The 1991 Atlanta Braves were a franchise in a major funk. They hadn’t been relevant since Joe Torre managed the club in the early 1980s, reaching the NLCS in 1982 and contending to the final weekend of 1983. The latter part of the decade was considerably different. The Braves lost 106 games in 1988 and […]
The 1991 Toronto Blue Jays were a consistent contender. They had won the AL East in 1985 and 1989 and run a close second in 1987 and 1990. What they hadn’t done was complete the job by winning a World Series or even getting there. 1991 saw them return to the top of their division, […]
The 1990 Toronto Blue Jays were cut in the mold of the team’s eight-year run from 1984-91, where they were consistently good, but not quite good enough to win it all. The 1990 edition of the Blue Jays competed right to the very end of the regular season before losing a tough AL East race. […]
The Oakland A’s were far and away the best team in the American League from 1988 through 1990. Each year they won the AL West with room to spare and they went a combined 12-1 in ALCS play, capturing three consecutive pennants. In 1989, they won the World Series. But all great runs come to […]
The Pirates were coming off a breakout year in 1990. The five-year rebuilding program under manager Jim Leyland bore fruit with an NL East title. The 1991 Pittsburgh Pirates showed it was no fluke, running away with the East and reaching the NLCS for the second time in what would be a three-year run. A […]
My admiration for Bob Knight is no secret. On any list of my all-time favorite people in sports he’s at or near the top. When he came out and blasted the late John Wooden, the most revered basketball coach of all-time in an interview with Joe Buck that will air tonight, it had a definite […]
1990 had been a breakthrough year for the Portland Trail Blazers. After four straight years of first-round playoff exits, the franchise broke through under first-year coach Rick Adelman and made the NBA Finals for the first time since their championship year of 1977. The 1991 Portland Trail Blazers edition spent the entire regular season and […]
The Boston Bruins had won the Wales Conference (the East) two of the previous three years, reaching the Finals in 1988 and 1990. Both times, the dreams of a Stanley Cup ended at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers. The 1991 team was cut of a similar mold, rolling up a big regular season and […]
They were “The Bad Boys”, the rough and tough two-time defending NBA champions. The 1991 Detroit Pistons were as deep as ever, with eight players making significant contributions and future Dream Team coach Chuck Daly masterminding it all. But the combination of a small does of injury problems and a big dose of Michael Jordan […]
The 1991 Final Four was one of the greatest of all-time. It featured an epic semi-final game between Duke and undefeated UNLV and ended with Mike Krzyzewski winning the breakthrough national championship of his storied career. The 1991 Final Four also marked the arrival of Roy Williams, then the head coach at Kansas, and it […]
It was the second year of the Jimmy Johnson era in Dallas. The first year had gone inauspiciously to say the least—a 1-15 finish. The 1990 Dallas Cowboys showed signs of life, staying in contention for the playoffs to the final week of the season and setting the stage for a great era in franchise […]
The Houston Oilers decided to change horses in midstream coming into the 1990 season. Even though Jerry Glanville led the franchise to the playoffs each year from 1987-89, postseason disappointments cost him his job. The 1990 Houston Oilers were entrusted to Jack Pardee, who started a four-year run that was—for better and for worse—more of […]
