What I have been reading lately #51

In December of 1944, the German army launched an offensive on the western front in a last-ditch effort to win the war. This offensive is commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge. At that time, Bill Davidson was a U.S. army soldier/journalist covering the war for Yank magazine. During the battle, he found himself trapped behind German lines with two Jewish German children to take care of. This book, written decades after the war was over, retells Davidson's efforts to get back through the lines to the Allied side and the various soldiers, resistance fighters, deserters, black marketeers, famous authors, and possible Nazi spies that he encountered along the way.

Left: Ernest Hemingway


Below: U.S. soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge

After the war, Davidson went on to write several biographies of Hollywood celebrities including Spencer Tracy, Sid Caesar, and Gary Coleman.  For more information, click here.

Merry Christmas from AC Milan

The folks at AC Milan are apparently so excited about Christmas this year that they sent out two (slightly different) videos--
Video one:


Video two:


Just like AC Milan, Ape Canyon News Service would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

NFL game report: Jacksonville Jaguars 31 - Pittsburgh Steelers 29 (2007 playoffs)

• Date played: January 5, 2008
• Broadcast Network: NBC
• Announcers: Al Michaels and John Madden
• Who I rooted for when this game originally took place: I thought it was the Jaguars, but apparently not (see below)
• Who I now wish had won: Jacksonville
• What happened: Pittsburgh was trailing 28-10 at the start of the fourth quarter but scored three touchdowns and came back to take a 29-28 lead. Jacksonville kicked a field goal with thirty-seven seconds left to win the game.

• Notable players who appeared in this game for Jacksonville: David Garrard (see photo directly above), Maurice Jones-Drew (see photo at very top) , Fred Taylor, Vince Manuwai
• Notable players who appeared in this game for Pittsburgh: Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Heath Miller, Santonio Holmes, James Farrior, James Harrison, Troy Polamalu
• Controversial aspects of this game: None really-- the officiating could have been a bit better
• Connection between this game and Todd Marinovich: None
• Unusual things about this game: Maurice Jones-Drew returned a kickoff 96 yards without scoring a touchdown.
• Turnovers in this game: Three interceptions by Ben Roethlisberger (two by Rashean Mathis-- one of which was returned for a touchdown-- and one by Derek Landri, a defensive lineman); two interceptions in the second half by David Garrard; one fumble by Ben Roethlisberger on the second-to-last play of the game.
• Important plays in this game: The Steelers scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it 28-23. They successfully completed the two-point conversion, but it was called back on a possibly non-existent holding penalty. They tried again from the twelve yard line but failed. 
• Other important plays in this game: When Pittsburgh scored another touchdown to make it 29-28, they once again failed to make the two-point conversion. This time no penalties were involved.
• The most famous and important play in this game: With under two minutes left and trailing 29-28, Jacksonville faced fourth down and two at the Steelers 43 yard line. The Jaguars called a quarterback draw and David Garrard ran the ball all the way down to the 11 yard line. (See video below)

• Things I remembered incorrectly about this game: I clearly remember watching this game at a pizza place. The Jaguars were wearing their home blue jerseys (not true) and their quarterback was Byron Leftwich (not true-- Leftwich has been cut by Jacksonville before the start of the season). I also clearly remember having secretly rooted for the Jaguars because certain people I was eating with were Steelers fans. A check of my journal entry from the next day, however, reveals the following sentence-- "All four NFL wildcard round playoff games went against me." Other than the eating pizza part, I am not sure what is true anymore.

Below: Byron Leftwich pictured on the Jaguars 2007 schedule

• What happened next: Jacksonville lost in the next round of the playoffs to the New England Patriots. The following season, the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl.

What I have been reading lately #50

Just this morning, I finished reading Brian Billick's More Than A Game: The Glorious Present and Uncertain Future of the NFL (co-authored by Michael MacCambridge). Billick is a former offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings and later head coach of the Baltimore Ravens (with whom he won Super Bowl XXXV). He currently works as a commentator for the FOX network, but his name has been mentioned as a possible candidate to fill the vacant head coaching position in Miami.

This book was published in the fall of 2009 and gives a broad overview of the current state of the NFL from the perspective of league officials, owners, general managers, head coaches, assistant coaches, and players. In the book, Billick draws upon both his personal experiences as a player and coach, as well as the insights he gained from the world of television broadcasting. I enjoyed reading this book; however, I am sure that I will have completely forgotten that I ever even read it within a matter of just a few days.

Below: Brian Billick (left) talking to Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller

NFL game report: Kansas City Chiefs 10 - Los Angeles Raiders 6 (1991 playoffs)

• Date played: December 28, 1991
• Broadcast network: ABC
• Announcers: Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil
• Who I rooted for when this game originally took place: Chiefs (I think)
• Who I now wish had won: Not sure
• What happened: Five interceptions, three fumbles, two missed field goals, and a whole bunch of penalties at the very end. In addition, the game's only touchdown would not have counted under current rules. Barry Word (Chiefs-- 130 yards rushing) and Nick Bell (Raiders-- 107 yards rushing) provided most of the offense.

• Notable players who appeared in this game for Kansas City: Steve DeBerg, John Alt, Dave Szott, Tim Grunhard, Christian Okoye (briefly), Derrick Thomas, Dan Saleaumua, Neil Smith, Deron Cherry (see photos above)
• Notable players who appeared in this game for Los Angeles: Todd Marinovich (see photo below), Marcus Allen, Willie Gault, Steve Wisniewski, Don Mosebar, Max Montoya, Howie Long, Bob Golic, Greg Townsend, Winston Moss, Lionel Washington, Ronnie Lott, Eddie Anderson
• Controversial aspects of this game: The previous week the Raiders had benched starter Jay Schroeder in favor of rookie Todd Marinovich. Despite the Raiders' loss, Marinovich had played well and was given the starter's job in the rematch against the Chiefs. Marinovich was the second-youngest quarterback to ever start an NFL playoff game up to that time.

• Raiders head coach: Art Shell
• Chiefs head coach: Marty Shottenheimer
• Chiefs assistant coaches who would go on to become head coaches: Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, Herman Edwards
• Connection between this game and Todd Marinovich: Marinovich played in this game.

Below: A post-game interview with Todd Marinovich

• Players with enormous shoulder pads: Chiefs linebacker Tracy Simien (no photo available at this time)
• Players who were 37 years old during this game: Steve DeBerg
• Players who had won five consecutive games against the Raiders prior to this game: Steve DeBerg
• Players with amazing play fakes on play-action passes: Steve DeBerg
• Players who had to be rushed to the hospital with irregular heartbeats: Derrick Thomas (see photo below)

• People associated with this game who resemble John Cleese: Kansas City place kicker Nick Lowery
• Players who weighed 151 pounds during this game: Kansas City wide receiver J.J. Birden
• Players who did not appear in this game but are nonetheless important to world history: Raiders third-string quarterback Vince Evans (see photo below)

• What happened next: The Chiefs lost in the next round of the playoffs to the Buffalo Bills; Todd Marinovich played one more season in the NFL; Steve Deberg can be relatively easily reached on the internet; Derrick Thomas died after a car crash; Dick Vermeil won the Super Bowl as coach of the St. Louis Rams.

NFL game report: Titans 22 - Bills 16 (1999 playoffs)

• Date played: January 8, 2000
• Broadcast network: ABC
• Broadcasters: Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire
• Who I rooted for when this game originally took place: Titans (I think)
• Who I now wish had won: Titans
• What happened: Tennessee led 12-0 at halftime. Buffalo came back to take a 13-12 lead early in the 4th quarter. Titan's kicker Al Del Greco kicked a 36 yard field goal with under two minutes left. Steve Christie kicked a 41 yard field goal with :20 left to give Buffalo the lead back. Tennessee returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to win the game. (Video below-- not the ABC announcers, however)

• Notable players who appeared in this game for Buffalo: Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Steve Christie, Andre Reed, Peerless Price
• Notable players who appeared in this game for Tennessee: Steve McNair, Eddie George, Jevon Kearse, Samari Rolle, Al Del Greco
• Controversial aspects of this game: The final play; Bill's coach Wade Phillips's decision to start Rob Johnson (pictured below) at quarterback instead of Doug Flutie.

• Connection between this game and Todd Marinovich: Prior to this game, there had been only three other occasions when a quarterback had started every game of the NFL season except the last game and then not started in the playoffs. One of the other times was in 1991, when Marinovich replaced Jay Schroeder as Raiders quarterback in back-to-back games against Kansas City.
• People associated with this game who resemble Bob Newhart: Wade Phillips
• Things I remembered incorrectly about this game: I thought that the game was played on astroturf, not grass. I also remembered there being a bit of snow on the field.

• How this game would be remembered in an alternate universe: As the Rob Johnson shoe game, rather than as Music City Miracle. Johnson, who had been playing rather badly all game, led the Bills to a seemingly-victorious final drive as time wound down. At one point, Johnson had lost one of his shoes, but rather than spike the ball and stop the clock, he completed a crucial pass to bring Buffalo into easier field goal position.
• What happened next: Tennessee won their next two playoff games before losing in the Super Bowl. (Video below) Steve McNair was killed by his girlfriend in 2009. The Bills have only had one winning season since this game and have not made the playoffs once in that time.

• A poem written around the time this game originally took place:

TITANS BEAT BILLS

The television sets

are filled

with terrible news!

Football players

act like houses

on wheels—

they look busy

and blame their troubles

on an angry God!

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