NFL Network: Missing Rings, The 1990s Buffalo Bills

Source:The Daily Post

When I look at the Buffalo Bills of the late 1980s and early 1990s, I see very good football teams and in the early 90s the best teams in the American Football Conference. But there's an issue right there. From 1984 except for maybe the underachieving Raiders of the mid 80s and the 1987 Browns, 1988 Bengals, 1990 Bills and the two best teams in the NFL were not in the AFC and AFC Champions. But were in the NFC, the top two teams in the NFC the champion and finalist. In 1986 the two best teams in the NFL were the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, but they not only played in same conference, the NFC. 

And by 1992 the two best teams in the NFL were always in the NFC, until 1997 with the Denver Broncos winning the Super Bowl. This was not a good era for the AFC, 1985, 1986, 1987 the Super Bowls were all blowouts, the NFC team beating the AFC team. In 1989 the San Francisco 49ers blew out the Denver Broncos 55-10, 1992 the Dallas Cowboys blew out the Bill 52-17. 1994 the 49ers blew out the San Diego Chargers 49-23. The Bills of the late 80s and early 90s were the best team in the AFC. And won four straight AFC Final's from 1990-93, but in the worst era for the AFC. I'm not taking anything away from the Bills of this era, they had very good teams and would've been very successful in the National Football Conference, but they wouldn't of dominated the NFC like they dominated the AFC.

If you look at those four Super Bowls that the Buffalo Bills lost from 1990-93, they were only favored to win one of them the, 1990 Super Bowl when they played the New York Giants. But the Giants were a very good football team, they still had one of the best defenses in the NFL. Even though they were getting older and they still had their ball control offense, power run, possession passing, shorten the game and limit the Bills chances on offense to have the ball and score. Giants running back OJ Anderson was the SB MVP, quarterback Jeff Hostletter completed passes when he had to. And had TE Marc Bavaro I believe the best all around TE in the NFL at the time and had WRs Chris Calloway, Mark Ingram and Steve Baker.

The Giants could throw when they wanted to and when they needed to and the strength of their offense fit in perfectly with the weakness of the Bills Defense. They had a power offense going up against and somewhat finesse undersized 3-4 Bills defense with a small 270 pound nose tackle in Jeff Wright. And the Bills were able to stay in the game because even though they didn't have the ball much, they moved it almost every time they had it. And when the Giants scored they used a lot of time to score, keeping the Bills in the game. 

1990 was the best chance for the Buffalo Bills to win a Super Bowl and they were favored in that game and they only lost 20-19 and had plenty of chances to win that game. But missed a lot of tackles probably because they were so tired, because their defense couldn't get off the field. But the other three Super Bowls they were a clear underdog playing teams, like the Redskins and Cowboys twice that were much bigger and stronger which is what the NFC was back then over the AFC. Run the ball, stop the run, rush the QB, protect the QB and win the turnover battle. And the Bills happened to be the best of a weak American Football Conference

Cherie Altuaimeh: Steel Curtain Tribute- The Steel Curtain Steeler Dynasty

Source: Cherie Altuaimeh.

Source:The Daily Post

The 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers are what a great team looks like and to me the definition of what a great team looks like so to the point as their cover corner back Mell Blount saying that "the NFL changed its rules in 1978 to slow down the Steelers so they weren't so dominant". That they went from being a power run ball control offense in the mid-1970s to a vertical pass offense with two deep threats in wide receiver in John Stallworth. Who to me is the Michael Irvin of his generation with his size and strength, but with great speed and could get by you just by running by you. Which made QB Terry Bradshaw's job a lot more fun because he had a big strong accurate arm that could go deep.

Bradshaw had the WRs to throw the ball to and the Steelers still had their power running game with tailback Franco Harris and tailback Rocky Blier. And they still had their Steel Curtain Two-Gap defense that could stuff the run and attack the QB just with their front four. With defensive tackle Joe Greene arguably the best defensive lineman of all-time. Defensive end LC Greenwood who should be in the Hall of Fame and DE Dwight White. And with middle linebacker Jack Lambert the best MLB of his era and Jack Ham the best outside linebacker of his era. With the Steelers front seven they could stuff the run, attack the QB and cover the whole field.

With those players and with CB Mell Blount I believe the best CB off all-time, you hated being the top WR on the other team because it meant the QB wasn't going to throw you the ball. And with safeties Donnie Shell and Mike Wagner, you weren't throwing the ball deep against the Steelers. You couldn't really run the ball on the Steelers even though you really only had to block four players. Pass protection was almost impossible with the Steelers front four and even if you had time to throw, who you going to throw the ball to, no one is open.

The 1978 Steelers were so great not so good, but so great that the NFL changed the rules to slow them down. And so they were so dominant, other than the Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys and maybe the Miami Dolphins no one could give the Steelers a hard time before the 1978 rule changes. Which were aimed at the Steelers Steel Curtain defense. The illegal contact rule, meaning you couldn't jam a WR after five yards. The new blocking rules aimed at Joe Greene that outlawed head slapping. But that didn't slow the Steelers because they just adapted to the new rule changes meaning that their defense was probably not going to be as dominant anymore.

But again these are the Pittsburgh Steelers, they have Chuck Knoll as their head coach, Terry Bradshaw as their QB and Franco Harris the at TB, with John Stallworth and Lynn Swann at WR. Which meant they just needed to open up the offense and score more points. Go to the vertical pass offense to complement their power running game. The Steelers didn't change to fit in with rest of the NFL, but they adapted and overcame and made themselves better to utilize the other talent that they had and not rely so much on their defense and power running. That's what the 1978 Steelers were and what a great team looks like. You make a move at them they make another move and get better than they were already are. 

There are a lot of teams to choose from as the best team of all-time and I'm referring to the Super Bowl era including the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins. But I take the 78 Steelers because of their head coach who was also their general manager in Chuck Knoll, who was great at both jobs. And could go to the Hall of Fame in either role, who was a defensive head coach as he built the Steel Curtain defense. But understood offense well enough that he knew what type of offense he wanted the Steelers to have. And then go out and get the players to play in that offense and of course not just the talent but how well they played together and how dominant they were.
Source:Cherie Altuaimeh

NFL Films: The Immaculate Reception: The Start of the Raiders-Steelers Rivalry

Source:The Daily Post

To me for a rivalry to be great or for it to even be a rivalry, the two teams involved have to at least be good. Not just consistent winners, but consistent playoff teams. Not teams that generally 8-8 or 9-7 or worst and every few years sneak into the playoffs. But teams where just getting to the playoffs is not enough for them to have a successful season. Teams that have it as their goal every year to win their division and win the league championship. 

The New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcon Fans and even though both teams are good now and making the playoffs and in the Saints case winning the Super Bowl in 2009, but historically both franchises have either been mediocre or bad. The Falcons didn't make the playoffs until 1978, their twelfth season and are now in their forty-eighth season and they have only made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons once. The Saints didn't even have a winning season until 1987 their 21st season and played and won their first Super Bowl in 2009 their forty-third season. So Falcon-Saint games traditionally haven't meant much.

Unlike Packer-Bear games, Packer-Viking games, Bear-Viking games, Redskins-Cowboys, Redskins- Giants etc. It's when the games are important that they have meaning is when they become rivalry's because that's when both teams prepare real well and tend to play their best and when the games are played real hard and physical and get real tense and you see big hits and borderline cheap shots and everything else. And the fans really get into it and even go to the other teams stadiums to watch their team play that the games become rival games. Which is exactly what you get in the NFC East where everyone is a big rival of the other.

That's exactly what the Steeler-Raider rivalry was in the 1970 and 80s to a certain extent. Because every time they played in this time period, their games were about who would have home field advantage in the AFC Playoffs. And have the better chance of winning the AFC Championship and going to the Super Bowl. And the rivalry that the Pittsburgh Steelers had with the Oakland Raiders in the 1970s, is similar to the rivalry the Steelers have with the New England Patriots today because they are playing for home field advantage in the AFC Playoffs almost every time they play each other.

But with the Steelers-Raiders rivalry of the 70s, you're talking about two of the three best franchises of the 70s that made the AFC Playoffs a total of sixteen times, that won fifteen division championships between the two of them. Won five AFC Championships and won five Super Bowls. They knew to get to where they wanted to go they were going to have to beat the other team. It was really that simple because both teams in this decade both had the same goal every year, win the Super Bowl. And since they were both in the AFC, that meant beating the other team especially in the AFC Playoffs just to get to the Super Bowl and this why this rivalry was so great and intense. 

Rivalry's are between two good teams and franchises, otherwise they don't mean anything. They're just another game, rivalry games are important, even when one team may be having a down year because they can make their season by beating the other team. Which would be like their championship. "We didn't do much this year, but at least we beat that team and made their season a little more difficult. Perhaps cost them a home game in the playoffs". And the team who lost that game remembers losing that game, takes that with them going into the next season and try's to get their revenge, which makes the rivalry that much greater.

NFL Films: John Facenda: Pride and Poise- The Glory Days of the Oakland Raiders

Source:The Daily Post

As John Madden put it when asked about the Raiders not being able to win the "Big Game", the Oakland Raiders won a lot of big games. You have to do that just to have the chance to get to the "Big Game". The teams that play in the "Big Game" aren't selected by a "committee of experts" but they are selected by the two teams from both conferences that won their championships. What the Raiders weren't able to do until 1976, other than 1967 be able to get to the one big game the biggest game in the world. If you think about it as far as the amount of people that watch it.

The Super Bowl of course is the biggest television event in the world, but if you look at the teams that they lost to, there were all great teams as far as who they lost to in those AFC Finals that cost them the AFC Championship and a trip to the Super Bowl. They lost to the Baltimore Colts in 1970 that won that Super Bowl, the Miami Dolphins in 1973 that won that Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers their arch-rival in the 1970s in both 1974 and 75 that won both of those Super Bowls. So the Raiders problem was that they didn't choke or get it done, they just lost to the best team in football all of those years.

The Raiders had to be the best team in the NFL not just have the best record in the AFC and host the AFC Final at Oakland Coliseum better known as "the Black Hole" as they did in 1974, but they had to have the best team in the AFC both regular and postseason. So when 1976 came around having lost four of the last six AFC Finals, including one at home, the sole-mission of the 1976 Raiders was to go to and win the Super Bowl and meant getting past the Steelers and running through anyone else who got in their way.

The Raiders knew they had the players and they had the talent on both sides of the ball. One of the best offenses in the NFL if not the best, with their vertical spread offense (as I call it)  always looking to throw deep to Cliff Branch from quarterback Ken Stabler. But working the whole field, to tight end Dave Casper and wide receiver Fred Belitninkoff both who are in the Hall of Fame. 

And with their power running game with the best offensive line in the NFL, with Hall of Famers offensive tackle Art Shell and offensive guard Gene Upshaw arguably the best players who ever played their positions. With center Dave Dalby another Pro Bowler and their power running game with their man-on-man blocking where you literally try to destroy the man in front of you.

And with tailback Clarence Davis and fullback Mark Van Egan and their kick ass defense (for lack of a better word) with defensive tackle John Mutuzak and defensive tackle Dave Rowe up front and others. Hall of Famer Ted Hendricks arguably the best outside linebacker of all- time and Pro Bowler Phil Viliapano. With two bump-and-run cover corners in Mike Haynes and Willy Brown. And perhaps the two hardest hitting safety's in football George Atkinson and Jack Tatum.

The Oakland Raiders by the time 1976 came around were already a very good team with a lot of talent. You would have to be to just be in six AFC Finals even though they lost all of them going into 1976. But they weren't a great team yet and being a great team and having great talent are two different things. The trick is to have both of them at the same time which is something the 1976 Raiders were finally able to learn and most of that credit goes to John Madden a Hall of Fame head coach. He figured out how to get all of these great players to play together at the same time.

NFL Network: America's Game- 1983 Los Angeles Raiders

Source:DAZN- the Los Angeles Raiders winning Super Bowl 18 over the Redskins in January, 1984.

Source:The Daily Post

"America's Game 1983 Los Angeles Raiders" 

From Nicole Alejandro 

"1983 Los Angeles Raiders Team Season Highlights "Just Win, Baby" & NFL '83" 

Source:Sports Odyssey- welcome to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum version of the black hole.

From Sports Odyssey 

The 1983 Los Angeles Raiders represent to me what the Los Angeles Raiders should've always been, which was the best NFL team, period. Not just for the 1983 season, but the rest of the 1980s. As great as the San Francisco 49ers were during the 1980s and they had great teams both on offense and defense, one of the best head coaches and general managers ever in Bill Walsh, great management team, the Los Angeles Raiders were better, at least as far as personal and talent. As great as the 1985 Chicago Bears were, the Los Angeles Raiders were better, at least as far as personal and talent. 

What we got instead in the NFL was a 1983 Los Angeles Raiders that essentially stumbled into greatness and put it together when they needed to. And as good as a 12-4 record is, the 1983 Raiders were a 14-2, 15-1 team when you look at their personal and talent. 

The 83 Raiders defense that was loaded with Pro Bowlers and even Hall of Famers and not just DE Howie Long who I believe is the greatest defensive end, if not defensive lineman of the 1980s, but Ted Hendricks who is one of the best all around linebackers ever, perhaps the two best cornerbacks in the NFL in Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes, LB's Matt Millen and Rod Martin who were both Pro Bowlers, Greg Townsend who was an excellent pass rushing DE. 

The 83 Raiders had Marcus Allen at RB, who I believe was the best all around running back in the NFL in the 1980s and also most underutilized. Jim Plunkett at QB who when he was healthy and playing for a good team, was a Pro Bowl caliber QB. Probably the best offensive line in the NFL at that point. Todd Christianson who lead the NFL in receptions as a tight end, another Pro Bowler. Cliff Branch perhaps the best deep threat as a WR during the 1970s and perhaps early 80s as well. 

But what the NFL and the City of Los Angeles got instead was a Raiders team that stumbled into greatness for that one season in 1983, but were the underachievers of the NFL during the 1980s. They had other good years in Los Angeles and other playoff teams and other AFC West champions, but 1983 is the only year that the Raiders reached greatness in Los Angeles, even though they were always loaded as far as talent both on offense and defense. 

Had Al Davis took a few steps back and let someone else run personal for him and let the head coach do his own job as well and had Mr. David not tried to ruin Marcus Allen's career, I think the Raiders are still in Los Angeles today. 

NFL Films: Full Color Football: The New Frontier: The Story of the American Football League

Source:The Daily Post

By the late 1950s the National Football League had just survived the Korean War as far as losing players to that war, World War II losing players to that war, some not coming back, the Great Depression with all the money that was lost in the country as well as the NFL. And the fact that America went through that for about 15 years. If you don't have enough money to pay your bills and a lot of Americans were in that situation during the Great Depression, you're not going to go to sporting events. So by the late 1950s or even before that, when the NFL was approaching its 40th Season, they had proven they were a survivor. 

The NFL had already proven they were a survivor and with the economic boom of the 1950s and with the NFL growing in popularity with NFL champions like the New York Giants, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions (yes the Detroit Lions), Baltimore Colts, Los Angeles Rams with Sid Gilman with his spread vertical offense  and of course the Cleveland Browns led by Paul Brown one of the top 3-5 head coaches of all-time, as well as a great general manager, the 1950s was a boom decade for the NFL. There was a lot of great football and great players in that decade, the NFL was finally making money and making very good money and they only had twelve franchises.

And with the NFL's revenue sharing system where each club shares it's broadcast revenue, there was a lot of money to go around. And the less clubs that they had the more money each club can keep for themselves. That was the theory which is why the NFL didn't expand sooner and into places like Boston, Buffalo, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Diego and others all markets capable of supporting NFL franchises.

What the All American Football Conference proved in the 1940s and 50s, was that 12 pro football franchises wasn't enough that there was more money to be made and a lot more money to be made and there were a lot more players that could play pro football in America that a 12 club league could support. That's where the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers all came from and when the AAFC folded, those clubs went to the NFL. The Cleveland Browns finished off the AAFC by winning the last championship there. And then went to the NFL in the 1950s and won five NFL Championships in that decade.

This was all setting the stage for the American Football League to come into existence all those markets that the NFL said the hell with, all wanted their own pro football franchise. And all of those players that could play in the NFL, but were overlooked, all found homes in the AFL in cities like Boston, Buffalo, the New York, Kansas City, Houston, Denver, Oakland and San Diego. Just to start off with followed in the late 60s by Cincinnati and Miami. The AFL represented a shot for for football fans who were turn down by the NFL, to have their own franchise and for players to get another shot at pro football career. 

The NFL saw the AFL as a threat right away which is why they rewarded an expansion franchise to Dallas in 1960 and Minneapolis in 1961. Because they knew there were a lot of football fans in those two markets and that the AFL wanted to expand there. Without the AFL, we probably never heard of players like quarterback Len Dawson who's in the Hall of Fame and QB Jack kemp who's famous for several other reasons, most of them positive. 

As well as all the African-American players that were turned away because of their race by the NFL. Like Hall of Famers like Chiefs linebacker Willie Lanier, LB Bobby Bell who's a better version of Lawrence Taylor,  defensive tackle Buck Buchanan, wide receiver Otis Taylor who should be in the Hall of Fame and so many others. The AFL was a second chance society for people who deserved it.

Warner Vod: All the President's Men (1976)

Source:The Daily Post

If you like movies based on true stories, then All The President's Men is a great movie if you like movies with great writing, then All The President's Men is a great movie. If you like movies with great casts, then All The Presidents Men is a great movie. If you like movies with clever quick-witted humor, then All The President's Men is a great movie. If you're interested in current affairs, politics and American history, or you're a junky about those things like myself, then All The Presidents Men is a great movie. There are so many reasons to see this great movie, this movie being the best movie at least as far as I'm concern in Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman's career. And I would add Jason Robards, Jack Warden and Ned Beatty, Jane Alexander to that list all great actors. 


All The President's Men is about the Watergate scandal that happened in 1972 when people working for the Nixon campaign broke into the Watergate building in Washington where just so happens where the Democratic National Committee Headquarters is located. They did that I'm guessing to dig up dirt on Sen. George McGovern President Nixon's opponent in 1972. I doubt they were there to steal wooden pencils or use the bathroom (call it a hunch). And how President Nixon covered up a story that he had no involvement in as far as the operations. But he did cover it up which is an Obstruction of Justice and how two basically no name reporters covered this story for the Washington Post.

Bob Woodward played by Robert Redford and Carl Bernstein played by Dusty Hoffman and If you're a fan of mystery's, then All The President's Men is a great movie. Even though Woodward and Bernstein aren't cops or private detectives, they are newspaper reporters covering a story that fell into their lap basically. The Watergate scandal was probably the dumbest political scandal that ever happened in the Federal Government. And there are plenty to choose from, because first of all it was illegal, it wasn't done by professional criminals. President Nixon got reelected in a landslide winning forty-nine states and around sixty-percent  of the popular vote despite Watergate.

So naturally what does Dick Nixon try to do. Being the great politician and brilliant man that he was, not trying to be funny here, he covers it up, he covers up a scandal that he had nothing to do with and had he just released everything that the White House had and let the FBI do their jobs, Watergate is nothing more than another Washington crime story handled by the Washington Police, President Nixon completes his second term and probably goes down as a great president depending on how he dealt with a weakening economy and the movie All The President's Men is never made. 

I saw All The Presidents Men for the first time when I was in junior high seventh or eighth Grade and didn't have much of an interest in politics at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Which may seem shocking considering how much of a political junky I am now. But I knew I really liked this movie by then and have seen probably twenty times since twenty plus years later because by the time I was eighteen, I was already a political junky keeping up with Congress and the Clinton Administration. I already new I was a Liberal Democrat by then. And this is one of those movies for me, thats worth seeing twenty plus times for the reasons I just laid out.

ESPN: Bill Buckner- Behind The Bag

Source:SB Nation- talking about Red Sox 1B Bill Buckner.

Source:The Daily Post 

“You’re probably familiar with the moment where Mookie Wilson’s grounder goes through Bill Buckner’s legs in the 1986 World Series. But do you know about everything that got us to that moment, including a rogue parachuter, a freak spring training injury that almost blinded Wilson, the heroics of Dave Henderson, a Red Sox-Mets trade, and a whole lot more?

Written, produced, and edited by Ryan Simmons

Shot by Mike Imhoff.” 

From SB Nation 

1986 Red Sox 1B Bill Buckner being interviewed by ESPN's Behind The Bag series about game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the Mets and his role in that game.

Source:ESPN- interviewing Red Sox 1B Bill Buckner.

The 1986 MLB World Series is one of the greatest World Series of all-time. Not because of the Bill Buckner error at first base in Game 6. But because it was a matchup of two great teams, the two best teams in baseball in 1986. Who played about as well as they possibly could.

This was a World Series with 3-4 great games, where both teams had opportunities to win each of these games, with a few blowouts mixed in.

You could make a very good case that the Boston Red Sox should’ve won both Games 6 and 7, they had leads late in both games and didn’t finish the job.

Yes first baseman Bill Buckner made a big error late in that game. But what you gotta remember about that error is the ground ball going through his legs that led to Ray Knight scoring the winning run, was that the game was tied at that point. It’s not like Buckner blew the lead for the Red Sox in that game.

The Red Sox had a two run lead going into the bottom of the 10th Inning. It’s the bullpen that blew the two run lead in that inning. And they gave up all the hits and runs, after already having two outs in that inning. Including the tying run coming off of a wild pitch from reliever Bob Stanley. This is something that Red Sox fans even though they watched this game, have just recently figured out.

I’m not making excuses for Bill Buckner, who was an accomplished first baseman. Who was more than capable of making that ground ball even with the bad feet he managed to put himself in position to make that play. He got to the ball and got his glove down in time. But misplayed it, tried to pick it up before the ball got to his glove and as a result the ball went right through his legs.

I’m just saying that to put all of the blame on Buckner for the Red Sox losing the 1986 World Series, is unfair and borderline nasty by people who were so frustrated about losing a World Series that they should’ve won actually.

The Red Sox outplayed the Mets, especially in Game 6 and 7, as well as winning the first two games at Shea Stadium. Before you put the blame on Buckner, you should look at all of those runners that the Red Sox offense left on base in that World Series.

 Especially all of the runners the Red Sox left in scoring position and the Red Sox bullpen for blowing those leads. 

Even with the two bad feet that Bill Buckner was playing on, including I believe a broken ankle and yet he was their full-time first baseman.

Even with the broken foot, the Red Sox don’t beat the Anaheim Angels in the American League Championship, a team that might have of been better than the Red Sox on paper without Buckner.

The Angels were up 3-1 in that series over the Red Sox and the Red Sox don’t get to that World Series either, they wouldn’t of been good enough to without Bill Buckner. So what the Buckner Family has been put through as a result, has been really unfair and there are Red Sox fans who should be ashamed of themselves.  

HBO Films: Alec Baldwin: The Lost Ballparks of Major League Baseball

Source:The Daily Post

As someone who loves baseball especially Major League Baseball, I have a collection of books about it's history because it's such a great game that I love. And has such a great history which to me at least is more interesting than the game today. I feel the same way about the National Football League. I'm into MLB history so much that I have at least three books that are about the old ballparks of MLB. 

And in these books you see photos of pass ballparks of MLB. Like the old Yankee Stadium, the old Oakland Coliseum before the Raiders moved back into it. You move the seats forward in the foul territory of the Coliseum and you are talking about a perfect ballpark, as long as you only play baseball in it. It has like a mile of foul territory in it, so dugout seats at the Coliseum or home plate seats actually weren't that great because you were so far back. 

The old Candlestick Park in San Francisco, that didn't have the upper deck in the outfield, that was put in for the 49ers was a beautiful ballpark. Tiger Stadium in Detroit that was great for both pitchers and batters, depending on where the batter hit the ball. Was also a great ballpark. Baltimore Memorial Stadium one of my favorites as an Orioles fan, but also because I love watching games there, another great ballpark, where the fans were on top of the action. High walls in right and left field so fans there were looking down at the action.

What was great about the old ballparks, unlike the 1970s and 80s with the cookie cutter stadiums that were designed for both football and baseball, was that the old parks were built and designed for baseball. So the fans were on top of the action and had a great view of the game. And in a lot of cases there were no upper decks in the outfield. So you could see a lot of the city that the park was located in. Crosley Field in Cincinnati was a perfect example of that. 

So the architecture of these ballparks was a lot better. You just didn't have great seats and that meant in basically every part of the park, but you had a great view of the rest of the park and part of the city the park was located in. Unlike some of the cookie cutters like in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and other places, where the only view of the park you had, except for the game, was the rest of the stadium depending on where you sat. So if you had upper deck home plate seats, what you saw from there was the upper deck in the outfield.

One of the great things about Major League Baseball is that in the last twenty years, the league has moved away from the cookie cutter multipurpose stadiums. And back to having ballparks just for baseball and other entertainment events, but just the baseball team would play there. Instead of sharing a stadium with a football team, where the stadium is too big for baseball and in some cases too small for football. 

Oliver Stone: Wall Street (1987) Starring Michael Douglas & Charlie Sheen

Source:The Daily Post

Wall Street from 1987 is a very good movie about what its like to work on Wall Street and what life is like around it. Perhaps not the most accurate movie, but definitely based on reality about a man who has a lot of power on Wall Street in Gordon Gecko played by Michael Douglas. Who basically makes his living buying companies and selling them for profits as well as investing in other companies. His company if you want to call it that, doesn't make or produce anything. He buys and sells stocks as well as companies and sometimes buys companies that are losing a lot of money. Turns them around so they are profitable, even if that means laying off a lot of people and then sells those companies.

That character in this movie is named Gordon Gecko of course played of course by Michael Douglas with the famous line "greed is good" which I'll get to later, which also has to do with today's debate about Wall Street and another main character called Bud Fox played by of course Charlie Sheen, probably his best movie even though its not his funniest, whose a young upincomer on Wall Street, looking for the fast track whose basically a good guy from a good family but discovers Gordon Gecko and decides Gecko is his trip to the top. A

Bud Fox wants to work with Gordon Gecko or for him. But Gecko only wants to work with the young Fox, if Fox has insider knowledge so they can do some insider trading. Which of course is illegal, but Fox is the son of a union leader and someone who works for an independent airline played of course by Martin Sheen. Who's Charlie's real life father and the airline is about to get sold and that's where the inside knowledge comes in. And Bud Fox has what Gordon Gecko needs to buy the independent airline. 

Bud Fox's connection with Gordon Gecko is about how his knowledge of his father's business and how they can use that to buy that airline. And Fox's ability to scout Gecko's competition and get inside knowledge on them sort of like a spy. And they use that to always stay a step ahead and make sure they are always able to bid more than the competition. Because they know what the competition is able to bid and how much capital they have and what their strengths and weakness's are.

My favorite line in the movie is where Gordon Gecko gives that speech at the stockholders meeting at some company. The famous Greed is Good speech. And the funny thing is even though I'm a Democrat and greed can definitely be bad if miss used like the greed we saw in 2008 that led to the Great Recession. And to a certain extent is still going on is obviously bad and I'm not disputing that. Where corporate executives were allowed to make their companies too big, ran them into the ground and then got bailed out by taxpayers and then walked away with huge bonus's. 

But as Gordon Gecko said "greed is good, because greed allows for people to be as productive as possible to make as much money as possible. And grows companies as much as possible to make create as many good jobs as possible". The main reason why Wall Street is so relevant today, because of course of the Occupy Wall Street movement that's going on today because of their bad practices in the past and their abuse of greed as I just laid out. And how unpopular Wall Street has become today, not as unpopular as Congress (but that would be a hell of an accomplishment for anyone to accomplish and is a great movie period as far as I'm concern. But also a great movie if you're interested in OWS. 

Liza Liz Bethy: Brenda & Dylan: Beverly Hills 90210

Source:The Daily Post

When I was a freshmen in high school, FOX was still a very young TV network at this point. They came out with a high school soap Opera, with the cast all out of high school. Some of them graduating high school 5-7 years before this show came out. Beverly Hills 90210 which definitely had its cheesy aspects about it, like some of the writing and the fact that a pair of twins, one male and female looked nothing alike . But this was the first prime time soap opera for adolescents of any kind and it was a well rated prime time soap opera. 

Beverly Hills was the soap opera of my Generation X and this high school class of 1993 on the show was only a year ahead of me. So I got to watch it for three seasons while they were still in High School on the show. And while I was still in high school in real life. It was about a upper middle class family that moves from Minneapolis to Los Angles actually in Beverly Hills. 

Because the father played by James Eckhouse who plays Jim Walsh on the show, the husband of Cindy Walsh and the father of a set of twins, Brandon and Brenda Walsh, played by Jason Priestly and Shannen Doherty, gets a job in Beverly Hills and moves his family out there. And is about how this family relates to their new friends out in Beverly Hills and life in general in a new city. 

This show had its drawbacks some of it was cheesy. But when I was in High School, I watched this show every week. Because it actually dealt with what adolescents were going through in real life. In an entertaining and a lot of times even funny way. So it was good TV. 

The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson: Ronald Reagan: Talks About Balancing the Budget (1975)

Source: Johnny Carson- Ronald Reagan & Johnny Carson.

Source:The Daily Post

I like and respect Ronald Reagan a lot, I've always had even though I'm a Liberal Democrat. Which might be like hearing how much a Boston Red Sox fan loves a player for the New York Yankees. But in my case my affection for President Reagan is real. Both personally and politically, even though we don't agree on a whole lot. Except as it relates to the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, individual liberty and limited government. 

But our policies look a lot different, not a difference between big government and small government. But more relating in the role of government, not so much the overall size, but what it should be doing. But to listen to Ron Reagan talk about the need for a balance budget, is like listening to an obese person talk about the need for a healthy diet and exercise. Whatever they know about what they are talking about, is only through bad experiences. 

Its like saying, "we now know what doesn't work, had we known now then, we wouldn't of done a, because now we know a doesn't work. We would've done b or c instead, because we now know that b or c works". Its speaking in hindsight rather than foresight and not very visionary as far as this is what we should do, because we know it works based on this evidence. 

Had President Reagan listened to then candidate Reagan back in 1975, when he was talking about deficit reduction, he probably wouldn't of proposed the Economic Recovery Act of 1981. At least in that form, the economy was awful and needed a lot of stimulus and perhaps he would've proposed the tax cuts he did, the taxes then were way too high on everyone. Ranging somewhere between 20-70%. But since he felt the need for a balanced budget, he would've at least proposed to pay for those tax cuts. He would've proposed the increases in the defense budget, but proposed to pay for them. 

The fact is that President Reagan inherited a national debt of around 1T$ or more. Left office with around a 5T$ national debt, inherited a budget deficit from President Carter who had one of the worst economies we've ever seen. But it was 40B$, which thirty years ago wasn't a large deficit. Defenders of President Reagan like to say, "well thats the fault of the Democratic Congress's". The fact is President Reagan only had one Democratic Congress, his last two years. 

He had a Republican Senate for his first six years. President Reagan never sent a balanced budget to Congress or proposed a balance budget plan. What they did was deficit reduction, including tax hikes during his presidency. To say the Reagan Administration spent money like drunken sailors, would be an insult to drunken sailors. To use Senator John McCain's joke, they spent money like drunken Congressmen at a Congressional pork party, who are worried about reelection. Ron Reagan should've trusted his first instincts. 
Source:The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson

BBC: Strong Girls- Sexy Women Working Hard in Brown Leather Jeans

Source:BBC- From one of the episodes of BBC's Strong Girls. One of the women working hard in skin-tight leather jeans.

Source:The Daily Post

"Ladies in brown leather pants. From big strong girls, BBC Television." Originally from BBC.

From BBC

I gotta admit, I love seeing sexy women working hard in leather jeans. Which we don’t get to see a lot in America, because leather jeans aren’t very popular, outside of the biking and rock and roll culture. And they have even lost some popularity with those cultures as well. But leather jeans are still fairly popular in Europe, especially in Britain and Germany. You see them a lot on soap operas and with fashion models at shows.

I saw a show which was a British home improvement show. And there were a couple of sexy British ladies working hard doing renovations on a house somewhere in Britain, wearing tight brown leather jeans. One of them wearing a brown leather suit with brown leather boots and they looked great. Tight leather jeans on sexy women can be as sexy as tight denim jeans on sexy women. You have attractive well-built women wearing leather jeans, and you're going to get a great look at her curves. That's the whole point of leather jeans, to show off women’s or men’s curves. Their legs and butts and how they look in them.

But seeing these women working hard in leather jeans, doing hard physical work, Gives me a question. Are these pants comfortable especially when doing physical work. Britain obviously doesn’t get a lot of hot humid weather. But would you see women in Italy, France or Spain working hard especially in the summer. Countries that get weather that’s very similar to the American Southeast. Imagine how hard they would be sweating in those pants. I mean I’m not complaining, they looked great on that show. And I would watch over and over, I just have a hard time seeing American women doing the same work in those pants during the summer.

Leather Beauty: Catherine Fulop- in Tight Leather Jeans & Boots

Source:The Lady Channel- Venezuelan actress Catherine Fulop in skin-tight, black leather jeans.

Source:The Daily Post  

"Sexy Catherine Fulop tight leather jeans"  

From The Lady Channel

"Catherine Fulop in tight Leather Pants. Very pretty woman in a hot tight leather jeans." 

Source:The Lady Channel- Venezuelan actress Catherine Fulop in skin-tight, black leather jeans.

From The Lady Channel 

"Another post from "A" if you checked out my other blog LB2 you'll find he's been helping me get back to the blog- here's some screencaps of Catherine Furlop starring in a Argentine Drama Dejate querer (Which translates as" Let Yourself Be Loved") .. not sure what I'll do with LB2 (it's kind of like a back up blog) but I realized there were gaping holes in some of the posts so I thought it's probably for the best I return to these pages."  

Source:Leather Beauty- Venezuelan actress Catherine Fulop in skin-tight, black leather jeans.

From Leather Beauty 

"Another post from "A" if you checked out my other blog LB2 you'll find he's been helping me get back to the blog- here's some screencaps of  Catherine Furlop starring in a Argentine Drama Dejate querer (Which translates as" Let Yourself Be Loved") .. not sure what I'll do with LB2 (it's kind of like a back up blog) but I realized there were gaping holes in some of the posts so  I thought it's probably for the best I return to these pages."  

"Catherine Fulop de calça de couro" 

Source:Anonymously- Venezuelan actress Catherine Fulop in skin-tight, black leather jeans.

From Anonymously 

This is from a 1990s Venezuelan soap opera that Catherine Fulop was on. I believe this scene takes place at her home on that show, but I don’t know much about it.

Source:The Lady Channel- Venezuelan actress Catherine Fulop, in leather jeans & boots.

Several different looks at Venezuelan actress/goddess Catherine Fulop in her skin-tight, black leather jeans, that wore on that show in the 1990s. But that’s about all I know about this photo. 

Source:Leather Beauty- check out Catherine Fulop.

From Leather Beauty

I have to hand it to any attractive, sexy woman, who is even willing to wear skin-tight, leather jeans. Especially skin-tight, black leather jeans. If you want to know what skinny leather pants look like, they're leather jeans. They look just like skinny denim jeans, but made from leather instead of denim. 

The thing about skin-tight leathers is they're very revealing and make people look really honest about themselves. 

If you are someone like a Catherine Fulup when it comes to women physically and you have the long beautiful, tight legs, and big, beautiful, tight, round butt, you are going to look like a Goddess in black leather jeans. 

If you are underweight, perhaps you don't have much of an appetite, perhaps you have high metabolism, you are terrified of food, perhaps even allergic to it and struggle to keep on weight and muscle, you are going to look like a stick-figure in skinny leather or denim jeans. 

If you are overweight or obese, perhaps I don't have to fill you in as far as how fat, ridiculous, disgusting even, you are going to look in skinny leather or denim jeans. 

The reason why skin-tight, leather jeans have never really caught on in mainstream, pop culture for women, outside of rock and biker culture, and few famous, popular celebrities from time to time, is that a lot of women don't have the look for those pants, or aren't willing to take the risk as far as how they would look in those pants in public. Perhaps they are even worried about looking too sexy in them and getting checked out constantly, sort of like wearing a mini-skirt and heels to the office. 

But American women, or least sexy American women, have always at least since the late 1970s with the start of the designer jeans revolution have always been comfortable showing off their bodes in skin-tight denim jeans. And with designer jeans coming back in the late 1990s with the low-rise and skinny jeans in the 2000s, with curves and strong legs becoming so popular and still are today, American women are now more than comfortable showing off their bodes in skinny denim jeans, especially with how versatile denim is with you being able to dress denim jeans up or down. 

So when you see a woman like a Catherine Fulop out in public in skin-tight, black leather jeans, or see someone like that on TV or in a movie and you are a guy, you should be very thankful that she's even willing to dress like that in public and take note of it. Because it might be a while before you see another woman like that who is dressed like that again. 

TNA Impact Wrestling: The Knockouts Brawl On Impact

Source:TNA Impact- Tara vs Mickie James.

Source:The Daily Post

When I was a kid even though my father went out of his way to prevent me from watching pro wrestling because it was staged and winners were picked ahead of time and perhaps even for the violence. Even though dad let me watch as many Clint Eastwood and other action movies as I wanted to I managed to watch the WWF, WCW and the AWA almost every week. And several times each week because they were on multiple channels kind of like today. I was definitely a pro wrestling junky as a kid I couldn't get enough of it. Sort of how I feel about politics, current affairs and history today.

Even as a young adult and now as someone and this is a little hard to admit to, but now as Gen Xer in his mid 30's the generation is not hard to admit to but, the age I was still a fan, but didn't feel the urge to watch it every week. I sort of grew out of it like a boy grows out of wanting to build forts or wanting to eat junk food all the time. I'm not a TNA expert obviously, but back in 2003 or 2004 former WCW wrestler Jeff Jarrett along with former WWF and WWC wrestler Kevin Nash and a few other former WCW and WWF wrestlers launched a new pro wrestling organization called Total Non Stop Action or TNA. Because the WWE had a monopoly on the Pro Wrestling market.

TNA recruited other former WWE wrestlers like Scot Steiner, Sting and a few others and they discovered others like Samoan Joe. At first TNA was probably a minor league outfit barely making a profit if any. But within a few years they already had their own pay per view events. And a weekly cable show on Spike TV that was drawing ratings. And now today their probably a legitimate competitor with WWE. Even though WWE is clearly still on top, but TNA has clearly managed to make money and to recruit several wrestling stars away from the WWE. Like Kurt Angle who pound for pound and height for height is probably the best pro wrestler in the world today. And their top level wrestlers could probably compete with the top level wrestlers of the WWE today.

To speak about this video for a moment, I don't watch pro wrestling on a regular basis anymore. But going through Google Reader to look for things to read (which is the whole point of Google Reader) which is how I saw this video for the first time. But this video is a little more then nine minutes long with six beautiful, sexy, well built women all wearing tight sexy outfits. Look like their beating the hell out of each other. I think they did a good job of making it seem real and it would probably seem real in a movie as well.

Barb Wire (1996) Staring Pamela Anderson

Source:Alamy Stock Photo- Temuera Morrison and Pamela Anderson in Barb Wire. 

Source:The Daily Post 

“Temuera Morrison, Pamela Anderson Lee Dann taucht Barb Wires (Pamela Anderson Lee) alte Liebe Axel Hood (Temuera Morrison) auf, um in einer dringenden Mission…  

From Alamy Stock Photo 

“PAMELA ANDERSON BARB WIRE (1996)”

Source:Alamy Stock Photo- Pamela Anderson as Barb Wire.

From Alamy Stock Photo

"Barb Wire is a 1996 film based on the Dark Horse comic book series Barb Wire. The film was produced by Brad Wyman and starred Pamela Anderson Lee. The movie was a vehicle for Baywatch star Anderson, intended to enable her to cross over from television to movie stardom...  

Barb Wire was released in theaters on May 3, 1996, the David Hogan directed film starred Pamela Anderson, Temuera Morrison, Victoria Rowell, Jack Noseworthy, Xander Berkeley, Udo Kier, Andre Rosey Brown, Nicholas Worth, Clint Howard, Jennifer Banko and Steve Railsback.”

Source:Coming Attractions- Pamela Anderson as Barb Wire.

From Coming Attractions

Barb Wire is not my favorite movie of all-time not even close, (no kidding) but its a very entertaining movie and pretty funny as well with a lot of good action scenes in it. With Pamela Anderson in a lot of good scenes as a very sexy rebel biker chick. This is the best I’ve ever seen Pam look, she was of course alway gorgeous and baby-face adorable with her sweet voice as always. But she showed me something that I haven’t seen from her before. A sexy body, not just from top up but a lower body as well. She looked incredible in her black leather suit, she filled out those black leather jeans very well and look great in the black leather biker boots.

I’m a guy who will watch a mediocre, even a bad movie, if it has a sexy woman in it. Or several sexy women in it and without Pam Anderson in Barb Wire and replace her with an average looking lead actress. (Juliane More) Barb Wire would be a mediocre movie, even if the lead actress does a great job. But Pam Anderson didn’t just look great in the movie, but she did a great job in it as well. As a charming woman, but someone you don’t want to mess with because she’ll kick your ass. In the late 1990s when she was in VIP, she played a character that came off as somewhat clueless and a stereotypical blonde bimbo.

But Pam Anderson in VIP her character owned and ran the protection agency. But in Barb Wire she played someone who was clearly in charge and someone who ran the show and knew exactly what was going on and could defend herself as well. Barb Wire is clearly not a great movie, but it’s a very entertaining movie with a very sexy lead actress in it. Who also does a very job in and is worth watching.