Throw Away Your Troubles

From fifty years ago and across the pond...

To anyone who happens to find this post, a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Sports74 Gold: Bibliography

Here are some of the books and sites I used in compiling this information, from the project's beginning in the summer of 2011 and its arrival on the Web in 2013 and '14 to further research done in 2023 and '24. On links provided (if any) with this blog's pages, I make no representation as to the content of the sites to which I might link.

I never properly cited Baseball Digest as a source for that Hank Aaron post, so unless I still have (and can find) the March-April 2019 issue somewhere, it will remain uncited.

Books and other Publications

Ash, Russell. The Top 10 of Everything 2001. 1st American ed. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2000.

Ash, Russell. The Top 10 of Everything 2008. London: Hamlyn, 2007.

Athlon Sports Baseball 2014. Nashville, Tenn.: Athlon Sports Media, 2014.

Belsky, Gary, and Neil Fine. 23 Ways to Get to First Base: The ESPN Uncyclopedia. New York: ESPN Books, 2007.

Brown, Gerry, and Michael Morrison, eds. ESPN Information Please Sports Almanac 2000. New York: Hyperion, 1999.

Brown, Gerry, and Michael Morrison, eds. ESPN Sports Almanac 2007. New York: ESPN Books, 2006.

Brown, Gerry, and Michael Morrison, eds. ESPN Sports Almanac 2008. New York: ESPN Books, 2007.

Brunner, Borgna, ed. Time Almanac 2001 with Information Please. Time Life Education, 2000.

Daly, Dan, and Bob O'Donnell. The Pro Football Chronicle. New York: Collier Books, 1990.

Dickson, Paul. The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, Third Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 2009.

Dryden, Steve, ed. The Hockey News Century of Hockey. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000.

Duplacey, James, and Eric Zweig, comp. Official Guide to the Players of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly, 2010.

50 Years of American Sports. New York: World Almanac Books, 2011.

Goldblatt, David. World Soccer Yearbook 2002-3. Dorling Kindersley, 2002.

The Guinness Book of Records 1994. Bantam ed. New York: Bantam Books, 1994.

Guinness World Records 2001. Guinness World Records, 2000.

Guinness World Records 2004. Guinness World Records, 2003.

Guinness World Records 2005. Guinness World Records, 2004.

Guinness World Records 2006. Guinness World Records, 2005.

Guinness World Records 2007. Guinness World Records, 2006.

Guinness World Records 2008. Guinness World Records, 2007.

Harris, David. The League: The Rise and Decline of the NFL. New York: Bantam Books, 1986.

Hassan, John, ed. 1997 Information Please Sports Almanac. Houghton Mifflin, 1996.

James, Bill. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York: Free Press, 2001.

Lowry, Philip J. Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of Major League and Negro League Ballparks. New York: Walker & Company, 2006.

McCall, Ken, ed. Virginia High School League Book of Records. 16th ed. Charlottesville, Va.: Virginia High School League, 2012. Web.

Meserola, Mike, ed. The 1991 Information Please Sports Almanac. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1990.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Baseball Hall of Shame. New York: Pocket Books, 1985.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Baseball Hall of Shame 2. New York: Pocket Books, 1986.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Baseball Hall of Shame 3. New York: Pocket Books, 1987.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Baseball Hall of Shame 4. New York: Pocket Books, 1990.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Baseball Hall of Shame's Warped Record Book. New York: Macmillan General Reference, 1991.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2012.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Football Hall of Shame. New York: Pocket Books, 1986.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Football Hall of Shame 2. New York: Pocket Books, 1990.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Greatest Sports Stories Never Told. New York: Little Simon, 1993.

Nash, Bruce, and Allan Zullo. The Sports Hall of Shame. New York: Pocket Books, 1987.

The Official Associated Press Sports Almanac 1975. New York: Dell Publishing, 1975.

Okrent, Dan, and Harris Levine, ed. The Ultimate Baseball Book. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

Rushin, Steve. "How We Got Here." Sports Illustrated. 16 Aug 1994. Web. <https://vault.si.com/vault/1994/08/16/chapter-three-the-league-leader>.

St. John, Allen. Made to Be Broken: The 50 Greatest Records and Streaks in Sports. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2006.

Solomon, Burt. The Baseball Timeline. New York: Avon Books, 1997.

Solomon, Burt. The Baseball Timeline in Association with Major League Baseball. 1st American ed. New York: DK Publishing, 2001.

The Sports Book. 3rd American ed. DK Publishing, 2013.

Sports Illustrated: Almanac 2009. Sports Illustrated, 2008.

Sports Illustrated: Almanac 2013. Sports Illustrated, 2012.

Time Almanac 2010 Powered by Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2009.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1975. New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association, 1974.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1977. New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association, 1976.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1984. New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association, 1983.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1992. New York: Pharos Books, 1991.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2010. World Almanac Books, 2009.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013. World Almanac Books, 2012.

The World Book Year Book 1974. Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Publishing, 1974.

The World Book Year Book 1975. Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Publishing, 1975.

The World Book Year Book 1976. Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Publishing, 1976.

The World Book Year Book 1977. Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Publishing, 1977.

The World Book Year Book 1978. Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Publishing, 1978.

Young, Mark, ed. The Guinness Book of Sports Records. 18th ed. Stamford, Conn.: Guinness Media, 1997.

Online sources used in general

Baseball Almanac. <http://www.baseball-almanac.com/>.

Baseball-Reference.com – Major League Baseball Statistics and History. <http://www.baseball-reference.com/>.

Basketball-Reference.com. <http://www.basketball-reference.com/>.

BoxRec. <http://boxrec.com/>.

College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. <http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/>.

College Football at Sports-Reference.com. <http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/>.

COMC. <http://www.comc.com>.

Dressed to the Nines: A History of the Baseball Uniform. National Baseball Hall of Fame. <http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/index.htm>.

Elite Prospects. <https://www.eliteprospects.com>.

Hockeydb.com - Hockey Statistics and History for the NHL and more! <https://www.hockeydb.com/>.

Hockey-Reference.com – Hockey Statistics and History. <http://www.hockey-reference.com/>.

The Internet Hockey Database – Hockey Statistics, Data, Logos, and Trading Cards. <http://www.hockeydb.com/>.

My Formula 5000. <https://myf5000.com>.

Pro Football Archives. <https://profootballarchives.com/>.

Pro-Football-Reference.com – Pro Football Statistics and History. <http://www.pro-football-reference.com/>.

Rec.sport.soccer Statistics Foundation. <http://www.rsssf.com/>.

Remember the ABA. <http://www.remembertheaba.com/>.

Retrosheet. <https://www.retrosheet.org/>.

Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew. <http://www.statscrew.com>.

WHAhockey.com. <https://www.whahockey.com/>.

World Football League. <http://www.worldfootballleague.org/>.

Specific Web pages, both used and just here as links

Affleck, Will. "03/03/1974." Bury St. Edmunds Rugby Club. 3 March 2023. <https://www.bserugby.co.uk/news/03031974-2764623.html>.

Bradburn, Jamie. "Before Toronto had the Raptors it had the Buffalo Braves." TVO Today. 29 May 2019. <https://www.tvo.org/article/before-toronto-had-the-raptors-it-had-the-buffalo-braves>.

Bruce, Kevin. "USC vs. Notre Dame 1974: That Game, The Comeback, and the End of an Ara." WeAreSC. 22 Oct 2021. <https://www.on3.com/teams/usc-trojans/news/usc-vs-notre-dame-1974-that-game-the-comeback-and-the-end-of-an-ara/>.

Crichton, Andrew. "Scorecard." Sports Illustrated. 9 Sept 1974. Web. <https://vault.si.com/vault/1974/09/09/scorecard>.

Crowley, Walt. "National Football League awards Seattle a franchise for future Seahawks on December 5, 1974." HistoryLink.org – The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. 2006. <http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=7633>.

Dreyfuss, Glenn. "Seattle's First NHL Team Never Played One Game." The Hockey News. 22 June 2023. <https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/seattle-kraken/hockey-history/seattles-first-nhl-team-never-played-one-game>.

Drucker, Joel. "TBT: 1975 US Open begins with two innovations." Tennis.com. 27 Aug 2020. <https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/tbt-1975-us-open-begins-with-two-innovations>.

Drinnan, Gregg. "The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1977." Taking Note. Blogspot.com. 15 June 2008. <http://gdrinnan.blogspot.com/2008/06/memorial-cup-history-1977.html>.

Eskenazi, David, and Steve Rudman. "Wayback Machine: Hugh McElhenny & the Kings." Sportspress Northwest. 22 Mar 2011. <https://www.sportspressnw.com/2115338/2011/wayback-machine-hugh-mcelhenny-the-seattle-kings/>.

Garrett, Robert T. "NC State Trounces Marquette; Notches NCAA Crown, 76-64." The Harvard Crimson. 26 Mar 1974. Web. < https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1974/3/26/nc-state-trounces-marquette-notches-ncaa/?print=1>.

Gerardi, Jon. "Little League World Series announces US-only tournament for 2021." Williamsport Sun-Gazette. 4 May 2021. Web. <https://www.sungazette.com/news/top-news/2021/05/little-league-world-series-announces-us-only-tournament-for-2021/>.

Jensen, Tom. "74 days until the Daytona 500: 1974 'Daytona 450' was a bizarre one." Fox Sports. 10 Jan 2017. <https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/74-days-until-the-daytona-500-1974-daytona-450-was-a-bizarre-one>.

Lind, Andrew. "Buffalo Bills Celebrate 50 Seasons of 'Charging Buffalo' Logo." SportsLogos.Net News. 13 Nov 2023 <https://news.sportslogos.net/2023/11/13/buffalo-bills-celebrate-50-seasons-of-charging-buffalo-logo/football/>.

Kirshenbaum, Jerry. "Big City Country Boy." Sports Illustrated. 27 Oct 1975. Web. <https://vault.si.com/vault/1975/10/27/big-city-country-boy>.

Parsons, Mark. "1974 NHL Inter-League Draft." Historical Hockey Stats. 24 Nov 2012. <https://historicalhockey.blogspot.com/2012/11/1974-nhl-inter-league-draft.html>.

Parsons, Mark. "1974 NHL Intra-League Draft." Historical Hockey Stats. 24 Nov 2012. <https://historicalhockey.blogspot.com/2012/11/1974-nhl-intra-league-draft.html>.

Van Steendelaar, Kevin. "May 19th, 1974: The Broad Street Bullies Claim Their First Stanley Cup." Bleacher Report. 19 May 2009. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/179147-may-19-1974-the-broad-street-bullies-claim-their-fisrt-stanley-cup>.

"ABA vs. NBA Exhibition Game Results." Remember the ABA. <http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAStatistics/ABANBAExhibitions.html>.

"American Basketball Association - 1973-74 ABA Draft Picks." RetroSeasons.com. <https://www.retroseasons.com/leagues/aba/1974/draft-picks/>.

"Chiba Lotte Marines." NPB.jp. <https://npb.jp/bis/eng/teams/index_m.html>.

"Chunichi Dragons." NPB.jp. <https://npb.jp/bis/eng/teams/index_d.html>.

"A closer look at other Little League scandals." Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal. 11 Feb 2015. Web. <https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/2015/02/11/little-league-scandals-at-a-glance/23257941/>.

"Damascus (KY)." National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. <https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/horse/damascus-ky>.

"Danny Way - 2009." Skateboarding Hall of Fame. <https://skateboardinghalloffame.org/shof-2009/danny-way-2009/>.

"Dark Mirage (KY)." National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. <https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/horse/dark-mirage-ky>.

"Delmonica Hanover - Harness Museum." Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame. <https://harnessmuseum.com/content/delmonica-hanover-0>.

"Eclipse Awards History." NTRA. <https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-awards/history/>.

"England's Coaches/Managers – Alf Ramsey." England Football Online – The True Story of the National Football Team. 12 Sept 2006. <http://www.englandfootballonline.com/teammgr/mgr_ramsey.html>.

"FRED DRYER MAKES NFL HISTORY." <http://mydamrams.tripod.com/index-11.html>.

"Hartford Whalers (1972-1997)." Sports Ecyclopedia. <https://sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/hartford/whalers.html>.

"Hicham El Guerrouj." Olympedia. <http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/73317>.

"Karrie Webb." LPGA Tour. <https://www.lpga.com/lpga-hall-of-fame/karrie-webb>.

"Ken Dryden (1971-79)." The Goaltender Home Page. <http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/drydenk.html>.

"Krisztina Egerszegi." Olympedia. <http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/48094>.

"Maurice Greene." Olympedia. <http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/89129>.

"Monday Night Football - Fun Facts and Information." Fun Trivia Quizzes – World's Largest Trivia and Quiz Site! <http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Sports/Monday-Night-Football-11054.html>.

"NASL - Barry Watling." NASL Jerseys. <https://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/W/Watling.Barry.htm>.

"New York Golden Blades." Fun While it Lasted. <http://funwhileitlasted.net/2015/03/25/1973-new-york-golden-blades/>.

"1974 Brazil Stats." FBref. <https://fbref.com/en/squads/304635c3/1974/Brazil-Men-Stats>.

"1974 RACE RESULTS." Formula 1 – The Official F1 Website. <https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1974/races.html>.

"1974 World Cup Scores & Fixtures." FBref. <https://fbref.com/en/comps/1/1974/schedule/1974-World-Cup-Scores-and-Fixtures>.

"On This Day – March 25, 1974." CBC Archives. <http://archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/03/25/>. Possible dead link.

"Paul Scholes - Career stats." Transfermarkt. <https://www.transfermarkt.com/paul-scholes/leistungsdaten/spieler/3397>.

"PEDRO GUTIERREZ MOYA (Nino de la Capea)." Historia del Torero. <https://historiadeltorero.com/toreros/p/pedro-gutierrez-moya-nino-de-la-capea-2/>.

"Sports news and scores from Sunday, March 24, 1974." Ultimate70s.com. <https://www.ultimate70s.com/seventies_history/19740324/golf>.

"Sports news and scores from Sunday, April 21, 1974." Ultimate70s.com. <https://www.ultimate70s.com/seventies_history/19740421/golf>.

"Sports Stars Born in 1974." On This Day. <https://www.onthisday.com/sport/birthdays/date/1974>.

"Tim Horton's Funeral." CBC Archives. <http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/clips/15204/>. Possible dead link.

"The Ultimate Canadian Hockey Hero." 1972 Summit Series: A September to Remember. <http://www.1972summitseries.com/henderson.html>. Possible dead link.

"USAC Champ Car Series Results for 1974." Racing-Reference.info. <https://www.racing-reference.info/season-stats/1974/UO/>.

"USAC Champ Car Series Standings for 1974." Racing-Reference.info. <https://www.racing-reference.info/yeardet/1974/UO>.

"What Happened on May 4, 1974." On This Day. <https://www.onthisday.com/date/1974/may/4>.

"Why the NFL Couldn't Expand North to Canada." CanadaFootballChat.com. 5 Aug 2021. <https://www.canadafootballchat.com/why-the-nfl-couldnt-expand-north-to-canada/>.

Sports74 Gold: Basketball Early in '74-75

With this look back at late 1974 in both the college and professional games, Sports74 Gold concludes as the original Sports74 series did.

PRO BASKETBALL

Bill Walton is the No. 1 pick in the '74 NBA Draft, and he goes to the Portland Trail Blazers. In his first season, he gets 441 rebounds in 35 games.

The NBA's New Orleans Jazz plays its first season, but first, LSU alumnus Pete Maravich is traded from the Atlanta Hawks May 3, 1974. The Jazz plays at Municipal Auditorium (capacity 7,853) until the Louisiana Superdome (47,284) opens in '75.

Three arenas that open are Richfield Coliseum in northern Ohio (home of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers and the WHA's Cleveland Crusaders), Market Square Arena in Indianapolis (ABA Indiana Pacers and WHA Indianapolis Racers), and Kemper Arena in Kansas City (NBA Kansas City-Omaha Kings and NHL Kansas City Scouts).

The Capital Bullets change their name to the Washington Bullets.

Among the NBA-ABA exhibitions in the preseason is Sept. 28, when the New York Nets defeat the Bullets 101-98 in overtime at the Capital Centre. Something had gone wrong in handling luggage, so Julius Erving and four other Nets players have to wear Bullets road uniforms.

The two leagues discuss merging, but one difference between the leagues' team owners is that the NBA's want to keep the option clause in place and the ABA's want it gone. The ABA sues the NBA for a total of $600 million. Oscar Robertson himself had filed a suit in 1970. The option clause will be dropped in the '76 offseason.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays what will prove to be his final season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

This season, Rick Barry of the Golden State Warriors makes his 4000th free throw between ABA and NBA games.

Lenny Wilkens, having coached the Seattle SuperSonics for three years before, is back to coaching after two years of playing for Bill Fitch on the Cavs. He begins his stint as head coach of the Trail Blazers.

Moses Malone, who had briefly been enrolled at the University of Maryland, leaves and signs with the ABA's Utah Stars in August, having been drafted by that team in the third round.

The Buffalo Braves play six more games at the cold Maple Leaf Gardens in '74-75. A Toronto franchise is approved for '75-76, but it will not be formed, reportedly because investors don't have enough faith in the stability of sports at this time.

This is, after all, a season in which, according to ABA president John Y. Brown, the leagues lose $16 million. "There's no way professional basketball can survive if 25 of the 28 teams in both leagues lose substantial amounts of money every year," he will say.

In October, the New York Knickerbockers gain the NBA rights to Pacers power forward George McGinnis from the Philadelphia 76ers, who had drafted him in 1973. When McGinnis instead signs a new contract with the Pacers, the Knicks lose those rights, and what follows in '75 will be a dispute between the two NBA teams over McGinnis.

The season opener for both the Cavaliers and the home Trail Blazers goes to quadruple overtime. Each team scores exactly eight points in the additional periods of this Oct. 18 game, except for the Blazers in the fourth OT, who score ten to win it 131-129.

In a game against the Hawks at the Omni Coliseum, Elmore Smith of the Los Angeles Lakers has three chances to make two free throws Dec. 28. All of the shots are air balls.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

In his final year at N.C. State, David Thompson averages 29.9 points per game and gets 229 rebounds (8.2 per game). The Atlanta Hawks will use their No. 1 overall pick in the '75 NBA Draft on him, and so will the ABA's Virginia Squires in their own league's draft, but he will go to the Denver Nuggets (who had been the Denver Rockets until after the '73-74 season) after they trade with the Squires.

This season is the last for UCLA coach John Wooden. By March, it will be the Bruins' last NCAA tournament appearance under Wooden and the program's tenth championship season.

Pat Head (later Summitt) begins her long coaching career with the Tennessee Lady Vols soon after graduating from the University of Tennessee-Martin.

Bob McCurdy of 16-12 Southern Conference member Richmond leads Division I with 32.9 points per game.

This season will be followed by the first Division III tournament.

Larry Bird, fresh out of Springs Valley High School in French Lick, Ind., initially goes to Indiana University but quickly transfers to Indiana State.

Butch Morgan, coach at the College of St. Joseph the Provider (in Rutland, Vt.), reads a poem called "Don't Quit" to the players and has them discuss it prior to the Dec. 11 game against Castleton State College. The process takes so long that the team gets five technical fouls for being late to the court, and the other team makes three of the five shots. Final score: Castleton 79, St. Joseph 78. Later, Morgan will recall that he thought his team would lose by much more.

NOTE: Over the course of this three-week interval, I received a new smartphone with a larger screen (about 5 1/2 inches), so I tested this post Oct. 1 to see how it would look on the five-inch screen of the phone I had for four years.

Sports74 Gold: Hockey Early in '74-75

This retrospective, which mainly covers what happened in the '74 calendar year, is the penultimate entry in Sports74 Gold. How time flies.

After leaving Canada with a win, a loss, and two ties, the Soviet Union's national team defeats a team of WHA all-stars in three out of four games in Moscow; the other game is a tie. The squad that represents Canada includes all three Howes (of the Houston Aeros), Winnipeg Jets player-coach Bobby Hull, and '72 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson (a new arrival on the Toronto Toros). Hull scores nine points against the Soviets and Gordie Howe gets seven.

On the way to Moscow, the WHA stars defeat Finland in Helsinki and Sweden in Gothenburg. On the way home, they lose to Czechoslovakia in Prague.

In the NHL, this season is the debut of the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals. With this expansion, the league is realigned into the Wales Conference and the Campbell Conference, each of which has two divisions.

An advertisement for the Capitals that first season contains these words: "For as little as $4 a ticket, the least you'll feel is reasonably disappointed."

Franchises in Denver and Seattle are planned for the NHL in 1976-77, but for several reasons, neither one will materialize.

The Northlands Coliseum opens, and it will be the home of the WHA's (later NHL's) Edmonton Oilers for over 40 years.

The New England Whalers play games in West Springfield, Mass. -- where they had played their '74 playoff games -- for the season up to and including Jan. 4, 1975. They play their first game at the Hartford Civic Center on Jan. 11, 1975. Except for some time in the late '70s, the Whalers will keep calling Hartford home until 1997.

The WHA's third season is the first for which plus-minus figures are available. The best in that figure is Bobby Hull with 55. The worst, with negative 63, is defenseman Paul Curtis of the team that starts the season as the Michigan Stags and finishes as the Baltimore Blades.

Ken Dryden is back on the Montreal Canadiens. After a year of absence, he has the third-best GAA in the NHL (2.69). He led the league in '72-73 with 2.26.

Speaking of the Habs, they begin a streak of 23 road games without a loss Nov. 27.

Guy Lafleur of Montreal has his breakout season with 53 goals and 66 assists.

Gordie Howe's 99 points bring him to 2,008 combined for NHL and WHA games.

Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins scores his 500th goal Dec. 22 in his 803rd career game, played at the Boston Garden against the Detroit Red Wings. He is the sixth player in league history to reach the 500 mark.

Esposito and Bobby Orr play what proves to be their last season together and Orr's last season before his premature decline.

Also in Boston, Don Cherry is brought in to start a six-year run as head coach.

The playoffs that follow this NHL season will be different from how they had been in the last four years. From 1971 to 1974, East and West teams met in the semifinals. Now, the four division winners get byes and the second- and third-place teams play in the preliminaries, with matchups determined by points regardless of division or even conference.

In the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft, the Buffalo Sabres use their eleventh-round pick on made-up Japanese player Taro Tsujimoto. Among the real players drafted this year are two future Hall of Famers, both New York Islanders selections: Clark Gillies of the WCHL's Regina Pats and Bryan Trottier of the Western Canada League's Swift Current Broncos (who play in Lethbridge, Alberta, for 12 years starting in the coming season).

The Toronto Maple Leafs draft the Broncos' Dave "Tiger" Williams, who had 854 penalty minutes in 204 games with Swift Current, but also 108 goals and 133 assists. In '74-75, he has 202 penalty minutes in 39 games with the Central League's Oklahoma City Blazers and 187 in 42 games with the Leafs.

With the first pick, the Capitals select Greg Joly of the Pats. The second pick belongs to the Scouts, and they choose Wilf Paiement of the OHA's St. Catharines Black Hawks.

In the WHA, the Minnesota Fighting Saints acquire the players who will be made famous in the 1977 movie Slap Shot. They select Dave Hanson of the Midwest Junior Hockey League's St. Paul Vulcans in the '74 draft. From the USHL's Marquette Iron Rangers, the Saints draft two of the Carlson brothers (Jack Carlson and Steve Carlson) and sign the third, Jeff Carlson.

All told, there are eight different drafts for the two leagues in 1974. To wit:

·     In addition to the aforementioned, the NHL amateur draft involves the California Golden Seals selecting Joly's teammate Rick Hampton with the third overall pick.

·     The WHA amateur draft brings Real Cloutier of the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts to the Quebec Nordiques.

·     A secret amateur draft results in Cam Connor of the WCHL's Flin Flon Bombers going to the Phoenix Roadrunners.

·     That new franchise is one of two teams with picks to make in the WHA expansion draft; the Indianapolis Racers get Bob Fitchner from the Oilers.

·     The NHL also has an expansion draft, whose most important picks might be Seals left winger Gary Croteau for the Scouts and Pittsburgh Penguins blueliner Yvon Labre for the Capitals.

·     The expansion teams also take part in an interleague draft, each one choosing a player from the Hershey Bears of the American League. The Caps take Jim Hrycuik (who scores the team's very first goal Oct. 9), and the Scouts pick Hugh Harvey.

·     In the reverse draft, the AHL's Nova Scotia Voyageurs get Al Hangsleben back from their parent club, the Canadiens, but he plays the season with the Whalers and their NAHL affiliate, the Cape Codders.

·     Finally, there's the NHL's intraleague draft, in which the New York Rangers claim Walt McKechnie of the Golden Seals as compensation for losing Seals pick Jeff Neilson, only to immediately send McKechnie to the Bruins in what appears to be a pre-arranged, three-team trade.

Soviet defenseman Vyacheslav Fetisov plays a single game this season that begins a distinguished 15-year run with CSKA Moscow.

The finale for Sports74 Gold involves front office problems, free throw problems, and a moment that caused problems for some fans in Vermont. Pro and college roundball will round out the series Oct. 18.

[EDITS 4:58-5:03 a.m: Making it look better on mobile devices.]

[EDIT 5:21-23 a.m.: Moving the entire post to a new URL. The title was wrong as originally posted at 4:28.]

[EDIT 5:24-25 a.m.: Taking out an extra space before potentially going back to bed.]

[EDITS 1:29-34 p.m.: It didn't turn out right, just copying and pasting. Back to the original post. But I'll be changing the title.]

Sports74 Gold: NFL 1974

The mid-'70s may have been an era of labor strife, but not enough to interfere with a lot of gridiron action.

Super Bowl IX is the Pittsburgh Steelers' first Super Bowl victory; the AFC champs defeat the NFC champion Minnesota Vikings 16-6. Franco Harris is the game's MVP with 158 yards on 34 rushes, including the first touchdown.

The game gets a rating of 42.3 and a share of 78. An estimated 29.44 million households watch the game on NBC television Jan. 12, 1975.

It is the first Super Bowl in which a safety is made. Fran Tarkenton is sacked in the second quarter to give the Steelers the first points of the game.

These playoffs are the third in a row in which the Steelers and Oakland Raiders meet and the first of three consecutive playoff years in which the two teams play for the AFC championship.

What will be remembered as the game of the season is the Dec. 21 divisional playoff contest between the Raiders and the Miami Dolphins. The fourth-quarter play that wins the game for Oakland is a catch that running back Clarence Davis makes despite the Dolphin coverage that will go down in history as "The Sea of Hands."

The MVP according to the AP (and in the players' vote for the Jim Thorpe Trophy) is Raiders QB Ken Stabler, who leads the league with 26 touchdown passes.

The UPI Coach of the Year for the NFC is second-year St. Louis Cardinals coach Don Coryell, who improved his team from a 4-9-1 record to a 10-6 record. For the AFC, it's Sid Gillman, who led the Houston Oilers from a 1-13 record that even his skills couldn't prevent to a 7-7 record in his coaching swan song.

Los Angeles Rams DT Merlin Olsen, a 13-year veteran, wins the Bert Bell Trophy for MVP, presented by the Maxwell Club of Philadelphia.

The AP names Steelers DT Joe Greene Defensive Player of the Year and gives teammate Jack Lambert, a linebacker, the honor of Defensive Rookie of the Year.

San Diego Chargers running back Don Woods wins awards from UPI as AFC Rookie of the Year, from the AP as Offensive Rookie of the Year, and from the Newspaper Enterprise Association as overall Rookie of the Year. Woods has 1,162 rushing yards, second-best in the NFL, and 10 touchdowns for rushing and receiving combined. UPI's NFC Rookie of the Year is New York Giants offensive guard John Hicks.

Chuck Foreman of the Vikings is the NFC Player of the Year according to The Sporting News. He has 777 yards on 199 rushes, 586 yards on 53 receptions, and a league-best 15 touchdowns combined on runs and catches.

UPI's NFC Player of the Year is Jim Hart, the Cardinal QB. The undisputed all-NFC signal caller, he leads two game-winning drives, and he passes for 2,411 yards and 20 touchdowns, but he also throws eight interceptions, or a league-high 2.1 percent of his pass attempts.

Washington Redskins quarterback and five-time Pro Bowler Sonny Jurgensen plays his last season and leads the NFC in passer rating with 94.5. His final TD is in the Skins' regular-season finale against the Bears, and he goes 6 for 12 with three interceptions in Washington's playoff loss to the Rams.

The leading rusher in the AFC -- and the league -- is the Denver Broncos' Otis Armstrong with 1,407 yards. In the two years before and the two years after, that is Buffalo Bills back O.J. Simpson's honor.

Besides Armstrong, Harris, Simpson, and Woods, Larry McCutcheon of the Rams is also a thousand-yard rusher, the NFC's only one.

This time, Ken Anderson of the Cincinnati Bengals is the leader in quarterback rating with a mark of 95.7, which is 1.2 better than Stabler's.

The Baltimore Colts' Lydell Mitchell rushes a record 40 times Oct. 20 in a 35-20 Colts win at Shea Stadium against the New York Jets. Mitchell has 72 receptions this year, a record for a running back thus far and the leading figure for any player in the season.

Emmitt Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs is the first since 1964 to get 12 interceptions in a season. By the way, those INT's go for 214 yards.

An NFL franchise for Tampa is awarded April 24, and Seattle joins that city June 5. The latter could have been the Seattle Kings, whose ownership group felt it was guaranteed the franchise and promoted it greatly, but the $16 million fee and the labor dispute are factors leading the group to concede to Seattle Professional Football, a more local group of owners, which gets the franchise Dec. 5.

A six-week NFLPA strike precludes the Chicago College All-Star Game -- an event in which the Dolphins as reigning champs would have played college all-stars, one that will only be held twice more -- but no regular-season games are canceled or delayed. The point of contention is free agency, and the slogan is "no freedom, no football." The union gets back to work before the season starts.

This dispute will be settled by a federal ruling Dec. 20 that by one contemporary account puts "the game's structure in doubt," ultimately ushering in free agency. District Court judge William T. Sweigert rules in the Joe Kapp case that a team signing someone who has played out his option is not obligated to compensate the team losing that player, striking down a rule (named for Commissioner Pete Rozelle) that had been in standard contracts.

This is the first season in which games outside of the playoffs can go to sudden-death overtime. This might be prompted by the use of overtime in the WFL.

Among other rule changes possibly influenced by the WFL's rules: the moving of the goalposts to behind the end zone, kickoffs from the 35-yard line, and a new rule for missed field goals.

The Giants play at the Yale Bowl again this year. They will play at Shea Stadium, also home of the Jets, in 1975.

With the first pick in the '74 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys get Ed "Too Tall" Jones, a 6-foot-9 Tennessee State defensive end.

Throughout the season, the Dolphins maintain their home winning streak, which started in 1971, and extend it to 27 games. That's where the streak will be left when they lose their first regular-season home game in '75.

On Oct. 13, Dennis Morgan of the Cowboys returns a Cardinals punt for a 98-yard touchdown. He is the third player to do so for that many yards, and no one will go longer until 1994.

Mack Herron of the New England Patriots breaks Gale Sayers's single-season record of 2,440 all-purpose yards in a season by accumulating 824 running, 474 receiving, and 1,146 returning. The new record, four better than Sayers', will last one year.

Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw only plays eight regular-season games. He is, however, the starter for all three playoff games, and as such he is credited with the fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive against the Raiders. His time to shine, though, will be '75.

With 2,598 passing yards, Tarkenton gets ahead of Y.A. Tittle (33,070) on the all-time list. His 35,846 career yards are at this time second only to the figure put up by Johnny Unitas.

Cowboys QB Roger Staubach's .528 completion percentage is, and will be, his personal worst for a season of 200 attempts or more.

Jets QB Joe Namath has 20 touchdown passes, a high level he hadn't reached since 1967. Also, 22 of his passes are intercepted.

Harris, a third-year player who was the consensus Rookie of the Year in '72, has 1,006 yards on 208 carries. He scores five rushing touchdowns in the regular season and six in the playoffs.

After four games with the Chiefs, future Hall of Fame DT Curley Culp is traded to the Oilers.

Norm Van Brocklin's time as Falcons sideline general, which is in its seventh year, comes to an end Nov. 5.

Ron Smith of the Raiders finishes a ten-year career with 6,922 yards returning 275 kickoffs. Billy Johnson of the Oilers begins a fifteen-year career of returning 282 punts for 3,317 yards.

Raiders kicker George Blanda, who reaches the age of 47 early in the season, plays his next-to-last year and wins the Man of the Year Award.

Far from being Man of the Year is Conrad Dobler, Cardinals offensive guard, who wears a cast on his left arm that he uses to strike opponents. This is in addition to the kicking and biting that opponents have come to expect after two seasons.

Speaking of meanness: In one of the Steelers' two meetings with the Bengals, Pat Matson, Cincinnati offensive guard, tries to limp off the field, but Greene approaches him and urges him to stay on the gridiron.

During the strike and a soccer-style kicker fad, Sal Casola is drafted by the Bills and gets cut. He lands a spot on the Chiefs, but he decides the NFL's not for him and gets his brother to assume his identity. John Casola looks different, as Bills head coach Lou Saban notices Aug. 12, and Saban tells his opponent, Hank Stram, about it before the preseason game. Saban's amused and Stram isn't. The Chiefs' head coach has to wait until the half to end this short non-career.

In his third year as Colts owner and with a reputation for being meddlesome, Robert Irsay (during the Sept. 29 game against the Philadelphia Eagles) tells Howard Schnellenberger that quarterback Bert Jones should be put in. The coach doesn't comply, so Irsay fires him.

At halftime of the Nov. 17 game in Miami, Simpson encourages his fellow Bills to play a more physical game to hinder the Dolphins later on in the division race. On the second play, he taunts linebacker Nick Buoniconti and winds up having to limp off the field. With Simpson ineffective for the rest of the game, Buffalo loses 35-28.

In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Lance Rentzel and Fred Dryer, members of the NFC runner-up Rams, pose as reporters, complete with old-time clothing, and try to be funny. "Do you think the zone defense is here to stay," Rentzel asks Steelers head coach Chuck Noll, "and if not, where'd it go?"

Besides Lambert and Swann, other future Hall of Famers making their debut this year are Raiders TE Dave Casper, Steelers WR John Stallworth, Steelers center Mike Webster, and Steelers defensive back Donnie Shell.

Besides Jurgensen, other retiring players this year include future Hall of Famers Bobby Bell, Deacon Jones, Bob Lilly, Jim Otto, and Dave Robinson. Coaching for his final year is another man to be enshrined at Canton, that being Gillman.

One of the latest Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees is tackle and place-kicker Lou Groza. Another is defensive halfback and cornerback "Night Train" Lane. The rest of the class consists of two-way back Tony Canadeo and linebacker Bill George.

Roy Blount's About Three Bricks Shy of a Load, a.k.a. About Three Bricks Shy... and the Load Filled Up, is published. This is an acclaimed book about the '73 Steelers.

Former cornerback and current blaxploitation star Fred Williamson has a short-lived gig joining Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. Former Detroit Lions DT Alex Karras replaces Williamson on the program early in the season.

The NFL is reportedly intent on organizing a six-team league in Europe starting in 1975. That will come to pass in 1995.

Jack Kent Cooke becomes the majority stockholder of the Redskins after the last of deceased founder George Preston Marshall's stock is retired.

After her breast-cancer surgery in late September, the Redskins present first lady Betty Ford with a football.

The Raiders' Bubba Smith, in his second year away from the Colts organization, sues for the incident in Tampa two years before that led to him missing a full season (see NFL '73 entry). Official Ed Marion and the NFL are on the other side of a $2.5-million lawsuit, as is local man Robert Lastra, who had been hired to hold the first-down marker. One version of the story is that Smith hit the marker and Lastra didn't let go.

Ed Meadows, who as a Chicago Bears defensive tackle in 1956 was infamous for a late hit on Bobby Layne of the Lions, one that ignited an already hot discussion about football violence, shoots and ends it all Oct. 22. He was 42, and he had played for four teams over six years.

Don McCafferty, the Lions' head coach, dies of a heart attack July 28.

Does it feel a bit drafty? A selection of hockey events from the '74-75 season is coming Sept. 27.

[EDIT 5:59-6:02 a.m.: A couple of sources seem to differ with the account of Schnellenberger's firing. I am removing a few details that Football Hall of SHAME may have embellished.]

[EDIT 9-8, 11:32-33 p.m.: Changed font size.]

[EDITS 9-9, 9:28-9:50 a.m.: The Super Bowl was on NBC that time, not CBS. Also, made some adjustments.]

[EDIT 12-8, 6:53-54 a.m: Gillman's name is in bold on first reference, so it doesn't need to be later on. Removed that boldface and the first name from the future Hall of Famers retiring item.]