Chargers soar over Eagles 22-10 in BBBB

Contrats to Coach Stu Geller and his 1970 SD Chargers, who defeated the 1973 Philadelphia Eagles 22-10, in the inaugural BBBB (Bert Bell Benefit Bowl). For much of 3 1/2 quarters this was a tight struggle until the Chargers pulled away late. San Diego owned the first half, but by the end of the 3rd they were clinging to a tenuous 12-10 lead. Coach Geller in his post game interview said, "I was worried about that missed XP in the 2nd...those usually come back to haut you". Well no worries were needed as the 4th quarter belonged to the 'bolts. The key play turned out to be an 18 yard pass from John Hadl (20-29-245-2TD-INT) to Willie Frazier, who alertly lateraled to flanker Gary Garrison who took it an extra 20 yards to paydirt to make the score 19-10. Philadelphia tried hard to right the ship, but the shock of this extraordinary play was too much to overcome. The Chargers then proceeded to burn clock and add a FG to put it away. Special congrats has to go out to Eagles coach Andy Weinrib who made his first appearance in an online championship game and really hung in their vs the experienced Geller and his club.

Bert Bell Benefit Bowl

Back in the 1960's the NFL used to have it's 3rd place/runner up classic called the Playoff Bowl or the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl. Starting in 1960 the 2nd place teams from each conference would play each other in Miami (neutral site). The game was designed to give the football starved fans another game to watch and raise money for the family of Bert Bell, the NFL commish who died during a game of a heart attack watching is beloved Eagles. The history of this series of games (10 in all) has been wiped from the NFL's record books. Each of these games is now considered an "exhibition" and not counted in the post season records of the participating franchises. Interest was keen until Lombardi called it "a hinky dink game in a hinky dink town". He also referred to it as the "shit bowl", since everything other than a championship is shit.

Well we here at Distantreplay.org think it's the perfect venue for our BAD70's league to play it's championship game. What better place for 2 BAD teams to play than in Lombardi's "Shit Bowl". We'll keep it clean and call it the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl !

The first two participants will be the 1970 SD Chargers, coached by Stu Geller and the 1973 PHI Eagles coached by Andy Weinrib. Both teams got to the "big game" by winning close one's in their respective Conference Championship games. Stu's Chargers stunned Wayne's Colts in OT to advance and Andy's Eagles came on strong down the stretch to eliminate Bill Keller's Saints.

Due to Stu's travel schedule the game will be played in 3 weeks. I suspect there will be a lot of hype between now and then, especially during media week. Both coaches are heading to their first Distantreplay.org championship game. Good luck to all.

GIANTS MISCUES SEND PACKERS TO PLAYOFF

On a day that the NY Giants needed only to win to advance into the Bad Leagues playoffs, misfortune would strike. Two lost fumbles and 2 interceptions would seal their fate today. The Giants would dominate the statistical portion of the game as they out gained Green Bay 417 to 279 yards in total offense. As in real football though, its not the statistics that count but only what shows up on the scoreboard. As fans entered Giants stadium on this chilly blustery day of 43 degrees with a 11 mile per hour wind, many of them had smiles on their faces and enjoying the beverages they were purchasing. Those smiles though would become frowns all throughout this game as they watched their beloved Giants self destruct. The game-plan was simple for Giants head coach Marc Weiss, load up the line and stop John Brockington (21-154) as the running game was the only real threat that the Packers had offensively. To make matters even more simpler, RB McArthur Lane was unavailable to Green Bay due to undisclosed SAT injuries. New York would get on the scoreboard first on its second possession of the game as they would move down to the Packers 2 yard line facing a 4th and goal. Coach Weiss decided to bring in Pete Gogolak to attempt the 9 yard FG. The kick would be good but prior to the kick their was some concern rather or not he would even make it. A sigh of relief could be heard clear across the stadium from the fans and the coaching staff. The first quarter would end with the NY Giants leading 3-0, but as the quarter was ending the Packers were knocking on the door at the Giants 8 yard line facing 3rd and goal. In the second quarter, the Packers would settle for a Chester Marcol 11 yard FG to tie it up at 3-3. "The Giants red zone D was just outstanding for them all day long" said Packer head man Bill V. On the Giants next drive they would move down to the Packers 22 and face a 4th and 1 and never entertained the thought of bringing in Mr. Unreliable Gogolak. Giant QB Fran Tarkington's (23-32-294 / 3 carries for 34 yards on scrambles) would just miss his intended receiver Bob Tucker (7-109) that would have been a sure first down. After yet another Packer punt, this time the Giants would move all the way inside the red zone of Green Bay at the 9 yard line and face a 1st and goal, only to see the drive end due to Fran's 1st INT of the game when Ken Ellis stepped in front of the errant throw. The Packers would run out the clock and the teams headed to the locker rooms tied at 3. The Giant fans used this time to buy more beverages to drown not only the coldness, but also to drown their feelings. "Hell you need to drink and get drunk when watching these Giants play" said a nearby fan. The Giants would get the ball first in the second half and once again move at will against the Packer soft defense. An 80 yard drive would end when Gogolak would miss a sure fire automatic for almost all other kickers in the NFL from 14 yards out. "Damn, could that boy suck any more" hollered a player from the sideline. "Your Momma can't even watch you kick Suckolak" said a fan behind the Giants sidelines. On the Giants 3rd series of the quarter, Fran would throw his second INT of the game giving the Packers the ball at thier own 45. Not to worry though, the Pack was no threat to endanger even a mouse with this kind of field position. "Heck, lets just go ahead and punt on first down" was heard in the Packer section. Ending the 3rd quarter, the Giants would once again make a mistake as Bobby Duhon would lay the ball on the turf giving Green Bay the ball at the 47. This time Green Bay would surprise everyone and even the Packer faithful thought they were seeing an illusion. Workhorse Brockington would get 3 carries on this drive to get it down to the Giants 30. Chester Marcol would hit from 37 yards out to give Green Bay a thrilling 6-3 lead. "Did you take notes Suckolak" the Giant fans chanted. On the Giants next play disaster would hit again after a beautiful screen pass would net a 22 yard gain the ball once again would lie on the ground with Green Bay scooping it at the Packers 48. Brockington would scoot for a 44 yard gain down to the Giants 8 yard line 2 plays later. But the inconsistency of Super College QB/Sorry NFL QB Jerry Tagge would miss 2 straight passes forcing the Packers to once again bring in Marcol. The 14 yard FG would be good and putting the Packers up 9-3 with a little over 10 minutes to go. That lead would be erased as Coach Weiss would keep me off guard with his play calling. A beautiful combination of run and pass would result in a 8 yard Tarkington-Tucker combination to put the Giants up 10-9 with only 4:06 to go when Green Bay got the ball back. Tagge would use some play action and with the help of a face mask penalty would move the ball to the Giants 7 yard line. With only 1:05 left the Giants had all 3 time outs remaining. The Packers at first thought of just running the clock and making NY use its timeouts by kneeling the ball and putting it in the hands of its kicker Marcol. Knowing that the Giants would be intent on stopping Brockington, they decided to go for the TD that would force the Giants to have to score a TD to win. The play action went off without a hitch and Tagge found a rare moment in his career where he threw a touchdown pass to non other than John Brockington. The game was not yet over with the score now 16-10, and still 48 ticks left anything could happen. The Giants would start at its own 31 and move all the way to the Packers 27 with time for one more play. Tarkington would lay in a nice pass but a great defensive play by Ellis would knock the ball down giving the Packers the win and a berth in the Bad Leagues playoffs. "We beat ourselves today" said Fran Tarkington. "Plain and simple".

Gogolak on the edge of getting booted

The Giants bad season has gotten worse. They have lost 2 consecutive games due to the errant or non-existant right foot of one Pete Gogolak. The Hungarian defector has been with the Giants for 5 very successful years. All of a sudden in 1971 he is a 35% FG kicker. It has come to the point that he can not even attempt a 25 yarder. Owner Wellington Mara has increased his attendance of mass at St. Patty's. Rumor has it even Cardinal Cooke is praying for Gogo. The Giants played a fantastic game vs the AFC leading Chargers and had a chance to tie it late and force OT. Instead they were forced into "going for it" from SD's own 25, because of Gogolak. Another coach in the league recommended the Giants get a one legged guy instead. At 1-4 the Giants slim post season hopes are slowly being booted away.

Saints 10 Bengals 3

A warm day at Tulane Stadium wasn't enough to heat up either offense as the Saints hold on for a 10-3 victory over the previously unbeaten Bengals. The only touchdown of the day was a 14 yard run by game MVP Bob Gresham late in the 3rd quarter. The Bengals would drive to the Saint 13 yard line late in the 4th quarter but came up short on a 4th and 4 pass attempt. The Saints then proceeded to run out the clock and secure the victory."

-contributed by George Staton-

Colts Rally from Early Deficit to Defeat Green Bay, 38-17

72 Baltimore trailed 14-3 midway through the second quarter then scored the next 21 points to lead 24-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Marcol kicked a FG early in the 4th to make it 24-17 but a long kickoff return led to a quick Baltimore score and a 31-17 advantage. The Colts added another score late in the quarter after Green Bay failed on a 4th down conversion deep in their territory. Somewhat surprisingly Baltimore managed 333 yards of offense while GB added 288 under cold (23*) and windy (19 mph) conditions at Lambeau field. The league's leading rusher,John Brockington managed just 75 yards on his 22 carries. The somewhat ineffective Packer ground game (110 total yards) meant Jerry Tagge had to pass. He had some success (16-27-189) but had trouble passing from behind. Unitas had a nice game (14-23-193) and the Colts' runners added140 yards on 27 carries. Baltimore improves to 3-1-1 while Green Bay drops to 2-3.

-contributed by Wayne Poniewaz-

Week 4: MVP's

OFFENSE	DEFENSE	Special Teams
Archie Manning	Lamar Parrish	Don Shy
72-NO	73-CIN	73-STL

Week 4: Bengals 30, Giants 28

The Bengals came into this game a little cocky looking for their 4th win in a row and the Giants were just hoping to get their offense on track after only scoring 28 points through 3 games. They would easily score 28 in this game but thanks to six turnovers a victory would elude them. The Giants would receive the ball first and would not waste anytime marching down the field for their first score. 5 plays and 2:40 later Tarkenton hits Joe Morrison from 19 yards out and puts the Giants on top 7-0. Stunned, the Bengals start their first possession from their own 30 and get to midfield where they are faced with a 4th and 1 situation. Thinking the Giants first drive was an anomaly the Bengals roll the dice and go for it. Doug Dressler trips after receiving the handoff and loses two yards! The Bengals defense must rise to the occasion as the offense has put them behind the proverbial 8 ball. How will they respond? Fran and company will drive to the Cincy 31 before he throws his first of 5 interceptions on the day.

One bullet dodged but the Bengals cannot capitalize and the teams trade punts. A big break for the Bengals at the beginning of the second quarter as Fran throws his 2nd Int and the Bengals start from the Giants 27. Thanks to an offensive holding call a 5 yard TD toss to Bob Trumpy is nullified and the Bengals have to settle for 3 points. The next possession sees the Giants march to the Bengals 23 yard line before Fran throws his 3rd pick of the day. it is returned 35 yards by Lemar Parrish to the Giants 49. Alas the Bengals will have to settle for a 41 yard FG by Horst Muhlmann and the Giant lead is now cut to 7-6 with 8:29 to go until the half. The Giants will get two huge breaks of their own before halftime as Ken Anderson fumbles the ball at his own 3 yard line leading to a Bob Tucker touchdown catch of 3 yards. It is now 14-6 Giants. The Bengals drive to the Giant 27 yard line on their next possession and have a 34 yard FG attempt blocked. With :44 left Tarkenton finds Tucker on a 43 yard bomb and the Giants now lead 21-6 heading into halftime. With an upset in the making the Bengals will need to make some serious halftime adjustments.

The Bengals receive the ball first coming out the half and drive to Giant 44 before being faced with another 4th down call. Looking to spark the offense Coach Staton says go for it but Anderson is sacked by Scott Eaton! With great starting field position and a demoralized team on the other sideline the Giants can land the knockout punch with a score. It was not to be as the defense for the Bengals came out to play the second half and forced the Giants to punt. Cincinnati will also punt on their next possession and the Giants will start from their own 14. Tarkenton drops back looking for Rich Houston but is intercepted for the 4th time at the 18 by Al Beauchamp. This is the big break the Bengals need to get back in the game and Essex Johnson scampers 18 yards to make it 21-13. Another punt by the Giants and Cincy starts their next drive with a little over 5 minutes to go until the 4th quarter. With their longest drive of the day the Bengals march 73 yards on 10 plays and cap it off with a 13 yard toss to Trumpy. The Giants lead is now 21-20 with the 4th quarter just underway.

The first play from scrimmage on the next Giants possession is fumbled by Tucker Frederickson and the Bengals recover at the Giants 33. What a turn of events but can the Bengals capitalize on yet another Giant mistake? 6 plays later and Johnson scoots in from 3 yards out and the Bengals take their first lead of the day with 11:19 left in the game. It is now 27-21 Bengals on top and it looks like the Giants offense has went to sleep or have the Bengals awakened a sleeping giant? It seems it was the latter as the Giants go 80 yards on 4 plays and retake the lead! Tarkenton finds Don Herrmann from 24 yards out and the Giants are on top again 28-27. 10 minutes to go and the Bengals are thinking kill the clock and get in field goal range. 5 minutes later they are knocking on the door at the Giant 38 but a Pat Hughes sack drops them back to the 47. With 4:18 left the Bengals try a 54 yarder but it is no good and the Giants get possession at their own 20. With the Bengals loading up to stop the run the Giants look to the air to kill the clock and two passes of 23 and 21 yards seem to have put the final nail in the coffin of the Bengals.

The next play has Tarkenton throwing his 5th pick of the day as Durko gets his 2nd of the day and he returns the ball to the Giant 46 yard line. The Bengals will need a good 20 yards for any decent FG attempt. With two short pass attempts for 0 yards the Bengals face 3rd and 10 from the 46. Wanting to gain some yardage Coach Staton calls on Jess Phillips and he does not disappoint as he busts loose for 17 yards on a draw play. 3 more running plays will take the ball to the Giant 14 yard line and with 5 seconds left on the clock Muhlmann boots one through for the game winner. Bengals win a nail-biter 30-28 and stay undefeated. -contributed by George Staton-