Sports – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

The Super Fight ….Rocky Marciano vs Muhammad Ali

Does anyone remember this? I saw this as a kid in the mid-seventies. It was filmed in 1969. It was released on January 20, 1970, and it grossed 5 million dollars in 1,500 theaters across North America and Europe. This is a fun piece of pop culture. In accordance with the conditions laid down by the distributor, bonded guards collected all prints after a single showing and took them to be incinerated. Obviously, that didn’t happen because prints were found in the mid-seventies.

By the time this was filmed…Rocky had been retired for 14 years and he lost around 60lbs to look the part. Ali was in his prime at the time but this wasn’t a real boxing match…it was fought by a computer and the two boxers mimicked what the computer said would happen.

They filmed two different endings with each winning. The one that was released in The United States, Canada, and throughout Europe showed Rocky winning. A small group in Europe showed the version in which Ali won.

Ali was critical of some people in his career but he never said a cross word about Rocky Marciano. Both boxers respected the other.

Marciano became the only heavyweight champion with a perfect professional record, undefeated in 49 fights, who successfully defended his title six times before retiring on April 27, 1956. He won 43 of his pro bouts by knockouts.

He would never see this film released. Marciano died on Aug. 31, 1969, in a small plane crash near Des Moines, Iowa, the day before his 46th birthday. It was only three weeks after he finished this boxing match with Ali.

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My 5 Favorite Baseball Announcers of All Time

This list will be different for every baseball fan. Many times it’s your team’s announcer and other times it’s a network announcer you grew up with. I tend to like announcers who are not complete homers although some I like… like Harry Caray. He made it fun even though he openly rooted for the Cubs…and Budweiser.

There are many more that could be on this list.

5: Harry Caray – He injected fun into the game. It was like a fan announcing the game. He wasn’t technically the best baseball announcer but he was enjoyable.

4: Mel Allen – I remember Mel when I was a kid on “This Week in Baseball.” That voice was a part of my childhood.

3: Bob Uecker – “Just a bit outside” the more I listen to him the more I appreciate him.

2: Jack Buck – NOT Joe… You could hear his excitement for the game in his voice. For me, the best is between Jack and…

1: Vin Scully – Being a Dodgers fan I was spoiled by Vin Scully… my number 1 favorite. If you tuned into a Dodger game you would not know who employed Mr. Scully. He would not root for the Dodgers and he knew when not to say anything and let the action speak for itself.

Vin

Jack

Don Newcomb

Don Newcomb passed away yesterday February 19, 2019. I don’t remember him playing because I’m too young. Being a Dodger fan all of my life I have read about his playing days and him talking to and mentoring the younger players with today’s Dodgers.

He was born on June 14, 1926, and played in the Negro Leagues finally making it to the Major Leagues in 1949 with the Brooklyn Dodgers winning Rookie of the Year. He won a World Series (the only one Brooklyn won) in 1955. He won the Cy Young Award in 1956. He battled alcoholism in the 50s and 60s. He mentored everyone from Maury Wills, Steve Garvey, Orel Hershiser, Mike Piazza, to current players Kenley Jansen, Clayton Kershaw and manager Dave Roberts.

At 92 he would still come to the ballpark and talk to the Dodgers and opposing players.

Here is a link. http://m.thecourierexpress.com/sports/national/bc-bbn–obit-newcombe-nd-ld-writethru/article_cad2236f-faad-5d8f-ad10-bc430854b7e9.html

The Dodgers released this today.

So you need to choose between baseball and football

https://www.sbnation.com/2019/1/15/18183785/kyler-murray-nfl-draft-choice-baseball-football

I found this article by Grant Brisbee about Kyler Murray who is going to choose between baseball and football. It’s a great article that relates to any athlete choosing between the two sports. He writes in the article if you want fame quickly choose football… if you want a long career and more money in the long run…pick baseball…but it’s not that easy on either.

He touches on quality of life also a little in this…For me, this is the key thing to think about. In years after retirement being able to…think and function would be a nice benefit.

Jeff Samardzija is a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.

Right now, Jeff Samardzija is somewhere either smoking a cigarette or rehabbing his shoulder, unless he’s doing both at the same time because he’s an absolute legend. But his brain is still good. In 10 years, his brain will probably still be good, and he’ll have made more money over his career than Joe Thomas, who was one of the best offensive linemen in NFL history.

It’s a good article.

Dodgers vs. Red Sox

It’s been 102 years since these organizations met in the World Series. Back then it was the Red Sox…with Babe Ruth against the Robins. In my lifetime they came close to meeting in 1978.

I’ve waited a long time for this, 40 years to witness the Dodgers play the Red Sox in the World Series. As a kid, I always loved to see Fenway Park on television with its vision of green and know that Babe Ruth once played there along with other greats. The team I love, The Dodgers, were winning their division in 1978 and I thought instead of playing the Yankees I could see the Dodgers play in Fenway. This was before Interleague entered the picture.

In 1978 The Red Sox had a commanding lead in the American League East division. They led the Yankees by 14 games in July I thought for sure the Sox had it. The teams ended up tied on the last day and it came down to a playoff game between the Sox and Yankees. The Yankees ended up winning the game and the American League pennant with the help of the famous Bucky Dent homer.

Now I’ll finally get to see it 40 years later in the World Series. Win or lose I’m looking forward to this World Series. Instead of Cey, Garvey, Lopes vs Lynn, Rice, and Yaz it will be Bellinger, Puig, Turner, and Kershaw against Betts, Bradley Jr., Martinez, and Sale.

Should be a good series.

Five Baseball Songs

Since the playoffs are in full swing…thought I would list my 5 favorite baseball songs in no certain order.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game – The classic song of the game written in 1908 and still going strong.

Talking Baseball – Terry Cashman released this in 1981 but it didn’t do much in the charts when it was released but has caught on to be a classic.

Centerfield – John Fogerty on his “comeback” album of the same name. This is played at every ballpark.

Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen – Based off a true encounter with an ex-classmate that Bruce played little league baseball with when they were young.

Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball – Count Basie

The excuse for leaving work today

My son texted me this…I don’t think my company would buy it…Of course being at Dodger Stadium would be hard but I will be there in spirit. If the Dodgers win today they will win the division…if they lose they are off to the wildcard game.

Colorado Rockies (RHP German Marquez – 14-10, 3.76 ERA) at Los Angeles Dodgers (RHP Walker Buehler – 7-5, 2.76 ERA), 4:09 p.m. ET. The Brewers and Cubs are playing right now to decide their division.

The Boys of Summer

Opening Day…Baseball is back and I’m thrilled. I’ve always been a baseball fan first. No other sport matches up against it. It’s a game that takes a tremendous amount of skill to play. Most players who get drafted never get to play in the majors. Hitting a major league curveball is probably the hardest thing to do in all sports.

Anyway, there is nothing like spring training and the hope for a new season. Every team is tied at 0 in the standings. I really wish an MLB team was in the city I live in…we have an NFL team that I would trade in a heartbeat to get an MLB team. Baseball is not an action-packed game like basketball, soccer or hockey but there is a game within a game. When you get up to bat…no one is going to block for you…no it’s you against that pitcher … What I love is the different sized fields, no clock, no salary cap, players with quirks, fastballs that are 95 and above and the people who have the skills to play it right…it is a beautiful thing to see.

Baseball really hasn’t changed too much over the years except for instant replay and some small changes. What you see now is pretty much what you saw in the 1920s except the players make a tad bit more. It’s one of the few things in America that stays consistent.

It’s a game of numbers and history…From Honus Wagner to Babe Ruth to Ted Williams to Jackie Robinson to Willie Mays to Hank Aaron to Sandy Koufax to Clayton Kershaw to Mike Trout… No sport’ has a history like baseball. Numbers and players are markers in that history.

I love to listen to broadcasts on the radio and to catch a game in mid-summer after I get done with what I am doing. In an instant, I’m back on the little league and then high school field.

The cold weather is almost gone and it is time for me to follow my Dodgers all the way to a World Series again…but this time…win.

Ken Stabler: No cooler athlete ever walked the earth. He is missed.

No cooler athlete ever walked the earth than Ken Stabler. He was THE rock star in sports…he was more of a rock star than rock stars. Passing the ball left-handed with deadly accuracy along with the cool nickname… “The Snake”. The way he carried himself with the salt and pepper hair coming out of the back of his helmet while sporting a beard. Always looking like he was having the best time of his life.

He didn’t just exist he lived…and he lived with style. Never saw him panic on a football field. His teammates said he would never call someone out for not blocking or missing someone to get him sacked. John Madden has said that the more pressure Ken was under the calmer he got.

He did what he wanted to do how he wanted to do it. Yes, there are a lot of bar room stories of Ken Stabler like reading the playbook by the jukebox light. He and his teammates made training camp fun… If that is a possible thing. John Madden had the good sense to let men be men and off they went. The rest of the Raiders all respected Stabler and followed him…they had his back and he had their back.

The Snake should be remembered not just for his cool personality… He was a great quarterback and should have been in the Hall of Fame long before he got in… I heard one commentator say that he would rather have Tom Brady etc… nope not me… I would rather have Stabler because for most of his career he played without the Blount rule and the timing plays that modern quarterbacks do would not run as well without that rule that was enforced in 1978… The receivers could be pretty much be beat all down the field…timing was much harder then.

Plus Stabler was just damn tough… all of them were tough back in the 60s-70s. Ken paid for that in the last few years of his life…

Some of the most well-known games in history he was in the middle of… the Holy Roller, The Sea of Hands, The Ghost to the Post and unfortunately the Immaculate Reception game which went the Steelers way but it may be the most memorable game ever.

The 1970’s team was full of outcasts, free thinkers and characters…also amazing football players. I recommend this book about the 1970’s Raiders called Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden’s Oakland Raiders.

Easy read and great stories. Makes you want to youtube and find all of the games you can find of that era’s Raiders.

The NFL would not know what to do with him today. He had a personality…that goes against the game now.

Sadly Mr. Stabler passed in 2015…He is a man I wished I would have had the honor to meet.

New book about Stabler called Snake: The Legendary Life of Ken Stabler

Ken’s autobiography called “Snake” that was published in 1986.