Friday, January 23, 2015

NFL: Super Bowls I Until XLIX; Broncos, the New & the Old // NBA, Standings & “Standing Still.”


sports-notebook.blogspot.com . . . // FOR MORE ANALYSIS, GO TO "MILE HIGH SPORTS RADIO," AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team---milehighsports.com.. . SPORTS NOTEBOOK now posts its columns on Friday of each week. . . Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.
NFL--- IT began in 1967 with Green Bay defeating Kansas City, 25-10. The Packers were hot in the 1960’s, taking Super Bowl II away from Oakland the following year, 33-14, though Green Bay did not win another Super Bowl until 1997, Super Bowl XXXI, defeating New England, 35-21.
Green Bay also won Super Bowl XLV (2011) against Pittsburgh, 31-25.
But the most prolific Super Bowl winner since 1967, that’s the Pittsburgh Steelers, achieving six victories---Super Bowls IX and X (1965, 76), Super Bowls XIII and XIV (1979, 80), Super Bowl XL (2006) and Super Bowl XLIII (2009).
And from competing at Super Bowl XXX and losing to Dallas (1996), plus to Super Bowl XLV and losing to Green Bay (2011), Pittsburgh can boast of having the most Super Bowl appearances, “eight.”
Also, while six teams have won the Super Bowl two years straight, Pittsburgh is the only NFL franchise to win back-to-back Super Bowls twice. . . the five other back- to-back Super Bowl winners are Green Bay, San Francisco, Dallas, Denver and New England.
Here are some other Super Bowl facts---
No losing Super Bowl team has given away more than the 55 points from Denver to San Francisco, Super Bowl XXXIV (1990);
In only seven of the 48 Super Bowls held to date has a losing franchise failed to accrue fewer than double-digit points, the lowest among losing teams being three points, Super Bowl VI (1972) Miami losing to Dallas, 24-3.
Since year 2000, all Super Bowl winning teams finished with more than 20 points, the high win of the period occurring at Super Bowl XXXVII (2003), Tampa Bay over Oakland, 48-21.
The only team to reach the Super Bowl four years in a row and lose each year, that’s the AFC East’s Buffalo Bills, 1991 through 1994, losing to the N.Y. Giants, Washington and twice to Dallas.
During year 2000 and the present, New England reached the Super Bowl four times, winning three, two of the wins back-to-back---first, Super Bowl XXXVI (2002) against St. Louis, 20-17, then Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004), defeating Carolina, 32-29 and Super Bowl XXXIX (2005), beating Philadelphia, 24-21, next losing to the N.Y. Giants, Super Bowl XLII (2008), 17-14. . . Note that in each of the four N.E. Patriot Super Bowl contests starting 2002, the final difference between teams was three points.
Pittsburgh, the N.Y. Giants and Baltimore are three teams that have won two Super Bowls each since year 2000. That’s six Super Bowl victories of 15 Super Bowl matches. Add New England’s three Super Bowl wins and the total is nine of 15 Super Bowl games won by four franchises since Y2K. Of course, the Seattle Seahawks, NFL-2014’s NFC championship team, is hoping to be number five, while NFL-2014’s AFC Championship team, New England, is hoping to be first to win four in the time-frame at Super Bowl XLIX next month. Seattle won Super Bowl XLVIII last February, defeating the Denver Broncos, __-__.
Broncos---THERE are numerous quips for when it seems that all is about to change, some negative, others positive. Among the darkest there’s, “The names and faces change but the Con, the Con stays the same.” Then there’s, “Among the Devil’s best tricks is his ability to convince you that things can really be different.,” and, “Nothing ever changes, the beat goes on, as it is now.” In the National Football League, the Denver Broncos proved how wrong the dark quips can be when former Broncos QB, John Elway, became top man re. Broncos football operations and helped to bring in John Fox as Head Coach and Peyton Manning as the team’s QB, this after a sad turn with long-time Broncos HC, Mike Shanahan, going stale and his replacement unable to live up to expectations. With Fox as HC, the Broncos won the AFC West three years straight, thus to playoffs each of his years with the Broncos, and the Super Bowl XLVIII.
But the Broncos were eliminated during this year’s playoffs and so no Super Bowl that the Broncos front office and Denver fans were sure would be theirs to win.
“Sorry, John, we’ve a difference in outlook,” is what the intent of conversation was on firing day, quiet, respectful.
Fox is now the Chicago Bears HC, and from Baltimore to the Broncos as HC it’s Gary Kubiak, former Broncos QB.
The big question, then, is, “Will Kubiak be able to accomplish what John Fox couldn’t? Will he take the Broncos all the way in 2015, the Broncos front and center at the fiftieth Super Bowl?
Of course, the question cannot be answered with one hundred percent certainty, certainly not by any stat and computer whiz, not by any NFL analyst of the highest order, nor by any sportswriter, and surely not by any member of the Broncos organization, although informed guesses can be made and many have been.
Yes, Kubiak isn’t an unknown quantity, he’s been with the Broncos in the past, his reputation as offense coordinator at Baltimore has been superb.
Still, any person in a new job and away from a team for several years isn’t the same individual that he or she was prior to the new gig. Too, the team that Kubiak will be coaching isn’t the same team that he was with years back, except in name and location. Make no mistake, “We are all new at the new, everyone of us. So, too, the challenges we face almost every day.”
Still, experience gives us a better shot at succeeding, and Kubiak has this, and the Broncos offense might once again have Peyton Manning afield. The Broncos can surely have a better chance than most franchises for an appearance at Super Bowl number 50. You can’t set aside a team that finished NFL-2014 at 12-4, most of it’s A and B lists returning for NFL-2015.
Too, what may seem to some as near-future assistant coach packaging that will need more than a single season to deliver superbly will, given today’s candidates, be of deep experience that can lead to development of innovative tactics and help improve skills for the rushing strategy that didn’t seem to exist during the Broncos recent playoff loss, and for the defense that has be a lot more seamless, more mobile and more physically aggressive to prevail against teams such as those that will be competing at Super Bowl XLIX, the Patriots and the Seahawks, likely to be the toughest competition during NFL- 2015 playoffs.
NBA---THE teams that in each of the six NBA divisions are holding first and second slots are the same as those that held those positions more than two weeks ago, without any of the second place holders gaining significantly toward being number one. The Western Conference Northwest’s 31-12 Portland Trail Blazers are eight games up on the Oklahoma City Thunder, the WC’s 30-12 Memphis Grizzlies are still atop the Dallas Mavericks by a game, and the WC Pacific’s 34-6 Golden State Warriors are above the L.A. Clippers by seven. As of today, and as it was more than two weeks ago, the 34-6 Warriors are also the WC’s number one franchise.
Inside the Eastern Conference, the EC Atlantic’s 27-15 Toronto Raptors are leading second place team, the Brooklyn Nets, by nine wins, the EC Southeast’s 35-8 Atlanta Hawks are six above the Washington Wizards, and the ECs Central’s 28-16 Chicago Bulls are four wins atop the Cleveland Cavaliers. . . Leading the EC, and also the entire NBA, are the 35-8 Hawks, two weeks agon one win behind the then 26-5 Warriors.
But while a status quo is being maintained at the top of the six divisions, there have been changes at the bottom, for example, the EC Southeast’s 18-25 Bobcats have moved to fourth place from last, the 15-30 Orlando magic now the EC Southeast’s last, and the EC Central’s 15-29 Indiana Pacers dropped to last, replacing now fourth place team, the 17-26 Detroit Pistons.
Two NBA teams are still owners of the least number of wins, both with an embarrassing seven wins of more than 40 games played to date, the WC Northwest’s last place 7-34 Minnesota Timberwolves, and the EC Atlantic’s last place team, the 7-36 N.Y. Knicks.
Among third position holders, the WC Southwest’s 29-14 Houston Rockets have been the only team to show possibility of early advancement, being just a win below second place team, the Dallas Mavericks. All other third place holders are seven or more behind second place teams.
The only fourth position team of either NBA conference with only single-digit games behind a first place team is the WC Southwest’s 27-17 San Antonio Spurs.
The WC Southwest is the NBA’s only division with all five of its teams at .500 or above .500, last place N.O. Pelicans being 21-21.
END/ml

No comments:

Post a Comment