August 04, 2009

25 Things We Miss In Football: Also, stay off my lawn, you lousy kids.

posted by Joey Michaels to football at 04:11 PM - 14 comments

Howard Cosell and Don Meredith, they made Monday Night Football worth watching.

Goal posts on the goal line -- it became a 12th man for a receiver and allowed field goals from the middle of nowhere. Now if you miss a kick, the ball is placed at the spot of the kick. I thought the NFL wanted more scoring!

Old-time stadiums where the play on the field was the focus, not the huge TV screens.

posted by jjzucal at 08:24 PM on August 04, 2009

I miss those halcyon days when the 3 biggest football teams in the area could get 10 wins in a season...sigh...

posted by MeatSaber at 09:38 PM on August 04, 2009

I miss the old AFL. It lit up my youth. Something about that league - it had a vibe I haven't experienced before or since. Great players, lots of personalities, and an electric atmosphere with a bit of a frontier edge.

posted by beaverboard at 10:34 PM on August 04, 2009

I miss the good old days when I was a kid and had no knowledge of what was actually going on with pro sports and pro athletes. When it was just a game and I could go into the backyard and me and my friends would do our own sports announcing for our "highlight reels".

"Tarkenton is back to pass! But look at the pass rush coming to flush him out! He's scrambling, he's scrambling! The clock is ticking down to 5,4,3,2,1.....Tarkenton heaves a pass all the way down field to a streaking Ahmad Rashad.....who catches it for the touchdown to win the game!!!" Then the fake crowd screams would commence and the on-field celebration would begin. And my friend and I would stand as heroes in our imaginations on a crisp autumn day between football telecasts, and after the games were done.

(I was a Vikings fan as a kid because the Seahawks did not exist. After Tarkenton started to fade, I switched to the Chargers and Dan Fouts. Heck, sometimes I was Earl Morrel and my buddy was Roger Staubach.)

posted by THX-1138 at 12:18 AM on August 05, 2009

Man I remember when the 49ers sucked hard... Oh wait, that was last year. Never mind.

posted by billsaysthis at 01:14 AM on August 05, 2009

"IBM Presents: You Make the Call!" and those CBS blazers.

posted by yerfatma at 08:46 AM on August 05, 2009

I remember my first football game in person, Yankee Stadium, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Giants 1958. Charley Conerly, Alex Webster, Mel Triplett, Gifford, Kyle Rote, defense of Andy Robustelli, Rosie Grier, Sam Huff, Jim Katcavage, Jimmy Patton against Bobby Layne and the rest. Yes, today's players are better conditioned, bigger, faster and all around better athletes but that was real football and no TV timeouts to slow the game down which is why I would rather watch games now at home than in person. Today's Giants wear pretty much the same uniforms. I used to go to Shell gas stations, with my father, where they used to give drawings of the Giants in action in black and white and I used to meticulously color each one in. No pretty boys then or dances, just real football players who did not like each other and played that way. I miss that.

posted by gfinsf at 08:50 AM on August 05, 2009

Dirty uniforms, the Packer sweep, Dick Butkus, Metropolitan Stadium in December, the old black and white Rams uniforms, coaches that were hard edged, Earl Campbell, the Southwest Conference, John Unitas and John Elway.

posted by mjkredliner at 11:53 AM on August 05, 2009

The Baltimore Colts and old Memorial Stadium.

posted by dbt302 at 12:16 PM on August 05, 2009

Tecmo Super Bowl

posted by tron7 at 12:42 PM on August 05, 2009

5. The College All-Stars vs. defending Super Bowl champions game:

This seems like a very bad idea for today's game.

posted by tron7 at 12:43 PM on August 05, 2009

Curt Gowdy and Paul Christman calling the AFL game of the week on NBC.

A note on Bill Belichick's sideline attire: Belichick wanted to wear a suit, but the NFL said he had to wear licensed clothing. OK, sez Bill, if that's what they want, the hoodie is what they'll get.

posted by Howard_T at 06:17 PM on August 05, 2009

the hoodie is what they'll get.

Plus it hides the cloak of darkness better than the suit did.

posted by THX-1138 at 02:46 AM on August 06, 2009

How I miss when the original NES came out back in the 80's. The gold ZELDA cartridge and Mike Tyson's Punch Out! Playing until my thumbs got numb and my mom yelling at me to go to sleep since I had school the next day. Watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off or The Princess Bride while eating a Push Up. To be a kid again..

Oh, were we talking football here?

*sigh*

posted by BornIcon at 12:15 PM on August 06, 2009

You're not logged in. Please log in or register.