MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
I happened to glance at a television the other night while I was attending one of our Mensa meetings and saw “When should Chiefs be considered a dynasty?”
Fortunately, the sound was turned down because, fortunately, we were holding our meeting in a public house; and since the channel was on ESPN, it was double fortunate because those jaspers declare anything that happens on any given day to be “the greatest of all-time.” So no worthwhile information was missed with the volume down (though I do like what Ryan Clark has to say).
Still, it got me thinking (it was a Mensa meeting), and it didn’t take long for me to determine that even if the Kansas City Chiefs are made the winner of the Super Bowl on Sunday, it’s still a little early to start calling them a dynasty, even though a win Sunday would be their second in a row and third in five years.
That is impressive these days, and the Chiefs are probably the best thing going right now in the NFL. Still, I need a little more heft than two in a row and three out of five to declare a dynasty.
Yes, times are different, of course; they become more different every day in professional and college sports (now one in the same), so it seems everybody is in a hurry to cry dynasty during a time when professional sports leagues aren’t really interested in dynasties, because the more teams (translation: fanbases/TV viewers) that have a chance means more dough for the coffers in the form of television ratings and team merchandise.
One definition of dynasty is “a succession of rulers of the same line of descent.” Translation to sports: “a succession of championships of the same team or organization,” because in the end, either your team wins the championship or someone else’s team wins the championship.
In my opinion, the greatest dynasties in sports history are the Boston Celtics winning eight NBA championships in a row and 11 in 13 years between 1957 and 1969, the UCLA Bruins winning seven NCAA men’s basketball championships in a row and 10 in 12 years from 1964 to 1975, the New York Yankees winning five straight World Series championships from 1949 to 1953 and seven out of 10 from 1949 to 1958, and the Montreal Canadiens winning five straight Stanley Cup championships from 1956 to ‘60.
In the NFL, I still stand by the Green Bay Packers, who won five NFL championships, including the first two Super Bowls, in seven years (1961-67), with the Pittsburgh Steelers winning four out of six championships from 1974 through 1979 coming in second behind the Pack.
Of course the Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1949 won four straight All-American Football Conference (then the equivalent of the NFL) titles, then won the NFL title in 1950 their first year in the league. So that’s pretty good, too.
Two in a row? Three out of five? Nah, not yet, but getting there, possibly.
I don’t know who is going to win the Super Bowl, nor do I have any great interest in who does. I suspect the Chiefs will win, but I certainly wouldn’t rule out the San Francisco 49ers winning it either.
They seem to be the two best teams in light of the teams they beat to get there, though I will say, based on the few times I’ve seen both play, they both have struggled to stop the run, so whichever team runs the ball the best will probably win … and did you hear that Harbs?
As of Thursday afternoon, the line in Vegas said San Francisco by 2, which somewhat surprises me; but that’s right, I forgot, the game is being played in Las Vegas, which, to me, only adds more of the sleaze factor to it all, which, seemingly, is what the NFL wants or it wouldn’t be there.
And we’ll watch. Why wouldn’t we watch? It’s a helluva TV show. Should be a good game. Hope so.
Pitchers and catchers report in five days.
Just 48 days until Opening Day.
Super Bowl Sunday is super, unless there’s something better on TCM.
Baseball is life. Not even TCM preempts the ballgame.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @MikeBurkeMDT