High School Football Players in '73

I came across a copy of Prep All-America Football 1973-74, and I found three Canton-enshrined players in the listings. While this isn't strictly 1974, it should be a treat for readers (if I had any).

James Lofton got 1,402 passing yards (or is it receiving yards?) and 333 rushing yards for LA's Washington High School. He also made 79 punts for an average of 39.6 yards. Lofton was named to the All-City and All-Southern League teams, and in '72-73, he was captain of the track team.

Joe Montana passed for 1230 yards and rushed for 436. Attending Ringgold High School in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, he was a Parade All-American in 1973 and AP and UPI 2nd Team All-State. Montana also played baseball and basketball, earning a Section 4 Honorable Mention in the latter in '72-73.

Ozzie Newsome, an end and halfback for for Colbert County High School in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, got five interceptions and three end-around touchdowns in 1973. He was All-3A State and Super State. Newsome played baseball and basketball well, and his GPA was 3.8.

I didn't find a listing for Earl Campbell, but I did see he made the Prep All-America Super 11. The back for John Tyler High School in Tyler, Texas, ran for 2,036 yards in his high school career and scored 28 touchdowns in 1973. Campbell was "All-State, All-District[,] and All-East."

Another familiar name in the Super 11 is back Willie Wilson, who scored 401 points in football and over a thousand points in basketball for Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey. He was "All-Conference and All-State" in football and All-County in basketball and baseball. Though the major leagues sought him in high school, Wilson went to college and eventually played for the Kansas City Royals.

Also of note is LB/FB/G Clay Matthews, father of the player currently in the NFL. Named to the Prep All-America 100 Squad for his play at New Trier East High School in Winnetka, Illinois, he was an All-State linebacker and received many other honors. He averaged 11 tackles per game and rushed 200 yards on 30 carries. In '73-74, Matthews also played basketball.

It's always good to find something new for this blog, and I hope this special entry adds something.

Source: Keith, Dwight, ed. Prep All-America Football 1973-74. Montgomery, AL: Coach and Athlete, 1974.

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]

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 to its arrival on the Web in the last 14 months. On links provided with this blog's pages, I make no representations as to the content of the sites to which I link.

Books

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: 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 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.

Castleman, Harry, and Walter J. Podrazik. The TV Schedule Book. McGraw-Hill, 1984.

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

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: 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 Miffiln, 1996.

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.

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

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.

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 Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009.

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

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

Young, Mark, ed. The Guinness Book of Sports Records. 18th ed. Stamford, CT: 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/>.

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

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>.

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/>.

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/>.

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

Specific Web pages, both used and just here as links

Brennan, John. "Giants Stadium shines in final season." NorthJersey.com. 18 Sept 2009. <http://www.northjersey.com/sports/giants_stadium_history.html>.

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>.

De Dekker, Guy, and Erik Garin. "Asian Games 1974." RSSSF – The Rec.Sport.Soccer.Statistics Foundation. 2002. <http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/asgames74.html>.

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. <http://sportspressnw.com/2011/03/wayback-machine-hugh-mcelhenny-the-seattle-kings/>.

Eubanks, Robert. "Player hurdles challenges to win second Masters title." Augusta Chronicle. 15 Apr 1974. Web. <http://157.166.226.103/augusta/history/ac/1974/>.

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

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>.

Zegers, Charlie. "Lute Olson Profile." About Basketball – NBA and NCAA Basketball News and Commentary. <http://basketball.about.com/od/coaches/p/lute-olson.htm>.

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

"Bucs and Seahawks joined NFL in '76." Pro Football Hall of Fame. <http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.aspx?release_id=1285>.

"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>.

"Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst – Timeline." American Experience. PBS.com. 16 Feb 2005. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/guerrilla/timeline/timeline2.html>.

"Hartford Whalers (1972-1997)." The Sports E-Cyclopedia. <http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/hartford/whalers.html>.

"Highlights of Steinbrenner's Yankees career." NorthJersey.com. 13 July 2010. <http://www.northjersey.com/sports/071310_Highlights_of_Steinbrenners_Yankees_career.html>.

"June 16, 2012: Golf on this day…" Montreal Gazette. 16 Jun 2012. <http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/06/16/june-16-2012-golf-on-this-day/>.

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

"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>.

"Muirfield Village: hole-by-hole." PGATour.com. <http://www.presidentscup.com/news/2013/09/23/muirfield-village--hole-by-hole.html.>

"NHL All-Time Penalty Minutes Leaders." Stats Hockey. <http://statshockey.homestead.com/alltimepenminutes.html>.

"1974 FIA Formula One World Championship." Formula 1 – The Official F1 Website. <http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1974/>.

"1974 Summit Series – Page 2." Legacy. Edmonton Oilers Heritage Website. <http://www.oilersheritage.com/legacy/international_summit_series2.html>.

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

"QB Ken Stabler and RB Clarence Davis..." This Day in Raiders History. The Official Site of the Oakland Raiders. 21 Dec 2010. <http://www.raiders.com/news/article-1/This-Day-in-Raiders-History/d192e67a-53ee-4424-868c-a458238b74d2>.

"Seattle Slew: 1977 Triple Crown Winner." Unofficial Thoroughbred Hall of Fame. <http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/seattleslew.html>.

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

"Today in History for 4th May 1974." HistoryOrb. <http://www.historyorb.com/date/1974/may/4>.

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

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

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

"Volleyball World Championships." Volleyball World Wide. <http://www.volleyball.org/worldchamp/>.

"World Record Progression." hammerthrow.eu. <http://www.hammerthrow.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=3>.

"The Year in American Soccer – 1974." American Soccer History Archives. 4 Oct 2003. <http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1974.html>.

Basketball: The Early '74-75 Season

[EDIT 6/22/2015: Removing the apostrophes Microsoft Word forces.]

I cannot apologize enough to myself for missing those two updates, but I couldn't get to a place where I could update this for most of the last three months. Here's what I would have posted in October: a look at all of basketball; at the end of 1974, it was too early for most of the season to have happened at either level.

PRO BASKETBALL

Bill Walton is the #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 play their first season. LSU alumnus Pete Maravich is traded to the Jazz from the Atlanta Hawks May 3, 1974. The Jazz play at Municipal Auditorium (capacity 7,853) until the Louisiana Superdome (47,284) opens in '75.

Three arenas that open for NBA and ABA teams as well as NHL and WHA teams are Richfield Coliseum (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 Kings, NHL 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. Due to an error in handling luggage, Erving and four other Nets players have to wear Bullets road uniforms.

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 a free throw in the pros for the 4000th time.

Lenny Wilkens, having coached the Seattle SuperSonics for three years before, is back after a two-year absence and begins his stint as coach of the Trail Blazers.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

In his final year at NC State, David Thompson averages 29.9 points per game and gets 229 rebounds (8.2 per game). The Hawks will use their #1 overall pick in the '75 NBA Draft on him, but he will go to the ABA's Denver Nuggets (Rockets until '74) after they trade with the Virginia Squires, who also make him the #1 overall pick.

This season is the last for UCLA coach John Wooden. By March, it will be UCLA's last appearance in the NCAA tournament under Wooden, and the school'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 Richmond leads Division I of the NCAA with 32.9 PPG.

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

Larry Bird, age 18 as of Dec. 7 and fresh out of Springs Valley High School in French Lick, Indiana, initially goes to Indiana University, but quickly transfers to Indiana State.

Bill Walton in the '70s, as Clippers broadcaster Ralph Lawler recounts
The Jazz when they got their name and logo, according to, well, the Jazz
ABA-NBA exhibitions on RememberTheABA.com
David Thompson video highlights from NCAA Web site
John Wooden's last championship, according to the school he beat, Kentucky
Something on Larry Bird's time at IU from Inside The Hall

And that's all I prepared for 2013-14. Thanks for viewing.

COMING SOON: A special bonus.

Hockey: The Early '74-75 Season

EDIT 11/30/2023, 1:48 p.m.: One star player's first name wasn't included on first reference. It's fixed now.

I cannot apologize to myself enough for not being able to post the last two sections in September and October (It's a long story). Good thing there's still time before the end of the year.

This retrospective mainly covers what happened in the '74 calendar year.

After leaving Canada with a win, a loss, and two ties, the Soviet national team defeats the WHA All-Stars in three out of four games in Moscow; the other game is a tie. The team representing Canada, which includes all three Howes, Winnipeg Jets player-coach Bobby Hull, and '72 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson, defeats Finland in Helsinki and Sweden in Gothenburg on the way to Moscow, and they lose to Czechoslovakia in Prague on the way home. Hull scores nine points against the Soviets and Gordie Howe gets seven.

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.

Northlands Coliseum (now Rexall Place) opens, and it will be the home of the WHA's Edmonton Oilers for at least 40 years.

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

Ken Dryden is back on the 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 Canadiens, they begin a streak of 23 road games without a loss Nov. 27.

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 are future Hall of Famers Clark Gillies of the Regina Pats and Bryan Trottier of the Swift Current (now Lethbridge) Broncos, both Islanders selections.

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 Oklahoma City Blazers and 187 in 42 games with the Maple 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 St. Catharines Black Hawks.

The WHA's third season is the first for which plus-minus figures are available.

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

Phil Esposito scores his 500th career goal Dec. 22 at the Boston Garden against the Detroit Red Wings. This is his 803rd career game, and he is the sixth to reach 500.

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

In the opening game of the season for the WHA's Phoenix Roadrunners, rookie Robbie Ftorek scores a hat trick.

Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson both join the Winnipeg Jets after playing in Sweden.

Defenseman Vyacheslav Fetisov plays a single game this season that begins a distinguished 15-year run with CSKA Moscow. He and fellow future Hall of Famer Peter Stastny play for their respective countries for the first time (Stastny's is Czechoslovakia) at the European Junior Championship.

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

The Minnesota Fighting Saints acquire the players who will be made famous in the 1977 movie Slap Shot. They select Dave Hanson and two of the Carlson brothers (Jack and Steve) in the '74 draft and sign the third Carlson brother, Jeff.

The 1974 Summit Series, as told by a site specializing on it
A narrative of the '74 Summit Series from a '72 Summit Series fan site
The short history of the Scouts from Sports E-Cyclopedia
The official story on Taro Tsujimoto from the Sabres' site
Ulf Nilsson's bio on the Hockey Hall of Fame Web site

COMING SHORTLY: Bill Walton as #1 pick, David Thompson as a college star, and more from the world of basketball in 1974.