The Heath Post: 1972

Showing posts with label 1972. Show all posts

Sunday, July 4, 2021

Monday, December 31, 2018

NFL72 Update

There are three things I want to say about this Associated Press video.

One, Larry Seiple's fake-punt run (at about 18 seconds in) has to be the best play of its kind ever--15, 20 yards downfield, Seiple is still running by Steelers and teammates who have no idea what is happening around them. I really do believe this might be the first football play I remember actually seeing on TV. I'm pretty sure I remember a lot of hullabaloo among my family, who almost all would've been rooting madly for the Dolphins on this Dec. 31, 1972.

Two, Al Young's one-handed stab of the high Terry Bradshaw slant pass (at about 1:30) is really impressive, considering the short range and how hard a thrower Bradshaw famously was. I don't believe I had ever even heard of Al Young before following NFL72 this fall. He was a 13th-round draft choice in 1971, and he never played in the NFL again after this game. This catch is a heck of a way to cap a short career.

Three, I'm stunned that Bob Griese (at about 2 minutes in) tried that weaving-backward scramble so deep in his own territory so soon after the same tactic played out so disastrously in Super Bowl VI.

Now here are some more photographs from my memorabilia utility room/River's bedroom. Thanks again to Rob for the autographed picture of Seiple's big play against his team (that's a class gift right there, boy), and thanks again to my brother for the autographed picture of Griese (for which he stood in line back in the day when Griese appeared at an apartment complex's grand opening in Evansville).

Previous and future NFL72 reports:

Saturday, December 29, 2018

The Freakin' Weekend (1972/73)

I've gotten myself stagnated on my 46-years-ago pretend at the HP.

For one thing, we're smack in the middle of Christmastide as I observe it, and that's always a happily different season for me, vacating me from the same, old routines that nourish me throughout the rest of the year. And that's great. Not only is the different good in and of itself, the different also is good in that it makes me more grateful and renewed when I get back to the sames.

So Christmastide is one issue here. The other thing, though, is that pretend me is catching up to the real me that I actually remember, and so I'm getting bogged down in all of the 1972 media that 2018 me consumes. I'm pretty regularly looking at three daily newspapers on Newspapers.com; I'm looking for pretty much a whole prime-time schedule's worth of old TV episodes, and I wanted freaking everything in the 1972 Sears Wishbook this year. All of it fancies me.

Anyway, the chase is that I don't know what the heck I'm doing now. I'm all over the place, and I want to talk about everything, and I'm saying almost nothing. And that's no fun at all, because posting and commenting on stuff at the HP makes my heart just absolutely sing. I think my strategy is just going to be to start posting more stuff that is less connected and see how that goes.

Here's the Partridge Family that played on ABC on Friday, Dec. 29, 1972:

Previous and future NFL72 reports:

Sunday, December 16, 2018

NFL Update (1972)

In heaven, may my "NFL Update" posts at the HP be consistent, comprehensive and lively. Dear Lord, please let it be so. Amen.

Previous and future NFL72 reports:

Friday, December 14, 2018

What's On TV (Late) Tonight (1972)?

Sunday, December 9, 2018

NFL72 Update: Week 13

Dec. 9, 1972:

— Browns at Bengals

— Redskins at Cowboys

Dec. 10:

— Lions at Bills

— Bears at Eagles

— Dolphins at Giants

— Patriots at Saints

— Rams at Cardinals

— Steelers at Oilers

— Packers at Vikings

— Chargers at Broncos

— Falcons at 49ers

— Colts at Chiefs

Dec. 11:

— Jets at Raiders

Previous and future NFL72 reports:

Friday, December 7, 2018

What's On TV (Late) Tonight (1972)?

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Kentucky 75 - 66 Michigan State (No. 1,082)

Congratulations to Cynthiana's Joe B. Hall on his first-ever victory as University of Kentucky head basketball coach.

Monday, November 26, 2018

NFL72 Update: Week 11 (Sunday)

Nov. 26:

— Packers at Redskins

— Rams at Saints

— Vikings at Steelers

— Eagles at Giants

— Bills at Browns

— Broncos at Falcons

— Bengals at Bears

— Patriots at Colts

— Oilers at Chargers

— Chiefs at Raiders

Here's Phil Finch in the Sunday, Nov. 26, 1972, San Francisco Examiner:

The Oakland Raiders have spent their last two weekends settling old debts. Today, they can transform a disappointing season and even up the biggest account of all when they play the Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m., at the Oakland Coliseum.

The Raiders, now 6-3-1, made up for years of harassment by the Cincinnati Bengals when they dominated the Cincinnati club two weekends ago, reclaiming the American Football Conference’s Western Division lead.

A week ago, the Raiders atoned at least partilly for that embarrassing upset inflicted by the Denver Broncos early this season. The Raiders exacted their pound of flesh with insistent precision, outclassing the Broncos in almost every department that football coaches consider important.

None of that, though, helped salve the sting of a loss in Kansas City three weeks ago. The Chiefs, on that afternoon, were perceptibly the stronger and more confident team.

But, with a victory today, the Raiders would move 2 1/2 games up on the Chiefs, with three games to play. Moreover, they could help break the spirit of the Chiefs, who haven’t won a game since beating Oakland in K.C.

Several Raiders have individual face-saving to do, too, after that 27-14 loss in Kansas City. …Art Shell, the veteran offensive tackle, was tagged “Highway 78” by a local sportswriter playing off Shell’s uniform number the day after the game. The reference was to Shell’s supposed problems with Chiefs end Aaron Brown in the loss, but it was unfair and somewhat inaccurate.

Previous and future NFL72 reports:

Friday, November 23, 2018

What's On TV Today and Tonight (1972)?

Monday, October 29, 2018

NFL72 Update

It's the last season at War Memorial Stadium for the Buffalo Bills, and it's the first season back for Lou Saban, who coached the Bills to the 1964 and '65 AFL championships but spent the last five seasons with the Denver Broncos. Things didn't go so hot for Saban in Denver, but things didn't go so hot for the Bills without Saban. So, after a one-win NFL71, Saban is back in Buffalo, and, in Week 7 of NFL72, it's the 4-2 Pittsburgh Steelers in town to face the 2-4 Bills on Sunday, Oct. 29. The Steelers win, 38-21, but the game is notable for the 189-yard rushing explosion by Buffalo's O.J. Simpson.

Since we last checked in with Orenthal James, Simpson has been plodding along in Buffalo, averaging about four yards per carry each of his three seasons and accumulating no more than 742 yards in any of them. But in NFL72, despite Buffalo's losing five guards and two other offensive linemen to injury, Simpson logs a league-leading 1,251 rushing yards, including a 94-yarder in this loss to Pittsburgh.

Then, in the NFL73 draft, Saban will bolster Simpson's blocking with selection of offensive linemen with each of Buffalo's first three picks (including eventual-hall-of-gamer Joe DeLamielleure). And that will precipitate Simpson's record-breaking NFL73 of 2,003 rushing yards, and Buffalo's first winning record (9-5) in seven seasons. Saban will, in fact, coach the Bills to three straight winning seasons starting in NFL73, including one playoff appearance.

Of course, there was one team that Saban, Simpson and the Bills could never quite get around during that era.

Previous and future NFL72 reports:

Monday, September 24, 2018

NFL72 Update

Welcome to Philly.

Previous and future NFL72 reports:

Sunday, September 16, 2018

What's On TV Tonight (1972)?

Debuting Saturday, Sept. 16, 1972, my all-time-favorite show ...

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

NFL72 Update

The Miami News’ Football 1972 pullout--included in the Tuesday, Aug. 29, edition--is a marvel.

Its cover features a drawing of Larry Csonka barreling through a bunch of Chicago Bears, against the backdrop of a huge picture of Larry Little. Inside, the Miami News explains its artistic choices: “Larry Little and Larry Csonka are the guts of the Dolphins’ football team. They are a team, a big bear of a guard and a bruiser of a running back in the tradition of Jerry Kramer and Jim Taylor, of Gene Hickerson and Jimmy Brown. They are the symbol of football.”

Man, that gets me so fired up!

In his main story on the Dolphins in the section, Al Levine notes a number of good fortunes that befell the Dolphins along their Super Bowl journey a season ago: only one starter missing more than two games with injury, Jan Stenerud’s unlikely missed 31-yard field goal in the playoff game, New England’s upset of Baltimore to help Miami win the division, the league’s easiest regular-season schedule per NFL71’s final standings, etc. But there's really not an earnest attempt to temper or dispute optimism about the Dolphins. The newspaper unabashedly declares that Miami will not be threatened in the AFC East, and the headline of Levine’s lead story is, “The thinking’s Super.”

His story includes this quote from Don Shula about the difficulty of getting a team in position to challenge in the postseason: “The thing that I’ve found you have to do is get a hot streak. You need a streak in there where you win four, five or six in a row. Last year we had an eight-game streak. The year before we had a six-game streak that got us in there.”

Also, Levine quotes Shula, while you can have the defense pick up a flat offense or the offense pick up a flat defense, “the kicking game has to be constant. You have to be always ready to get some type of edge in the kicking game.” I thought that was interesting.

The whole section is a gem. I even love the ads. McDaniel Travel of 1845 Hollywood Boulevard got clever with its copy:

Get a “KIICK” out of life. Let us “TACKLE” your travel probems. We can “GRIESE” the way to where the “MERCURY” is always pleasant—far from the “WAR-FIELD.”

Our “TEAM” is “ALL PRO”, and ready to “HOLD THAT LINE” against “CLIPPING”. Call us now for reservations & tickets to anywhere in the world.

But the absolute best is an ad for a new Holiday Inn that had just opened next to the Orange Bowl, at Northwest 11th Street and Northwest 12th Avenue. This ad features a little drawing of a quarterback in a Uniform No. 12 (like Bob Griese's), dropping back to throw and apparently talking to a running back in a Uniform No. 39 (like Csonka's) as he heads out for the pass. “Go straight to Holiday Inn and I’ll hit you there,” the quarterback says.

The Holiday Inn offers “The Dol’Fan Package” at $34 double or $24 single for the night before any Dolphins game:

1. Dinner and a drink in the “Conquistador Room” on the night before any Dolphin game

2. Breakfast the morning of the game

3. A short walk to the game

4. Free cocktail in the “Explorer’s Lounge” after the game

Same special package applies to out-of-town games—Color television in every room.

FOR FREE RESERVATIONS

CALL YOUR LOCAL

HOLIDAY INN AND

ASK FOR THE DOL’FAN PACKAGE

I have been lost in a cloud for most of this afternoon, imagining how great it would've been to call my local Holiday Inn, order the Dol'Fan package, fly to Miami, visit the "Conquistador Room" and walk over to the Orange Bowl for Win X of 17.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

NFL72 Update

You know, having lived the perfect season backwards, knowing how it came out before I learned how it came together, it has never held much any drama for me.

I mean, I sort of remember the hullabaloo around being at the College All-Star Game in Soldier Field with my family in the summer of 1972, and I think I have a sketchy memory of all of the yelling at the basement TV when Larry Seiple broke for the big fake-punt run against the Steelers in the AFC championship. But, for the most part, the 17-0 NFL72 Dolphins are more a part of my inherited heritage than my living history. And, so, in the same way that I never worried about how Yorktown was going to come out because I grew up with the Stars and Stripes and not the Union Jack, I never much thought about the uncertainty of Earl Morrall taking over for injured Bob Griese early in the NFL72 season. The Dolphins were so great all throughout the roster, and Morrall had already played on two Super Bowl teams, so surely everyone knew at the time that it would all work out for Morrall and Miami to succeed.

Well, for sure, folks couldn’t’ve been any too confident in Earl Morrall after the Dolphins’ exhibition game with the Falcons on Aug. 25, 1972. Oh, Miami won, 24-10, in the Orange Bowl, but Morrall was again miserable. Al Levine in the morning-after Miami News:

Earl Morrall is beginning to wonder about Earl Morrall, too. “I have to get out and start doing the job,” the 38-year-old quarterback said, “or I won’t have a job. Shouldn’t have a job.”

In two appearances as the Dolphins’ backup quarterback, Morrall has an unsparkling passing percentage of 30.5 and has thrown three times as many interceptions (3) as touchdowns (zero).

“I disappointed myself and everybody else,” Morrall said last night after producing no points on six possessions against the Falcons.

He was 3-for-10, 18 yards and one interception and wore that pale post-game expression so familar after Super Bowl III.

Levine even raises the suggestion that Jim Del Gaizo, on the Dolphins’ “waived injured” list, could be activated to compete again for the backup quarterback job in two more weeks.

In other news from Friday night, …

— Jim Kiick got the bulk of Miami’s rushing attempts and produced 56 yards on 13 attempts. Larry Csonka carried nine times for 54; Mercury Morris, six for 15. Levine wrote, “Last night Kiick and Morris tried harder than George McGovern to present a unified front. When either went in for the other, there was a soulful slap of palms. When Kiick scored his first touchdown on a two-yard run, Morris was the first sideline observer to congratulate."

— Larry Little said he showed up at the Orange Bowl at about 6, two hours before game time, and, as he was entering the stadium, was hit in the head with a rock! Little couldn’t see who did it, and he imagines it was unintentional—maybe “a kid playing around in the stands.”

— Fran Curci and several of his University of Miami assistant coaches and players attended on free tickets.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

NFL72 Update

The Miami News is warning visiting Republicans in town for the GOP convention to not get their hopes up of getting a ticket for the Friday, Aug. 25, 1972, Miami Dolphins exhibition with the Atlanta Falcons in the Orange Bowl. The newspaper recommends Nixonites instead show up for one of the free, open-to-the-public, twice-daily workouts (9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.) at Biscayne College.

Garo Yepremian, by the way, is part of a National Guard service-and-supply unit, Task Force 50, that is assigned to riot duty for the convention—just as he was in July when the Democratic National Convention took place in Miami Beach. (How often has it happened that both of the major-party conventions took place in the same town?)

In other news, Miami-area Super X drug stores have half-inch, Dolphins three-ring binders on back-to-school sale for 99 cents apiece (“1.59 value”).

Monday, August 13, 2018

Oh, Kentucky

Cumberland County Retired Teachers donated 35 bags of supplies for students and teachers of Burkesville, KY. pic.twitter.com/37SoZZRVVU
— Sherry Radford (@sherryberry54) August 9, 2018