Yesterday, I pointed out how few newspapers in New York paid much attention to the closing of Astroland, the last of the old-fashioned amusement parks on Coney Island.
But in today's New York Times, Cara Buckley, who apparently spent part of Sunday at Astroland, has written a fond farewell to the place. It deserves to be mentioned.
"[T]housands of visitors poured into Astroland for what appeared to be the last time," Buckley writes, "pushing toddlers in strollers and aged relatives in wheelchairs, and taking a final look at a park that may have seen better days, but was still widely adored."
It seems crowds were sizable as Astroland welcomed visitors for the final time.
But many New Yorkers who otherwise might have come to the amusement park may have chosen instead to stay home Sunday to watch quarterback Brett Favre lead the New York Jets to a season-opening 20-14 win over the Miami Dolphins.
That victory, admittedly, came against a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in awhile. Of course, the Jets have only three wins in the postseason in the last 20 years.
But it was Favre's presence that made it noteworthy, and the Jets held on to beat former Jets QB Chad Pennington and the Dolphins in Miami.
The Jets' next opponent is another AFC East foe, the New England Patriots, who won all their regular-season games and two playoff games before losing the Super Bowl last year.
Football fans had been anticipating the Jets-Patriots game since Favre signed with the Jets earlier in the summer. Initially, it was viewed as an opportunity to see two quarterbacks who will ultimately be enshrined in the NFL's Hall of Fame — but that matchup may never occur.
New England's Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in Sunday's win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
It was an unfortunate injury. Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss claimed it was a dirty play. But, in my opinion, it was a clean hit. Unfortunate result. Clean hit.
And, with Brady out of action for the rest of the season, and Favre about to turn 39 this fall, it's far from certain that the two will meet on the football field.
That doesn't mean the Patriots won't be a challenge for the Jets this Sunday. A team doesn't go undefeated during the regular season on the strength of its quarterback alone — even one as talented as Brady.
And, while playoff wins have been rare for the Jets in recent years, this decade has belonged to the Patriots.
It's too bad that some of the lustre from Sunday's game is gone.
Nevertheless, Sports Illustrated's Don Banks says Favre gives the Jets a chance to win a lot of games this year.
Clearly, Jets fans have more reason to feel optimistic this morning than they did before kickoff yesterday.
Showing posts with label Patriots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patriots. Show all posts
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
By the Way ...
Lost in the talk of "Tsunami Tuesday" is the fact that we have a football game tonight. The undefeated New England Patriots will face the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. Kickoff is around 6:30 p.m Eastern time on Fox.
Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News thinks there are "12 excellent reasons why the 42nd edition of the greatest American sports event will be the best ever."
I don't know if he's right about that, but I think the game will be closer than the two-touchdown spread the oddsmakers have given the Patriots. I predict a final score of New England 27, New York 24.
The two teams met on the last weekend of the regular season, and New England won by 3 points (38-35). In their previous three Super Bowl victories, the Patriots won each game by 3 points. I think that's the margin they'll win by today, which should mean an entertaining game.
While you're waiting for the kickoff, you might want to take a look at a list compiled by ESPN. It ranks the teams that participated in the first 40 Super Bowls, and it's guaranteed to bring back some "Super" memories -- even of the blowouts.
Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News thinks there are "12 excellent reasons why the 42nd edition of the greatest American sports event will be the best ever."
I don't know if he's right about that, but I think the game will be closer than the two-touchdown spread the oddsmakers have given the Patriots. I predict a final score of New England 27, New York 24.
The two teams met on the last weekend of the regular season, and New England won by 3 points (38-35). In their previous three Super Bowl victories, the Patriots won each game by 3 points. I think that's the margin they'll win by today, which should mean an entertaining game.
While you're waiting for the kickoff, you might want to take a look at a list compiled by ESPN. It ranks the teams that participated in the first 40 Super Bowls, and it's guaranteed to bring back some "Super" memories -- even of the blowouts.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
A Team of Destiny
We live in a new world this morning, a world in which an NFL team has remained focused enough for four months to win all 16 of its regular season games.
The New England Patriots finished the regular season 16-0 after rallying to defeat the New York Giants last night, 38-35. Quarterback Tom Brady set a new season record for touchdown passes and receiver Randy Moss set a season record for touchdown receptions.
The Patriots will have next week off, then they will be set to host the next two playoff games en route to the Super Bowl.
A win for the Patriots on the weekend of January 12-13 will match the single season mark set by the 1972 Miami Dolphins of 17-0. Another win on the weekend of January 19-20 will make New England the first team ever to go 18-0 in a single season -- and it would clinch a berth in the Super Bowl.
Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe crowed that the Patriots were "just perfect" and provided the "fitting finish to Boston's magical year in sports" -- which included a World Series title for the Boston Red Sox and the winningest football season for Boston College in more than half a century, but no similar success for the NBA's Celtics or the NHL's Bruins.
As good as the Patriots are, a little humility would suit them better, according to SI.com's Andrew Perloff, who says the Pats "walk the fine line between supreme confidence and arrogance."
It's true that going 16-0 is going to make a team very confident. Does it have to make a team arrogant as well? Perhaps that's the negative side that the Patriots must contend with as they enter the home stretch of the season. After all, the playoffs and the Super Bowl will force them to play three of the best teams the NFL has to offer in the coming month.
That could certainly include dates with last year's Super Bowl winner, the Indianapolis Colts, who played New England earlier this year, and an NFC team the Patriots beat this year, the Dallas Cowboys. For the record, the usually dominant Patriots only beat the Colts 24-20. They handled the Cowboys by a wider margin, 48-27.
Other teams New England beat who are potential playoff foes include the team New England beat last night, the Giants; the Chargers (losers to the Patriots, 38-14); Steelers (who lost to the Pats, 34-13); Browns (who can clinch a playoff spot today and lost to New England, 34-17); and Redskins (who can clinch a playoff spot today and lost to the Pats, 52-7).
The Patriots did lose to two potential playoff opponents back during the preseason games in August. They lost their preseason opener to Tampa Bay, 13-10, and they followed that with a loss to Tennessee, 27-24. But, counting the last two preseason games, New England has proceeded to win 18 in a row.
One thing the Patriots can be sure of -- in the postseason, they won't be facing teams like Miami, Buffalo and the New York Jets, who accounted for six of the Patriots' wins in the regular season and, thus far, have combined for a record of 11-34.
Each postseason opponent will want to be the one to knock the chip off the Patriots' shoulder.
The New England Patriots finished the regular season 16-0 after rallying to defeat the New York Giants last night, 38-35. Quarterback Tom Brady set a new season record for touchdown passes and receiver Randy Moss set a season record for touchdown receptions.
The Patriots will have next week off, then they will be set to host the next two playoff games en route to the Super Bowl.
A win for the Patriots on the weekend of January 12-13 will match the single season mark set by the 1972 Miami Dolphins of 17-0. Another win on the weekend of January 19-20 will make New England the first team ever to go 18-0 in a single season -- and it would clinch a berth in the Super Bowl.
Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe crowed that the Patriots were "just perfect" and provided the "fitting finish to Boston's magical year in sports" -- which included a World Series title for the Boston Red Sox and the winningest football season for Boston College in more than half a century, but no similar success for the NBA's Celtics or the NHL's Bruins.
As good as the Patriots are, a little humility would suit them better, according to SI.com's Andrew Perloff, who says the Pats "walk the fine line between supreme confidence and arrogance."
It's true that going 16-0 is going to make a team very confident. Does it have to make a team arrogant as well? Perhaps that's the negative side that the Patriots must contend with as they enter the home stretch of the season. After all, the playoffs and the Super Bowl will force them to play three of the best teams the NFL has to offer in the coming month.
That could certainly include dates with last year's Super Bowl winner, the Indianapolis Colts, who played New England earlier this year, and an NFC team the Patriots beat this year, the Dallas Cowboys. For the record, the usually dominant Patriots only beat the Colts 24-20. They handled the Cowboys by a wider margin, 48-27.
Other teams New England beat who are potential playoff foes include the team New England beat last night, the Giants; the Chargers (losers to the Patriots, 38-14); Steelers (who lost to the Pats, 34-13); Browns (who can clinch a playoff spot today and lost to New England, 34-17); and Redskins (who can clinch a playoff spot today and lost to the Pats, 52-7).
The Patriots did lose to two potential playoff opponents back during the preseason games in August. They lost their preseason opener to Tampa Bay, 13-10, and they followed that with a loss to Tennessee, 27-24. But, counting the last two preseason games, New England has proceeded to win 18 in a row.
One thing the Patriots can be sure of -- in the postseason, they won't be facing teams like Miami, Buffalo and the New York Jets, who accounted for six of the Patriots' wins in the regular season and, thus far, have combined for a record of 11-34.
Each postseason opponent will want to be the one to knock the chip off the Patriots' shoulder.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Playing for History
When the New England Patriots take the field this weekend to take on the New York Giants, the Patriots will be aiming to be the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season.
That will be two more regular season wins than the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins had -- but Miami went undefeated in the era when the NFL season was 14 games, not 16. The postseason was three games for Miami, the same as it will be for New England, so the Patriots will have to go 19-0 to cap a perfect season. Miami went 17-0.
Today, it was announced that new TV arrangements make the Patriots-Giants game accessible to just about everyone. Instead of airing only on the audience-limited NFL Network, both CBS and NBC will televise the "potentially historic game," in the words of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
It reminds me of the fuss that was made in 1974 when Hank Aaron was about to break Babe Ruth's career home run record.
At the end of the 1973 season, Aaron pulled within one home run of Ruth's career mark, and that left him with the entire offseason to think about what he would be trying to do the following spring.
I was 14 at the time and, as I recall, Aaron tied the home run mark in Atlanta's first series of the 1974 season, which was being played in Cincinnati. After Aaron tied the mark, the Atlanta manager took him out of the game and benched him for the remainder of the series. He wanted Aaron to break the record in front of the home fans.
Major league baseball wanted to televise the historic event. In those days, there was no cable so major league baseball wasn't accessible every night of the season. The networks did have Monday Night Baseball, but it didn't usually begin broadcasts until the summer, when the networks were heavily into reruns.
In this case, baseball made the exception and had a special broadcast of Monday Night Baseball in early April. Everyone wanted to see Aaron break Ruth's record. And, as it turned out, he did break the record that night.
But he might not have broken the record that night, and baseball would have wound up with egg on its face.
I don't think that's a possibility here. Whether the Patriots win and finish the regular season 16-0, or they lose and finish 15-1, it's an historic game. Either the Patriots make history, or the Giants prevent it, which is historic in itself.
The Patriots deserve to be congratulated for their accomplishment. Nothing that happens this weekend can change what they've achieved this year.
And the Dolphins should be remembered in the history books for what they did in 1972, even if New England goes 19-0 and wins the Super Bowl.
After all, no one else went 14-0 during the era of the 14-game seasons. And no one else went 17-0, including postseason wins, during that era. That distinction belongs to the 1972 Miami Dolphins. And it always will.
The real challenge for the Patriots will come next season -- if they finish 16-0 or 19-0 this season. Because next season will be when everyone will be gunning for them. That's when the Patriots will have bull's eyes on their chests and it will be a fight to the finish every week. Whoever snaps the streak will be remembered by history. Playing the Patriots will be each team's Super Bowl.
For the record, the 1973 Dolphins were nearly as good as the 1972 team. The streak was snapped in the second game of the season by the Oakland Raiders, but Miami went 12-2 in 1973 and won the Super Bowl again, finishing 15-2.
Not a bad encore, eh?
That will be two more regular season wins than the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins had -- but Miami went undefeated in the era when the NFL season was 14 games, not 16. The postseason was three games for Miami, the same as it will be for New England, so the Patriots will have to go 19-0 to cap a perfect season. Miami went 17-0.
Today, it was announced that new TV arrangements make the Patriots-Giants game accessible to just about everyone. Instead of airing only on the audience-limited NFL Network, both CBS and NBC will televise the "potentially historic game," in the words of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
It reminds me of the fuss that was made in 1974 when Hank Aaron was about to break Babe Ruth's career home run record.
At the end of the 1973 season, Aaron pulled within one home run of Ruth's career mark, and that left him with the entire offseason to think about what he would be trying to do the following spring.
I was 14 at the time and, as I recall, Aaron tied the home run mark in Atlanta's first series of the 1974 season, which was being played in Cincinnati. After Aaron tied the mark, the Atlanta manager took him out of the game and benched him for the remainder of the series. He wanted Aaron to break the record in front of the home fans.
Major league baseball wanted to televise the historic event. In those days, there was no cable so major league baseball wasn't accessible every night of the season. The networks did have Monday Night Baseball, but it didn't usually begin broadcasts until the summer, when the networks were heavily into reruns.
In this case, baseball made the exception and had a special broadcast of Monday Night Baseball in early April. Everyone wanted to see Aaron break Ruth's record. And, as it turned out, he did break the record that night.
But he might not have broken the record that night, and baseball would have wound up with egg on its face.
I don't think that's a possibility here. Whether the Patriots win and finish the regular season 16-0, or they lose and finish 15-1, it's an historic game. Either the Patriots make history, or the Giants prevent it, which is historic in itself.
The Patriots deserve to be congratulated for their accomplishment. Nothing that happens this weekend can change what they've achieved this year.
And the Dolphins should be remembered in the history books for what they did in 1972, even if New England goes 19-0 and wins the Super Bowl.
After all, no one else went 14-0 during the era of the 14-game seasons. And no one else went 17-0, including postseason wins, during that era. That distinction belongs to the 1972 Miami Dolphins. And it always will.
The real challenge for the Patriots will come next season -- if they finish 16-0 or 19-0 this season. Because next season will be when everyone will be gunning for them. That's when the Patriots will have bull's eyes on their chests and it will be a fight to the finish every week. Whoever snaps the streak will be remembered by history. Playing the Patriots will be each team's Super Bowl.
For the record, the 1973 Dolphins were nearly as good as the 1972 team. The streak was snapped in the second game of the season by the Oakland Raiders, but Miami went 12-2 in 1973 and won the Super Bowl again, finishing 15-2.
Not a bad encore, eh?
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