EPISODE 205: Philly's "Vet" - With Tom Garvey

We fire up the GPS for a trek back to the City of Brotherly Love this week for a fond - but decidedly one-of-a-kind - remembrance of Philadelphia's oddly beloved "octorad"-styled outdoor sports mecca known as Veterans Stadium.

Memoirist, Philly native and actual (Vietnam War) vet Tom Garvey ("The Secret Apartment") joins us to delve into his incredible story of living in a self-fashioned apartment underneath the seats of the old Vet's left-field Section 354 (above the visiting team's baseball bullpen) in the early 1980s:

From the opening chapter of "The Secret Apartment":

"Let's begin an implausible story with a seemingly simple yet complex question: If you were single, never married with no children or dependents, would you, if you had the opportunity, have lived 'on the down low' in a secret apartment in Veterans Stadium?

"In this proposal, we have an off-the-wall South Philly version of 'Phantom of the Opera,' but the larger notion this question begs could easily challenge the inner demons of sports fans anywhere. If you had an opportunity to live in a major sports stadium of a team you grew up loving, what would you have done?

"In my case: I could, so I did."

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The Secret Apartment: Vet Stadium. A Surreal Memoir - buy book here

EPISODE 204: WHA Hockey Completism - With Scott Surgent

Arizona State calculus professor Scott Surgent ("The Complete World Hockey Association, 11th Edition"; "The World Hockey Association Fact Book") joins this week to discuss his personal passion project of documenting everything statistical from the fascinatingly ephemeral World Hockey Association - despite never having witness a single game during its brief seven-year run (1972-79).

Like many young sports fans of the 70s living outside of actual WHA markets (for as long as they lasted), Surgent's first introduction to and ongoing understanding of the upstart WHA was by way of laboring through the tiny catch-all "scoreboard" agate of local newspaper sports sections - where league standings, player transactions and a random box score or two would qualify as "coverage."

Surgent would squint hard to literally and figuratively read between the lines as to what the WHA was all about - supplemented by an occasional wire service article, usually about a team (or the league itself) in financial trouble. Imagination and hearsay filled in the rest - until the league's "merger" with the NHL in 1979, when everything WHA-related seemingly vanished with it, as if nothing had ever transpired.

By the early '90s, Surgent was perplexed as to the continued absence of anything historical - let alone definitive - from the league's statistical existence. So he struck out on his own to literally set the record straight - resulting in the first edition of "Complete" in 1995.

25 years and ten editions later, Surgent's reference opus - all 526 glorious pages of it - is now the go-to resource for anyone seeking authoritative certitude about anything WHA.

Support the show by getting two free months of NordVPN - plus a FREE GIFT - when you use the promo code GOODSEATS at checkout!

     

The Complete World Hockey Association, 11th Edition - buy book here

The World Hockey Association Fact Book, Second Edition - buy book here

EPISODE 203: Seattle's Once (+ Future?) SuperSonics - With Jon Finkel

After a severely challenging, COVID-hampered 2020, it wasn't altogether surprising to hear NBA Commissioner Adam Silver openly muse with reporters at year's end about the potential for adding a new franchise or two to help shore up the league's finances.

"I'd say it's caused us to maybe dust off some of the analyses on the economic and competitive impacts of expansion," Silver said back in December. "We've been putting a little bit more time into it than we were pre-pandemic."

While not necessarily a fait accompli, it is still a remarkable turn of strategic thinking that immediately sent local tongues wagging in multiple North American cities from Las Vegas to Louisville to even Mexico City and Montreal.

But few would argue that the aggrieved city of Seattle - losers of the much-beloved SuperSonics in the summer of 2008 to a carpet-bagging ownership group from Oklahoma City - should be the first in line for a new club when the NBA is officially ready.

Author Jon Finkel ("Hoops Heist: Seattle, the Sonics and How a Stolen Team's Legacy Gave Rise to the NBA's Secret Empire") helps us bolster the case for big-time basketball's return to the Emerald City - through the eyes of both Sonics' legends like Lenny Wilkens, Spencer Haywood, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp & Ray Allen, as well as via home-grown players like Isaiah Thomas, Brandon Roy, Doug Christie, Jason Terry, Nate Robinson & Jamal Crawford - who all came of age in the Sonics' shadow and now define the modern-day NBA.

Support the show by getting two free months of NordVPN - plus a FREE GIFT - when you use promo code GOODSEATS at checkout!

Hoops Heist: Seattle, the Sonics and How a Stolen Team’s Legacy Gave Rise to the NBA’s Secret Empire - buy book here

EPISODE 202: The Hilldale Club - With Neil Lanctot

We continue our dogged pursuit of the history of baseball's Negro Leagues with a stop this week in the suburban Philadelphia borough of Darby, PA - for a look at the famed Hilldale Club with SABR Seymour Medal-winning historian Neil Lanctot ("Fair Dealing and Clean Playing: The Hilldale Club and the Development of Black Professional Baseball").

Established as an amateur boys team in 1910 by a moonlighting civil servant named Ed Bolden, the club incorporated in November 1916, as the Hilldale Baseball & Exhibition Company - and developing into a professional Negro League powerhouse in the 1920s.

Along with Atlantic City's Bacharach Giants, Hilldale played as eastern "associates" of the predominantly midwestern Negro National League in 1920-21 - before becoming charter members of a full-fledged Bolden-founded rival Eastern Colored League in 1923.

Immediately, Hilldale's "Darby Daisies" became the team to beat - winning the ECL's first three league pennants, and earning two trips to the first-ever Colored World Series against the NNL's powerhouse Kansas City Monarchs - barely losing a best-of-nine series in 1924, but dominating in a five games-to-one title in 1925.

Darby lineups were frequently stocked with some of the top players of the era - including six eventual baseball National Baseball Hall of Famers: Oscar Charleston, "The Immortal" Martin Dihigo, "Pop" Lloyd, "Judy" Johnson, "Biz" Mackey, and Louis Santop.

​Hilldale also made waning appearances in 1929's one-year American Negro League and 1932's East-West League ​as the economic strains of the Great Depression ultimately pushed the club into extinction.

     

Fair Dealing and Clean Playing: The Hilldale Club and the Development of Black Professional Baseball - buy book here

Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution - buy book here

EPISODE 201: Eddie "The Mogul" Gottlieb - With Rich Westcott

Philadelphia's dean of baseball writers Rich Westcott ("The Mogul: Eddie Gottlieb, Philadelphia Sports Legend and Pro Basketball Pioneer") steps outside the batter's box this week to help us go deep into the story of one of pro basketball's most foundational figures, Eddie Gottlieb.

Armed with a great smile and a razor-sharp memory, the Ukranian-born and South Philly-raised Gottlieb was a multi-faceted hoops pioneer - rules innovator, successful coach, masterful promoter, and logistics wizard - whose tactical talents and business acumen gave rise to what would ultimately evolve into today's NBA.

In 1918, Gottlieb organized and coached a social club-sponsored amateur team for the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association (SPHA) that he grew into a regionally dominant and ultimately professional powerhouse; from the late 1920s to early 1940s, the SPHAs dominated the original Eastern and American Basketball Leagues, winning multiple championships and regularly beating prominent touring clubs like the Original Celtics and the New York Renaissance Five (Rens).

In 1946, Gottlieb helped establish a new professional league - the Basketball Association of America. As owner, general manager, coach, and "promoter-in-chief" of the league's Philadelphia Warriors, he won the BAA’s first championship in 1946-47.

Three seasons later, Gottlieb played a pivotal role in the merger of the BAA with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association, where his Warriors would win a second league crown in 1956, and to which he would later add the groundbreaking talents of one Wilt Chamberlain in 1959.

After selling the team in 1962, Gottleib became the NBA's "Mr. Basketball" - the definitive and authoritative resource spanning league rules, history, scheduling, and operations - until his death in 1979.  He is immortalized not only as a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, but also as the name on the trophy given annually to the NBA's Rookie of the Year.

The Mogul: Eddie Gottlieb, Philadelphia Sports Legend and Pro Basketball Pioneer - buy book here

EPISODE 200: C.C. Pyle's "Bunion Derby" - With Geoff Williams

Author Geoff Williams (C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America) joins for the stranger-than-fiction story of the cross-country long-distance running event/endurance contest that only the Roarin' 20s could have spawned.

On March 4, 1928, a motley assortment of nearly 200 marathon pros, amateur sports enthusiasts and random publicity-seekers took to the starter's pistol from Los Angeles' Legion Ascot Speedway to begin an incredible 3,423-mile trek (half of it on a brand-new Route 66 highway) to New York's Madison Square Garden as part of the "C.C. Pyle International Transcontinental Foot Race of 1928" dubbed the "Bunion Derby" by the sports press - in pursuit of their share of a combined $48,500 in cash prizes offered by archetypal sports promoter Charles C. ("Cash & Carry") Pyle.

Pyle was the P.T. Barnum of sports promotion, who first came into prominence by convincing collegiate football standout Red Grange to turn pro. Grange helped Pyle make a fortune, which he later parlayed into a similar turn promoting the first professional US tennis tour, converting top amateurs like Suzanne Lenglen.

But it was the transcontinental ultra-marathon concept that would be Pyle's legacy: "It will be the greatest free show ever offered the American public," Pyle boasted. "The runners will go through hundreds of towns, each of which will be assessed for advertising. Thousands will flock to these towns to see the runners. We'll sell them programs and tickets to our traveling side show."

On May 26, just 55 survivors stumbled into the Garden, where a 19-year-old Oklahoma Native American named Andrew Payne crossed the finish line to win - an 84-day journey comprising a total running time of 573 hours, 4 minutes and 34 seconds - a roughly 16-hour lead over second-place finisher John Salo of Passaic, NJ.

The prize money was held up for a week, but was finally doled out by fellow promoter Tex Rickard, who bailed out Pyle from an estimated $150,000 loss on the endeavor.  Incredibly, Pyle came back for a second (and ultimately final) run in 1929 - with similar results.

C.C. Pyle’s Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America - buy book here

EPISODE 199: The "Forgotten" 1974 Summit Series - With Craig Wallace

After overwhelming response to our Episode 194 exploration ​of hockey's epic 1972 "Summit Series," we gas up the Zamboni for a return visit into Canada/Russian competition lore - this time for the equally intriguing (but often overlooked) sequel Summit Series of 1974 - with sports author/historian Craig Wallace (The Forgotten Summit: A Canadian Perspective on the 1974 Canada-Soviet Hockey Series).

While ostensibly a "round two" between the world's top national hockey programs, the 1974 Series differed in that the Canadian side was comprised exclusively of players from the World Hockey Association (WHA) - a major preseason promotional boost for the fledgling two-year-old circuit still struggling to gain a pro foothold against the mighty NHL.

As a result, wildly popular Canadian WHA stars like Winnipeg's Bobby Hull, Houston's Gordie Howe and Cleveland's Gerry Cheevers - each forbidden by the NHL from playing two years earlier - saw their first national team action, joined by returning series veterans Paul Henderson, Frank Mahovlich and Pat Stapleton.

Despite a strong start in the first two games, Team Canada could not replicate its trailblazing success from their 1972 exploits; the Soviets won the series (4 wins, 3 ties, 1 loss) - but as Wallace reveals, the games were close, extremely competitive and wildly entertaining - replete with just as much drama and excitement as its predecessor (and even better uniforms).

The Forgotten Summit: A Canadian Perspective on the 1974 Canada-Soviet Hockey Series - buy book here

EPISODE 198: Johnny Buss

We sit down with the eldest scion of Los Angeles' legendary Dr. Jerry Buss family sports empire for a wide-ranging discussion about its early construction, day-to-day operations, eventual unwinding - and its ongoing legacy via the current NBA World Champion Lakers, of which (along with his five siblings) he is a part-owner.

Along the way, Johnny takes us through his personal adventures in places like:

• the original mid-1970s World Team Tennis (the Los Angeles Strings, Jerry's first pro sports ownership endeavor);

• Inglewood's "Fabulous" Forum (the eventual hub for Buss family-owned assets acquired from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979);

• the MISL's Los Angeles Lazers (where Johnny was president for the team's first three seasons); and

• the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks (again president, from the team's/league's inception in 1997 until 2006 - including back-to-back league titles in 2001 & 2002)

Buss also sheds some light on the often-challenging family dynamics both under father Jerry's watch and even more so after his passing - as well as hints at the sport that still intrigues him enough to potentially come out of retirement to make another go at it.

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EPISODE 197: Colorado "Rocky Hockey" - With Terry Frei

Former Denver Post columnist and long-time sports writer/author Terry Frei (“Third Down and a War to Go;” “'77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age” + plenty more) joins to discuss the briefly curious life (1976-82) of NHL hockey's Colorado Rockies - Frei's first-ever professional newspaper beat assignment back in the day.

As originally recounted in his eyebrow-raising 2010 memoir Playing Piano in a Brothel: A Sports Journalist's Odyssey, Frei helps us better understand the events, personalities and hijinks that comprised the six-year Denver incarnation of the former Kansas City Scouts and future New Jersey Devils franchise - with some perspective on its under-appreciated history and legacy.

It's a story that traverses four separate owners, six different coaches, a constant threat of relocation, a terrible lease arrangement in a state-of the art (McNichols) arena, one meager (1978) playoff appearance (despite finishing 21 games under .500), a legendary logo - and a bombastic season of sour "Grapes."

If you're a fan of the Devils or today's Colorado Avalanche, consider this your hockey history lesson for the week!

Support the show by getting four free months of NordVPN when you use promo code GOODSEATS at checkout!

          

Playing Piano in a Brothel: A Sports Journalist’s Odyssey - buy book here

‘77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age - buy book here

Third Down and A War to Go - buy book here

EPISODE 196: Baltimore's "Ghosts of 33rd Street" - With Troy Lowman

Filmmaker and Maryland-native Troy Lowman ("The Ghosts of 33rd Street") helps us kick off the new year with a look back at the pro football franchise that still looms large over the city of Baltimore's sports exploits - the Colts.

While the Ravens have been carrying the region's modern-day NFL torch since their messy arrival/conversion from the original Cleveland Browns franchise in 1996, few residents of Charm City would dispute the deep roots and lasting contributions of the legendary club that preceded them from 1953-83 - including three memorable NFL championships and a Super Bowl [V] title.

Before surreptitiously absconding for the greener financial pastures of Indianapolis in the snow-whipped overnight/morning hours of March 28-29, 1984, the Colts had largely been the darlings of Baltimore sports fans for much of their 30 years - only to be undone by a long-festering brew of owner greed, stadium economics and political miscalculation.

Lowman helps us unravel the elongated story arc of the once-beloved Baltimore Colts franchise, why the club ultimately left, and how that which has replaced it since will never fully equal what once was.

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The Ghosts of 33rd Street - rent/buy film here

EPISODE 195: Second-Annual Year-End Holiday Spectacular!

We bid an emphatic good riddance to a crappy 2020 with our second-annual holiday roundtable spectacular featuring the return of fellow defunct sports enthusiasts Andy Crossley (Fun While It Lasted & Episode 2); Paul Reeths (OurSportsCentral.com, StatsCrew.com & Episode 46); and Steve Holroyd (Episodes 92, 109, 149 & 188) – for a spirited roundtable discussion about the past, present and potential future of “forgotten” pro sports teams and leagues.

It's a look back at some of the year’s most notable events, including:

• COVID-19's wrath across the entirety of pro sports;

• The mid-season implosion of the reincarnated XFL;

• Premier League Lacrosse's absorption of 20-year-old Major League Lacrosse;

• New names for the NFL's Washington and Raiders franchises; AND

• Major League Baseball’s RSVP approach to contracting the minors.

Plus, some predictions on what might transpire in 2021, as:

• Major League Cricket gears up for launch;

• The Rock cooks up a resuscitation recipe for the XFL;

• Cleveland's baseball club ponders a new nickname - and the others likely to follow;

• Adidas unevenly tries to cash in on NHL retro jerseys;

• Soccer expansion in Louisville (NWSL), Austin (MLS) and NISA; AND

• We continue to search for anyone with updates about Mark Cuban’s Professional Futsal League!

Support the show by getting four free months of NordVPN when you use promo code GOODSEATS at checkout!

EPISODE 194: Hockey's 1972 "Summit Series" - With Rich Bendell

Just about any Canadian of a certain age will be able to tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing on September 28, 1972.

That's the day when "Team Canada" (and Toronto Maple Leaf) forward Paul Henderson scored a dramatic and decisive late-third-period "goal heard around the world" to clinch the eighth and final game of an epic month-long hockey series against a similar professional all-star team from the Soviet Union - in what is today remembered as simply the "Summit Series."

Hockey historian Rich Bendell ("The Summit Series: Stats, Lies & Videotape - The Untold Story of Hockey's Series of the Century") joins us this week for a deep dive into the curious, yet now-iconic battle between the sport's two top superpowers at the time - played against the backdrop of global 1970s-era Cold War tensions - that morphed from a relatively unassuming cultural exchange-oriented "exhibition" into the defining hallmark of each country's rich hockey heritage.

1972 Summit Series: Stats, Lies & Videotape - The Untold Story of Hockey’s Series of the Century - buy book here

EPISODE 193: Ebbets Field Flannels - With Jerry Cohen

A guilty pleasure this week, as we go deep into the story of iconic vintage sportswear retailer Ebbets Field Flannels - the world leader in researching, sourcing and creating 100% authentic athletic apparel - with its owner and founder Jerry Cohen. From the EFF website:

"Jerry Cohen grew up in Brooklyn, not far from where the fabled stadium once stood in Flatbush. Jerry listened to his father tell stories of the colorful players of another era. He was proud of the fiercely independent neighborhood. And the Brooklyn Dodgers' heritage as the first major league team to integrate professional baseball in 1947, with the addition of Hall-of-Famer Jackie Robinson.

"Jerry was fascinated with sports emblems and uniforms. As a youngster, he would purchase baseball cards to see the uniform changes and colors rather than for the players. Fast-forward to 1987, when he was trying to find a vintage flannel baseball jersey to wear onstage with his rock & roll band.

"Not satisfied with the 'polyester era' look and designs, Jerry became a bit obsessed, and eventually tracked down some old wool baseball flannel and had a few shirts made for himself. When people literally wanted to buy the shirt off his back, Ebbets Field Flannels was born. Focusing on non-major league history such as the Negro leagues and the pre-1958 Pacific Coast League gave the company a unique twist, and brought relatively unknown baseball history to the public at large.

"Over 30 years and thousands of flannels later, EFF is still making vintage jerseys, jackets and caps in America the old fashioned way, using original materials and manufacturing techniques.

"Each limited edition garment is handmade from the world's largest inventory of 100% authentic, historical fabrics. All jerseys, ballcaps, jackets and sweaters are cut, sewn, or knit, from original fabrics and yarns.

"We don't follow the latest fads. Instead, we're fanatics when it comes to historical accuracy, backed by documented research. We weave that local color and heritage into an array of products as timeless as the game itself."

Buy early & often from Ebbets Field Flannels (10% off with promo code: GOODSEATS10) here

EPISODE 192: The Oakland/California Clippers - With Derek Liecty

For the first time since Episode 47 with Dennis Seese, we dial back to US pro soccer's optimistic but tenuous late 1960's reboot, with Derek Liecty - the founding general manager of one the period's most successful (yet historically overlooked) teams, the Oakland (née California) Clippers.

One of ten inaugural franchises in the renegade National Professional Soccer League - one of two competing attempts to launch true "Division One"  soccer in North America (the other being an officially FIFA-sanctioned 12-team United Soccer Association) in the spring of 1967 - the Clippers were unquestionably the NPSL's best club.

Stocked with a pipeline of top Yugoslavian imports (including NPSL All-Stars Ilija Mitic and Mirko Stojanovic), the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum-based club captured the regular season title with 19-8-5 record (23 points better than the second-best Baltimore Bays), and were undefeated at home.  The Clippers bested the Bays in the two-game NPSL championship final (4-2 on aggregate) and also claimed an unprecedented "treble" by defeating the division runner-up St. Louis Stars for the league's post-championship "Commissioner's Cup."

Survivors of an off-season NPSL-USA merger, the Clippers continued their winning ways in the new 17-team North American Soccer League - tying for most wins (18), scoring the most goals (71), posting the second-best point total (185), and sending five players to the 1968 NASL All-Star team. But due to a quirk in the league's distortional divisional points system, the club oddly missed the four-team playoff cut - and were denied a chance to defend its NPSL title.

When the NASL contracted to just five clubs at season's end, Oakland owners Joseph O'Neill and H.T. Hilliard opted instead for a more lucrative series of independent international exhibitions; renamed again as the California Clippers, the team played top teams such as Atlas, Chivas, USSR champion Dynamo Kiev, and Italian champion Fiorentina at stadiums across the state (including LA's Memorial Coliseum).

O'Neill and Hillard pulled the plug for good in June 1969, when the US Soccer Federation refused to sanction further matches.

The Rebirth of Professional Soccer in America: The Strange Days of the United Soccer Association - buy book here

EPISODE 191: National League Baseball's 1900 Contraction - With Bob Bailey

We celebrate the Society for American Baseball Research's fiftieth anniversary with a look back at one of the most pivotal events in major league baseball history - and featured in the group's newly-released commemorative anthology "SABR: 50 at 50".

Longtime Society contributor Bob Bailey ("Four Teams Out: The National League Reduction of 1900") revisits his 1990 Baseball Research Journal article describing how a fledgling 12-team, 1890s-era National League pro baseball monopoly found itself on the brink of implosion - as financial imbalance, competitive disparity, self-dealing common ownership, and a pronounced national economic Depression collectively threatened the circuit's very survival by decade's end.

As a result, the NL eliminated four franchises for the 1900 season - all former refugees from the previous American Association:

• Ned Hanlon's "small ball"-centric (original) Baltimore Orioles (AA: 1882-92; NL: 1893-99);

• The Cy Young-led Cleveland Spiders (AA: 1887-88; NL: 1889-99);

• The woeful original Washington Senators (AA: 1891 as the "Statesmen"; NL: 1892-99); AND

• Louisville's first and only major league baseball team - the Colonels (née Eclipse)

By 1901, Baltimore, Cleveland and Washington each had new franchises in Ban Johnson's NL-challenging American League - with Louisville never returning to major league play.

SABR 50 at 50: The Society for American Baseball Research’s Fifty Most Essential Contributions to the Game - buy book here

EPISODE 190: Philadelphia Hockey Beyond the Flyers - With Alan Bass

When anyone brings up the topic of pro hockey in Philadelphia, the conversation quite naturally starts (and often stops) with the Flyers - one of the six franchises added to the NHL in the league's 1967 "Great Expansion," and the fastest of the bunch to capture the Lord Stanley's Cup, after only its seventh season.

But as this week's guest Alan Bass ("Professional Hockey in Philadelphia: A History") suggests, limiting the discussion to just the Flyers not only ignores the surprisingly long history of the game in the "City of Brotherly Love" prior to their arrival, but also neglects the club's lasting impact more broadly on Philly's sports scene ever since.

​For example, few fans know that the Flyers were actually not the first NHL franchise in Philadelphia. That "honor" instead went to the 1930-31 debacle known as the Quakers - a hastily relocated cellar-dwelling team from Pittsburgh (the Pirates), owned by a Depression-era bootlegger (Bill Dwyer), fronted by a temporarily retired lightweight boxing champion (Benny Leonard), and producer of one of the worst seasons in the league's 103-year history (4-36-4 record; .136 winning percentage).

Or that the city nearly got its second shot at the NHL in 1946-47, when franchise rights holders of the dormant Montreal Maroons couldn't secure funding for a new arena on the site of the old Baker Bowl.

Or even that for decades before the Flyers' arrival, Philadelphia was a reliable home to a wide range of colorful minor league franchises with names like Arrows, Comets, Ramblers, Rockets and Falcons - and even after (Firebirds, Phantoms).

And we won't even mention the World Hockey Association's home ice-challenged flirtations with the market - the inaugural 1972-73 season's Philadelphia Blazers (Civic Center/Convention Hall) and 1973-74's mid-season relocated New York Golden Blades-to-Jersey Knights (suburban Cherry Hill [NJ] Arena)!

Professional Hockey in Philadelphia: A History - buy book here

EPISODE 189: The Houston Oilers - With Fr. Ed Fowler

We consult a higher authority this week to help us dig into the story of the NFL's former Houston Oilers - one of the American Football League's founding franchises in 1960, and the predecessor to today's Nashville-based Tennessee Titans.

Before decamping for divinity school in the late 1990s and a second career as a vicar in the US Anglican church, Fr. Ed Fowler (Loser Takes All: Bud Adams, Bad Football & Big Business) spent over 30 years as both a writer and columnist for sports sections at major newspapers such as the Austin American-Statesman, Kansas City Star, Chicago Daily News, and finally, the Houston Chronicle - where he spilled plenty of ink on the trials and tribulations of Houston's first professional football team.

The Oilers were owned throughout their existence by Houston oil industry entrepreneur Bud Adams - and dominated the AFL's early years by winning titles in 1960 and 1961, and barely missing out on a third (a double-OT loss to the Dallas Texans in the 1962 AFL Championship Game).

Post-merger, the Oilers spent the bulk of the '70s as NFL also-rans until the coach “Bum” Phillips-led "Luv Ya Blue" era (1978-80), that netted two straight (though losing) AFC Championship Game appearances and featured stars like Elvin Bethea, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson and rookie RB sensation Earl Campbell.

Though the team consistently made the playoffs from 1987-93 behind the QB wizardry of CFL star Warren Moon, the Oilers posted losing records in virtually every season otherwise.

Adams, who first threatened to move the team in the late 1980s, followed through at the end of the 1996 season and relocated the Oilers to Tennessee - where they became the "Tennessee Oilers" for the 1997 (Memphis) and 1998 (Vanderbilt Stadium) seasons, before permanently converting to the "Titans" in 1999. 

The Titans retained the team's previous history and records, and the Oilers name was officially retired by then-league Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, preventing the name from ever returning. 

The NFL would return to Houston just three years later with a new franchise, the Texans.

Loser Takes All: Bud Adams, Bad Football & Big Business - buy book here

EPISODE 188: The Original National Lacrosse League - With Dave Coleman & Steve Holroyd

Our resident lax experts Dave Coleman and Steve Holroyd (Two for the Show) return to help us dig deeper into the largely untold story of the original National Lacrosse League - the seminal mid-70s indoor circuit that helped lay the groundwork for modern-day professionalization of one of North America's oldest organized sports.

Originally conceived by NHL hockey owners as a means of filling their arenas in the off-season summer months, the NLL consisted of six clubs in each of its 1974 (Maryland Arrows, Montreal Quebecois, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Griffins, Syracuse Stingers, Toronto Tomahawks) and 1975 (Maryland, Montreal, Philadelphia - and the relocated Long Island Tomahawks, Quebec Caribous, and Boston Bolts) season.

While sizable crowds flocked to the league's fast-paced, rough-and-tumble summertime box lacrosse action in Philadelphia, suburban DC's Landover, Maryland, and Montreal - the NLL's other franchises found the going much tougher.

When it came time for a planned third season in 1976, however, three of the league's six clubs were already bankrupt, and the Quebecois were rendered homeless by the Montreal Summer Olympics, which had annexed the Forum as its boxing venue.

There would not be another professional lacrosse league in North America until the birth of the Eagle Pro Box League in January 1987 - the precursor to today's NLL.

EPISODE 187: The Original World Team Tennis - With Steven Blush

Pop culture writer/filmmaker Steven Blush ("American Hardcore") joins the festivities this week to (at long last) help us delve into the enigmatic story of the original 1970s-era incarnation of World Team Tennis - including an exclusive preview of his upcoming book & documentary Bustin' Balls: World Team Tennis - Pro Sports, Pop Culture and Progressive Politics.

From the "Bustin' Balls" book dust jacket:

"Tennis. Exquisitely tailored white outfits. Formally attired spectators.  Stiff upper lips and utterly antiquated attitudes that made the sport accessible only to wealthy WASPs.

"'Tennis is the perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquility,' said legendary rule-breaker Billie Jean King in 1973.

"By 1974, Ms. King and a group of investors made up of fans, promoters, and at least one used-car salesman crashed the country clubs and well-manicured courts with the creation of World Team Tennis - and eliminated proper etiquette in tennis forever.

"Tennis stars from the far reaches of the world came to Cleveland, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, and showed a new breed of fans that the emotional passion and physical violence on the court were as entertaining as any Sunday afternoon football.  Between cursing out judges, encouraging personal grudges, and the "anything goes" milieu of the 70s, World Team Tennis busted through all race, sex and gender barriers.

"Bustin' Balls is the entirely true story of the most controversial, influential and fantastic sports league you never heard of."

Bustin’ Balls: World Team Tennis 1974-78 - Pro Sports, Pop Culture and Progressive Politics - buy book here

EPISODE 186: Negro Leaguers & Baseball's Hall of Fame - With Steven Greenes

When legendary Red Sox slugger Ted Williams gave his induction speech at the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 25, 1966, he unexpectedly included a blunt admonition to the sport's establishment that something in the hallowed Hall was significantly awry - the absence of standout players from the Negro Leagues:

"I've been a very lucky guy to have worn a baseball uniform, and I hope some day the names of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson in some way can be added as a symbol of the great Negro players who are not here - only because they weren't given a chance."

The "Splendid Splinter" was referring to two of the most famous names in the Negro Leagues, who were not given the opportunity to play in the Major Leagues until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. (Gibson died early in 1947 and never played in the majors; Paige's brief major league stint came long past his prime.) Williams biographer Leigh Montville called the broadside "a first crack in the door that ultimately would open and include Paige [in 1971] and Gibson [1972] and other Negro League stars in the shrine."

The Hall has been playing catch-up ever since - and as this week's guest Steven Greenes (Negro Leaguers and the Hall of Fame: The Case for Inducting 24 Overlooked Ballplayers) argues - still has plenty of ground to cover if it is to fully memorialize the contributions of some of the best talent to have ever played the game.

Negro Leaguers and the Hall of Fame: The Case for Including 24 Overlooked Ballplayers - buy book here