1973 Raiders

[CSKreager]

So at the start of the 1973 AFC Championship Game, Curt Gowdy said that many called the OAK/MIA AFC-CG the real Super Bowl and that they were the 2 best teams in pro football.

Which is high praise considering that specific Raider team hardly jumped off the page.

Oakland barely won a weak AFCW over Denver after a miserable start, benefited from the old playoff format (hosting Pittsburgh) that screwed over a Cincy team that had a Bengal record.

They were at best 3rd-4th in their own conference yet were supposedly one of the two best teams?

[Citizen]

Like many in the media at the time, Gowdy was infatuated with the Raiders. It's not surprising that he'd say something so hyperbolic.

[Brian wolf]

NBC loved covering the Raiders because it always came down to whether they could win the big one and the Cowboys had finally gotten over their hurdle two seasons before. The Raiders could have beaten Miami, but Bob Griese called an excellent game, with Miami running right through them before doing the same to Minnesota.

[74_75_78_79_]

So at the start of the 1973 AFC Championship Game, Curt Gowdy said that many called the OAK/MIA AFC-CG the real Super Bowl and that they were the 2 best teams in pro football.

Which is high praise considering that specific Raider team hardly jumped off the page.

Oakland barely won a weak AFCW over Denver after a miserable start, benefited from the old playoff format (hosting Pittsburgh) that screwed over a Cincy team that had a Bengal record.

They were at best 3rd-4th in their own conference yet were supposedly one of the two best teams?

Your opening post above, CSK, reminds me of this old thread that both of us partook in...

viewtopic.php?p=22647&hilit=gowdy#p22647

I also brought up Gowdy's "real SB" take beginning of the AFCCG. Miami and Minnesota should have been seen by most as the top-two teams in the league going into that very game. Vikes 12-2, just beat Cowboys in Big D, 27-10, they did beat Oakland in the opener...

PS - Yeah, perhaps on that old thread I should not have placed Atl at #8 over Washington.

[SixtiesFan]

In the 1974 Sports Illustrated Pro Football Preview, the Letter from the Publisher told readers Tex Maule was leaving his job as main pro football writer and being succeeded by Dan Jenkins who left his spot as college football writer.

Both made predictions for the 1974 season. Dan Jenkins called the Raiders the NFL's most overrated team.

[LeonardRachiele]

In the second week of the season, Oakland broke Miami's 18 game winning streak with a 12 to 7 victory, This was one of their biggest wins in history. The Raiders held the Dolphins scoreless until the last 30 seconds of play. It was a big game for George Blanda as well. It was his 46th birthday and the 300th game of his career.

[LeonardRachiele]

How Curt Gowdy lasted so long was really a mystery. His sleep inducing play by play showed a dullness that left me flat. His main, though by no means all, of his assignments were 1960-1961 NCAA Game of the Week on ABC; 1962-1965 AFL Games on ABC; 1965-1969 NFL Games on NBC; after the 1970 merger Pro Football games on NBC; and the Major League Game of the Week on NBC starting in 1966. Baseball is dull enough without listening to Curt Gowdy. Toward the end of his career, he did NFL Games for CBS.

Often he was on two networks on separate assignments As I recall for example he did American Sportsman and NCAA Basketball on ABC in between his above assignments. The end of his career did not come soon enough. Only Keith Jackson was worse than Curt Gowdy.

[7DnBrnc53]

How Curt Gowdy lasted so long was really a mystery. His sleep inducing play by play showed a dullness that left me flat. His main, though by no means all, of his assignments were 1960-1961 NCAA Game of the Week on ABC; 1962-1965 AFL Games on ABC; 1965-1969 NFL Games on NBC; after the 1970 merger Pro Football games on NBC; and the Major League Game of the Week on NBC starting in 1966. Baseball is dull enough without listening to Curt Gowdy. Toward the end of his career, he did NFL Games for CBS.

Often he was on two networks on separate assignments As I recall for example he did American Sportsman and NCAA Basketball on ABC in between his above assignments. The end of his career did not come soon enough. Only Keith Jackson was worse than Curt Gowdy.

Weren't a lot of sports announcers dull back then? Not only was there Gowdy, but there was Ray Scott as well.

[Brian wolf]

I would take Gowdy or Scott over any play-by-play automaton today.