Ok... turns out that is a misconception and the two Yankovic's were not related but did collaborate and Frank did have an influence on Al.
It was a long time ago Danny, but I think I remember watching at least a couple games where Ditka thought the Bear's offense was playing poorly enough to justify them punting on 3rd down to get the other teams pinned way back inside their 10 yard line so that the Bears could get a safety,fumble or force a punt to get the ball back deep inside the other team's half. He did this more than once in at least one of the games. I guess he did it on 3rd down rather than 4th because he didn't want the other team to at least get close enough to get a field goal and to have one less down for the Bear's offense to turn the ball over in a dangerous position. Or maybe he just wanted to send a message to Mcmahon and the rest of the offense to get their shit together.
I believe it was MNF. The two Marks beat coverage a couple of times. I think one TD was on a deflection. It was clear early on that the premise of the 46 was not going to have much effect on Marino. The ball came out so fast, even deep balls. There was no wind up. Bad matchup for the Bears, and the Dolphins got lucky on a couple of balls.
Yes. Danny White comes to mind (honorable mention - Elway). However, as you know, a quick kick is a surprise move done from a non-punting formation (usually from a running formation I would think). What I'm talking about with the '85 Bears is a 3rd down punt from a punting formation. Maybe I am not remembering things correctly since that was a long time ago, but that is what I recall. Obviously Danny White did punts in both quick kick (regular offense 1st thru 3rd down) and conventional punting formations since he was the punter and kicker for the Cowboys as you know.
This doesn't sound right to me. I watched a documentary just after Buddy Ryan died about 5 years ago and Ryan and Ditka hated each other. Buddy Ryan was hired as defensive coordinator BEFORE Ditka was hired as coach. Ditka didn't want Ryan but was stuck with him and hated that Buddy Ryan got as much if not more credit for that team than he did. I have seen video of both men being carried off the field after the superbowl which has to piss Ditka off. So I can't see him doing that.
In addition, didn't the bears have a decent offense. They had Walter Payton as running back, McMahon at QB and a speedy fast receiver, I forget his name. So I don't see them punting on 3rd and long unless it was 3rd and 26 or something.
You're probably referring to their receiver Willie Gault. I think the Bears did have a decent offense too. One of the reasons Walter Payton rightfully receives so many accolades is because he didn't have the greatest offensive line, but got things done anyway. Maybe at some point, someone who was a Bears fan that followed them closely that season will read this thread and can clarify how often they did third down punts and out of a punting formation. Also, maybe trying to remember things from 37 years ago is a fool's errand.
Now Randall Cunningham, playing for Buddy Ryan and the Eagles, famously had a 91 yard punt from his own 2 yard line (rolling a good part of the way), to the Giants 7 yard line. I am not sure if that was a quick kick on 3rd down or was 4th down in punting formation, but obviously Cunningham wasn't the normal punter, so makes me think it was 3rd down and that surprise might have been why it rolled for a good distance (because no one was back to receive the punt). I don't know though.
And yes, Willie Gault was the receiver. He was an Olympian sprinter right?
Here's a little Danny White trivia. White was an excellent coffin corner punter. Part of his expertise had to do with the curvature of the Cowboys' home field. As you know, none of the NFL fields are really flat. Some have more of a drainage slope to them than others. The Cowboys' field had a really severe slope to the out of bounds. White perfected nailing his kicks so that they'd hit the slope and angle out of bounds. I'm not sure if Dallas had the most severe slope, but they were in the top couple.
One reason teams had some adjusting to do playing in Europe the first few times was that the international fields were more truly flat than the American fields.
When the Bears had a terrible offense, Payton was a warrior. Literally, he would bang for 3 1/2 yards no matter what, and those runs were herculean efforts. It was when the Bears were goddawful on offense that I really came to appreciate Payton. He was the whole friggin' offense. Anything anyone else did was because the defenses were geared to dealing with Payton.
Cardinals may just have saved their season by activating Hopkins off the steroid suspension list and acquiring Anderson. They should never have allowed Kirk to leave.
Here's the contest(s) update after six weeks. I will update this every two weeks, good or bad.
1) Tied for 61st out of a couple thousand in Heritage Race to the Super Bowl. I won this about six years ago, which was cool. I won 25K in wagers on the SB. I have done really, really badly this season picking primetime NFL totals.
2) Tied for 11th in NorthBet Pick the Pros out of 500+. The best I have ever done in this was second.
3) Tied for first in TopBet NFL Picks Contest out of 1300+. This will not be easy to win, as there are 20 entrants within two games of the leaders. It will be challenging and fun to try. My first pain-in-the-ass decision will be the Thursday night game, with Arizona vs. the Saints. Win and stay in first. Lose and drop.
Week Eight looks impossible. After Week Seven:
1) Dropped to 72nd in Heritage. Getting murdered in primetime totals.
2) Moved up to tie for ninth in NorthBet.
3) Tied for first in TopBet.
There is no way to do well Week Eight, so I have to accept that holding first is highly unlikely. The important thing is to stay patient if I take a beating this week. Usually you have to outperform the linesmakers by at least seven or eight games to contend in these things. I'm three or four games ahead of the linesmakers at this juncture, depending on opening versus closing lines. Odds are always against actually winning any of these, but usually when I'm in the hunt, I manage to stay in the hunt.
Do you think Mattress Mack is hedging his 75 Million Dollar Ticket(s)?
I always assume he hedges some of it from the beginning. He recruited some of the LVA guys to help him organize his wagering a few years back. I assume he does that every year, but maybe keeps it quieter these days.
I think the series line is a little light, but I know nothing about baseball.
So he gets $75 million if the Astros win and he doubles everyone's furniture payout? Sounds like fun.
I doubt he sat out the Yankees series, so I'm guessing he now has a good chunk invested in this, so yeah, he'll hedge. I guess the question is where. He can spread it around. Pinnacle offshore. Circa. SuperBook. MGM will take a chunk. I'm wondering if his position works for or against him when it comes to negotiating the line.
Last edited by redietz; 10-26-2022 at 05:46 AM.
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