Thanksgiving Day, 1924. The recently-established tradition of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team hosting the Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions on the afternoon of the national autumnal holiday continues.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is sent to cover the Pitt-Penn State “Keystone Classic” of 1924; in so doing, he discovers a throughline of the football-on-Thanksgiving tradition going back to 1621 (okay, actually, that’s going back to 1869) and reminds us that high-level football games on Thanksgiving are nearly as old as the official Thanksgiving holiday itself.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is an audio drama podcast from Number 80 Productions and the Sports History Network.

Thanksgiving and Football (or maybe Vice Versa) script & story by Os Davis.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer stars Doug Fye, Ilona Fye, and Eric Bodwell. Thanksgiving and Football (or maybe Vice Versa) co-stars, in order of appearance, Caedmon Holland, Forrest Hartl and Wayne Brett.

Additional direction by Eric Bodwell. Sound recording and primary editing by Don McIver.

The theme song of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is “the Dayton Triangles Rag” and was arranged and performed by Bruce Smith.

Other tracks in this episode include

• “Jazz Club” by Kriss (available through fair-use agreement via FreeMusicArchive.org);

• “Litany of the Street” by Silverman Sound Studios;

• “Bimini Bay” (1921) by the Benson Orchestra of Chicago; and

• “Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer (Outro)” by David Liso of Dynamo Stairs.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is produced by Os Davis and Darin Hayes. Series concept by Darrin Hayes.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer – coming soon!

Total Sports Recall is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

EPISODE SUMMARY

“Covering Sports from a Different Angle”

HARV ARONSON (HOST) BACKGROUND

Harv Aronson was born and raised in Pittsburgh but now lives in Florida with his beautiful wife Melissa. Harv currently writes for Abstract Sports, the Sports History Network, and the magazine Gridiron Greats.

Harv wrote the published book "Pro Football's Most Passionate Fans" (Amazon link) and as a professional writer has had articles published in an array of sports publications. Harv loves all sports but football, baseball, and MMA are at the top of his interest. His passion is for sports history.

You can email Harv at [email protected] or reach him via Twitter @TSRHarv59.

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The Official Football Learning Podcast is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

HIGHLIGHTED SHOW - FOOTBALL LEARNING ACADEMY

Each week, the official Football Learning Academy podcast will take you deep into the history of this great game.

Through interviews with players, coaches, or administrators in the NFL, as well as interviews with Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors, authors, and historians, you will learn about how the game evolved and important moments that shaped the sport into what it is today.

You will also get first-hand accounts from the people who have made history in pro football.

Host: Ken Crippen

Ken Crippen was in a leadership position within the Professional Football Researchers Association for 15 years and is now the founder and lead instructor at the Football Learning Academy.

He has been researching and writing about pro football history for over 30 years and has been a sought-after interview for publications like the Wall Street Journal and Rolling Stone magazine, and a sought-after guest on podcasts and radio shows, namely The History Channel, ESPN Radio, and Fox Sports Radio.

He has written two books, been the managing editor of two other books, and a contributor to yet two more books. He has also written hundreds of articles on pro football history, has won the Dick Connor Writing Award for Feature Writing (which is now called the Lesley Visser Enterprise News/Features Award) from the Pro Football Writers of America, as well as the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Ralph Hay Award for lifetime achievement in pro football research.

Learn more about the show on the Sports History Network.

With the "soft" reboot of the From the 55 Yard Line podcast, Greg introduces his new co-host, due to Scott's retirement, and explains how the show is shifting from one focused on Canadian football to one that encompasses the entire world of sports. He then sits down and discusses the topic of spring football with sports historian, Tim Hanlon of the Good Seats Still Available podcast, and XFL insider and Pro Football Newsroom contributor, Michael Lathrop of the Player 54 Podcast. The three talk about the past, present and future of the spring game, both outdoor and indoors, as the sports world awaits the announcement of what form the XFL and USFL merger will take.

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Your Favorite Sports' Yesteryear.

EPISODE SUMMARY

Sports journalist Scott Adamson, along with fellow enthusiast and armchair historian Greg James, take a hot read with guests on the history, remembrances, culture, lore, legends and meaning of pro football around the world. Every few weeks the pair will sit down with authors who, through their books, have given all of us a close up look and perspective at the game we have grown up with and enjoy no matter where on the map we may call home, be it in Tokyo cheering for the Roughriders, in America's south rooting for the J E T S, or in Chicago cheering for Da Bears.

What has brought Scott and Greg together has been their love of professional football not just in America, but in Canada where Americans make up many of the players and who for too long have gone unrecognized in their native land. In their podcast they will take on a global view of the game and seek to entertain and educate on what the game means to those who have the same passion as they do and also in the larger context of history and sports economics in the 21st Century.

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

FROM THE 55 YARD LINE BACKGROUND

Sports journalist Scott Adamson, along with fellow enthusiast and armchair historian Greg James, take a hot read with guests on the history, remembrances, culture, lore, legends and meaning of pro football around the world. Every few weeks the pair will sit down with authors who, through their books, have given all of us a close up look and perspective at the game we have grown up with and enjoy no matter where on the map we may call home, be it in Tokyo cheering for the Roughriders, in America's south rooting for the J E T S, or in Chicago cheering for Da Bears.

What has brought Scott and Greg together has been their love of professional football not just in America, but in Canada where Americans make up many of the players and who for too long have gone unrecognized in their native land. In their podcast they will take on a global view of the game and seek to entertain and educate on what the game means to those who have the same passion as they do and also in the larger context of history and sports economics in the 21st Century.

HOST - SCOTT ADAMSON

Scott Adamson hails from Birmingham, Alabama, known as the "Football Capital of the South" and a place that has hosted more pro football teams than just about any other city, none of which have been in the NFL and all that have failed. Quickly. As veteran sportswriter he can attest that being a fan, no matter the brand of team is the triumph of hope over experience. Having decided at an early age that tackle football was the greatest sport man had yet to invent, Scott took on a fan's-eye view of life with Brand X football in his book "The Home Team: My Bromance with Off-Brand Football," which is a funny, somewhat tortured, journey of a fanatic's lifelong quest for a hometown team of his own.

You can find Scott at www.adamsonmedia.com

Scott's book on Amazon - The Home Team: My Bromance with off Brand Football

HOST - GREG JAMES

Greg James hails from Chicago, Illinois, which he describes as the "Pro Football Capital of America" as it was where the NFL's oldest teams were birthed on the dirt infields of Comiskey Park and Wrigley Field. Unlike Scott, Greg is far from a professional sportswriter, but he is an armchair pro football historian who aspires in his retirement to be a sports journalist and tell the stories yet untold of gridiron football around the world. Greg is a big fan of Howard Cosell who in his own 25 year career as a navy intelligence officer made a concerted effort to emulate Howard in "telling it like it is." Additionally, Greg is an avid computer simulation football enthusiast who has found in the game a way to keep the past truly alive.

You can find Greg at www.cflamerica.ca