Once we get through the parade, the Bears at the Lions and a college game this Thursday, Nov. 24, 1977, then Channel 6 has a tempting matchup, which you might remember.
Really, you don't remember it? Think harder.
This game started at 2:30 in the afternoon in St. Louis, so I'll bet that interview was actually filmed Friday morning outside the Stouffer's Riverfront Towers (where the Dolphins' 1977 media guide says the team planned to stay for the game at the Cardinals). Look how happy Don Shula is! He should be. This game was key in keeping Miami in the playoff chase.
I loved my NFL sheets
ReplyDeleteYes! Our cat uses my old ones.
DeleteOh, good, here's Rick Forzano working the Channel 3 booth with Bill Flemming for Oklahoma-Nebraska. I was worried about him. He became the Detroit Lions' head coach in 1974, after Don McCafferty's death that July. But he was apparently pressured into resigning early in NFL76 and left coaching to devote full-time attention to his Rick Forzano Associates, which was in manufacturing sales.
ReplyDeleteForzano gave Bill Belichick his first full-time coaching job, with the Lions. Forzano and Belichick's dad at Navy, and Wikipedia says he even lived with the Belichicks for a little while in 1959.
I always have supported UCLA (but just barely) in sports' best uniform matchup.
ReplyDeleteSmart Mom recently pointed out that U.C.L.A.'s football jerseys are now much darker than they were when we were kids. I looked it up, and in 2004 they went from powder blue jerseys for football to jerseys where the blue is the same color as the royal blue on their basketball jerseys.
DeleteWell, it's Sunday, Nov. 27, in my 1977 pretend, but I'm still on the UCLA-USC game from a couple of days ago. This game has been phenomenal. Southern Cal went up by a couple of touchdowns, but UCLA, with a Rose Bowl berth on the line, just finished off an 8-minute-plus drive with a heavily contested, fourth-down-and-goal touchdown pass ...
ReplyDeleteI don't remember how this comes out, so this has been a heck of a lot of fun for me, Frank Broyles and Chris Schenkel. With only about three minutes to play, it's 27-26 in favor of my beautiful Bruins ...
ReplyDeleteBut no! USC comes back with its own gritty drive of close conversions and great catches in traffic, and the Trojans, who truly are almost as beautiful as the Bruins, nail a 26-yard field goal for a 29-27 advantage with 2 seconds to play!
ReplyDeleteSouthern Cal squibs the kickoff, and a UCLA player toward the front of the alignment tries to run out of bounds around the Bruins 40 or so. But the time runs out! UCLA is out of the Rose Bowl; Washington is in (oh, that's right!). Southern Cal will head to the Bluebonnet Bowl (the second-prettiest uniforms for the prettiest-named bowl). Tremendous game.
ReplyDeleteI remember that when this happened, I was ecstatic because it was the first time since the 1971 season that neither U.S.C. nor U.C.L.A. were going to the Rose Bowl. I believe that the 1978 Rose Bowl was the first time I had ever seen the Washington Huskies on television.
DeleteOn the other hand, Ohio State and Michigan represented the Big 10 in the Rose Bowl during every season from 1968 through 1980. I wouldn't see another Big 10 team in the Rose Bowl until Iowa won the conference in 1981.
DeleteSo now we have the resumption of Week 11 action in NFL77, and we kick off today's happy viewing with the familiar commentary tandem of Vin Scully and Jim Brown. Here they are in heavy coats and gloves from 22-degree Cleveland Memorial Stadium for 7-3 Rams at 6-4 Browns in a potential Super Bowl XII preview. Snow is a possibility!
ReplyDeleteThese cold temperatures are an early sign of what's coming in the winter of 1978.
DeleteMeanwhile, the senior-laden Kentucky Wildcats tip off the 1977-78 season on November 26, 1977 at home against Southern Methodist. The Wildcats win 110 to 86 behind 30 points from Jack Givens, 23 points from Rick Robey, 22 points from Mike Phillips, and 16 points from Kyle Macy.
ReplyDeleteThe Cats won't play again until December 5, 1977, when they will host the Indiana Hoosiers.
DeleteBy December 5, 2024, this year's version of the Cats will have played eight games.
DeleteIn 1977-78, UK played 18 conference games and nine non-conference games in the regular season. The non-conference games included Indiana, Kansas, South Carolina, St. John's, Notre Dame, and U.N.L.V.
DeleteThis season, the Cats will play 18 conference games and 13 non-conference games in the regular season. The non-conference games include Duke, W. Kentucky, Clemson, Gonzaga, Louisville, and Ohio St.
DeleteAfter the Dolphins bombed the Cardinals on Thanksgiving, Miami beat the visiting Colts on Monday night in Week 12. Here’s a bit of that amazing performance, and the Dolphins, coming off the first losing season of Don Shula’s career in Miami, have a terrific opportunity to win the AFC East:
ReplyDeleteColts 9-3
Dolphins 9-3
Patriots 8-4
Jets 3-9
Bills 2-10
Four teams in each conference advance to the playoffs in NFL77—three division winners and one wild-card team. All four of the teams in the AFC Central are still in the hunt for the division championship, but the wild card will not go to the Browns, the Oilers or the loser of Steelers at Bengals in the first of two NFL games on no-more-college-football-until-the-bowls today, Saturday, Dec. 10:
ReplyDeleteSteelers 8-4
Bengals 7-5
Oilers 6-6
Browns 6-6
Brent Musberger on Channel 12 just told us that, in the fourth quarter at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati just kicked a field goal to tie Pittsburgh, 10-10, and then scooped a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return and ran it in for a touchdown. So it’s now 17-10, Bengals, in a game that Cincinnati would need to win by seven points in order to claim tiebreaker advantage in the AFC Central race.
That is so curious. All of these years, I had it in my brain that beautiful Super Bowl IX was played in the Los Angeles Coliseum on that sunny afternoon in January 1977. And I was about to type something about the Raiders returning to that same field in Week 12 to face the Rams on another sunny afternoon, but, in fact, the Super Bowl was played at the Rose Bowl! I can’t believe I had that wrong all of this time.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the Raiders did return to Southern California in Week 12, and again it was a sunny Sunday, but this time Oakland lost to Pat Haden’s Rams. That result clinched two division championships—the AFC West …
Broncos 11-1
Raiders 9-3
Chargers 7-5
Seahawks 3-9
Chiefs 2-10
… and the NFC West:
Rams 9-3
Falcons 6-6
49ers 5-7
Saints 3-9
The result that got the NFL Films NFL Game of the Week love from Week 12 was 49ers at Vikings, and it wasn't sunny at all in Minnesota. I would argue that it was beautiful, but it was definitely not sunny. The Vikings lost Fran Tarkenton for the season a week or two ago, and it took the efforts of both Bob Lee and Tommy Kramer to overcome the 49ers and a 24-0 deficit and keep ahead of the Bears and Walter Payton, who is threatening to break O.J. Simpson's single-season rushing mark:
ReplyDeleteVikings 8-4
Bears 7-5
Lions 5-7
Packers 3-9
Buccaneers 0-12
And that leaves the NFC East, which is the third division with a settled champion. Roger Staubach is playing hurt, and the Cowboys have not been as impressive as they were early in the season. But they took care of enough business early:
ReplyDeleteCowboys 10-2
Cardinals 7-5
Washington 7-5
Giants 5-7
Eagles 3-9
St. Louis and Washington are down to desperate wild-card hopes, and they collide in the second of Week 13’s two Saturday games—at Busch Stadium, on Channel 12 and (amazingly) YouTube ...
Snowy in St. Louis!
ReplyDeleteGeorge Allen a few weeks ago finally yielded to Joe Theismann's public petitioning for the starting-quarterback job with Washington. But with the team's postseason hopes down to their last gasp, the position has been returned to the bobbly grasp of Billy Kilmer. This, of course, has clearly delighted Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier.
ReplyDeleteSt. Louis's opening possession is ruined by a third-down sack. Jim Hart was on the CBS pregame show saying that Washington always seems to get two or more sacks against him. He also said that the Cardinals and Washington's players actually don't like each other--that, for example, while some Cardinals and Cowboys might go out to eat together after one of their games, that this doesn't happen when St. Louis and Washington plays.
ReplyDeleteOn Washington's second play from scrimmage, the ball goes flying into the backfield--Summerall says Kilmer pulled away from under center too quickly--and St. Louis takes over at the Washington 37 ...
ReplyDeleteTwo weeks ago, the Cardinals had just given the Cowboys their first loss of the season, had closed to within one game of the NFC East lead and were considered the league's hottest team. Then they lost to Miami on Thanksgiving; the Giants upset them last week, and Jackie Smith announced this week that he would be retiring after this season. It feels like this early opportunity in Week 13 is one they badly need to seize.
ReplyDeleteDan Dierdorf broke a jaw several weeks ago, but he has not missed a start. He has, however, lost more than 30 pounds with his jaw wired shut, CBS reported before the game.
ReplyDeleteTerry Metcalf runs for seven, and then he runs for minus-four. And then Hart throws incomplete on third down, as our old Dolphin friend Jake Scott dives in front of J.V. Cain to spike the attempt. The Cardinals punt into the end zone, and things are still scoreless in St. Louis.
ReplyDeleteKilmer hands off five straight times, and the plays produce three first downs. Washington has reached the St. Louis 18, and Busch Stadium is already booing the Cardinals (loudly) about midway through the first quarter.
ReplyDeleteStill 17-10, Bengals over Steelers.
ReplyDeleteKilmer throws his first pass, and it goes to Calvin Hill over the middle for a touchdown. Theismann successfully holds for the extra-point try, and Washington leads St. Louis, 7-0.
ReplyDelete10-0, Washington, after one quarter ...
ReplyDeleteFinal from Cincinnati: Bengals 17, Steelers 10. So Cincinnati keeps its postseason hopes alive--as well, I think, of Houston and Cleveland. AFC Central:
ReplyDeleteBengals 8-5
Steelers 8-5
Oilers 6-6
Browns 6-6
Now 10-3 in St Louis ...
ReplyDeleteThe last 17 minutes of that second segment of this Channel 12 broadcast posted by YouTube user "Larry's Classic Sports" is compelling, unedited footage around the "CBS SPORTS CONTROL" booth.
ReplyDeleteWe have Phyllis George talking on the phone with a friend and working through some edits to a halftime segment she's going to have on Broncos Craig Morton. It's set to "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver, whom Phyllis notes is one of her favorite singers, and she consults with a producer to introduce the first name of Morton's new bride, Susan, into the script.
We also have Irv Cross come through, catch the last minutes of the Washington-St. Louis first half on a monitor and then pore through first-half statistics. Finally, Brent joins the set and works through the sequence of the half-time production and talk through with Irv about how he's going to characterize the first-half performance of Kilmer. (Irv is impressed that the old pro directed Washington at the end of the first half into field-goal position, leading to Washington taking a 13-10 lead into halftime.)
Most of the third of four segments is video from the Channel 12 game coverage but quiet-hum audio from back in the emptied-for-Saturday-night CBS SPORTS CONTROL booth. The switch is flipped late in the third quarter back to Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier from Busch Stadium, and so we are all set for the fourth quarter (and fourth YouTube segment) with Washington now leading 16-13. Loser is eliminated from postseason contention, so this should be a humdinger ...
ReplyDeleteMark Moseley's fourth field goal in four tries makes it 19-13 in favor of Washington, and then Metcalf fumbles the kickoff return. The Busch Stadium boos return, as Washington takes back over at the St. Louis 41 ...
ReplyDeleteOn third-and-11, Kilmer can find no receiver and chugs out the left side of the Washington pocket. He's angling for the first-down marker on the sideline, and--in his single-bar facemask and giant padded vest under the white "17" jersey--the 38-year-old Kansan (who grew up in southern California) dives under the tackle attempt of a converging Cardinal: FIRST DOWN!
ReplyDeleteBrookshier: "He's not exactly a 4.4 sprinter, but he got it done, didn't he?"
ReplyDeleteThe Cardinals are furious; Busch Stadium is furious. The refs call a personal foul on St. Louis.
ReplyDeleteSummerall: "He's been resting lately, but, when it came time for the big one, he got the start."
ReplyDeleteFour plays later--a pass to the middle and then three straight runs to the middle--Washington is back in the end zone. There is 11:02 to go, and the advantage is now 26-13. During what would've been two or three commercials on Channel 12, the audio on this YouTube video stays with Pat and Tom in the booth. Busch Stadium grumbles all the way through the minute/minute-and-half break.
ReplyDeleteBut, on St. Louis's first play from scrimmage, Hart sails a pass to Metcalf out of the backfield and in front of the Washington linebackers, and he races straight down the middle of the field for a 68-yard touchdown pass. Jim Bakken's extra point makes it 26-20 with 10:39 to go.
ReplyDeleteTom: "They're not booing anymore!"
I feel like I watched 200 Cardinals games on Channel 12 in the 1970s and '80s, and I don't remember any of them being as exciting or meaningful to the NFL season as this one.
ReplyDeleteThe Cardinals hold Washington, and St. Louis takes over at its 27 after a punt and barely more than a minute elapsed from the clock ...
ReplyDeleteWashington holds the Cardinals, and Washington takes over at its 27 after a punt and barely more than a minute elapsed from the clock.
ReplyDeleteWashington again has to punt, and now we've switched to silent footage of Brent--back from supper--watching the game on a monitor at CBS SPORTS CONTROL ...
ReplyDeleteNow we've got Phyllis and more CBS people gathering around the monitor, with resumption of Pat/Tom audio from St. Louis.
ReplyDeleteThere is 4:10 left to play, and a quick draw to Metcalf on third-and-long surprises Pat, Tom and Washington. It's first down, Cardinals, at the Washington 33, and Phyllis is now getting her hair re-foofed ...
ReplyDeleteMetcalf picks up two, and here come the makeup people to touch up Brent.
ReplyDeleteHart throws incomplete. Third-and-7 coming ...
ReplyDeleteUnder heavy Washington rush, Hart throws incomplete for Metcalf. It's fourth-and-7 with 3:14 to go ...
ReplyDeleteHart throws for Mel Gray on the sideline, and Joe Lavender--the second-most-famous bespectacled NFL player in 1977--knocks down the pass. Washington takes over on downs.
ReplyDelete2:47 ... 2:46 ... 2:45 ...
ReplyDeleteSt. Louis takes timeout at 2:19. That gives Pat time to look ahead to 1978:
ReplyDeleteCOTTON BOWL
Monday, January 2nd
TEXAS (11-0)
vs
NOTRE DAME (10-1)
I don't know how this St. Louis-Washington game comes out, but I remember how that Texas-Notre Dame game came out.
Now we have video from St. Louis and audio from both there and New York intermingled.
ReplyDeleteTwo-minute warning ... Washington will be punting when we come back ... In the meantime, Phyllis is rehearsing reading some news on Steve Cauthen ...
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be a quick postgame show, and Brent appears to have final say on what will make the cut. He definitely wants to get in the Steve Cauthen news, and he definitely wants Irv to talk about what this St. Louis-Washington result means for the NFC playoff picture, and he wants to have a few seconds at least on George Steinbrenner's being mad that the A's were allowed to trade Vida Blue to the Reds for a minor leaguer and cash. Whatever time is left, they can squeeze in second-half highlights.
ReplyDeletePat: "They are burning a Redskin banner on the other side of the field."
ReplyDeleteNo, really, they are. Right before Hart takes the snap with 1:42 to play for first down from the St. Louis 29, CBS shows a hand-painted sheet hanging from a wall in Busch Stadium. You can still see that it says something about Washington below the line of flames creeping up from the bottom.
Hart sends a strike over the middle to Gray, who slices across the Washington defense and down to the 34 ...
ReplyDelete"Great protection," remarks Brent back in New York.
ReplyDeleteDon Coryell's headset connecting him to assistant coaches in the Busch Stadium pressbox appears to have frozen. The Cardinals' coach is yelling and directing his offensive players into position with gestures ... 1:20 to go ... St. Louis timeout ...
ReplyDeleteHart goes for it all ... throws deep to the end zone over the middle for streaking Metcalf ... NO! ... Washington safety Eddie Brown leaps and intercepts! ...
ReplyDeleteThis must be a legendary heartbreak for Big Red football fans. This team was the first team in 1977 to beat Dallas, the NFC favorite, and it crushed Minnesota, the defending NFC champion, and now, with everyone watching them on all of the Channel 12s across the country, Billy Kilmer and the rest have come into Busch Stadium and eliminated the Cardinals from wild-card contention with only a trip to winless Tampa Bay left on the schedule.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the Saturday evening, Dec. 10, 1977, Lawrence Welk lifts the spirits of St. Louis a little.
ReplyDeleteBob Barker on Dec. 30, 1977, on Channel 12: "Now I ask you, Is that the way to start a show, or is that the way to start a show?"
ReplyDeleteMe on Dec. 30, 2024, on the internet: "Hooray for TV!"