Episodes

  • 47. Mike Eruzione and the Miracle on Ice

    47. Mike Eruzione and the Miracle on Ice
    Nov 25 2024
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • 46. NFL Draft 1974 and Wes Unseld

    46. NFL Draft 1974 and Wes Unseld
    Nov 18 2024
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • 45. Fearsome Foursome: Aaron/Sadarahu Oh & Ali/Foreman

    45. Fearsome Foursome: Aaron/Sadarahu Oh & Ali/Foreman
    Nov 11 2024
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • Bonus John Brooks

    Bonus John Brooks
    Nov 4 2024
    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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    33 mins
  • 44. Joe Washington and the 1974 National Champion Oklahoma Sooners

    44. Joe Washington and the 1974 National Champion Oklahoma Sooners
    Nov 4 2024
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • Bonus Anthony Davis

    Bonus Anthony Davis
    Oct 29 2024
    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... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    30 mins
  • 43. Foreman v Ali through the eyes of George's daughter.

    43. Foreman v Ali through the eyes of George's daughter.
    Oct 28 2024
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 26 mins
  • 42. Dodgers vs A's in the 1974 World Series

    42. Dodgers vs A's in the 1974 World Series
    Oct 21 2024
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 38 mins