Blanda

[magicnight]

For you youngsters out there, this post might fall into the category of \"the olds telling you once again how much better things were back in the day\", and maybe that\'s true. But, I must say, if you were around to see the five week run of \"The George Blanda Show\" in 1970 ( http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/george-blanda-made-middle-age-cool/?ref=football ), well, you would have been amazed. There was nothing like it previously, and there hasn\'t been anything like it since. For five consecutive weeks, a guy who looked like he should have been watching the games from a La-Z-Boy was, in fact, the hero of the all five games.

If you don\'t believe me, I\'ll bet PDub will back me up 100%.

[jbelfior]

I remember and confirm.

A one man show in the days when it felt as if every Sunday at 4 Eastern it was Chiefs-Raiders on NBC with Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis.

Great days indeed. Now you have the choreographed NFL where MNF might as well be Monday Night Raw.


Good Luck,
Joe B.

[moosepalm]

They used to have some tough old buzzards playing quarterback, and Blanda was one of them.  Bobby Layne was another.  So was Norm Van Brocklin.  Then you had guys like Billy Kilmer who looked like they came to the game straight from the bar.

[FrankD.]

George was a classic and I do remember the 5 week run.

He was also a regular at the Chicago tracks, I used to see him there quite a bit in the 80\'s.

[Flighted Iron]

It is estimated that Leroy \"Satchel\" Paige was born on July 7, 1906. The mere idea that his birthday is an estimate provides perfect evidence to the mystery that was Satchel Paige. In 1965, 60 years after Paige\'s supposed birthday, he took the mound for the last time, throwing three shutout innings for the Kansas City Athletics.

Joe DiMaggio called Satchel Paige \"the best and fastest pitcher I\'ve ever faced\"

[magicnight]

Flighted, that reminds me of Ty Cobb when he was asked how he would fare against today\'s pitchers. His answer surprised the interviewer, who followed up with \"only .300?\".

\"Well\", Cobb said, \"you have to remember that I\'m 73.\"

[P-Dub]

magicnight Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For you youngsters out there, this post might fall
> into the category of \"the olds telling you once
> again how much better things were back in the
> day\", and maybe that\'s true. But, I must say, if
> you were around to see the five week run of \"The
> George Blanda Show\" in 1970 (
> http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/geor
> ge-blanda-made-middle-age-cool/?ref=football ),
> well, you would have been amazed. There was
> nothing like it previously, and there hasn\'t been
> anything like it since. For five consecutive
> weeks, a guy who looked like he should have been
> watching the games from a La-Z-Boy was, in fact,
> the hero of the all five games.
>
> If you don\'t believe me, I\'ll bet PDub will back
> me up 100%.

Magic,

Fond memories of Raiders football back in the 70\'s. I was 7 years old in 1970 and with the A\'s remarkable run at the same time, I was an extremely fortunate Bay Area sports fan.  My father had connections for tickets, and we went to almost every Raider game until they left, as well a 60 or so A\'s games a year.  

My father worked for a meat company, and they would eat and drink before the games.  I just wanted to eat something and head inside. So, after I had a bite to eat my father would give me a buck to buy the game magazine and my game ticket and off I went 2 hours before kickoff. Lower end zone seats, I would watch the offensive linemen warm up, watch Ray Guy skyrocket punts in warmups. I remember it like it was yesterday.

That George Bland run was magical. I can still hear Bill King, the most underrated broadcaster in history, incredulously describing the game winning kicks..especially the 52 yarder.  I still cringe thinking about Buck Buchanan planting him head first into the turf. Tough SOB was Blanda.

No words can adequately describe how great this man was.  Maybe my friend Richie Bee can write something befitting a man of his stature. Magic had it right, nobody before or since has done what he did. Coming the day after that tough loss made for a particularly stinging bit of bad news.

Very fortunate to say I saw one of the all time greatest players in NFL history perform. RIP to a true legend.

[hooper]

Nice video highlight package with comments from Madden and Davis for those too young to remember.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6JpVipO-p0

[Silver Charm]

I remember it like it was yesterday myself. I loved the Raiders! These games made the NFL the most popular sport over baseball in my mind.

The Heidi game, Blanda\'s miracle finishes almost every week. The traditional NFC was still in the dark ages. The \"I guarantee it\" Super Bowl!

Blanda got cut by the Bears and spent a year out of football. He won the league MVP and played the entire season as a backup! The 50 yard winning kicks were straight on style out of near bare dirt.

I\'ll never forget Hank Stram coach of the Chiefs ytaking the tallest guy he had putting on the goal line in front of the goal posts with the idea of volleyball swatting a potential winning kick away. Blanda from 50+ cleared his fingers by inches.....

Post Edited-Just read that Blog. There is a lot of what I just wrote in that story. All I can say is my first sentence was \"I remember it like it was yesterday mtself.\"