Episode 06: GenXers reminisce about sports.

Tom and Steve grew up loving sports. They join Shon to reminisce about some of the GenX athletes, teams, and writers/broadcasters who helped grow their love of sports. Grab your Sears NFL letter jacket and your old Sports Illustrated issue and join us for a nostalgic look at GenX fandom.

Credits:

Haylee Wolf: narration.
Mason Enis: theme music.

Copyright @ PineStreetProductions 2024. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action.

Transcript

Music] welcome sports fans to Gen X classic

Sports where we bring the Nostalgia of our Sports fied youth into the present day do you remember when football

players were stick them do you remember when the NBA played defense do you remember when Wrigley Field turned on

the lights if so the Miss podcast is for you grab your favorite retro jersey crab

open a cold one and let's stroll down memory lane together we're here to discuss iconic Sports moments teams and

athletes from our generation this is Gen X classic sports sports talk for Gen xers by gen xers two one okay welcome

back to essay uh essay episode number this will probably be number six I've

got Tom and Steve with me here today gentlemen I'm going to have you introduce yourselves you can as much

about yourselves as you want first name last name whatever you prefer um let's start with you Tom where where did you

uh where were you born and grew up man I was born in Fort Smith Arkansas grew up in Van buan right on the Oklahoma

border and you are Tom I'm Tom and where did you and I meet we met at grad school

we did around 1993 in Little Rock correct U LR all right so you grew up in

Van be does that mean you went to Van Bean High School Tom I did go pointers go pointers all right and you played uh

football in high school correct yeah I played uh I did basketball and and

football and then high school was football okay and then you uh went to

college here in central Arkansas we don't have to be specific and then later on you and I met each other um and we'll

come back to you when we uh when we get some information out of Mr Steve over

here Steve introduce yourself and tell us where you were born and raised my man yep Steve Brown uh born in Cersei

Arkansas and grew up in Augusta Arkansas Augusta and that'd be the mighty Red Devils Red Devils yes and that's more

like a doublea size School actually eight man football now yeah Tom when you grew up there were

only four classes in Arkansas and I'm guessing van Bean was three or 4 a at the 4 a we were three three okay so

Junction City was two Augusta was two Augusta was two okay and see where's for

the folks who don't know where is Augusta basically in the state of Arkansas it's more North uh Northeast a

little more Northeast Central just just above Cersei yeah okay and you had to be

born in Cersei because that's where the hospital was where the hospital was exactly I knew it well you were born in Fort Smith you said right

okay um all right so Steve you played High School football I know yeah football ran ran track uh actually

actually was a PO valter okay can't tell by my body style now did not know that

yeah yeah okay and it's an assump and oh by the way uh where did you and I meet

and you well actually where did you and I and Tom meet yeah the three of us met at uh at work at Arkansas systems in

97 yeah we were all working at the same software company and um as tends to

happen on the job I think the sports fans kind of find each other pretty fast

right with Raz backs and all that going on so it's pretty apparent that you're a sports fan and um we're going to get

into detail on the next episode about what some of the stuff that that led to but um basically you two are uh big

sports fans just like I am so let me swing back around here to Tom and Tom

can you talk a little bit about your family's background if if they are the

people who brought you into being a sports fan or participant or was it from some other Factor did you pick it up on

your own or how did that kind of work for you as a kid yeah you know my family is not a big

family of U sports fans so I started playing football at recess

like second and third grade and we just got obsessed with it and you know one of us would bring a football to school

every day and every recess there was about 10 of us that would go out and play like touch football and it was just

that was all we did so then I started watching NFL got obsessed with that but

yeah my U my dad didn't really play any sports and I don't have a family history

of sports so um about what age do you think I know what you said you were playing football

on the playground but was that about the same age you also started really paying attention in the media and so forth on

TV of football as well yeah yeah like all the Sunday like the I don't even

know who it was that did the Sunday like pream and stuff like that but I just remember one episode was about like uh

it was set in Pennsylvania and it was like all about the linebackers and the hard-nosed like steel steel worker hard

like linebackers that came from from that area and I just and that's how I really became a Steelers fan so wow yeah

it was the broadcast it was TV that got me not many Steelers fans in bamban I'm guessing but I don't know that Steve um

what do you remember about how far back can you remember being a kid uh not so

much participating yeah that's important too but like seeing in the world around you through family or Media or whatever

what do you remember about sports as a kid well you know I'm a little bit older than you guys and so not by that much

not by that much but a little bit and and and so my my perspective not that it changed a great deal by the time you

guys came along but you know my family lived uh out in the country and you know we got three channels which we which we

all did for for a long time but you know I I distinctly remember becoming a Razer back fan ear early on

and you know back in those days my my parents subscribed to the uh Arkansas

Gazette and Orville Henry who was a big you know the big writer about the Razer

backs uh you know I I just remember waiting for the mailman to come to deliver the Gazette every day so that I

could Devour the sports section and you know read you know there would be five pages of Razor coverage and just reading

it cover to cover yeah if I'm not mistaken I uh my friend Wayne was in

episode two talking about uh that a very similar experience and if I'm not mistaken I think I've heard people say

before and I think I remember that Orville did like the post game right up that hit the paper Sunday but I think it

was Monday was it when he had the really big massive breakdown of every little

thing that happened kind of deal yeah that's that's what I remember was Monday was the real you know the the Sun

was the quick dirty summary who won you know a few of the highlights and stuff like that but Monday was the the real

in-depth analysis and then the rest of the week was you know it was stories about pra practice and about individual

players I mean you back in those days they had a lot more access to the players so you really you know through

Orville you really got to know the players yeah and that's because Orville was right there with Frank BRS every

step of the way getting all the information Frank wanted him to have and then whatever he didn't want him to have

so Tom what do that how how do you remember the Razer back influence cuz I knew Steve would say that but I wasn't

sure about you honestly you know I uh I watched more Razorback basketball than I did football

growing up yeah so I I remember the you know Sydney monrie and absolutely the

triplets and and those but I I guess I just wasn't really big into the Razer

back football um you were talking about the media and it made it reminded me I

had an uncle who got uh Sports Illustrated at the time and so he would pass them to me like we we'd see him at

my grandma's house on Sundays and he'd bring me a stack of like Sports Illustrated so and I still have them I

have like oh really I have some really nice ones from the 70s yeah I have like Gretzky and and a lot of really cool

covers on them so yeah I was the same way I talked about it too much on an earlier episode but I definitely was a

big Sports Illustrated kid and we talked about Sport magazine and stuff like that and elero or injunction we got the Elder

paper and um but we also had access to the Democrat and The Gazette so I

definitely remember the Orville Henry writeups um and I do remember guys going into the library on Monday and getting

the sports paid I said something about this before where our library had a rack with a wooden pole do y'all remember

that and they took each section and strung it over a poll and that Sports one would Disappear by about third

period every day usually and especially on Monday day so I guess there's some common ground U there for all of us for

sure and Tom I didn't know that I didn't know that you weren't as plugged in with the football program up there but you do

remember the Quin grovy years and all that when we were in you and I were in high school at the exact same time so you remember the Quin grovy type stuff

and all that I'm sure a little but I guess was it 88 when they first went to the final four with Nolan's crew was

that yeah yeah cuz they want was it the first first Final Four was in

Denver yeah I think so that was day and that was okay yeah no the first one was

uh yeah I guess it was okay I guess it was well my point is Tom and I were out either out of high school just getting

into college and so the Razer back basketball at the time was sort of rep peaking after the Sutton years right

about then what's interesting on the basketball stuff though for me because I was I was the opposite of Utah I was and

rightfully so when I was coming up cuz razor back basketball got no coverage at all cuz they had they had never been you

know really any good at all until Sutton got there and so in in in 78 when they

made their first and only final four with with Eddie you know I I distinctly remember you know them getting to the to

the tournament and you know the the there was a big deal when they beat UCLA because UCLA was still a Powerhouse and

they beat UCLA in I think the second round of the tournament and you know how big of a deal that was for the state and

how much national press we got you know here Here Comes nowhere you know nobody knows anything about Arkansas and I

think it was that game I may be mistaken but I think it was that game where uh

montrief um Del and Brewer were were coined the triplets by by the national

media and so that was you know that was my Awakening to basketball and then I

became a rabid fan after that but prior to that it was all football for me I think my first Razer back basketball

memory would have had to been playing Jordan and Pine Bluff yeah I mean I remember the hype around that and then I

kind of things were a little fuzzy after that but I remember um Alvin Robertson

and kleene being on the basketball Olympic team in 84 and how great of a team that was because they had Bobby

Knight and Jordan and all these guys and um somewhere in all of that I remember

Sydney montree being on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the Milwaukee Bucks doing something whatever cuz he

remember mine C's first Sports Illustrated cover which was the tomahawk dunk and I think that was in 78 yeah

yeah so yeah super Sid super Sid super Sid um we joke on here all the time that

all big sport events in the world or in America all roads lead through Arkansas

one way or the other and sometimes we'll be talking about something and everybody will look at each other and go oh

there's a dude from Arkansas involved in that and we'll figure out who it was because it does seem that there's a lot

of big events um Razer backs or someone from Arkansas are definitely involved in

okay so let's um let's keep let's continue on here Tom so besides Razer

back basketball and not counting like your local high schools or anything what other teams did do you remember sort of

picking up as a kid once you went beyond the scope of the Razer back basketball

team 76ers 76 J okay I mean yeah I I

probably paid more attention to NBA I mean I I liked Razer back basketball but

I caught in on the like you know the the Celtics Lakers yep um you know 76ers

crazy and watched the finals and around 82 was it when they beat uh somebody in

the finals Moses Malone and Dr J and all of them yeah I was

werey them them and the Celtics were seemed like they were in the in the Eastern Conference finals every year and

who was going to get to play the Lakers Lakers U Mark ivarone and Bobby Jones

Bobby Bones wasn't that right was he W there uh I don't remember ivarone on there but you cheeks and tonyes calwell

Jones Dr J yeah and then soon not too many years later Charles Barkley joined

in but that that was my first basketball exposure was Moses Malone and Dr J for

sure for too but I I became a fan and I want to say it was the 77 finals the

Sixers uh were playing the Portland Trailblazers in the finals in the Sixers

it was the first year for Dr J on the Sixers and they had who ended up

changing his name to World be free but I think it was Lloyd free at the time and they were loaded and they played the

Portland Trailblazers who had a rookie named Bill wal yeah I was going to say and the Trailblazers won yeah was the

headband yeah but I was a sixer fan locked in after that I didn't know that about I kind of knew that about him I

didn't know that about you and that's really interesting that that all three of us that was our first sort of favorite NBA team and I will say I

picked up being a fan of the NBA just in general in that exact sort of moment because of bird and Magic hitting the

league too I didn't really have a dog in that fight because I was watching Dr J but I obviously that was a big stepping

stone moment for the NBA and we were all kind of like right there there so that that's really interesting so um while

I'm on you Tom what about uh football college or Pro around that same so

you're talking being tennis years old when you start paying attention to the NBA were you on the NFL yet at that

point do you think I think so um the Steelers yeah with Steelers and a little

bit of little bit of college uh I guess it was later on though like Brian Bosworth oh yeah that was the late 80s

yeah that was the late 80s I was right there on on the edge you know almost in Oklahoma where I grew up go through

Arkansas he got banned in the PO bowl game against Arkansas okay so that makes sense um Steve what about you what was I

know who you enjoy as an NFL team but was that first no they they weren't the first I mean I remember early on you

know starting to pay attention and and but not really not really having a team

I I I distinctly remember watching uh a Raiders game with Daryl L Monica as the

quarterback you know with my dad and my dad was not an NFL fan so I have no clue why we were watching it but I remember

that but I think the first team that was really I considered to be my team was the Dolphins when they went won backtack

Super Bowls but you know really wasn't passionate about it but you know I considered them my team at that time

that would have been Bob greasy Jimmy Jim kick Mercury moris all those guys yeah wow okay oh that's interesting uh

lace is out any Eagles you were on the Eagles first because well second it was it was

Pittsburgh and then Randle Cunningham came along yeah okay and the Eagles were big and they were always on TV so but

you weren't a Jaworski Polish Rifle Eagles fan no I wasn't I got a funny

story about the the Eagles remember the uh the the letter jackets that everybody

had to have for like Christmas SE from SE yep well you could never get a Steelers absolutely could not get a

Steelers and so my mom asked asked me what my second favorite team was and I was like eagles eagles okay so she goes

to order this jacket and on Christmas morning I'm like all set to get a either

a Steelers or an eagles letter jacket and I'm open it up and guess what I bust

out Cardinals Seahawks Seahawks worse oh cuz they look cuz of the head bird the

head of she was like I knew it was a bird I just couldn't remember which one so I open up a Seattle Seahawks which

were like they were pretty bad at the time and nobody their old logo was

literally the head of the bird with the beak on the front of it and everything now I would love to have that because

it's like it was like teal with that old logo and silver sleeves it was slick so

but I hated it at the time one time yeah but you remember L Monica that goes a pretty good ways back yeah that was way

back and and I don't I just I remember and I don't know why I remember

it but they were playing somebody I think it was the Chargers and it was a shootout you know it was one of the old AFC games and it was a shootout and high

scoring and you know and I just remember them talking about the old man L Monica got one more in him and you know and I

think it was probably his last season yeah uh but I you know for whatever reason I remember that well I've sett on

here and and there's a whole I've got the different events we've done an episode on but one of them was my first

memory which I remember the Cowboys beating the Broncos in the Super Bowl

which was the season of 77 I believe but the Super Bowl bled over into 78 and um that was Tony dorsett's rookie

year so I kind of I kind of got involved right then in the NFL CU my family was

and I've talked about that on here a lot but where I grew up you were either a Saints or Cowboys fan and there wasn't a

whole lot else um and my dad and uncle for whatever reason were Roger stack guys and that's how the Cowboys curse

happened to me but as far as specific events and saying oh remember that on TV I remember uh where I keep going back to

is IR cross and Jimmy the Greek Snider and Phyllis George and uh musberger on

CBS that's that was my and we joked on another podcast about how back then you

probably had a 30 minute lead into the game n none of this two hours of hollering at each other like they do now

and and um you got your interview of the week usually it was like okay let's talk

to whoever Roger stach and that was Phil and then uh Irv and Brent broke down the

game itself and Jimmy came in and told the Greek told you how to bet and you were done kick the ball yeah you know

it's none of this hours and hours of pregame but well there was no competition that was the only that was

the only show and so you know if you were an NFL guy you watch that religiously yeah and and and then of

course Monday Night Football I can go back to I can remember coel and definitely Dandy Don Meredith was one of

my favorites and you know I can remember being uh young enough to ask my dad can I stay up and watch football and he of

course say yeah I remember I like I said I don't I don't think I was watching that particular night but I remember

John lenen being announced on there that he had died uh I I do remember watching

Tony Dorset run that 99 y against the Vikings with 10 men on the field um and

that was uh I was watching that happen so it's really interesting to me what things kind of pop in your head when you

get to go well man I was 8 years old when that happened but I definitely remember cuz it wasn't because you saw

it on YouTube it was because you remember it because that it actually happened there was you saw it live you

you saw it and so it was a it was event it was big event uh in our house to

huddle around the TV you know after church and watch football together for sure so um and we

all struggle sometimes to remember some of the announcers I can go back to the

crew that I mentioned uh I remember remember when Terry Bradshaw tried to do um color analysis on CBS after his

playing career and course I think it only lasted a year it didn't it didn't sound very good it wasn't very you know he they moved him into the studio but I

can remember the uh the Dan Fels after he got through playing he became and it was like dick inberg and Dan FZ or

whoever and so we've kind of kicked around on another podcast earlier than this one about the names that we we

remember but you know I obviously we remember Madden and um Su Pat sumall

thank you but I can't remember who who was with sumall before that but I know I listened to sumerall before Madden came

along I just don't remember who it would have been I don't I don't recall and somebody told me Paul horning was a

announcer on TV something I don't know but I seems like I remember him but I I

I don't remember him in the NFL I remember him on like Notre Dame broadcast something like that well and I

keep throwing the name Bob trumpy out there cuz I know I saw games that Bob trumpy was the the you know and that's

probably when NBC was involved they'd had that late Dan Fels game out on the coast or something like that the Raiders

you probably never saw them play at noon no no I mean unless you know unless they came to the east coast and but even with

then rarely did we get that game well and that was another thing we talked have talked about but I I want to hear

y'all's take on it um how how does it feel now to know that you can watch any game you want but how did it feel as a

Raiders fan in Augusta if that's you were living when you kind of became a Raiders fan how did it feel knowing you

had no hope of watching them maybe two or three times a year because you weren't in their territory and we didn't

have ESPN and so forth you you know Tommy you may disagree but you know back in in in those days you didn't know any

different I mean it just was what it was so you know you just there was no oh man

I wish you know we could get more it was just you got the games that they they teed up for you and no other options you

enjoyed it right yeah you were happy you happy to have it I'm watching football that's what I think I think we were just

so happy to get to watch football I think that leads to guys our age though

to be able if football's on doesn't care you know for me if the NFL's on I can sit down and watch it I don't care who's

playing uh where other guys that may be younger than us you know it needs to be their team or a team they're interested

in or you know somebody they've got going in fantasy or whatever for them to watch it that's true um

Tom uh what about uh do you remember any other magazines other than Sports Illustrated that you might have taken a

peek in back in the day to read up on some of this stuff you remember Sport magazine that's

the second one that I always bring do you remember poor man Sports illustr poor man Sports Illustrated yeah the

sport I don't recall that I didn't I never had it um Steve what do you

remember other than Sports Illustrated in sport was there anything the only two I remember you know I mean we we grew up

and mean where I grew up it was in the middle of nowhere and you know I I remember getting you probably more in my

teenage years and finally being able to afford a Sports Illustrated subscription but I do remember sport I I don't

remember any of the others yeah um Sports illustrator was a big deal CU it was weekly you know Friday you Thursday

or Friday you got that thing in the mail it was something to look forward to well that's where you learned about all the other sports as well because you you

weren't getting that coverage no I mean you I don't remember ever seeing the NBA back then until the finals I'm sure it

was on for the playoffs but I didn't care I guess until but I don't remember just a regular Saturday afternoon NBA

game I'm sure they were I just don't remember them but um and by the way

we're all talking about the three Channel days am I right for the most part most part um I think we got cable

in 81 or two I was whatever mid middle school or Elementary School what are you

shaking your head about did you have three channels in vanan yeah and an antenna yeah yeah and no we didn't get

cable no ever I didn't I got cable when I went to college that's what I I got

know you went to college later than I did but that's when I got cable when I went to college and that was probably

probably 82 or something like that yeah well you know we had ESPN but there wasn't anything on it back then back

then it took it a it took it four or five years to really do anything other than highlights and you could watch a

heck of a Dart Tournament on it or something what you you're wanting to say something no I just I think it's interesting

though you know I mean I was thinking about the what is it the wide Wide World of Sports man I think just like I feel

like our generation was like maybe exposed to I mean I know kids today have

have access to everything but you know when Sports came on TV when I was a kid

it didn't matter if it was skiing downhill skiing which it was on NBC or

ABC and I would watch it and so that was I mean I think that's like you were asking earlier how I got like interested

in sports or just I mean it was just like I don't know what I was just drawn to it and the Olympics and and all of

that but yeah I don't know it just it was a broad range of sports for me it wasn't just like one team or one that's

because you had three channels and whatever was on was on and you watched it and they didn't overlap a whole lot I

mean I remember the wild World of Sports what I remember about it other than the weird stuff like downhill skiing and

whatever Barrel jumping Barrel a marathon yeah I remember that Muhammad

Ali would fight yeah and then the next week or whatever they'd finally televis it on the Wide World of Sports or

something so you'd hear Howard Co you already know who won it's been in the paper but it was maybe the weekend

before in Vegas or Madison Square Garden and finally the next Saturday they do a replay but to you it was might as well

have been live absolutely you're getting to see Muhammad Ali fight um Ray boom boom manini yeah uh sugar sugar I

watched I was big into Sugar Ray and Hearns and Sugar Ray and Durant what what was his name Roberto Durant Durant

Durant and um I was big into those and that's how I saw those I didn't have you know freaking HBO or Showtime to turn on

and watch that stuff back then Marvin Haggler yep Marvelous Marvin Haggler yeah those were so I definitely remember

the boxing I definitely remember the weird Sports um on there um that reminds

me of I think the lead in for that whether it was on that Channel or not what I watched before that was Marlon

perkins's mut of omal Wild Kingdom led into Wild World of Sports now you may

have had to switch a channel to see it but it seems like one was on it like 11 and one came on it like one or something

and before both of those was Midsouth wrestling by the way which I was watching that Steve there's my we'll

have to do Midsouth wrestling one day Steve because uh okay so we mentioned this earlier I want to go back to it

because it's always a fun topic um you said you got a letter jacket from

Sears so did I I got a Cowboys Wool with the fake leather sleeves what do you'all

remember about merchandise any anything anywhere any kind what do you remember about merchandise Steve do you remember

how we how did that serious catalog that's really the only out that's that's

that's always going to be the answer to that question for our age yeah I mean it may have changed a little bit by the

time but not I can't imagine by the time you guys came along that it was much was

no until I got a no no I didn't you I guess if you went to a stadium you could

go to a pro shop but yeah I I remember you know you talking about your

disappointment with your mom you know getting the Seahawks jacket instead the Eagles jacket you know there when when I

was really beginning to watch the NFL seriously and my my parents paying kind

of paying attention to me you know watching it uh I really you know I had some teams I

kind of liked but weren't really passionate about but I had one team that I passionately disliked and that was the

Dallas Cowboys same and the only thing I totally understand that I've got a

picture we you know I'm the baby of nine and so you know every year or two at Christmas we'd all line up together and

you know take our our big family picture and I've got a picture of me when I'm

about of the whole family and I'm standing in the Middle With You know my bowl haircut and my Dallas Cowboy shirt

on because that's what Mom ordered oh my God uh they're easy targets I get it man

I do you know it it took Sean years to of like coercing and and I can finally

you know tolerate the Cowboys now well I can't so I mean it was it was like deep it was

like you know I was a Steelers fan and they were the enemy it does beg the

question how these things happen because I was very and I don't know what happened with Steve and Josh because

they're not the same uh Josh is a big Jacksonville fan was that because he

wanted to pick an expansion team more or less to start from scratch with he was a big Cowboys fan early on now they broke

him that makes sense they broke his Spirit Well my mother-in-law worked at altel for a long time know and when yeah

no when when when Jerry first bought the Cowboys there was such a connection the

allel exacts and the cowboys that uh my in-laws were going down to the Cowboys

games oh okay a lot and so and they would take they would take Josh and and Matt who you guys know as well and uh

because they're about the same age and so Josh was a big Cowboys fans for years and then they took them one year on

Thanksgiving and the Cowboys played the Jaguars on Thanksgiving and Josh tell

he'll tell you today he became a Jaguar fan that day I thought you were going to say if I'm not mistaken Jacksonville

stadium was first all tale stadium was their first naming right that's why I thought you were going to say that um

that's interesting I didn't when Dylan was born you know everybody joked oh he's going to be a Cowboys fan I didn't

force that on him at all as a matter of fact I let him just do his thing and I

wonder to this day if he did what maybe I did as a kid and he picked up on a player and that led him to a team when

he was a tiek he knew who Payton Manning was unfortunately pton was at the very

end of his career so Dylan saw became aware of him as a cult and Then followed

him into the Broncos and then he was gone yeah and then he was kind of like well I ain't rooting for the Broncos

without Payton so I guess I'll be a Cowboys fan poor kid um and Tom I don't know does Evan have a preference at home

your son does he have he's a teenager does he have a team preference in the NFL you know he does not watch a lot of

sports well he plays a lot of sports but he he he wouldn't necessarily agree with you on it anyway I just think that's

where we are in life now Dylan's threatened a 100 times to change to being a Texans fan but I think I think

you're right I think it's more of like following personalities and players today than it is teams yeah and I'm

guilty of it well they move so much too well I mean probably when when you started when you started following the

Steelers that was that was Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris and all those guys right so they had big they had big

person ities and I'm sure you were drawn to that for me you know when when I became a Raiders fan it was the Stabler

years you know Stabler bnov Branch you know Ted Hendrick you know all of those

guys so they were big personalities and I became a fan of the Raiders really when they beat the the Vikings in the

Super Bowl and that you know that kind of cemented it for me and and they had

so many personalities and they were just fun to watch well speaking of that what

the the reason I think ALS Al that we uh stayed attached to teams is because the

team stayed together yeah there wasn't as much free agency and I think that made it a lot easier on kids to not have

to keep up with I mean imagine being an NBA fan right now you can't I can't keep up even casually at who's on what team

anymore but I knew on the Cowboys I could have probably named you their starting lineup for seven eight years in

a row because it didn't change by more than a couple of guys yeah and that's just the way they built teams back then

I can tell you the Steelers lineups cuz I had them watch them beat the Cowboys in the Super Bowl every year it seemed

like and and everybody knew who the Raiders were cuz all they crazy personality type so I think that had a

lot to do with that too was picking up on personalities and the fact that those personalities stayed together but who

who doesn't know Mean Joe Green and Coca-Cola commercial you had to love that even if you didn't like the Steelers i' got a tear in my eye now

yeah I bet you do there you go kid Tom does too but it's because of his Seahawks

jacket I wish I had that jacket sweet if you all right so let me ask y'all this

do do y'all remember having any favorite sports announcers or writers as an individual do you remember being a big

fan even up to today like I'll give you an example he just retired before this football season but Peter King was my

guy going all the way back to the probably late 90s when the internet I start I was reading him in Sports

Illustrated but Peter King was always my guy I read Monday Morning Quarterback for eons in the morning on Monday

mornings um and then as far as announcers I was always a pat sumall guy I love him and Madden together but do

y'all have people like that that writers or announcers either one that you really

thought a lot of or can remember or you know writers for me you know it was

Orville oral guy yeah I mean if you were a Razer back fan you know you either you either

loved Orville or later on you were a Wally hall guy and you know and W Wall-E

everybody transition to Wall-E after after Orville retired but from a local Rider it was him from a national Rider

you know uh what was it Dr Z and and Sports Illustrated I I I really remember

because he always was writing about the NFL and I was a big NFL guy he was the biggest Advocate ever for lineman in the

NFL he could really break down line play unlike any any most writers didn't care but he did yeah so from a writer

perspective those are the guys I remember now from an announcer perspective you know on you know I

distinctly remember when when uh Frank BRS the old Arkansas athletic director

was doing color with Keith Jackson on on ABC game and I mean it was and and but

it wasn't that I necessarily like Frank's announcing although he was pretty good I mean he was real real

Southern uh but but Keith I mean Keith was just fantastic and he's been

mentioned on there many times yeah so from on the the college side it was him him but I was a dick inberg fan I

thought dick inberg was really good I always enjoyed enjoy his calls what about you

I guess this a little bit later but I read Wally Hall um yeah you know I mean I I'll always fondly remember Dandy Dawn

and and and Howard goell on Monday Night Football I mean that was like wasn't it

Dy Dawn that was like seeing turn out the lights part over I mean that's one of my earliest me memories of of NFL is

I'm singing that song on a if I'm not mistaken he was the inspiration for the MC Davis character in North Dallas 40

because of how you know kind of a kind of a country music slash quarterback type that was him um yeah I'd agree with

all of those and let me add that I thought um occasionally you get like a

you get a a baseball broadcaster because regionally you get like the fourth most popular game of the week and every now

and then I'd hear somebody like a jack buck and go I thought he was a baseball guy but it would it would be Jack Buck

actually doing like the four string NFC game of the week or something so there were there were some very talented

people out there probably the Heyday of it um we always talk about with my buddies uh from home we always talk

about Harry Carey because of the Cubs and what impact that had on our lives getting cable and then suddenly seeing

Cubs and Braves games every day when we lived in Cardinals territory and couldn't watch the Cardinals oh it was

it really interesting you know with the Advent of cable and being able to watch the Cubs yeah pardon me every day because

Harry who had you know if you think about it objectively Harry who had toiled you you know worked for several different teams and you know and kind of

bounced around and you know was kind of local a local Legend in whatever town he

was in now suddenly he's got this National platform and you know he's he's a national star all of a sudden where uh

you know which I thought was really neat for a guy that was already old by that point in time and was at the tail end of

his career to be able to have such a big Limelight at the end of I would even say he was a cultural phenomenon by the end

of the ' 8s for sure because just suddenly people all over the country through WGN are finding out who this guy

was and he was he was entertainment for us I mean uh we we got a kick out of him on a hot day up there drinking beer and

barely getting the words out by the end of The Telecast and there's great you you or him him him there were great

there's great pictures of him with his pants down around his ankles and his feet are in a tub of ice sitting there in his boxers you know cuz and he's got

a Budweiser right there within reach I mean that d i I said on another podcast he would be a gazillionaire today with

podcasts and internet shows and all that where he didn't have to really mind his p's and q's so much he'd have been a

superstar in the media now right now all right well guys anything else about your background and how you got to be this

the sports nerds that you are that you want to add because we've kind of knocked out the topics that I think are

sort of indicative of once you answer them we kind of get a idea of who you are as a sports fan and by the way right

now you're still a Raiders fan correct St Tom Tom is all over the place in the

NFL I'm telling you he just goes where the wind blows no I'm kidding I don't know who you really like right now that's what I was saying over Steelers

anymore and it's just all over the place it depends on my fantasy I will say that when you and I bills though I do like

the bills right now when you and I get together for playoff games or something we usually decide ahead of time who

we're going to root for so it doesn't cause any problems all right I'm going to end episode six right here and we'll

take a break and come back in a second thank you for joining us on Gen X classic Sports where Nostalgia meets The

Thrill of the game tune in next time for more insightful discussions and memorable moments brought to you by Pine

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