NBC Sports: NFL 1989- AFC Divisional Playoff- Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos: Full Game

Source:NBC Sports- the Steelers & Rams at Mile High Stadium, in Denver, Colorado.

"1989 AFC Divisional Playoff Game: The Steelers will use their running attack, to shorten the game. As for the Broncos, they are trying to get to the AFC Championship Game for the 3rd time in 4 years. This was an intense competitive battle." 

From Richard Waldrup

This AFC divisional playoff was a matchup between Chuck Noll's 1980s Pittsburgh Steelers, which was obviously very different from the Steel Curtain Steelers of the 1970s, versus Dan Reeves new look 1989 Denver Broncos. 

The Steelers of the 1980s, were still very good defensively, even when they weren't winning. Their defense was just different, going from a 4-3 defense that didn't have to blitz to either stop the run or rush the QB, to a 3-4 defense that had to blitz to get to the QB and perhaps even play the run. They weren't as big and strong as they were in the 1970s, but they were still very good on defense. 

The 1989 Broncos, different from both the 86 and 87 Broncos that won the AFC Championship. They not only ran the ball more, but had Bobby Humphrey we ran for over a 1000 yards by himself that season. And instead of playing a bend but not break defense, their corners played more tight man to man coverage and they pressured the QB more. 

This game was an interesting matchup, but the Broncos clearly had the better team, at least on offense.

Tru-TV: Lizard Lick Towing: 'No One Calls Amy A Bitch'

Source:True-TV- don't mess with Amy in Lizard Lick.

Source:The Daily Post

"This guy puts his hands on the wrong woman! Subscribe:Tru-TV."

From Tru-TV

This might sound as obvious as: "If you don't play with fire, you won't get burned" but sometimes when you are either dealing with people who either forgot to get an education, or didn't bother to get and education, or believe they don't have to follow the same rules as everyone else, stating the obvious can be necessary. When you pay your bills, your property won't get repoed.

Source:Tru-TV- don't mess with Amy in Lizard Lick.

I don’t watch this show from very often. But it is pretty funny and sort of represents every single stereotype that Yankees and people who live in big cities and urban areas in general have of country folk (let's say) Rednecks, even. 

The people who work at Lizard Lick Towing in North Carolina are fairly intelligent, at least the owners Ron and Amy Shirley. But a lot of the people they deal with who just got their vehicles and other property towed because they didn’t pay their bills on them look like, frankly stereotypical country, bumpkin, dipshit, hicks. Who believe they live under different rules as everyone else and don’t have to do such inconvenient things like paying their bills on their cars and trucks. And that is what you see in this scene.

NFL Films: The Steel Curtain Steelers

Source:NFL Films- James Harrison's big hit against Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning.

Source:The Daily Post

“Pittsburgh Steelers – The Steel Curtain Pittsburgh Steelers Biggest Hits of All-time. Some of the best Chaos and Carnage created by the Steelers Some of the biggest hits in steelers history.”

From Sports Violence Studios 

To paraphrase Lynn Swann: great players make great plays when the plays matter the most, when the game is on the line, etc. That's exactly what Lynn Swann did during his career. You can look at his career regular season stats all you want, but when the game was on the line, when the most important game of the season was on the line, like the Super Bowl, Lynn Swann was the best receiver on the field.

Source:NFL Films- Steelers WR Lynn Swann's, great catch against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl 10 

What made the Pittsburgh Steelers of the late 1970s even better than the Steelers of the mid 1970s, was the rule changes on offense in the NFL in 1978 that improved the blocking and opened up the running and passing games on offense. And opened up the passing game also with the illegal contact rule that allowed for WR’s to be able to get off of the line of scrimmage and run their patterns.

Before the rule changes, the Steelers were a power run, ball control offense. That would rely on their Steel Curtain defense to set up great field position for them and get them takeaways. And when defenses tried to take their running game away by stacking the line of scrimmage, the Steelers also had deep threats in the passing game with WR’s John Stallworth and Lynn Swann and QB Terry Bradshaw.

Bradshaw being one of the best deep passing QB’s of all-time, but with the rule changes on offense the Steelers had to find more ways to score and to be able to score more points. As we saw in Super Bowl 13 against the Dallas Cowboys and Super 14 against the Los Angeles Rams. The 1978 rule changes on offense in the NFL opened up the Steelers offense and made them a vertical passing and power running team, to go with their great defense.

NFL Films: 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers: 'The Return Of The Champions'

Source:NFL Films- two members of the Pittsburgh Air Force.

What made the Steelers different in the late 1970s from the mid 1970s is that their offense changed when the rules changed in 1978 to improve the blocking and put in the illegal contact rule so WR's could get off of the line of scrimmage. 

In the mid 1970s the Steelers were a defensive club that relied on their defense to get them great field position and get them takeaway's. Not that different from the 1980s Chicago Bears, with a power run ball control offense and deep threats in the passing game with John Stallworth and Lynn Swann at WR. 

When defenses stacked the line of scrimmage to take away the running game, that type of offense was no longer good enough with the new rule changes to open up the passing and running game. 

Even with the Steel Curtain defense the Steelers had to find more ways to score and score more often as we saw in Super Bowls 13 and 14 against the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams. And Terry Bradshaw emerging as the best QB in the league and best big game QB in the league made the Steelers great on offense as well.

From Lafayette Cathey

NBC Sports: NFL 1989- Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos: Full Game

Source:NBC Sports- Denver Broncos QB John Elway.

"Pittsburgh Steelers (4-4) at Denver Broncos (6-2)

November 5, 1989

Weather: 49 degrees, relative humidity 46%, wind 17 mph

Line: Denver -7.5

Over/Under: 41

Starting QBs: Bubby Brister (Pit), John Elway (Den)

Network: NBC

Announcers: Marv Albert, Bob Trumpy" 

From Sports!

Steelers-Broncos games in the 1970s and 80s, perhaps 90s as well, were always interesting, because both teams were very physical on defense. They always played great defense, for the most part, and always had a lot tough, hard-hitting players on defense. 

The Steelers were a tough, strong, team on both sides of the ball, physically. The Broncos were lighter and not as big of a team, but they generally played tough, strong, physical, good defense, which is how they were able to win so many games back then, because their offense was never very explosive, even with John Elway at QB during the 80s. 

NFL Films: Americas Game- 1973 Miami Dolphins: Super Bowl 8 Highlights

Source:NFL Films- Dolphins FB Larry Czonka taking the ball into the end zone, against the Minnesota Vikings.

Source:The Daily Post

"In Super Bowl VIII, the Dolphins sought to become the 2nd team to ever win two straight Super Bowls, the first team to do so since Vince Lombardi's Packers took the first two AFL-NFL Championships, but the Dolphins were facing a highly-regarded Vikings team that was picked by SI to win the game." 

From the NFL 

If you think about it, the 1970s Don Shula Dolphins philosophy and game plan was simple to explain, that you could not only do it in simple English, but if you are a real football fan, you would never forget it, not because it was so simple, but because of how successful it was. 

The 1970s Don Shula Dolphins philosophy and game plan was as simple as this: you run the ball down the other team's throats. When that doesn't work, you run the ball outside with sweeps and traps, or you do that before the defense takes away your inside running game, just to give the defense something else to think about. Now the defense is thinking about both the inside and outside running games of the Dolphins, so QB Bob Griese goes play-action down the field to WR Paul Warfield, who is arguably the best big play and perhaps big game receiver ever. 

On defense, Don Shula's Dolphins wanted to take away your running game on 1st down, by either stuffing your run on 1st or forcing you to throw the ball on 1st, because they know they had the pass rushers and secondary to stop your passing game. 

If you think about it, Don Shula's 1970s Dolphins were essentially the AFC's version of the Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers. They beat by executing, but outworking their opponents, taking away what you wanted to do and do what they wanted to do, which was to run the ball, stuff your run, throw the ball downfield, and attack your QB. Had the Dolphins not had lost several of their key players to the World Football League in the mid 1970s, maybe we're talking about the Dolphins as the team of the 1970s and not the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFL Films: NFL 1973- Super Bowl 8- Minnesota Vikings vs Miami Dolphins: Highlights

Source:NFL Films- Miami Dolphins FB Larry Czonka taking it in for a touchdown.

"(4K ULTRA HD) - Super Bowl VIII Highlights - RESTORED" 

From Godzilla Rocks

I think what the Minnesota Vikings experiences in their 4 Super Bowls from 1969-76, is that if you can't run the ball against the other team and can't stop the other team's running game, you are not going to win the Super Bowl. 

You might be able to win the Super Bowl today without a running game, or at least a running game in the Super Bowl, but you couldn't do that in the 1970s, for the simple reason that the rules favored the defenses so much, both the defensive lineman and the defensive backs. 

If you couldn't run the ball in the Super Bowl in the 1970s, even if you had one of the best passing games in the NFL that season, which is what the Vikings had, your QB (in this case Fran Tarkenton) and your receivers, will be sitting ducks. Because your o-line will get run over by the d-line and linebackers, especially since they know you have to throw the ball, just to move the ball.

Like with the Kansas Chiefs in Super Bowl 4, the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 9, the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl 11, the Dolphins won Super Bowl 8 at the line of scrimmage with their o-line and d-line. They ran the ball at will against the Vikings smaller front 7 and stuffed the Vikings running game the whole day. 

You can also see this post at The FreeState, on Blogger.

NFL Films: 1974 Denver Broncos

Source:NFL Films- 24 is Denver Broncos RB Otis Armstrong.

"The 74 Broncos were looking for back to back winning seasons." 

From Classic Sports

From 1974-76, the Broncos were 22-19. Their best season was in 1976 when they were 9-5 and barely missed the AFC Playoffs. The Broncos under head coach John Ralston, was good, but never good enough. Good offensive teams, with a good passing and running games, but probably not enough on defense to win the AFC West, especially with their arch-rival Oakland Raiders being in the same division. The Broncos in the early and mid 1970s, were fun teams to watch, but never good enough to be good enough and be consistent winners. 

Dads Old Tapes: '1980 Commercial- Vote Republican For a Change'

Source:Dads Old Tapes- this is a very good Republican Party commercial.

"Democrats have run out of gas!

Gotta say this was a very well done ad - considering how 1980 would be the last year a Democrat would be in the white house until 1993."

Source:Dads Old Tapes

One of the funniest political commercials I've ever seen. There's nothing that I disagree with in this commercial. The Democratic Party controlled the entire Congress (House & Senate) from 1955-81 and controlled the Congress and The White House with President Jimmy Carter, from 1977-81. 

The Democratic Party accomplished a lot of good things when they were in complete control in the 1960s, but by 1978-79, they were running out of ideas, if not completely out of ideas, at least as far as policies that would work and were popular. And the country was in really bad shape by the time 1980 came around. And the country was ready for a change in leadership both in The White House with Ronald Reagan, but in Congress as well, with Republicans winning back the Senate for the first time since 1955 and picking up 30 seats in the House.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Three Rivers Stadium (1980)

Source:Pittsburgh Steelers- preparing to take on the Kansas City Chiefs, at Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium, in 1980.

"Here is some on field video of Rocky Bleier and the formidable 1980 Pittsburgh Steelers. The date is Dec. 14, 1980. The scene is Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh Pa.  The day is the last home game for Steelers' favorite Rocky Bleier. The Steelers won 21-16 with  Rocky scoring the final touchdown in the last moments of the game." 

From Brampete

Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium was known as a cookie-cutter stadium, because it was circular all around the stadium, with upper decks in both end zones and in the outfield for baseball. As well as being one of the other so-called cookie-cutter stadiums that were built in the 1960s and 70s. Like Philadelphia Veterans Stadium, which is just a few hours east of Pittsburgh. Cincinnati Riverfront Stadium, just a few hours west of Pittsburgh, RFK Stadium, 4-5 south from Pittsburgh in Washington, and Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. 

But I don't think the label cookie-cutter gives Three Rivers the credit that it deserves. This was a great place for NFL football, especially in the 1970s, when the Steelers were dominant. 55-60,000 fans at every Steeler game, they were very loud, they were on top of the action with excellent seats. It might have not been a great place to play even for the Steelers, as far as the concrete hard field, but it was a great place for the Steelers to play as far as fan atmosphere. If Three Rivers was a cookie-cutter stadium, it was a football first, baseball second cookie-cutter, because of how well-suited for football that it was.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

The Daily Telegraph: 'Margaret Thatcher: The Woman Who Made Britain Great Again'

Source:The Daily Telegraph- Margaret Thatcher (Conservative, England) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979-90)

Source:The FreeState

"Almost 25 years have passed since Margaret Thatcher left Downing Street, and yet the full scale of her achievement is still surprisingly hard to set out. So completely has her legacy shaped modern Britain, so fully have she and her ideas been woven into its fabric, that it can be hard to appreciate the depth of our debt to this most extraordinary of individuals. For she was not one of those politicians who had the good fortune to go with the grain of her times. She was a leader who wrenched this nation from the path of demoralisation, diminishment and... 

From The Daily Telegraph

Margaret Thatcher, in some ways was very lucky because she arrived on the seen as first Leader of The Opposition in the United Kingdom in the mid 1970s and then of course Prime Minister in 1979 at the perfect time when Britain was down and when socialism was not working and when the British were looking for a different message. Not so much different from what the United States was going through in the late 1970s. And Ronald Reagan came onto the scene.

Margaret Thatcher, didn’t set out to destroy socialism, but empower Brits to have the freedom to take care of themselves and take on more responsibility in governing their own lives. And handing more power down from the central government in Britain to the British people themselves. 

Maggie Thatcher, coming to power in Britain was truly a Conservative Revolution from when the Socialists in the Labour Party had all the power in Britain, to a time where there was a new message in Britain, that was conservative and getting government out of the business of running people’s lives.

I believe Maggie Thatcher, would be called a Northeastern, or Bob Dole even Conservative Republican in America. Someone who was in favor of having a public safety net. But that it wasn’t the job of government to take care of physically and mentally able people for their entire lives to help people who truly need it, but to help them help themselves. To put physically and mentally able people to work. Help people who are out-of-work get back to work, or go to work for the first time in their lives. As well as move Britain away from Marxist state economics and create a larger private sector in Britain.

NBC Sports: NFL 1983- Week 1- Denver Broncos at Pittsburgh Steelers: Full Game

Source:NBC Sports- The Broncos vs the Steelers, from Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium, in 1983.

"1983 week 1 Broncos at Steelers. John Elway's 1st start." 

From Maurence Shipley

This was literally John Elway's rookie debut and it was against one of the best defenses in the entire NFL, in the Pittsburgh Steelers, who punished NFL QB's and runners in 1983, who were 10-6 and won the AFC Central. John Elway was simply overmatched in this game. Broncos coach Dan Reeves had veteran Steve DeBerg, who was a solid, staring QB in the NFL, but chose to go with Elway instead.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

CBS Sports: 1987 NCAA Basketball Championship: Syracuse Organgemen vs Indiana Hoosiers: Full Game

"Keith Smart was the hero of the 1987 national championship game, knocking down a last-second jumper to lift Indiana to a 74-73 win over Syracuse. Watch the entire classic game here." 

From March Madness

One of the best college basketball championship games of all time.

Bugsy Siegel & The Flamingo Hotel

Source:Tania Ayde- Jewish mobster and perhaps the creator of Las Vegas, Benjamin Bugsy Siegel.

"A film by Tania De La Cruz

Directed by Tania De La Cruz & David Villapando

Edited and Written by Tania De La Cruz

Interviews provided by:Biography."

Source:Tania Ayde

Benjamin Bugsy Siegel was an interesting mobster. Italian, Irish or in Bugsy’s case Jewish, because he could’ve been anything he wanted to be. Because of his intelligence and charm. But because he lacked basic discipline and patience he went very far, but in a short time. But was only around for a short time. Being killed by the mob leadership in his early forties after being killed in his Los Angeles home by perhaps both the Italian and Jewish mafia’s and their leaderships. 

If you’re familiar with the film Bugsy from 1991, where Warren Beatty plays Bugsy Siegel, according to the film Bugsy’s bosses fly him back to Los Angeles from some supposed meeting. But the only meeting that Bugsy went to was his assassination, after the mob leadership decided that Bugsy was no longer worth the investment with all the money Bugsy spent to build the Las Vegas casinos and that even though Bugsy was very effective as a hitman for the Italian and Jewish mafias, as well as an enforcer, he was no longer worth the investment. Because of how bad a businessman he was. And that he needed to be taken out before he cost his bosses more money. 

Bugsy, again, had many good personal qualities about him. (Even for a murderer) But he lacked discipline and realism. He was too idealistic and too much of a dreamer, to survive as a mobster long-term. Whether you like it or not the Jewish and Italian Mafias’s, were business’s and didn’t want to associate with people who lost them money. Which is how they say Busgy in the end.

The mafia were worried that Bugsy would end up in prison or talking to police, or whatever. That he was too big of a gamble (even in Las Vegas) for them and needed to be dealt with. But without Bugsy Benjamin Siegel and Jimmy Hoffa, Las Vegas is not what it is today. A big vibrant city that it is in the Southwest and the entertainment capital of America. That is just a half-hour flight from Los Angeles. Where Americans all over the country go to everyday to have a good time. 

You take the criminal mindset away from Ben Siegel and you also discipline him without losing his imagination and vision, which is what created the Las Vegas that we know today and I think we’re talking about a brilliant businessman. But of course we’ll never know that. 

You can also see this post at The FreeState, on Blogger.

NBC Sports: NFL 1986- AFC Championship- Denver Broncos @ Cleveland Browns: Full Game

Source:NFL- 1986 AFC Championship.

"In honor of Free Game Friday the NFL presents "The Drive": 1986 AFC Championship." 

From the NFL

One of the best AFC Championship games of all time and another playoff game that the Browns should've won being a better all around team than the Broncos on both sides of the ball. The Browns were a team that was physically built to play in the NFC, rather than the AFC, that was smaller and quicker conference and got run over by the NFC teams in the Super Bowls from 1984-96.

NFL Films: 1986 Cleveland Browns Highlights

Source:NFL Films- Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Also known as the Mistake by The Lake.

Source:The Daily Post

"Browns center Mike Baab put together this creative video, based on his love of Conan The Barbarian comics, to benefit charity in 1986. The 17 minute video, "filmed" at Cleveland Metro Parks Squires Castle, features many of the star players of the 1986 Browns, some great game footage from early in the season against the Detroit Lions, and the original song "Hard Die The Heroes" by Cleveland's Michael Stanley Band. Yes, that is Tiny Tim playing "The Lord Of The League."  Transferred in HD." 

From Cindy Scott 

"1986 Browns Highlights" 

Source:NFL Films- the 1986 AFC Divisional between the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns.

From Comrade Dobler 

The three best teams in the NFL in 1986 were the New York Giants, Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns. The Giants clearly deserved to be number one having won the Super Bowl that year and were the most consistent team in the NFL in 1986. The question is who would be number two? The Redskins or Browns 

Some my say the Denver Broncos aren’t in the top three, even though they won the AFC and played in the Super Bowl and beat both the Browns and Redskins that year. The Redskins and Browns simply had better teams, better personal and better records. The Broncos won enough to get to the Super Bowl. And a lot of that credit goes to their head coach Dan Reeves. 

The Browns of this era were an NFC caliber and style team as far as physical strength toughness and speed on both sides of the ball. But simply didn’t win the games they needed to, to play in the Super Bowl. The two AFC Final’s they lost in 86 and 87, where they had the best team in both games, but didn't win those games.

CBS Sports: NBA 1980-NBA Finals Game 5-Philadelphia 76ers @ Los Angeles Lakers: The Doctor vs Kareem

Source:CBS Sports- with coverage of game 5 of the 1980 NBA Finals.

Source:The Daily Post 

"Kareem had 40 pts, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks. This is also the game where Kareem injured his ankle leaving the stage open for Magic in Game 6. The injury occurs at 3:40. Kareem comes back at the start of the fourth period and hits heroic shots to win the game. Magic's performance might be the most memorable thing to come out of this series but equally, if nor more, impressive was Kareem's dominance in the first five games. If not for those clutch shots, the Lakers probably wouldn't  have the 3-2 series lead which provided them the opportunity to knockout the Sixers in game 6.

Also included a couple of smooth Dr. J and Dawkins plays here." 

From Fish

I think Rod Hundley has the most interesting comment in this video. When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar goes down with the ankle injury and he says he doesn’t believe that Lakers can beat the 76ers without Kareem. Well, of course that is exactly what the Lakers did in game 6. They beat the 76ers without Kareem who was home with the ankle injury. Now, probably no one would've predicted that, but that's exactly what happened.

6’9 Magic Johnson, whose a point guard normally, filled in for Kareem at center in game 6. And the Lakers win that game to clinch the 1980 NBA Finals. Now no one including Hot Rod knew how great of a player that Magic was at this point. And I’m not sure Magic didn't either, in defense of Hot Rod.

As far as this game, the 76ers had no one who could defend Kareem. And most of the NBA didn’t either in 1980. And this Lakers team had so much talent around Kareem, including Magic, but Jamal Wilkes, Norm Nixon and others, that if you paid a lot of attention to Kareem, Kareem would set up his other teammates the whole game and the other players would’ve beaten the 76ers. The Lakers didn’t have anyone who could stop Julius Erving, but they had two or three guys who could cover The Doctor in stretches and make him work for his points: Jamal Wilkes, Michael Cooper and Magic, at different points of the game.

This was a great finals for several reasons. The two best players in the game at that time, Kareem and The Doctor. The two best teams in the league, 76ers and Lakers. And they both matched up well with each other. They had to cover each other and could make the other team work on offense and defense. Without any real weakness’s on other team. Other than the 76ers not having true quality starting center who played both ends of the court real well. Caldwell Jones was primarily a shot blocker and rebounder. Darryl Dawkins was primarily a scorer, but who wasn’t very consistent there. And that was the difference with Kareem being able to dominate either of the 76ers centers.

BBC News: 'US Elections Five Moments From US Elections Past '1980 Election Jimmy Carter Loses'

Source:BBC News- President James E. Carter (Democrat, Georgia) conceding the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan.

"Four years later, then-incumbent President Jimmy Carter didn't just lose to Republican challenger Ronald Regan - he lost big.

Carter, hampered by the Iran hostage crisis and saddled with a poor economic record, won only 49 electoral votes (out of 538). He gave his concession speech even before polls had closed on the West Coast.

In reporting on this loss, the BBC's Martin Bell previewed what was expected from Reagan, a relative newcomer to national and international politics, when he took office.

Unlike the liberal Carter, who emphasised environmentalism and poverty issues, Reagan's conservative credentials seemed to promise a leaner government with an focus on business - as well as the return of Henry Kissinger to the national stage."

Source:News & Offers Now 

This was a short election night with President Carter, only winning 6 states and around 44% of the vote. The sun might have still been up on the West Coast by the time it looked it was obvious that President Carter would not only lose to Ronald Reagan, but that he might not win a state even and struggle to win 45% of the popular vote, even though he was the incumbent President.

NBC Sports: NFL 1979- AFC Divisional Playoff- Houston Oilers @ San Diego Chargers: Full Game

Source:NBC Sports- coverage of the 1979 AFC Divisional Playoff.

"The 1979 AFC Playoff game between the Houston Oilers and the San Diego Chargers.

With thanks to the NFL and NBC Sports for the use of their film. We do not own the rights to any of this film. This film is being used for teaching and educational purposes only. No copyright infringement intended." 

From Classic Sports

The Chargers just not having the experience to beat the Oilers in this playoff game. And the Oilers might of been the second best team in the NFL in 1979, anyway.