Quick Takes
Who dat at 9 & 4? Dat’s da “for real” New Orleans Saints. Dat’s who! The Saints are doing their part in bringing the ravaged Gulf Coast back. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities, and here’s hoping the Saints go marching in...........all the way into the Super Bowl.
Veteran, as in old, major league baseball free agents are again getting crazy salaries this off-season. Why? MLB is watered down with lots of teams and roster spots, and not enough quality younger players to fill them.
Barry “Balco” Bonds signed a 1-year deal with S.F. for $16 million. The Giants are nuts. No one else made a concerted effort to sign Bonds, and he needs the Giants more than they need him. I don’t wish Bonds a serious injury in his quest of Hank Aaron’s record..............whoops, my nose just got very longggggggggg!
Story of the Week
HOCKEY'S ALL-TIME GREATEST GAMES
Per ESPN.com (2/24/02), the following are hockey’s all-time greatest games. My list would be somewhat different, but that will be for another day.
Longest playoff
game in history:
March 24, 1936: Detroit 1, Montreal Maroons 0 (6 OT)
The longest playoff game in history lasted a full game longer than Brett Hull's
triple-overtime thriller in 1999. Mud Bruneteau scored in the sixth OT, after
116 minutes, 30 seconds of extra time. The game ended at 2:25 a.m. and the Red
Wings went on to capture the Stanley Cup.
1950 Stanley
Cup finals, Game 7:
April 23, 1950: Detroit Red Wings 4, New York Rangers 3 (2 OT)
In perhaps the most exciting finals ever, the Rangers won Games 4 and 5 on OT
goals from Don Raleigh. The Red Wings won Game 6 with a third-period rally to
force Game 7 in Detroit. It went into the second overtime tied 3-3 before
Detroit's Pete Babando, one of the few American players in the NHL at the time,
won the Cup. Afterwards, Detroit's Ted Lindsay inaugurates the parade of
champions, as he picks the Stanley Cup off the table and skates around the
arena.
1972 Summit
Series, Game 8:
Sept. 28, 1972: Team Canada 6, Soviet Union 5
Hockey's first challenge series was tied 3-3-1 heading into the final game in
Moscow. The game was played at an intense emotional pitch. When J.P. Parise was
given a misconduct penalty and then tossed from the game, Canada coach Harry
Sinden tossed a stool and metal chair onto the ice. The 2,000 Canadian
supporters began chanting, "Let's go home! Let's go home!" Ken Dryden was in the
nets for Canada, but the Soviets led 5-3 entering the third period. Goals from
Phil Esposito and Yvan Cournoyer tied it up. Finally, Paul Henderson converted a
pass from Esposito with 34 seconds remaining for the game-winning goal.
Considered by many as the greatest moment in Canadian sports history.
1979 Conference
finals, Game 7:
May 10, 1979: Montreal Canadiens 5, Boston Bruins 4 (OT)
The two best teams in hockey met in Montreal with the winner advancing to the
Stanley Cup finals. Boston led 3-1 entering the third period, but the Habs
scored twice to even the score. The Bruins' Rick Middleton silenced the crowd by
scoring with four minutes left. But with time running out, Don Cherry's Bruins
were caught with too many men on the ice. Guy Lafleur took advantage of the
power play to send the game into OT, which Montreal won at 9:33 on Yvon
Lambert's goal. The Canadiens went on to win their fourth straight Stanley Cup.
1980 Olympic
semifinal: "Miracle on Ice":
Feb. 22, 1980: United States 4, Soviet Union 3
The U.S. hockey team consisted of a bunch of college players. Nobody expected
them to play with the powerful Soviets, who regularly beat NHL teams and had
many of the best players in the world. In an exhibition game two weeks before
the Olympics, the Soviets won 10-3. In a semifinal game in Lake Placid, N.Y.,
the Soviets led 3-2 entering the final period. But Mark Johnson tied the game
with 11½ minutes left and two minutes later team captain Mike Eruzione scored
for a 4-3 lead. With the crowd wildly cheering them on, the U.S. holds on for
the stunning upset. Goalie Jim Craig finishes with 36 saves and in the locker
room, the U.S. players sing "God Bless America." Two days later, they beat
Finland 4-2 to capture the gold medal.
1982 Smythe
Division semifinals, Game 3:
April 10, 1982: Los Angeles Kings 6, Edmonton Oilers 5 (OT)
Led by the 92-goal effort of Wayne Gretzky, the Oilers scored 111 points during
the season, nearly double the Kings' 63. Edmonton led 5-0 after two periods as
Gretzky had schooled the Kings on hockey's finer points. But the Kings mounted
an amazing comeback and tied the game up with five seconds remaining. In
overtime, Kings rookie Daryl Evans, who had been banished earlier for fighting,
returned to the ice and scored the winner. The Kings later completed the series
upset.
1987 Patrick
Division semifinals, Game 7:
April 18, 1987: Islanders 3, Capitals 2 (4 OT)
The longest game since 1943 saw the Islanders complete a comeback from a 3-1
series deficit. Washington dominated in regulation but Islanders goalie Kelly
Hrudey was brilliant to keep his team close and Bryan Trottier scored late to
send the game to OT. As the game stretched on, Hrudey and Caps goalie Bob Mason
stifled all shots. Finally, after 68 minutes of extra time, New York's Pat
LaFontaine fired a slapshot through a maze of players, off the goalpost and into
the net.
1987 Canada Cup
finals, Game 3:
Sept. 11, 1987: Canada 6, Soviet Union 5
The Soviets won the opener of the best-of-3 series, 6-5 in OT. Canada took the
next game, also 6-5, also in OT. The Soviets took a 3-0 lead in Game 3. It was
4-2 after one period, but Canada scored three times in the second period to take
a 5-4 lead. The Soviets tied it up. Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, playing on
the same team for the only time in something other than an All-Star Game,
combined for the winning goal with 1:26 left, as Gretzky delivered a perfect
pass on a 2-on-1 to Lemieux. Earlier, in a similar situation, Lemieux passed the
puck back to Gretzky, who told him to shoot the puck next time. Lemieux did, and
Canada won.
1994 Stanley
Cup finals, Game 7:
June 14, 1994: New York Rangers 3, Vancouver Canucks 2
One of only three seven-game finals since 1971, the Rangers were seeking their
first Stanley Cup championship since 1940. The Rangers led the series 3-1 but
the Canucks won twice to force Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers
grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Vancouver cut it to 2-1 in the
second. Mark Messier late in the second period for 3-1 lead, while the Canucks
once again cut it to a one-goal deficit. But in a tight third period before a
screaming home crowd, the Rangers held on.
The Dominator
stuns Canada:
Feb. 20, 1998: Czech Republic beats Canada in shootout
The Czech Republic, with only nine NHL players, faced the powerful Canadians in
the Olympic semifinals in Nagano. Goalie Dominik Hasek single-handedly kept the
Czechs in the game, forcing a 1-1 tie through the end of overtime with 24 saves.
In the shootout, he stopped all five Canada penalty shots and Robert Reichel
tallied for the Czechs. "It's devastating, the worst feeling I've ever had in
hockey," a tearful Wayne Gretzky -- who was bypassed in the shootout by coach
Marc Crawford -- said afterwards. Hasek then led the Czechs to a 1-0 victory
over Russia for the gold medal.
I will add my own favorite NHL game. It was the first hockey game I ever saw. I just wasn’t interested in hockey, and waited until the very end of the expansion season of 1967-68 to see a St. Louis Blues game. It was love at first sight. The very next day, I purchased two Blues season tickets.
It was the Blues’ win over the Minnesota North Stars in Game 7 of the semifinal championship series at the fully packed and noisy St. Louis Arena. The Blues and North Stars were tied 1-1 after regulation and were still tied after the first sudden death overtime period. Shortly into the second sudden death, Ron Shock scored the winner for St. Louis that sent the Blues to the Stanley Cup finals against mighty Montreal. I was hooked on hockey!
Last Week’s Trivia
Who is the architect of “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” General Douglas MacArthur sent that message to West Point the night before they were to play their annual football game against Navy in 1944. Army apparently received the telegram; they won, 23-7.
Many e-mails I received gave credit to Vince Lombardi. Sounds like him, but it wasn’t. However, Lombardi was an assistant coach at Army from 1949-1953, and could well have picked up MacArthur’s famous quote there.
Trivia Question of the Week
What baseball manager was ejected for telling an umpire during an argument over a play call, “You’re blind as a bat?” Then when the umpire asked the manager what he had said, the manager responded with “Damn! You’re deaf, too.” See next week’s Sports Junkie for the answer.