Old school, these teams got an F

Some people are likening today’s battle of unbeatens between the Patriots and the Colts to Ali-Frazier.

Back in 1981, it was quite a different story.

“Colts Win Battle of Losers,” proclaimed the New York Times headline after the Dec. 20 season finale.

The then-Baltimore Colts defeated New England, 23-21, bookending a season that began with a 29-28 victory over the Patriots.

In between, Baltimore lost 14 consecutive games, and the Colts and New England ended up tied for the worst record in the NFL at 2-14. The Patriots finished the season with nine consecutive losses.

There’s a bit more optimism today in Boston and Indianapolis, where the Colts moved in 1984.

At the Boston Globe website, a survey asked readers to predict the outcome, offering three choices: Patriots win by 10 or more, Patriots win by fewer than 10, or Colts win. As if anyone would choose that.

At the Indianapolis Star, four writers, asked to predict the score, all picked the Colts.

Trivia time

Which team drafted Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the 18th round of the 1995 baseball draft, and at what position?

Short game

Archie Manning, the father of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, was interviewed on XM Sports Nation radio and talked about his children’s youth.

“They didn’t really play organized football until junior high, but they did what I wished more kids in our society would do more often, just play in the neighborhood, you know, just choose up in the backyard and play a lot of football.”

Of course, you need that big backyard.

Slap shot . . .

on the wrist

Former NHL player Rick Tocchet, sentenced to two years’ probation in August after pleading guilty to conspiracy and promoting gambling, can return to his job as a Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach on Feb. 7, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced last week.

Too lenient, wrote Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal.

“If you bet the under, you made money on Rick Tocchet’s NHL reinstatement on Thursday.”

View from afar

Greg Oden, the No. 1 overall NBA pick, is expected to miss the entire season after knee surgery. However, he’s still blogging away at Yardbarker.com.

Oden on watching his Portland Trail Blazers’ season-opening loss against the San Antonio Spurs:

“I felt so bad because all I could think about is what it would be like if I was playing. I know Tim Duncan would [have] bust my head, more than a couple of times, but I wanted to know how I would play against him.”

A-Rod, meet Kobe

Comedian Argus Hamilton, on the news breaking that Alex Rodriguez was opting out of his contract with the New York Yankees during the final game of the World Series:

“It was a blatant display of hogging the spotlight to satisfy his ego. In other words, he passed his Los Angeles physical with flying colors.”

Trivia answer

The Montreal Expos drafted Brady as a catcher.

And finally

Josh Levin, writing for Slate, on what he sees as Sports Illustrated’s transition from a magazine that offered a literary take on sports to a magazine that hired ESPN alum Dan Patrick and sometimes seems to try to be like ESPN Magazine:

“The result: a magazine that’s as hip as a 55-year-old with his hat turned backward.”

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