Name That Team

Name That Team - We’re gonna attach a few cool statistics to a specific game from the 1980’s

Can you name this team?

  1. They Walloped the Dallas Cowboys 44-0. It was the Cowboys worst loss in team history.

  2. It was the first shut-out of Dallas in 218 games

  3. It was this Teams first win against Dallas in 14 years. Since 1971.

Super Bowl XI

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Congratulations to Coach John Madden & the Oakland Raiders on their 32-14 Super Bowl XI victory over Coach Bud Grant and the Minnesota Vikings on January 9th, 1977. Here’s some cool info about this Super Bowl.

  1. The January 9th Kickoff is the earliest Super Bowl played in the Calendar Year.

  2. The Minnesota Vikings became the first NFL team to appear in a 4th Super Bowl. They were 0-3 in their previous attempts. They lost Super Bowls IV, VII, & IX.

  3. Wide Receiver Fred Biletnikoff was named Super Bowl MVP for his 4 catches totaling 79 yards. Two of his 2nd quarter receptions put Oakland at the Minnesota 1 yard line. The Raiders would punch it in for a touchdown on the next play. Of the 7 WR Super Bowl MVP’s, Fred is the only one who didn’t top 100 yards receiving.

  4. Hall of Famer Willie Brown’s 4th quarter 75 yard Pick Six is the record for the longest Interception return for a TD in Super Bowl History. It does however place 2nd to a 76 yard INT return which occurred during Super Bowl XL. That player failed to score though.

  5. The Raiders became the first of the original AFL Teams to win a Super Bowl since the AFL/NFL Merger.

  6. The Minnesota Vikings have not appeared in a Super Bowl since this game.

Let's Get Tropical

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Like the Florida Beachdogs who were profiled in BLaze Issue 1 the West Palm Beach Tropics were the cream of the crop in their respective league. The SPBA that is. Senior Professional Baseball Association.

Managed by Dick Williams, the Tropics would finish the ‘89 season with 52 wins vs 20 losses. Attendance at Municipal Stadium was highest in the league. Shortstop and future Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington was league MVP. Batting .359 with a league high 73 RBI’S. Unfortunately they lost in the league championship to the St. Petersburg Pelicans. (12-4). By 1990 the league was done.

Some of our favorite West Palm Beach Tropics

(1) Rodney Scott 

(15) Ron Washington

(17) Micky Rivers

(23) Dick Williams

(26) Dave Kingman

(33) Lee Lacy

(34) Rollie Fingers

(40) Lowell Palmer

(49) Tim Stoddard

Remembering Wilma Rudolph

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Remembering the great Wilma Rudolph on what would have been her 80th Birthday. ‘Skeeter’ was the first American Female Track & Field athlete to win 3 Gold Medals in a single Olympiad. During the 1960 Games in Rome, Italy she won both the 100 & 200m dashes , along with a 4x100 relay gold. R.I.P. Wilma.