Ray Bourque an All Time Great On and Off the Ice

Ray Bourque one of the All Time Greats

 

I have to say through the years the Boston Bruins have been a very consistent bunch. I have followed them and enjoyed their play since 1979 when my favorite Bruin of all time started his illustrious career. The classy Ray Bourque was drafted in the 1^st round 8^th overall in the 1979 draft.  A little known fact was that Harry Sinden stole him. He traded backup goaltender Ron Grahame to the LA Kings in 1977 for the LA Kings first round pick. Think LA would have loved to have Bourque play with Marcel Dionne and then eventually Wayne Gretzky? Although it is unfair for the fans to expect him to be the next Bobby Orr, Bourque came on the scene and scored 17 goals with 48 assists for 65 points. This was at the time was a rookie for defenseman, that Larry Murphy eventually broke in 80-81 with 76 points.  Bourque had excellent speed as an 18 year old but what was most amazing was his ability to be good in his own end.  Bourque with that blistering shot helped the PP as soon as he got there. Each year Bourque got better, Scoring usually about 20 goals and 70 points. In 1982-1983 the Bruins had a very good team winning 50 games with 110 points. Pete Peeters was tremendous winning 40 games 2.36 GAA and the Vezina Trophy.  The Bruins were led by a tremendous group of forwards that had both grit and skill.  The famous Barry Peterson (46 goals 107 points), Rick Middleton 49 goals 96 points and Mike Krushelnyski (23 goals and 65 points) line led the team. The Bruins had 8 guys have 20 plus goals. Keith Crowder had a career year with 35 goals and 74 points as well.  Once the playoffs came around many though this team could get to the Stanley Cup Finals. They fell a bit short of that but it was no fault of Bourques.  Bourque had 8 goals and 23 points in only 17 games. He really was maturing as a player.  The NY Islanders beat Boston in 6 and won their 4^th Stanley Cup in a row that season beating the Edmonton Oilers.  The next season was an excellent one for Bourque.  Bourque set career highs with 31 goals and 96 points. This is tremendous for any player, but especially a defenseman.  The Bruins however had playoff disappointments and seemed to always lose to Montreal in those years. 

 

Two things changed all of that. First was another fleecing trade by Harry Sinden in 1986. The Bruins traded Barry Pederson to Vancouver for Cam Neely and the Canucks first round pick in 1987, which turned out to be Glen Wesley.  Pederson after 3 tremendous seasons in Boston had an injury. He had some decent seasons for the Canucks but was not like he was in Boston. Cam Neely however came to Boston and was a fantastic Bruin from the get go.  He scored 36 goals in his first season with Boston and then 42 in his 2^nd.  1987-1988 was one of the best overall seasons for Bourque both on and off the ice.  Remember when Bourque came into the league Harry Sinden gave him #7. Bourque never felt comfortable with 7 but wore it well. Phil Esposito a Hall of Famer in his own right, wore #7 for the Bruins from 1967-1975.  On December 3, 1987 the Bruins were finally going to retire Esposito’s number. Espo was expecting to see #7 up in the Garden rafters but Bourque would continue to wear it. Bourque being probably the most classy respectful player in all of sports, decided to give Esposito his sweater #7 and surprisingly changed to #77.  This was probably the most speechless Espo ever was.  It ranks to me one of the warmest moments ever I have seen in sports.  Bourque wore 77 the rest of his career.  Now 1987-1988 was good for many other reasons too. The Bruins went on a nice run in the playoffs and after 18 times in a row, Finally Finally beat the Canadiens 4 games to 1. Cam Neely and Ray Bourque along with Reggie Lemelin were key to his.  My fondest memory is game 5 when the Bruins already up 3-1 in the Series and 3-1 in the game, Cam Neely broke in from the right wing all alone and shot it upstairs over Patrick Roy.  God rest his soul, I can hear Fred Cuisick, saying “Neely in, HE SCORES and Boston leads 4-1” Let me tell you, this was so much fun to see.  I hated the Canadiens back then, I was so sick of them winning but it was nice to slay the dragon.

Boston went on to beat an upstart Devils team but in the Finals they were overmatched by the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 when Wayne Gretzky won his Final Cup as a player there.  That was okay. This was a huge success for a team that always lost to MTL and beat them to get to a Final.  Bourque was excellent that playoff getting 3 goals and 21 points and was a true leader on the ice and off as well.  87-88 was the 2^nd of Bourque’s 5 Norris Trophies with the last one being 93-94.  

1988-89 was a disappointing year for the Bruins in the playoffs but 89-90 may have been Bourques best all-around season in his career. He had 19 goals 84 points and led Boston to a fantastic season of 46 wins and 101 points.  Neely was a force scoring 55 goals for his career high and other balanced scoring had Craig Janney with 24 goals and 62 points in only 55 games, Bob Carpenter with 25 goals and Bob Sweeny with 22 goals.  The playoffs started and the Bruins played a scrappy Hartford Whalers team that was not as bad as everyone thought. They had Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Pat Verbeek and good team speed. The Whalers were up in the series 2-1 and in game 4 up 5-2 in the 3^rd period, when coach Mike Milbury made a goaltending switch from Reggie Lemelin to Andy Moog. Whatever he did he sparked one of the best comebacks in the Bruins playoff history. First Dave Poulin scored to make it 5-3, then Bob Beers on a breakaway off of the inside of the post to make it 5-4 and then Dave Christian on a one timer blast to make it 5-5.  I thought this game was going to OT but then Dave Poulin struck again on a scramble in front to make it 6-5. Good teams find a way to win. This was the case.  The next round the Bruins wiped out Montreal 4-1 and in the Conference Final the Capitals 4-1.

Next came the finals and another classic game that I saw. Game 1 vs the Edmonton Oilers seemed to be one of the best and lasted a long time. The Oilers took an early 2-0 lead in the game but Ray Bourque scored 2 late goals to tie it up and send it to overtime.  The Bruins had tons of chances in the overtime to win this game as they outshot the Oilers 52-31 for the game. Bill Ranford robbed Cam Neely on a shot that trickled behind him.  Glen Wesley had a chance with an empty net but was on his backhander and shot it high. Wesley gets criticized for this over the years but to me, he was a defenseman and to score from that far out on a backhander is very hard.  Bourque, Neely or for the other side Glen Anderson or Mark Messier would score but most would not.

This game even had a partial power outage as well in the overtime and I distinctly remember Andy Moog sitting on the corner of the net. Once play resumed in the 3^rd overtime little used Peter Klima shot a weak shot that beat Andy Moog between the pads and just like that the Oiler won.  This game deflated Boston and they were not the same after that. The did win game 4 in Edmonton but ultimately the team with a lot of Stanley Cup veterans won another one for the oilers.  This is the closest Bourque ever got to winning a Cup in Boston.

Bourque would still be a great player for the Bruins in the 90s but the team kind of got stuck in mediocrity after a while. Another big highlight though was in the 1996 All Star game at the FleetCenter (now TD Garden) Bourque scored on a Backhander under the crossbar to have the East beat the West 5-4.  It was nice to see the hometown hero win the game.  Bourque would usually get about 20 goals and 80 points until the mid-1990s. His last really big productive season was 95-96 when he scored 20 goals and 82 points.  In 1999-2000 Bourque asked Harry Sinden to trade him to a team that would have a chance to in a Cup. As a good GM would do, after 21 years of loyalty to his player he showed Bourque the respect and did trade him to the Colorado Avalanche for Brian Rolston and 2 other non- descript prospects.  Rolston was pretty good in Boston but Bourque would finally get his wish and have a legit chance to win a Cup for the first time since 1990.

It did take the first year disappointment losing in the Conference Finals to the Dallas Stars. Bourque decided to come back for a 22^nd season with the Colorado Avalanche. Although he was not the Norris Trophy candidate anymore, he still had a very good season with 7 goals and 59 points.  The playoffs started and the Avalanche rolled vs the Canucks in the first round 4-0. In Round 2 the LA Kings gave them all they could handle taking it to a game 7 but the Avs outlasted them and coasted in Game 7 with a 5-1 win. The Avs beat the Blues 4-1 with game 5 being an overtime winner by Joe Sakic I believe.  The Finals were going to be very difficult as the NJ Devils who had won the season before were a very good team and would be ready.  The Finals were a see-saw battle. Bourque scored the game winner in Game 3 to put the Avs up 2-1 but the Devils would not go away. The Devils were up 3-2 in the series when the leaders stepped up for them. Patrick Roy when he knew that he could not lose again or the Cup was the Devils, was locked in and shutout the Devils in NJ 4-0.  Adam Foote of all people a stay at home defenseman had 1 goal and 2 assists.  In Game 7, Joe Sakic and Alex Tanguay both had huge games. Sakic scored a big goal to take the pressure off and then Tanguay helped finish off the Devils. Roy shut the door and the Avs won the elusive Stanley Cup for Bourque.  Joe Sakic showed class himself by taking the Cup from Gary Bettman and then handing it to Bourque to skate around with it first.  Patick Roy had a nice quote that said the Stanley Cup had one name missing from it but now it is back to normal. Roy won his 4^th Cup in 2001.

Bourque would retire after the Finals with a complete career. He scored 410 goals 1169 assists for 1579 points in 1612 games played.  In the playoffs he had 41 goals and 139 assists for 180 points in 214 games. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004.  To sum it up, Ray Bourque is a true professional both on and off the ice and no other player embodied class and dignity than him.

To all that read this, Thank you very much. I appreciate you taking the time to do so. I hope it brings back some memories for you as it did for me.

 http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/b/bourqra01.html

Eric Lindros, Is he a Hall of Famer?

In 1991, Eric Lindros was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques. He knew that he was going to get a big first contract as he was the consensus number 1 pick.  He did not want to play for the Nordiques because at the time the Canadian Exchange rate was not beneficial to him.  So he basically forced one of the biggest trades in NHL History.  On June 30, 1992 he was traded from the Nordiques to the Flyers for Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchene, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall and Philadelphia’s #1 pick in 1993.  Lindros went on to a great injury plagued career but the Nordiques and then eventually the Colorado Avalanche made out with this trade as the cornerstone and future Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg was part of it.  They also got good NHL players in Mike Ricci and Steve Duchene and that number 1 pick in 93.

Lindros had a fantastic rookie season scoring 41 goals and 34 assists on a very mediocre Flyers team in only 61 games played. This was a sign of things to come as Lindros as talented as he was, always had trouble staying healthy.  In 93-94 Lindros improved to 44 goals 53 assists for 97 points in only 65 games played. Lindros was dominant in these early years and every bit the equal as some of his contemporaries in Cam Neely and Rick Tocchet.  In 1995 the season of the lockout that was only 48 games, Lindros was truly outstanding scoring 29 goals 41 assists

for 70 points in 46 games played.  He won the Hart Trophy for MVP of the NHL this season.  The Flyers improved by finally making the playoffs and getting to 2^nd round.  Lindros chipped in with 15 points in 12 playoff games.  95-96 was Lindros best season for point totals. With the Help of John LeClair and Mikael Renberg the famous Legion of Doom line was formed.  Lindros had 47 goals and 115 points, LeClair had 51 goals and 97 points and Renberg had 23 goals and 43 points in limited action.

The core of this Flyers team also had some excellent all-around players as well. Rod Brind’Amour who throughout his whole career was always an excellent faceoff man and defensive player, added 26 goals and 81 points.  The Flyers kept improving and 96-97 felt like they were ready to take the next step. The Flyers did get to the Stanley Cup Finals this season and Lindros had 32 goals and 79 points in only 52 games. As we can see Lindros basically never played more than 80 games except for one season.  John LeClair had another 50 goal season and Rod Brin’Amour and his gritty performance with 27 goals to add to his stellar all-around game.  Lindros played at his best in the postseason scoring 12 goals and 26 points in 19 games in eventually losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final. He was not afraid to hit anyone and this always contributed to his injuries and eventually shortened his career.  In 97-98 Lindros added 30 goals and 71 points in 63 games.  This season was the beginning of the Flyers not making any deep playoff runs, but Lindros was his ever consistent self.  98-98 was another excellent showing with 40 goals and 93 points in 71 games played.  The next season what basically to me what changed Lindros that affected the rest of his career.  He still had 27 goals and 59 points in 55 games.  The playoffs is what defined Lindros this season. In the 2^nd game of the playoffs, Lindros was skating over the middle and did not see Scott Stevens who lined him up for basically a knockout pitch.  Lindros did suffer one of his many concussions in this game.  After this monster hit and a contract dispute, Lindros missed the whole season of 2000-2001. The Stevens hit in the playoffs was the last play Lindros had in a Flyer uniform, which in my opinion is sad.

After healing from the concussion, Lindros was signed as a free agent by the New York Rangers for the 2001-2001 season.  He performed quite admirably by scoring 37 goals and 73 points.  He also still had 138 penalty minutes, so even though he came off of a potentially career ending injury, Lindros was still not afraid to hit and play physical. He should be commended for that.  Unfortunately the Rangers missed the playoffs that season and in his 2 others with the Rangers. In 02-03 Lindros slowed down to 19 goals and 53 points in a career high 81 games.  This was his last full season.  He would play a few more uneventful seasons with scoring an average of about 10 goals and 30 points with the Maple Leafs in 05-06 and Dallas Stars in 06-07. 

Now in my humble opinion Lindros by scoring 372 goals and 493 assists for 865 points in only 760 games, should make him a Hall of Famer.  He basically scored a goal ever other game and which would be close to 40 goals per season.  Now Cam Neely who is a contemporary of Lindros is in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Neely had 395 goals 299 assists and 694 points in 726 games. Neely did score more than 50 goals in a season 3 times which more than Lindros, but Lindros was a much better play maker.  I do not think Neely should not be in the HOF, but Lindros should be there too.  Another comparable to me is Steve Shutt who played with a ton of great payers with the Montreal Canadiens had 424 goals 393 assists for 817 points.  Yes Shutt was an excellent scorer but he played with 3 of the best defenseman of all time in Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, and Guy Lapointe.  He also had the pleasure of playing with the flower, Guy LaFleur.  He won Stanley Cups because of this and both Neely and Lindros did not have the great fortune to do so. They should not be penalized for this.

Thank you all for reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Feel free to make any comments or suggestions for future blogs. I am open to anything that is football, hockey or baseball, which are my favorite sports.

 

 

Comparing QBs from 1978-2003 vs Todays Quarterbacks

 

Comparing quarterbacks in the different ERAs.  It is very difficult to compare quarterbacks from 1979-2003 vs 2003- present.  To me when comparing the all time records of say some of the greats that I grew up with like Dan Marino, Joe Montana, John Elway and Roger Staubach vs todays Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers.  Lets break is down.  Joe Montana to me is the all time best quarterback going by the eye test. The most TD that Montana ever through in a season was 31. But its not about stats. Back in the 80s the 49ers were not running a hurry up offense a lot of the game.  Montana would consistently throw 25 TD and about 12 picks. He also almost never threw a pick at the end of a game. Don’t get me wrong nobody is perfect but with the 4-0 Super Bowl Record and never having a turnover in those games is unbelievable.  He was also 117-47 and a 16-7 playoff record.  The 1988 Super Bowl vs the Bengals where the 49ers were down 16-13 with about 3 minutes left to play was probably the most clutch in NFL history with a title on the line. The 49ers had not played a great game to that point but Montana picked up his game and Jerry Rice in the big moments carved up the Bengals defense. Then when you expected Montana to throw to Jerry Rice, he fools everyone with a perfect throw to John Taylor with 39 Sec left to win 20-16. He also had the famous catch game with Dwight Clark in 1981 to lead SF to their first Super Bowl by beating the Dallas Cowboys who were the powerhouse at the time in the NFL.  Now as most want to compare him to Tom Brady it is very difficult. Tom has had seasons of 50 TD passes, 39 and 36. Not to take anything away from Brady as he has been outstanding in his own right but the changes to the illegal contact and pass interference rules or the enforcing of them has really made it hard to play defense in the NFL.  He has won his 3 Super Bowls and has a remarkable 17-7 playoff record and is 139-39 which looks like a misprint.  In just comparing the two players if Montana played today he would probably be the same as Brady with the remarkable stats with the 50 TD etc. If Tom had to go back to the 1980s when the defensive backs could chuck and beat up the wide receivers, it would take a truly heroic effort to throw 50 TD and in my opinion is not likely. He would probably throw 30 or so, just like Montana.  Ronnie Lott, Everson Walls, Rod Woodson, Lester Hayes, Mike Hayes, Darryl Green would still be great but at a disadvantage in todays more wide open NFL.   Also back then there was much more running.  Montana usually had around 400 pass attempts per season while Brady has usually 550 to 600. Of course you are going to throw for more yards and TD with over 100 more attempts a season. It is the nature of the NFL today. It is not Bradys fault. He is remarkable to adjust to many different WR over the years. From Troy Brown, Deion Branch, David Givens, Deion Branch, Randy Moss, Wes Welker and now Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski.

 

Another unfair comparison is between 2 Denver Broncos. John Elway and Peyton Manning. Elway’s best season of TD passes is 27. Manning has 49.  The style of play once again from the 1980s especially when Elway was under Dan Reeves was a run first and then let John win the game in the 4^th quarter.  This worked in the early part of John’s career but until he got Mike Shanahan and then Terrell Davis, is when he truly had a chance to finally win a Super Bowl.  John took 3 mediocre teams to the Super Bowl in a weak AFC before winning the 2 at the end of his career.  He only surpassed 4000 yards one time, Manning has done it 12 times.  But once again the style of play is a part.  Pass attempts by Elway were usually in the 475 to 500 range when Manning is in the 550 to 600 Range.   How would Elway do in the post 2003 league?  I think with his ability to scramble and move around like an Andrew Luck and find the open WR in the 2 minute drill which a lot of teams use now a days most of the game or at least a large part of it. I say he throws 35 TD and possibly 40 if he had a great amount of talent.  There would be no lets establish the run with Sammy Winder today. Also those great DBs would be getting the pass interference penalties that make them back off now. Its deadly and is why that Manning, Brady et all shred defenses.  Elway did finish 148-82-1 with a 14-7 playoff record.  Manning is now currently 157-70 and a playoff record of 9-11. Some like to say Manning is a choker. Its hard to call someone who has won a Super Bowl a choker. Yes he is a bit spotty in the playoffs and has not always been great but a choker is not Manning.  I am sure him and the Bronco fans would like to win another Super Bowl to quiet the critics.  He has a great shot this year if his team stays healthy.  He also needs his defense to help. The other great QBs listed above have always had help from their defenses to win Championships.  The 49ers might have the most underrated defense of all time. The Pats defense in the early 2000s especially 2003 when they had the best QBR rating against any team in NFL history, are a huge part of a Championship.  The all offense teams usually don’t win.  The Chargers in the early 1980s and the Colts until the 2006 team were examples. The 06 Colts won because they got hot and Bob Sanders was a huge stabilizing force on that team.

The last comparison I want to do is two QB is Roger Staubach and Drew Brees. Staubach to me is the empitomy of Captain Comeback. Even though his career was a bit shorter due to serving in the Navy for 4 years, he was 85-29 lifetime with 11-6 in the playoffs with 2 Super Bowl Wins.  Roger had 23 comebacks in the last 2 minutes of games. The most remarkable one for him was in the 1972 playoffs vs SF when down 28-13 then 28-16 with under 2 minutes left, Captain Comeback threw 2 tds to win the game 30-28. This was the beginning of the legend.  He also has the famous Hail Mary game where he coined that phrase in a game at Minnesota to win 17-14 in 1975.  Drew Pearson caught the pass and when asked after the game, Staubach said that he said a Hail Mary and then threw the ball. It is now a football term that has stuck through the years. The most TD that Staubach threw was 27 in his final season.  He averaged about 20 TD a year.  He had a remarkable running game with Tony Dorsett and before that Duane Thomas.  His average pass attempts were usually about 350 to 400.  Now Brees with his 102-70 record with a playoff record of 4-4. Brees has a career high of 46 TDs and surpassed 5000 yards 3 times.  He also has averaged about 650 pass attempts. More chances to throw for yards and TDs.  Staubach would be great in todays NFL with his great decision making and clutch play and probably throw 40 tds.  Brees would still be good back in the 1970s but not throw for 5000 maybe not even 3500 yards.  Also keep in mind prior to 1978 Staubach played in a 14 game schedule and not the 16 of today.

I am not trying to put down todays NFL, my main point is that is is very hard to cross eras.  These are all Hall of Fame Qbs or will be Hall of Fame Qbs and I have had the fortune to see all of them play as either a young boy, teenager and then adult.   Football to me is the best game as each game means something and we can all be enthralled by either the team we root for, fantasy football, NFL pools etc.  Thank you all for reading again, I really appreciate it.  

 

How does the 2004 Red Sox team aka the Idiots vs the 2013 version aka the Beards.  First off the 2004 team was so talented with a great pitching staff led by Curt Schilling who was 21-6 with a 3.26 ERA, Pedro Marinez even though not dominating Pedro of 99-02 was still 16-9 with 3.90 ERA, Bronson Arryo with 10-9 4.03 ERA and the inconsistent Derek Lowe with a 14-12 with 5.42 ERA.   However the offense was off the charts.  Manny Ramirez had 43 HR 130 RBI and hit 308. David Oritz hit 41 HR 139 RBI 301 AVG. They the balance of the rest of the lineup with Johnny Damon with 20 HR 94 RBI 304 AVG.  Kevin Millar chipped in with 18 HR 74 RBI and 297 AVG and other unsung players like Bill Mueller who missed some time with injury still hit 283 with 57 RBI and Jason Varitek with 18 HR 73 RBI and 296 AVG.  They also featured Keith Foulke Who had 32 Saves but saved his best for the postseason. The trade for Orlando Cabrerra who hit 6 HR and 31 RBI down the stretch, and also played tremendous defense was the catalyst. I have to give Theo Epstein the GM at the time credit to pull off trading a Boston Red Sox icon in Nomar Garciparra. Nomar was banged up and seemed to lose some range.  The team was personified by Johnny Damon who called the team the idiots. Damon had a care free attitude and so did Kevin Millar. This team seemed to really enjoy playing with each other on a daily basis, even in crisis. Manager Terry Francona always kept a clubhouse that he was in complete control this season. He was the best at never airing his dirty laundry with problems with players ala Bobby Valentine who to me is the worst manager in Red Sox history since 1967. It is not even close

Now this years team in not as talented as that team but they have a bunch of guys that seem to relish the opportunity to shock everyone with their fantastic play.  As I write this, their record is 95-62 which is the best in baseball. As great as the 2004 team was, they were 98-64 so this team is within range of this.  David Ortiz is still the main threat on offense with 29 HR 98 RBI 307 AVG, The gritty Dustin Pedrioa has 9 HR 83 RBI and 299 AVG. Other impressive power numbers are from Mike Napoli with 23 HR 90 RBI 257 AVG. I have to say that I dumped on Napoli a lot this summer when he was striking out a lot. He has really turned it around and had a nice finish to the season when the Sox needed him.  Jarrod Saltimaccia has hit 13 HR 59 RBI  266 AVG and has improved big time behind the plate.  The gritty Johnny Gomes who has come through with big hit after big hit as 12 HR 50 RBI as a part time player. His AVG is only 238 but seems much better because he is a big game player and it seems like his teams win all the time.  Shane Victorino who is an excellent right fielder has chipped in with 14 HR 58 RBI and 294 AVG. Lastly the impressive outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury has 8 HR 52 RBI 52 SB and 299 AVG.  Daniel Nava has also chipped in as a platoon player with his 11 HR 63 RBI and 297 AVG. The team is known for their beards with Mike Napoli and Johnny Gomes leading the way and the team even had a beard night a week ago at Fenway.

As you can see this is a very balanced offense. One night Victorino can be the hero, then Ellsbury, Pedrioa, Gomes et all. But what really drives the reason why this team has a chance to be in the World Series is the excellent pitching staff. Led by Jon Lester 15-8  3.67 ERA but has been brilliant since the All Star Break.  Clay Bucholtz who is 11-1 with 1.60 ERA but unfortunately missed almost 3 months with an injury. He would have been up for the Cy Young or a strong contender if he did not get hurt.  John Lackey who is only 10-12 but with a 3.44 ERA. Lackey has been snakebit all season when it comes to run support.  If he got more he would be like 15-8 at least.  Jake Peavy has been a very good pickup at the trading deadline. Jake has a 3-1 record with a 3.68 ERA and has stabilized the staff. Felix Doubront has been decent as well with 11-6 with 4.03 ERA. The Bullpen has some holes in it but it has been led by probably the best relief pitching I have ever seen from a closer. Koji Uehara has a 4-1 record with 21 saves but has only given up 32 hits in 71 Innings. He also only has 9 walks and at one point retired 37 straight batters which is the equilavent of 13 1/3 perfect innings. That is unheard of even for some of the best closers of all time like Dennis Eckersley, Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith.

Does this team has what it takes to win it all.  I think they do. The main reason why is they have a good 4 man rotation. Back in 2004 we all remember that they were down 3-0 to NY before turning in one of the most stunning comebacks in sports history.  David Ortiz was the catalyst but the unsung hero from all of this was Derek Lowe. Lowe was out of the rotation in that series but had to come in to start when Tim Wakefield took one for the team in a shellacking in game 3. The Cur Schilling bloody sock game 6 is remembered vividly but Lowe pitched 6 Innings in Game 7 in NY to get the clincher and then pitched the clincher in the World Series vs St Louis.

This rotation mainly led by Lester and Bucholtz has the capability to do the same. Detroit or Oakland will be very tough to beat as they are just as good as Boston and Det has the raining Triple Crown winner in Miguel Cabrerra who is having another monster year with 44 HR 137 RBI 350 AVG and Pitchers Matt Scherzer with 20-3 3.00 ERA and Justin Verlander who is only 13-12 with 3.56 ERA but has tons of experience and can turn it up when the playoffs start. Oakland has Josh Donaldson with 24 HR 92 RBI 307 AVG and old friends Coco Crisp has 22 HR 65 RBI 259 AVG and Brandon Moss has 28 HR 81 RBI 258 AVG.  But we all know the main reason why the Oakland Athletics are always a contender in recent years is fantastic pitching (some things never change).  Bartolo Colon who has resurrected his career is 17-6  2.64 ERA and AJ Griffin is 14-9 3.78 ERA. Their closer Grant Balfor is 1-3 2.67 ERA and 38 Saves.

I would love to see a Boston Red Sox vs LA Dodgers World Series. I have loved the Sox since I was a kid in the late 1970s and the Dodgers since 1981 when they beat the NY Yankees with Fernando Valenzuela and the enjoyed Orel Hershiser in the 80s.  It would be fun to see two traditional teams compete for this and the teams that made the huge trade last year for the Sox to dump Carl Crawfords salary and give up a very good player in Adrian Gonzalez. Adrian has 21 HR 98 RBI and 295 AVG. The Dodgers also have the 1-2 punch of the arguably the best starting pitchers in baseball of Clayton Kershaw with 15-9 1.88 ERA and Zack Greinke with 15-3 2.67 ERA and their closer of Kenley Jansen 4-3 1.93 ERA and 27 Saves. He also has 107 Strikeouts in 74.2 innings.

We shall see what happens in October.  I really hope that it is a fun ride for all.  Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Most Underrated QB’s in My Opinion

 

Most of the time when people want to talk about quarterbacks, they want to talk about the best of all time and rightfully so. They would talk about Joe Montana, Tom Brady, John Elway, Johnny Unitas, Roger Staubach and Dan Marino.  I am going to talk about more of the unsung quarterbacks. Some might even be in the Hall of Fame, but never seem to be mentioned when listing great quarterbacks.

When thinking of All time greatest quarterbacks, Kurt Warner is rarely if ever mentioned in the conversation.  Kurt Warner burst on the NFL scene in 1999 when the starter Trent Green was injured in the Preseason, he was pressed into service. Nobody even his coach Dick Vermeil knew what to expect.  What happened was nothing short of a miracle for the former arena league football star.  Warner went on to lead the Rams who were awful in 1998 to a 13-3 record and threw for 4353 yards along with 41 TD and only 13 Int.  This was the most out of the blue season anyone could have imagined. He won the NFL MVP for this as well.  Kurt’s best weapon was Marshall Faulk who would rush for 1381 yards and also catch 87 passes for 1048 yards.  He also had Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. Bruce had 77 catches and 12 td and Holt has a burner had 52 catches and 6 td.  This offense did not score under 20 points all season until the NFC Championship game. Warner kept being clutch with some late game comebacks vs Tampa in the Championship game and then in the Super Bowl vs the Titans when the game was tied at 16 in the 4^th quarter. He threw an 80 yard TD pass to Isaac Bruce that was the game winner 23-16 in what is remembered as the game where the Titans got stopped at the one yard line on the last play of the game.

Warner would lead the Rams to another Super Bowl in 2001 when he won MVP again throwing 36 TD and 22 Int. He still had the same nucleus from 1999 but this team was upset by the upstart NE Patriots and their great defense. Ty Law picked Warner and took it for a TD to help lead NE to a 20-17 upset.  Things started to unravel for him in St Louis then. He got banged up and never won another game in ST Louis after going 35-7 in his first 3 years in St Louis.

In 2004 He went to the NY Giants and played okay having 5-4 record and 6 TD and 4 Int. Then out of the blue he was replaced by rookie QB Eli Manning. Kurt being the class act that he is, supported the move and helped Eli prepare to play.  It seemed that Warner’s career was winding down but he surprised us all with what happened in Arizona.

Although he is probably the best QB in Arizona Cardinals History, Warner started slowly in 2005 and 2006 win 3 of 15 games as a backup and part time starter throwing 17 TD and 15 picks over these two years.  In 2007 his career started to get back to his Rams days. Even though he was only 5-6 for a bad Arizona team, he did throw for 27 TDs and 17 picks and over 3400 yards in only 11 starts. He was really helped by Larry Fitzgerald who caught 100 passes and 10 TDs and Anquan Boldin with 72 catches and 9 TD.  Edgerrin James had 1222 yards rushing and 7 Td.  This team had a good nucleus and with potential to be really good.

Then in 2008 it came together, at least offensively for the Cardinals. Even though they were only 9-7, Warner at age 37 had a great season.  He threw for 4583 yards with 30 TD and 14 int.  He still had the Pro Bowl WR in Fitzgerald with 96 catches and 12 TD and on the other side Boldin with 89 catches and 11 TD.  The running game was mediocre but with that great passing game, anything was possible.  The playoffs started and Warner went on to beat Atlanta, smoke Carolina and then Philadelphia to get to their first Super Bowl ever.  The Cardinals put up a huge fight with Warner throwing for 407 yards and 3 TD against a very good Steelers defense. Ben Roethlisberger led Pitt to a GW drive in the last minute with a pass that Santonio Holmes tip toed in the end zone for a 27-23 victory.

Warner finished his career with another good year in 2009 throwing for 26 TD and 14 Int and Arizona actually winning 10 games for the first time since 1976.  For his career Kurt Warner had a 76-53 record including playoffs and had 208 TD and 128 int and a 93.7 QBR. To me Warner overcame adversity to be successful in 2 cities and had a very good career.

Another underrated Quarterback in my opinion is Dan Fouts. Fouts played for the SD Chargers from 1973-1987. Hi first 5 years he was unremarkable not even being a regular starter. Then in 1978 his career took off. He threw for 2999 yards and 24 TDs for his first good season of 5 remarkable in a row.  His main receivers during this era were John Jefferson, Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow Sr.  These targets would usually get open frequently for Fouts. Later on Wes Chandler and James Brooks were added to the mix.  Starting in 1979-1981 the Chargers were a good team that averaged 11-5 seasons. Fouts was ahead of his time by throwing for 4082, 4715 and 4802 yards in an era when if you threw for 3000 yards you were having a good season. He also threw 87 Tds and 65 ints.  Fouts was successful somewhat in the playoffs and got to 2 AFC championship games in a row during this time. Unfortunately the Chargers lost to the Raiders and Bengals.

One game that stands out though was in the 1981 playoffs vs the Dolphins in what may be the greatest game ever played in Miami. SD raced out to a 24-0 lead and were cruising when the Dolphins made a huge comeback. The most memorable play was a pass from backup QB Don Strock to Duriel Harris at about the 35 yard line last in the half, as the play ended, Harris flipped the ball to Nat Moore and Miami scored a TD to make the score 24-17. This is called the famous hook and ladder play.  The Chargers actually fell behind 38-31 but Fouts would not give up. In the waning seconds he threw a TD to James Brooks to tie the game at 38.  In overtime both teams had a chance to win. Even Kellen Winslow who was dehydrated blocked a Uwe von Schamann FG.  Winslow had probably the best game of his career with 13 catches 166 yards and was unstoppable when it counted. Fouts threw for 433 yards and 3 Tds.  Charlie Joiner had 7 catches for 108 yards and Wes Chandler had 6 catches for 106 yards. The unsung James Brooks had 4 catches but 2 were for TDs.  Eventually this epic game ended with the Chargers winning 41-38 in the best game that I ever saw. I remember it being on Christmas vacation right after New Years on a Saturday Afternoon.

Fouts had some more decent passing seasons but never played in another playoff game due to the Chargers talent thinning out. Even though his final career numbers for TD passes of 254 and 242 interceptions are not eye popping, but he was as exciting a QB for throwing the ball in NFL history. He did also throw for over 40,000 yards and is 11^th of all time currently. He played in a much harder era to throw the ball than now where everything is geared to passing where the rules were different than now. You can not even breathe on the WR (tongue and cheek) without getting pass interference. Back then the Mel Blounts, Lester Hayes and Ronnie Lott would pound the WR and get away with it. Now these guys would get all illegal contact and PI penalties.  This is a credit to Fouts and the Chargers how successful their passing attack was in a mainly balanced offensive attack for most teams back then.

John Elway is one of the all time greatest QBs in NFL history. I have been a Denver Broncos fan since 1982 so I have seen lots of great Quarterbacks careers. Now it is a bit hard to compare careers of Quarterbacks of today vs when Elway played.  John Elway came into the NFL controversially when he refused to play for the Baltimore Colts. It was our gain as Bronco fans. I clearly remember the first time I really was hooked on Elway was in 1983 vs. the Browns, he threw a missile 50 yards over a Browns QB for a TD. I believe it might have been Steve Watson that caught the ball. From that point on Elway got better, but he sometimes forced the ball. Also you have to keep in mind that the NFL pre 2003 and even pre 1990, the defensive backs and safeties would get away with tons of stuff that is now illegal. Pass interference would be called a lot more and some of the best DBs of all time like Ronnie Lott would have multiple suspensions for hits to the head etc.  In the 1980s Elway only had the 3 amigos of Vance Johnson, Mark Jackson and Ricky Nattiel as his go to WR. He also had only an average RB in Sammy Winder.  Shannon Sharpe did not come until 1991, Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith came to Denver in 1995. 

Elway won MVP in 1987 and got to 3 Super Bowls with a very mediocre team. He was clutch with the Drive in 1986 vs. the Browns going 98 yards in the final 5 minutes of the game with a bullet to Mark Jackson and then won the game in OT 23-20. The Super Bowls started bad vs. the Giants but got worse vs. the Redskins in 1987 and 49ers in 1989.  The Denver defense was average at best.  The great Qbs for the most part that have won Multiple Super Bowls have always had great defenses, even if underrated, see 49ers. The Pats in the early 2000s especially in 2001 were carried by a great defense, before Tom Brady was a huge part of the 2003 and 2004 Championships.  As for Elway, the team got worse until 1995 when the Broncos hired Mike Shanahan and then drafted the most important support player to Elway’s career in Terrell Davis. When TD started on the 95 team he was good and then got better and better. Davis took the pressure off of Elway by controlling the clock with a balanced offense. But Elway was still outstanding in 97 and 98. He finally had some big time WR in Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith. A HOF TE in Shannon Sharpe.

Elway threw 27 tds and set a career high in 1997 and then in an injury shorted 1998 threw 22 in 10 games.  The 1996 Broncos suffered their most humiliating loss in the playoffs to an upstart Jacksonville Jaguars team at home 30-27. Elway was so upset he thought about retiring and would still be labeled wrongfully so as a "choker" who could not win the Big game.  Elway came back an in 1997 played very well and led Denver to a 12-4 record and had an improved defense led by Bill Romanowski, John Mobley and Steve Atwater. The Broncos came back to destroy Jacksonville in the playoffs 42-17 but because they were only a Wild Card, had to go on the road to KC to play a very good Chiefs team. Also Arrowhead has always been a house of horrors for the Broncos for the most part.  Elway, Davis and a good defense led the Broncos to a hard fought 14-10 win. Then in the AFC Championship game, they Broncos went into a tough building in 3 Rivers Stadium to beat the Steelers 24-21. Davis again was the star rushing for over 100 yards and Elway had a good game. I clearly remember then running out the clock with Elway telling Shannon Sharpe to get open for a 1^st down to salt the game away. He threw a bullet and did that.   Denver went into the Super Bowl as a 12 point underdog vs. a tough Green Bay team that had MVP Brett Favre.  The AFC had lost 15 straight Super Bowls up until this point.  The Broncos feel behind early but then Terrell Davis took over and Elway was more of a game manager. The Broncos defense caused Favre to fumble and then took control of this excellent game.  Davis ran for 157 yards and 3 TDs and missed the whole 2^nd Qtr. with a migraine headache.  He recovered and was dominant vs. Gilbert Brown who was the clogger in the middle of the d at the time.   This Super Bowl also had Elway’s signature run when he ran for a TD and got blasted and spun around like a helicopter.  We all know that his team was pumped by this.  Green Bay fought back to tie the game at 24 when Favre hit Antonio Freeman and then TD took over. Davis and then a nice screen pass to Howard Griffith set up Davis to score to make it 31-24. I remember Ed McCaffrey blowing up Seth Joyner on the screen pass. It showed how unselfish this team was.   The last drive Green Bay showed some guts but on 3^rd down at the Denver 39 Steve Atwater blasted through and hit his own guy and knocked him out.  On 4^th down the Broncos blitzed and Favre had his pass knocked away by John Mobley and all the doubters can stop calling Elway a choker.

In 1998 the Broncos came back even better and more dominant. They started 13-0 before losing in NY to the Giants.  Davis went on to rush for 2000 yards and Elway posted his best QBR of 93 with 22 tds in 12 games.  The Broncos rolled in the playoffs by beating Miami 38-3 before playing the Jets. In the Dolphins game Davis rushed for 199 yards and Elway was very efficient.   In the AFC Championship game, Elway struggled at times and the Jets jumped out 10-0 in the 3^rd Qtr. This game was turned around when Elway basically drew up a play in the dirt where he told McCaffrey and Smith who were lined up wrong to stay where they are. He hit McCaffrey with a bomb of over 50 yards and then Denver scored on a pass to Howard Griffith. It snowballed and Denver won 23-10.  The defense forced 6 turnovers to help their cause.

In the Super Bowl the Broncos had a game plan where the Atlanta Falcons were not expecting. They came out throwing the ball and Elway had one of his finest games of his career in a huge spot. He threw for 336 yards 1 td and ran for another td.  The game swung when Denver was up 10-3 and the reliable Morton Anderson missed a short FG. Elway hit Rod Smith on an 80 yard td pass and when up 17-3. From that point on Denver rolled. Terrell Davis ran for 102 yards and caught 50 more. The final game of Elway’s career was a 34-19 victory over his former head coach in Dan Reeves.

Elway finished his career with a 14-8 playoff record and 2 Super Bowls wins. Not bad for the guy who had the label as can’t winning the big one. One other split that jumps out at me. For the first 10 years of his career Elway barley threw more tds than int at that time.  As good as he was, he would force the ball sometimes with his gun of an arm and not the best talent at WR.  From 1993-1998 Elway threw 142 td and 62 int. He matured as a QB and obviously had better talent.  To me Elway is a top 5 QB of all time. 

 

John Elway career Stats.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/E/ElwaJo00.htm