NFL Strategy

The thing about pretty much any pre-Atari, board-game recreation of football for us stats and records geeks was figuring out a practical, believable solitaire version. The likelihood of having a sibling or next-door neighbor who was equally as mesmerized by the minutiae and had the patience to pile up game after game, season after season of handwritten game records was almost nil. This meant that, if you sought to recreate a league in decades of depth, you quickly realized that you were pretty much on your own.

(The ongoing ramifications of this realization for a 10- to 15-year-old boy is a topic to be tucked away for pondering. For the moment, we're just going to talk about football board games.)

Relative to its predecessors and contemporaries, NFL Strategy leant itself to such a pursuit pretty elegantly.

Monday Morning Football

I'm of the daily-newspaper/network-news/Collier's Encyclopedia school, but I'm adapting to the user-defined, "push," new-media experience. It has been a gradual metamorphosis, not without its fits and stops, but I'm getting there.

For me, Google news alerts and automated Ebay search reports are among the Internet's killerest apps. Every day in my inbox, I find email roundups of news stories with the phrases "former NFL" or "ex-NFL" and new sale descriptions containing the terms "1975," "football" and "cards." Browsing these links today brought a chill.

First, from Ebay, ...

"Up for auction is the complete set of APBA football cards for the year 1975. These cards were kept in a locked chest and are all in mint condition. These were my husbands and he was a sports fanatic. He wrote in the corner of each envelope the year and that teams stats for that particular season. Comes from a smoke free but pet friendly home. Please check out my store for other items that he collected! Thanks for looking."

And, then, by Ken Murray in The Baltimore Sun ...

"Heart surgeon Archie Roberts was speaking on cardiac disease to a group of doctors in 1997 when he felt numbness in his right arm and suddenly stumbled over his words in mid-dissertation. The man who had saved lives with his expertise in cardiology was having a stroke because he didn't follow his own advice and, as a former NFL quarterback, didn't think it could happen to him. It did. In short order, Roberts, 55 years old and 22 pounds over his playing weight of 193, was admitted to Bayshore (N.J.) Hospital with his life-threatening condition. ..."

Well, I've got to get to work, so I'm going to cut this short. But let me just line up the following facts in short order to create a framework for future posts:

• I'm almost 41.
• I've got a great wife and 6-month-old baby girl.
• I love football.
• I've got a closetful of old football board games, cards, books, magazines, notes, kitsch, scraps, crap ...
• Twenty-two pounds?!? That's all?
• I really, really love football.

NFL Films

Thursday, December 02, 2004 4:25 PM

As you know, I've decided to start watching more NFL Films. In the last 24 hours, I've seen about an hour of NFL Films, and they've been wonderful.

And I've made another important decision -- that I need to start studying for these episodes in advance. What happens is that I get stuck following the plot of the show and miss all of the details. If I already knew the plot, then I'd be free to focus on which player missed his block, the stadium signs, etc., instead of getting all caught up in whether or not the featured team wins. (I'm reminded how much richer Simpsons episodes on second and subsequent viewings. If you know how things are going to go, you're free to notice things like the "Krudler" joke.)

So, anyway, tomorrow's episode is the 1968 Baltimore Colts, and so tonight I'm going to spend some time reading about that team.

Now, here are some notes from the two episodes I've seen in the last two days.

I saw an NFL Game of the Week episode, hosted by Ray Scott, about the Oct. 7, 1973, Eagles-Bills game in Buffalo. First, isn't it astounding that a 1973 game between the Eagles and Bills would be considered worthy of Game of the Week status? The big deal here, though, is that Buffalo is 2-1 and tied for the AFC East lead with Miami. Also, the Bills had just drafted stud offensive linemen Joe DeLaimalleure and Paul Seymour in the first round of the last two drafts, so there's probably some thought that Buffalo is a coming power. O.J. Simpson is on pace to break Jim Brown's single-season rushing record, and a rookie, Joe Ferguson, has played himself ahead of Dennis Shaw at quarterback. Philadelphia, then, is of some interest because its new quarterback is former passing champion Roman Gabriel.

The game, at Rich Stadium, is back and forth. In the fourth quarter, Simpson is stopped after one yard on a third-and-2 by Eagles linebacker Marvin McKeever, and then John Leypoldt comes on to kick a 47-yard field goal for a 27-26 lead. Philadelphia comes back down the field, finally stopping the clock with three seconds remaining at the Buffalo 19. (The key play here was an amazing fourth-and-13 conversion where Gabriel throws high into triple coverage and rookie tight end Charley Young outleaps the three Bills defenders for the first-down catch.) On comes Tom Dempsey, who in 1973 looked a lot like I would look today in a skin-tight NFL jersey, and he immediately knows his 26-yard attempt is a miss. Buffalo wins.

A few other things:

-- I guess this must've been the last year of the goal post at the goal line. I don't remember ever seeing a game with it up there, and I think I definitely remember watching some of the 1974 regular season. Anyway, I love the idea of putting the defender back at the goal post to try to jump and block the kick back into the field of play. Hate it that that's illegal today.

-- O.J. was really, really, really great.

-- The Bills had won AFL titles in 1964 and '65 under Lou Saban, so I guess it's understandable that the NFL Films guys might've thought Buffalo was about to move back past Miami in the AFC East. That's only nine years removed from this game.

This morning, I watched a film on the 1968 Oakland Raiders, and I was more in an out with this one. But what an AFL West race that was! Kansas City and Oakland were tied for the division lead with three games to go, and both teams won out to force a playoff. Oakland opened a 21-0 lead -- all on long passes -- and then, in the second quarter, hold the Chiefs to six points despite two drives to inside the Oakland 5 (bad for Stephen). Late in the first half, Fred Biletnikoff catches a short pass, fakes Johnny Robinson and then high steps out of the reach of some lunging defenders for a 28-6 lead, and, ultimately, the Raiders win 41-6. Biletnikoff was a very impressive runner after the catch, and this show reinforces my feeling that Randy Moss is the Biletnikoff of his day.

Incidentally, the Raiders are trailing, 27-23, late against the Jets in the AFL championship and driving. Daryle Lamonica flairs a miserable pass behind a running back trailing out of the backfield, and the Jets recover the fumble to hold on for the win -- and head to the Orange Bowl for the Super Bowl with the Colts. During the offseason, John Madden is named the new head coach of the Raiders.

Delvin Williams

• Born April 17, 1951, in Houston, Texas.
• San Francisco's second-round choice in 1974, played eight seasons with the 49ers, Dolphins and Packers.
  
• “Speed, Inc. Like trying to catch a jet upon takeoff … Set a 49er rushing record with 1,203 yards as he overtook a Jet—Joe “The Jet” Perry … Had back-to-back games of 194 and 180, the latter against Washington when he scored on 80- and 22-yard runs and on a club-record 85-yard pass … On ensuing Monday night game, he WAS the halftime highlights … ‘I’m not what you would call a thinking man’s runner. Everything I do is by instinct’ … Redskins’ linebacker Harold McClinton says Williams is a better back than Walter Payton.”[1]
• “… Talented track star-football player at Kansas, where he graduated—a rarity in the NFL—in four years … Had a rough life growing up … Someone with a head on his shoulders, Williams attends graduate school while playing for the Dolphins …”[2]
• A knee injury reduced his effectiveness at the end of his 1,200-yard 1978 season for the Dolphins. "In one streak of six straight games, (Williams) was called on 28 times to convert a first down with three yards or less to go—and he succeeded 20 of those times."[3] Williams was leading the NFL in rushing, ahead of second-place Earl Campbell, going into the Dolphins’ Week 12 matchup with the Oilers’ on Monday Night Football on Nov. 20, 1978. His 12- and 19-yard runs helped Miami stake a 7-0 lead. His 1-yard touchdown run near the end of the first half made it 14-14. And his 23-yard reverse on third-and-13 in the third quarter led to another game-tying score, at 21-21. But the Oilers lost 35-30, and Williams lost his NFL-rushing lead to Campbell, for good.
• In the July 27, 1981, Sports Illustrated, John Underwood wrote, "Delvin Williams, the premier running back for whom Shula had traded four years ago and who had gone from the penthouse to the doghouse in record time, said he wouldn't be caught dead in a Dolphin uniform again, and demanded a trade. Last year Williams reportedly fell asleep in team meetings; he was subsequently benched for running as if he were asleep. His agent said the sleeping problem was a 'physical' quirk—that Delvin falls asleep in restaurants, too, and 'when he's talking to you on the phone.'"
  
• The running back on Paul Warfield’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel ballot for Dolphins’ all-time team.
• At a Sept. 18, 2007, Gridiron Greats event in Washington, Williams said he spent more than seven years in court with the NFL pursuing $160,000 in retroactive disability payments associated with 16 surgeries. Williams said the NFL sought reimbursement from him for $1.2 million in legal fees.
  
• Inducted into the African American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame on Feb. 9, 2009.
• "After retiring," read a Dec. 2, 2008, African American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame press release, "Williams turned his energy and experience as a professional athlete to helping underprivileged youth by promoting sports and developing drug abuse prevention programs, including founding and running, including founding and serving as executive director of 'Pros for Kids,' which pairs professional athletes and young drug offenders. He organized a consortium of community, private and public sector organizations to create an employment clearinghouse called Jobs for Youth. Williams has also served on the boards of several organizations in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Contra Costa and Alameda counties."
  

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[1] 1977 Edition The Complete Handbook of Pro Football Zander Hollander, ed. (New York: Signet, 1977) 240.

[2] 1980 Season The Complete Handbook of Pro Football Zander Hollander, ed. (New York: Signet, 1980) 106.

[3] The Pocket Book of Pro Football 1979 Herbert M. Furlow, ed. (New York: Pocket Books, 1979) 10.

1978 and '79 Miami Dolphins

The 1978 Dolphins had gone on a three-game win streak to close the regular season in which their defense allowed a total of nine or so points. In the season finale against the Patriots, Bob Griese had pounced on a fumble by halfback Gary Davis. In the ensuing melee, Griese's ribs were bruised, and this injury was apparently severe enough to limit his throwing motion in the playoff loss to Houston. I hate the Patriots. Also, Miami's leading rusher, Delvin Williams, had suffered a knee injury at the end of his 1,200-yard season. Plus:

• "In one streak of six straight games, (Williams) was called on 28 times to convert a first down with three yards or less to go--and he succeeded 20 of those times."[1]
• Garo Yepremian owned a hamburger restaurant.
• Rookie third-string quarterback Guy Benjamin completed six of eight passes for 91 yards and a touchdown during 1978.
• "During '78, the Miami cornerbacks played much deeper than they had in the past--this considered by some as a concession to defensive weakness."[2]
• Cornerback Curtis Johnson, one of my all-time favorite Dolphins and, I think, one of the absolute heroes of the championship seasons, was a vegetarian.

Finally, I just want to point out that Larry Csonka returned to the Dolphins as a free-agent signee on Feb. 22, 1979, and I remember this news being met with total joy by Mom and me. Dad, of course, thought Csonka was through. But, alas, Csonka ran for more than 800 yards in 1979 and scored 13 touchdowns. Then he retired.

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[1] The Pocket Book of Pro Football 1979 Herbert M. Furlow, ed. (New York: Pocket Books, 1979) 10.

[2] The Pocket Book of Pro Football 1979 Herbert M. Furlow, ed. (New York: Pocket Books, 1979) 15.

Bulgaria Month

Following the news of the day out of Bulgaria is not for the faint of heart ... Reuters' Irina Ivanova writes that "Bulgarians are set to punish the Socialists in July" and that "Bulgaria's average monthly salary of about 300 euros ($420) remains the lowest in the EU." Despite the country's poor economy--forecasted by the International Monetary Fund to bottom out this year--versatile Nick Iliev's Sofia Echo reporting indicates that "ATM skimming" is a growing industry.

Of course, following the news of yesterday is pretty grim, too. Check out the Bulgaria exhibit at the Global Museum on Communism, which launched yesterday. Its history section includes these two paragraphs about Bulgaria's "People's Courts," which show up again and again in the Collier's Encyclopedia Yearbook reports from the second half of the 1940s:

"... The next stage of the communist takeover began in December 1944, when the government installed special People’s Courts authorized to prosecute 'fascists.' Similar tribunals were established in every European state that was occupied by or collaborated with Nazi Germany; in Bulgaria, however, the purges were of a magnitude unseen elsewhere. In Hungary or Czechoslovakia individual members of parliaments and governments were indicted – whereas in Bulgaria the government put on trial all members of all governments and all parliaments between 1941 and 1944. Each one of these individuals was sentenced to death – 2800 death sentences overall – and the verdicts were carried out immediately. In contrast, People’s Courts in Hungary handed out 322 death sentences 176 of which were commuted.

"The term 'fascist' was applied to anyone who had opposed the communists in the past or might oppose them in the future. In addition to the judicial and extra-judicial murders, 'fascists' were subjected to imprisonment (the People’s Court sentenced to life imprisonment more than 2,000 defendants), deportations (5,000 families were sent into internal exile), and incarceration (by the end of 1945 approximately 10,000 people languished in concentration camps). ..."

Bulgaria Month, June 16

Here begins what is for me the most stunning sentence of Bulgaria Month proceedings thus far: European Social Survey (ESS) reports that more than half of Bulgarians feel unsafe to walk through their neighborhoods at night.

In other happy news of the day, 80 schools are closing, and 1,500 teachers are losing their jobs. And the first "Intercontinental Round" weekend of World League men's volleyball went badly for the Bulgarians.