Birthdays

These sportsmen of 1974 share an April 18 birthday, and I hope each one is celebrating it.

Steve Blass, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher born in Canaan, Conn., is 83.

Mike Paul, Chicago Cubs pitcher born in Detroit, is 80.

Ron Schueler, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher born in Catherine, Kan., is 77.

Pete Gogolak, New York Giants kicker born in Budapest, Hungary, is 83.

Tom Hayes, Atlanta Falcons cornerback born in Riverside, Calif., is 79.

Steve Wagner, University of Wisconsin defensive back born in Milwaukee, is 71.

Josef Partl, Motor Ceske Budejovice forward born in Ceske Budejovice, Czechoslovakia, is 79.

Al Sims, Boston Bruins defenseman born in Toronto, is 72.

Jose Parica, pool and billiards player in the Philippines, birthplace unknown, is 76.

Gerald Chamberlain, northeastern auto racer, birthplace unknown, is 84.

Tommy Ivo, dragster driver born in Denver, is 89.

Chris Jones, Tottenham Hotspur soccer player born at Les Dirouilles, Jersey, is 69.

Guillermo Paez, World Cup midfielder born in Santiago, Chile, is 80.

Stewart Scullion, Watford soccer player born in Bo'ness, Scotland, is 79.

If it's yours, then happy birthday to you.

NOTE: The list was made using information found here.

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.]