Belated Fifteenth Anniversary

A new Microsoft Word document was created July 21, 2011. That afternoon, it had 41 bullet points to potentially start a "series of essays" about matters "both significant and trivial" in the sporting world 37 years before the creation of the file. I called it SPORTS74.doc.

I know the concept was inspired by a site called Game Shows '75, but I forget what prompted me to start this project. However, I'm glad I did. From the memories of the first half of the 2010s when I was first building Sports74 through research to the books I bought specifically to help me flesh it out in the 2020s, this has carved a place in my life and body of work.

To any actual person who happens upon this, thanks for visiting and enjoy your stay.

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/>.

Coming to Your Town

In three weeks begins an expanded version of this sports retrospective, full of winners and losers, milestones and useless stats, spectacular worldwide events and obscure championships.

Sports74 is about to go gold.

Here's a compilation to start your quest for musical accompaniment, nine timeless rock tracks that just happen to have been some of the hit records of the year on which we're focused. It's not in stores or from K-Tel, only on this unlisted playlist.

Preliminary Schedule

10/27/23   Coll. Football '73

11/17/23   NFL '73

12/08/23   Hockey '73-74

12/29/23   Miscellaneous

01/19/24   Pro Basket. '73-74

02/09/24   Coll. Basket. '73-74

03/01/24   American League

03/22/24   National League

04/12/24   Baseball Misc.

05/03/24   Track, Horses, Autos

05/24/24   Golf, Tennis, Boxing

06/14/24   Soccer

07/05/24   WFL and CFL

07/26/24   International

08/16/24   Coll. Football '74

09/06/24   NFL '74

09/27/24   Hockey '74-75

10/18/24   Basketball '74-75

11/08/24   Bibliography

EDIT 11:41 p.m.: Made to better fit a mobile phone screen.

EDIT 12-25-24, 6:42-3 a.m.: Introduced "music" label.

Learning More About '74

The Topps Heritage cards are out for this year, and as usual they're more or less in the style of the regular Topps cards from 49 years before. I looked at them on COMC, and some of the Baseball Flashbacks and News Flashbacks have a couple of things of which I wasn't aware regarding 1974. One of the News Flashbacks cards involves Daylight Saving Time being in place for pretty much the whole year, and another involves a low Dow Jones average.

The AP Sports Almanac for 1975 mentions a recession in its overview of the World Football League. This month, for much of which I haven't had my new laptop, I've been making time to write things down that I see in the almanac, though I hope I'm not damaging the book. In my usual haste, some of the things I've been writing for pretty much every sport are not completely legible and may have to be backed up by sources on the Internet. As of Thursday, I've gone through everything from angling and fishing to ice hockey. Jai alai is next, and maybe the name of a challenger on a 1973 episode of "To Tell the Truth" will be found there, a name that escapes me. All I know is the three who appeared on the program wore different uniforms.

It seems the Memphis Tams had a uniform scheme like that of the Oakland A's during the first Mausoleum era (the team's going through the second now), sporting seven color combinations for jersey and shorts, all except white jersey with yellow shorts and green jersey with white shorts. How do I know this? It's on bballjerseys.com. Basketball at long last has its own version of Dressed to the Nines, NHL Uniforms, and Gridiron Uniform Database. Click on the red Memphis icon, then "View Photos," then "Home and Road" or "Alternate" to see the Tams' uniforms.

Coming Soon: Sports74 Gold

Later this year or early next year, I intend to celebrate the golden anniversary of these events I chose to cover.

Moving into this room downstairs so my niece could have a nursery upstairs worked out pretty well in some ways; with new bookshelves, I can access the World Book Encyclopedia from 1972 and many subsequent World Book Year Books whenever I see fit!

From there, I will derive champions of boxing's lower divisions, a basic thing about the NBA's lost franchise, what the New York Cosmos's attendance was before Pele (may he rest in peace) arrived, and much more.

Not only will I draw inspiration from that source, but this afternoon I've received just the thing for this blog. I'd better use it carefully, though; it's in good condition for something from its time.

It's The Official Associated Press Sports Almanac 1975, and it's got a wide range of stuff inside!

A few tidbits from these pages (The Official Associated Press Sports Almanac 1975. New York: Dell Publishing, 1975.):

The Portuguese national team hosted and won the world roller hockey championships.

Dan Kikuchi of San Jose State was the grand champion of the college judo tournament.

Giacomo Agostini of Italy rode his Yamaha to the 350cc motorcycle racing title.

In paddle tennis, a pair of New York men won the national open doubles championship against a team from Santa Monica.

Ruling the Mexico City bullring was Curro Rivera, with 12 kills in six bullfights, but no ears or tails.

The important stuff is in there, too. Best of all, I'll see all of 1974, probably! This almanac was printed in April of 1975, unlike the Information Please books of the '90s and 2000s, which put it all to bed after the World Series.

There are also quite a few things I could derive from the Hall of Shame volumes written by Nash and Zullo, of which my collection is growing. Last year I got curious about what was in the originals, having owned the 2012 Best of Blooperstown book for years. Will there be more in these posts about Ten-cent Beer Night and the extent of the World Football League's woes?

The reader will find out sometime after I do.

EDIT 1:47 p.m. EST: Changed it from Cosmos' to Cosmos's. The word "cosmos" is not plural.

Did I Drop the Ball on the Hammer?

Every year I get my baseball annuals from the nearest bookstore, and the March/April issue of Baseball Digest is in this year's haul. Page 64 of that magazine tells me I might have erred greatly in relating a huge sports story for 1974. Here's what I wrote.

He [Hank Aaron] had finished 1973 one short of 714 [home runs], but ties the record in his first at-bat of the season in Cincinnati April 4...Commissioner Bowie Kuhn wanted him to skip that road series, but no way.

In this account ("The Game I'll Never Forget" by Hank Aaron as told to Bruce Levine and Joel Bierig), it is the Atlanta Braves' owner, Bill Bartholomay, who suggested that Aaron not play the two games following the first. But then, says the article:

...Commissioner Bowie Kuhn intervened. Barring tangible injury to Aaron, Kuhn ruled the Braves would face serious consequences if he didn't play in two of the season's first three contests.

Along with the first game, Aaron played the third game of that series. Two weeks from today marks the forty-fifth anniversary of the night he made history with his 715th home run.

In doing my research for the Muhammad Ali tribute, I'd been given a little doubt about the usual story of his "rope a dope," but I didn't change my post. In this case, however, I've probably been misled into posting the opposite of what really happened. Kuhn, in fact, urged the Braves to have the Hammer play ball when they didn't want to risk the milestone happening on the road. I will correct the baseball post now.

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>.

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"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/>.

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Introduction

This project started as a gathering of information about a certain year in sports with a book of essays about that year in mind as one of my many pipe dreams. I ended up printing it out into a mini-book for Christmas 2011. Now that the 40th anniversary of these events (and the last one that's really all that worthy of celebration until the 50th) is coming up, I thought I'd make it a blog. What follows is copied and pasted from the book with a few modifications, which should explain how formal it might be.

So, why 1974? It was a year in which the NFL, NBA, and NHL all had competitors at the same time, all with varying degrees of success. It was a year in which the Yankees played at Shea Sta­dium and the Giants played at the Yale Bowl. The Superdome and the Silverdome were among the facilities under construction. Seattle had an NBA team, but no MLB or NFL teams. You could watch a Capital Bullets/Kansas City-Omaha Kings game in the winter of '74 and the debut season for a Washington or Kansas City NHL team in the fall. The Sears Tower was in its infancy, we were left to hope the situation in South Vietnam would turn out for the best, and there were more game shows on the daytime schedule than ever before or since.

 

Most impor­tantly, it was the year of Muhammad Ali and Hank Aaron in terms of sports, and their moments may have been talked about as much as the developments revolving around Richard Nixon. Sure, the years just before and after had important elements that '74 didn't, but this one's interesting to think about. It must have been a rough one to live through, though. With so many crises and so much stress, the world of sport could make us forget for a while or it could be an unwanted reminder.

What's to come? College football, the NFL, and the WFL. College basketball, the NBA, and the ABA. The NHL and the WHA. Baseball and boxing. The World Cup and Wimbledon. Jack Nicklaus and jockeys.

 

Stay tuned.