One hockey puck stands above the rest

You know how, when people get older, they tend to repeat the same stories over and over again?

Scott Adamson’s sports column appears pretty much whenever he feels like writing it.

That applies to chronologically advanced sportswriters, too.

Only difference is, we tend to write the same stories over and over again – or at least relive them.

Since it’s November 8 – the anniversary of one of my favorite tales – it seems as good a time as any to hit “replay.”

Here goes:

Like a lot of guys, I have a “fan cave” at my house.

Walk into the tiny converted attic room and you’ll find memorabilia from the World Football League, the World Hockey Association, United States Football League, XFL – to me they are remnants of days gone by as well as good old days.

One of my most prized possessions is a hockey puck commemorating the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team’s game against the Birmingham Bulls of the Central Hockey League. The other is a team photo of the squad autographed by coach Herb Brooks.

The “Miracle On Ice” took place on February 22, 1980, and if you’re an American hockey fan old enough to remember it, you most certainly do.

I saw that team on Nov. 8, 1979, when they visited Birmingham, Ala., to play the local minor league club in an exhibition at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum.

Birmingham, which was not part of the WHA’s limited merger with the NHL a year earlier, had resurfaced in the CHL, keeping the “Bulls” nickname but seeing its level of play take a dip. But a Triple A-type league offered just the kind of tune-ups the young U.S. squad needed.

The souvenir puck is on display in my fan cave, alongside this custom McFarlane figure.

Each team in the CHL played the Olympians that season, with the games actually counting in the league standings.

Birmingham lost to Brooks’ charges, 5-2, in Minneapolis on Nov. 4, and four days later they faced off again in the Magic City. The crowd was announced at 3,696, and pucks were handed out to those in attendance as a way to celebrate and commemorate the occasion.

A little over three months later that puck would be like gold to me when the Olympians became sports icons.

You know the story.

When the Winter Games came to Lake Placid, N.Y., little was expected out of the U.S. in hockey, especially since its roster was made up of a bunch of kids. The medals would likely be divided up among powerhouse teams fielded by the Soviet Union, Finland and Canada, and the prospects of the Americans advancing beyond pool play seemed absurd.

The Birmingham Bulls take up an entire wall in my fan cave.

Just days before the Games began, the U.S. was hammered by the Russians, 10-3, at Madison Square Garden. Yet when it was medal time in New York State, goalie Jim Craig turned away 36 shots by “The Red Army” to help the hosts shock the greatest hockey team in the world, 4-3.

For many it was a political victory as well as a sporting one because of the Cold War. I was acutely aware of the “more than a game” overtones, but frankly I was just thrilled to see guys my age pull off a feat that seemed impossible.

Phil Verchota scored three times in the Games and added two assists, while Rob McClanahan had five goals and three assists in seven matches. I bring their names up because they were the stars of the United States’ 6-4 victory over the Bulls.

Often lost in the euphoria of the victory over the Soviets is the Gold Medal match against Finland, which took place on Feb. 24, 1980.

Heading into the final period the United States trailed 2-1. But the Americans scored three unanswered goals in the third period in a too-good-to-be-true finish, claiming a 4-2 conquest and putting the final touches on one of the most unlikely sports stories ever written.

I sure am glad I decided to keep that old puck – even if it does cause me to repeat myself.

 

One season ends, another soon begins in CFL

The 2018 Canadian Football League regular season comes to a close this weekend, which is a bummer because that means I’ll soon be seeing less CFL games.

Scott Adamson’s sports column appears pretty much whenever he feels like writing it.

On the plus side, the stage for the playoffs is mostly set, with only one bit of unfinished business remaining.

And thanks to scheduling, the Saskatchewan Roughriders can win the West by sitting at home Saturday and watching the other games on TV.

Going into Week 21, we already know the Ottawa Redblacks (10-7) are champions of the East.

They went 3-for-3 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8-9) – their only close competition in the division – so they’ll host the East title game.

Hamilton got a semifinal home game as a consolation prize for finishing as runners-up in the division, and will meet British Columbia (9-8) on Nov. 11 for the right to play Ottawa.

What, you say? BC in an East playoff?

Yep.

Article XII 12.01 of the CFL constitution mandates that if the fourth place team in one division has more points than the third place team in the other, it gets the crossover playoff spot in the opposite division.

This has happened multiple times, so it’s not some sort of rarity.

And considering Montreal and defending Grey Cup champion Toronto go into this weekend with 4-13 worksheets, the club from Vancouver earned the right to break in line.

As for the West, red-hot Winnipeg (10-7), winners of five in a row, will travel to either Saskatchewan (12-6) or Calgary (12-5) on Nov. 11 in a left-side semifinal.

Right now the Stampeders hold a half-game lead entering the BC showdown set for late Saturday night.

If Calgary wins or ties, the division crown is theirs, and they get to rest while the Riders play the Blue Bombers.

Should the Lions pull off the upset, though, Saskatchewan will win the division thanks to going 2-1 against Calgary during the regular season.

Thus, the only game that impacts the playoffs this weekend is that Western clash.

Toronto vs. Ottawa (tonight), Winnipeg vs. Edmonton (Saturday afternoon) and Montreal vs. Hamilton (Saturday night) will see non-playoff teams attempt to finish up on a winning note, while clubs bound for the postseason try to stay healthy.

So who’s the favorite to win it all?

That’s one of the beauties of the CFL. This league had parity before parity was cool, and it can be wildly unpredictable.

In 2016, Ottawa won the East with an 8-9-1 record and was expected (by me, anyway) to go quietly in the playoffs.

But that record was good enough to win the East, and the Redblacks defeated Edmonton, 35-23, to advance to the Grey Cup, and then stunned Calgary, 39-33, in overtime to claim the CFL championship.

Although I’m a Hamilton fan, that was one of my favorite Grey Cups of all-time. The Stampeders came into the game 16-2-1, and I thought they’d have the game put away by halftime.

Instead, it was a wild one from start to finish, even though the Redblacks never trailed.

And while that contest is two years removed from this season, it still gives me hope that perhaps the Ti-Cats can display some “playoff peak” and make a run.

Hamilton split with BC during the regular season, including a 40-10 victory in their last meeting on September 29. If June Jones’ charges survive the rubber game, they’ll get to find out if the fourth time’s the charm against the Redblacks.

It’s sad to see the season near its end, even though I’m excited about the playoffs.

Thanks to ESPN +, I’ve watched more CFL games in 2018 than I ever have before, and it solidified my fandom.

Three quarterbacks have passed for more than 5,000 yards –Edmonton’s Mike Reilly (5,242), Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli (5,209) and Ottawa’s Trevor Harris (5,116).

Calgary QB Bo Levi Mitchell has set the pace in TD passes with 34.

Seven players have hauled in more than 1,000 yards worth of receptions, led by Edmonton’s D’haquille Williams. He shows the way with 1,534 yards on 85 catches.

And even though this is a passing league, two players have rushed for more than 1,000 yards – Ottawa’s William Powell with 1,362, and Winnipeg’s Andrew Harris with 1,355.

Johnny Manziel might’ve drawn a few more U.S. eyes to the league in 2018, but perhaps those who tuned in because of him will consider sticking around after he’s gone.

If you’re not watching the Canadian game, you’re missing out on some really exciting football.

UAB football, Pop and radio days remembered

There was one point, late in UAB’s 29-21 victory over North Texas on Saturday, when I could almost see him.

Out of Left Field is written by Scott Adamson. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl

Pop was sitting in his recliner in the corner of the den, legs propped up, with the index finger of his right hand tapping the transistor radio on the arm rest.

I can’t remember the brand of the radio, I just know I never saw it removed from its worn, black leather casing.

To his left would be that cheesy standing ashtray, where he’d keep his lukewarm cup of coffee, pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes, and a book of matches.

My chair was the “old” recliner – the one that barely reclined at all, and then only after some major butt bouncing and contorting.

In the old days before there were 20 televised games all at once and college football could be eyeballed from noon Saturday until 1 a.m. Sunday, radio was the way to go.

And because the North Texas game was televised on beIN Sports – a network that is not part of my cable package – it was the way I went last weekend, following the audio online.

It brought back some bittersweet memories.

Long ago, Pop and I spent a whole lot of time listening to the crackling, AM-filtered sounds of John Forney calling Alabama games and Gary Sanders providing play by play for Auburn.

Now radio tends to augment events; you might have your ear buds in while at the stadium, or follow the action on your car radio while driving.

Just sitting down and making the radio the centerpiece of your three hour sports block, however, is a lost art.

But I broke out the canvas for the Blazers’ biggest game of the year and let David Crane paint the picture.

Pop would’ve loved it.

I’ve always been a “mobile” game listener, meaning I tend to pace and fidget.

It happens more during a tight game, of course, so I spent most of the second half on my feet, racking up steps on my FitBit.

Pop, on the other hand, always rode the chair from whistle to whistle, regardless of the situation.

Good play, bad play – he never got up and never allowed himself to become animated.

But what really brought his memory back to me the most was in the early going, when it looked like the Mean Green might end up running the Blazers out of Legion Field.

Pop was an enigma; in life he tended to see the best in everyone.

In sports, he expected the worst in everything.

“Well, son, this just ain’t their day,” he might say after the team we were rooting for fell behind, or made an early blunder. “They’ll never beat anybody playing like that.”

And then when things turned around and the good guys won by 20, he’d smile and say, “I’m glad they figured out what was wrong before the game got away from them.”

After North Texas moved the ball with ease in the first half and raced out to a 21-10 lead after two quarters, I could practically hear his pessimism.

And I was feeling it, too.

But this UAB team is the kind he would’ve given credit to in the end, because they figure out how to win. And I guarantee he would’ve hung on Crane’s every word Saturday, appreciating the way the voice of the Blazers was able to let him “see” the game.

And after a furious rally that saw the Blazers score 19 unanswered points to take the “W” and seize control of the Conference USA West Division, he would’ve enjoyed my histrionics.

His biggest chuckle would’ve come when UAB made a stop on fourth down that sealed the game; I leapt into the air with a clenched fist and landed a fairly solid punch to a ceiling fan blade.

Nothing broke – on the hand or the fan – but it did send two cats scurrying out of the room.

Pop died in 1994, two years before UAB began play in college football’s top division. It has now been nearly a quarter of a century since he and I were able to sit down and “watch” a game on the radio.

Last weekend, though, it felt kinda like we were able to do it again.

Oh, and as for that comment I made earlier about “bittersweet” memories, you can go ahead and strike that.

An important win by my favorite team – experienced through radio – allowed me to revisit the greatest father a kid could ever have.

That’s pretty sweet.