Lakers in the '60s). When they all came together, I
said that it was a mistake because there were two many OLD men and that
they'd pay the price because of age (Also adding Price into the mix
because of his injury possibilities). Olajuwon, Drexler and Barkley
have missed games and when that has happened, the team has suffered.
Because they're not going to get any younger, the Big 3's chances were
at their best in their first year together and now --- forget it. It's
time for them to start picking up the pieces and prepare for what will
be the inevitable retirement of the Big 3 within the next couple of
years.
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I have to laugh at David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, who claims
that Rodman sabotaged his chances of making the All-Star game by his
behavior. Whether the coaches want to admit it or not, Rodman wasn't
going to make the All-Star team and all this did was give them an out
before they had to put it to a vote.
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Cleveland is puttering around at the same pace as last year and just
like last year, they're heading for another shock. The teams that
they're ahead of are on the edge of turning it around and Cleveland
CAN'T improve. Milwaukee, Detroit and Washington all have designs
on making the playoffs and at least two of them will pass the Cavs.
                                ****
I'm sorry, Danny but if anyone deserves to be on the All-Star team
and isn't, it's Stephon Marbury and NOT Jason Kidd. I thought it
was a very close call between Marbury and Van Exel and even though
I'm a Lakers' fan, I was pulling for Marbury.
                                ****
Christian Laettner is taking a beating from the same people who were
praising him last year and yet, his stats are about the same as last
year (His scoring is down because he's taking fewer shots). The REAL
problem has been injuries and the fact that they no longer guys like
James on their bench.
                                ****
I'm sorry but O'Neal NEEDS to get his act together with his free throw
shooting. Make all the excuses you want for him, however; the fact
remains -- he will LOSE the Lakers the championship more than he will
win it if he doesn't start paying attention to that part of his game.
--- TrekEd 1.00
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