Yesterday's Sports

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

HIGHLIGHTED SHOW: THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

Relive the greatest moments in sports every day of the year. From the triumphs to the tragedies, the first to do it to the last time it happened, the unbelievable to the strange, This Day in Sports History is a 365-day journey remembering those significant events that made a lasting impact.

HOST: STEVE WHITE

Steve White has spent most of his life behind a microphone. As a kid, he realized the power of the spoken word, hanging out with his dad while the pair talked to people around the world via ham radio.

Later, Steve put that penchant for communication into practice and ventured into radio and TV. He worked for a few television stations in North Carolina doing sports reporting and anchoring before transitioning to voiceover in 2015. He’s voiced more than 80 audiobooks in a variety of genres.

He’s never been much for awards, probably due to the fact he’s never won any but he loves the challenge of diving into new projects. His ‘This Day in Sports History’ evolved from a lifetime of watching, listening to, and going to ballgames, reading books, magazines, and newspaper articles about his favorite teams and sports heroes. It’s not only a labor of love but a voyage of discovery, finding those forgotten tidbits or fascinating things he never knew.

Learn more about the show on the Sports History Network.

Unpopular Essays on Sports History is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

HIGHLIGHTED SHOW

Unpopular Essays on Sports History

Supposition. We live in a golden age of sports.

I mean this not in the sense of athletes becoming stronger, speedier, savvier and smarter than ever before, nor in terms of the amazing access we have to live streams and stat feeds, instant insights and opinionating, the quirks and personalities of our celebrity heroes.

This, rather, is a golden age of sports in humanistic, historical terms. The truth is that the great majority of people today, willingly or not, have a direct and regular connection to organized and/or participatory sports in their everyday lives than anyone born before the 20th century.

In the United States, not a person alive can recall a time when sports was not a staple of the daily newspaper. For four generations, the notion that nightly news programs should devote up to one-quarter of their airtime to sports is taken for granted. Why do we take this for granted?

At Unpopular Essays on Sports History, everything is questionable.

Supposition: Those who play the games have ascended in the public eye to heights unimaginable in times past. Playing top-level sports can get today’s athlete into business, TV production, national politics – and just how did this happen?

At Unpopular Essays on Sports History, everything is up for examination.

Supposition: Sports – wherever they are played but particularly in these places where they are invented – effect culture, even pace it. One could argue that sports are more important than ever.

Corollary: Sports history, too, should be more important, yet is probably more disrespected and disavowed than ever.

At Unpopular Essays on Sports History, we love the past while marveling at the present, and wondering about the future.

The “unpopular essays” of the title is a nod to Bertrand Russell, the logical positivist and my favorite philosopher. (Plus it’s a great excuse to get my BA degree to finally pay off.) And as we’re taught in philosophy, It’s not about answering the questions; it’s about making them clearer.

Three days a week, Unpopular Essays on Sports History will examine a moment in sports history, probe some modern ethos of our games, or speculate on what the past can teach the future – and all in 500 words or less – though probably occasionally throwing in the occasional longer interview. We’ll tour the spaces and times of the whole wide world of sports history about as quickly as Secretariat ran the Belmont Stakes.

Supposition: Sports history is fascinating, illuminating and fun. Join me, Os Davis, in making the questions of sports history clearer right here an Unpopular Essays on Sports History, an SHN production.

Os Davis, host of Unpopular Essays on Sports History

Os never played the games but has enjoyed a nearly 30-year career in sports writing, reporting, blogging, and podcasting. He has hosted/co-hosted and produced/co-produced podcasts on NFL football, CFL football, European basketball and sports movie review. For the Sports History Network, he currently writes and co-produces the historical fiction audiodrama Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer and will return soon with more episodes of Truly the GOATs (promise).

Learn more about the show on the Sports History Network.

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.

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

THRIVE FANTASY - a daily fantasy sports app for player props. Use promo code SHN or this link when you sign up today and you will receive a 100% instant first deposit match up to $100!

EPISODE SUMMARY

Once “The Doomsday Defense” kicked in, the Cowboys closed the door on opponents ... until Dallas was done in by a last-second field goal in the biggest game of the year.

After finishing the 1969 regular season with an impressive 11–2–1 record, the Dallas Cowboys flopped in the playoffs, losing to the Cleveland Browns 38–14. It was the fourth year in a row that the Cowboys had a great regular season but came up empty in the post-season.

Still, Cowboys fans had high hopes for the 1970 season, and with good reason. Dallas had one of the best running games in professional football, led by 1969 rookie of the year Calvin Hill. Both Hill and guard John Niland made the All-Pro team in 1969.

They also had one of the top defenses in football. The “Doomsday Defense” was stacked with talented players......

You can read the full blog post here.

YESTERDAY'S SPORTS BACKGROUND

Host Mark Morthier grew up in New Jersey just across the river from New York City during the 1970s, a great time for sports in the area. He relives great moments from this time and beyond, focusing on football, baseball, basketball, and boxing. You may even see a little Olympic Weightlifting in the mix, as Mark competed for eight years. See Mark's book below.

No Nonsense, Old School Weight Training: A Guide For People With Limited Time

Running Wild: (Growing Up In The 1970s)

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

THRIVE FANTASY - a daily fantasy sports app for player props. Use promo code SHN or this link when you sign up today and you will receive a 100% instant first deposit match up to $100!

EPISODE SUMMARY

#6 December 23, 1972, Dallas Cowboys 30, SF 49ers 28, Candlestick Park: Dallas fell behind quickly when Vic Washington ran the opening kickoff 97 yards to put the 49ers up 7–0. The Cowboys cut the lead to 7–3 with a 37-yard field goal, and after the teams exchanged turnovers, the 49ers scored another touchdown to go up 14–3. A second Dallas turnover led to another 49ers touchdown. But the Cowboys came back with a field goal and a touchdown to narrow the gap to 21–13. Dallas continued to have problems holding onto the ball in the third quarter. A fumble led to another 49ers touchdown, which increased their lead to 28–13. Towards the end of the third quarter, Cowboys Coach Tom Landry replaced quarterback Craig Morton with Roger Staubach, who had missed most of the season due to injury.

Staubach promptly fumbled on his opening drive, setting the 49ers up for a 32-yard field goal. But kicker Bruce Gosslet missed the attempt, and later running back Calvin Hill broke off a 48- yard run to set up a Toni Fritsch field goal. After the Doomsday Defense forced a 49ers punt, Staubach led the offense to a touchdown with just under two minutes to play. After Dallas recovered an onside kick, Staubach scrambled for 21 yards. Two-pass completions followed the scramble that put Dallas ahead 30–28 with just 52 seconds left. The 49ers came close to field goal range, but an interception by safety Charlie Waters ended the game. The Cowboys outgained the 49ers in total yards 402–255 and first downs 22–13. But they also committed five turnovers and allowed five sacks. 49ers’ defensive end Cedrick Hardman was responsible for 3.5 of those sacks.

#7 December 18, 1976, Oakland Raiders 24, NE Patriots 21, Oakland Alameda County Coliseum: New England defeated Oakland 48–17 in Week 4 of the season, handing the Raiders their only loss of the year. And after the opening drive of the playoff game, it looked like New England would win again. The Patriots marched 86 yards in 10 plays to take a 7–0 lead. But the Raiders narrowed the gap to four points on Errol Mann’s 40-yard field

goal and took the lead, 10–7, in the second quarter on a Ken Stabler-to-Fred Biletnikoff 31-yard touchdown pass. But the Patriots grabbed the lead back on their opening drive of the third quarter. NE went 80 yards in nine plays, scoring a touchdown on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Steve Grogan to tight end Russ Francis. The Patriots expanded the lead to 21–10 on a 10-play, 55-yard drive, but Oakland fought back with a 70-yard drive in eight plays to close the gap to four. The teams exchanged punts before New England misfired on a 50-yard field goal attempt. Oakland took possession with good field position and 4:12 left on the clock. They drove to the Patriots’ 28-yard line before stalling.

An incomplete pass made it 4th and 18, but a roughing the passer penalty on nose tackle Ray “Sugar Bear” Hamilton gave Oakland a first down on the 13-yard line with 57 seconds on the clock. (Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks questioned the penalty, saying, “It looked to me like Ray hit the ball first. If he did deflect the ball, then it was an incorrect call.”)

With that penalty assist, Oakland moved the ball to the four-yard line and faced a 3rd and 1 when another penalty–this time a personal foul on safety Prentice McCray–gave the Raiders a first down on the 1-yard-line. That’s when Stabler faked a handoff and dove into the end for the winning score with 14 seconds remaining on the clock. Ken Stabler (1976 NFL top ranked QB) went 19-of-32 on the day for 233 yards and a touchdown, and Fred Biletnikoff caught nine of those passes for 137 yards and one touchdown.

You can read the full blog post here.

YESTERDAY'S SPORTS BACKGROUND

Host Mark Morthier grew up in New Jersey just across the river from New York City during the 1970s, a great time for sports in the area. He relives great moments from this time and beyond, focusing on football, baseball, basketball, and boxing. You may even see a little Olympic Weightlifting in the mix, as Mark competed...