Thanksgiving Day, 1924. The recently-established tradition of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team hosting the Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions on the afternoon of the national autumnal holiday continues.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is sent to cover the Pitt-Penn State “Keystone Classic” of 1924; in so doing, he discovers a throughline of the football-on-Thanksgiving tradition going back to 1621 (okay, actually, that’s going back to 1869) and reminds us that high-level football games on Thanksgiving are nearly as old as the official Thanksgiving holiday itself.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is an audio drama podcast from Number 80 Productions and the Sports History Network.

Thanksgiving and Football (or maybe Vice Versa) script & story by Os Davis.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer stars Doug Fye, Ilona Fye, and Eric Bodwell. Thanksgiving and Football (or maybe Vice Versa) co-stars, in order of appearance, Caedmon Holland, Forrest Hartl and Wayne Brett.

Additional direction by Eric Bodwell. Sound recording and primary editing by Don McIver.

The theme song of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is “the Dayton Triangles Rag” and was arranged and performed by Bruce Smith.

Other tracks in this episode include

• “Jazz Club” by Kriss (available through fair-use agreement via FreeMusicArchive.org);

• “Litany of the Street” by Silverman Sound Studios;

• “Bimini Bay” (1921) by the Benson Orchestra of Chicago; and

• “Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer (Outro)” by David Liso of Dynamo Stairs.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is produced by Os Davis and Darin Hayes. Series concept by Darrin Hayes.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer – coming soon!

Sadly, Frank Reading passed away on February 8, 2022. He was "one for the ages" and a Sports History Network "National Treasure." Frank will be missed dearly. This episode is a tribute episode put together by members of the Sports History Network.

I encourage you to stop by Frank's page on the Sports History Network to learn more about him and to also see all of the other shows Frank was on, that way you can listen to his true personality shine.

FRANK'S PAGE ON SHN WEBSITE

Ringside With Reading: Boxing History From Yesteryear is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

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EPISODE SUMMARY

In this segment ladies and gentlemen, I am going to discuss "The Undefeated" throughout Boxing History. These boxers never LOST a fight. We use the definition of undefeated as never defeated or having lost an athletic contest. Now, the record on the surface can be somewhat deceiving.

The competition, the era, and when you faced them could be a factor. But the fact is these men were never defeated in combat...

You can read the full blog post here.

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ABOUT RINGSIDE WITH READING: BOXING HISTORY FROM YESTERYEAR

I would like to announce The Podcast Show Ringside With Reading: Boxing History From Yesteryear brought to you by The Sports History Network. I am your host Frank Reading

I am a middle-aged former boxing mega-fan from the 1980s-1990s. I have no allegiance or affiliation with any Boxing Organization Alliance or Federation. I have a background in research and public speaking as well as boxing training and coaching. I hope you will enjoy the factual information provided on this program. My goal is to educated and inform the listener on the History of "The Sweet Science"

It will be available on The Sports History Network app and will air bi-weekly on Saturday.

HOST: FRANK READING

I am a researcher, public speaker, historian, Boxing History buff, a mega-fan from yesteryear amateur boxing, co-trainer, and worked with 2 golden gloves champions amongst several others. I became interested in boxing in the early to mid-1980s and was fascinated with the one-on-one competition. I trained for a little sparred several times but I was not that good and realized it. I took my interest in other aspects of the sport. Watching and analyzing fight moves styles and recording fights on television back in the days when every home had VCRs.

I am a middle-aged man now and do not follow the sport closely anymore but during a time I was a super mega-fan and did not follow anything closely but The Sweet Science. I hope an interest will be brought to and appreciated through my contribution. I am a high school graduate who barely got through because I was not interested in the subject matter being taught. I work in the Private Contract Security field for over 30 years. I have been happily married for 16 years and have 2 stepdaughters. My wife's name is Erika and the daughters are Andrea and Elena.