Thoughts on '90 NYG@SF MNF and upcoming KC@Rams

[74_75_78_79_]

With all eyes on this hyped upcoming MNF clash between two 9-1 teams, it's ironic that the previous MNF affair was not only a 1-7-vs-2-7 matchup, but these same two teams (same host as well) squared off in a classic MNF 'Battle of 10-1s' (almost unbeatens) 28 years ago next month! Despite both Giants & Forty Niners each losing their first game of the year one week prior to their rivals - at Eagles and at home to the now-bad Rams respectively - it didn't seem to deflate the hype leading up all that much if really deflate it at all.

On that early December night, practically the whole floor of our dorm were crammed in our room (with rumors floating around just before kickoff that some of the prick hall monitors knew of the upcoming event and were out to get us - one of my two roommates lost his classic temper hearing this and kicked our full refrigerator. But the festivities went on, nothing interrupted, rumors being just that, no beverages gone flat. Simply half the room having to drink when the Giants made a 1st down, and the other half having to drink when the Forty Niners would. I forgot what the rule was for a TD or FG scored but did it matter for it was a fine classic defensive slug-fest between two classic defenses - Simms and Lott going at it at the end. A game I'd simply love to see again and I'm sure is available in an obvious place. That and its NFCC rematch a month and a half later (which game was better a nice debate or a separate thread altogether).

In all likelihood, this upcoming Chiefs/Rams game will be opposite though still highly anticipated and rightfully so. For starters, like it was already stated on ESPN, this isn't a game between two teams that have been major top-dogs the past so many years but pretty new to this kind of spotlight; and, of course, it all-but-promises to be a high-scoring game. But maybe not. The seemingly obvious doesn't always turn out to be that way. All I want is some defense! Just some. It's not really going to matter for me because I'm going to have to work that night anyway. Not quite as into the NFL as I used to be though still quite into it just the same; but an upcoming game like this pumps things up with me for old-time's-sake. Maybe I'll just have to call off!


And now there's the new wrinkle...the game now being in LA instead of MC! And the Rams practicing in Colorado Springs all this time to prepare for the altitude all for nothing. Is this the end for NFL in Mexico? Or for, at least, the relative time being?

[JWL]

All I want is some defense! Just some. It's not really going to matter for me because I'm going to have to work that night anyway. Not quite as into the NFL as I used to be though still quite into it just the same; but an upcoming game like this pumps things up with me for old-time's-sake. Maybe I'll just have to call off!

The lessening of defense isn't bothering me much. It isn't so much rules changes but actually fewer practice time that is hurting defense. To practice defense properly, you need to practice against an offense whereas offense can be practiced without going up against a defense.

[JWL]

As for the game, I am very excited to watch it. I like both the Chiefs and Rams. The 1990 Giants-49ers MNF game was great and was hyped big time where I lived in New Jersey but I'm not a fan of either of those teams so I was not excited for it. It is possible that I didn't watch the whole game as I naturally would want to sleep by 10:00 at age 13.

Anyway, the Rams will be wearing yellow jerseys which I enjoy but most people seem to hate. These are the two teams I predicted would lose the conference championship games to the Saints and Patriots.

[Rupert Patrick]

Another historical parallel to consider, while not a MNF game, is the 11/4/2007 game between the 8-0 Patriots and the 7-0 Colts. New England trailed most of the game before scoring with three minutes to play to beat the Colts 24-20.

Also from 2007 was the 11/29 game between the 11-1 Packers and 11-1 Cowboys, which the Cowboys won 37-27. This game was controversial as it was a Thursday night game that was only aired on the NFL Network, which wasn't available on many cable systems at the time and as such, few fans got to see the game. The NFL Network was also scheduled to broadcast the Week 17 game between the Patriots and Giants, which was of historic magnitude as the Patriots were trying to finish the season undefeated. The NFL Network realized the historic nature of the game and made their game broadcast available to CBS and NBC, who both simulcast it, making it the first pro football simulcast on two television networks since Super Bowl I.

[Rupert Patrick]

Anyway, the Rams will be wearing yellow jerseys which I enjoy but most people seem to hate. These are the two teams I predicted would lose the conference championship games to the Saints and Patriots.

I don't dislike the yellow jerseys, but I absolutely despised those metallic gold that looked almost like bronze and dark navy jerseys the Rams went to in 2000 or so. I prefer the blue and white to the blue and yellow, but I don't hate the blue and yellow.

[Todd Pence]

I remember watching game 6 of the 1986 World Series in a small TV lounge crammed with about sixty guys.

[Gary Najman]

And now there's the new wrinkle...the game now being in LA instead of MC! And the Rams practicing in Colorado Springs all this time to prepare for the altitude all for nothing. Is this the end for NFL in Mexico? Or for, at least, the relative time being?

As a Mexican and someone who has gone to the majority of the NFL games played here at Azteca Stadium (including the Patriots-Raiders game last year) I knew beforehand that the game would not be played here. Why?

- The grass. Azteca Stadium has now two Soccer teams (for the past 10 years at least they had only one) and more than 30 games since they announced they were installing the new turf. Also, there were concerts by Shakira and local groups the last one about two weeks ago, who damaged the surface even more. It's a shame for the organizers. I didn't had tickets for the game, but a group of friends of mine payed more than 2 million pesos ($100,000 dollars) for a private box .

- Azteca Stadium is 52 years old and it shows. Compare it to the new NFL stadiums (or revamped ones like Lambeau Field or London's Wembley Stadium) and it's not up to those standards, even that they have reduced the seating capacity to under 80,000 spectators from more than 110,000.

- In two weeks we (sadly) will have a new President (pro-communist) who dislike these events, so even now we won't expect any more games soon.

- For the record, the NBA had a problem at a new arena here in Mexico City a few years ago (it was a game between Minnesota and San Antonio), where a light transformer blew about an hour before the game and it was cancelled. Fortunately, thye came back for a couple of regular season games just this past season.

- Major League Baseball has come to Monterrey (Mexico's third largest city and where is the largest baseball stadium in the country). This past season the Dodgers and the Padres came to play a three-game series. I think MLB will still come to MExico, as the new President (like his peers in Cuba and Venezuela) is a big baseball fan.

[BD Sullivan]

Ironically, the 1990 NYG-SF game should have been two 11-0 teams facing each other, but each team lost the week before.

[RRMarshall]

The upcoming Chiefs-Rams prime time event will be the first MNF game I will watch from start to finish in over a decade. They are advertising it as a match up of Mahomes vs Gurley but IMO it is the Rams QB Jared Goff that may very well decide the game. The Chiefs secondary is horrid and if they load up the front to stop Gurley it could be bombs away all night long...Any chance this game breaks the all-time MNF record for points set by the 1983 Wash-GB game??

[sheajets]

I remember watching game 6 of the 1986 World Series in a small TV lounge crammed with about sixty guys.

I'm still paying down the debt from that miracle.