If Pittsburgh wins on Sunday, the American Football Conference will have won seven of the last 10 Super Bowls and almost caught the National Football Conference.

The NFL and AFL divided the first four championships, and the NFC has a 20-18 edge since the leagues merged. During one span in the ‘ 80s and ‘ 90s, the Nationals won 14 straight Super Bowls. Continue Reading

The Steelers and the Cardinals go into Sunday’s Super Bowl having only played each other eight times in the last 36 years. Continue Reading

A year ago, the New York Giants were 40 to 1 long shots when the NFL post-season got down to the final eight teams still alive. As you know, the Giants shocked the unbeaten New England Patriots to capture Super Bowl 42. Continue Reading

Sam Bradford will be the sixth Heisman Trophy winning quarterback to return for another year of college football.

How did the others do the next season? Continue Reading

Dear Ross,

Do you happen to know which baseball manager won the most games without ever winning a World Series?

Sincerely,

Burt Prelutsky
North Hills, California

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Ross:

Burt, that would be Gene Mauch who registered 1,902 lifetime wins as a manager. That puts him number 12 on the all-time victory list. Gene managed the Phillies when they lost 23 in a row, and the Expos when they had a 20-game losing streak. Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel each won seven World Series to share the record. Connie Mack won five world championships and managed the A’s for 50 seasons. (1901-1950) Mr. Mack, as he was known, is tops on the managerial victory list with 3,731, almost one-thousand more wins than runnerup John McGraw. Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox and Sparky Anderson are 3-4-5. Bucky Harris is number 6, followed by Joe Torre. Joe McCarthy, Walter Alston and Leo Durocher.

Hi, Ross,

I am one of the two or three lunatics in the country that opposes a playoff in college football. I am a stubborn traditionalist, and still liked the five major bowls on January 1 with the AP poll #1 given the next morning. Now, I realize that that was a REALLY flawed system, but I think the controversy gets right at the root of the whole thing—-sports are fun to watch, but also talk about. Football is really the only sport where teams cannot play more than once a week, and since it’s always a one time deal, teams rarely get a rematch. If Florida plays Ole Miss five times this season, Florida wins four. If Texas plays Texas Tech five times, Texas wins at least three. So the controversy and the what-ifs make it great for fans. But now, with the whole thing spread out past New Year’s Day and some really cheesy bowls, the BEST scenario would be to start in early December, scrap all of the bowls, have a 16-team playoff with all conference winners plus wild cards, call the quarterfinal games the Gator, Holiday, Fiesta, Cotton, etc. Make the semifinal games the Orange and Sugar, and the big game could be the Rose Bowl with winner take all. All of the bowl games should mean something. I believe Alabama let down against Utah, knowing it was for nothing, and the Utes had a fantasy of still being number 1. I do not think Utah could beat the best teams in the SEC or Big 12 with any regularity. But then again, Sports IS very subjective! This also explains why I love football, but still prefer baseball. God’s Sport.

Craig Kelly
Shorewood, Wisconsin

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Ross:

I agree with some of your proposals, Craig, especially having the major bowls serve as quarterfinal, semifinal, and final round playoff sites. I have proposed the same thing  for it seems like a hundred years, and my idea is to rotate those bowl sites so each bowl gets a national championship game every four to six years. I don’t agree with your 16-team playoff idea because 16 do not deserve to be number 1. Eight teams is enough and that also shortens the season. I’m sad to say it may be many years before we see a college football playoff. That’s because of certain conference commissioners and university presidents who are trying to protect bowls even though you and I, plus thousands of other sensible people, have shown how bowls can be part of the process. Major college football remains the only sport that I can think of which does not determine a champion on the playing field. That is ridiculous.

“The shoes are a symbol of something greater. It’s a message about hope.”
~Ron Hunter Continue Reading

It was another zany weekend in the NFL post-season.

The two number 6 seeds——Baltimore and Philadelphia——-earned berths in conference championship games. Continue Reading

Something occurred in the last four-plus months that is very unusual. Sports books in gambling casinos around the country LOST money on college football this season.

Jay Kornegay, the executive director of Las Vegas Hilton Race and Sports Book, tells me, “It rarely happens. The NFL has been consistent this season, but not the college teams.” Continue Reading

As we await the 43rd Super Bowl on February 1 in Tampa, there has still been only one African American quarterback to win the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl MVP Award. Continue Reading

Ross:

I really enjoyed your story on Tiger Woods and what he is doing for the young people through his educational center in Anaheim. That gave me a different perspective of him. Keep up the good
work!

Bob Hill
Calabasas, Ca.

Of the 12 teams to qualify for the NFL playoffs a year ago, just four have reached this post-season. The Chargers, Steelers and Titans did it again in the AFC, but only the Giants out of the NFC. None of the four NFC division champs repeated this season. Remember the Giants were a wild card when they won Super Bowl 42. Continue Reading

It happens every college football bowl season. Underdogs do much better than expected. Continue Reading

Dear Ross:

On at least half a dozen occasions the officials in the Chargers-Colts game should have flagged the quarterbacks for intentionally grounding the ball in order to avoid being sacked, but the penalty was not called even once. Does the rule no longer exist? Has it perhaps gone the way of “traveling” in the NBA, which simply disappeared so as not to impede “Air” Jordan on his two or three step journey to the basket?

Burt Prelutsky
North Hills, Ca.

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Ross:

Burt, a lot of football fans would agree with you. However, there is a clause in the NFL Rule Book that is not generally known by the television viewers. It reads: “Intentional grounding will not be called when a passer, while OUT OF THE POCKET and facing an imminent loss of yardage, throws a pass that lands at or beyond the line of scrimmage, even if no offensive player(s) have a realistic chance to catch the ball (including if the ball lands out of bounds over the sideline or end line).” I capitalized out of the pocket because that is the key. If the quarterback stays in the pocket, he can be called for intentionally grounding, but not if he is on the move. Thanks for a very pertinent question. As for taking steps in the NBA, I wonder how many times they call it in a season? Not many.