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.
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