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Past Our Prime

Past Our Prime

By: Scott Johnston
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About this listen

 Growing up on boxscores, the Game of the Week, and Sports Illustrated, three longtime Sports TV Producers reflect back on the world of sports through the lens of old issues of SI from 50 years ago. Larry Csonka and the Dolphins; Reggie Jackson and The Swinging A's; The Wizard of Westwood; The Golden Bear and Muhammad Ali are just a few of the many heroes showcased weekly by Scott, Bill and Marc on the Past Our Prime podcast. Stay up to date on what happened in the past as they go back in time and return to the glory days of sports week by week, issue by issue of Sports Illustrated starting in January of 1974 Baseball & Softball Football (American)
Episodes
  • 96. The Big Red Machine

    96. The Big Red Machine
    Nov 3 2025
    The Cincinnati Reds won the 1975 World Series in a classic 7-game matchup against the Boston Red Sox. The recent Dodgers victory over the Blue Jays is being argued as maybe the best Fall Classic ever, but that ’75 Series saw the Reds come from behind to win all 4 of their games, including 4-3 in Game 7 at Fenway Park. The Reds had a team littered with Hall of Famers. Tony Perez, Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench as well as *Pete Rose were part of what was known as the Big Red Machine. They could do it all… Power, speed, average,, defense… the one thing they couldn’t do was win the big one. They lost to Baltimore in 5 games in 1970… to the A’s in 7 in 1972… to the Mets in the NLCS in ’73 and didn’t even make the playoffs in ’74. But a bloop single by Joe Morgan in the 9th inning brought in the winning run for the Reds who won their first World Series title since 1940! A year later, they did it again, sweeping the Yankees to make it two straight championships for the Reds. Cincinnati was the toast of baseball and the Big Red Machine was now legendary. 50 years later we’re still talking about that team and how good they were and nobody knows them better than Dr. Daryl Smith who currently serves as a Management professor at Cedarville University in Ohio. Previously, Daryl served as an Air Force office and pilot over a 24 year career. Much of his academic studies and research have centered on leadership and its role in organizational success. He has been trained to find the root causes of organizations’ successes and failures. Daryl has a long association with the Cincinnati Reds. As a boy, he attended several games at Crosley Field, the first game at Riverfront Stadium and the 1970, 1972, and 1975 World Series. Twenty years ago, Daryl met and became acquainted with Bob Howsam, the brains behind the Big Red Machine and the central figure in his book, “Making the Big Red Machine”. Daryl talks to us about the small trade that became a huge deal when Howsam acquired the diminutive Morgan from Houston. He tells us how Cincy thought he was crazy to give up so much for the future 2-time MVP. He recalls how Manager Sparky Anderson moved Rose to 3rd base and how that changed the course of history for the team. And he tells how free agency and one trade prior to the 1977 season put an end to the greatest team in Reds history. November 3rd, 1975 saw Will McEnaney leaping into the arms of Johnny Bench after winning the greatest World Series ever played and Professor Smith helps us replay that Series one last time on the Past Our Prime podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 37 mins
  • 95. ABA, NBA and the '75 series with Bob Ryan

    95. ABA, NBA and the '75 series with Bob Ryan
    Oct 27 2025
    The 1975 Basketball season was the last one in which the NBA was competing with the ABA. It wasn’t much of a competition. At least not off the court. The NBA was doing well and had just signed one of the ABA’s top players, George McGinnis, to a lucrative deal to join the 76ers while the Baltimore Claws were folding up shop before ever playing a regular season game in the ABA. The tide was certainly turning in just the NBAS’s favor. Still, the talent in the ABA couldn’t be ignored. Despite McGinnis, the man on the cover of the 10/27/75 issue of Sports Illustrated, leaving the Indiana Pacers, the league still had Dr. J, Juliue Erving, arguably the most electrifying player in all of basketball. The Atlanta Hawks drafted David Thompson out of college, but couldn’t come to terms on a deal. So the ABA’s Denver Nuggets swooped in and signed the prolific scorer out of North Carolina State. Armed with that Red, White and Blue ball and the 3-point shot, the ABA was still a league for the fans. Except, the fans had a hard time watching because there was no real TV deal. 19-year old Moses Malone was doing his thing in Utah before they too couldn’t make payroll and called it quits on the season just a few weeks in. Eventually, the ABA would have 4 teams (Denver, San Antonio, Indiana and the New York Nets) merge with the NBA while two others (Kentuck & St. Louis) would stop operations. All eyes would then focus on the NBA… Kareem in Los Angeles, Rick Barry and the Warriors, the Blazers and Bill Walton, and those banner-hanging Celtics in Boston. Bob Ryan had a front row seat for much of that time period and saw it all first hand and he joins us to look ahead to that 1975 season of hoops which turned out to be a great one for the NBA… and a last hurrah for the ABA. The Boston Globe’s NBA expert tells us how McGinnis came to the NBA and was still a force, but not quite the same player as he was in Indiana… and for good reason. Ryan recalls how Charlie Scott was acquired by the Celtics from Phoenix for Paul Westphal in a deal that helped both teams and how Scott came up big in the playoffs. He tells us why the 3-point shot is the worst thing to ever happen to basketball and he tells us about one of the ABA teams that didn’t merge with the NBA, instead making one of the best business deals in the history of sports to do nothing. It’s a show about nothing… and everything… and all things basketball. And that’s a perfect topic for Bob Ryan… but so is baseball. And Ryan tells us all about his experience covering the ’75 World Series between the Sox and the Reds and how he almost missed the Fisk HR in Game 6! Just when you think we’re talking just dunks and jumpers with one of the most renowned basketball writers of all-time, we throw you a curveball and get Ryan to talk about his other passion. ABA? Check! NBA? Check! MLB? Check! Bob Ryan and he Past Our Prime podcast has you covered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • 93. The Thrilla in Manila

    93. The Thrilla in Manila
    Oct 13 2025
    Four words. That’s all you need to take you back in time to a fight that to this day resonates with a generation of boxing fans. Ali and Frazier for a 3rd and final time. I’m talking about… The Thrilla in Manila. The two great heavyweights despised each other. Muhammad Ali famously said “It will be a killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get the gorilla in Manila.” His constant verbal abuse of Joe Frazier made Joe’s blood boil, to the point where he didn’t want to knock Ali out in their 3rd clash. He made it clear, “ I want to hurt Ali”. And he did. Ali said this fight was the "closest thing to dyin' that I know of”. By the end of the 14th round both men had been brutally punished. Frazier could no longer see, both his eyes swollen shut by the constant barrage of jabs to the face by his counterpart. When the bell rang for the 15th, neither man wanted to give in or give up… but Frazier’s trainer Eddie Fuchs knew his man couldn’t defend himself any longer… and much to the chagrin of Frazier, threw in the towel, ending one of the most brutal fights in boxing history. The fight was covered by senior writer Mark Kram, Sr. of Sports Illustrated who writes of it in the October 13, 1975 issue of SI. It’s one of the best pieces of sports writing you will ever come across, beautifully combined with the photos from Neil Leifer. It is Sports Illustrated at its absolute best and 50 years later, it is a lesson in sports journalism that holds up to this day. When it comes to Joe Frazier, Mark Kram, Jr. wrote the book on him… literally. Smokin’ Joe: The Life of Joe Frazier is a biography that goes into depth on the life of the former heavyweight champion and the three fights against his nemesis, Muhammad Ali, culminating in the ‘Thrilla’. Kram, Jr. tells us how Frazier tried fighting Ali in the later rounds by listening to him breathe since he could no longer see. He tells of the incredible heat that day in Manila with the arena reaching temps over 115 degrees. Kram also tells us that both Ali and Frazier wanted to go one more time — ‘Ali-Frazier IV!’— before their handlers put that idea to bed. And he tells us how they both grew to respect each other later in life despite the animosity that surrounded them during their fighting days. It’s a great conversation about possibly the last truly great heavyweight fight. Two warriors fighting for a championship… fighting for respect… fighting for their lives. The Thrilla in Manila… 50 years later… on the Past Our Prime podcast. Download and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 24 mins
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