Past Our Prime

They were a dynasty unlike any other. The Oakland A's in 1974 were looking for a 3-peat and the only two things in their way were themselves... and their owner, Charlie Finley. They fought, they battled, and they scrapped amongst themselves mostly before they beat the Dodgers in 5 games to win their 3rd straight World Series and nobody chronicled that team better than author Jason Turbow who wrote the book "Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley's Swingin' A's.

Catfish Hunter is on the cover of the October 7th, 1974 issue of Sports Illustrated after winning 25 games in the regular season for the A's, but that was about the only thing that was regular about that season in Oakland. After winning it all in 1972 & '73 Manager Dick Williams left the team and was replaced by Alvin Dark. And while chaos was always a part of this team, it exploded in '74.

Fights were everywhere. Outfielders Reggie Jackson and Billy North got into it. And on the eve of the Fall Classic, so did Rollie Fingers and John 'Blue Moon Odom'. The team didn't like each other, and they couldn't stand their owner. But they loved winning and that's what they did best.

Turbow goes behind the curtain and tells some of the stories from that crazy time by the Bay. How Jim Hunter came to be known as Catfish, while Vida Blue refused to be called anything other than his God-given name. How Reggie and Joe Rudi were friends to the end and how the enigmatic Finley was his own worst enemy, but still belongs in Cooperstown alongside some of the players he helped get there.

The author of many books, including singer/songwriter Kenny Loggins' memoir "Still Alright", Turbow talks with the guys in the green and gold who fought and bickered with each other but stopped long enough to win 3 straight World Series 50 years ago. It's a great talk about a great team on the Past Our Prime podcast.

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December 31, 1973... The Fighting Irish taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl with the National Championship hanging in the balance. Ara Parseghian coaches his Notre Dame kids to a 24-23 upset win over Bear Bryant with Tom Clements leading the way and Frank Allocco on the sidelines, as usual, rooting on the starting QB. That was Allocco's job as the backup quarterback and he did it the way he did everything... with grace and enthusiasm. And after the 1974 season ended, Alloco's patience and work ethic would pay off. He would be the starting QB for Notre Dame.

And then he wasn't. A separated shoulder before the season began ended his senior year. He would never start a game while playing at South Bend. Most would be devastated that the dream they had worked so hard to fulfill only to have it taken away when they were so close to achieving it. But not Frank. He admired greatly his coach Ara Parseghian who would often say, ‘Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents that which under prosperous conditions may have remained dormant.”

Allocco graduated from ND and started a coaches clinic for basketball. Years later, that turned into a high school coaches job in California in Walnut Creek where he won a state championship in 1995. From there, he went to Concord De La Salle High School and won a 2nd state championship there. He would go on to win 600 games faster than any coach in the history of California and ended his 24 year coaching career 2nd all-time in winning percentage and is the only coach to win state titles with 2 different schools.

Now at the University of San Francisco, Allocco is still changing young people lives, just like his coach and mentor Parseghian did at Notre Dame. He relishes his time in South Bend and tells us how he went from 9th on the depth chart to the backup. How he admired the tenacity of another player at Notre Dame just looking for a chance: Rudy Ruettiger. And how a chance meeting with an 86-year old "Angel" changed his life.

50 years ago he was the backup to the man on the cover of the 9/30/74 issue of Sports Illustrated, Tom Clements, but on the Past Our Prime podcast he's the starter and the winner. Give it a listen on any and all podcast formats.

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In 1968 Rocky Bleier was drafted in the 16th round of the NFL, the 417th player selected.

In 1969 Rocky Bleier was drafted again. This time by the Army. Instead of training camp for the Steelers he was in basic training for the United States. A few months later he found himself halfway across the world, with a grenade launcher in his hand when he heard gunfire. He took cover but it was too late... a bullet had struck him in the leg. Despite being wounded, he located where the North Vietnamese soldier was firing from and sent a grenade in his direction. Unfortunately, a grenade was also heading towards him, hitting a soldier square in the back before falling to the ground right at Rocky's legs. An instant later it blew up, badly injuring Bleier.

His time in Vietnam was over and many thought his time in the NFL was over as well. But not Bleier. Despite his doctor's telling him he'd live a "normal life" that didn't include football, Rocky had other plans. And a note from Steelers owner Art Rooney provided all the motivation he would need to get back on the field. It said simply, "Rock – the team’s not doing well. We need you.“

In 1970, Rocky was one of the final cuts for the Steelers but once again the Steelers loyalty to Bleier provided him the strength and will to continue on. Dan Rooney, the Steelers GM decided the team wasn't cutting Bleier but instead was putting him on injured reserve. After another year of training and rehad, Bleier tried out for the Steelers again in 1971.... and made the team. And he made that same Pittsburgh team for 9 more seasons, winning four Super Bowl along the way before retiring after the 1980 season.

It's a story of perseverance and dedication, of duty and honor, of loyalty and resilience. It's the story of Rocky Bleier... and he tells it in great detail this week on the Past Our Prime podcast. Listen and review the show on all formats.

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Joe DeLamielleure will tell you he has lived a charmed life. An All-American at Michigan State he was drafted in the first round by the Buffalo Bills in 1973. In his 13 years in the NFL, he never missed a game due to injury. In fact, he's never once had any kind of surgery in his life. And that rookie season was one to behold. He helped solidify the Bills line and opened up holes for OJ Simpson to run through en route to being the first player ever to eclipse 2,000 yards in a season. The O-line was known as the Electric Company because they would turn on the Juice, otherwise known as OJ.

6-times a Pro Bowler, Joe D. was a member of the NFL's All 70's All-Decade Team, the Bills Wall of Fame and the Browns Ring of Honor and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003. And since his retirement he has worked tirelessly to get older NFL players taken care of financially as well as their health care needs tended to. It's been a struggle but DeLamielleure doesn't back down to a challenge... like when he rode 2,000 miles to Mexico on a bike to raise money for an orphanage south of the US Border... this despite the fact that Joe had never ridden a bike before. That's the kind of man he is... one who values friends, family and faith over money, fame and recognition.

And that's why when the topic of OJ comes up, he doesn't back down from portraying his friend from 50 years ago in a light many of us haven't seen in quite some time. Not that he excuses Simpson for what took place, but Joe knew another side to OJ and still struggles to this day to separate the man he played with and blocked for on a football field with the man who killed two people in Brentwood, CA thirty years ago. It's a powerful talk with a man who tells us about the last time he spoke with Simpson just days before the former Heisman Trophy winner died from cancer this past April. It's a Past Our Prime episode you won't want to miss. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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The 1973 season did not end the way JK McKay and his Trojans teammates had hoped it would. Against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl USC was tied with the Buckeyes, 14-14 at the half. But the guys from Ohio blitzed the Men of Troy in the 2nd half and won handily, 42-21 ending SC's season on a down note. But on January 1, 1975... a chance for redemption.

Down 17-10 late in the 4th against those same Buckeyes, Pat Haden connected with his best friend, JK McKay in the corner of the end zone from 38 years out to cut the lead to 17-16... and after a successful 2-point conversion, SC had a lead they would not relinquish. The 5th ranked Trojans won the Rose Bowl and a few hours later, after a Notre Dame win over Alabama, they were National Champions thanks to the co-MVP's of the game: Haden and McKay.

JK had quite a career playing for his father, John McKay, at USC and then turned that into a career in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers... also coached by his legendary father. For a time, he didn't know if he wanted to play for the elder McKay. Heck, for a time, he didn't even know what to call him... Dad or Coach.

But in the end, he followed his dad to SC and enjoyed a few years in the NFL with him as well and now, 50 years after being named an MVP of the Rose Bowl, a stadium he grew up in, he joins us on the Past Our Prime podcast to talk about his days as a Trojan and what they meant to his entire family including his forever quote-able father; how his dad straightened him out in 8th grade and had him pick between a Catholic High School or a military institution; and how he and USC QB Pat Haden became friends 50+ years ago and remain so today, and what JK does every so often to remind Pat about a certain connection they had.

It's a really fun chat with a really fun guy. Fight On with JK on the Past Our Prime podcast

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There may not have been a more famous person in sports entertainment in the 70's than Evel Knievel. His motorcycle jumps were legendary... both the successful ones and the not so successful ones. And in the summer of '74, Evel was on the cover of Sports Illustrated about to trade in his bike for a rocket ship... the Sky-Cycle... so that he could jump the Snake River. It too was not successful, but the attempt just increased Knievel's status with his fans... especially young boys.

One of those boys was a kid growing up in the South by the name of Bubba Blackwell, who, like millions of others, idolized Knievel. But Bubba wasn't like millions of others... No, he was one in a million. And when it came to making jumps on a motorcycle, Bubba was second to none. And that includes his friend, Evel Knievel. Bubba would go on to break many of the icon's records and is best known for breaking Evel Knievel's jump record for buses using a Harley-Davidson XR-750 flat-track racing motorcycle.

But when your job title is daredevil, Bubba would be the first to tell you that means sometimes you're going to bite off more than you can chew and that was the case on the 4th of July, 2001 in Del Mar, CA. Blackwell's attempt to jump 22 cars ended in a spectacular crash that almost killed the showman. Bubba went into a coma and broke 19 bones but survived... got healthy... and continued to test the limits.

Now 57 years old, the fearless rider looks back on a career that saw him eclipse his idol's record jumps, talks about his greatest shows, and his worst moments, and how he got to know one of the most famous persons in the world: Evel Knievel...

It's a life like no other we've ever spoken with: Bubba Blackwell on the Past Our Prime podcast.

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John Kinsella did it all in a pool. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City he won a silver medal at the age of 16... 16!!!

And he followed that up in Munich in 1972 by taking gold and helping set a World Record in the 4 x 200 freestyle... Kinsella started that race, and Mark Spitz ended it.

But a pool just wasn't big enough for Kinsella... and he took to the open waters... and marathon swimming... something he raced in 26 times, and never lost culminating in his 9 hour and 9 minute swim across the English Channel in 1979. This was a man driven to be the best distance swimmer in the world, and he proved it time and time again.

The winner of the 1970 Sullivan Award for the best amateur athlete in the land, Kinsella looks back on a career that started in his teens and took him all over the world and back. He talks about how Montezuma's Revenge almost cost him in '68 and the terror of being in the Olympic Village during the '72 Games in Munich when 11 Israeli athletes were killed by terrorists... how the Games almost didn't go on and what the Village was like after that horrible siege... and how his friend and teammate Spitz almost backed out of his attempt at a 7th Gold in '72.

Over 50 years later, Kinsella recollects on a life of swimming... and the ebbs and flows of a life determined one stroke at a time. Join us for a great talk with a great guy and a phenomenal athlete that you may not remember, but won't soon forget... John Kinsella on the Past Our Prime podcast.

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The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal will always be remembered for the perfection of Nadia Comaneci; the golden smile from Sugar Ray Leonard; the perseverance of Bruce Jenner in the decathlon; the grace of hurdler extraordinaire Edwin Moses; and the youthful exuberance of 17-year old diver Jennifer Chandler in the 3M springboard.

Two years earlier, Jenni was a 15-year old kid getting ready for those games and featured in article by Sports Illustrated. She was spending the summer with her family on their farm in a small town in Alabama... her two parents and her two sisters driving everywhere for competitions that were prepping Jenni for a shot at Gold.

That hard work, determination, and sacrifice from the teenager and her "Gold Medal Driver" mother put the young girl in a position to make the U.S. diving team and once she did that, her coach, Carlos de Cubas, had her ready to reach her potential when it mattered most.

50 years after that precocious 15-year old was featured in SI we talk with the Gold Medalist about how that moment shaped the rest of her life... what it was like to be a part of the Opening Ceremonies... how hearing the National Anthem still moves her to tears and how she looks back on a time in her life when for one brief moment... she was the best in the world...

Jennifer Chandler, the last U.S. woman to win Olympic Gold in the 3M diving event, is engaging, thoughtful and grateful for what diving did for her and she shares her story on the Past Our Prime podcast. Listen and review us wherever you get your podcasts.

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In 1973 the Dodgers had an 8 1/2 game lead in the Cincinnati Reds before the Big Red Machine hunted them down and won the division. So in the offseason, the Dodgers acquired Jimmy Wynn... and relief pitcher Mike Marshall... and they both made quite the difference... The Toy Cannon provided a big bat in the middle of the lineup and Marshall was sensational out of the pen.

Pitching in a MLB record 106 games including 13 in a row at one point, the relief pitcher was on the cover of the 8/12/74 issue of Sports Illustrated because of a season that would see him notch 208 1/3 innings pitched while winning 15 and saving another 21 en route to the Cy Young Award, and helping the Dodgers capture the NL West crown over Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and the Reds.

And while the Reds had a surplus of stars, so did the Dodgers... with a pitching staff of Don Sutton, Tommy John, Andy Messersmith and Marshall and an infield of Ron Cey, Bill Russell, Davey Lopes and Steve Garvey that would play together for a record 8 1/2 seasons. Cey would make his first of 6 All-Star teams in 1974 and manned the hot corner for the Dodgers until leaving for Chicago after the 1982 season but not before amassing the 2nd most HR's in L.A. Dodgers history with 228.

The Penguin talks about being a part of the most successful infield in baseball history, why the Reds are in the Hall of Fame and he and his Dodger teammates are not, what it was like to go up against his boyhood idol, Willie Mays and much more when he joins us for a candid conversation on the Past Our Prime podcast. If you enjoyed baseball in the 70's, you'll enjoy this chat with a player that embodies everything there was about the National League and baseball back in 1974.

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It was the summer of '74 and the WFL was looking to compete with the NFL... only one problem... the NFL was on strike. And 6 weeks into the work stoppage the owners not only weren't interested in the players demands... neither were a bunch of the players as well. They were in need of some leadership and the great Hall of Fame Tight End and first NFLPA President John Mackey was ready to turn the control over to his teammate and friend Bill Curry. The only problem was... Bill didn't want the job.

A 2-time Pro-Bowl Center and 3-time NFL Champion including Super Bowl I and V wins, Curry has a football resume that is 2nd to none. But that summer 50 years ago was a stressful time for him as the owners refused to negotiate, the players were not united, and the union was in shambles. But the cool handedness of Curry settled things, and while the players returned to the field without a deal, the foundation was set for the players to finally get a piece of the action... and then some.

Curry talks about his time in Green Bay and his relationship with Vince Lombardi and his wife, Marie and how a death bed conversation with his coach changed his life. He went on to be a coach himself at Georgia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky and then capped off a football career as an analyst at ESPN.

He's a thoughtful, kind and wise man who has seen it all and done it all. Now at age 81, Coach Curry looks back on a life well lived... the highs, the lows... the good, the not-so-good... the wins... and the losses. We talk about it all starting with the strike of 1974 on the Past Our Prime podcast.

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