We did this over here earlier for the baseball playoffs and it was a lot of fun.  So as the NFL playoffs begin, let’s look again at where the names of the competitors come from.  Starting with the AFC:

The Tennessee Titans
The Titans have some of the most fun name history out of the whole bunch.  The Titans used to be the Tennessee Oilers, and the Tennessee Oilers used to be the former AFL team the Houston Oilers (which makes a lot more sense).  So the team changed its name in 1999 and became the Titans, therefore picking up a bit of legacy from the former (and also former AFL team) New York Titans, who became the New York Jets.  So in one team’s name, you can draw associations to three other teams!  There isn’t much of a story behind the Titans name, it was changed to coincide with the team getting a new stadium, (the Oilers name only was around for two years) and it was supposed to be less geographically specific as the Oilers and reflect powerful, intimidating qualities.

Read the full story

The New York Times released an article last week that should make us crafters feel proud and somewhat secure during these times of financial hardship. Sales on home made crafts and supplies have hit all time BOOM! The ever-popular Etsy.com website that is widely known in the crafting community, mentioned record sales in the past two months. The site, which allows artists to buy and sell handmade creations, sold $10.8 million this year. Up from $4.2 million in November 2007. Amazing!!! Read the full article on the New York Times website here. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/business/23craft.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

I first heard of the Rocket from the wonderful Roch Carrier cartoon The Sweater. I was entertained because it was a funny story, I had a passing interest in hockey, and I’d never heard a French-Canadian accent before. It wasn’t until later that I looked at who Maurice Richard was.

Every sport needs a prototypical player. The guy. The guy who does everything right, who you can forever compare to, the guy who even when his records are broken will never fade in importance because he was the first to even get there. In short, every sports needs a Babe Ruth.

To ice hockey, Maurice Richard is that guy. Sure, Gordie Howe became Mr. Hockey, and Gretzky became The Great One, but the conversation starts with the Rocket.

Read the full story

We’ve been talking lately about the “Greatest Game Ever Played.”  The 50th anniversary just passed so I thought it would be appropriate to give a few recommendations for some further reading.  Besides watching the actual game, the two books that have most informed me are right here:

One Sunday In December by Lou Sahadi

This book’s greatest strength is its even handedness, as they say, the winners write the history so most of the time stuff focuses on the Colts.  Not so with this one.  There are two forwards, one written by the Colts’ Gino Marchetti and another written by the Giants’ Sam Huff, bound forever by that controversial play.  Before the game recap, the chapters alternate between the two cities.  The book keeps things pretty brief and succinct.  It assumes a bit of a base knowledge of the game, but does a good job filling in the surrounding details, talking about the state of the NFL at the time as well as mentioning various cultural events that were happening.  Overall, it’s a good all around book for getting the scoop on the game.

Johnny U by Tom Callahan

This book is more of a biography but it uses the game as kind of a climatic point.  Being more about Unitas, the book isn’t nearly as evenhanded as the other one, but it had a great, great, play by play breakdown of the game.  Interspersed with these are cutaways, some blurbs, some longer, giving greater depth into the plays.  They range from interviews with the players, to narratives on things like practice routines.  Basically, you get the play and the story of how the play was even possible.  This helps build up some nice tension, and Callahan never over does it by trying to describe every little thing, you get the breakdown, a couple of interesting details, and you can really fill in the blanks.

Here is a linkto a different kind of view of the game.  It disputes, though not totally, the theory that the 58 game sparked the television movement.  The theory here is that it helped, but it was really Lombardi’s Packers that made the difference.  I think that is a fair point, though I would argue that more has to do with the creation of a viable competitor with the AFL as a direct result of the 58 game.  One hand washes the other as the saying goes.

Currently I’m reading The Colts’ Baltimore by Michael Olesker and the early impressions are good.  As the title suggests, it focuses on the impact that the Colts had on the city of Baltimore in the late 1950’s.  Those who don’t have much of an interest in Baltimore may not find it the best read, but it is still interesting to see the far reaching effects that a sports team can have on an area and that can be applied to any team.

So that about covers it.  There are tons of articles and books about the game out there, especially now given the anniversary.  I encourage everyone to get out there and check them out!  Don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything particularly good I should take a look at.