Wednesday, December 28, 2005

"The greatest game I've ever seen"- Bert Bell, NFL commissioner...

The late Bert Bell made that quote on this date in 1958 after witnessing what many agree, was one of the most dramatic and exciting games in the history of the NFL. The championship of the league was in the balance when the Cinderella Giants and Johnny Unitas-led Colts battled it out on a frozen Yankee Stadium field. The Giants were on their way to victory late in the game but with 7 seconds left in regulation Baltimore tied it, 17-17 on a field goal by Steve Myrha to send the contest into the first sudden-death game in league history...

8 minutes and 15 seconds into overtime Alan "The Horse" Ameche, thanks to a great block by Lenny Moore on Emlen Tunnell, plunged into the end zone giving the Colts a thrilling 23-17 win and the championship of the NFL...

Most of the 64,185 sat in stunned silence, although there were 15,000 or so brave Colt fans who journeyed up to the Bronx for the championship game in what many have called pro football's defining moment...

More December 28 Memories...

1869) William Finley Semple of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, patents chewing gum (samples of which are still displayed under every piece of furniture in the Semple home which is wrapped in tin foil)...

1895) The world's 1st movie theater opens in Paris...

1902) The 1st professional indoor football game is played at Madison Square Garden as Syracuse beats the Philadelphia Nationals 6-0...

1944) The musical "On The Town" opens on Broadway featuring the song "New York, New York"...

1945) Congress officially recognizes "The Pledge of Allegiance"...

1956) After 5 years on television, the last "Ding Dong School" airs on NBC-TV (hosted by Miss Francis (Horwich))...

1968) The Doors release "Touch Me"...

1968) The "Beatles White Album" goes to #1 where it stays for 9 weeks...

1973) Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes "Gulag Archipelago", an expose of the Soviet prison system...

1973) The Chamber of Commerce of Akron, Ohio, terminates its association with the All-American Soap Box Derby, stating that the race has become "a victim of cheating and fraud" (c'mon, next you're gonna tell us that wrestling is fixed)...

1983) Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys drowns while swimming near his boat in the harbor at Marina del Ray, California (ironically, Dennis was the only real surfer in the group). Dennis was 39...

1984) The TV soap, "Edge of Night" fades to black after 28 years...

1991) Ted Turner is named Time Magazine's Man of the Year...

To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...

Happy Birthday To...

1913) Lou Jacobi...

1921) Johnny ("Hand Jive") Otis...

1934) Maggie Smith...

1946) Edgar Winter...

1950) Alex (The Boxtops) Chilton...

1954) Denzel Washington...

1960) Hockey Hall of Famer, ex-Bruin great Ray Bourque...

1972) Patriot kicker Adam Vinatieri...

1981) Sienna Miller...

Commentary...

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News wrote an excellent article in his "Critic at Large" column called "Cultural attention span growing ever shorter". David bemoans the removal of cultural reference points of the past and the lack of historical knowledge possessed by much of the public, pointing out that the present makes more sense when we know the past. It's well worth reading (www.nydailynews.com) in the entertainment section of today's New York Daily News...

And with that in mind, I hope that my daily blogs provide a link to the past for all of you. My vow to you is to keep it brief, jog a memory or two and do it in an entertaining, interesting and hopefully at times, witty way...