The Freakin' Weekend (1974)

Current World Football League standings as of Thursday, July 11, 1974:

Eastern Division
Florida Blazers 1-0
Philadelphia Bell 1-0
New York Stars 0-0
Jacksonville Sharks 0-0

Central Division
Birmingham Americans 1-0
Chicago Fire 1-0
Memphis Southmen 1-0
Detroit Wheels 0-1

Western Division
Houston Texans 0-1
Portland Storm 0-1
Southern California Sun 0-1
The Hawaiians 0-1

The league kicked off last night with 10 games, and tonight we have the first nationally televised contest, the New York Stars at the Jacksonville Sharks, syndicated by TVS (check your local listings).

I actually hate the WFL. It's going to have a big hand in killing the Dolphins. But by this point in the summer, 1974 me is willing to watch whatever football you're willing to give me. We'll see how much interest I have left in the WFL in a couple of weeks.

MLB74 is going on ...

The big sports news of late, though, has been Wimbledon. Lovers Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert won the men's and women's singles titles, and they are on the covers of both the current SPORT and Sports Illustrated magazines. SI has the couple posing with their trophies. Monthly SPORT, of course, had to go to press before the tournament was played, so its cover shot of Connors and Evert leaping the net together is especially impressive. Newsweek also had tennis on a cover earlier this month, but it guessed wrong and went with Sweden's Björn Borg.

I like playing tennis. 2020 me, in fact, played just this past Thursday, July 9 (and won my best-of-three-sets match at the Madisonville Community College Garnett "Penny" Pennington courts, 6-2 and 6-3). I just have never much been able to get into it as a spectator sport, however. I didn't even read the SI coverage and was actually more interested in some of the ads.

I might have to add some of those books to my Christmas list.

The Freakin' Weekend (1973)

So much to address here on this Nov. 23-25, 1973, #freakinweekend: the Kings Island Brady Bunch, No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 8 vs. No. 9 in college football, the debut of the HP's International House of Pancakes National Football League e-Magnetic Team Standings Board and more!

Friday

After a run of seasons in which the networks turned out new series that became some of the most iconic programs of our lives, TV73 came up a clunker. Good Times and Happy Days are going to turn up this winter, but nothing much at all took from the fall debuts. Kojak was the lone new fall 1973 series to qualify for the Nielsen top 30 for the season.

The writers had struck, and there wasn't a single week crammed with debuts, so that the new series might market for each other. Plus, it appears to me that so many highly popular series were still so early in their runs that the brand-new series couldn't peel away viewers. Take Calucci's Department, a pretty compelling setup for Broadway's James Coco in a New York unemployment office. From the little bit of it I've seen, there's no reason for me to think that this show couldn't've found the quirky, low-burn stroke that Barney Miller ultimately found ...

But it was pitted against NBC's red-hot Sanford and Son at 7 Central on Friday nights, and Calucci's Department is going to be finito after 11 episodes. By the way, ABC's 7 p.m. Central Friday entry, The Brady Bunch, is nearing the end, too. The Bradys are all going to Kings Island on Nov. 23, 1973, which is one of my very favorite episodes of this show ...

Indeed, I'm sticking with Channel 3 the rest of this Friday night: The Odd Couple, a Julie Andrews variety special with Perry Como and the Muppets and then a Love American Style ...

Saturday

Here's the current Associated Press Top 20 in college football:

1. Ohio State 9-0

2. Alabama 10-0 (after beating Louisiana State on Thanksgiving, Nov. 22)

3. Oklahoma 8-0-1

4. Michigan 10-0

5. Notre Dame 9-0

6. Penn State 10-0

7. LSU 9-1 (after losing to Alabama on Thursday)

8. UCLA 9-1

9. Southern California 8-1-1

10. Nebraska 8-1-1

11. Texas 7-2

12. Texas Tech 9-1

13. Arizona State 9-1

14. Houston 8-1

15. Miami (Ohio) 10-0

16. North Carolina State 7-3

17. Tulane 8-1

18. Oklahoma State 5-2-2

19. Missouri 7-3

T20. Kansas 6-3-1

T20. Pittsburgh 6-3-1

So, as you can see, we've got ourselves a pretty compelling Saturday afternoon in front of Channel 3 to look forward to ...

I'm not sure on which Saturday this little Hee Haw snippet aired on Channel 12, but I think Nov. 24, 1973, is a pretty good bet because it was on Nov. 11, 1973, that Louis "Grandpa" Jones of Niagara, Kentucky, had discovered the corpse of his Nashville-suburbs neighbor, David "Stringbean" Akeman of Annville, Kentucky ...

Now on to happier Saturday-night fare ...

Sunday

NBC's got a pretty good noon Central kickoff in 8-2 Steelers at 6-3-1 Browns ...

But we're not seeing that. Channel 12's got the double-header this afternoon: 3-6-1 Cardinals at 6-4 Bengals at noon and then 7-3 Falcons at 3-7 Jets at 3. Channel 6 is holding fire until 6-3-1 Chiefs at 5-3-2 Broncos at 3. 

Here's where things stand in Week 11 of NFL73, after the 8-3 Redskins beat the 4-6-1 Lions, 20-0, and then the 10-1 Dolphins beat the 7-4 Cowboys, 14-7, on a very happy Thanksgiving ...

The Freakin' Weekend (1973)

Football is drawing near! Not only was George Allen on the cover of Sports Illustrated a couple of weeks ago (I guess I forgot that George Allen coached the Washington Redskins to the only undefeated season in NFL history and Super Bowl VII victory a few months ago), but this week's July 16, Billie Jean King-wins-Wimbledon issue features a gorgeous Vitalis ad for a season-tickets contest.

You know I'm entering that bad boy! Let's not get ahead of ourselves, however. It is still July, and 1973 me wants to cram in some summer reading before I totally turn myself over to NFL73.

You know I'm entering that bad boy! It'll be exciting to see if I hear back from Wells Fargo or Amazon or Alibaba or whoever today owns Vitalis and the Sports Illustrated Book Club.

That's three straight paragraphs opening with exclamations, so I think it's high time to gear down this #freakinweekend mix tape a notch with some slow-hand love for sleepy, just-after-the-All-Star-break baseball. When we last checked in on MLB73, Oakland had just taken over first place in the American League West. Well, the Swingin' A's now are cruisin', as shown in the Friday morning, July 13, division standings:

A's 50-39
Royals 49-43, 2.5 games back
Angels 45-41, 3.5
Twins 45-41, 3.5
White Sox 45-42, 4
Rangers 30-56, 18.5

In fact, I'm feeling comfortable enough about the defendin' champs to check in on the rest of the league:

AL East
Yankees 50-41
Red Sox 46-39, 1
Orioles 44-38, 1.5
Tigers 46-42, 2.5
Brewers 43-44, 5
Indians 31-58, 18

NL East
Cubs 50-38
Cardinals 44-42, 5
Expos 41-43, 7
Pirates 40-44, 8
Phillies 39-48, 10.5
Mets 36-47, 11.5

NL West
Dodgers 56-34
Reds 49-39, 6
Giants 50-40, 6
Astros 49-44, 8.5
Braves 41-50, 15.5
Padres 31-57, 24

Back to Billie Jean King for a moment ... I guess I had never checked, and I grew up just sort of believing that Charles Schulz had created the Marcie character amid the 1973 Bobby Riggs hysteria. Not true. It goes back a good bit before then.

A couple of years ago, 1971 me was surprised to discover Marcie in the newspaper strips, before Billie Jean King had really exploded into the culture and onto the covers of People, TIME and even Sports Illustrated.

Indeed, the character had first appeared in 1968 as a camp acquaintance of Peppermint Patty's named "Clara," who then reappeared as Marcie in July 1971. Now all of that happened amid plenty of Billie Jean King Wimbledon and U.S. Open winning, of which huge-tennis-guy Schulz was certainly aware. The character is said to have been modeled after a roommate of Schulz's cousin, on whom Peppermint Patty was based, so, maybe there's not the equivalent, direct line of sight from Martin Luther King's assassination to the appearance of Franklin. Still, it seems pretty clear to me that Marcie's look at least was influenced by King; Peppermint Patty even once talked about Marcie's "Billie Jean King glasses," and Schulz unabashedly was a fan. That's pretty neat.

Bobby Riggs is one of the stories on the July 13, 1973, 60 Minutes, incidentally.

Is all of this Marcie/Billie Jean King deal covered in that great Charles Schulz biography? I'll bet it is, and I've forgotten reading it. This is going to turn out to be another of those deals where, like, I have the same original observation about Tiger Woods's anxieties, except I have it about three Masters tournaments in a row.

Which, in conclusion, reminds me: The British Open!

The Freakin' Weekend (1973)

It's Friday, June 29, 1973, and the Oakland A's are in first place in the American League West for the first time this MLB73 season:

A’s 41-34, .547

Angels 39-33, 0.5 games back

White Sox 37-32, 1

Twins 37-33, 1.5

Royals 40-37, 2

Rangers 24-44, 13.5

Here are the other divisions:

AL East

Yankees 41-33, .554

Orioles 36-30, 1

Brewers 37-36, 3.5

Red Sox 35-35, 4

Tigers 36-37, 4.5

Indians 27-46, 13.5

NL East

Cubs 46-31, .597

Expos 34-35, 8

Cardinals 35-37, 8.5

Phillies 35-38, 9

Pirates 32-38, 10.5

Mets 31-39, 11

NL West

Dodgers 49-27, .645

Giants 44-43, 5.5

Astros 43-34, 6.5

Reds 38-36, 10

Braves 32-44, 17

Padres 24-51, 24.5

The A’s are playing the craziest run of schedule I’ve ever heard of in sports. Their last day off was Monday, June 11. Last weekend, the A’s were in Chicago for a five-game series with the division-leading White Sox. They closed it out with a double-header on Sunday, June 24, and then they had to be in Dallas to start a two-game series with the Rangers on Monday night. After Tuesday night’s game there, the A’s hustled back home for Wednesday- and Thursday-night games with the Royals. Now the White Sox are in town for four games (another double-header Sunday), and then it’s the Angels in Oakland for games Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The A’s will belatedly observe the nation’s 197th birthday with a day off on Thursday, July 5—but don’t party too hard, guys, because you have a double-header on Friday, July 6. In Baltimore! 

Everybody likes to talk about how ill-humored these A’s teams were; maybe these guys were so testy because they were having to work all of the time after Major League Baseball tried to stick it to Charlie Finley with the worst schedule in the history of sports.

Nonetheless, the defending World Series champs are--at last this season--thriving. This is, of course, a much better scenario for 1973 me than when-- at first this season--the A's were last.

Oakland opened MLB73 at home with three games against the Twins. They were swept. I’m sure he is a very nice man in real life, but I don’t know Jim Kaat in real life. So, seriously, if you discovered this 2019 HP report on the 1973 A’s because you Googled your great-grandfather Jim Kaat on a cigarette break from the cheese mines on the moon in 2065, please don’t take offense—I freaking can’t stand Jim Kaat. Everything that dude has ever said on TV I took as a direct shot against the A’s, but it started even back when he was a player. I don’t even know why. Maybe 10-year-old me got rooked in some baseball-card trade involving Jim Kaat. Maybe it was just because he beat the A’s to close out this season-opening sweep by the Twins in 1973. I don’t know. Whatever, can’t stand him.

So the A’s started MLB73 in last place in the AL West. They spent a lot of the rest of April and May in fifth. Their last game before their most recent day off—a 5-0 win over the Tigers on June 10—punched them over .500, to 29-28, and into fourth. Now they’re amid this torrid stretch against the rest of the division contenders, and a couple of 3-2 wins for a sweep of the short series with the Royals has them, finally, in first.

Last night’s game was especially huge. Vida Blue looked good, and the A’s debuted a promising kid, Manny Trillo, in the middle of the infield, where they’ve had injuries all season.

Blue went 7 2/3 innings for the win and yielded two earned runs, three hits and three walks. Blue has been good in MLB73 but not dominant (7-3, 3.62); John Odom has been bad and hardly even useful, other than as a pinch-runner (1-9, 6.19). That has left Ken Holtzman (11-7, 1.99) and Jim Hunter (11-3, 3.05) to do the heavy lifting in the Oakland rotation. Recently, Dick Williams has shelved “Blue Moon” and opted instead for a kid starter, Dave Hamilton (4-1, 2.90).

The A’s, in fact, have a slew of promising young players in the minors, and 1973 me is excited about this next crop of home-grown studs (Manny Trillo, Phil Garner, Jay Johnstone, Chet Lemon, Claudell Washington, etc.) continuing Finley’s success right into the 1980s. Trillo’s major-league debut was last night’s game with the Royals, and, in his first at-bat, he singled home in the second inning what would eventually hold up as the game-winning run.

Now it's four games with Chicago. It has not gone unnoticed by 1973 me that Sports Illustrated this year has already twice featured the White Sox on its cover while devoting nary a cover to the defending-champion A's (you just made the list, with the schedule makers and Jim Kaat, SI). Chicago has the last two AL home-run leaders (Bill Melton in MLB71 and Dick Allen in MLB72), and it has a knuckleballer who got off to such a fast start that people started talking about his chances of winning 40 games (Wilbur Wood). But the White Sox have fallen out of first, and, just this 1973 week, they lost Allen to an injury and another slugger, Rick Reichardt, in a contract walkout/cut/squabble. I am excited about watching this series in Oakland.

And, as always, I am excited about all of the television to be watched this (freakin') 1973 weekend. (Welcome home from the mission trip, ladies!)

Kicking things off on Channel 3 at 6:30 p.m. Central Friday is Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. It's an animated show that originated with a Love, American Style segment and was a softer-edged, laugh-tracked All In the Family. Here's a DailyMotion.com video of the first of 48 episodes that aired over three seasons. Wikipedia has a very interesting and thorough article about this show, and I have only two things to add:

-- I love Tom Bosley. I spent the last hour reading about his life, and it's staggering to think about his losing his first wife at the height of his Happy Days fame. I'm thrilled that he found love again and that it lasted for the rest of his life, and I'm glad his daughter is a huge success.

-- The ongoing thing where the Wait Till Your Father Gets Home father digs at his teen-age daughter about her weight is really off-putting. I'm glad we're getting smarter as a people. 

This was the show I was trying to think of on the podcast yesterday, in terms of shows with stuff that doesn't age well (along the lines of Fish's wife jokes in Barney Miller). Next up on Channel 3 is the famous (and typically fantastic) "Oh, my nose!" rerun of Brady Bunch. I'm going to watch that now with my daughter. 

Comments flow!

What's On TV Tonight (1973)?

It's a David Aldridge Friday night on Feb. 2, 1973, on Channel 3:

At 7 p.m., it's an old HP favorite, "Bobby's Hero," on Brady Bunch.

At 7:30, Bert Convy, who has not been discussed nearly enough at the HP, makes a pass by The Partridge Family.

At 8, we have Room 222, a show I know hardly anything about and one with apparently no Season 4/1972-73 full episodes available online. Here's how The Paducah Sun described tonight 1973's episode: "A bright, rebellious student plans to refuse a college scholarship to protest scholastic competition." I should probably spend a little more time with this program.

At 8:30 comes dependable Odd Couple.

And, at 9, it's Love, American Style, which is hard to find online. But then we can pretty much fill in the blanks of the hour from this IMDb episode summary: "A woman is willing to remove everything but her gloves. A bride undergoes hypnosis in order to relax. A woman is prone to hysterical laughing upsetting social events. A young girl finds the ideal roommate with a gut but insists on being platonic." 

The Freakin' Weekend (1972)

I am rooting for the A's ...

Also, I love television ...

I am so thankful that, in this glorious age of Internet, I needn't face this Sophie's choice ...

Spoiler alert ... I already know how this comes out ...

I love these #freakinweekend posts. They are when the HP feels most clubhousey to me ...

The Freakin' Weekend (1971)

What's on TV tonight (Friday, Aug. 20, 1971)?

The Aldridge lineup ...

The Partridge Family S01E21 Partridge Up A Pair... by burak-akpli

OK, here's the deal ... it's time to catch up on what's been going on TVwise ...

And now's the time to catch up on any music I might've missed so far in 1971 ...

Or if there's a movie out there I want to see, this is the weekend to see it ...

Or if there's some baseball teams or players I want to take a look at, other than the likely playoff participants, I better get on it ...

Or if I want to give a whirl to some new boutique parlor activity ... or check out what the hipsters are going crazy about ... or deep dive on one of those long, one-off, oddball SI takeouts ... whatever freak-flag curiosity that's catching my fancy ... the time is now ...

Because do you know what's drawing near?

The Freakin' Weekend (1971)

Then, on the next Sports Illustrated, it's Al Unser (and Peter Revson) on the cover. It's Friday night (June 4, 1971), at last ...

Maybe I'll clip and fill out my All-Star ballot this (freakin') weekend ...

Here's where we stand, MLB71wise ...

I'm still pretending that I'm either 48 or 8 and either visiting or living in Chicago, by the way, and I'm pleased to report that the Chicago Tribune reports there is finally some good news on the Cubs ...

Why, yes, that is a Patio soda (Go Heath!) that (future-A!) Ken Holtzman is enjoying after his big game ...

As always, there is plenty to do around and about Chicago ...

But, of course, I will likely spend a good bit of it hanging out at the house, catching up on Mac Divot ...

... and TV, which is mostly in reruns ...

Not totally in reruns, however--there is a fresh Bobby Sherman special on ABC tonight!