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Recent articles...

Dwyane Wade - " COOL?"..............
05/19/2012 @ 06:24 AM
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade throw tantrum during Game 3 nd it's all caught on national television....

"Clemens & Sleeping Juror's".................................
05/15/2012 @ 09:53 AM
The Judge dismissed a second juror for sleeping....

"BASEBALL in IRELAND?".................
05/13/2012 @ 08:55 AM
Did you know there's an organized baseball league in Ireland? I never did and the American games spreading across the Irish Nation.

"Let's Go To The Game!"...................
05/11/2012 @ 10:11 AM
Taking your kids to a pro game these days near impossible for the average working stiff......

"Defining Seasons"" ............................
05/10/2012 @ 07:27 AM
In my generation there was a time when you could tell the change of seasons by what sport was playing...now, forget it....

'"God Protect's Fool's and Drunk's!"................
05/09/2012 @ 07:12 AM
That expression most of us have heard before certainly can be applied to baseball's Josh Hamilton.....

"WHO CAN PITCH?"......................
05/07/2012 @ 07:48 AM
The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles played 17 innings of baseball last night and both managers stood in their dugouts and shouted, "who the hell can pitch?"

"JUNIOR, WHY YOU NEVER TELL ME?"....................................
05/05/2012 @ 07:04 AM
The suicide of NFL's most dominant linebacker Junior Seau once again puts the spotlight on suicide's of our pro athletes.

Mariano Rivera - "tough act to follow".........
05/04/2012 @ 07:50 AM
New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera may be out for the rest of the season. Shagging fly balls prior to last nights game in Kansas City, Rivera suffered a torn ACL to his right knee.

"STOP THE MADNESS" .........................
05/03/2012 @ 07:29 AM
Former MLB great Roger Clemens is back in court with his pal Andy Pettitte being used by Federal prosecutors to "hang" his baseball friend. Stop the "charade."

"HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED"........................

Posted on 01/31/2012 @ 08:10 AM

The biggest American sport event of the year is the "SUPER BOWL." This is the 46th Super Bowl. The first dates back to January 15th,1967 at the Los Angeles Coliseum between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers won easily 35-10. They played before 61,946 fans in LA's 100,000-seat Memorial Coliseum. The television audience was approximately 60 million viewers. It wasn't called the "SUPER BOWL." It was Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs who came up with the name "SUPER BOWL." One day Hunt watched his young daughter playing with one of her favorite toy's, called "Super Ball." It was then he said to league officials, "Why not call our championship game the "SUPER BOWL?" The name, however, wasn't applied to this first contest until a couple of years later when it was retroactively labeled. Now, 46 years later, it's an American tradition.

Since 1967 when the first Championship game was played, everything about the event has changed. By Super Bowl II in 1968 between Green Bay and Oakland I was in need of some material for my Boston radio sports show. It was Saturday night, January 13th. The game was being played in Miami's Orange Bowl the next day, Sunday January 14th. I went to the phone and dialed the Miami hotel where The Green Bay Packers were staying. Within minutes I was doing a telephone interview with the Packers quarterback Bart Starr and legendary coach Vince Lombardi. Then I dialed the hotel where the Oakland Raiders were staying. Within minutes I was taping an interview with Oakland's star quarterback Daryle Lamonica. I had my half hour radio show finished. Try doing that today. Players are protected and programmed only to speak with the media during days leading up to the Sunday event. Media days, staged events by the NFL that are as "sanitized" as any staged event can be. Players measure every word they speak, every gesture they make. The NFL watches.

Bart Starr and his Packers beat the Oakland Raiders easily in "Super Bowl II" 33-14. It was the last game Vince Lombardi would ever coach. In fact, during my radio interview with him my last question dealt with the rumor that he was leaving the Packers. He didn't like the question and he let me know with his voice tone he wasn't going there. Raising his voice he said, "who told you that?"I need my men to stay focused on tomorrow's game, not rumors. My mind's on beating Oakland. Thanks for calling Larry...(I still have those recordings) When the recording machine was shut off Lombardi asked, what do you know about my leaving? Who told you? No one's suppose to know anything definite! Then he apologized for getting "testy" with me and asked if I would downplay him leaving the game. Which I promised to do. Google GMC WORLDWIDE, Vince Lombardi interview,"Upton on Sports," and you will find links to our conversation. Coach Lombardi prior to Super Bowl II was diagnosed with cancer. He,his family, the Green Bay Packer organization didn't want his medical problem disclosed to the public before the Championship game. Today, his medical condition could never be kept secret. It would be the major story of Super Bowl week.

At the end of that 1968 Orange Bowl game, coach Lombardi was carried off the field by his victorious Packers in one of the more memorable images of early Super Bowl History. It would in fact be Lombardi's last game as Packers coach and his ninth consecutive playoff victory. Vince Lombardi died of cancer on September 3, 1970 at age 57.

As the Super Bowl celebrates its 46th year, the NFL has much to be thankful for. The game generates billions of dollars in revenue for retailers and marketers, $8.8 billion last year, expected to increase to over $10.1 billion this year, is a gold mine for advertisers, as consumers typically spend as much during Super Bowl weekend as they do for "Father's Day." Last year's television audience was the largest ever, 106.5 million (U.S.viewers) or viewed in 51.7 million households. This Sunday's viewership is expected to surpass that level, it's projected to top 111 million viewers. Attendance at the game is projected to hit 105,000 fans, also a record. Come Monday morning, football fans water-cooler talk can center around not only the game, the game's tv commercials, entertainment, but also in 46 years, "How Things Have Changed"....It's hard to imagine how any sport event could get any bigger.

Larry Upton
"Upton on Sports"-source:wikipedia/football/istockanalyst/