Manning & the Colts dominate the Super Bowl...
Peyton Manning proved that he could win the biggest game of all but although he was voted MVP of Super Bowl XLI, much credit goes to the 1st team to win a Super Bowl after finishing last in the NFL in defense. The Colts transformation to a solid defensive unit was remarkable. While they had given up an average of 173 yards a game in the regular season, they showed a 100-yard-per-game improvement in their 3 playoff victories. Although the Patriots scored 34 against the Colts in a high scoring shootout won by Indianapolis, they held Baltimore to 6 and Chicago to 17 points, respectively. The final score of 29-17 is deceptive because the Colts dominated play on both offense and defense...
Some interesting SB factoids: Tony Dungy became the 3rd coach to have won SB's both as a player and coach to join Mike Ditka and Tom Flores...For the 21st time in 41 SB's, the winning quarterback has won the MVP award...With the Colts win, the NFC leads in SB wins over the AFC 21-20 although AFC teams have won 6 of the last 7...Devin Hester's run back of the opening SB kickoff marked the 1st time in history that the opening kickoff was run back for a touchdown...
The field became slick with the steady rain so it might be time for the NFL to consider playing the biggest game of the season in a dome. Next year's Super Bowl in Glendale (AZ) will be played in a stadium which has a retractable roof...
By winning his first Super Bowl ring, Peyton Manning no longer has anything left to prove and at 30, will, along with the Patriots' Tom Brady, dominate the field of NFL quarterbacks. Although the Colts have the edge over New England with 3 consecutive wins, the competition between the 2 teams and their quarterbacks should be intense for at least the next 5 to 6 years. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, pitchers and catchers report to spring training on February 15th...
Today's video link can be found in the 1967 timeline...
Timeline Memories...
"America in your pocket": 1921] Reader's Digest hits the newsstands for the 1st time...
A Buyer's Market: 1921] The Yankees purchase 20 acres in the Bronx to build Yankee Stadium (a new stadium right next to the current one is being built now and is scheduled to open in 2009)...
Premiered on this date: 1967] "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" premieres on CBS-TV but will switch to ABC and then NBC before ending in May of 1975. Our video link captures the brothers singing the immortal "Boil That Cabbage Down": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgwH-XngXKo ...
"Green, green": 1990] Notre Dame becomes the 1st college football team to sell its home games to a major TV network - NBC, where it still resides each season...
"Guilty as Charged": 1994] White separatist Byron De La Beckwith is convicted in Jackson (MS) of murdering civil rights leader Medgar Evans in 1963. De La Beckwith is sentenced to life in prison...1999] Mike Tyson is sentenced to a year in prison for assaulting 2 people after a car accident in 1998 (he's also fined $5,000 and serves 2 years of probation and performs 200 hours of community service upon release)...2002] A federal grand jury indicts John Walker Lindh on 10 charges, alleging he was trained by Osama bin Laden's network and conspired with the Taliban to kill Americans...
Command(er in Chief) Performance: 1998] Elton John and Stevie Wonder perform at the White House...
Regis gets Ripped: 2001] Kelly Ripa is announced as Regis Philbin's new co-host. The show is renamed "Live! with Regis and Kelly". Ripa replaces Kathie Lee Gifford...
This Cruise is Over: 2001] Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman announce their separation...
Wedding Bells: 1997] Investment bank Morgan Stanley announces a $10 billion merger with Dean Witter...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
Congratulations to Iona coach Jeff Ruland for the New Rochelle university's 1st win of the season after 22 losses in a row. Iona beat Ryder 69-57 on Saturday night. Ruland said "the kids have been great. They've taken it one game at a time and kept playing hard". He also said "this losing streak was something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy". The Gaels last previous victory came on March 6, 2006 when they beat St. Peter's in the MAAC championship game. They went to the 1st round of last season's NCAA tournament but this year they have 3 starters out with injuries or academics and have started as many as 5 freshmen...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Bobby Brown (38), Laura Linney (43), Jennifer Jason Leigh (45), Tim Meadows (46), Christopher Guest (59), Al Kooper (63), Roger Staubach (65), Barrett Strong (66), Henry Aaron (73), Reverand Andrew M. Greeley (79) and Claude King (84)...
Timeline Countdown: 10 days until 'pitchers and catchers' and 44 days until spring...
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