Sports History Network

Total Sports Recall (TSR) is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

TOTAL SPORTS RECALL HOMEPAGE

EPISODE SUMMARY

This episode's guest is Jerry Vecchia who hails from New Jersey and is a past winner of the Visa Hall of Fans Award representing the New York Giants. Jerry Vecchia is also a former president of the Professional Ultimate Fans Association (PFUFA). He and Harv have a discussion about the New York Giants, Lawrence Taylor, Bill Parcells, comparing the Steelers franchise and the Giants franchise and more.

TOTAL SPORTS RECALL BACKGROUND

Host Harv Aronson brings you an array of sports history topics recalling great moments and athletes from sports yesteryear. There will also be guests on the show being interviewed.

No sport is left alone with an emphasis on football and baseball but there will be reflections on past boxing, mixed martial arts, basketball, golf, and an occasional hockey memory.

Harv Aronson has been an established sportswriter with one published book under his wing and brings with him nearly 55 years of sports knowledge and exposure to sports as a fan.

With a degree in communications and journalism, Harv will be using his radio voice to entertain listeners with popular stories and events from the past as well as some surprises. Some podcasts will bring interviews with a sports personality and perhaps the opportunity for listeners to join in on the show.

HOSTS - HARV ARONSON

Harv Aronson was born and raised in Pittsburgh but now lives in Jacksonville, Florida with his beautiful wife Melissa. You can listen to Harv’s Total Sports Recall Podcast, which is also available on Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. He currently writes for AbstractSports.com, the Sports History Network, and the magazine Gridiron Greats.

Harv wrote the published book "Pro Football's Most Passionate Fans" and as a professional writer has had articles published in an array of sports publications. Harv loves all sports but football and baseball are at the top of his interest. His passion is for sports history. Visit Harv’s portfolio at https://www.clippings.me/totalsportsrecall.

You can contact Harv using his official podcast email address which is [email protected]om.

You may also reach out to Harv on X using the handle @TotalSportsRecl.

Leave a voice message for the Total Sports Recall podcast to be aired at a later date.

Scott Pery and his alter ego, Professor Perry, join us to trace the Chicago Bears' history, focusing on the team's lineage since 1970, based on findings from Scott's book NFL Since 1970. Learn the amazing journey that the Bears have had in Scott's life's work of monitoring NFL teams and the W/L records since 1970.

Don't forget to check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel for additional content and the regular Football History Minute Shorts.

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't, because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

Do you want more football history? Test your Gridiron Knowledge, we feed you Daily with our new FREE activity, The Pigskin Trivia Drive.

Grab a copy of our latest book, "Marooned," on the 1925 Pottsville Maroons NFL franchise saga.

*OR* Grab a copy of our book on Western Pennsylvania football history, "World's Greatest Gridiron Team" on the 1903 Franklin All-Stars

Drop us a line at PigskinDispatch@gmail .com and check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel.

Contact us directly at [email protected]

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

StatMan and Robin is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

EPISODE SUMMARY

StatMan and Robin take a deep dive into two painful opportunities where their teams were in a position to win a championship, but failures to deliver in the clutch doomed them to be runners up. Join us for a review of the 1975 NBA Finals between the Bullets and Golden State Warriors, and the 1979 World Series between the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates.

STATMAN AND ROBIN BACKGROUND

The city of Baltimore has a rich sports history dating back to the “Hit ‘em where they ain’t” Orioles of the 1890’s. Since then, the Colts, Orioles, Ravens and nearby Maryland Terrapins have provided fans with thrilling victories and crushing defeats, and we’ve been there for them all going back to the 1966 World Series champion Orioles.

We’ll bring you the stories of our teams through the years featuring not just the action on the field, but memories of the players, coaches, executives and the city itself. From the champs to the bad teams that make us appreciate the good ones even more, there are stories we want to share for posterity. We hope the younger fans learn, and older fans relive those memories and perhaps learn something they didn’t know.

We’ll also occasionally add stories of some lesser-known Baltimore teams, in sports like indoor soccer, lacrosse, and even Canadian football. Also, don’t forget the Baltimore Bullets.

We hope you will enjoy our bi-weekly shows as much as we will enjoy reliving these great times of our lives.

HOSTS - JIM JOHNSON & ROBIN HAINES

Jim Johnson bio:

I’m Jim Johson (aka StatMan), one of the co-hosts of Baltimore Sports History. I escaped the doldrums of Washington, DC sports in the 1960s when I moved to the Baltimore area during the 1970 World Series, which the Orioles won, and met Robin Haines. We quickly bonded over sports, a bond that lasted past school years through families and careers.

I have written about sports for various websites over the years. I did “The Courtmaster” column covering ACC and Maryland Terps men’s basketball (and a National Championship) in the early 2000’s. I also wrote about college football in the mid 2000’s. More recently, I wrote about Baltimore football history and the AFC North for Baltimore Sports and Life from 2021-2023. Now happily retired, I enjoy going back to the history of my favorite teams and sharing it with Robin, and you.

Robin Haines bio:

I'm Robin Haines, a retired R.N. and lifelong Baltimore area resident who grew up hearing my dad talk about the pre-1954 minor league Orioles. The seed was planted for my growth into a die-hard Baltimore sports follower (and when you're named after a baseball Hall of Famer-well, there's a story there).

I met Jim Johnson when we were both around 12 years old, and we have shared the ups and downs (and many quirks) of the Baltimore sports scene for most of our lives. You know how a sports story or event you share with someone can instantly take you back to an earlier version of yourselves? That's how it is with Jim and me, and I hope to share that connection on this podcast.

Guest Ed Kleese and I present our Week Five 2026 NFL prediction show, focusing on our game-by-game forecasts and the current state of our records. I note that Ed holds a substantial advantage against the spread, having a hypothetical profit of $530 versus my $-940 when wagering $100 per pick. We enumerate key selections, including Dallas over Tampa Bay, Jacksonville favored in London over Philadelphia, and the Bengals to prevail in Miami, and we offer opinions on who will cover the lines. I underscore concerns about the Eagles’ faltering offense and the league’s prevailing unpredictability, which we observe can lead to rapid reversals of fortune. We identify several consequential matchups later in the week, such as 49ers at Seahawks and Bills at Rams, and we close by inviting listeners to consult pigskindispatch.com for additional analysis and to join our subsequent history and prediction segments.

Don't forget to check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel for additional content and the regular Football History Minute Shorts.

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't, because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

Do you want more football history? Test your Gridiron Knowledge, we feed you Daily with our new FREE activity, The Pigskin Trivia Drive.

Grab a copy of our latest book, "Marooned," on the 1925 Pottsville Maroons NFL franchise saga.

*OR* Grab a copy of our book on Western Pennsylvania football history, "World's Greatest Gridiron Team" on the 1903 Franklin All-Stars

Drop us a line at PigskinDispatch@gmail .com and check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel.

Contact us directly at [email protected]

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

We observed that five teams began the season 0-4, the first time that has occurred since 1976. Guest Ed Kleese identifies those teams as the Dolphins, Texans, Titans, Chargers, and Bucks. We also noted that the Minnesota Vikings opened 4-0 and recorded two wins without scoring a touchdown, a feat not seen since the 1934 Detroit Lions. I examined several rare score facts, including a 32–26 finish that has only happened twice in NFL history and a near-scoragami weekend. We reviewed other historical items such as the Bears earning three wins in four games with three different starting quarterbacks and the Chiefs’ early defensive anomaly of no sacks through three games. I closed by inviting listeners to join our preview and predictions for Week 5.

Chapters

00:11 Ed Kleese: Week 4 NFL History (2026)

03:23 The 4–0 Teams: Vikings' Defensive Oddity & Early Surprises

08:59 The Bills in the Josh Allen Era

11:38 Night Games & NFC South Highlights

16:32 Scoregami: The Week's Rarest Final Scores

Don't forget to check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel for additional content and the regular Football History Minute Shorts.

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't, because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

Do you want more football history? Test your Gridiron Knowledge, we feed you Daily with our new FREE activity, The Pigskin Trivia Drive.

Grab a copy of our latest book, "Marooned," on the 1925 Pottsville Maroons NFL franchise saga.

*OR* Grab a copy of our book on Western Pennsylvania football history, "World's Greatest Gridiron Team" on the 1903 Franklin All-Stars

Drop us a line at PigskinDispatch@gmail .com and check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel.

Contact us directly at [email protected]

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

We recount a weekend of NFL history and its surprising patterns. Ed and I focus on the unusual cluster of 0-4 teams and on the 4-0 teams that have distinguished themselves. We note that five teams started 0-4, a situation last seen in 1976, and we trace the fate of those old teams to show how rare long recoveries can be. I describe the 1992 San Diego Chargers who reached the playoffs after an 0-4 start. I also examine the Vikings’ early success. We highlight defensive feats, such as the Vikings winning games without scoring touchdowns and the Detroit Lions’ 1934 shutout run. We weigh the prospects for teams like the Texans, Chargers, and Buccaneers, which were expected to do better, and we contrast them with Minnesota and Kansas City, who look balanced and dangerous. The summary emphasizes history, context, and the lessons that form from these trends.

The NFL in 1943 was in an unusual spot. The Cleveland Rams- yes, the Rams played in Cleveland and won an NFL Championship before journeying west to Los Angeles - asked to pause operations for a year. The team's two owners, Dan Reeves and Frederick Levy, Jr., both were heading overseas to serve in the Armed Forces in World War II. That left the NFL with an uneven number of teams: nine. That doesn't make for an easy schedule. Each week, one team would be idle. The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers each had trouble filling out their rosters, as so many of their players were also serving. There were discussions about shutting down the NFL for the season, but that could have proved to be catastrophic, and the league might never have recovered from doing so. So, with commissioner Elmer Layden behind the move, the Eagles and Steelers merged operations for the 1943 season and became Phil-Pitt. However, they were also nicknamed the "Steagles," and that name stuck. On this episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes, Matthew Algeo, who wrote the book "Last Team Standing," joins the show to talk about the Steagles and the 1943 season. All of the machinations behind the merger, the challenges the NFL faced, the challenges the players faced, and just how well (or not) Eagles owner Lex Thompson got along with Steelers owners Bert Bell and Art Rooney. The Eagles had never finished a season with a record of at least .500, and the Steelers reached .500 just once. Yet, this amalgamation of a team nearly pulled off the impossible, finishing just one game off the pace of Washington and New York. Had the Steagles won just one more game, they would have ended the season in a three-way tie with the Redskins and Giants, and a wild postseason would have ensued. Check out this episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes for a look back at this incredible season and the 'Steagles."

Damon Bailey was probably the most hyped 13-year-old basketball player ever. In rural Indiana people were already predicting that Bailey would dominate the NBA someday. He even made the cover of Sports Illustrated. But he never played a single NBA game. Bailey is one of thousands of players who showed NBA potential, but did not make it.

Episode 248 re-air.

CREDITS

Rick Loayza: Head researcher, writer, and voice

Jacob Loayza: Editor, producer, and publisher

MUSIC

"Take Care" by Julian Avila

"Horizons" by Roa

SPORTS HISTORY NETWORK

sportshistorynetwork.com

sportshistorynetwork.com/podcasts/basketball-history-101/

FACEBOOK

m.facebook.com/Basketball-History-101-103801581493027/

BUSINESS CONTACT

[email protected]

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

YESTERDAY'S SPORTS HOME PAGE

EPISODE SUMMARY

With the NFL about to begin its 107th season, I have a question for my followers. Among the 32 teams, which would you say has had the most success? I'm not asking which team had the best single season, the best decade, or the best dynasty. I'm talking about going all the way back to each team's first season and judging how well or poorly they have performed overall.

There are many ways to calculate it, but I chose to keep it simple by basing it solely on the number of championships each team has won. The Green Bay Packers have won more titles than any other NFC team. They have won eleven NFL titles, three NFC titles, and four Super Bowl titles. Pretty impressive! But before you Packers fans start bragging, remember that your team has played 105 seasons and has not won a title in the past 25 years.

The New England Patriots have won more titles than any other AFC team. They have won twelve AFC titles and six Super Bowl titles. However, unlike the Packers, they have existed for only 66 years.

If we're going to be fair about this, we need to take into account how many years a team has existed and compare that to the number of titles it has won. We also need to determine what counts as a title and what doesn't.

I had a difficult time deciding whether to count titles won between 1920 and 1932. I wasn’t going to at first, for two reasons. #1 — There wasn’t a title game during those thirteen seasons. The title was awarded to the team with the best record. #2 — Most of the teams that played during that time didn’t last long. The Akron Pros, who won the first NFL title (then called the American Professional Football Association), lasted only seven seasons before folding. The Canton Bulldogs, who won the NFL title in 1922 and 1923, folded after six seasons. The 1924 Champion Cleveland Bulldogs lasted only four seasons. The 1926 Champion Frankford Yellow Jackets disbanded after eight seasons. The Providence Steam Roller lasted seven seasons and won the NFL title in 1928.

Ultimately, I changed my mind and decided to include the titles awarded from 1920 to 1932. I am also including the Cleveland Browns' four All-American Football Conference titles won between 1946 and 1949. Some may think those titles should not be included, but I disagree. The Browns proved those titles were legitimate by reaching the NFL title game for the next six seasons, winning three of them. I will also include all AFL titles won between 1960 and 1969, and all NFL titles won between 1933 and 1969. All AFC and NFC titles will also be included. Every title, other than the Super Bowl, will count as one point. All Super Bowl victories count as two points. This is because it is more difficult to win a Super Bowl than the aforementioned titles. I will then take the total number of points and divide it by the number of years the team has existed.

I considered awarding a quarter or half a point for each appearance in a title game, but decided it would make things more complicated than necessary.

I will start at #34 and work my way down to #1. How did I get 34, you ask? I am counting the current Cleveland Browns and the original Browns as two separate teams. I am also counting the Baltimore Ravens as two separate teams, one that began in 1996 and the original Cleveland Browns.

You can read the full blog post here.

YESTERDAY'S SPORTS BACKGROUND

Host Mark Morthier grew up in New Jersey just across the river from New York City during the 1970s, a great time for sports in the area. He relives great moments from this time and beyond, focusing on football, baseball, basketball, and boxing. You may even see a little Olympic Weightlifting in the mix, as Mark competed for eight years. See Mark's book below.

No Nonsense, Old School Weight Training: A Guide For People With Limited Time

Running Wild: (Growing Up In The 1970s)

We recount the remarkable 1893 contest between the United States Military Academy and the Chicago Athletic Club, an early and consequential night and indoor football game staged amid the illuminations of the Columbian Exposition. I explain that West Point cadets encamped on the fairgrounds for weeks and that the match was played in the stock pavilion beneath electric lights, rendering it one of the earliest documented contests conducted under artificial illumination. We describe how the Chicago Athletic Club, composed largely of accomplished former college players, prevailed, and how Coach Bliss—recently engaged by West Point—astonishingly entered the second half for Chicago and scored against the cadets. I situate the game within the broader milieu of the World's Fair, noting that the exposition’s technological innovations and transient architectural fabric provided an extraordinary backdrop for experiments in evening play. We underscore that the affair exemplifies the idiosyncratic practices of late-nineteenth-century sport—temporary venues, tan-bark surfaces, and ad hoc rosters—and that its preservation enriches our understanding of the early evolution of American football.

The conversation is based on Tim's recent article titled: The 1893 West Point-Chicago AC Night Game - https://www.footballarchaeology.com/p/todays-tidbit-the-1893-west-point

⏰ Timecodes ⏰

00:07 Football at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair

04:11 Scheduling the 1893 West Point–Chicago AC Night Game

05:23 The Chicago AC Game — Coach Bliss Plays Against West Point

09:40 Chicago World's Fair: Innovations That Shaped Today

11:59 How to Read More: Subscribe to FootballArchaeology.com

Do you want more football history? Grab a copy of our Award-Winning book, "The World's Greatest Pro Gridiron Team: The 1903 Franklin All-Stars" at https://amzn.to/4rG6uVe

Don't forget to check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel for additional content and the regular Football History Minute Shorts.

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't, because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

Do you want more football history? Test your Gridiron Knowledge, we feed you Daily with our new FREE activity, The Pigskin Trivia Drive.

Grab a copy of our latest book, "Marooned," on the 1925 Pottsville Maroons NFL franchise saga.

*OR* Grab a copy of our book on Western Pennsylvania football history, "World's Greatest Gridiron Team" on the 1903 Franklin All-Stars

Drop us a line at PigskinDispatch@gmail .com and check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel.

Contact us directly at [email protected]

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

I am joined in the episode by podcast Joe Santos as he recounts how the New York Giants were displaced from Yankee Stadium and forced to play their home games at the Yale Bowl in New Haven. We explain that the move resulted from lease complications and urgent renovations that closed Yankee Stadium. I describe the practical problems that followed, including long fan travel, split team operations, and inadequate facilities at the Yale Bowl. We discuss the public and political backlash, the financial consequences, and the effect on team performance. I draw on archival research and interviews to show how this episode of homelessness shaped both the franchise and its supporters. We also note related work on early Patriots history and my continuing efforts to preserve NFL history.

You can find Joe's podcast New York Giants Without a Home on the Sports History Network or your favorite podcast provider.

Don't forget to check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel for additional content and the regular Football History Minute Shorts.

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't, because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

Do you want more football history? Test your Gridiron Knowledge, we feed you Daily with our new FREE activity, The Pigskin Trivia Drive.

Grab a copy of our latest book, "Marooned," on the 1925 Pottsville Maroons NFL franchise saga.

*OR* Grab a copy of our book on Western Pennsylvania football history, "World's Greatest Gridiron Team" on the 1903 Franklin All-Stars

Drop us a line at PigskinDispatch@gmail .com and check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel.

Contact us directly at [email protected]

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well, don't because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.