The dynasty Jimmy Johnson built in Dallas defined the NFL for the first half of the 1990s. The big breakthrough came when the 1991 Dallas Cowboys got into the playoffs for the first time under Johnson and the first time for the franchise since 1985. Johnson took over the team in 1989 and a bad […]
The good run the Cleveland Browns enjoyed through the latter part of the 1980s had come to a crashing end with a disastrous 1990 season. That meant it was time for a coaching change and the Browns hit the jackpot—they hired a New York Giants assistant by the name of Bill Belichick. In turn, Belichick […]
It was during the midst of ESPN’s Tuesday Big Ten game, with Purdue putting the screws to Wisconsin, that TV analyst Dan Dakich, began talking about the network’s next game, Kentucky-South Carolina. Dakich said that this was about the quietest Kentucky team in years. I pondered it and thought how little I’d heard about the […]
This is a year of great expectation for the Michigan State basketball team, even by the standards of a program that has become accustomed, under Tom Izzo, for having high expectations. But after three straight shaky games—two decisive losses and one narrow escape, it’s fair to ask why Sparty is struggling and if it’s a […]
In the wake of Stefon Diggs’ stunning walkoff touchdown that enabled the Minnesota Vikings to beat the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the question immediately arose from a friend of mine—is this the craziest ending to an NFL playoff game we’ve ever seen? GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS Start reading today. I went to the archives and […]
Alabama’s 26-23 overtime win over Georgia last night to win the College Football Playoff has been granted immediate status as an “instant classic.” Where does this game rank in the larger pantheon of the best college football national championship games. In this article, we’ll lay out the historical context and then try to place ‘Bama-Georgia […]
There were a lot of fun things you could take away from the run of college bowl games that just completed last night and set the stage for next Monday’s national championship game, but none of them get at the gut-level issue tugging at the strings of college football’s postseason. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS Start […]
The city of Los Angeles has waited a long time for a Super Bowl team. The last time an L.A.-based team reached a Super Bowl was the Raiders in 1983. While the Rams made it a couple times during their St. Louis stay, they haven’t done it in their natural home of Los Angeles since […]
When I look at a quarterback’s stats, my eyes shoot to three categories—completion percentage, yards-per-completion and interception percentage. In those three stats, I can see quickly if they’re hitting their throws, how much damage their doing and whether or not mistakes are being made. This morning, I decided it was time to sit down and […]
Life had good for the football fans of Iowa City over the past decade. Hayden Fry led the Iowa program to a breakthrough Rose Bowl trip in 1981. The Hawkeyes went there again in 1985, and then a third time in 1990. The 1991 Iowa football team didn’t quite make Pasadena, but they were still […]
The Colorado football program was on its greatest high coming into the 1991 season. They had played in the Orange Bowl for the national championship following both the 1989 and 1990 seasons. Each time they faced Lou Holtz’s Notre Dame and in the most recent matchup, had emerged with a victory. In the aftermath of […]
Alabama alum Gene Stallings returned to his school in 1990 as head coach, with a mandate to restore the glory days of Bear Bryant, whom Stallings had played for. The first season was iffy—even though the Crimson Tide got a Fiesta Bowl bid, they had lost four regular season games and then got crushed by […]
