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EPISODE SUMMARY

In 1975, the cover of Sports Illustrated identified Soviet weightlifter Vasily Alekseyev as “The World’s Strongest Man.” Few could contradict that claim. His achievements spoke for themselves. At the time, Alekseyev was preparing to win his sixth consecutive World Superheavyweight Championship.

What made Alekseyev so powerful?

When he was just 11 years old, Vasily was put to work in the forests to help his father and the other lumberjacks. It was his job to lift and move the heavy tree logs. He believed that is where he gained his great strength. His first weightlifting barbell was an axle from an old truck. He began competing in weightlifting at the age of 18, but he didn’t win his first world title until he was 28.

In March of 1970, he became the first man to lift a total of 600 kilos in the three lifts combined, clean & press, snatch, and clean & jerk. Later that year, he became the first man to clean & jerk 500 lbs at the World Championships in Columbus, Ohio. ABC’s The Wide World of Sports televised the competition and, suddenly, Vasily Alekseyev became a very famous man...............

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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)

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

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

After a successful college career at Cal, Joe Kapp began his professional football career in 1959, playing for the Calgary Stampeders. Then, in 1961, Calgary traded Kapp to the BC Lions. Kapp led the Lions to a 1963 Grey Cup appearance, and the following year the team won the Canadian championship.

Having achieved success in the CFL, Kapp took his skills across the border to the NFL. There he had an ally–Bud Grant–who had coached against Kapp in Canada. Grant thought Kapp would be a good fit for his new team, the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota had just traded its starting quarterback Fran Tarkenton to the NY Giants, and Grant needed a new man under center......

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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)

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

EPISODE SUMMARY

After playing that historic game in Pittsburgh in December 1972, the Raiders didn’t have to wait too long to try and even things up. On November 11, 1973, they played the Steelers again, this time at home. But they lost once again, 17–9, as Daryle Lamonica threw four interceptions to seal the defeat.

The two teams met again in the playoffs on December 22, 1973, in Oakland. This time the Raiders got revenge, winning easily 33–14. Oakland gained 232 yards rushing against ‘The Steel Curtain’ defense. Pittsburgh rushed for only 65 yards.......

You can read the full blog post here.

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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)

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

EPISODE SUMMARY

The Raiders joined the American Football League in 1960 and sputtered. The team notched only three winning seasons in its first seven years. That direction changed in 1967 when the Raiders went 14–1 before losing to the Packers in Superbowl II.

Oakland continued winning over the next three seasons, but each time the team finished one game short of reaching the Super Bowl. Things got worse in 1971 when the team failed to reach the playoffs, but 1972 was a turnaround year. Oakland went 10-3-1 and was back in the playoffs. They'd play the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Those Steelers weren't much of a story until 1972. The longtime NFL member (from 1933) was a mediocre (at best) franchise. From 1933–1971, Pittsburgh reached the playoffs only once–in 1947........

You can read the full blog post here.

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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)

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

EPISODE SUMMARY

‘The Thrilla in Manila’ would be the third time that Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier squared off. In the first fight, held at Madison Square Garden in March 1971, Frazier defended his heavyweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision. The second fight in January 1974 also took place at Madison Square Garden. That one would be a 12-round non-title bout. Frazier had lost the title to George Foreman in 1973. This fight would also result in a unanimous decision, but this time in Ali’s favor. The third fight would be the grudge match.........

You can read the full blog post here.

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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)

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

EPISODE SUMMARY

“_______ (fill in the blank) should be in the Hall of Fame” It’s a phrase I’ve heard more times than I care to remember. It seems just about everyone has an opinion on who’s worthy of having their bust placed in the hallowed Hall. If the HOF committee took all of these opinions seriously, half the players who ever stepped on the field would be in Canton.

But issues facing the Hall go far beyond who should get selected in 2022–or any year, for that matter. Answers to fundamental questions are elusive: Who gets in? Why? When?........

You can read the full blog post here.

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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)

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

EPISODE SUMMARY

The 1972 summer games are the first Olympic games I can remember watching. The 1972 games were in Munich, West Germany. The last Olympics to be held in Germany were in 1936 in Berlin. Those Olympics had a dark cloud hanging over them as Adolph Hitler and his Nazis were about to start the Second World War. Things would be different this time........

You can read the full blog post here.

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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)

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

EPISODE SUMMARY

My apologies to all you Minnesota Viking fans out there, but I’m going to use the 1975 Vikings team as an example of a really good team that had an easy schedule. Some say this was the Vikings best team ever. After ten games their record stood at 10-0. Some were beginning to compare them to the 72 Dolphins. Could this team go undefeated? It was starting to look like a good possibility. But if we take a closer look we can see why they were still undefeated......

You can read the full blog post here.

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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)

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

EPISODE SUMMARY

Last week I wrote an article comparing the 1972 and 1973 Miami Dolphins. I concluded that the 1973 team was even better than the undefeated 1972 team. But in drawing that conclusion, I was in no way trying to diminish the accomplishments of the 1972 team. After all, it’s the only undefeated team in NFL history.

But when I made my comparison, I didn’t make it solely for a reason others advance about the ’72 Dolphins, who contend that the ’72 team succeeded primarily because it played an ‘easy schedule.’ While that may be true, they are not the only team in league history to have had an easy schedule.

How easy was it? To answer that question, let’s look at how another great team performed–the 1974–1976 Minnesota Vikings. I chose the Vikings because they went to two Super Bowls during those three years and compiled an outstanding regular-season record of 33–8–1 over 42 games.

How many of those 42 teams had a winning record? Only eight! And the Vikes’ record against those teams was a mere 4–3–1. How about their three-year post-season record? It was the same, 4–3. That’s an overall 3-year record of 8–6–1 against winning teams. Not that impressive!

You can read the full blog post here.

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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)

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

EPISODE SUMMARY

So it was back to the drawing board once again. This time, though, Shula and his players not only wanted to get back to the Super Bowl, they wanted to win it.

And that’s exactly what they did in 1972. But the big story that year was something else: Miami was the first–and is still the only–team in NFL history to go undefeated.

With such a history-making season, you can understand why so much has been written and discussed about those 1972 Miami Dolphins.

But the greatness of those Miami Dolphins can’t be measured by ’72 alone. When combined with the outcome of the ’73 season the Dolphins may have had the best two-year run in NFL history. In those two years, Miami went a combined 32–2 and won two Super Bowls. The Dolphins outscored opponents 865–382 and had five shutouts.

The problem, though, is that Miami’s excellence in ’73 gets lost in the hoopla about the undefeated ’72 squad. And here’s the kicker: the two-loss ’73 Dolphins may have been better than the 1972 team. I’ve heard Don Shula and several former players say the same.

Just how good was Miami in ’73? Let’s do an analysis. Then I’ll draw a conclusion.......

You can read the full blog post here.

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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)