That '70s article
Reliving 74 of the most seminal '70s moments in the world of sports
 | The battle between Wilt Chamberlain and Lew Alcindor captivated fans in the 1970s. |
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On Wednesday, Feb. 6, HBO pulled the plug on "Inside the NFL", the longest-running series in cable history. "INFL" was launched in 1977, but to be honest I do not remember it back then. We did not get HBO. Something about my mom not letting porn into the house (you have to remember, at the time "Three's Company" was considered sexually edgy).
Anyway, the NFL highlights show I remember from the early '70s was called "This Week In the NFL". It featured Tom Brookshier and Pat Summerall. The two amiable former players, festooned in red blazers, sat in a studio on a Saturday night and introduced NFL Films highlights of the previous Sunday's games.
On a Saturday night. That's right. We were watching six-day-old highlights. We didn't care. It was our first opportunity to see what Billy "White Shoes" Johnson had done the previous week.
That was the '70s. It was a brazenly ridiculous decade, America's first "in living color." Bigfoot. KISS. Mork from Ork. A time of punk rock and pet rock. An era when almost anything went, including a show called "Almost Anything Goes."
Sports was no less "far out." Fueled by visionaries such as Roone Arledge and Don Ohlmeyer, the sports world (as opposed to NBC's "Sportsworld") was one groovy scene. And Howard Cosell was usually in the midst of it. Below I've compiled a list, 71.5 seminal '70s items. By no means is the list exhaustive, nor is it a compilation of the decade's most important images or icons.
It's just a starting point. Feel free to write and add your own.
Oh, and have a nice day!
1. "Turn out the lights/The party's over ... " (1970)
Actually, the party was only beginning. No show better captured the spirit of sports in the 70s than "Monday Night Football," starring Howard, Dandy Don and "The Giffer." If your parents were cool they let you stay up until Howard did the halftime highlights (" ... and he throws it downfield ... TO THIS MAN, Fred Biletnikoff!").
2. Oscar Madison (1970)
The sportswriter whose bedroom was always more likely to get a visit from FEMA than a female. Oscar, Oscar, Oscar.
3. "Put one foot in front of the other ... " (1970)
The inaugural New York City Marathon, featuring 127 entrants -- and just 55 finishers -- is staged in Central Park. Unofficial start of the running boom.
4. Wilt vs. Kareem (and Mr. Clutch vs. the Big O) (1970-73)
When the Lakers played the Bucks, you didn't have to time-travel to see the two best offensive centers of all time go head to head. The two 7-footers overshadowed everyone, but the duel between their respective teammates, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson -- the two best two-guards pre-Michael Jordan -- was a worthy sideshow.
5. "The Agony of Defeat" (1971)
It's the first thing anyone recalls when they hear "ABC's Wide World of Sports." The accompanying visual occurred on Mar. 21, as Vinko Bogataj lost control at the World Ski Flying Championship from Oberstdorf. Vinko suffered a concussion and, of course, repeated humiliation each Saturday afternoon for the next couple of decades.
6. The Jim Kiick/Larry Csonka Sports Illustrated cover (1972)
When the Dolphin backfield mates posed for a cover shot, Csonka flipped the bird in clandestine fashion. No one at SI caught the prank until it was too late. "One for the thumb in '81" came nine years later. This was more "Flippin' off you in '72."
7. Monty Python's International Philosophy (1972)
From head games to header games as the Pythons imagine German and Greek philosophers meeting on a football pitch. The winning goal comes after Archimedes, in a moment of inspiration, shouts "Eureka!" and then delivers a perfect cross to Socrates -- who scores on a header, of course.
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