TONIGHT ESPN to air Giants v. Colts 1958 Championship Game (aka, The Greatest Game Ever)

I’m definitely watching it. I want to see the Ameche run in color. I’ve seen it in black and white hundreds of times, but it will be cool in color.

Wizards vs. Sixers is about to come on so I’ve got to tend to that, but I’ve got $50 on the Colts tonight so let me know who wins!

Its more like watching the old players watching the game. A 15 second clip every couple minutes or so makes it a glorified highlight reel. They mentioned that the original footage was lost, but I swear the old black and white has been shown on ESPN classic in the past or did they recently lose that too? I’m a little disappointed in it.

I also think they said the field was covered in horse manure. I’ll bet that was a lot of fun to play in.

I have it on dvr as well. unfortunately i couldn’t watch it, because i was traveling to indy to see the colts put a spanking on the lions tomorrow, lol. I did however read the book by mark bowden and it is a pretty good read. it’s amazing that a guy like raymond berry who has virtually no athletic ability whatsoever could become a hall of famer and in turn reinvent the passing game. it shows how the players attitudes towards the game were completely different than the players of today. johnny u worked in a steel mill in the offseason. these guys were just trying to make a buck and have some fun. and oh yeah, everyone outside of new york hated the giants…check it out

They had Tony Dungy sitting with Raymond Berry as they watched the game.
They had Adam Vinatieri sitting with former Giants kicker Pat Summeral as they watched the game.
They had Dwight Freeney sitting with Baltimore Colts OL Alex Sandusky as they watched the game.

Berry and Dungy talking strategy during the game was interesting.

They used modern graphics and slow motion to determine that Frank Gifford did NOT make the first down in the fourth quarter. The supposed controversial call was correct. NY did not make the first down. Gifford missed it by nearly a foot.

Dungy agreed the smart thing to do was to punt after the missed first down. NY’s defense was great, and they should have stopped Baltimore. They didn’t. NY’s strength choked for them in crunch time.

John Unitas started the game with 2 early turnovers (a fumble and an INT).

Oldtime Baltimore fans LOVE Peyton Manning. They say he is a Unitas clone, from his delivery of the football to the way he carries himself.

The closest thing to Unitas-Berry is Manning-Harrison.

Frank Gifford was the Marshall Faulk of his day.

Lenny Moore was the Edgerrin James of his day, maybe better. They split him out at WR a lot. In the second half, they used him almost solely as a WR because he was hurt. Amechi and the other backs did all the running.

Baltimore players hated Amechi.

The head coach of the Giants was a buffoon, and the players knew it. He did nothing. Vince Lombardi coached the offense and Tom Landry coached the defense.

Giants had no faith in their kicker.

Raymond Berry was the best WR of his generation, but he had 1/10 the talent of many WRs of his generation. Total self-made player.

Both team defenses were very good.

Unitas could play in today’s game. He throws the ball with tremendous velocity and accuracy. He is also cool under fire.

Players back then, especially linemen, did not lift weights. So, when people say “so-and-so” would dominate today, laugh in their face. Today’s athletes DESTROY yesterday’s athletes. That’s not a knock on the old timers. It is just today athletes are bigger, faster, and stronger.

Weeb Ewbank might be the greatest coach the league has ever seen.

Like Peyton, John Unitas called all his plays.

Next March, it will be 25 years since those Mayflower trucks moved the team… but the media points out the tale over and over and over… like they did last night in that Greatest Highlight Reel/Interviews show.

Can we pu-leaze let it go now? It is old and tired; we still have Raven fans whining about it and the media playing up this storyline every year.

Teams move, deal with it.