The Nostalgiaganza

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bapo!
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The Nostalgiaganza

Post by bapo! »

Last winter, some of you might recall, I watched/rewatched a bunch of not-so-classic games on YouTube, and then did write-ups about the games, broadcasts, commercials, and eras. Fun was had by all, or at least by a half-dozen of us. Well, it's a winter Saturday, and I'm not going to watch college basketball. These are the days that old games are perfect for. So I'll click around YouTube and live in the past for a few hours. As always, thank you for reading.

Earlier installments:

Chicago Bears at New York Jets, December 14, 1985

New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays, April 9, 1983

Philadelphia Phillies at Montreal Expos, Oct. 1, 1988

1987 Indy 500/1985 Daytona 500

Horror movies on network television

Retro shoes
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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[Note: I watched/wrote this last winter, then forgot to post it. I just found it buried in a back-up folder. So I'll post it now while looking for the next thing.]

The SportsChannel Era
Washington Capitals at New York Islanders: March 31, 1988


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My family had a satellite dish when I was growing up, so I watched a lot of out-of-market games before that kind of thing was readily available to most people. So, when the NHL sold its broadcasting rights to SportsChannel in the late-'80s, I was prepared. SportsChannel was a collection of regional networks with no national footprint. This made me very popular for a time, when my hockey-fan friends would watch the Stanley Cup playoffs at my house because they couldn't see the games anywhere else. Despite that, this was a remarkably dumb and short-sighted move by the NHL.

Anyway, I watched my share of Islanders games on SportsChannel New York, so I'm looking forward to watching this Isles/Caps game from 1988. Come for Dennis Potvin Day, stay for The Money Store commercials.

The video quality is rough. The VHS copy is in various stages of disintegration, and the audio becomes unbearable at times. I'll power thru it. Before the puck drops, we have a half-hour pre-game show. Jiggs McDonald and Ed Westfall are at the arena, and Stan Fischler is in the studio. The three debate the upcoming player awards for the '87-'88 season.

Hart (MVP). Jiggs: Grant Fuhr. Ed: Mario Lemieux. Stan: Denis Savard. Ed was on the right side of history on that one.

Norris (Defenseman). Jiggs and Stan: Scott Stevens. Ed: Ray Bourque.

Calder (Rookie). Unanimous: Joe Nieuwendyk. Ed makes a Reagan-in-'84 joke.

Adams (Coach). Unanimous: Jacques Demers.

This is Dennis Potvin's final regular-season home game. He's interviewed, and he reminisces as he's shown black/white photos of himself over the years. Potvin highlights are played. Potvin's brother is interviewed. Down on the ice, Commissioner John Ziegler presents Potvin with some sort of award for heroism and awesomeness. Man, seeing Ziegler makes me love Gary Bettman.

Your starting goalies: Clint Malarchuk and Kelly Hrudey!

Okay, with all of the Potvinning out of the way, the puck is finally dropped. The Islanders score two quick goals to jump out to an early lead, but the first real highlight is during an early commercial break, when I'm reminded of the existence of Spuds MacKenzie. These were very much 'of their time' commercials, when alcohol and tobacco companies were allowed to use cute animals to appeal to kids. The good old days.

Later, a commercial is aired for Don Cherry's weekly highlight show, and I'm reminded that Don Cherry and Bud Light shared an affinity for bull terriers.

Malarchuk is replaced by Pete Peeters to begin the second period. A bunch of penalties are called, and a bunch of power-play goals are scored. Pat LaFontaine is spectacular.

Even so, I'm having trouble maintaining an interest in this game. I wanted to see those clever Nynex commercials, but I guess they weren't airing yet. Instead, I see a bunch of lame local car dealership ads. And more commercials seem to be business-/money-oriented. A lot of men in suits. I'm relieved when I realize that the video is cut off after two periods.

I know that I said that I enjoy rewatching these nondescript teams and games, but I was surprised at how few of these players I remembered. Glancing at the rosters, I see 19 names that I maybe/sorta recognize, but very few players who I remember with any sort of clarity. Mikko Makela of the Islanders had a big game, and he seemed to be a pretty decent player for a number of years. Thru 1988, he scored 76 G/93A thru his first 3 seasons in the league. But when I watched this game, I felt that I was hearing his name for the first time. And it's such a great name! Mikko Makela! Much better than, say, Kevin Hatcher. But I remember Hatcher.

Still, this makes me nostalgic for the misbegotten SportsChannel days. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I had watched a Blackhawks game on SportsChannel Chicago and seen ads for 'The Sports Writers on TV.' Now that is a show that I need to revisit. A bunch of crusty old men sitting around a poker table, talking sports? Yeah, give me some of that. I loved that show so much.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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'The Sportswriters on TV,' May 1991

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'The Sportswriters on TV' was four guys sitting around a table, talking sports. On tv. It aired on Chicago SportsChannel from the mid-'80s until the late-'90s. During the years that I watched, the panelists were Bill Jauss of the Chicago Tribune, Rick Telander of Sports Illustrated, Bill Gleason of the South Bend Tribune, and moderator Ben Bentley. Bentley was a PR and boxing guy. They were all ancient except for Telander, who was only old in spirit.

The broadcast opens with this disclaimer from Bentley: 'This show was taped Monday. So, for those of you watching later in the week, you'll understand why these guys are making even less sense than usual.' Um, what if I decide to watch 24 years later?

Dark room, guys sitting at a card table. So many newspapers littering the table and the floor. That's the first thing that jumps out. These are newspaper guys. Gleason and Bentley are smoking cigars. The show, and every subsequent segment, opens with the guys in mid-conversation and Bentley trying to bring it on-point.

Segment 1. Nolan Ryan vs. Roger Clemens, the importance of media likability. Jauss complaining about Ryan's endorsement deals when he's 'a fraction of the pitcher Clemens is.' (The guys pass around a full-page Ryan ad for Advil from the USA Today.) Telander thinks that Ryan should be celebrated for his longevity, that Clemens' dominance won't last: 'Let's see him 16 years from now.' 16 years later, Clemens was still pitching. Telander then complains about Rickey Henderson's ego.

Segment 2. Gleason talks about the endangered NBA center. Ewing, Olajuwon, and Robinson are out of the playoffs. The game is opening up. Centers like Laimbeer play outside a lot more now. Gleason wants to see Bulls/Celtics in the next round so that Cartwright and Parrish can pound on each other, instead of watching Laimbeer run out to the 3-point-line.

Segment 3. Telander complains about these newfangled cellular phones, how people are taking them to golf courses, ruining leisure time. 'If you can't get away from technology, then you're cursed to use it.' I'm still a smart-phone holdout, and I agree with a lot of what he has to say.

Segment 4. Notre Dame basketball. Some talk about how Notre Dame needs to join a conference, which has been a perennial topic. Gleason says that Notre Dame is de-emphasizing major sports, which is laughably wrong. Jauss seems a little pollyannaish about the education that student-athletes receive.

Segment 5. Disjointed conversation about left-handedness. Not really sure what the take-away is here. Reagan was mentioned.

Segment 6. Something about women and bass fishing? I dunno. There's no audio in this clip. You'll have to supply your own arguments.

Segment 7. Jauss talks about Ken Burns' upcoming 'Baseball,' how Burns frames still photos in his documentaries, how a still photo can be just as dramatic as video. He gets really worked up over this, seems to only want to see still photos in Burns' documentary, no live video. Just 18 hours of baseball photos. Telander: Sports Illustrated will sometimes go late to press if there is a big game; a single roll of film will be flown across the country so that the magazine can have that one great photo. This sounds positively Neolithic today.

Commercials of note: Dennis Farina goes against type to play a hard-boiled Chicago detective in a series of spots for Old Style beer. Karl Malone in an LA Gear ad. Chi Chi Rodriguez for Nestle Crunch.

This is the only full episode I can find on-line. It's a shame that there aren't more out there. I know that a topical show is meant to be consumed right away and then discarded, but I wouldn't mind putting these guys on in the background and listening to them bicker for an hour.

Each show had an outline, and they hit whatever the big topics were each week, but they still felt loose. Some of the best moments were coming out of commercial break, when one of them would be telling a random story before going into the next topic. No countdown, no graphics, no shouting. No Bayless or Steven A. I miss these guys.
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And now it's time for the main event.

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Saturday Night's Main Event, November 25, 1989

1989 was towards the end of my first go-around as a rasslin' fan. Or maybe I had tuned out by then. I think I might have. If I was still watching, I wouldn't have been heavily invested in the outcomes. This episode was taped on Oct. 31, 1989, and aired on Nov. 25, 1989.

The show opens with that night's combatants yelling about the nefarious things they plan to do to their opponents. Here's sociopath and noted homophobe Ultimate Warrior screaming things about Andre the Giant, followed by Andre with his manager, Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan. Then Dusty Rhodes and Big Bossman. And finally, Lanny Poffo and Hulk Hogan. This is during Poffo's 'Genius' incarnation, when he wears a graduation cap and gown and speaks in poems. In his opening, I especially like the way he rhymes 'me' with 'me.'

Vince McMahon and Jesse 'The Body' Ventura are coming at you live (sorta) from Topeka, Kansas. This is long before McMahon becomes Mr. McMahon; he speaks in his ring-announcer voice and gets belittled by Ventura.

The card is going to open with the Main Event, Warrior vs. Andre. I wasn't expecting this, but then I remember that this airs at 11:30 at night, so the episode has to be front-loaded. We see the backstory, with Heenan setting Warrior up for an Andre-sized trap.

Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Warrior before the match, and I can't stop laughing. Just non-stop screaming. The only thing that would make it better would be for his match to be vs. Hulk Hogan. I love the way he shouted, 'HO...KOGAN!'

Warrior sprints to the ring, shakes the ropes for a while, does Warrior things. The match starts, and it's about what you would expect from these two. Let's call it methodical, especially when Heenan enters the ring for shenanigans. Steamboat/Savage it ain't. A lot of choking and rest holds. Oof. Warrior wins by disqualification and retains the Intercontinental belt.

'The Genius' recites another poem. It's rather cute, actually. Then Hogan goes thru his promo by rote. You've seen it before, even if you haven't seen this one before. Ring entrances, posing, Moutain Dew commercial.

The match starts, and Poffo is positively mincing and prancing about the ring. He's a bad guy, and he's bad because he's smart. And smart equals gay. Or something. WWF/WWE has never been the most progressive organization. So, the good vs. evil/brain vs. brawn storyline is set. Curt 'Mr. Perect' Hennig interferes, and The Genius wins by count-out! Yay! Being smart pays off! Poffo doesn't actually win the belt on a count-out, but he and Hennig take it anyway.

Next up: Big Bossman, with his manager Slick, vs. Dusty Rhodes. Slick dresses and talks like a pimp, I guess? No recollection of him at all. Dusty Rhodes is now a Common Man wearing that ridiculous polka-dotted costume.

Another methodical match. Various things happen, Rhodes wins by roll-up, then Rhodes dances with a middle-aged woman in the ring.

Whoa! The Red Rooster is up next! One of the worst gimmicks in wrestling history, but I don't remember ever seeing him. Or maybe I did but just didn't realize how ridiculous he was at the time. I mean, after looking at Dusty Rhodes' polka-dotted Steelers cosplay suit, this doesn't seem so odd.

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And hey, this match is actually rather refreshing. Two guys who know how to wrestle and can actually move in the ring. A nice change of pace after what came before. Mr. Perfect wins after a PerfectPlex.

Another whoa! The Rockers, Sean Michaels and Marty Jannetty, are up next. The pre-match interview with Okerlund is amusing because I've never heard Michaels talk in a normal voice. He actually sounds like a normal human being, instead of trying to sound big and raspy. They're going up against The Brain Busters, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Pre-match interview with Okerlund highlights some dissension between the Busters and Heenan. Two out of three falls. Let's do this. Again, fast-paced action with decent athletes. That makes quite a difference, you know. Heenan walks out in disgust during the second match, and the Rockers win, two out of three.

Back to Mean Gene, with Mr. Perfect destroying Hogan's belt with a hammer and Poffo prancing about. Final commercial break, and then a somber-yet-defiant Hulk comes back, holding his 'desecrated' belt, vowing revenge. I'm guessing that Hogan will win the subsequent feud. Right?

So. The set-up of the show is noteworthy. The biggest stars, Hogan and Warrior, are in the first two matches when kids will still be awake to watch. The last two matches are the only ones that are any good in terms of in-ring quality. Then the show wraps up with Hogan.

At the time, I woud have had no idea who Rhodes, Anderson, and Blanchard were, or why they were important in wresting history. And I obviously wouldn't have known how important Sean Michaels would become.

Andre the Giant died due to heart failure in 1993. He was 46.

Curt Hennig died due to a drug overdose in 2003. He was 44.

Big Bossman died due to a heart attack in 2004. He was 41.

Lanny Poffo is still with us. His brother, Randy 'Macho Man' Savage, died of a heart attack/car accident in 2011. He was 58.

Jim Hellwig/Ultimate Warrior died due to a heart attack in 2014. He was 54.

Dusty Rhodes died due to stomach cancer in 2015. He was 69.

Marty Jannetty was superkicked thru a plate-glass window in 1991. He has not been seen since then and is presumed to be dead.

Jesse Ventura became a fucking governor.

Hulk Hogan said some racist things a number of years ago. According to the WWE, he never existed.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by sancarlos »

Those were some very comprehensive reviews, Bapo. You've got more patience for those old shows, and for writing about them than I could ever have. I enjoyed your hockey and sportswriter stuff more than the pro wrestling stuff, because I really never could give a shit about pro wrestling. So, it's not you, it's me, there.

Thanks for taking the time to do all that.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by Sabo »

Wait, you have no recollection of Slick?

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Marty Jannetty was still wrestling in the indies as of 2012, and he made a one-time return to WWE Raw about five years ago.
bapo! wrote:At the time, I woud have had no idea who Rhodes, Anderson, and Blanchard were
I take you never watched NWA or Jim Crockett Promotions when you were a kid. If so, I'm sorry to hear that. You missed some great wrestling.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by Steve of phpBB »

This is fantastic, Bapo!.
bapo! wrote:Commercials of note: Dennis Farina goes against type to play a hard-boiled Chicago detective in a series of
spots for Old Style beer.
As an Old Style drinker, these commercials were so embarrassing.
And his one problem is he didn’t go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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You've got more patience for those old shows, and for writing about them than I could ever have.

More patience, or just more free time?
I take you never watched NWA or Jim Crockett Promotions when you were a kid. If so, I'm sorry to hear that. You missed some great wrestling.
The WWF was the only company I watched regularly. I may have seen an episode here and there of some of the others. Whatever the UHF stations aired on late Saturday nights, I guess. My memory tells me that I saw various Von Erichs in WCCW, but that might be wrong.

Here are those Dennis Farina commercials.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by bfj »

bapo! wrote:
You've got more patience for those old shows, and for writing about them than I could ever have.

More patience, or just more free time?
I take you never watched NWA or Jim Crockett Promotions when you were a kid. If so, I'm sorry to hear that. You missed some great wrestling.
The WWF was the only company I watched regularly. I may have seen an episode here and there of some of the others. Whatever the UHF stations aired on late Saturday nights, I guess. My memory tells me that I saw various Von Erichs in WCCW, but that might be wrong.

Here are those Dennis Farina commercials. They're from 1991, so I guess I watched a replay of a replay.
Gordon Solie calling NWA matches on WTBS was a staple for me. Good stuff. I even went to a few WCW matches at the Baltimore Arena.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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Forgot to mention a commercial that aired during that 'Sportswriters' episode. It was for a Mickey Mantle interview/documentary. 'In an exciting new video, the Mick tells you his own story, his career, his riotous escapades on and off the field, and much much more.'

'Hear the hilarious story of how Billy Martin...shot a cow?' Mantle: 'Billy was always a great one for jokes.'

Ha! Ha! Ha?

Also, this kind of fits in with the era: When I was walking home one night last week, I saw a guy wearing Steelers-print Zubaz. Yesterday, I found a $20 bill on the sidewalk, and that wasn't nearly as exciting as seeing Zubaz in the wild.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by The Sybian »

So much to love about this thread, I don't know where to start. Jiggs, Eddie and the Maven. Thousands of hours watching those guys on Islanders broadcasts. I met Eddie once at a Bruins game. He was every bit as nice and vacuous as he comes across on TV. Probably even nicer, as he seemed excited we stopped him, and was happy to talk with us for a while.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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It's the 1988 Battle of the Network Stars!

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Back in the days before Twitter and Us Weekly were invented, celebrities were much less knowable than they are now. We watched them on television and could only wonder what their off-screen and inner lives were like. So, it was a big deal when television stars would go toe-to-toe on 'Battle of the Network Stars.' We could watch them compete in various track-and-field events and learn that celebrities enjoyed playing and joking around. They're just like us!

We're on the campus of Pepperdine University. (How easy would it be to flunk out of Pepperdine? I mean, you're in freaking Malibu. How could you be expected to concentrate on school?) Opening montage of tomfoolery and occasional slow-motion shots of attractive women. Best of all, it's narrated by Howard Cosell!

Cosell gives a slightly over-the-top opening monologue, welcomes co-host Shari Belafonte-Harper, then introduces the teams.

CBS
Captain: Lorenzo Lamas, Falcon Crest
Jack Scalia, Dallas
Nicollette Sheridan, Knots Landing
William Sanderson, Newhart
Daphne Maxwell-Reid, Frank's Place
Kristian Alfonso, Falcon Crest
Steve Kanaly, Dallas
Charlene Tilton, Dallas

ABC
Captain: Pittsburgh's own John Davidson
Rob Stone, Mr. Belvedere
Olivia D'Abo, The Wonder Years
Brian Robbins, Head of the Class
Allyce Beasley!!!, Moonlighting
Rebecca Arthur, Perfect Strangers
Brian Wimmer, China Beach
Joann Willette, Just the Ten of Us

NBC
Captain: Greg Evigan, My Two Dads
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, The Cosby Show
Tina Yothers, Family Ties
Clifton Davis, Amen
Deirdre Hall, Take My Daughters, Please
Blair Underwood, LA Law
Teri Copley, In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders
Dawnn Lewis, A Different World

Fame is fleeting, folks.

Deirdre Hall and Teri Copley appeared on NBC movies, not dramas or sit-coms. They are either ringers, or nobody else from NBC was available. Either way, this seems kind of sketchy. If I'm ABC or CBS, I'm filing an appeal.

Cosell's work here is great. He tries to say a thing or two about every competitor, but sometimes he just doesn't have much to go on. 'Rebecca Arthur is here representing Perfect Strangers. A good competitor.' And then, when he gets to Blair Underwood: 'Handsome fellow!'

Order of events:
Kayak relay
Swimming relay
Baseball dunk
Obstacle course
Running relay
Tandem bike race
Tug-of-war

The baseball dunk is a dunk tank. Pretty much an excuse to show wet, attractive women. Jan Smithers of 'WKRP' was subjected to this in 1979. It's on YouTube. It's worth looking up.

After Belafonte-Harper announces the prize money, she says, 'Come to think of it, maybe I'll compete, too.' To which Cosell replies, 'Might have done better than you're doing as my co-host.' Holy fucking shit. The tone of this whole thing is light and airy, but that just seems unnecessarily nasty.

Time for the first event, the kayak relay, but not before showing a replay of Gabe Kaplan's 'hopeless display of ineptitude' in 1981. I think they replayed this clip every year. Belafonte-Harper, who once competed in this event, talks strategy and proves her usefulness. Take that, Howard!

Commissioner John Matuszak then gives a kayaking display. So, a former Oakland Raider is the Commissioner of this thing. Also, 'BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS' HAS A COMMISSIONER.

Teams talk strategy. Lorenzo Lamas seems cool and level-headed. He makes a great Captain. I would run thru a wall for that man.

Okay, after 14 minutes of throat-clearing, we're finally ready to compete. Joann Willette has a ponytail and looks kind of like Bayley of NXT, so I'm a fan. Cosell takes some good-natured shots at John Davidson. Dawnn Lewis has trouble paddling, and Cosell makes a regrettable blacks-can't-swim joke. Ugh. ABC wins easily.

Controversy! It's time for the swimming relay, but ABC is having trouble fielding a team. The rules require that three men and two women compete, but only one of the ABC women knows how to swim. Captain Davidson asks Commissioner Tooz if they can race four men and one woman if one of the men wears a dress. Tooz appoints Ted Wells to investigate, then decides against ABC. He then suspends Davidson for four dunk-tank games.

But! The witty and charming Allyce Beasley volunteers to be in the race. Okay. You might remember her as Agnes DiPesto on 'Moonlighting.' You know, not Cybil Shepherd or Bruce Willis or the guy who played Booger from 'Revenge of the Nerds,' but the other one. I had such a crush on her when I was a kid. I've always been attracted to women with unusual voices. Carol Kane was another one. And Jennifer Tilly. Around this time, I was madly in love with a girl named Rachael, the sister of one of my best friends. Looking back, I'm pretty sure that 85% of my crush was voice-related.

I remember seeing Beasley on 'Letterman.' She said that her given name was Allyce Tannenberg, but she thought that that name was too pretty and perfect for a comedic actress, so she uglied it up. Not only that, but she named herself after Beasley Fucking Reece, the football player who would go on to become one of the greatest broadcasters of his generation.

(Yes, this entire exercise has just been an excuse to write about Allyce Beasley.)

Anyway, let's swim. CBS jumps out to a big lead, which grows even bigger when Beasley falls into the water and kind of doggy-paddles about for a couple of minutes. It's adorable. CBS breaks the all-time record, and Cosell really sells the moment. And then he narrates a long segment on Beasley. My inner 14-year-old swoons.

Dunk-tank time! Slow-motion footage of 'historical dunks' set to 'Rescue Me.' Mr. T could have drowned under all of that gold.

Some people get wet, some don't, Cosell makes leering comments at the women. Lorenzo Lamas is subjected to the tank twice, but Dawnn Lewis and Olivia D'Abo fail to dunk him. No big loss, tho, because Lamas refused to take off his sweatshirt, nullifying the point of this entire segment.

More controversy. Brian Robbins hits the target on his first throw, but the chair doesn't fall into the water. (He did dunk Teri Copley on his next throw.) Commissioner Tooz awards ABC an extra point for hitting the target. Robbins then compares himself to another Brooklynite: Sandy Koufax. Might be a bit of a stretch, but he was the only competitor who looked like he had thrown a baseball before.

Time for the obstacle course. Commissioner Tooz does a run-thru to show us how it's done: crawl under a trampoline, step thru tires, swing thru monkey bars, rope-swing over pit, climb wall, run. I've always wanted to try something like this. Looks really fun.

Cosell narrates a replay of Scott Baio's record-setting 1981 run. Baio is interviewed, talks about how much he misses competing. He then hugs an obviously bra-less Nicollette Sheridan as the camera lingers on her.

Belafonte-Harper: 'Well, this is the most nerve-wracking of all of (the events). I remember being very nervous, and I never even did it.' Cosell: 'Ha ha. Never had the guts, that's the plain truth.' What the hell, Cosell?

Some of the women mess up portions of the course and are penalized, Alfonso falls and skins her knee, Sheridan is given the soft-profile treatment, and then the recording ends. Part 2 was either deleted or had never been uploaded. So, we'll never know who won the tug-of-war and the big prize. Did Steve Kanaly take home $12,000, $10,000, or $8,000? The answer has been lost to history.

Of-its-time notes: Many, many perfume and cologne commercials. (The commercial for Hero featured the Bonnie Tyler song of the same name.) You could buy a really ugly new Hyundai for $6,000. In Dawnn Lewis' segment, she was wearing leg-warmers while rehearsing in a dance studio. A 'Monday Night Football' promo hyped Kosar vs. Marino.

According to her IMDb page, Olivia D'Abo was born on a Wednesday. Also according to IMDb, Tina Yothers' favorite rock band is Duran Duran, which leads me to believe that her bio hasn't been updated since 1988.

Lorenzo Lamas has been married five times. Wife #4 was named Shauna, and wife #5 is named Shawna.

John Matuszak died of an accidental drug overdose in 1989.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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1988 was also the final BotNS ever contested.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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I didn't watch these things, I cared just as little for celebrity back then. But Teri Copley was amazing, she was on some terribly unfunny sitcom, but worth watching for her two big talents. I think she was in playboy.

Jan Smithers? Wet? back in 20.
Who knows? Maybe, you were kidnapped, tied up, taken away and held for ransom.

Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah…
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by sancarlos »

Well, bapo!, Great work! This thread was a great source of information! (Such as that Howard can watch a lengthy video + rub one out, in 20 minutes.)
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by rass »

sancarlos wrote:Well, bapo!, Great work! This thread was a great source of information! (Such as that Howard can watch a lengthy video + rub one out, in 20 minutes.)
Just one?

That was a fun read bapo!.
I felt aswirl with warm secretions.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by howard »

sancarlos wrote:Well, bapo!, Great work! This thread was a great source of information! (Such as that Howard can watch a lengthy video + rub one out, in 20 minutes.)
Practice, man. Practice.
Who knows? Maybe, you were kidnapped, tied up, taken away and held for ransom.

Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah…
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by bapo! »

sancarlos wrote:(Such as that Howard can watch a lengthy video + rub one out, in 20 minutes.)
The Jan Smithers clip is only 2 minutes long. Replay it three or four times. It's all you need.

I sent this to a non-Swamper, and his first comment was also about Teri Copley's bad sit-com. He also knew without researching that she and Lamas wife #4 were Playboy Playmates.

IMDb tells me that the sit-com was 'We Got It Made.' On NBC in 1983-84, canceled, then in syndication in 1987-88. I've been thinking about syndicated '80s sit-coms lately, so maybe I'll put this on the list. But not before I watch 'Small Wonder' and 'Learning the Ropes.'
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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When I was watching Commissioner Tooz narrate the obstacle course, I remembered seeing Lynn Swann doing the same thing, only his segment was shot in one take, no editing. Sadly, I couldn't find it, but I did find...

The Superstars obstacle course, 1986. (Part two.)

Image

Remember these things? Instead of sit-com actresses, these shows featured world-class athletes. Athletes would never be allowed to compete in these kinds of things now. Imagine the outrage if Dez Bryant or Mike Trout got hurt running a made-for-tv track event.

Don Criqui, Ahmad Rashad, and Bruce (nee Caitlyn) Jenner are your hosts. They mention that Mark Gastineau (!!!) is one of the current leaders, but he won't be featured in this segment. Boooo!

Here's the event: Climb over wall, run thru tunnel, push blocking sled, step thru tires, jump over water pit, jump over bar, run over hurdles. The wall appears to be about 12 feet high, and there's no landing pad on the other side. Competitors were just expected to drop 12 feet without breaking or spraining anything. How was this allowed to happen? As somebody with a fracture in each lower leg, I cringe thinking about it. I'll watch with eyes averted.

First heat: Greg Louganis vs. Mark Clayton. Clayton is ridiculously fast, finishes in 21.47, but is penalized 5 seconds for knocking over the high-jump bar.

Second heat: Fulton Walker vs. Carl Lewis. Lewis wins in 23.94.

Third heat: James Lofton vs. Willie Gault. Gault wins in 23.52, and he's all business in the post-race interview, seems angry at himself for getting too close to the high-jump bar and being forced to forward-flip over it instead of simply hurdling it. If I were able to do that kind of flip, I don't think I would be upset about it.

Hey, there's 1984 champion Mark Gastineau sitting on the sidelines!

Fourth heat: Renaldo Nehemiah vs. Vince Coleman. Nehemiah wins in 22.52, barely edging Coleman, who falls at the finish line before being run over by a tarp. He still finishes with the second-best time, 23.17.

This sets up the final: a rerun of the obstacle course pitting these two guys against each other in a rematch. Before the race, Jenner interviews them. A year ago, I wouldn't have blinked seeing this. Now I watch it and think, You go, Girl!

The race is anti-climactic, with Coleman struggling with the wall and Nehemiah jogging to his fourth Superstars victory. He wins $26,900. Coleman finishes second. He then throws firecrackers at Jenner.

'Volleyball great' Dusty Dvorak finishes third, followed by Gastineau, Gault, Lewis, Roger Craig, Walker, Lofton, Louganis, and Clayton. Willie Gault is still probably fuming about this.

The full competition features other sports, like tennis, basketball, rowing, etc. Going to try to find a full episode to watch later. Trying to think of what a contemporary line-up would look like. Antonio Brown, Billy Hamilton, Michael Phelps, JJ Watt, Todd Gurley, Gronk, etc. How could that not be awesome?
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by howard »

bapo! wrote:Remember these things?
Of course. Joe Frazier. First two minutes.

Who knows? Maybe, you were kidnapped, tied up, taken away and held for ransom.

Those days are gone forever
Over a long time ago
Oh yeah…
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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I'll say this for Joe Frazier: He was a better swimmer than Allyce Beasley. And better than me, for that matter. I'm just glad that Jim McKay called this event and not Howard Cosell.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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Okay, so, I found a full episode of The Superstars. Sadly, it wasn't as captivating as I remembered. Just a bunch of tightly edited highlight segments crammed in between commercials. Still worth watching as a time piece, tho.

Preliminary round of the 1988 Superstars.

The broadcast is joined in progress, with Herschel Walker and Roger Craig facing off in the basketball competition. The court is painted with concentric half-circles denoting different values: lay-ups are 1 point, 8-footers are 2 points, etc., moving all the way out to 5-point shots. Shoot as many shots as you can from anywhere on the court in 60 seconds.

Final basketball standings: Walker, Craig, Ron Brown, Danny Noonan, and Gary Anderson. Gary Anderson?! The Steelers kicker?

This is followed by a segment/interview with Walker. I had forgotten about his soft voice and sing-songy Southern accent. B-roll of him and his wife walking thru their home, and I notice that he has a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself in his Dallas Cowboys uniform at the top of the stairs. That's either weird or cute. Better than a painting of himself as a centaur, I guess.

Next up, Ahmad Rashad narrates a mercifully short highlight package of the tennis final, Herschel Walker vs. Mike Young of the Philadelphia Phillies. Walker won this competition, too. Tennis requires a very specific skill set and body type. If you're a good athlete, you can usually find a way to be useful at baseball, football, basketball, soccer, etc. But tennis is a whole 'nother animal. Herschel Walker is one of the most freakishly gifted athletes ever, but he looks so awkward on a tennis court. 2015 bapo would beat 1988 Walker 6-0, 6-1. (I have to allow for that one wobbly game where I throw in a few double-faults.)

Next up is the weightlifting competition. This is an event that Walker might not be great at since he famously did not lift weights; he did hundreds of sit-ups and push-ups every day. He fails to lift 320 pounds over his head and is eliminated. Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Danny Noonan lifts 340 pounds to defeat Cornelius Bennett. He then lifts 360 pounds so that he can beat Reggie White's record.

Next up is bowling. Wait, what? Bowling? Come the fuck on. I enjoy bowling, but couldn't they do something a little more active, like jousting? [Sighs] Anyway, it turns out that Nehemiah is a very good bowler.

Roger Craig wins the rowing competition, Nehemiah wins the bicycle race, Walker wins the half-mile run, and Ron Brown wins the 100-yard dash. We see the jheri-curled Gary Anderson in the rowing competition -- definitely not the Steelers kicker. (He's the Chargers running back.)

There's a segment on the forgotten Brown. He won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics on the 4x100 relay team, then joined the Rams as a receiver/kick returner. Not mentioned: his appearance in the music video 'Ram It.' (I'll give a dollar to anybody who can watch that entire video. I had to turn it off in embarrassment after 35 seconds.)

It's finally time for the obstacle course, so things might get a bit more exciting. Gary Anderson finishes first, followed by Craig, Walker, Foster, and Nehemiah. The highlight for me is watching Brown gently let himself down on the other side of the wall, trying to protect his legs. That wall angers me.

Walker wins this preliminary round, followed by Craig, Nehemiah, Foster, and Anderson. They will meet Tim Brown, Ricky Sanders, Danny Harris, Jim Kelly, and Reggie White in the Finals. Sadly, or not, The Finals are not on YouTube, but the Internet tells me that Herschel Walker defended his 1987 title to win yet again.

The broadcast ends with Don Criqui, Ahmad Rashad, and Paul Maguire wearing matching USA stars-and-stripes track suits. The hell? Are they going to run the obstacle course now?
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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I used to love the Superstars as a kid. I can still remember who won the first few, without looking it up....Bob Seagren! (pole vaulter....went on the star as Billy Crystal's love interest on "Soap") and Kyle Rote Jr (soccer player). And I remember the clip they always showed was some rodeo cowboy doing the obstacle course where he lost his footing after the water jump and did the "nestea plunge" into the water hazard.

They also used to do Team Superstars that ended with the Tug of War, and I remember one year two football teams (Steelers were definitely one of them....maybe the Cowboys were the other) went at it for something like 2 hours before they called it a draw.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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(pole vaulter....went on to star as Billy Crystal's love interest on "Soap")
That's a great piece of trivia.
They also used to do Team Superstars that ended with the Tug of War
Superteams! I had never heard of this. This video shows a recap of the 1975 edition, with the Vikings beating the Steelers in 17 minutes. Franco Harris is interviewed while lying down, completely spent.

The 1976 edition is just cruel: the Steelers vs. the Cincy Reds. In 1976, the Steelers were juiced to the gills, and the Reds had probably never been inside a weight room. It's over in 10 seconds.

Edit: That 1978 video is the one that you remember, Dave. It's the Cowboys vs. the KC Royals. The Royals were given an extra player to even up the weights. It went 75 minutes before finishing in a draw. Those teams really cared about that stuff.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by DaveInSeattle »

bapo! wrote:
(pole vaulter....went on to star as Billy Crystal's love interest on "Soap")
That's a great piece of trivia.
I gotta head full of useless knowledge.
The 1976 edition is just cruel: the Steelers vs. the Cincy Reds. In 1976, the Steelers were juiced to the gills, and the Reds had probably never been inside a weight room. It's over in 10 seconds.
Found this bit of Andy Russell's book about that Steelers team doing the SuperTeams event. Turns out that Pete Rose was trash talking to them on the plane ride to Hawaii, and it got their competitive juices going.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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bapo! wrote:We're on the campus of Pepperdine University. (How easy would it be to flunk out of Pepperdine? I mean, you're in freaking Malibu. How could you be expected to concentrate on school?)
Religious school, dry campus. There is a degree of difficulty.

And I enjoy this thread greatly.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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Battle of the Network Stars is the 70's.

"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by DaveInSeattle »

More Superstars trivia: I also remember that they did a couple seasons of "Celebrity SuperStars". I was really young, but for some reason I have a memory of Oleg Cassini, the fashion designer, playing tennis wearing a stunning white tennis sweater. That memory has proved useful because that name "Oleg" is a pretty common answer in the New York Times crossword.

Ahh...here's a website: 1975 Celebrity Superstars

The competitors were:

Robert Duvall
Kent McCord
Michael Dante
Bill Withers (!!!)
Peter Benchley (the guy who wrote "Jaws")
Peter Duchin
Oleg Cassini
George Lindsey
Kenny Rogers (!!!)
Christopher Connelly
George Plimpton
Clifton Davis

The Superstars were always on Sunday afternoons, along with "The American Sportsman", which was a hunting/fishing show, hosted by Curt Gowdy, which would show him out hunting with someone like Ted Williams or Johnny Bench.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by The Sybian »

I have very vague recollections of watching these, the last few anyways. I used to love the QB Challenge or whatever they called that show. The dunk tank was so misogynistic, and it looks like they are throwing from 5 feet away. The first couple I saw, the actors didn't miss. Cosell is awesome in this Donna Dixon clip. "Not to bad a selection, is it?" "For reasons that become more obvious as the scene develops." Or as she bends over and strips down. She was hot. I always had a crush on Jan Smithers watching WKRP in syndication, but I had no idea she was that hot.





Robert Urich dunking Catherine Bach is great. Love Robert's shorts.


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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by bapo! »

DaveInSeattle wrote:More Superstars trivia: I also remember that they did a couple seasons of "Celebrity SuperStars". I was really young, but for some reason I have a memory of Oleg Cassini, the fashion designer, playing tennis wearing a stunning white tennis sweater. That memory has proved useful because that name "Oleg" is a pretty common answer in the New York Times crossword.
OG SeattleDave, this might be to your liking: It's the Rock-n-Roll Sports Classic on ABC, 1978. Pop/Rock musicians competing in sports at UC-Irvine. I haven't watched it, but I watched the first few minutes to see who would be in it. Surprisingly big names. A spectacularly afro'd Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, The Commodores, ELO, Boston, Earth Wind and Fire, Sha Na Na. Team Captains are Phyllis Diller and Sandy Duncan, because it's the '70s. This could be hokey and fun.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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New Jersey Generals at Pittsburgh Maulers
Easter Sunday, April 22, 1984

Image

The Pittsburgh Maulers were Pittsburgh's USFL team. They were added during the second year of the league's existence, then folded at season's end. I remember them mostly for their uniforms, which didn't fit in with Pittsburgh's traditional black and gold. And that logo, along with the original Patriots and Buccaneers logos, might be my all-time fave.

The recording opens with Jim Lampley narrating highlights of other games. Birmingham beats Oklahoma as Cliff Stoudt out-duels Doug Williams. Stoudt was hated in Pittsburgh. His crime? Being the quarterback who followed Terry Bradshaw, then having the audacity to not be as good as Bradshaw. When Birmingham played the Maulers, Pittsburgh fans threw snowballs at him.

We're live at Three Rivers Stadium. Tim Brant and Lynn Swann have the call for ABC.

Today's coaches are Walt Michaels and Joe Pendry. We're told that Michaels loves to run the football, play conservative defense, and he 'believes in the simplicity of football.' Sounds captivating.

Because this game features the Generals, I'm hoping to see Donald Trump in attendance. Alas, he doesn't even get mentioned. But there are other reasons to watch. Herschel Walker is their star running back, even tho he has been dealing with a separated shoulder and having a rather pedestrian season up to this point.

Brian Sipe is their quarterback. Sipe never won a game at Three Rivers during his 12-year career with the Browns. In his last game vs. the Steelers, he threw six interceptions.

It's a miserable day in Pittsburgh: 39 degrees and a heavy rain. There are less than 15,000 in attendance. The fact that the Maulers are 2-6 entering the game might also have something to do with the low attendance.

Roger Ruzek kicks off for the Generals. He's wearing shoes of different brands and colors. One of the little oddities of that era. Sadly, there are no barefoot kickers in this game. Other visuals: a punter with a single-bar facemask. Huge, bulky shoulder pads. Jerseys with untaped/untucked sleeves. The players look so much bigger than they do today, even tho I know that to be incorrect.

Sam Clancy sacks Sipe. Clancy was a basketball player at Pitt, was drafted by the Phoenix Suns, played a year in the Continental Basketball Association, then decided to try football. He played a number of years in the USFL and NFL. His son now plays pro basketball in Argentina.

1984 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier gets hit while running a crossing pattern. He leaves the game with 'a mild concussion.' Future 'American Gladiators' host Mike Adamle reports from the sideline that Rozier 'had his bell rung.' Trainers break open ammonia capsules, hoping to revive Rozier and get him back into the game.

Swann talks about his own concussion history and is pretty thoughtful. Says that Rozier might/should be held out of the rest of the game, and might miss more games in the future. But later, after a report that Rozier is questionable to return, Swann says that he played a game concussed and didn't know that he had caught a touchdown pass until seeing it on film two days later. He and Brant share a few laughs about this.

A cameraman gets close to Rozier on the sideline. We hear him say, 'I remember catching the ball across the middle, and that's it.' Swann: 'But he didn't catch it! Ha ha ha!'

The first half plods along. Maulers quarterback Glenn Carano finishes the half with -3 yards passing, but Pittsburgh leads, 10-0.

In the second half, the rain really starts to fall. Puddles form around the seams of what would be the baseball infield. Soon enough, there's standing water covering almost the entire field. This would have looked awesome if it were on natural grass. I miss mud games.

Gary Barbaro fumbles a couple of punts. Distraught Generals fans shower him with cards and flowers and poems before he is euthanized several months later.

As everybody else is slipping and bumbling about, Herschel Walker takes over. He scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter, then sets up another touchdown by Maurice Carthon.

Carano has a chance to be a hero, and he leads a long drive in the last couple of minutes, but throws an incompletion on fourth down from the 6-yard line.

Brian Sipe goes 7-for-15 for 107 yards and finally gets his Three Rivers win. Walker finishes with 152 yards. Donald Trump goes on to do Trump things.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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I've been looking for mid-'80s Pirates games because I want to hear a game broadcast by John Sanders for KDKA. As much as any other broadcaster, Sanders' was the voice of my childhood. He's never talked about now. Never really connected with the audience, I guess. Solid broadcaster who didn't inject his personality into the telecasts. Also, he was here when the Pirates were horrible, and nobody wants to remember those years. But he was the guy I listened to when I was a kid, so he's important to me. I still haven't found any Sanders/Pirates games, but I found the next best thing:

Pittsburgh Maulers at Memphis Showboats
Friday, April 27, 1984
Liberty Bowl, Memphis, Tennessee
Attendance: 30,640

Image

This game is five days after the game I talked about up-thread. Mike Rozier is in uniform, goes thru pre-game warm-ups, is announced as the starter, but does not play. Color commentator Steve Talbot tells us that Rozier suffered a concussion and a sprained neck in the New Jersey game. Also, the hit that injured him knocked four rivets out of his helmet.

Memphis has a rookie defensive lineman named Reggie White. He already has the nickname 'Minister of Defense.' He records a sack later in the game.

They also have an entertaining quarterback named Walter Lewis, who played at Alabama. Clancy sacks him twice on the opening drive, but otherwise he's pretty slippery. Likes to hold onto the ball for a long time to create plays. Might not be the best plan for a long career, but for this one game it works.

I watch some, usually when Memphis is on offense, but otherwise leave it on in another tab as I click around on-line. It's just comforting to hear Sanders' bland voice. And with the Maulers entering the game 2-7, I have a pretty good idea where their season is heading. Memphis wins, 17-7.

Lewis went on to play for Montreal in the CFL.

Music used heading into commercials:
'One Thing Leads to Another,' The Fixx
'Owner of a Lonely Heart,' Yes
'That's All,' Phil Collins
'Ain't Nothin' Gonna Break My Stride,' Matthew Wilder

A promo aired for an upcoming game billed as Thrift Drug Fireworks Night. It was also Gimbel's/Servico Flashdancer poster night. The Flashdancers were the Maulers cheerleaders.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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Okay, one more, and then I'm done, I promise.

Mike Lange's is another voice of my childhood. But, unlike John Sanders, Lange is still working in Pittsburgh and is an effing legend here. I've looked for Penguins games from the early-Lemieux years but haven't found much. I did, however, find this:

WPGH's coverage of the 1985 NHL Draft.

Image

The broadcast opens with an apology because the draft will be pre-empting 'The Greatest American Hero.' Boooooo!

Mike Lange is joined by David Fink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They are seated between two ferns, and Lange has an unfortunate mustache. They recap last year's draft, in which the Penguins had three first-round picks and took some French-speaking kid from Montreal.

The Pens pick second this year, after Toronto, so they should get another good player. Fink talks about how unstable Toronto is, how they're 'prone to make a lot of mistakes,' mentions their draft picks who 'bombed out quickly.' I've always kind of liked the Leafs, but knowing how the next 30 years would go for that organization, I can't help but laugh.

Craig Simpson is the obvious #1 choice here, but nobody seems to know what Toronto is going to do. Right up until the pick, Lange and Fink are talking about a possible trade with the Islanders.

Lange sets up a recap of the NHL Awards Show. Lemieux accepts his Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. His voice is jarring. I had forgotten how high-pitched his voice was then, and how strong his French accent was. He had been living in the United States for less than a year, after all. He sounds nothing like that kid today. Now he's just a middle-aged man who wants to get the eff out of Pittsburgh and live in his mansion in Montreal. (The winters are mildly better here, I think. After he sells the Penguins, he's welcome to crash on an air mattress in my apartment whenever he's in town. I mean, not for extended stays, but two or three days, maybe. I usually have good beer and baguettes in the fridge.)

We see a segment on Michigan State's Craig Simpson, followed by a segment on another handful of players expected to be taken at the top of the draft. The players from the WHL and OHL are wearing long pants. This is more jarring than Lemieux's voice.

Image

Fink says that if Simpson falls to the Penguins, they might trade Mike Bullard because teams usually don't do well when they have three offensive-minded centers. Nice analysis, Fink. Bullard was traded a little over a year later. Then the Penguins dealt with the same situation years later when Jordan Staal wanted to get out of Crosby and Malkin's shadows.

After 18 minutes, we join the CBC's coverage in progress. NHL President John Ziegler (Boooo!) introduces Executive Vice President Brian O'Neill to run the draft.

Toronto picks Wendel Clark with the first pick. He's interviewed as he walks to Toronto's table on the floor and looks bored by it all. But he goes on to become a folk hero in Ontario. The Rheostatics will write a song about him.

The Penguins pick second. Eddie Johnston alludes to Pittsburgh being named America's Most Liveable City. This was 30 years ago, and Pittsburghers still cling to it. There's talk that Simpson might not turn pro right away because he wants to play in the 1988 Olympics. Dana Murzyn says the same thing.

I was a very casual hockey fan back then, so I don't have much recollection of Simpson. I had no idea that he was that highly regarded coming into the league. He played for the Penguins for a little while, then was traded to Edmonton in his third year in the Paul Coffey trade. He won a couple of Cups with Edmonton, then suffered a bad back injury and retired early. Holds the all-time record for scoring percentage -- 23.66% in the regular season and 33.65% in the playoffs!

The draft flies by, with ancient white guys making picks every 2 minutes. We jump back and forth between CBC's coverage in Toronto and Lange and Fink's coverage in Pittsburgh. Every draft in every sport is a crapshoot, but it's fun looking over these names. How many do you recognize, Swamp?

1. Toronto. Wendel Clark, Saskatoon.
2. Pittsburgh. Craig Simpson, Michigan State.
3. New Jersey. Craig Wolanin, Kitchener.
4. Vancouver. Jim Sandlak, London.
5. Hartford. Dana Murzyn, Calgary (WHL).
6. New York Islanders. Brad Delgarno, Hamilton.
7. New York Rangers. Ulf Dahlen, Sweden.
8. Detroit. Brent Fedyk, Regina.
9. Los Angeles. Craig Duncanson, Sudbury.
10. Los Angeles. Dan Gratton, Oshawa.
etc.

2nd round: Sean Burke, Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Richter.

3rd round: Bill Ranford and a couple of goalies I remember.

7th round: Stu Grimson.

9th round: Jim Paek.

10th round: Dallas Eakins, Bob Beers.

11th round: Igor Larionov.

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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by rass »

I bought a Maulers t-shirt from a retro/nostalgia site 10 or so years ago. Pretty sweet, though rarely recognized, and now buried under a bunch of other shirts somewhere in my dresser or closet.
I felt aswirl with warm secretions.
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

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If this were the only thread on the Swamp, I'd still be here 10 times a day.
he’s a fixbking cyborg or some shit. The

holy fuckbAllZ, what a ducking nightmare. Holy shot. Just, fuck. The
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rass wrote:I bought a Maulers t-shirt from a retro/nostalgia site 10 or so years ago. Pretty sweet, though rarely recognized, and now buried under a bunch of other shirts somewhere in my dresser or closet.
I have a Maulers shirt and a couple of Spirit (indoor soccer) shirts. They always elicit reactions from men of a certain age whenever I wear them. It's like a secret handshake.
Ryan wrote:If this were the only thread on the Swamp, I'd still be here 10 times a day.
Thank you for this.
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The Cleveland Force vs The Pittsburgh Spirit
January 13, 1986
The Civic Arena, Pittsburgh

Image

Indoor soccer was strangely popular for a time in the '80s. Attendance was solid, and a lot of the games were televised on over-the-air channels. Played in hockey arenas with an orange ball, with the goals tucked into the Zamboni entrances. Very fast-paced, a lot of scoring. The Pittsburgh Spirit played here from 1978-1986.

The Spirit had two stars. Stan Terlecki played here from '81-'83, then again from '84-'86. I found this news segment upon his return that talked about how much he had changed as a person. Apparently, he was very sensitive, and he felt alienated from teammates because he didn't speak English very well. Also, he was allergic to defense.

Paul Child was the other star. He played here from '81-'86, then stayed in Pittsburgh. Kind of cool that an English soccer star who played all over the world would make his home here. He's managing a lumber store on the South Side now.

No pre-game festivities; we get right to the action. The game is broadcast on KDKA-TV. Your announcers are John Sanders (!!!) and (I think) JP Dellacamera.

Longtime Civic Arena organist Vince Lascheid makes his presence felt early on with a rousing rendition of 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home.' (And just when you think he isn't going to play 'Zena' -- BAM! Third encore!)

The Spirit have good scoring chances early, but Cleveland goalie PJ Johns is playing out of his mind.

Holy shit, it's Krazy George! He was a d-bag fan I saw at every game, every sport, who banged on a drum thru-out the game. He's shown several times, and his drum can be heard thru-out the night.

Then a Spirit player is tripped, and a bearded player for Cleveland is sent to the penalty box. Yes! Penalty boxes and power plays! I had forgotten about this. Johns makes a couple more great saves, and the Force Kill off the penalty.

The Spirit get another power play, which is nullified when Paul Child is called for elbowing Bernie James. Child respectfully disagrees, and he runs after the referee to voice his displeasure. For a second, I'm afraid that we're going to see actual violence. A few minutes later, Child and James go at it again, and Child gets knocked down a couple of times. The referees let play continue. This is moving beyond 'simmering.'

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The game remarkably remains scoreless until a few minutes into the second period, when the Spirit's Charlie Falzone trips over his own feet but manages to kick the ball into the goal as he's falling. It's equal parts awful and impressive.

The game is tied, 1-1, at half-time. This is surprising because most MISL games were very high-scoring. The third quarter features a nice stretch of up-and-down action. Sanders raises his voice to match the game. This is really good stuff, actually. The Spirit finally score again late in the period on a pretty sweet volley by Freddy Grgurev.

Another oddity: After Pittsburgh commits its sixth team foul, Cleveland is awarded another power play. These rules are so random and great.

Cleveland scores a couple of goals in the fourth quarter, including a penalty kick, to take the lead, 3-2. But Freddy Grgurev scores again to tie it. Fans are shown celebrating. One dude is wearing a Boston Celtics warm-up jacket. I wanted one of those so badly when I was a kid. He's also wearing a Celtics mesh cap, which I owned. The game ends fittingly, with Cleveland scoring a late goal after a rough and crazy sequence of back-and-forth. (Well, I'm assuming they won. The last minute of the broadcast is cut off.)

This was much more entertaining than I was expecting. I'm going to be watching more of this.
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DaveInSeattle
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by DaveInSeattle »

bapo! wrote:
DaveInSeattle wrote:More Superstars trivia: I also remember that they did a couple seasons of "Celebrity SuperStars". I was really young, but for some reason I have a memory of Oleg Cassini, the fashion designer, playing tennis wearing a stunning white tennis sweater. That memory has proved useful because that name "Oleg" is a pretty common answer in the New York Times crossword.
OG SeattleDave, this might be to your liking: It's the Rock-n-Roll Sports Classic on ABC, 1978. Pop/Rock musicians competing in sports at UC-Irvine. I haven't watched it, but I watched the first few minutes to see who would be in it. Surprisingly big names. A spectacularly afro'd Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, The Commodores, ELO, Boston, Earth Wind and Fire, Sha Na Na. Team Captains are Phyllis Diller and Sandy Duncan, because it's the '70s. This could be hokey and fun.
I'm going to have to check that out. I'm surprised I don't remember that...I was pretty big on the cheezy filler sports that used to be on TV...back in the day (gather round everyone, Old fart Dave is gonna spin a yarn!), there wasn't much sports on TV on Sundays after the end of the NFL season and before baseball started, so ABC had stuff like the Superstars, the American Sportsmen, Pro Bowling, and even added a Sunday edition of Wide World of Sports just to fill the time. I was usually stuck inside on Sundays because I was in between Church meetings, and I couldn't go out to play in my "Sunday-GoToMeetings" clothes. I remember that I used to get totally pissed because we would have to leave for Sacrament Meeting with about 15 minutes left in the Superstars, so I had no way of knowing who would win (oh, the days before VCR's/DVR's/Internet!).

Its funny to think back to when late January and all of February were complete dead zones for sports. College basketball was a completely regional sport, and the NBA wasn't all that popular. Sports Illustrated started doing the swimsuit issues just to have some thing to drive sales during February, and even had coverage of the Westminster Dog Show at times.
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sancarlos
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by sancarlos »

Great stuff, Bapo!

One of the names in the hockey draft is notable to me. Craig Wolanin is buddies with a friend of mine who is in the Swamp fantasy hockey league (Morristown Express) and used to be a Swamper (user-named Spinner, after legendary player Brian Spencer).
"What a bunch of pedantic pricks." - sybian
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bapo!
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Re: bapo's nostalgiganza

Post by bapo! »

I don't want to get bottom-paged, so here's a picture of Jim Hart.

Image
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