Weeb Ewbank

Lucy Ewbank, wife of former Baltimore Colts coach Weeb Ewbank, died Monday in The Knolls of Oxford (Ohio). She was 105. Her husband died in 1998. He coached the Colts from 1954 to 1962, winning championships in 1958 and 1959. He also coached the New York Jets. He went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978. According to a news release from Miami University in Oxford, where her husband was an athlete and coach, Mrs. Ewbank is survived by her daughters; Luanne Spenceley, Nancy (Charles)

Charley Winner doesn't take old age lying down. At 90, the former Baltimore Colts coach plays tennis five times a week, for 90 minutes a day. "That's about all I can stand," Winner said from his home in South Fort Myers, Fla. "All of us in the group are 70-and-up. We all like to win, but nobody argues about points. Life's too short. " A defensive coach for the Colts for 12 seasons, Winner is the last surviving coach of either team from the 1958 NFL championship, dubbed "The Greatest Game Ever Played.

OXFORD, Ohio - With a blinding sun and a mostly empty Yager Stadium at his back, Ravens coach John Harbaugh peered into a crowd that contained so many people he wanted to thank. To his right were his parents, wife and daughter, along with other members of his extended family. To his left were about 30 of his former teammates at Miami University (Ohio). Straight ahead were a couple of rows of football fans, many either wearing Miami red or Ravens purple. It was exactly how Harbaugh wanted to commemorate a memorable and rewarding weekend.

OXFORD, Ohio - With a blinding sun and a mostly empty Yager Stadium at his back, Ravens coach John Harbaugh peered into a crowd that contained so many people he wanted to thank. To his right were his parents, wife and daughter, along with other members of his extended family. To his left were about 30 of his former teammates at Miami University (Ohio). Straight ahead were a couple of rows of football fans, many either wearing Miami red or Ravens purple. It was exactly how Harbaugh wanted to commemorate a memorable and rewarding weekend.

PROFESSIONAL football came of age 40 years ago this month with "the greatest game ever played" -- the championship victory of the underdog Baltimore Colts. Millions of television viewers tuned in to see the dramatic drives by quarterback John Unitas that led to the first overtime win in National Football League history.The NFL, now a multibillion-dollar sports industry, has never looked back.As Colt players gather tomorrow night to commemorate the 1958 game that lit the fuse of fan fanaticism, one key ingredient will be missing: Weeb Ewbank, the coach who masterminded that great victory.

Jan. 12, 1969, is the day most Baltimore Colts fans will never forget. Place-kicker Jim Turner kicked three field goals and halfback Matt Snell ran 4 yards for a touchdown, as the New York Jets defeated the Colts, 16-7, in Super Bowl III in one of the greatest upsets in sports history.The Jets were led by a cocky, upstart quarterback named Jo Namath, who, three days before the game, predicted the Jets, three-touchdown underdogs, would win. "In fact, I'll guarantee it," said Namath, who went on to complete 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards, as the AFL won its first Super Bowl.

TAMPA, Fla. - There is no cheering in the press box, but it's still a noisy place. Men and women type on portable computers and chat right through the national anthem, but any who choose to interrupt the moment of silence for John Steadman that will precede Super Bowl XXXV run the risk of getting glared at by eight gray-haired men. This will be the first Super Bowl without Steadman, the Baltimore newspaperman who died of cancer Jan. 1. With his passing,...

We're in the barber shop. In the waiting area. Doughnuts are on the table and Colts nuts fill the seats. For nearly 40 years, they've been coming to Gentlemen's Gentlemen on Joppa Road - old Baltimore Colts players, coaches, and front office executives. And plenty of fans. They still come and several are in here right now, invited to discuss, debate and dissect the similarities between the two best quarterbacks to play with a horseshoe on their helmets. "The first time I saw Peyton in that Colts uniform, I thought to myself, `This guy looks just like him,'" says George Henderson.

Putting Baltimore vs. St. Louis on the line of scrimmage, one-on-one in a position battle for a National Football League expansion franchise, results in a veritable standoff -- except on one important issue.The two cities are so close they could be sisters. They have much in common -- ground rents, individual municipal governments with the counties surrounding them functioning as separate entities, sprawling ethnic neighborhoods, a high percentage of working-class citizens, and each is located on important bodies of water -- the Chesapeake Bay and Mississippi River.

THE RAVENS aren't my favorite NFL team. They're a close No. 2. All season long, I've been pulling for two flocks of football birds: the Ravens and the Philadelphia Eagles. It's always been that way -- Baltimore and Philadelphia. It's easy to explain why I root for the Eagles. Philly's my hometown, and although the City of Brotherly Love has the worst fans since the Roman Empire, I've stuck with the team through good times (few) and bad times (plenty). It was refreshing to watch the Eagles' rising young star quarterback, Donovan McNabb, almost single-handedly revive a once-moribund squad.

Lucy Ewbank, wife of former Baltimore Colts coach Weeb Ewbank, died Monday in The Knolls of Oxford (Ohio). She was 105. Her husband died in 1998. He coached the Colts from 1954 to 1962, winning championships in 1958 and 1959. He also coached the New York Jets. He went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978. According to a news release from Miami University in Oxford, where her husband was an athlete and coach, Mrs. Ewbank is survived by her daughters; Luanne Spenceley, Nancy (Charles)

For Bobby Boyd, the nightmares have subsided. Forty-one years after Super Bowl III, the Baltimore Colts' All-Pro cornerback can finally go the night without waking in panic, thoughts of The Upset haunting his sleep. It took nearly this long for Boyd to shrug off the Colts' 16-7 loss to Joe Namath and the New York Jets in January 1969, a seminal moment in NFL lore and one that often is rehashed when the Super Bowl nears. The ESPN flashbacks started early this year, thanks to Sunday's AFC championship matchup between the Jets and Indianapolis Colts - a showdown whose hype has salted the old wounds of Baltimore players and fans alike.

F or Bobby Boyd, the nightmares have subsided. Forty-one years after Super Bowl III, the Baltimore Colts' All-Pro cornerback can finally go the night without waking in panic, thoughts of The Upset haunting his sleep. It took nearly this long for Boyd to shrug off the Colts' 16-7 loss to Joe Namath and the New York Jets in January 1969, a seminal moment in NFL lore and one that often is rehashed when the Super Bowl nears. The ESPN flashbacks started early this year, thanks to Sunday's AFC championship matchup between the Jets and Indianapolis Colts - a showdown whose hype has salted the old wounds of Baltimore players and fans alike.

Oh, the momentum the Ravens must be carrying into tomorrow's clash, right? "It's irrelevant," coach John Harbaugh insisted Monday. "Doesn't matter. We've got a road game this week playing the New York Giants." Well, at the very least, we can agree this is a big game, right? I mean, the Giants are the defending Super Bowl champs. They've lost just once this year. "Everybody can make out of any game what they want to make out of it," Harbaugh offered Wednesday. "It might be interesting for some people or some fans more than other fans, but nonetheless every single one of them counts the same."

We're in the barber shop. In the waiting area. Doughnuts are on the table and Colts nuts fill the seats. For nearly 40 years, they've been coming to Gentlemen's Gentlemen on Joppa Road - old Baltimore Colts players, coaches, and front office executives. And plenty of fans. They still come and several are in here right now, invited to discuss, debate and dissect the similarities between the two best quarterbacks to play with a horseshoe on their helmets. "The first time I saw Peyton in that Colts uniform, I thought to myself, `This guy looks just like him,'" says George Henderson.

THE RAVENS aren't my favorite NFL team. They're a close No. 2. All season long, I've been pulling for two flocks of football birds: the Ravens and the Philadelphia Eagles. It's always been that way -- Baltimore and Philadelphia. It's easy to explain why I root for the Eagles. Philly's my hometown, and although the City of Brotherly Love has the worst fans since the Roman Empire, I've stuck with the team through good times (few) and bad times (plenty). It was refreshing to watch the Eagles' rising young star quarterback, Donovan McNabb, almost single-handedly revive a once-moribund squad.

Oh, the momentum the Ravens must be carrying into tomorrow's clash, right? "It's irrelevant," coach John Harbaugh insisted Monday. "Doesn't matter. We've got a road game this week playing the New York Giants." Well, at the very least, we can agree this is a big game, right? I mean, the Giants are the defending Super Bowl champs. They've lost just once this year. "Everybody can make out of any game what they want to make out of it," Harbaugh offered Wednesday. "It might be interesting for some people or some fans more than other fans, but nonetheless every single one of them counts the same."

MIAMI -- The Buffalo Bills are ancient history when it comes to the Super Bowl, but they have had an undeniable presence here this week.Both linebacker Cornelius Bennett of the Atlanta Falcons and defensive tackle Mike Lodish of the Denver Broncos played in all four of Buffalo's Super Bowl losses.Now, in Super Bowl XXXIII, Lodish is looking at Super Bowl history and Bennett is still trying to get his first win.This will be Lodish's sixth Super Bowl appearance, the most of any player. He signed with the Broncos in 1995 as a free agent, and played in their Super Bowl victory a year ago."

TAMPA, Fla. - There is no cheering in the press box, but it's still a noisy place. Men and women type on portable computers and chat right through the national anthem, but any who choose to interrupt the moment of silence for John Steadman that will precede Super Bowl XXXV run the risk of getting glared at by eight gray-haired men. This will be the first Super Bowl without Steadman, the Baltimore newspaperman who died of cancer Jan. 1. With his passing,...

MIAMI -- The Buffalo Bills are ancient history when it comes to the Super Bowl, but they have had an undeniable presence here this week.Both linebacker Cornelius Bennett of the Atlanta Falcons and defensive tackle Mike Lodish of the Denver Broncos played in all four of Buffalo's Super Bowl losses.Now, in Super Bowl XXXIII, Lodish is looking at Super Bowl history and Bennett is still trying to get his first win.This will be Lodish's sixth Super Bowl appearance, the most of any player. He signed with the Broncos in 1995 as a free agent, and played in their Super Bowl victory a year ago."