Super Bowl Sunday In Panama
Feb 4th, 2007 by Don Ray
When you have spent most of your life living in Dallas, you can’t help but get a little energized when Super Bowl Sunday rolls around. Today is Super Bowl Sunday. I have gotten in the spirit even though I am not the aficionado I used to be.
I have some special memories from past games. Who can forget Broadway Joe Namath’s cocky attitude and his ability to pull off a major upset in Super Bowl III? I remember Dallas playing a horrible game in SuperBowl V and losing to the Baltimore Colts. That is the same team that is playing today under the name of the Indianapolis Colts. I think I was depressed for a week following that loss. Today it doesn’t make sense to get that upset by how professional sports games turn out
I fully recovered the following year when I watched Rodger (the dodger) Staubach defeat the Miami Dolphins. Now I was really hooked. Staubach and Landry were class acts and a real credit to the game.
Then I remember Super Bowl IX with Bradshaw facing Tarkenton. I became a fan of Bradshaw after he left the game, but couldn’t like him at that time because he was the Cowboy’s downfall many times. I met Tarkenton once at a computer conference in Washington DC and realized I didn’t like him on or off the field. That day Bradshaw was the better of the two. The following year was the perfect example of why I didn’t like Bradshaw. Steelers 21 and Dallas 17.
I bounced back with Super Bowl XII when the Cowboy’s whupped up on the Denver Broncos. I remember meeting Harvey Martin the following year at a Toyota dealer and realizing how really huge those guys are.
The following year I was down again as Bradshaw whupped up on the Cowboy’s again. It took several days for me to recover from that defeat.
I remember Super Bowl XVII. John Riggins of the Washington Redskins was the man of the day. I was living in the DC area the following year and happened to be in one of the Washington hospitals with my son (a bigger Cowboy fan than I ever was and about 14 or 15 at the time). The nurse saw my son and asked if he would like to meet John Riggins. John was in the hospital with a bad back and not expected to play on the following Sunday’s game with the Cowboys. I think my son’s reply was that his only wish for Riggins was that he never got out of bed. The following Sunday, John was on the field and ran over the Cowboys.
I remember Super Bowl XX when da Bears demolished the Patriots. I don’t think anyone could forget Chicago’s coach Mike Ditka and I also remember Refrigerator Perry. What a huge man.
I remember Super Bowl XXV. Actually that is not exactly correct. What I remember was Whitney Houston singing the Star Spangled Banner. I can almost feel the chills running down my spine as they did on that day.
With Super Bowl XXVII the Cowboys returned and defeated the Buffalo Bills. I had liked the Bills when I had watched O.J. Simpson play. However that was when he was running over opponents and not wives.
The next year, Super Bowl XXVIII was a replay of the previous year. This was the first time ever that that the same teams had met in the Super Bowl in consecutive years.
Of course there are more games I remember, but somewhere around this time I started having a problem with the effect that money was having on the game and the players. It seemed that more and more players were getting into trouble. Here were some of the people who really had the world by the tail and they were not the kind of people you really wanted to be your son’s heros. It continues today and I was just listening to TV and one of the topics was how many players had been arrested this last year.
The time I really enjoyed the game was when the players played because they loved the game. I remember Dandy Don Meredith playing for the Cowboys back when the Cowboys played their games in the Cotton Bowl stadium. The Cowboys could not mount a winning season, but they were fun to watch. Meredith was a colorful character on and off the field. Some of the favorite memories I have of Don Meredith were the verbal exchanges he had as a broadcaster with Howard Cosell.
I am up for this game and I am not sure why. I am expecting a great game. I don’t have a favorite in this game. I am happy to see a couple teams competing that haven’t been there in a while. And today makes history because black coaches are coaching both teams. Well I have rambled enough. I guess it is time to head to El Rey and buy some chips and hot sauce.
I remember Super Bowl XX when da Bears demolished the Patriots. I don’t think anyone could forget Chicago’s coach Mike Ditka and I also remember Refrigerator Perry. What a huge man.
Had to remember that one, hey, Don?
That game was pitiful. Steve Grogan was looking for a place to hide as soon as he took the snap. He was sacked 7 times, and severely frightened at least 30 times. They say sacked, but should it count as a sack when the quarterback immediately hits the ground in a fetal position?
In some ways, Bradshaw has to be considered the greatest quarterback ever–just as Bill Russell was in basketball.
I do think that you are too strong on the idea of money ruining the players. Would you prefer that the owners be ruined? I am not sure that any NFL owner has ever had to face the likes of Dick Butkis across the line. There has been quite a bit of commentary this last week or so about how oldtimers who played for the “love of the game” are now living in physical and financial ruin. As for present day players, I’m always surprised at the fierce desire these guys have to win even though they no longer have the financial incentive.
The Refrigerator, you say? He’d probably be considered a bit underweight today.
You are right–when you stand next to these linemen, you can hardly believe their size. Not only that, but as the coach of Grambling used to say, they are “mobile, agile, and hostile.” No wonder Steve Grogan kept looking for a comfortable piece of grass on which to fall.
Actually I don’t begrudge the player earning the big bucks. I do however dislike that so many of them don’t give more back for being lucky enough to be blessed with the physical abilities that they were given. So many are put in a position of worship and they don’t deserve it. When their time is over look at how many fail at the game of life.
Here’s the line I hate. A player has been making 5 million a year for the last five years and his contract is up; his team only offers him 7 million for the next 3 years, and so he goes with a team that offers him 8 million. At the press conference, almost invariably a player will say, “I had to think of my famiy’s future.” I reply (to the TV screen): “You’ve just made 25 million dollars; what in the hell did you do with that?”
It is shame (and a sham) when a player or anyone uses their family as an excuse for greed. They should just use Ella Fitzgerald’s line, expressed on the Johnny Carson show. She was moving into a big money job, and Johnny asked her if she didn’t think she already had enough money. She answered, “Johnny, you can never be too thin or have too much money.” Enjoy the game.
And the amazing thing is that many of the players are bankrupt within 10 years of leaving the game.
I notice that you left out Super Bowls I & II. Maybe Green Bay being in them (after beating Dallas) was too much to take?
I was a big Bart Starr fan back then and really enjoyed those games. The closely played Pittsburgh / Dallas games were certainly memorable.
Tuxi Yes the games with Green Bay are not pleasant memories. I did like Bart Starr though.