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!

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The SHN Showcase is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports' Yesteryear...

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is a unique sports history audiodrama produced by members of the Sports History Network. This week, host Greg James (From the 55 Yard Line) talks to the producers of SHN's first fiction podcast, Darin Hayes and Os Davis, about this enterprise, from the story's original conception to technical matters of sound editing and actor casting. We daresay some usual tips for fiction podcast rookies might be found here...

And stay tuned to (near) the end for an affordable way (no, really!) to get yourself a spiffy new 1920s-era advertisement on a future epsidoe or two of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer...

HIGHLIGHTED PODCAST

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is an audiodrama focuses on the life and times of a semi-famous newsman and his 'paper, the PIttsburgh Guardian, in the 1920s.