Dallas Cowboys – The Intelligent Collector Magazine

1972-topps-roger-staubach-200-psa-mint-9 — Roger Staubach’s 1972 Topps rookie card, graded PSA Mint 9, sold for $14,340 at an August 2016 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

There were only 32 seconds left in a 1975 playoff game and the Dallas Cowboys seemed hopelessly beaten, trailing the Minnesota Vikings 14 to 10, with no timeouts and the ball at midfield.

Roger Staubach lofted a bomb to Drew Pearson, which he caught with one hand, the ball pinned to his hip, and made it into the end zone.

After the 17-14 win, Staubach said, “You throw it up and pray he catches it. I guess it’s a Hail Mary pass.”

And that’s exactly what such plays are still called today.

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It was July 1976 and the location was the Summer Olympic Games in Montreal.

A 14-year-old gymnast from Romania had just completed one of the team compulsory events on the uneven bars. The routine looked great until her score was posted: 1.00.

nadia-comaneci Everyone was confused until they realized the scoreboard clock should have displayed 10.00, a feat that had never been achieved in modern Olympic history. Then the crowd went wild.

It seems that Omega had been instructed to assemble a clock with only three digits as a four-digit score was considered impossible. So when all the judges awarded Nadia Comaneci all 10s … well, you get it.

She would earn a 10.00 six more times. And since the minimum age limit to compete is now 16, it appears she has a few records that will never be equaled.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is President and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

This signed Charles Lindbergh photograph realized $3,883 at a September 2007 auction.

By Jim O’Neal

In 1928, Time magazine was chagrined when they realized they had left Charles Lindbergh off the cover after he made his historic transatlantic flight.

So the editors came up with a novel provision and literally created a new feature: “Man of the Year.” Naturally, the first was Lindy, and it started an exciting new trend that also boosted sales.

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In 1920, The New York Times wrote a scathing editorial that scoffed at the idea of rockets being launched into space. They opined that “they would need something better than a vacuum against which to act.”

Forty-nine years later, after Apollo 11’s 1969 launch, the Times published a retraction. “It is now definitely established a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere.” The Times regretted the error.

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On Jan. 1, 1902, Michigan beat Stanford 49-0 in what would later become the Rose Bowl. This first game was called the “East-West” and Stanford was so beat up (physically) that they quit with eight minutes left to play.

The attendance was so poor (8,500) the promoters dropped football for the next 14 years. They switched to polo, chariot races, ostrich races and even an elephant-camel race.

The first official Rose Bowl was 1923.

That first Michigan team, dubbed the “Point a Minute Team,” won all 10 games with combined scores of 555-0.

I suspect this may have included the first serious college recruiting efforts. (Do you think?)

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In 1973, a Florida shipbuilder by the name of George Steinbrenner bought the New York Yankees from CBS for $10 million. Four years later, he paid right fielder Dave Winfield $20 million for one season.

Last year, the team franchise was valued at $3.2 billion – second only to the Dallas Cowboys at $4+ billion.

In his initial press conference, Steinbrenner promised he would not interfere in the day-to-day operations of the team. (However, he did not specify how long this would last. My guess is sundown on day two.)

In Texas, that’s called the Golden Rule – “He who has the gold, makes the rules.”

Tag: Dallas Cowboys

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