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He started the year by beating Joe Frazier in Superfight II to avenge his loss to Smokin' Joe from three years earlier. 9 months later, in the Rumble in the Jungle, he shocked the world by knocking out George Foreman to once again become the Heavyweight Champion of the world. So how did Muhammad Ali cap off this eventful year? By being named the 1974 Sports Illustrated Man of the Year.
It wasn't just the two iconic fights that cemented his place in boxing history, but the way Ali did it. Seven years after being stripped of his belt for refusing to partake in the Vietnam War, Ali made the comeback of all comebacks, beating two of the most feared heavyweights of his, or anyone's time.
Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman idolized the Greatest as a child from afar until a chance meeting at a banquet brought them together in 1979 and for the next 37 years, the two were as tight as tight can be, with Muhammad playing a vital role as a mentor and friend of Nancy's until Ali's death.
Now, this trailblazer for women in sports, Nancy talks about the impact Muhammad had on her life and how she is attempting to pay it forward each day to honor him; How the Ali and Foreman families have come together 50 years after the famous fight in Zaire in a show of strength and peace and how George's biggest regret was not being able to congratulate Muhammad for his win between the two. There are too many stories to tell but Nancy does her best to bring a side of Ali only a few got to witness, and she shares that side with us on the Past Our Prime podcast.
Join us for a look into "The Greatest" that we've never heard before wherever you get your podcasts and make sure to hit that subscribe button if you wouldn't mind.
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The Golden State Warriors were picked to finish last in the Pacific Division before the 1974 season tipped off. They had the best record in the Western Conference. After defeating both Seattle and Chicago to advance to the NBA Finals, they were picked to get destroyed by the Bullets. Instead, they did the destroying... sweeping Washington in 4 games to win the Championship. And they were led by their captain, Rick Barry, who capped off a great season by taking home the NBA Finals MVP.
Sports Illustrated noticed what was going on out by the Bay in December of '74 and put Barry on the cover and 50 years later, one of the greatest players in NBA/ABA history is joining us on the POP podcast to talk about that team, what being captain meant to him, how he started shooting free throws underhanded and why his sons wouldn't do the same. He tells of a great story of when he skipped school to go see a New York Giants game and met Willie Mays and how they became friends later in life and wore #24 in honor of his boyhood idol.
Barry has opinions on most everything from comparing players from different eras to Wilt Chamberlain to the pick-n-roll. He's brash and energetic and entertaining, just like he was when he starred in the NBA/ABA half a century ago. One of the greatest to ever lace 'em up Barry is just as good with a mic in his hand as he was a basketball...and that's what he loves talking about most. Listen to one of the best to ever play on the Past Our Prime podcast wherever you get your shows and make sure you give us a follow and a review.
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Notre Dame was up 24-0 in the 2nd quarter over the USC Trojans. The defending champion Irish were in complete control. Only a late first half TD pass from Pat Haden to Anthony Davis kept ND from a perfect first half. Even then, the Trojans couldn't convert on the PAT.
At halftime, USC Coach John McKay said he needed his team to make a play and that "It's not illegal to block on kick returns." His team heard Coach McKay, and on the kick to start the 2nd half Davis took the ball in his end zone and 100 yards later, after a few good blocks, was in the end zone again to make it 24-12... and from there, the greatest 16 minutes and 31 seconds in football history was taking off. USC would score 35 points in the 3rd quarter alone, with Davis scoring 4 touchdowns in the amazing 55-24 comeback win over their rivals.
Anthony Davis was a star back at Tailback U. Archie Griffin won the Heisman Trophy but possibly AD would have won it had the voting not taken place prior to this game. In his career at SC, Davis won 5 National Championships... 2 as a running back, and 3 as a switch-hitting centerfielder. He was a 2-sport stud... the kind Nike could really get behind. And AD would know as he was the first running back to ever wear the shoes in a game. In fact, the win over Notre Dame was the 2nd time he wore the not-yet-famous brand of sneakers.
And to think... this wasn't Davis' best game ever against Note Dame. Nope. Two years earlier USC beat the Irish 45-3 behing 6 touchdowns by Anthony Davis. A truly remarkable talent and we sit down with him for a 2nd time this week on the Past Our Prime podcast. Please listen wherever you can and don't forget to subscribe to the show.
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The guys go freestyle for the first time all season long as Scott, Bill and Marc talk about a range of topics including the 1974 college basketball season that is about to tip off with Denny Crum's Louisville Cardinals the pre-season choice to win it all led by Junior Bridgeman. Bridgeman would go on to have a fine NBA career but did you know that in 2016, according to Forbes magazine, he was the 4th most wealthy retired athlete behind only Jordan, Beckham and Arnold Palmer? Tune in to see what made Bridgeman's net worth sore to close to a billion dollars.
Elsewhere, NC State won it all shocking UCLA in the Finals and have the high-flying superstar David Thompson returning as well as Past Our Prime guest Monty Towe (4/2/24) but are without their big man Tom Burleson? Will they be able to get through the ACC and defend their title? And what about those Bruins? No more Walton as he's a Trailblazer now. What will the Wizard do for what turned into his final act?
In college football, unlike present day times, Ohio State owned Michigan and beat them 12-10 behind 4 field goals from Tom Klaban, a walk on kicker who fled the Iron Curtain with his family under gunfire to become a hero in Columbus.
And in the NFL, the Raiders are being led by two geniuses... Al Davis and John Madden. But will they ever get over the hump and put it all together?
Lots to talk about for the week of 12/2/74 and that's what we do here on the POP podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and get a glimpse of what the sports world was talking about 50 years ago each week.
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It's the greatest moment in the history of sports. A group of amateur kids from America taking on the most powerful hockey team in the world, the USSR. Tied at 3 in the 3rd period the youngsters from the U.S. were doing everything they could to keep up with the Russians when the captain of the team let one rip... and in the blink of an eye Mike Eruzione had given his squad a 4-3 lead and sent the fans in Lake Placid, NY into a frenzy, while the entire country watched with their own eyes the impossible come true. From there, the Soviets came at them with everything they had, but on this night, it wasn't enough.
ABC's Al Michaels summed it up with this iconic call "5 seconds left in the game. Do you believe in Miracles? YES!" And with that win, coupled with Michaels remarks, the Miracle on Ice team was forever etched into the annals of American history.
Working with Michaels was Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden, who was saying that American goalie Jim Craig was working too hard right when Eruzione cut him off and blasted one into the net. Dryden is on the cover of this week's issue of SI and Eruzione talks about what kind of man the former Montreal star was and how their paths have crossed over the years. But on this night, it was Dryden in the booth, and Eruzione on the ice. And that's where miracles happen.
Now, almost 45 years later, Captain Eruzione recounts that night and that win... how head coach Herb Brooks told the team they would "take it to their f'ing graves" if they didn't beat Finland in the Gold Medal game... how he prepped for the game against Russia like he did most other games in his life, and how the win changed his life forever, but didn't change the man much at all.
A wonderful talk about a wonderful night in February of 1980 with the one and only, Mike Eruzione.
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The 1974 NFL Draft was historic in many ways. Ed 'Too Tall ' Jones was the first overall pick by the Dallas Cowboys and the first of many intriguing stories. Such as Randy Gradishar being taken by the Broncos with the 14th pick and 50 years later, being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was one of 7 players who debuted in '74 that ended up enshrined in Canton... 5 of them by the Pittsburgh Steelers in what is considered the greatest draft in NFL history. And get this, not one of them was a quarterback. In fact, no QB's were taken in the first round... or the 2nd round... the first time since 1938 that had happened and only the 5th time ever. But who did get picked in the 15th round? That's right, there were 17 rounds in 1974 and the first pick in the 15th was Billy Johnson... you know him as Billy 'White Shoes' Johnson, the only member of the NFL's all-75th anniversary team not in the Hall...
Joining us to talk about this incredible draft is longtime sports talk radio host Paul Jolovitz of WIP sports radio in Philadelphia. Jolly knows his football from half a century ago... and being from DC, he knows Bullets basketball as well. We'll talk about one of the greatest to ever don a Bullets uniform... the great Wes Unseld. Wes wasn't the biggest, but he may be the best to ever play for Washington. Jolly will talk about what it was like to attend Bullets playoff games in his youth when Wes and Elvin Hayes were winning 7 division titles in 10 seasons, culminating in their lone championship in 1978.
Unseld and the NFL draft... a lot to talk about with a guy who talks a lot about sports for a living... on this weeks Past Our Prime podcast.
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It was one of the biggest fights in the history of boxing. The undefeated George Foreman putting his heavyweight championship on the line against Muhammad Ali from Zaire, Africa. The Rumble in the Jungle where Ali shocked he world to regain his belt for the first time since 1967 when he was forced to give it up.
But there was a dynamic duo making noise in November of '74. Hank Aaron was in Japan having a hitting contest with Japanese superstar Sadarahu Oh. The two Home Run kings taking different kind of swings against each other.
Joining us to talk about both stories is a good friend and baseball analyst for 670 the Score in Chicago as well as the Marquee Network, Bruce Levine, who has been covering sports since Reagan's first term in office.
Bruce has seen and been a part of it all for over 40 years. He remembers watching the Rumble on closed circuit TV at the very loud St. Louis Arena. He'll tell us how he met Ali at his house as a kid on the South Side of Chicago and how Ali influenced a generation of kids in the late 60's.
As for Sadarahu Oh, Bruce shares with us how The Hammer told him that Oh could definitely have thrived in the majors and how 50 years later Japanese players are finally getting the respect Oh may have never received during his playing days.
Ali & Foreman... Hank and Oh... lots to talk about in November of 1974 and we get to it all on the Past Our Prime podcast.
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In 1974, the Oklahoma Sooners were practically unbeatable... in fact, they were unbeatable. The Sooners outscored their opponents by an average score of 43-8 and won twice by the score of 63-0. They were stacked on offense and defense as they ran the table en route to a perfect 11-0 record that culminated in a sharing of the National Championship.
Nobody had a better view of that than John Brooks who was in his first season as part of the Sooners broadcast team and he had a birds eye view of it all. Brooks was in the right place at the right time as Barry Switzer's Sooners were a dominant force as soon as John joined the crew.
How good were they? Perfect.
How good was SI cover man Joe Washington? Sensational.
How good was Barry Switzer? Hall of Fame good.
A Hall of Fame broadcaster in his own right, Brooks takes us behind the curtain for some great stories about a team that was kicking butt and taking names 50 years ago. Join us for a bonus edition of the Past Our Prime podcast with the great John Brooks.... GEEMINY CHRISTMAS!
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They couldn't play in a bowl game. They couldn't play on TV. All they could do was play and win... and win big for that matter. The '74 Sooners were a wrecking ball... the defense led by the Selmon brothers gave up just 92 points. And the offense led by one of the greatest running backs in Oklahoma history, Joe Washington, averaged 43 points a game.
They started the season on probation... and they ended it co-national champions.
Washington would finish 3rd in the Heisman voting after a sensational junior year and after Barry Switzer's team demolished Kansas State 63-0, the Sooners back was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as he and his teammates were on their way to a perfect 11-0 season.
Now, 50 years later, Washington talks about that great team and how they were able to look past being on probation. He spoke of his love of his head coach, Switzer and how he was a 2nd dad to him. He tells us about a night ... a Monday Night... when Howard Cosell introduced the country to Joe as he did something for the Colts nobody else has ever done in the NFL... Threw a TD, caught a TD, and returned a kick for a TD. And he does it while impersonating the iconic ABC sportscaster! Finally, he reminisces about winning a Super Bowl with the Redskins and what it was like sharing a backfield with Hall of Fame Running Back John Riggins.
SI cover man Joe Washington is the reason we do this show. A 2-time National Champion & a Super Bowl Champion. He was a great all-around football player and 50 years later, he's still a great all-around guy.
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Anthony Davis is one of the greatest athletes to ever play at USC winning 5 National Championships. That's right... FIVE! Two in football, and three more in baseball. Before there was Bo Knows, there was AD Does.
Davis had a legendary career at SC capped off with wins over UCLA where he ran for 195 yards, followed by his 4 TD's against Notre Dame in the famous Comeback Game that the Trojans won 55-24 and finishing with a win in the Rose Bowl win over Ohio State to secure yet another National Championship. But it was all about the shoes, man. THE SHOES. That's because Davis played those final three games wearing shoes by a little known company out of Oregon by the name of Nike. That's right, AD was one of the first to wear the swoosh before anyone knew what the swoosh was. And when Anthony was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in December of 1974, you could see that shoe running all over the Fighting Irish.
AD talked with us about his relationship with the shoe company and the man who designed a shoe for him over 50 years ago. It was a match made in heaven. Hear the amazing story of how one of college football's all-time greats took a chance on a company nobody had ever heard of and... well, the rest is history...
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The October 28, 1974 issue of Sports Illustrated once again had George Foreman and Muhammad Ali on the cover as their fight from Kinshasa, Zaire, delayed by 6 weeks due to a cut suffered by big George during a sparring session, was now just 2 days away from taking place. The whole world was watching a fight that would start at 3am in Africa and be broadcast across the globe. There may not have been two more well known athletes in the world at this time.
The trash-talking, brash, Ali vs the silent, sullen Foreman. Two contrasting styles both in and out of the ring. Foreman was the overwhelming favorite to dispose of Ali like he had everyone else up to this point in his career. It was a fight that would be a part of both men for the rest of their lives: The Rumble in the Jungle. Boxing was at its zenith and these two gladiators were at the top of their profession. But only one would come out a winner.
And to the shock of most... it was Ali. Foreman pounded and pounded and pounded on Muhammad, but Ali kept moving and famously used the rope-a-dope technique to wear out the ferocious champion. And in the 8th round, big George went down, and lost his title.
But in defeat, Foreman gained so much. And a new man was born. A happy, peaceful, man of God who left the squared circle for 10 years before returning in 1987. And 7 years later, he regained his belt and was once again the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Nobody knows his story or the man better than his daughter Georgetta Foreman. She tells us that the happy, optimistic, entrepreneur is the only version of George Foreman she's ever known. We know him as the Champ or Big George but Georgetta knows him simply as 'Dad'. She tells us that Big George loves Westerns, how the Foreman grill changed his life, and what it was like to grow up with one of the most well-known athletes of the 20th Century.
To hear about a side of this captivating fighter join us as we talk with Georgetta Foreman on the Past Our Prime podcast.
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As the Dodgers get ready to play in the World Series this coming week, we look back at the Series they played in October of 1974 against the Oakland Athletics. It didn't go well for Los Angeles, but that didn't deter a young kid from South Pasadena who fell in love with the Dodgers as a 9-year old and has kept that love affair with the team for half a century. Mark Langill knew from a very young age that he wanted to be around baseball... and the Dodgers in particular. And so he became a sportswriter and covered the team he adored fora few years.
But that wasn't enough for Langill. He wanted to be even closer to the team... a part of it if you will. And that's just what happened. The Dodgers hired him to be their team historian. Never has someone been more perfect for a position. Mark's recollection of Dodgers history is unparalleled. He can tell you about every start Don Drysdale had in August of 1968. He can tell you the date Maury Wills was traded away from the Dodgers. He can tell you what Tommy John's record was in 1974 before his season ended with a surgery that would be named after the Dodgers lefty.
He can tell you more than you'll ever want to know... and he's the first to admit that he crosses that line enthusiastically. But in this case, he'll tell you about that '74 series when Mike Marshall picked off Herb Washington in Gm 2 to help secure the Dodgers lone win of the series.. He'll tell you about the throw Joe Ferguson made to nail Sal Bando at the plate in Game 1. He'll tell you about Tommy Lasorda wearing two different shoes while coaching third base. And he'll tell you how he told his favorite player, Jimmy Wynn, about a grand slam that Wynn hit that Mark never forgot... but the Toy Cannon sure did.
Before there was Wikipedia, there was Mark Langill... and he's way more fun and interesting. It's time for Dodgers Baseball on the Past Our Prime podcast.
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They were the two greatest players in college basketball history, separated by just a couple of years in Westwood. Lew Alcindor was 88-2 with three national titles at UCLA from 1967-69. A couple of years later the Big Red-Head, Bill Walton, arrived on campus and guided the Bruins to two more championships and an 86-4 record. John Wooden's dynasty was literally centered around these two stars.
Now, the two former college standouts are on the cover of Sports Illustrated as they are about to face-off for the first time in the NBA, in Dayton, Ohio of all places. The Milwaukee Bucks and 3-time MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar against the Portland Trailblazers and their number one overall pick... Bill Walton. It was as big of a matchup as one could imagine for a preseason game with the center of attention on the two teams prolific centers.
Bob Ryan covered the NBA for the Boston Globe for over 40 years and is known within the industry as a basketball guru. He's seen it all. He's covered it all. And he has the stories to prove it. He joins us for a 3rd time to discuss the dominance of Kareem, how Walton helped Portland become a championship team. How both of them loved music and how his friend Bill went from a shy college kid, to an announcer who "would never shut up."
Ryan and Walton went from a working connection to a relationship built on trust and respect that lasted for the better part of almost 40 years until Bill's untimely death this past May. If you want to talk about the NBA in 1974, there is nobody better to do that with than Bob Ryan... and that's what we do this week on the Past Our Prime podcast.
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They were a dynasty unlike any other. The Oakland A's in 1974 were looking for a 3-peat and the only two things in their way were themselves... and their owner, Charlie Finley. They fought, they battled, and they scrapped amongst themselves mostly before they beat the Dodgers in 5 games to win their 3rd straight World Series and nobody chronicled that team better than author Jason Turbow who wrote the book "Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley's Swingin' A's.
Catfish Hunter is on the cover of the October 7th, 1974 issue of Sports Illustrated after winning 25 games in the regular season for the A's, but that was about the only thing that was regular about that season in Oakland. After winning it all in 1972 & '73 Manager Dick Williams left the team and was replaced by Alvin Dark. And while chaos was always a part of this team, it exploded in '74.
Fights were everywhere. Outfielders Reggie Jackson and Billy North got into it. And on the eve of the Fall Classic, so did Rollie Fingers and John 'Blue Moon Odom'. The team didn't like each other, and they couldn't stand their owner. But they loved winning and that's what they did best.
Turbow goes behind the curtain and tells some of the stories from that crazy time by the Bay. How Jim Hunter came to be known as Catfish, while Vida Blue refused to be called anything other than his God-given name. How Reggie and Joe Rudi were friends to the end and how the enigmatic Finley was his own worst enemy, but still belongs in Cooperstown alongside some of the players he helped get there.
The author of many books, including singer/songwriter Kenny Loggins' memoir "Still Alright", Turbow talks with the guys in the green and gold who fought and bickered with each other but stopped long enough to win 3 straight World Series 50 years ago. It's a great talk about a great team on the Past Our Prime podcast.
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December 31, 1973... The Fighting Irish taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl with the National Championship hanging in the balance. Ara Parseghian coaches his Notre Dame kids to a 24-23 upset win over Bear Bryant with Tom Clements leading the way and Frank Allocco on the sidelines, as usual, rooting on the starting QB. That was Allocco's job as the backup quarterback and he did it the way he did everything... with grace and enthusiasm. And after the 1974 season ended, Alloco's patience and work ethic would pay off. He would be the starting QB for Notre Dame.
And then he wasn't. A separated shoulder before the season began ended his senior year. He would never start a game while playing at South Bend. Most would be devastated that the dream they had worked so hard to fulfill only to have it taken away when they were so close to achieving it. But not Frank. He admired greatly his coach Ara Parseghian who would often say, ‘Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents that which under prosperous conditions may have remained dormant.”
Allocco graduated from ND and started a coaches clinic for basketball. Years later, that turned into a high school coaches job in California in Walnut Creek where he won a state championship in 1995. From there, he went to Concord De La Salle High School and won a 2nd state championship there. He would go on to win 600 games faster than any coach in the history of California and ended his 24 year coaching career 2nd all-time in winning percentage and is the only coach to win state titles with 2 different schools.
Now at the University of San Francisco, Allocco is still changing young people lives, just like his coach and mentor Parseghian did at Notre Dame. He relishes his time in South Bend and tells us how he went from 9th on the depth chart to the backup. How he admired the tenacity of another player at Notre Dame just looking for a chance: Rudy Ruettiger. And how a chance meeting with an 86-year old "Angel" changed his life.
50 years ago he was the backup to the man on the cover of the 9/30/74 issue of Sports Illustrated, Tom Clements, but on the Past Our Prime podcast he's the starter and the winner. Give it a listen on any and all podcast formats.
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In 1968 Rocky Bleier was drafted in the 16th round of the NFL, the 417th player selected.
In 1969 Rocky Bleier was drafted again. This time by the Army. Instead of training camp for the Steelers he was in basic training for the United States. A few months later he found himself halfway across the world, with a grenade launcher in his hand when he heard gunfire. He took cover but it was too late... a bullet had struck him in the leg. Despite being wounded, he located where the North Vietnamese soldier was firing from and sent a grenade in his direction. Unfortunately, a grenade was also heading towards him, hitting a soldier square in the back before falling to the ground right at Rocky's legs. An instant later it blew up, badly injuring Bleier.
His time in Vietnam was over and many thought his time in the NFL was over as well. But not Bleier. Despite his doctor's telling him he'd live a "normal life" that didn't include football, Rocky had other plans. And a note from Steelers owner Art Rooney provided all the motivation he would need to get back on the field. It said simply, "Rock – the team’s not doing well. We need you.“
In 1970, Rocky was one of the final cuts for the Steelers but once again the Steelers loyalty to Bleier provided him the strength and will to continue on. Dan Rooney, the Steelers GM decided the team wasn't cutting Bleier but instead was putting him on injured reserve. After another year of training and rehad, Bleier tried out for the Steelers again in 1971.... and made the team. And he made that same Pittsburgh team for 9 more seasons, winning four Super Bowl along the way before retiring after the 1980 season.
It's a story of perseverance and dedication, of duty and honor, of loyalty and resilience. It's the story of Rocky Bleier... and he tells it in great detail this week on the Past Our Prime podcast. Listen and review the show on all formats.
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Joe DeLamielleure will tell you he has lived a charmed life. An All-American at Michigan State he was drafted in the first round by the Buffalo Bills in 1973. In his 13 years in the NFL, he never missed a game due to injury. In fact, he's never once had any kind of surgery in his life. And that rookie season was one to behold. He helped solidify the Bills line and opened up holes for OJ Simpson to run through en route to being the first player ever to eclipse 2,000 yards in a season. The O-line was known as the Electric Company because they would turn on the Juice, otherwise known as OJ.
6-times a Pro Bowler, Joe D. was a member of the NFL's All 70's All-Decade Team, the Bills Wall of Fame and the Browns Ring of Honor and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003. And since his retirement he has worked tirelessly to get older NFL players taken care of financially as well as their health care needs tended to. It's been a struggle but DeLamielleure doesn't back down to a challenge... like when he rode 2,000 miles to Mexico on a bike to raise money for an orphanage south of the US Border... this despite the fact that Joe had never ridden a bike before. That's the kind of man he is... one who values friends, family and faith over money, fame and recognition.
And that's why when the topic of OJ comes up, he doesn't back down from portraying his friend from 50 years ago in a light many of us haven't seen in quite some time. Not that he excuses Simpson for what took place, but Joe knew another side to OJ and still struggles to this day to separate the man he played with and blocked for on a football field with the man who killed two people in Brentwood, CA thirty years ago. It's a powerful talk with a man who tells us about the last time he spoke with Simpson just days before the former Heisman Trophy winner died from cancer this past April. It's a Past Our Prime episode you won't want to miss. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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The 1973 season did not end the way JK McKay and his Trojans teammates had hoped it would. Against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl USC was tied with the Buckeyes, 14-14 at the half. But the guys from Ohio blitzed the Men of Troy in the 2nd half and won handily, 42-21 ending SC's season on a down note. But on January 1, 1975... a chance for redemption.
Down 17-10 late in the 4th against those same Buckeyes, Pat Haden connected with his best friend, JK McKay in the corner of the end zone from 38 years out to cut the lead to 17-16... and after a successful 2-point conversion, SC had a lead they would not relinquish. The 5th ranked Trojans won the Rose Bowl and a few hours later, after a Notre Dame win over Alabama, they were National Champions thanks to the co-MVP's of the game: Haden and McKay.
JK had quite a career playing for his father, John McKay, at USC and then turned that into a career in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers... also coached by his legendary father. For a time, he didn't know if he wanted to play for the elder McKay. Heck, for a time, he didn't even know what to call him... Dad or Coach.
But in the end, he followed his dad to SC and enjoyed a few years in the NFL with him as well and now, 50 years after being named an MVP of the Rose Bowl, a stadium he grew up in, he joins us on the Past Our Prime podcast to talk about his days as a Trojan and what they meant to his entire family including his forever quote-able father; how his dad straightened him out in 8th grade and had him pick between a Catholic High School or a military institution; and how he and USC QB Pat Haden became friends 50+ years ago and remain so today, and what JK does every so often to remind Pat about a certain connection they had.
It's a really fun chat with a really fun guy. Fight On with JK on the Past Our Prime podcast
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There may not have been a more famous person in sports entertainment in the 70's than Evel Knievel. His motorcycle jumps were legendary... both the successful ones and the not so successful ones. And in the summer of '74, Evel was on the cover of Sports Illustrated about to trade in his bike for a rocket ship... the Sky-Cycle... so that he could jump the Snake River. It too was not successful, but the attempt just increased Knievel's status with his fans... especially young boys.
One of those boys was a kid growing up in the South by the name of Bubba Blackwell, who, like millions of others, idolized Knievel. But Bubba wasn't like millions of others... No, he was one in a million. And when it came to making jumps on a motorcycle, Bubba was second to none. And that includes his friend, Evel Knievel. Bubba would go on to break many of the icon's records and is best known for breaking Evel Knievel's jump record for buses using a Harley-Davidson XR-750 flat-track racing motorcycle.
But when your job title is daredevil, Bubba would be the first to tell you that means sometimes you're going to bite off more than you can chew and that was the case on the 4th of July, 2001 in Del Mar, CA. Blackwell's attempt to jump 22 cars ended in a spectacular crash that almost killed the showman. Bubba went into a coma and broke 19 bones but survived... got healthy... and continued to test the limits.
Now 57 years old, the fearless rider looks back on a career that saw him eclipse his idol's record jumps, talks about his greatest shows, and his worst moments, and how he got to know one of the most famous persons in the world: Evel Knievel...
It's a life like no other we've ever spoken with: Bubba Blackwell on the Past Our Prime podcast.
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John Kinsella did it all in a pool. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City he won a silver medal at the age of 16... 16!!!
And he followed that up in Munich in 1972 by taking gold and helping set a World Record in the 4 x 200 freestyle... Kinsella started that race, and Mark Spitz ended it.
But a pool just wasn't big enough for Kinsella... and he took to the open waters... and marathon swimming... something he raced in 26 times, and never lost culminating in his 9 hour and 9 minute swim across the English Channel in 1979. This was a man driven to be the best distance swimmer in the world, and he proved it time and time again.
The winner of the 1970 Sullivan Award for the best amateur athlete in the land, Kinsella looks back on a career that started in his teens and took him all over the world and back. He talks about how Montezuma's Revenge almost cost him in '68 and the terror of being in the Olympic Village during the '72 Games in Munich when 11 Israeli athletes were killed by terrorists... how the Games almost didn't go on and what the Village was like after that horrible siege... and how his friend and teammate Spitz almost backed out of his attempt at a 7th Gold in '72.
Over 50 years later, Kinsella recollects on a life of swimming... and the ebbs and flows of a life determined one stroke at a time. Join us for a great talk with a great guy and a phenomenal athlete that you may not remember, but won't soon forget... John Kinsella on the Past Our Prime podcast.
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