Stan Fischler: Sports advice from ‘The Maven’
Advice to Jets Fans: Your favorite team is playing today. Your club is 3-7 and you’ve had a migraine season. Today they play the Patriots. Two possibilities: Don’t watch it. But if you do, keep aspirins handy.
FIRST OCCASIONAL FREE SPORTS ADVICE COLUMN:
* Advice to Jets Fans: Your favorite team is playing today. Your club is 3-7 and you’ve had a migraine season. Today they play the Patriots.
Two possibilities: 1. Don’t watch it; 2. But if you do, keep aspirins handy and hope for Thanksgiving Weekend miracle.
* Advice to Rangers Fans: 1. Enjoy the ride and be thankful you have a general manager who could land a Jimmy Vesey and Brandon Pirri; 2. Don’t worry about winning too much in the first half of the season; as I know some of you do.
* Advice to Giants Fans: Hope that the Cowboys come down to early and, remember, that there’s a chance for a wild card berth.
* Advice to Yankees Fans: Pray that Brian Cashman acquires starting pitching; such as someone like Jason Hammel of the Cubs who’s available as a free agent.
* Advice to Mets Fans: Write letters to Sandy Alderson, imploring to open his wallet for Yoenis Cespedes.
* Advice to Bartolo Colon: Find a copy of that hit tune “You’re Too Fat For Me.”
* Advice to the Chicago Cubs and their fans: Be prepared to wait another 108 years.
* Advice to the Cleveland Indians: Wait ‘til next year.
* Advice to baseball commissioner Rob Manfred: Stop with these overlong games, already. Figure something out or we’ll all be falling asleep by the seventh inning.
* Advice to baseball fans who need a good book for the holidays: Find William Mead’s “Even The Browns.”
Coached by George Halas, the NFL Bears merely improved upon a play that had been part of the grid scene since the early 1900s. Although it’s hard to figure, such plays as the single wing, double wing and old Notre Dame shift had become standards, Halas saw better possibilities with the T-Formation.
TRIVIA CORNER:
WHICH PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM PERFECTED THE T-FORMATION?
The Chicago Bears, 1940. Coached by George Halas, the NFL Bears merely improved upon a play that had been part of the grid scene since the early 1900s.
Although it’s hard to figure, such plays as the single wing, double wing and old Notre Dame shift had become standards, Halas saw better possibilities with the T-Formation.
He set the Bears’ quarterback directly behind the center. Behind the quarterback was the fullback, along with two halfbacks parallel to the line of scrimmage. As the 1940 season unfolded — during which Chicago lost only three games — Halas employed the TFormation more often because the foes were flummoxed by its creativity.
It never better proved itself than on December 8, 1940. That was the date — long b before the Super Bowl — of the NFL Championship game. Halas’ T-Formation worked so well that his Bears triumphed by the unlikely score of 73-0!