Someone Always Has To Be Upset About Something, 1968 Jets Are Taking Their Turn

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Before the Super Bowl you would have thought it was going to be a war of words between the Patriots and the 1972 Dolphins but that's not the case after the Giants shocked the world. Instead it's the 1968 Jets that are taking umbrage with the Giants win being considered the biggest upset ever in a Super Bowl.

"People said that there would be no contest between us and the Baltimore Colts back then," former Jets defensive back and kick returner Earl Christy said from his home in Tampa. "In the case of the Patriots and the Giants ... they played at the end of the regular season and people could see that the Giants played them tough and only lost by three points.

"But the way the Baltimore Colts were so dominant over almost every team in 1968 ... and we had never played them ... people thought they were going to kill us.

"I still think our win was a bigger upset than what the Giants did Sunday. We still hold that edge."
I don't really think it's a comparison, but it's an interesting discussion. The Jets really shocked the world, and they should still be proud, but why does everyone feel the need to speak up when a debate is raised.

Upset talk rankles former Jet Christy (Chicago Sports)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 3:32 PM

9 Comments:

Better him than that Mercury Morris idiot again....

Anonymous said...
Feb 5, 2008, 4:53:00 PM  

So they are arguing over which team was less shitty?

GMoney said...
Feb 5, 2008, 5:23:00 PM  

What have you done for me lately.

He is right. I think the Jets were a 17 point underdog that day from the inferior league. But with the hype on the game people always want to make the last game the best and greatest of all.

Anonymous said...
Feb 5, 2008, 6:32:00 PM  

Super Bowl IV upset > Super Bowl III upset, primarily because the Vikings got thrashed.

Anonymous said...
Feb 5, 2008, 6:35:00 PM  

Having been in Japan, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand over the last 8 years of Super Bowls, World Series, NBA finals, March Madness, Stanley Cup finals, etc., I should point out that the world is not "shocked" by the results of any of these games. The rest of the world is only mildly interested.

They do seem to get pretty unhinged (in varying amounts) over sumo, the Japan Series, muay thai, Aussie Rules football, rugby, cricket, and various tennis matches and golf tournaments.

I do think that an Eli Manning robot puppet would sell big in Tokyo.

Anonymous said...
Feb 5, 2008, 11:36:00 PM  

Given there was no interleague play back then, I would tend to agree with Christy. Much more difficult to play a team you've never played before...for the championship

Unknown said...
Feb 6, 2008, 12:57:00 AM  

people "speak up" during a debate because thats what people do. How can you debate without speaking up?

Anonymous said...
Feb 6, 2008, 6:44:00 AM  

I would argue that the Giants-Patriots game was a bigger upset for this reason---nobody was saying the '68 Colts were the best team of all time. People WERE saying this about the Patriots until they lost.

Feb 6, 2008, 10:39:00 PM  

Ed, still have to disagree. The Colts were favored by anywhere from 18-22 points. The Pats were favored by 11. Anyone watching the Giants/Pats regular season game saw how vulnerable the Pats were. The Giants almost beat them then. No one, and I mean NO ONE (except Namath) could imagine any type of scenario where the Jets could beat the Colts.

At the time most "experts" considered the '68 Colts the best team of all time. They had only lost 2 games in the span of two years. And over a 10 year period it was either the Colts or the Packers playing for the championship.

Add to that, most "experts" considered AFL teams to be made up of players not good enough to make an NFL team.

The Jets barely made it into the Super Bowl that year, barely beating the Raiders to get to the Super Bowl.

Like I said, having just played a few weeks earlier, and the Giants being on a 10 game road win roll, any NFL pundit would not consider it a surprise if the Giants beat the Pats. NO ONE picked the Jets. NO ONE.

And back then, the Super Bowl was still basically an exhibition game as most everyone considered the Colts the World Champions after beating Cleveland 34-0. The Colts were 13-1, had scored 402 points and given up 144.

So, while the Giants win was certainly an upset, it wasn't on the same level as the Jets beating the Colts. The only thing the Giants did was make the Pats the worst 18-1 team ever, since they are the only 18-1 team to not have won a championship.

Unknown said...
Feb 6, 2008, 11:33:00 PM  

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