The 1986 Cleveland Browns came closer than any team has in franchise history to reaching the Super Bowl. After a stellar regular season and an epic playoff win, it took the signature moment from one of the NFL’s signature players to deny them at least a chance at the Vince Lombardi Trophy. GREAT 1980s SPORTS […]
The 1986 Cincinnati Bengals didn’t make the playoffs. But they came close for the first time in several years and set the stage for what would ultimately be a Super Bowl team. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTSStart reading today. Cincinnati had been mired in mediocrity since the playoff years of 1981-82, where they reached the Super Bowl […]
The 1986 Miami Hurricanes were loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, and weren’t afraid to let you know it. They spent the entire regular season backing up their talk and looked poised to secure a place in college football history. They did…but for the wrong reasons, as an infamous bowl loss has […]
The 1986 Oklahoma Sooners were the defending national champions and with a lineup loaded on both sides of the ball were in prime position to repeat. That goal got away from them early, but Barry Switzer’s team was still one of the country’s most dynamic and remain memorable thirty years later. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTSStart […]
The 1986 Michigan Wolverines had a lot of momentum coming into the season, after finishing #2 in the nation in 1985. But it had been 1982 since they reached the Rose Bowl, and that was an eternity in the era of Bo Schembecler, who had guided the program to Pasadena seven times since 1969. The […]
The 1986 Penn State football team came into the season focused on nothing less than the national title. They had gone undefeated in the 1985 regular season, but an Orange Bowl loss to Oklahoma ended their year in disappointment. The Lions were loaded in 1986 for another run at college football’s mountaintop and in a […]
The 1986 World Series is one of the games’ historic, thanks to an ill-fated groundball that skipped through the legs of Bill Buckner. But the battle between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox had more—it had early twists of fate, a Game 7 itself that was dramatic and the entire Game 6 run-up […]
After making the postseason in 1980 and 1981, the Astros had slipped into mediocrity. Over the next four years they ranged between 77-85 and 85-77, the very definition of being predictably average. The 1986 Houston Astros had a new manager in Hal Lanier and a new result as they won the NL West. GREAT 1980s […]
Gene Mauch and the California Angels parted ways after a heartbreaking loss in the 1982 American League Championship Series. The Angels promptly fell apart and by 1985 Mauch was back in the fold. He put the Angels back into contention that year and even though the 1986 California Angels again suffered October heartbreak, they first […]
They’re remembered for a fatal error that cost them the World Series. Kinder observers will also remember that they had a miracle comeback of their own in the American League Championship Series. But before the 1986 Boston Red Sox could do any of the above they had to win the AL East and that, in […]
The 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins were a team that came mostly out of nowhere. Even though Mario Lemieux was a rising star who won the MVP award in 1988 and finished in the top five each of the following two years, Lemieux only played 26 regular season games. The Penguins had missed the playoffs seven of the previous eight years. But it all came together at the right time in 1991.
The 1979 Notre Dame basketball team came into the season with high expectations, coming off the first Final Four appearance in school history the previous year. The ’79 team spent much of the year mostly meeting expectations, until an NCAA Tournament loss to eventual national champion Michigan State signaled the end of an era in […]