Yesterday's Sports

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY The 1976 Olympics were in Montreal, and the weightlifting started on July 18 and ended on July 27. The weight classes remained the same as they had at the 1972 Olympics. The clean & press was eliminated as a competition lift following the 1972 Olympics. These would be the first O...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY Whenever football fans talk about great teams of the past that failed in their quest to win the Super Bowl, the 1977 Denver Broncos get overlooked. Perhaps it’s because this was the team's first successful season in its 18-year existence. Before 1977, the Broncos had only three winni...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY Weightlifting at the 1972 Olympics occurred in Munich, Germany, from August 27 to Sept.6. In 1969, the International Weightlifting Federation added two new weight classes: flyweight (52 kg), bantamweight (56 kg), featherweight (60 kg), lightweight (67.5 kg), middleweight (75 kg), lig...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY The 1968 Olympics were held in Mexico City in October. The Weightlifting was held from October 17th to October 21st. Some call these Olympic Games the Autumn Olympics due to its later than usual start. The reason for the late start was to avoid Mexico’s rainy season. The late start t...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY The 1968 Detroit Tigers don’t seem to get talked about as often as some other great teams in MLB history. Perhaps it’s because they didn’t win two or three World Series in a row like many other teams have. It could also be because the team's success was somewhat overshadowed by the a...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY Last week, we explored the illustrious careers of Paul Anderson and Tommy Kono. This week, we turn our attention to the legendary Ken Patera and the phenomenal Naim Süleymanoğlu, also known as "Pocket Hercules." Ken Patera, the first American to clean and jerk 500 pounds, was a multi...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, host Mark Mortier welcomes a special guest, Dr. Conor Heffernan , lecturer in the Sociology of Sport at Ulster University in Northern Ireland. Dr. Heffernan has written extensively on weightlifting, bodybuilding, powerlifting, and strongman competitions. He contribut...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY The date was May 8, 1970: It was game 7 of the NBA Finals, between the LA Lakers and the New York Knicks. I was eight years old, and my brother was eleven. Both of us being Knicks and Willis Reed fans, this would soon become a game we could never forget. Back in game 5 of the 1970 NB...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY When I first started competing in Olympic Weightlifting in 1981, I wanted to learn about the sport's history and the men who made it great. I read all the lifting magazines I could find, and one of the first lifters I read about was John Davis.  Davis’ weightlifting career spann...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY ***This episode was originally aired as episode 29 of Yesterday's Sports*** The 1972 summer games are the first Olympic games I can remember watching. The 1972 games were in Munich, West Germany. The last Olympics to be held in Germany were in 1936 in Berlin. Those Olympics had a dar...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY I began watching Pro Football in 1969, probably sooner, since my father and older brother were sports fans, but I was too young to remember much of it. I turned seven in 1969, and that’s when I started watching with more interest and studying the game's history.  But admittedly,...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY I began watching Pro Football in 1969, probably sooner, since my father and older brother were sports fans, but I was too young to remember much of it. I turned seven in 1969, and that’s when I started watching with more interest and studying the game's history.  But admittedly,...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY Mark sits down with his long-time friend, Dave DePaola, to talk about the "Thrilla in Manila."  This is part 1 of that conversation. ‘The Thrilla in Manila’  would be the third time that Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier squared off. In th...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY Mark sits down with his long-time friend, Dave DePaola, to talk about the "Thrilla in Manila." This is part 1 of that conversation. ‘The Thrilla in Manila’  would be the third time that Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier squared off. In the  first fight, held at Madison Square Ga...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY I belong to several old-school football groups on Facebook, and one of the biggest topics of discussion is who should and shouldn’t be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Everyone has an opinion about who’s worthy of having their bust placed in the Hallowed Hall. If the HOF voting comm...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY One of my favorite weightlifters to watch was Stefan Botev. Botev was born on Feb.14, 1968, in Harmanli, Bulgaria, and was coached by the legendary Ivan Abadzhiev. Stefan stood 5' 11 (180 centimeters) and competed in the 110 kilo/242 lbs weight class. Later in his career, he moved up...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY After appearing in three straight Super Bowls and winning two, the 1974 Miami Dolphins were determined to become the first team to win three Vince Lombardi trophies. They had the talent and drive to do it, but something disrupted their focus during the off-season. You can read the fu...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY After appearing in three straight Super Bowls and winning two, the 1974 Miami Dolphins were determined to become the first team to win three Vince Lombardi trophies. They had the talent and drive to do it, but something disrupted their focus during the off-season. You can read the fu...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY I recently had the opportunity to interview Steve Wright, who played in the NFL for eleven seasons. Steve began his career in 1981 as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys. After playing two seasons with Dallas as a backup offensive lineman and special team’s player, he was traded to...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY Forty years ago, the baseball world witnessed one of the best seasons a Major League team ever had. I’m not sure I would rank this team in the top ten all-time, but surely they rank in the top fifteen. I’m talking, of course, about the 1984 Detroit Tigers. You can read the full blog...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY After the Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland in 1968, the City was hungry for another baseball team. They got one just one year later. As all expansion teams do, they struggled in their first two seasons, going 69–93 in 1969 and 65–97 in 1970. But they had some talented young pla...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY After winning the NFL Championship in 1947 and compiling a combined 21–5 record in 1947 & 1948, the Chicago Cardinals fell hard, having only two winning seasons in the next eleven seasons. The team moved to Saint Louis in 1960, giving them new life, as they had five winning seaso...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY From 1956 to 1965, the LA Rams were not a good football team, posting just one winning season in 1958. But things began to change in 1966 with the hiring of George Allen as Head Coach. Allen had been the defensive Coach of the Chicago Bears. Allen's hiring paid off immediately, as he...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY This is part 6 (and the last) of Mark Morthier's weightlifting journey. If you like the weightlifting episodes, Mark has a whole feed dedicated to old-school weightlifting, called : NO-NONSENSE, OLD-SCHOOL WEIGHTLIFTING HISTORY YESTERDAY'S SPORTS BACKGROUND Host Mark Morthier grew up...

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear . EPISODE SUMMARY This is part 5 of my weightlifting journey. YESTERDAY'S SPORTS BACKGROUND Host Mark Morthier grew up in New Jersey just across the river from New York City during the 1970s, a great time for sports in the area. He relives great moments from this time and beyond, focusing on football,...