Sports Illustrated has put together a very entertaining list of the Top Ten Greatest Sports Dynasties That Never Happened. Thankfully, only one New York team is on the list. Can you guess which one?
SI ranks the 1956-63 Giants as a should-have-been dynasty that never quite got there.
Here is some of what SI wrote about that team, which was led for much of that time by Frank Gifford and Sam Huff.
In a city where everyone is on the lookout for the next big thing, Giants football became the place to be on a fall Sunday afternoon to see the likes of Gifford, Huff, Charley Conerly, Del Shofner and Hall of Fame quarterback Y.A. Tittle.
Because NFL home games were blacked out on television, Giants fans used to flock to Connecticut to get beyond the 75-mile blackout limit. Stratford, Conn., became as popular for visiting Giants fans jamming its motels as for its American Shakespeare Festival.
The Giants, however, probably ruined their chances for a successful dynasty by allowing assistant coaches Lombardi and Tom Landry to land head coaching jobs in Green Bay and Dallas, respectively, while retaining the befuddled Jim Lee Howell and then promoting the less-accomplished Allie Sherman.
After the Giants hammered the Bears 47-7 for the 1956 NFL title, their next five postseasons ended badly.
Sadly, SI is probably right to put the Giants in here. Fans who remember those teams look back fondly, but that era could have produced so much more in terms of championships.
By the way, the No. 1 team on the list is the 1962-73 Los Angeles Lakers, led by Jerry West.
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