All things Figment - from the pages of The Figment Sporting Journal - Page 58

Tiger Fan · 10-07-2025, 11:55 AM

JANUARY 2, 1968

NEW ORLEANS RETURNS TO AFA
Grid Loop Expands to 25 Teams

The American Football Association continued its recent trend of expansion with the addition of a sixteenth team. That, combined with the nine clubs in the National Football Association boosts the total of pro grid outfits to 25. The 25th entry is a familiar one to old time AFA fans as it marks the return of the New Orleans, complete with the same nickname.

The old New Orleans Crescents were born as a member of the short-lived Continental Football Conference with the Crescents, along with the Kansas City Cowboys and San Francisco Wings, being the three teams that survived and moved over to the AFA when the Continental loop folded up shop following the 1949 campaign. The Crescents previous stay in the AFA was a brief one as the club, after going 0-11-1 in 1950, folded up operations and disappeared, until the return of the Crescents in 1967.

The Crescents have no ties to the old CFC club aside from the nickname. They have a new stadium, which could house a big league baseball team as well, called Pontchartrain Park and has a capacity of 58,000. The owner is Jean-Baptiste "J.B." Marchand, who made his fortune in the shipping industry, and is heavily invested in the future of his city. Unlike the 1950 edition, the new Crescents did finally get New Orleans its first AFA victory, although it took until their 7th game and the club finished with a 3-11 record, good for last place in their division.

Speaking of divisions, the AFA did change to four divisions of four teams each with the addition of the Crescents but after much debate the playoff system was left the same so that only two of the four division winners would qualify for the post-season. That is likely to change going forward, in fact there are rumblings that the AFA and NFA will completely restructure their divisions and play an interlocking schedule. Up and including 1967 the only time a team would face an opponent from the other league is in the League Championship Classic Game.

The two playoff clubs to come out of the AFA in 1967 were the Houston Drillers and the Washington Wasps. Each boosted identical 10-3-1 records and they nosed out the Los Angeles Tigers for the semi-final berths. The Wasps strength was their passing game led by quarterback Pat Roberts (2549 yds, 16 TD) and second year wideout Dave Fitch (45 catches, 7 TDs). The Houston Drillers defense was not quite as imposing as it had been in previous years but still had plenty of talent led by veteran lineman John Padgett, linebacker Jim Griffin and safety John Wickman while 30-year-old Miller Bogert (1,706 passing yards, 11 TD's) continued to be the heart of the Drillers offense. The four-team playoff left the Kansas City Cowboys on the outside looking in despite the fact the Cowboys finished 10-4, marking their best season since 1951.

In the National Football Association the Miami Mariners made the playoffs for the third time in the loop's four years of existence. The Mariners lost their season opener in Denver but then reeled off 13 consecutive victories. There was a clear disparity between divisions in the NFA as four of the five teams in the East Division finished with a better record than the club that won the West. That would be the Los Angeles Olympians, who made the playoffs despite their 7-7 record.

Eldon McGoldrick of the New York Titans was named the Most Valuable Player after the 8th year pro out of Richmond State ran for 1,403 yards and had another 312 yards receiving. It was the second league MVP win for the halfback who was also named Offensive Player of the Year last season. This year the Offensive Player of the Year was Denver running back Mark Adams while the Defensive Player of the Year was Houston linebacker Jim Griffin.

PLAYOFFS

Miami and the Los Angeles Olympians met in the NFA playoff game, marking a rematch for their September meeting on the west coast that saw the visiting Mariners win rather easily by a 45-27 score. Miami, which reached the championship game a year ago, was a heavy favourite but the Los Angeles defense, led by lineman Bobby Powell, kept the score close. The only touchdown came in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Miami back Ronny Pfister as the Mariners won a defensive struggle by a 16-3 score.

Through a quirk in scheduling and the fact they have never been in the same division the Houston Drillers and Washington Wasps were meeting for the first time. The Drillers, now in their seventh season, reached the championship game for the second time in their short existence with a 31-20 victory over the Wasps. Miller Bogert threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns while Keith Gladfelter, normally a reserve back, ran for a career best 130 yards to lead the Drillers attack.

AFA-NFA CLASSIC GAME

Houston and Miami were each making their second appearance in the AFA-NFA Classic and both were looking for their first win. The Drillers had reached the title tilt in 1965 but fell to the Boston Americans while the Mariners qualified a year ago but lost a heartbreaker in overtime to the Pittsburgh Paladins.

Houston set the tone for the game on their first possession as Bogert guided the Drillers on an 11 play scoring drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock and culminated in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Bogert to Dan Hackbarth. A turnover deep in Houston territory allowed the Mariners to stay even with a 1-yard Don Eisenman touchdown run and the game stayed tight until late in the second quarter when the Drillers began to pull away. Miami was down just 3 points midway through the second period but the Drillers scored 27 unanswered points to cruise to a 44-14 victory. The win made the Houston Drillers the first of the post-1960 expansion clubs to win an AFA-NFA Classic Game.

AFA NOTES

Quarterback Jim Rizzi became the first player in modern AFA history to throw for more than 15,000 career yards. The 35-year-old, who moved from Denver to San Diego this season but also had stops in Cleveland and Buffalo, entered the season about 100 yards shy of the mark and threw for 1,553 for the Admirals this season. Rizzi also has thrown 9 touchdown passes as he chases former Washington quarterback Tommy Norwood, who threw 110, for the lead in that category.
Boston halfback Kevin Sova also crossed the 15,000 mark but in career rushing yardage. Sova topped the 1,000 yard mark for the 8th time in his career, one that has been spent entirely with the Boston Americans. Sova is the modern-era (post 1950) career rushing leader.
Bobby Barrell Jr. had another fine season as the Kansas City Cowboys defensive end finished third in the AFA with 9 sacks. The son of the former FABL slugger was in his second pro season after playing his college ball at Coastal State.
Six quarterbacks were selected in the first round of the draft including Dwayne Hathaway, who had guided St. Blane to a perfect season and a national title as a senior. Hathaway was selected 7th by the New York Stars but spent the season as a backup behind Jack Osterman.
The AFA won the annual All-Star Classic, beating the stars of the NFA 17-10. A pair of Washington Wasps combined on the game winning touchdown, a 39-yard pass from Pat Roberts to Dave Fitch.

CUMBERLAND PUTS DEEP SOUTH BACK ON TOP
Explorers Perfect Season Leads to Third National Grid Title

Over the past couple of decades the elite teams from the Deep South Conference, and there are many, have established their conference to be the best section in collegiate football. Georgia Baptist, Noble Jones College, Bayou State, Central Kentucky and Cumberland have each been named number one over that time as Deep South schools were ranked number one in 10 of the past 22 years including a string of five straight in the late 1950s. There had been a three year drought, although Northern Mississippi finished second a year ago and Georgia Baptist ended up ranked third in 1964 but that drought came to an end as the Cumberland Explorers had a perfect 12-0 campaign to win their third National Title in the past 17 years.

Led by the best defense against the run in the sport, the Explorers ran the table but had a few close calls along the way. The biggest challenge came in their regular season finale against Central Kentucky with a James O'Donnell 67-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter providing the margin of victory in a 14-7 win over the Tigers. They also needed a big fourth quarter to defeat a much improved Baton Rouge State club 17-10. The Red Devils finished just 3-8 but that was a huge gain for a school that had entered the season with an 0-73 record over the past seven years and had been on the verge of being dropped by the Deep South.

As for Cumberland, led by O'Donnell's 1,473 yards rushing they were the class of the conference. The schedule-maker helped as they faced both Georgia Baptist and Noble Jones College at home and handily won each game from the pair of schools that finished tied for second in the Deep South and at 9-3 overall.

The Oilman Classic game marked the 10th time that Cumberland played on New Year's Day and they did not disappoint, running their post-season record to 7-3 with a 16-0 victory over Southwestern Alliance champion Amarillo Methodist. O'Donnell, a senior halfback out of Bradford, TN., was once again the offensive catalyst, rushing for 152 yards in a game that was scoreless for the first 41 minutes.

*** Presidents Settle For Second ***

The Cumberland win in Dallas meant that the best the Lincoln Presidents could do was finish second in the final polls. Only an overtime loss to St. Ignatius prevented the Great Lakes Alliance champs from a perfect season of their own. Lincoln closed out its season with a 30-20 victory over West Coast Athletic Association winner Coastal California in the East-West Classic. The second place ranking was the highest finish ever for the Presidents and their first top ten appearance since finishing sixth in 1958.

Another Great Lakes Alliance school ended up third in the polls as the Wisconsin State Brewers finished in the top ten for the first time since the 1930s. The Brewers lost on the road to both Lincoln and Minnesota Tech early in the season to drop to 1-2, before reeling off 9 straight wins including a 41-24 victory over Canyon A&M in the Desert Classic.

Two other 10-2 schools rounded out the top five in Eastern Kansas and Charleston Tech. The Warriors led the way in the Plains Athletic Association before ending College of San Diego's bid for a perfect season with a 36-21 win over the Friars in the Sunshine Classic. College of San Diego finished 6th in the rankings. Charleston Tech was the winner of the South Atlantic Conference and rallied with 10 points in the final seven minutes to upset Georgia Baptist 20-17 in the Cajun Classic.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES

Ken Barnette of Central Ohio was named the Defensive Player of the Year, a new award introduced for the first time in 1966. The Aviators sophomore defense end set a new single season record for sacks with 13, topping the mark held by another Aviator, Larry Parker, who had 11 as a senior in 1964. Barnette's also smashed the single game sack record, which had been five, with a showing against Utah A&M in October that may never be duplicated. He sacked Aggies quarterback Charles Ellison an astonishing 9 times in the game.
Senior quarterback William Scott of Coastal California set a new AIAA record for pass completions with 142 in 1967. Scott completed 64.8% of his pass attempts in guiding the Dolphins to a West Coast Athletic Association title. His 1,572 passing yards was the second highest single season total ever record, trailing only the 1,590 thrown by former Wisconsin State signal caller Paul Scothorn.
The top rusher this season Peter Lynch, a senior at Alexandria. Lynch ran for 1,909 yards on the season. The Generals finished 8-3. Lunch was named the Christian Trophy winner and also an All-American.
St. Blane, which won the national title a year ago with a perfect 12-0 record, got off to a 4-0 start this season despite losing much of its offense to graduation. The Fighting Saints then endured a four game losing streak and had to settle for a 6-5 season.
Other schools to join this year's edition of the Cumberland Explorers and last season's St. Blane Fighting Saints with perfect seasons and a national title win over the past decade include the 1963 and 1960 Georgia Baptist Gators, 1962 Lubbock State Hawks and both the 1958 and 1957 Noble Jones Colonels.

TURNOVER AT TOP OF ALL THREE DIVISIONS

All three of the marquee American Boxing Federation divisions saw a change at the top as each of the pugilists who held the world title entering 1967 failed to close out the season still on top.

The first to fall was heavyweight Norm Robinson who had an awful night at New York's Bigsby Garden on March 4 as he was making his 7th defense since winning the belt nearly three years ago. Will Flowers, a 28-year-old brawler out of Phoenix, AZ., caught the champ with a huge cross early in the second round. It was a punch that likely would have ended the night for most fighters, but Robinson gamely struggled back to his feet and narrowly beat the count from referee Johnny Addie. Robinson would be sent to the canvas again in the sixth and eighth rounds but somehow survived although the challenger had won each of the first nine rounds handily and was well ahead on all scorecards. Robinson would go the distance but be credited only with winning the 10th round and at the end of 15 Flowers would have a decisive victory with the judges on average scoring the bout 148-134.

Flowers would fight twice more in 1967, earning TKO wins over Charlie White and Harry Rankin, who is now 0-for-3 in title shots.

A few weeks later welterweight champion Mark Nock would suffer a similar fate, losing a decision -although this one was much closer than Robinson's loss- to fellow Englishman Anthony Warwick. The 36-year-old Warwick is an interesting champion as he went 12 years without fighting before reentering the sport in 1964. He made his debut as an 18-year-old in 1949 and was 12-1 when he quit the sport to take a factory job and play semi-pro soccer. In 1964, at the age of 32 he returned to the ring and has not lost since resuming his career. He knocked out Nock to claim the title and scored a split-decision over Italian champ Carl Rondinelli before knocking out former champion Matt Leach in December.

Finally it was middleweight Lyman King who's latest reign at the top of his division came to an end in December. King has held and lost the title three times now after the Seattle fighter was outpointed by Charlie Kincaid in Las Vegas. It is the 24-year-old Kincaid's second turn at the top of the middleweight division as he briefly held the belt a little less than two years ago when he beat George Quisenberry but lost to Guy Williams in his first defense.

The Year That Was
Current events from 1967

January 8–26 – Operation Cedar Falls, the largest ground operation of the war to date, as U.S. forces clear out the “Iron Triangle” near Saigon, highlighting the escalation of American involvement.
January 23 – U.S. ratifies 25th Amendment which clarifies presidential succession and procedures for dealing with presidential disability, a key concern after JFK’s assassination.
January 27 – Apollo 1 Tragedy. During a launch pad test at Cape Kennedy, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee are killed in a cabin fire. It’s NASA’s first fatal accident and leads to major safety overhauls in the Apollo program.
April 23–24, 1967 – Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov becomes the first person to die during a spaceflight when Soyuz 1 crashes upon reentry due to parachute failure. It’s a devastating setback for the USSR’s space program.
June 5–10 – Six-Day War as Israel launches a preemptive strike against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, capturing the Sinai, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights, reshaping Middle East geopolitics.
June 12 – The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down laws banning interracial marriage, a landmark civil rights decision.
June 17, – China tests first hydrogen bomb, escalating Cold War nuclear tensions.
July 23–27 – Detroit Riot. One of the most destructive urban riots in U.S. history erupts in Detroit, leaving 43 dead and thousands injured, highlighting racial tensions.
September 29 -President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly pledges not to withdraw from Vietnam, reasserting America’s commitment despite rising protests at home.
October 2 – Thurgood Marshall is sworn in and becomes the first African American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, a historic civil rights milestone.
October 9 – Che Guevara executed as the revolutionary leader is captured and killed in Bolivia with CIA assistance, ending his global guerrilla campaign.
October 21– March on the Pentagon as over 100,000 anti-Vietnam War demonstrators rally in Washington, D.C., in one of the largest protests of the decade.
November 3–22– Battle of Dak To takes place as heavy fighting in the Central Highlands results in major casualties on both sides, including the costly assault on Hill 875, intensifying debate in the U.S. about the war’s direction.
December 3- South African surgeon Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant, marking a milestone in medical history.
December 23 – A suspension bridge between Ohio and West Virginia collapses, killing 46 people, shocking the nation and leading to major infrastructure reforms.

stratonapba · 10-07-2025, 05:48 PM

New Orleans Cresents = Figment League's Version of the Buffalo Bills, period.

Tiger Fan · 10-10-2025, 10:00 AM

MAY 2, 1968

NAHC EXPANDS TO 12 TEAMS
Six New Clubs Join Loop

The theme for the 1960's and professional sports has been expansion. In 1960 there were 42 pro teams in the big four sports. Today there are 81. Pro football grew from 12 to 25 clubs. FABL added four teams to swell baseball's ranks to 20 with plans for four more to arrive next year. Basketball went from an eight team league just two years ago to now 24 teams with addition of four expansion clubs along with a new 12 team cage loop. The NAHC had heard plenty of rumblings of a new ice league being considered but, unlike basketball, the hockey loop quickly took steps to head off their would be rivals by doubling the league in size and placing teams in three cities- Los Angeles, Vancouver and Philadelphia- that were at the forefront for any potential expansion loop.

As a result just a few months after the Detroit Motors hoisted the Challenge Cup last May, the NAHC has doubled in size with the addition of the Los Angeles Stingrays, Minneapolis Norsemen, Philadelphia Rogues, St. Louis Sawyers, San Francisco Gulls and Vancouver Totems. The six newcomers would build their teams around NAHC castoffs, veteran minor leaguers and unproven youngsters and would pale in comparison to the quality of play exhibited by the original six clubs. The six expansion teams were placed in their own West Division to manage the significant competitive imbalance between the new, inexperienced teams and the established original teams. This separation allowed the expansion teams to play each other more frequently, (10 games vs each divisional opponent with just 4 against teams in the other division) offering a dedicated playoff path and a protected environment for the nascent franchises as they developed, a strategy that had been proposed to address concerns about the new teams' quality and to secure a more attractive national television contract.

There was some dissent among the established club owners over the initial plan to allow four teams from each division to make the playoffs. The original club's correctly assumed that there was a strong chance that all six of them could finish with more points than anyone in the West Division and it was unfair to admit teams with losing records to the playoffs so a compromise was reached for this year only, with plans to re-evaluate it in the summer. For 1967-68 at least, the playoffs would remain at four teams with the two first place clubs being joined by the two wildcard teams with the next highest point totals.

*** Dueck Leads Record Setting Vals ***

The established clubs that compromised the East Division certainly did dominate, especially the Montreal Valiants who set a new NAHC record for victories (53) and points (116) in a season. Not only was the team points record shattered but so was the individual scoring marks as Scott Dueck of the Valiants became the first player in league history to score 50 goals in a season while also being first to top the century mark in points with 116. Detroit's Hobie Barrell also surpassed the old single season points record with 104 of his own, including 47 goals.

For Montreal, this marked the fourth consecutive year they finished with the best regular season record in the NAHC. The Valiants had plenty of offense, as only Detroit scored more often, but once more Montreal's strength was it's ability to keep the puck out of its own net. Nathan Bannister (53-11-8, 1.98) shattered his own record for victories in a season and his 11 shutouts were one shy of the league record, which he also owns. Bannister collected his sixth Juneau Trophy for his efforts between the pipes, but credit must also go to blueline stalwarts Mark Moggy (15-53-68) and Gil Thibault (20-22-42) who once again comprised the D-pairing on the first all-star team while Moggy earned his fifth Dewar Trophy as the loop's top rearguard.

Detroit could match Montreal's offensive output with the trio of Hobie Barrell (47-57-104), Charles Bozek (36-63-99) and Andrew Williams (31-46-77) leading the way. Bozek set a new NAHC single season assist record and the Motors really got hot in the second half of the season after a December deal with Toronto brought Williams to the Motor City. Detroit lost goaltender Justin MacPhee (29-22-6, 2.36) to Vancouver in the expansion draft but found the perfect replacement in Ty Monahan (24-8-3, 2.19), a 30-year-old rookie who had bounced around the minors for the past decade. The Motors had the league's best record over the final two months of the season and seemed to be peaking heading into the playoffs.

The Chicago Packers held off an improved New York Shamrocks club for third place in the East and what would be the final playoff berth. Ken York (47-46-93) enjoyed the most productive season of his career for the Packers while the Shamrocks, despite missing the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season, are optimistic about the future after 24-year-old center Milt Young (46-33-79) enjoyed a breakout season and gives the team a rising star to join winger Alex Kalmakoff (18-47-65), who was named to the all-star team for the fourth time in his career.

Both Boston and Toronto made coaching changes prior to the season but neither made the playoffs. For the Bees it was the first time in five years they did not qualify for the post-season while the Dukes have now missed the playoffs four of the past five years. Veteran Neil Wilson (23-46-69) was again the offensive leader in Boston with newcomer Patrick MacDonald (19-36-55), who was named the loop's top rookie, was also a pleasant surprise. The Dukes season was derailed when Quinton Pollack (17-28-45) blew out his knee in early January, limiting the all-time scoring king to just 35 games and fueling speculation that, at age 45, the injury may have ended his career. Pollack, who was still recovering in May, has remained silent on his plans for next season.

*** Vancouver Class of West Division ***

It became clear very early that only the first place team from the West would qualify for the playoffs and that turned out to be the Vancouver Totems, a team coached by former NAHC star and the son of one of the sports founders in Doug Yeadon. Coach Yeadon and his Totems lost their NAHC debut, falling 4-1 to Montreal in the first-ever meeting between an expansion club and one of the original six teams, but they collected 13 points from their first 11 games and jumped out to an early lead in the West Division and never relinquished it. At 6-15-3, the Totems ended up with the best record against established teams out of the six new clubs.

Vancouver, with 80 points, was the only new team to finish ahead of any of the original six clubs from the East Division. Justin MacPhee, who won Challenge Cups with both Toronto and Detroit, provided a steady hand in the Vancouver net to help the Totems become the only West Division club to finish above .500. Another former Cup winner, Roy Forgeron (19-43-62), was selected from Montreal and he along with journeyman Dutch Obernesser (17-46-63), who spent some time with Toronto, led the Totems offense.

The Los Angeles Stingrays finished second, 15 points behind the Totems and they, like Vancouver, relied on a former Toronto goaltender to carry the club. That would be Mike Connelly (27-32-10, 2.75), who won a Juneau Trophy three years ago. There was little in the way of offense for most of the new clubs and Los Angeles was no exception with Bruce Eskes (13-34-47) and Cody Walsh (20-26-46) topping the squad in scoring. Eskes was a former Toronto Duke while Walsh had a couple of stints with the Detroit Motors.

Jack Littlechief (14-38-52) was a former junior league Most Valuable Player but deemed too slow by NAHC standards and was overlooked in the amateur draft which meant the 26-year-old spent six years in the Great Western League before joining the San Francisco Gulls this season. Littlechief must have done something right as he led the Gulls in scoring but the club struggled at both ends of the ice. Brooks Lochead (8-15-23) may be the Gulls best player, a steady stay-at-home defenseman who previously spent four seasons on the Detroit Motors blueline.

The St. Louis Sawyers finished fourth, led by former Montreal Valiants Matt Mercier (23-38-51) and Alex Bates (15-33-48). St Louis did earn the distinction of being the first of the new teams to beat an established club after topping Detroit 5-2 in the Motor City on October 22. It was one of the few highlights in what proved to be a long season for each of the newcomers.

Al Ferguson (20-36-13, 3.14), another former Valiant, was counted on by the fifth place Minneapolis Norsemen, but the 25-year-old netminder had his struggles. Former Toronto Duke Nicolas Poulin (14-30-44), 22-year-old rookie Bobby Dunstall (17-30-47) and career minor leaguer Larry Boivin (17-34-51) led the Minneapolis offense.

Last place belonged to the Philadelphia Rogues, who struggled all over the ice. Sean Kempster (12-17-2, 3.38) and Ben Nachbaur (7-34-2, 4.20) both had NAHC experience as backup goaltenders but neither had much success on a Philadelphia roster loaded with rookies. The best of the newcomers was William Brasseur (15-25-40), a 26-year-old who spent the previous four years in the HAA.

NAHC PLAYOFFS

Despite finishing in second place the defending Challenge Cup champion Detroit Motors earned the easier of the two semi-final series as the Motors were up against West Division champion Vancouver while the East leading Montreal Valiants were forced to contend with the Chicago Packers.

Perhaps overconfidence was a factor as the expansion Vancouver Totems stunned Detroit 4-2 in the series opener behind a pair of goals from Kevin Kelly, a 20-year-old rookie winger. Detroit benched goaltender Ty Monahan after the loss and backup Brock Vandale recorded a 3-0 shutout in game two. The Motors would also win the next three games, with Vandale notching a second clean sheet in game four and moved on to the finals with a four games to one victory. Motors star Hobie Barrell had himself a series, with 8 goals and 4 assists in the five games.

The Valiants also won their series in five games with Chicago claiming a 2-0 victory in game two on the road after Montreal had taken the opener by a 4-1 count. Regular season scoring champ Scott Dueck was held in check by the Packers early in the series but he erupted for four points in the final two games to lead Montreal to the finals for the fourth time in the past five years.

*** Familiar Foes in Finals ***

Montreal and Detroit had faced each other in the Challenge Cup Finals four times in the past decade with Detroit winning three of them including last season. Detroit would not be at full strength for the series as Benny Barrell (11-35-46), Detroit's second line center, was still sidelined with a torn muscle that limited him to 58 games during the regular season. Detroit's starting goaltender during the regular season, Ty Monahan, would also not play in the series but that was a coach's decision as he had been benched in favour of Brock Vandale after the opening loss to Vancouver.

Montreal had dominated the regular season series between the two foes, winning seven while losing just three times. That trend continued as the Valiants took the series opener 3-2 on home ice thanks to a Tim Bernard overtime goal. Detroit had led 2-1 entering the third period but Montreal, which outshot the Motors 49-25 on the night, was all over Detroit in the third and were rewarded when Maxime Lauzon scored the equalizer midway through the frame.

Game two was another tight battle and once more Montreal outshot Detroit and prevailed by a 4-3 score. Scott Dueck scored his third goal of the playoffs but the real hero for the Valiants was Brooks Ivey, a 27-year-old rookie winger who set up three of the Montreal goals.

The series shifted to Detroit and despite Hobie Barrell scoring his league leading 10th of the playoffs the Motors came up short. This one was by a 4-2 score as Montreal exploded for 4 goals in the final 18 minutes to take a 3 games to none lead in the series. Two nights later the sweep would be complete as after Hobie Barrell gave Detroit the early lead the Valiants scored three times including a pair from Scott Dueck in the final 2 minutes of the game to give Montreal a 3-1 victory and the Valiants could lay claim to their 8th Challenge Cup. Only Toronto with 12 and Boston with 9 have won hockey's famous chalice more often than Montreal. Hobie Barrell would lead the playoffs with 16 points but the David Welcombe Trophy as post-season MVP would go to Scott Dueck, denying Barrell a chance to win the award in back to back years.

RIVAL CAGE LOOP FORMED
FBL Expands Again Amidst Debut of Continental League

For the first time since 1948 when it forced the American Basketball Conference to close, the Federal Basketball League has competition in the pro game. Hastily arranged last summer the rival pro loop, dubbed the Continental Basketball League, quickly set up shop in the fall and featured 12 teams.

Just three short years ago there were only eight professional basketball teams. The 1967-68 season saw those numbers swell to 24 teams with the Federal Basketball League adding newcomers Atlanta and Seattle to join the pair of west coast teams in the Los Angeles Condors and San Francisco Miners that arrived over the past two years. The new Continental League matched the FBL's footprint in its initial season with a dozen teams of its own.

The new loop raided the existing Federal League for a number of its stars but when the dust settled the championship title belonged to the Boston Centurions for the second consecutive season and third time in the past six years. Like most FBL teams, the Centurions lost a pair of key players in Johnny Bumgardner and Frank Black to the new loop, but they had more than enough depth to withstand the defections. Veteran Steve Barrell was once more the club leader and the 32-year-old let the FBL in assists for the first time in his career while also winning his third playoff MVP award.

Boston finished second in the East Division during the regular season as the Washington Statesmen rolled through a dominant 64-18 season. Losing players to the new league opened the door for others and one who took advantage was Washington forward Norm Bennett. The fourth year pro out of Carolina Poly finally got a chance to start and made the most of by leading the Statesmen in scoring.

With the addition of two new clubs in the Atlanta Vipers and Seattle Emeralds -each of whom finished last in their division- the league expanded its playoff format to allow the top four from each division into the post-season, ending the longstanding tradition of just three from each division qualifying. That meant there would not be a bye for first place Washington but they had little trouble knocking off Toronto in the opening round. Boston disposed of third place Philadelphia in five games and then upset the first-place Statesmen in round two, taking the semi-final series four games to two.

The Chicago Panthers lost a lot of talent to the new league including two starters in Bob Christensen and Mark Robinson. However, the Panthers discovered a new star in the breakout season from Tom Midgett. The 6'8" center emerged as one of the top scorers in the game at age 29 and helped lead the Panthers to the league finals for the second consecutive season. Madgett, who played his college ball at Annapolis Maritime, got a late start to his career due to military commitment and did not make his pro debut until age 26.

In the championship series Boston proved to be too much for the Panthers in the finals and led by another tremendous playoff from Steve Barrell, prevailed in six games.

CONTINENTAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE DEBUTS
Dallas Proves Class of Surprisingly Strong Loop

When news broke that a new pro cage loop was set to be unveiled most expected the quality of play would greatly pale in comparison to the skills exhibited by the teams in the Federal Basketball League but as it would turn out they were in for quite a surprise. Continental League owners had deep pockets and were not afraid to open the cheque books and as result a number of top stars from the established loop were quick to jump to the new circuit.

The result was a level of play that was certainly comparable to the established circuit and some went so far as to suggest that the Dallas Drillers - the top team in the new loop- may just be able to beat the best club in the Federal League. It was all strictly conjecture of course as, unlike the rival football leagues, the Federal Basketball League had zero interest in a championship series between the winners of the two leagues. FBL owners looked down on the CBL and publicly claimed the new loop would be the death of pro basketball because it was driving player contract costs to an unsustainable level.

The Drillers, who finished with a CBL best 60-18 regular season record before going on to win the first playoff championship, were especially loaded. Among their starting five included a former FBL league MVP, a pair of former FBL rookie of the year award winners and a player who led the established loop in assists three times in his career. Former MVP Ken Robinson and assist specialist Mark Robinson (no relation) were each lured to Dallas and immediately made a huge impact on the new league. Ken Robinson earned the CBL MVP award while leading the league in scoring while Mark Robinson topped the new league in assists.

There was former FBL talent scattered throughout the new loop but Dallas was far and away the class of the league. The Drillers finished 16 games ahead of the second place Kansas City Plainsmen in the West Division and had little trouble with San Diego and the Plainsmen in the opening two rounds of the playoffs. The East was a tight three-team battle for top spot with the Baltimore Chargers and Pittsburgh Ironmen each finishing with 44-34 records at the top of the division.

The Chargers, led by former Detroit Mustangs center Abner McColpin and a guard out of Chicago who had only played semi-pro ball in Desi Camardan, would advance through the playoffs to meet Dallas in the first league championship series. The upset minded Baltimore quintet took a three games to one lead in the best-of-seven final before Dallas took over with three straight victories to win the series.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL RECAP
GREAT LAKES RISES TO THE TOP OF COLLEGE HOOPS
Indiana A&M’s Breakthrough Continues Era of Conference Dominance

All of a sudden, the Great Lakes Athletic Association has become the powerhouse of collegiate basketball. When Indiana A&M captured the 1968 AIAA championship last month, it marked the third straight national crown — and the fourth in five years — for the GLA. Even more impressive, three of the four teams in this year’s national semifinals hailed from the same conference.

It’s quite a turnaround for a league that, for decades, could stock the tournament field with four, five, even six entries a year — yet rarely brought home the hardware. In the first 48 years of the AIAA tournament, GLA schools combined for only five championships, and two of those were won by Chicago Poly, a former member long since departed from the conference.

*** The Breakthrough Years ***

The tide began to turn in 1958 when Detroit City College broke through to win the title, ending years of frustration for the Great Lakes contingent. Before that, Whitney College had been the only active member to claim a crown. But the Knights’ triumph lit a spark that would soon ignite a full-blown dynasty.

In 1964, the GLA finally reached the pinnacle of conference dominance when both finalists came from within its own ranks — Central Ohio edging Indiana A&M in a thrilling all-league showdown. Two years later, Detroit City College captured back-to-back titles, the second coming at the expense of those same Indiana A&M Reapers.

*** Reapers Finally Redeemed ***

This season, the Reapers at long last found redemption. After three previous runner-up finishes, Indiana A&M broke through with a convincing 65–54 win over Noble Jones College to claim their first national title. The victory not only ended years of near-misses for the Reapers but also seemed to pass along the “hard-luck” label to Noble Jones — a fine program that has now reached the championship game three times in the past four years, only to fall short each time.

Indiana A&M wasn’t even the class of the GLA during the regular season. The Reapers finished 12–4 in section play (29–5 overall), tying Whitney College for second place and finishing a game behind Central Ohio. The Aviators, earning the top seed in the Midwest Region, cruised through to New York’s Bigsby Garden for the national semifinals. Whitney, the No. 3 seed in the West, also earned a trip east after outlasting Western Iowa — another GLA entry — in the regional final.

*** Path to New York ***

Indiana A&M, seeded second in the South Region, got a break when American Atlantic upset top-seeded Northern Mississippi in the regional semifinals. Meanwhile, Noble Jones College, representing the Deep South Conference, narrowly survived a 60–59 thriller over Carolina Poly in the East Region final, thanks to Randy Baker’s late jumper in the closing seconds.

The semifinals both showcased and reshuffled the balance of power. Indiana A&M, having dropped two regular-season meetings to Whitney College, clearly learned from experience. Behind 17 points from All-GLA guard Joe Whaley, the Reapers dismantled the Engineers, 63–32, in a defensive masterpiece. Noble Jones advanced by edging Central Ohio, 57–54, led by junior college transfer Bill Nowell’s 22 points.

The championship game was a tense, seesaw battle for 35 minutes. With 4:44 to play, the Reapers clung to a slim 50–49 lead — and then took complete control. Despite losing Whaley to fouls with six minutes remaining, Indiana A&M outscored the Colonels 15–5 down the stretch.

Senior guard Dale Widmer caught fire at the perfect time, scoring eight of his ten points in the final four minutes to seal the 65–54 victory and deliver the Reapers their long-awaited national crown.

For Noble Jones College, the defeat marked another bitter finish. The Colonels, who won their lone title back in 1950, have now fallen short in the championship game three times in the past four years — and four times overall — bringing their record in title appearances to 1–4.

*** New Standard of Excellence ***

From heartbreak to history, Indiana A&M and the Great Lakes Athletic Association have now established themselves as the gold standard of college basketball.

The rest of the country may be playing catching up, as for now, the road to the national title clearly runs through the Great Lakes.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOTES

The Great Lakes Alliance dominance of late may not be restricted just to the tournament. Quite a few GLA graduating seniors may be first round picks in either the Federal or Continental Basketball League drafts. They include guars Joe Whaley and Dale Widmer from the national champion Indiana A&M Reapers as well as national player of the year Hank Van Eaton from Whitney College and as many as three Central Ohio starters in Wade Mulkey, Harry Brancato and Scott Gruninger.
It was quite a year for the Heginbotham family as brothers Roger and Charlie each earned national recognition. Roger, a senior at Opelika State, was named a third team All-American while his younger brother Charlie, a freshman for Noble Jones College was selected to the Freshman All-American team. Roger is expected to be drafted by one of the pro clubs next month.
While on the topic of family connections a pair of familiar names to pro basketball fans will be starting their collegiate career in the fall. That would be Roman Sollars Jr. and Billy Messer, each the son of a former Detroit Mustangs star. Sollars Jr., a guard like his father, has committed to play for Detroit City College while Messer is still working towards becoming eligible academically and may have to spend a couple of years at a junior college before joining an AIAA squad.
Led by junior guard Tom Bowens Jr., the two-sport star who is also a football wide receiver, the CC Los Angeles Coyotes won their first West Coast Athletic Association cage title in 17 years. Bowens Jr., whose father Tom Sr. is the coach of the Coyotes grid squad, led the team with 12.2 ppg and was named to the WCAA all-league first team.

FIGMENT FUTILITY WATCH

This Week in Figment Sports has been deliberating over who the worst franchise in Figment Sports history is and while we candidates include the New York Shamrocks, the Detroit Maroons or maybe even the Pittsburgh Miners, there is, in our minds one clear winner, er loser.

Before we get to the choice here is a look at what the other three clubs that were considered have done.

The NAHC's New York Shamrocks have not won hockey's Challenge Cup since 1930, so we are at 37 years and counting without a title in a league that has consisted of just six teams for pretty much that entire period. They have been especially bad in recent years, missing the playoffs 12 out of the past 13 seasons in a league where 67% of the clubs qualify for the postseason. In 10 of those last 13 seasons the Shamrocks have finished dead last in the six team loop and, despite all of the first overall draft picks they have collected through the years, the club still shows little sign of improvement.

The Detroit Maroons, Rollie Barrell's grid outfit, were a powerhouse in the early days of the American Football Association, winning four titles but have won nothing in the past 31 years. Detroit wasn't truly awful as they did make the AFA title game four times since then -most recently in 1945- but they came up short in each of those title attempts. They have shown flashes with five more playoff appearances since 1951 but the club seems to be snakebit as they are now riding a 9-game playoff losing streak that dates back to the 1930s. Detroit had an awful 1-13 season a year ago -the worst record in franchise history- but did bounce back to go 7-6-1 in the recently completed 1967 campaign.

Some consideration was also given to the Pittsburgh Miners as they have now gone 66 years without a World Championship Series title but the Miners have had some good teams, and some Hall of Fame quality players through the years. They have won 6 Federal Association flags since 1901 but like the AFA's Detroit Maroons, just can't seem to catch a break in the WCS. Their franchise winning percentage is almost .500 (.495) and while they have had some lean periods such as 1956-65 when they finished no higher than 6th in the Fed, there have also been some memorable teams like the Lefty Allen/George Cleaves led squad of the late thirties that won 3 flags in four teams or the current version of the club that won the Fed pennant two years ago and finished just a game back.

Ranking them we would put Pittsburgh 4th worst, the Detroit Maroons 3rd worst and the New York Shamrocks second. You have probably guessed it by now but the far and away worst franchise in Figment sports has to be the Montreal Saints.

The Saints last won a pennant (and the WCS) in 1921. Their .467 all-time franchise winning percentage is .016 worse than any other original 16 franchise and they are 170 wins behind the Toronto Wolves, who are 15th. Since 1921 the Saints have finished within 5 games of first place only twice: in 1930 when they were 2 games back in third and again in 1950 when they were five off the pace but still ended up in sixth place. Only twice since 1951 have the Saints finished within 10 games of first place and they are currently on an 8-year streak of finishing at least 26 games behind the Continental Association flag winner. There have not been a real pennant race in Montreal in 37 years.

Honorable mention in the college category when talking futility has to go to the Baton Rouge State Red Devils football team. How is this for struggling? The Red Devils went 80 games between victories. They won their season opener in 1967, beating Mobile Maritime on the road 13-0 for their first win since a 20-19 victory over McKinney State early in the 1959 season. It would be the only game they would win that year.

Baton Rouge State went even longer without a conference win. They beat in-state rival Bayou State 19-10 in the final game of the 1957 season and did not win a Deep South section game again until week 3 of the 1967 season. 66 consecutive conference losses spanning nearly 10 years.

We assume it is because of the draft evening things out over time (something real life baseball and hockey did not have pre-1965 or so) but Figment lacks one or two true historical dynasty clubs with far more titles than others like the Yankees or Montreal Canadiens accomplished. I guess the closest we might have is the LA Stars, winners of 15 pennants and 10 WCS titles but that is a far cry from the real-life Yankees. Same for hockey where the Toronto Dukes lead with 12 Challenge Cups but Boston is close with 9 while Detroit and Montreal each have 7.

Next up will be the review of the 1968 baseball season.

Tiger Fan · 10-12-2025, 10:07 PM

1968 IN FIGMENT BASEBALL
October 28, 1968

ANOTHER PLAYOFF NEEDED TO CROWN FED FLAG WINNER
Chiefs Nip Gothams in Wild Three Team Race

It seems like you can always count on the Federal Association to deliver an exciting pennant race and for the third time in the past six years a 163rd game was required to determine who would represent the Federal Association in the World Championship Series. Just as they did a year ago, the Chicago Chiefs won the Fed flag by the narrowest of margins. Last year, unlike 1963 and 1964 did not require a tie-breaker but the 1968 campaign did with the Chicago Chiefs doubling the New York Gothams 6-3 to claim their second consecutive pennant. The Philadelphia Keystones made the final week of the season even more exciting as they finished just a game and a half off the pace.

While the Chiefs-Gothams tiebreaker certainly made for a compelling finish in the Fed, there were a number of big stories that made headlines in 1968. The first was the move of the Kansas City Kings to Seattle, giving the Continental Association three teams based on the west coast. The hastily arranged move which saw the Kings leave suddenly in mid-December prompted the city of Kansas City to talk about suing FABL but it appears a compromise has been arranged as Kansas City is expected to land one of four new expansion teams set to join the league for the 1969 season.

The second big story was the dominance of pitching. The hurlers did seem to be slowly taking over the past few years but 1968 saw base hits become a premium, with FABL batters hitting just .235, a full 16 points lower than the league average two years ago and the lowest total seem since 1908 - the heart of the deadball era. Only four players who had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title managed to break .300 with the high water mark being the .306 that John Butts batted for the Chicago Chiefs.

The final big story was the dominance of the Los Angeles Stars. The Stars finished 18 games ahead of the second place Toronto Wolves and won 111 games to claim their third consecutive Continental Association pennant and fourth in the past five years. They have averaged 110 victories over the past three years and in 1968 were so dominant that they scored 64 more runs and surrendered 77 less than any other club in either league. Stars skipper Charley McCullough, who also was in charge for much of Cleveland's great run in the 1950's, has now won six pennants and three World Championship Series and his .580 winning percentage is the second highest of any skipper who has managed at least 10 years in the big leagues, trailing only turn of the century manager George McFadden. McCullough was named winner of the Continental Association Theobald Award as manager of the year for the third consecutive season and record sixth time overall.

*** Stars Certainly Live Up To Nickname ***

The Los Angeles Stars are loaded with talent and it is hard to imagine any team in the Continental Association challenging them in the next couple of years. 1968 marked the third consecutive season the Stars scored more runs and allowed fewer runs than any other team in either association. Over last two years the Whitney and Allen Award winners both came from the Los Angeles Stars and they were four different players. Lew Smith and Floyd Warner won in 1967 while this time around it was Ralph Barrell and Dutch Lane. OSA ranks the top twenty position players and top twenty pitchers in the league and eight of them currently play for the Los Angeles Stars. They include Barrell (.279,28,109), Bobby Garrison (.292,20,89), Bill Bell (.279,6,49) and Ed Moore (.280,22,74) along with pitchers George Dunnigan (17-6, 2.23), Warner (17-10, 2.20), Harry Anderson (19-6, 2.38) and Bob Hollister (16-7, 2.31).

On July 1 the only team hanging with the Stars was the Toronto Wolves, who were a game and a half back. Any dreams the Wolves might have had of winning their first pennant since 1940 evaporated in the July heat as the Stars went 25-3 that month and entered August with a 7 and a half game lead. The Wolves did finish a strong 93-69 but that left them 18 games behind Los Angeles despite it being Toronto's highest winning percentage since 1945. Veteran outfielder Sid Cullen (.276,20,68) and talented catcher Fred Tollefson (.261,15,75) led a solid Toronto offense while the pitching staff was bolstered by a career year out of 33-year-old Wilson Pearson (14-3, 1.46), who posted the lowest earned run average in either association.

Five teams duked it out for third place with the Chicago Cougars settling there at the end. The Cougars have a bright future with the likes of Bill Grimm (.258,24,68) and Sam Morrison (.273,15,72) leading the way but there has to be concern after pitcher Don Griffin (13-9, 2.69) blew out his elbow during the final week of the season and his status for opening day next year is in doubt.

The Montreal Saints finished in fourth place for the second year in a row with the same record (83-79) they displayed a year ago. Fourth is their best showing since 1959 and things may be looking up next season after the club somehow convinced the Pittsburgh Miners to part with 27-year-old three time Federal Association Whitney Award winner Dixie Turner (.293,27,124) in mid-June. Montreal added another Pittsburgh cast-off in October as they quickly signed Harry Barrell to be their new manager just two days after the Miners parted with the skipper.

The San Francisco Sailors finished in fifth place, just as they did a year ago. Carlos Jaramillo (.217,3,36) continues to be brilliant in the field but the 32-year-old had his struggles at the plate this year. Age may be catching up to them as Edwin Hackberry is now just a spare part and the pitching staff had its struggles which were amplified in July when Sonny Stoyer (4-6, 3.06) suffered a devasting arm injury that will sideline him for a full year.

Maybe we can stop using the prefix "Expansion" when mentioning the Dallas Wranglers as they challenged for third and ended up in sixth for their best finish in the club's seven year history. The future is starting to look a little brighter with strong showings from a pair of 24-year-old outfielders in Steve Prather (.302,10,57) and John Vance (.287,11,62) along with moundsmen Vean Conrad (15-13, 3.05) , Sam Helsel (9-18, 3.13) and Clay Buddemeyer (11-9, 3.14).

Maybe it was the stress of a move to the west coast but the now Seattle-based Kings dipped to seventh place. The last time the Kings finished seventh was 1946 when they were still based in Brooklyn. Hank Williams (.263,15,64) had a decent season and Tom Hicks (.296,16,89) looks like the real thing but it was on the mound where the Kings had some serious shortcomings.

Like their 1962 expansion mates from Dallas, the New York Imperials finished the highest they have ever ended up in the Continental Association standings but 8th place was attained despite winning 3 less games than they did a year ago. The highlight of the season had to be the perfect game thrown by rookie John Alfano (10-16, 2.67) in July. A pair of 24-year-old's in George Love (.256,17,59) and Phil Terry (.258,25,67) lead the Imperials offense.

It was an awful year for the state of Ohio as the Cleveland Foresters and Cincinnati Cannons finished 9th and 10th. The Foresters are in the midst of a complete rebuild while the Cannons have finished last in back-to-back seasons despite having what was supposed to be some very talented young pitchers. Marco Middleton (12-17, 2.78) seems far removed from his Allen Award winning seasons of 1964 and 1966 but he has had little in the way of run support the past two seasons.

*** Another Wild Pennant Race in the Fed ***

The Chicago Chiefs managed to repeat as pennant winners in the Federal Association and just like a year ago it was another nail-biting finish. Five teams were in the race as September began and as we entered the final weekend the Chiefs had a slim one-game lead on the New York Gothams. Philadelphia was third but at four back with three to play the Keystones were eliminated. That did not stop Philadelphia from trying to play spoiler as the Keystones swept a 3-game series in the Windy City. At the same time the Gothams could only manage one win in three games at home to the Los Angeles Suns setting up the fifth tie-breaker in Federal Association history. The Chiefs ended their three game losing streak by doubling the Gothams 6-3.

The Chiefs offense was led by Fed batting champ John Butts (.306,11,75) and veteran outfielder Joe Siniscalchi (.247,24,83) but the strength of the club was its starting pitching including Augie Hicks (12-8, 2.34), Don Hillshire (12-8, 2.34) and Joe Cipolla (16-10, 2.57).

The second place New York Gothamshad their highest finish and best winning percentage in a decade with co-aces Bunny Mullins (16-9, 2.17) and Harry Hayward (15-8, 2.89) leading the way. Carl Bramlett (.248,21,79) was a pleasant surprise at third base as the 27-year-old came over from Boston and immediately had an impact, joining Dode Cahill (.243,18,82) and Steve Burris (.254,17,69) as the heart of the Gothams batting order.

The third place Philadelphia Keystones finished strong but a 12-19 August proved just a little too much to overcome. Jorge Arellano (17-9. 3.01) continues to impress on the mound despite turning 37 in spring training while Bill Calvin (.267,27,82) and Jesse Scott (.274,14,70) led the offense.

The St. Louis Pioneers were fourth, but just 4.5 games off the pace. The story in St Louis continues to be Frenchy Mack (18-7, 1.84) as the 31-year-old won his 6th Allen Award. Fifth place Washington has Tom Lorang (.298,21,61) and a big season out of shortstop Al Marino (.227,31,104) but the Eagles continue to find the mix necessary to snap a 22-year long pennant drought.

The Pittsburgh Miners are just two years removed from a pennant and finished with 96 wins a year ago but one can't help but think they are looking at a complete rebuild. June 18 can be pointed to as the day the Miners era of contention may have come to an end. They were only 4 games out of first place on that date but for some strange reason opted to trade 3-time Whitney Award winning infielder Dixie Turner to the Montreal Saints along with catcher Eddie Thomas in exchange for Montreal catcher Henry Woods and four prospects. One of the prospects is Hall of Famer Deuce Barrell's son Ace but the youngster is not a highly touted prospect. All Turner was doing at the time of trade was batting .344 with 9 homers and a 4.7 WAR thru 64 games. At the end of the season, the Miners fired manager Harry Barrell but he quickly joined Turner in Montreal. Harry's son Reid Barrell (.249,17,87) enjoyed his most productive season as a Miner but it will be interesting to see if anything changes now that his father has moved to Montreal.

Like the two newest Continental Association members, the Minneapolis Millers enjoyed their best finish in the Fed, coming in 7th with a club record 74 victories. There was plenty of joy in Minnesota after 24-year-old John Edwards (.302,22,84) became the first expansion team player to win a Whitney Award. The Detroit Dynamos finished in 8th, marking five straight seasons in the second division - something that has not happened in Detroit since a run of eight straight ended in 1905. There is some talent in the cupboard but the Dynamos have a ways to go before they will be competitive. John Jackson (15-13, 2.45) continues to defy the odds with another strong season at the age of 44. Jackson crossed the 200 career win plateau this season.

The ninth place Los Angeles Suns were the only 1962 expansion club not to have its best year. The Suns finished one spot lower than they did last year but they did tie last year's club record for wins with a 75-87 season. 26-year-old outfielder Sam Forrester (.286,26,77) is a player to build the offense around while 22-year-old Pete Meissner (12-11, 2.33) and 23-year-old reliever John Bennett (18 sv, 1.59) show promise on the mound.

That leaves the Boston Minutemen in last place at 66-94. Frank Kirouac (.249,32,86) is probably their best trade chip if they want to improve a farm system that ranks about middle of the pack. Bill Dunlop (14-13, 2.92) pitched far better than his record indicated but the Minutemen need The Tobacco Twister to recapture the magic he displayed as an Allen Award winner three years ago.

MILESTONES AND OTHER NOTABLES
AWARDS

The Los Angeles Stars led the way in Continental Association awards as skipper Charley McCullough won his third consecutive Theobald Award while third baseman Ralph Barrell (.279,28,109) won his second Whitney Award and Dutch Lane (17-3, 1.50) claimed the Allen Award for the first time in his career. The Stars did not have a candidate for rookie of the year as the Kellogg Award went to Frank Bailey (.257,9,61) of San Francisco while the New York Imperials John Alfano (10-16, 2.67), who threw a perfect game, finishing second.

John Edwards (.302,22,84) of the Minneapolis Millers became the first player on an expansion club to win a Whitney Award as he narrowly outpointed Chiefs outfielder and Fed batting champ John Butts (.306,11,75) for the Federal Association honours. Frenchy Mack (18-7, 1.64) of the St. Louis Pioneers won his sixth Allen Award, tying him with former Cleveland ace Adrian Czerwinski for the most pitcher of the year awards. Chiefs skipper Dutch Becker won his third straight Theobald Award as top skipper in the Fed while the rookie of the year was 26-year-old Detroit outfielder Bob McNall (.283,10,58)

HALL OF FAME

The baseball Hall of Fame did not induct any new members in 1968. Al Tucker, George Garrison and Ralph Johnson all came close, with each receiving in excess of 70% of the votes, but none got to the 80% deemed necessary for inclusion. It was the first year that no one was inducted since 1961. Each of the previous seasons since then saw one player inducted.

NO-HITTERS

John Mullins of Montreal no-hit Cincinnati on May 7
22-year-old rookie John Alfano of the New York Imperials threw a perfect game against Seattle on July 13. It was just the fourth perfect game in FABL history and the first since Doc Newell of the Sailors tossed one in 1935.

400 HOME RUNS
Buddy Miller - Montreal

300 HOME RUNS
Tom Reed - Toronto

2500 HITS
John Low- Boston

2000 HITS
Harry Swain - Montreal
Hank Williams- Seattle

400 WINS
Vern Osborne - Chicago Chiefs
John Jackson - Detroit

1968 FABL ALL-STAR GAME
FEDS OVERPOWER CA ONCE AGAIN IN ALL-STAR TILT

The Federal Association has now won five consecutive all-star games and tied up the overall series at 18 victories apiece after rolling to a 7-2 victory over the Continental Association stars in the 1968 All-Star Game played at Pioneers Field in St. Louis.

1968 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
STARS EARN THEIR REVENGE AGAINST CHIEFS

The 1968 World Championship Series was a rematch of the one contested 12 months earlier but in this case it was the Los Angeles Stars who claimed the bragging rights, downing the Federal Association champion Chicago Chiefs in six games. It marked the Stars second WCS title in three years and their third consecutive appearance (and fourth in five years) in the series. Overall it is the 11th WCS win for the Stars, tops in FABL.

The Stars would enter the series completely healthy while the Chiefs, already tired from needing a playoff tiebreaker to eliminate the New York Gothams, would be without #3 starter Don Hillshire, who went 11-8 during the season before suffering a strained forearm in late September.

GAME ONE

Talk about a statement game! The Stars chased Chiefs ace Vern Osborne early and went on to win in a rout, by an 11-0 scoring. Los Angeles starter Floyd Warner allowed just one hit, a lead-off single in the second inning by Joe Siniscalchi who promptly got picked off at first base, over 8 innings before turning things over to the pen. Meanwhile the Stars scored 6 runs in the fourth inning to send Osborne to the showers. Bobby Garrison led the way with a 3-run homer and an rbi single for the winners.

GAME TWO

A nice bounce back effort from the Chiefs in game two who evened the series on the road with a one-sided 10-2 victory of their own. Chicago's 2-3-4 hitters Ricardo Castillo, John Butts and Siniscalchi each drove in three runs while lead-off man Eddie Kellum had 3 hits and crossed the plate three times. Augie Hicks went 8 innings, allowing 2 runs, to claim the victory as George Dunnigan was tagged with the loss.

GAME THREE

The Series shifted to the Windy City and both clubs left their bats in LA as the Chiefs squeaked out a 2-1 victory. Ralph Barrell hit a 2-out double off of Chiefs starter Nate Carr in the top of the first inning but that was the only run the visitors would get. Chicago shortstop Tom Spruill, who homered just three times in 157 games during the regular season, accounted for both of the Chiefs runs with a homerun in the sixth. It was the second year in a row that Spruill homered in the WCS.

GAME FOUR

It took 12 innings but the Stars evened the series at two wins apiece with a 6-4 victory in game four. Ed Moore led off the top of the 12th with a double marking the second straight inning a Stars lead-off man hit a two-bagger. Chicago got out of the jam in the 11th but did not this time as Bill Bell's sac fly plated Moore after Miguel Paniagua had smacked a pinch-hit single. A Bobby Garrison single would bring home an insurance run, something Stars reliever Jackie Thompson, who pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 12th, did not require.

GAME FIVE

The Stars went up 3 games to two with a 7-4 victory in game five. Warner was not quite as good as he was in the opener, allowing 8 hits and four runs over eight and two thirds, but did enough for his second win of the series. Lou Allen and Bob Griffin homered for the winners with lead-off man Bill Bell collecting four hits including a pair of doubles.

GAME SIX

The series ended just as it started with the Los Angeles Stars winning in a rout. This one finished 10-1 with George Dunnigan atoning for his rough outing on the mound in game two. Ralph Barrell hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to blow the game open while Bob Griffin and Ed Bogan each had three hits and two rbi's for Los Angeles.

Griffin, the Diamond Defense award winning catcher, was named WCS MVP after hitting .423 with 7 rbi's in the series.

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Next up a look at the Prospect Pipeline and then the 1968 recap from the gridiron.

Tiger Fan · 10-13-2025, 10:18 AM

October 28, 1968
LOOKING AT THE 1968 DRAFT CLASS AND TOP PROSPECTS

In an effort to stay abreast of who the top stars may be in the game once 1975 rolls around and human GMs return, here is an update on the first round picks both from the current June 1968 draft and from that of the last few year. As was the case a year ago we are listing below the 20 players selected in the opening round of the latest draft and showing where they slot on the OSA prospect pipeline as of the end of their first professional season.

Here are the 1968 first rounders and where they rank on the current pipeline, along with the 1965-1967 first rounders with an update on how each has progressed through the pipeline. Players that have switched organization are noted who their new team is as of 1968. Players without a prospect pipeline are either in FABL or listed as (NR) for those who are still in the minors but outside the top 500 prospects.

OSA TOP TEN PROSPECTS
October 1969

For the dual purpose of staying up to date with who the top FABL players are as we move towards 1975 while also doing a bit of an assessment on the volatility of top prospects in OOTP26, here is our annual look tracking the prospect pipeline's top 10 over the past few years. This list shows the top ten every October from 1963 until today as well as a quick update on where that prospect is now.

Looking at the chart below you can see that all but one player who was on the Prospect Pipeline top ten in October of 1963 has made it to FABL, with Pittsburgh pitcher Dan Wilson being the lone exception. Half of the players from the 1964,1965 and 1966 top ten lists are now in FABL while just two from the 1967 list have made it to FABL so far.

DYNAMOS REBUILD GOING SLOWLY BUT SURELY

'Patience' is the word heard most often in the halls of the Detroit Dynamos offices at Thompson Field. Baseball's team of the 1950s bottomed out two years ago with a dreadful 96 loss campaign - their .407 winning percentage that year was the worst the club had shown since 1942. There is still a long road ahead towards contention but the Dynamos did win 78 and 76 games over the past two seasons so the hope is they are headed in the right direction.

The team of the fifties won six pennants and four World Championship Series in a seven year span beginning in 1952 and from 1951 thru 1958 they won at least 90 games every season. They were still in contention in 1962 and 1963 with back to back 96 win campaigns before they crashed to 8th place in 1964 and have not escaped the second division since then.

So many years at the top resulted in a long run of picking late in the draft and many of Detroit's first round selections failed to pan out. By 1964 the farm system was barren, among the worst in the league. Bob Caldwell took over as General Manager in 1965 and was given a mandate to rebuild the organization.

Four years later many of the pieces are in place as the Dynamos system ranks third in all of FABL and has promoted some talented youngsters to Detroit already. Key among them is Ben Baker. The shortstop was named Federal Association rookie of the year in 1966 and now, at age 27, is a 3-time all-star and considered one of the best at his position in the sport. There is young talent on the mound as well led by last year's first round selection Eddie Yandow. The Springfield State product made his Detroit debut in July and had his struggles, going 5-10 with a 4.57 era but Detroit skipper Lyn Trease is very high on the 24-year-old.

Another 24-year-old pitcher Trease has raved about is Juan Solórzano after the 1962 fourth round selection had a strong 16-9, 2.78 season in his third full year in the Motor City. The hope is Yandow, Solórzano and a trio of youngsters in Pedro Ortiz, Walter Flowers and Eddie Brown will be the rotation of the future.

Ortiz is just 21 and like Yandow has spent time in the OSA top ten prospect list but he is still a couple of years away after the 1966 first rounder split last season between rookie ball and class A. The OSA scouting report continues to suggest Ortiz may someday rank among the best pitchers in any organization. Before you get too excited about Ortiz, keep in mind that the Dynamos have seen some other first round picks in recent years flame out. George Atkins, their 1962 first rounder and 1963 top pick Sam MacDonald are just two such examples.

Flowers and Brown are both wildcards. Flowers was signed as a minor league free agent after being cut by four teams following Seattle's decision to draft him in the 8th round in June. OSA suddenly has fallen in love with the 19-year-old, suggesting he has a golden arm and should top a rotation. Same for Brown who is just 18 and was a sixth round choice of the Montreal Saints but was released by three teams before landing in Detroit's system.

The most exciting prospect in Detroit's system right now is James Huffman. Selected 10th overall out of Manhattan Tech, the 22-year-old third baseman debuted at #3 on the OSA prospect pipeline making him the highest ranked 1968 draft selection. He split his first three months of pro ball between AA and AAA and handled it exceptionally well slashing .330/.477/.526 in 88 games and may just wrestle the starting third base job away from veteran Virgil Ewing next spring.

There are still plenty of holes at both the big league level and in the minor league system but prospects like Yandow and Huffman provide a sliver of optimism that the team of the fifties may just have a chance to be the team of the seventies as well. But it will take some more strong drafts and of course, plenty of patience.

Tiger Fan · 10-15-2025, 01:52 PM

JANUARY 2, 1969

MIAMI WINS PRO GRID CROWN
UPSTART NFA EARNS BRAGGING RIGHTS WITH FIRST TITLE

The 1968 professional football season proved to be a historic one for a couple of reasons. Primarily, the year can be marked down as when the young National Football Association landed firmly on equal footing with the established American Football Association. The Miami Mariners, class of the NFA and playing in their third consecutive AFA-NFA title game, finally earned a victory over the AFA, giving the five-year-old NFA its first title. Some suggest that second NFA team could also more than hold its own with the best of the established loop. And that is where the second historic happening comes into play.

Just a short eighteen months ago the city of Seattle did not have a single pro team. Now they have three. First it was the Emeralds, a Federal Basketball League expansion team that began play last October and then in April FABL's Kansas City Kings moved to Seattle. Now the city is home to the latest football expansion team, called the Seattle Roughnecks and the Roughnecks created quite a stir in becoming the most successful expansion team pro sports has ever seen.

The Roughnecks went 11-3 in their debut campaign, easily posting the best record in the NFA and tying the Houston Drillers for the top record in all of pro football. Houston had held the distinction of being the best expansion club but even the Drillers could not dream to accomplish what Seattle did in its debut.

Seattle General Manager Kevin Christenson struck gold in the expansion draft, with a focus on veteran talent that could make his club competitive right from the get-go, rather than looking for prospects to build around slowly. The result netted the Roughnecks some very talented players with none better than Doug Lucy. Now 36, the Philadelphia Frigates elected not to protect Lucy despite his 15 seasons of great success in the City of Brotherly Love. The Frigates figured Lucy was living on borrowed time at his age, but Seattle felt the veteran still had something left in the tank and they were rewarded when Lucy ran for 1,254 yards. Seattle also struck backfield gold with the selection of George Bauman from Buffalo. Bauman playing sparingly with the Red Jackets but he shared a backfield with Lucy and joined the veteran in surpassing the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the first time in his career. Seattle also disregarded age in building a strong defense as it was anchored by 34-year-old Billy Board, a long-time New York Star, and former Houston defensive back Rick Bolton, who turned 36 during the season.

It wasn't all oldtimers in the Pacific Northwest. The other key acquisition for the Roughnecks was rookie quarterback Richard Cole. The former Tempe College star was selected first overall in the draft and, while he had some stumbles along the way, Cole went on to have an outstanding season despite leading the league with 14 interceptions.

*** Drillers Rule the AFA ***

The Houston Drillers, a relatively new squad as well having debuted in 1961, proved to be the best of the American Football Association. Houston could put points on the board but the key to the club was its defense, led by lineman John Padgett. The 29-year-old from Darnell State had an impact on the league immediately after being selected in the second round by Houston in its first AFA draft. He entered the season with 3 Defensive MVP awards to his credit and added a fourth one after recording 25 sacks, one shy of the league record that was set 16 years ago. That showing boosted Padgett's career sack total to 123. No other player had more than 98 and Padgett looks like he has at least another half dozen seasons to add to his totals.

The Houston offense was again led by Miller Bogert as the Drillers quarterback led the league with 2,502 passing yards and had two talented targets in wideouts John Keim (54 catches) and Randy Renbarger (53 catches). Houston was pressed all season by the Los Angeles Tigers for top spot in the Coastal Division and only clinched the division title on the final day of the season when the Tigers lost in St Louis.

The Pittsburgh Paladins led the in the Capital Division with halfback Swat Deskins being the key player. The 30-year-old had his best season since 1964 in rushing for 1,252 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns which left him tied with Los Angeles kicker Emilio Brewer for the scoring lead with 138 points. Deskins was named football's Player of the Year. The New York Stars and St. Louis Ramblers were the winners in the Century and Central Divisions. Each was the only club in its respective division to finish above .500.

PLAYOFFS

Seattle proved too much for the rest of the NFA in the regular season, but the Roughnecks stumbled in the playoffs, falling 20-18 to Miami in the opening round. The Mariners kicked two field goals in the final four minutes to pull out the narrow victory. Miami made the playoffs as a wildcard after finishing second in the NFA East Division but after the comeback victory over Seattle, they proceeded to down East Division regular season champion Cincinnati to reach the title game for the third consecutive season.

In AFA opening round action Miller Bogert threw for 211 yards and a touchdown to lead Houston past St. Louis 23-15 in one opening round matchup while Pittsburgh nipped the New York Stars 28-27 in the other but only because they executed the two-minute drill to perfection. Paladins quarterback Chuck Girard drove his team 77 yards in 90 seconds culminating with a 4-yard touchdown toss to Alan Grubb. Mike Purnell's extra point proved the margin of victory.

It was an even more exciting game the following week as the AFA champion was declared but it required overtime. Houston staged an improbable comeback to prevail 30-24. The Drillers trailed 24-10 in the closing minutes of the game but Miller Bogert and John Keim combined on a pair of touchdown passes -the last one coming with just 19 seconds remaining in regulation- to force overtime. In the extra frame the Pittsburgh offense never got on the field as Bogert engineered a 10-play drive that concluded with a third touchdown toss to Keim and sent Houston back to the AFA-NFA Classic game for the second consecutive season.

AFA-NFA CLASSIC GAME

Unlike a year ago when Bogert and his Houston offense shredded the Miami defense for 44 points; this game was much more of a defensive struggle. After Houston accomplished very little on its first possession the Mariners had a 9-minute drive that ate up much of the first quarter and culminated in a 23-yard Ron Featherston field goal to open the scoring. Featherston would add a second field in the second quarter to make the score 6-0 Miami at the break. Houston had only managed 28 yards of total offense in the opening half.

The third quarter started in much the same way as the first two, with Featherston ending another Miami clock-eating drive with a field goal to put the NFA champs ahead 9-0. Houston continued to be stymied as the Drillers managed just one first down in the third quarter.

The Houston defense bent, allowing those 3 field goals, but never broke and continued to give their offense a chance as the game entered its final 15 minutes. However, Houston's first two possessions of the fourth quarter went nowhere and time was running out. With 5:13 remaining the Drillers took over on their own 11 yard line and finally strung together some positive plays. Bogert hit tight end Robert Sperry for 13 yards and then connected with Keim twice - first for 14 yards and then in Houston's biggest gain of the game a 41-yard catch and run. That set up another big pass and once more it was John Keim on the receiving end, as he caught a 17-yard Bogert throw for a touchdown. It cut the Miami lead to 9-7 but time was running up with just over two minutes remaining in the game.

The Drillers never got the ball back as Miami was able to run out the clock and become the first NFA team to beat an AFA club in the championship game.

FEAR THE REAPERS
INDIANA A&M WITH HISTORIC DOUBLE TITLE

A collegiate football national champion has been declared every year since 1906 and the AIAA basketball tournament has been around since 1909 but never before had a school won both the grid and cage national title in the same year until 1968 when the Indiana A&M Reapers pulled off the feat.

The Reapers run through the field to the college basketball crown was unexpected, but was nothing like the shock pulled off by the football team with the first perfect season in school history. Entering the 1968 football season the grid Reapers had never played in a classic game and were just two years removed from a dismal 2-8 season. 1967 was a much better showing as a freshman quarterback by the name of Terry Bergeron and an improved defense led by another freshman in defensive end Jamie Metzler helped the Reapers to a 7-4 campaign and 24th in the final polls, marking just the second time in a decade the school had been ranked at the end of the season.

As impressive by Indiana A&M standards as the 1967 season was, it was nothing compared to what the Reapers had in store for 1968. Led by the passing of Bergeron and his favourite target in senior wideout Oscar Hoover along with the rushing of sophomore Thomas Tackett the Reapers strung together win after win.

Bergeron threw for 178 yards and a touchdown in a season opening road victory over a strong Mississippi A&M Generals eleven. It was followed up by a skin of their teeth 17-15 victory over conference rival St. Magnus in which the margin of difference was an unsuccessful 2-point conversion attempt by the Vikings in the final minute. The winning streak reached six with four relatively easy victories over Commonwealth Catholic, Wisconsin State, McKinney State and St. Ignatius.

The big win that proved this would be a special year for Indiana A&M came in mid-October when the Reapers shocked Central Ohio in Columbus by a 17-16 margin. Kicker Cecil Wilson split the uprights with a 41-yard field goal with less than 2 minutes remaining in the contest to give the Reapers just their second victory over the Aviators in their last 12 meetings. It would prove to be Central Ohio's only loss on the season.

The Reapers rounded out the regular season schedule with conference victories over Lincoln, Western Iowa, Whitney College and Minnesota Tech, earning the school its first Great Lakes Alliance title since well before World War II. All that was left was a trip to Santa Ana for New Year's Day and the Reapers completed the dream season with a 31-27 victory over the Mammoths in the East-West Classic. Thomas Tackett led the way with 113 yards, to put the sophomore over the 1,000 mark for the season, while also scoring a pair of touchdowns.

Is it a one year wonder? Will Indiana A&M slip back into the middle of a deep pack in the Great Lakes Alliance, happy just to enjoy this one miracle run? Some suggest no as while the Reapers will suffer some heavy losses to graduation on the offensive line and lose their top receiver, the defensive core along with quarterback Bergeron and halfbacks Tackett and Brant Benefield will all be back next year.

*** Great Lakes Alliance Takes Three of Top Five Spots ***

Another commonality between last spring's collegiate basketball season and the fall football campaign was the overall success of the Great Lakes Alliance. Three GLA teams made the basketball tournament semi-finals and the same number of football clubs from the conference cracked the top five in the final rankings.

Central Ohio, which dropped out of the top ten for the first time this decade last year, rebounded and finished third in the rankings following an 11-1 campaign that culminated in a 27-24 nailbiter victory over Eastern Oklahoma in the Sunshine Classic. The lone blemish was that tough loss to Indiana A&M. Meanwhile Detroit City College, which has endured some up and down years, qualified for its fourth Classic game in a decade and finished ranked fifth in the final polls at 10-2. The Knights ended their season with a 23-17 victory over Tom Bowens CC Los Angeles Coyotes in the Bayside Classic.

The other two spots in the top five were claimed by the two Deep South Conference powers from the state of Georgia in the Georgia Baptist Gators and Noble Jones Colonels. The 11-1 Gators cracked the top ten for the 8th time in the past ten years, finishing second following a 31-14 victory over Southwestern Alliance champion Amarillo Methodist in the Oilman Classic. Noble Jones College, which lost in the basketball finals to Indiana A&M, finished fourth in the football rankings. The Colonels destroyed Charleston Tech 38-3 in the Cajun Classic to finish the season with a 10-2 record. Both losses were heartbreakers as Gerry Callahan returned an interception 38-yards in the final two minutes for the game winning touchdown to lift Central Kentucky past the Colonels 20-13 in late September before the Gators won the annual Thanksgiving weekend between the two in-state rivals by a 21-20 score after Gators quarterback Brian Eagle teamed up with wideout John Sanders on a 28-yard touchdown pass with three seconds remaining in the game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES

Georgia Baptist senior offensive tackle Robert Herrick became just the third player to win two Ipswich Trophy's as the top lineman in collegiate football. Herrick first won the award three years ago as a freshman and joins former Noble Jones College lineman Josh Ackerman and Northern California great R.C. Pickard as the only two-time winners.
CC Los Angeles returned to the top ten for the first time since 1959 following a 9-3 season. Senior wideout Tom Bowens Jr. capped a stellar college football career with 25 receptions for 351 yards. Bowens, a two-sport star, still has a season of collegiate basketball left before he turns pro. The son of the CCLA football coach, Bowens Jr. may well be drafted in both sports but odds are he elects to play football and follow in his father's footsteps.
Christopher Spain of Ferguson tied a record for kick-off returns for touchdowns in a season. The freshman ran three of them back this year, tying Dale Dejesus' 1966 record with Northern California.
College of Omaha senior quarterback Tim Hirsch graduates having set the AIAA career record for pass completions. Hirsh completed 110 out of 180 passes this season to give him 400 for his career, one more than former Charleston Tech signal caller Allan Ott recorded.
Baton Rouge State snapped an 80-game losing streak with a win in the season opener a year ago. The Red Devils ended up 3-8 last season. This year's club also avoided getting shutout in the wins department by finishing 2-9 including a victory over 0-11 Opelika State to keep the Red Devils out of the Deep South Conference cellar.
Senior halfback Tim Gray of Noble Jones College rushed for 1,655 yards and was named to the All-American team but for the first time in recent memory that All-American halfback did not claim the Christian Trophy. It instead went to Marvin Epperson of American Atlantic, who gained 1,603 yards and scored 17 touchdowns.

ROBINSON RETIREMENT LEAVES HW TITLE VACANT

As we look towards 1969 boxing's premier division is without a champion, something that has not happened since 1951 when the legendary Hector Sawyer retired. It was Norm Robinson who decided to retire will holding the title this time around, leaving the heavyweight division in search of a new champion.

Robinson held the title from 1964 until being outpointed by Will Flowers in the spring of 1967. The Los Angeles native decided at that point to retire but was convinced to step back into the ring when he was given a title shot 17 months later against Ben Brumfield. Brumfield, a 26-year-old who hails from New York City, claimed the title when he knocked out Will Flowers in April. In his August defense against Robinson, both fighters came out throwing haymakers and Robinson caught the new champ with a devasting combination that ended the bout in the fourth round. The fight, it turns out, had taken a toll on Robinson as well as the fight veteran had suffered a pretty serious concussion but continued to fight for the victory. Following a meeting with doctors shortly after the bout, Robinson confirmed that this retirement was going to be a permanent one.

Both the middleweight and welterweight belts changed hands in 1968. Horace Zimmerman became an unexpected champion as the 25-year-old native of Bakersfield, CA., claimed a controversial split-decision victory over fight veteran Lyman King, putting a quick end to King's third turn as middleweight champ. Meanwhile, former welterweight champ Brandon Dart, 29-year-old Welsh born fighter who calls New York City his home, regained the crown with a knockout of previously undefeated Billy Love in the opening round of their October title fight.

The Year That Was
Current events from 1968

January 23 – North Korea captures the American intelligence ship USS Pueblo and its crew, sparking an international crisis that lasts nearly a year.
January 30–February 24 -Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces launch a massive surprise attack across South Vietnam during the Lunar New Year. Though a military setback for the communists, it shocks Americans and turns public opinion against the war.
March 12 – Eugene McCarthy surprises in New Hampshire as the anti-war senator wins a strong share of the Democratic primary vote, revealing President Lyndon Johnson’s vulnerability and energizing anti-war Democrats.
March 16 - U.S. troops kill hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai. The atrocity is kept from the public until 1969, but it becomes one of the darkest chapters of the war.
March 31 -In a dramatic televised address, President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he will not seek re-election, stunning the nation.
April 4 – Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated. The civil rights leader is shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee, sparking grief, outrage, and riots in cities across the United States.
June 5 – Robert F. Kennedy assassinated. Senator Kennedy is shot in Los Angeles after winning the California Democratic primary. His death shatters hopes of a unifying Democratic candidate.
August 20–21 -Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, ending the liberalizing “Prague Spring” reforms and reinforcing the Cold War divide.
August 26–29 -Violent clashes erupt between police and anti-war demonstrators in Chicago as Democrats nominate Vice President Hubert Humphrey, leaving the party deeply fractured.
October 31 -In a late attempt to promote peace talks, President Johnson announces a complete halt to U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.
November 5 -Richard Nixon narrowly defeats Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace, promising to restore order at home and seek “peace with honor” in Vietnam.
December 24 - Apollo 8 orbits the Moon. NASA astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders become the first humans to orbit the Moon. Their Christmas Eve broadcast, including the famous “Earthrise” photo, captivates the world.

stratonapba · 10-17-2025, 05:58 PM

Does the AFA-NFA Classic takes place at a Neutral Site which is just like the Super Bowl?

Tiger Fan · 10-17-2025, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stratonapba

Does the AFA-NFA Classic takes place at a Neutral Site which is just like the Super Bowl?

I don't think that the game we use (Draft Day Sports Pro Football) is capable of making it a neutral site. At least there does not appear to be an option to pick a venue.

Tiger Fan · 10-17-2025, 11:08 PM

MAY 2, 1969

VANCOUVER SHOCKS NAHC ESTABLISHMENT WITH CUP WIN
Second Year Club Claims Challenge Cup After Knocking Off Chicago in Finals

When the North American Hockey Confederation admitted six new teams to the league a year ago the expectation was it would take years, maybe even a decade before those new clubs could compete with the six established NAHC teams. That was the reason the newcomers were all placed in one division, so that they would at least be competitive with each other. What a shock it was for the hockey established when in just its second year of existence the Vancouver Totems would win the Challenge Cup.

With two division winners and two wildcard qualifying for the postseason in 1968, the Totems were the lone playoff team from the West a year ago. Vancouver finished with the best record in the West Division last season and this year they would once again be the class of the six newcomers. Vancouver ended the current campaign with 87 points, which would only be good enough for a fifth-place tie with the established clubs were they in the East Division, but it turned out to be 19 points more than any of the other West Division squads could accumulate.

Vancouver had much going for it. The Totems roster was handpicked and coached by a man with as rich a history in the sport as one could find. That would be Doug Yeadon, who was a long-time NAHC player and the son of one of the early founders of the sport. Yeadon built his team from the backend out and that meant starting with a solid veteran goaltender in Justin MacPhee (17-14-9, 3.09). The 35-year-old had won a Juneau Trophy as the league's top goaltender early in the decade and was also the proud owner of a pair of Challenge Cup championship rings. His reflexes may not be as sharp as they were early in his career but MacPhee, and goaltending partner Francois Campeau, who had plenty of NAHC experience from four years in Boston, made a solid duo.

There was also veteran leadership on the blueline in the form of team captain Jack Charest and Jeff Gaudreault. Each had seen plenty of action with the Montreal Valiants prior to moving west in the expansion draft of 1967 and both had a pair of Challenge Cup titles on their resume.

With the focus on blueline talent in the expansion draft the club had less experience up front but picked up a key addition with summer trade to bring Alan Porter (33-48-81) over from Toronto. The 26-year-old made his NAHC debut a year ago and was a finalist for the rookie of the year award. He blossomed with first line minutes in Vancouver and led all expansion team players with 81 points. Ben Jacobs (21-29-50), Matt Sinclair (22-22-44), rookie Sam DaSilva (13-36-49) and another veteran from Montreal in Roy Forgeron (10-31-41) gave the Totems enough offense to dominate the West Division.

Vancouver finished with a 36-26-15 record and were the only West Division club to top the .500 mark. The St Louis Sawyers finished in second place and found a breakout star in Pat Valentine (23-44-67), a 21-year-old forward who won the McLeod Trophy as the league's top rookie. Prior to the season's start St Louis made a trade with Philadelphia to add goaltender Ben Nachbaur (14-14-8, 2.46) and while he split the netminding chores with incumbent Carl Dutove (14-22-2, 3.03) the 28-year-old Nachbaur did look like the Sawyers goaltender of the very near future.

The third place Los Angeles Stingrays also had strong goaltending with former Juneau Trophy winner Mike Connelly (22-36-15, 3.21) taking charge but the defense was not up to the standards the 37-year-old Connelly was used to from his days in Toronto. Cody Walsh (25-21-46), who spent some time with Detroit before joining the Stingrays prior to last year, was the only reliable goal scorer on the Los Angeles roster.

*** A Big Trade Brings Another Pollack To Toronto ***

The bottom three clubs in the West Division had plenty of holes. Philadelphia fired its coach in February and did show a slight burst under new bench boss Joe LaRose and that gave them some momentum heading into the playoffs. The line of newcomer Billy Bradley (16-35-47) centering Jack Cameron (25-29-54) and Bill Soltys (20-18-38) did provide some excitement for Philadelphia fans but the price to bring Bradley over from Toronto was a costly one. Philadelphia sent the first overall draft pick to the Dukes for the 26-year-old Bradley and 28-year-old defenseman Tim Musselman (4-11-5). The Dukes used the selection on underage forward Jack Pollack -the son of Toronto legend Quinton Pollack- and if young Jack turns out to even be half the player his old man was it could go down as one of the worst trades in hockey history. Rogues fans have to hope that Bradley can continue to shine because all Jack Pollack did in his first season of pro hockey, played for the Cleveland Eries of the Hockey Association of America, was collect 55 points in 62 games. Young Jack also made hockey history when on March 22 the Dukes called him for a game against Detroit. It marked the first time in NAHC history that a father and son had participated in the same game. Dad Quinton had a goal and an assist in the game while son Jack did not appear on the scoresheet but did log 7 minutes of ice time. Interesting to note is that two of Jack's cousin are Hobie and Benny Barrell and they were both playing for Detroit in the game. The Pollack's and the Dukes got the bragging rights with a 4-1 victory. Jack would also play for Toronto the next night in a victory over Chicago but he again failed to register a point.

Four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs so that left the Minneapolis Norsemen and San Francisco Gulls as the West Division clubs on the outside looking in.

In the East Division the Montreal Valiants finished in first place for the fifth consecutive season. The Valiants defense remains the best in the game with veteran netminder Nathan Bannister (53-13-10, 2.02) winning his seventh Juneau Trophy and tying his own record for wins in a season by a goalie. On defense Mark Moggy (12-62-78) won his sixth Dewar Trophy as the top blueliner and also became the first defenseman to win the McDaniels Trophy as league MVP. Moggy established a new single season record for assists and points by a rearguard and seem to revolutionize the sport with his willingness to carry the puck into the offensive zone rather than move it to forwards. It was not like the Valiants did not have talent up front. They had loads of it led by Tim Bernard (50-53-103) who become just the second NAHC player to score 50 goals in a season. His teammate Scott Dueck (48-54-102) had 50 a year ago but settled for 48 this time around.

There was plenty of concern in Toronto as training camp commenced after Quinton Pollack blew out his knee last January and missed the second half of the season. At 46, many felt that was the end of the line for the all-time scoring leader but buoyed by the thought of playing with his son in Toronto, Pollack (46-55-101) made a full recovery and played in every game, setting a career high in points with 101. 28-year-old winger Hank Knackstedt (36-53-89) also set a new personal best for points and the duo was a big reason why Toronto was the highest scoring team in the league and finished in second place.

The Boston Bees accumulated 94 points but that was only good for third place, four ahead of fourth place Chicago. The Bees were led by the tri of Ray Dupuis (33-52-85), Nick Quinn (33-40-73) and captain Neil Wilson (17-56-73) while the big stars for the Packers were winger Ken York (43-53-96) and netminder Andrew Bomberry (39-25-12, 2.64) who, along with Montreal's Bannister, were the only two goalies to play every game this season.

It must be tough being a New York Shamrocks fan. The club finished 9 games over .500 with a franchise record 87 points but even that could not stop the Greenshirts from missing the playoffs for the 9th consecutive season. The Detroit Motors went from winning the Challenge Cup two years and making it to the finals last season, only to finish in last place in the East Division this time around. Detroit's 82 points would have put them in second place in the West Division but instead they may now be looking at rebuilding an aging defense and, as often seems to be the case in the Motor City, desperately searching for an upgrade in net.

NAHC PLAYOFFS

Editor's Note -FHM is well, lets say a "challenge" for those that like to run fictional leagues so the reason the opening round of the playoffs is just a 1 game elimination is because our league commissioner did not realize you needed to set the series length when choosing the default NHL system of the era for his playoff structure. It will be corrected next year but for the 1969 playoffs we get a very exiting, but brief opening round - and it provided plenty of upsets.

The NAHC expanded its playoff format from four teams to eight for the 1968-69 season with the introduction of a single game playoff in the opening round. After three of the four lower seeds prevailed you can bet that the league will re-evaluate the plan for next season.

The Montreal Valiants had the best record in the league and finished 20 points ahead of the third place Boston Bees but one bad period cost the Vals their entire season. A single game elimination quarterfinal series saw Boston score four goals in the second period and led by a 5-point night from both Ray Dupuis and Ollie Lariviere, the Bees held off Montreal 5-4 to advance to the semi-finals.

The Toronto Dukes suffered the same fate as Montreal. Despite finishing well ahead of fourth place Chicago it was the visiting Packers who pulled out a 5-4 victory in their one game playoff. Chicago's Tommy Gordon was the hero as the veteran winger scored a hat trick and added an assist in the victory. Ken York also had a four point night for the winners.

The Vancouver Totems were the only higher seed to advance as the West Division leaders downed Los Angeles 6-1 behind Liam Lavigne's two goal and one assist performance. The other series between St Louis and Philadelphia required overtime and the underdog Rogues won 3-2 when Ron Deschamps scored his second of the game on the powerplay early in the first overtime.

Most assumed that the semi-final between Chicago and Boston would be basically the series that decides the Cup winner since few expected the club to come out of the West to give either of the established clubs much trouble. The Packers made short work of the Bees, sweeping the series in four games. The opener was a 2-1 road win thanks to a goal late in regulation from Chicago veteran Pete Bernier. Two nights later Andrew Bomberry had a 21 save shutout as the Packers prevailed 4-0. The series shifted to the Windy City and the Packers, after killing off a penalty early in the overtime, got the game winner from Sam Alderson to beat Boston 3-2. Chicago wrapped up the sweep with a 5-2 win in game four.

Vancouver finished with 42 more points than Philadelphia did during the regular season so a Totems sweep was not at all unexpected. The series was not even close as the Totems outscored the Rogues 29-6 in the four contests to advance to the finals where they would face the Packers.

While everyone seemed to be picking Chicago to win the series and claim just the third Challenge Cup in franchise history, those that looked closer might put to a February 27th meeting between the two on the west coast. Vancouver doubled Chicago 6-3 in that game to even the season series at three victories apiece and Totems coach Doug Yeadon used the predictions as bulletin board material for his club.

Game one started with the Packers building a 2-0 lead by the midway point of the game but then Alan Porter, the young Vancouver forward who had scored 6 times in the series with Philadelphia, beat Chicago netminder Andrew Bomberry to get the Totems on the scoreboard shortly before the end of the second period. The third period saw Vancouver carry the play and surprise their hosts by pulling out a 4-3 victory.

Chicago's Lakeside Auditorium crowd was even more shocked when the visitors took a 3-0 lead in the first 5:13 of game two. Vancouver would go on to win the game 5-3 despite being badly outshot by the Packers. Vancouver netminder Justin MacPhee was outstanding in the contest and Porter scored again to give him 8 in the playoffs so far.

The series shifted west but again it was the Totems who had a 3 goal first period. All the scoring came in the opening 20 minutes with Chicago putting just one puck past MacPhee despite again outshooting Vancouver. The 3-1 final put the Totems in complete command of the series.

Chicago staved off elimination with a spirited comeback in game four. The Totems led 3-1 with 2 minutes left in regulation but Chicago scored twice to tie the game and then Al Piche, with his first of the playoffs, was the overtime hero, keeping Chicago's slim hopes alive with a 4-3 victory.

Back in Chicago, game five also went to overtime. The Totems had built a 2-0 lead after forty minutes on goals from Joe Crosby and Pete Stojanov but Chicago scored twice in the final eight minutes to tie the contest. It took 38 minutes and 41 seconds of overtime, during which the Packers fired 28 shots at Totems goaltender Justin MacPhee but could not find an opening. Vancouver in contrast, had just 12 shots in the overtime but the final one proved the Cup winner as playoff scoring leader Alan Porter set up Ben Jacobs, a 33-year-old who had joined the Totems in the expansion draft after splitting a decade between New York and Boston, with the series clinching goal.

The Totems, in just their second year, were Challenge Cup champions after beating Chicago 3-2 to take the series in five games. Vancouver goaltender Justin MacPhee, who won a Juneau Trophy with Toronto seven years ago and Challenge Cups with both Toronto and Detroit, was named the winner of the David Welcombe Trophy as playoff MVP. The 35-year-old MacPhee became the first goaltender to win the award in its four year history. The award is named after Welcombe, the former long-time owner of the Toronto Dukes.

FEDERAL CAGE LOOP EXPANDS AGAIN
Houston and Milwaukee Boost FBL To 14 Clubs

The expansion craze continues in pro sports with not just baseball adding additional teams. The Federal Basketball League, despite continued defections of some top talent to the upstart Continental cage league, grew again prior to the 1968-69 season with the addition of two more teams. The Milwaukee Hammers joined the East Division while the West Division adds the Houston Apollos. That brings the league to 14 teams and further intensifies competition for top talent with the 12 teams in the Continental Basketball League.

A number of talented players left the FBL for the new league but none had a higher profile than Steve Barrell. The long-time leader of the Boston Centurions had won 3 FBL playoff MVP awards and guided the Centurions to titles each of the past two years. He left the Centurions for Louisville of the CBL.

Boston did find a more than adequate replacement for Barrell in Ted Stallsmith. The 24-year-old was an undrafted free agent out of Whitney College who joined Boston in a reserve role a year ago as Barrell's backup. This year Stallsmith embraced the opportunity to play every day and averaged nearly 19 points per game to give the Centurions an outside scoring threat to compliment big men Art Owens and Charlie Brock.

Boston failed to match last year's win total as their 51-31 record was 7 victories shy of last seasons total but the Centurions did finish second in the East Division just as they had a year ago with Barrell. Top spot once more went to the Washington Statesmen who were led by their veteran tandem of guards in Joe Godfrey and John Caffery. The New York Knights ended a four year playoff drought by finishing third with Dick Van der Linden and rookie Roger Higenbotham playing key roles. The final playoff berth in the East Division went to the Philadelphia Phantoms, who were once more led by center Dan Holland.

The second year Atlanta Vipers nearly doubled their win total of 20 in their first season by going 39-43 but they missed the playoffs, as did the suddenly fading Toronto Falcons who continued to struggle since being moved over from the West Division. The expansion Milwaukee Hammers finished last but may have found a player to build around in Bill Crawford, who they drafted in the first round out of Mississippi A&M. Crawford started all 82 games and averaged 19.2 ppg.

*** Rockets Take Off In West ***

The best regular season record in the FBL belonged to the St Louis Rockets, who set a new regular season record with 69 victories while losing just 13 times. Rockets 29-year-old forward Al Denning led the loop in scoring and received plenty of secondary support from the likes of John Brantner and Clarence Turgeon. The Chicago Panthers finished second and made the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season thanks in no small part to the efforts of the veteran Chicago duo of Tom Midgett and Dick Brown, although Brown did miss a quarter of the season with an injury.

Rounding out the playoff teams in the West Division were the Detroit Mustangs and San Francisco Miners. For the third year Miners it was the first time in club history they qualified for the playoffs. The Los Angeles Condors, Seattle Emeralds and the brand new Houston Apollos all missed the post-season.

PLAYOFFS

The Federal League opted to make all playoff rounds a best-of-seven series, changing the long-standing tradition of the quarterfinals being a best of five. None of the series went the distance as Boston swept New York while Washington turned back Philadelphia in five games on the eastern side while in the west St Louis disposed of San Francisco in five and the Chicago Panthers needed six games to eliminate Detroit.

The semi-final on the West Division side saw the Chicago Panthers, led by Tom Midgett's 44 points, draw first blood with a 154-150 victory in a game that required overtime. The rest of the series featured some close games but the Rockets won each of them to advance to the league finals for the first time since 1962-63. The highly anticipated series between Washington and Boston went the distance with the Centurions pulling out 1 point victories in both game six and seven to advance to the finals for the third consecutive season.

It marked the fourth time that Boston and St Louis met in the league final. The Centurions won the most recent meeting in the spring of 1963 but St Louis had claimed the title in the two final series between the duo in the 1950s. With the best record in the league the Rockets were favoured.

St Louis won each of the first two games on their home court easily, taking the opener 124-104 and following that up with a 117-94 win in game two that was keyed by a 30 point effort from Al Denning. Back home in Boston's Denny Arena the Centurions pulled out a 112-99 win in game three despite another 30 point showing by the Rockets' Dunning. Boston could not stop Denning the next night as he scored 40 points and added 18 rebounds in a 112-106 St Louis win that put the Rockets up 3 games to one in the series. Charlie Brock led the way with 36 points as Boston stayed alive with a 118-103 victory in the fifth game but the Rockets wrapped up their third FBL title and first since the spring of 1960 with a 112-104 victory in game six. Denning, who averaged 31.5 points per game in the playoffs, was named the postseason MVP. Later he would named league MVP and All-League first team after leading the FBL in regular season scoring.

SPIRITS SCARE UP A TITLE
New Addition Lifts Louisville To Top of CBL

The Louisville Spirits emerged as the top team in year two of the Continental Basketball League thanks to a veteran addition. Louisville had much of the same cast that finished 8 games under .500 and was swept in the first round of the playoffs a year ago with one major exception. That would be Steve Barrell as the long-time Boston Centurions playmaker became the latest big name player to jump to the new loop. The 33-year-old Barrell averaged nearly 20 points per game and more than 7 assists while lending the knowledge and experience that comes with being a 3-time playoff MVP during his decade in Boston.

It took a while for the Spirits to gel with their new teammate and Louisville struggled early going 17-19 to open the season. However, they caught fire in the second half and finished second in the East Division behind the front-running Norfolk Mariners. Like the Spirits, the Mariners were a much improved club from a year ago thanks also to a key addition from the FBL. That would be forward Norm Bennett, who finished among the top scorers in the CBL after jumping to the new loop from the Washington Statesmen. With Bennett the Mariners went from missing the playoffs a year ago to owning the best record in the East Division. Pittsburgh finished third while the final playoff berth in the East went to last year's division champion Baltimore Chargers.

The West Division standings in 1968-69 much more closely mirrored the debut year with Dallas -the reigning playoff champs-, Kansas City and Denver finishing 1-2-3 just as they did last season. The final playoff berth went to the San Diego Breakers a year ago but this time around the Phoenix Scorchers finished ahead of San Diego in fourth place.

The opening round of the CBL playoffs went according to script with each of the higher seeds prevailing. The Kansas City Plainsmen had the toughest time, pushed to the full five games by Denver before eventually triumphing with wins in both game four and five.

The semi-finals saw the Plainsmen upset the defending champion and West Division leading Dallas Drillers by taking the best of seven series in six games. Kansas City guard Joe Williams was the star of the series, averaging over 27 points per game and leading all scorers with 30 in the series clinching 132-124 game six victory. The other series between Norfolk and Louisville went the distance. The Mariners led 2-0 and 3-1 in the series but the Spirits won games five, six and seven to take the series. Barrell played a key role but the big story was the emergence of Earl Arsenault as a star player. The 29-year-old was a former All-American at North Carolina Tech but never got a chance to prove himself in the FBL until the expansion San Francisco Miners selected him from Boston. He played sparingly during his days with the Centurions but was a key cog for the Miners in his one season with them. Prior to last season he jumped to the CBL and instantly became one of the top scorers and rebounders in the new loop. This year his 28.9 regular season points per game was second behind only Pittsburgh's Mike Borseth and he cracked the top ten in boards and blocked shots.

Arsenault's stellar play continued into the league finals as the Spirits faced the Kansas City Plainsmen. The series opened in KC but it was the visitors from Louisville who drew first blood as Arsenault had 31 points and 14 boards while Steve Barrell chipped in with a triple double as the Spirits won 127-121.

Kansas City got back on level ground with a 114-107 victory despite another 31 point outing from Arsenault. Plainsmen guard Joe Williams had the hot hand with 42 points of his own while making 17 of 25 attempts from the field. The series shifted to Louisville for game three as the Spirits posted a 135-118 win with Arsenault once more topping the point parade with 30. Louisville moved to a three games to one series lead with a 145-134 victory in a fast-paced fourth game as Arsenault had 35 to once more lead the way. The tightest game of the series saw Kansas City stay alive with a 130-129 win on the road in game five as Plainsmen forward Chet Bancroft scored 42 points. Two days later the Spirit celebrated on the road as Arsenault, who was named playoff MVP, scored 33 points in a series clinching 126-100 victory for Louisville.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL RECAP
COLONELS FINALLY WIN THE BIG ONE

After reaching the title game of the AIAA basketball tournament in three of the previous four years only to fall short, the Noble Jones College Colonels finally won the last game of the season, thumping Custer College 73-43 in what was tied for the most one-sided title game in the 60 year history of the college basketball tournament.

The Colonels, who were led by senior forward Bill Nowell - a third team All-American- and junior guard Mickey Bell, lost just twice all season and finished with a 32-2 record. Both of their losses came in conference play but Noble Jones College still finished a game ahead of Mississippi A&M to win their third Deep South Conference title in the past five years. The 32-2 record is the third highest win total in school history, trailing a 33-2 club from 1965-66 and the perfect 34-0 1949-50 Charlie Barrell led team that remains the only team in AIAA history ever to go unbeaten in a season.

Seeded number one in the South Region, the Colonels did not have a nail-biter at any point in the tournament. They opened with a 61-52 victory over San Francisco Tech in a game in which Nowell, Bell and junior forward Steve Snowden all scored in double-figures. Next up was a 62-48 victory over another team from the west, the Coastal California Dolphins. They then defeated Deep South Conference rival Bayou State 66-55 in the regional final behind a 20 point afternoon from Mickey Bell.

Noble Jones College was the only number one seed to reach the national semi-finals. Third seeded Bulein came out of the East Region after the Hornets defeated Western Iowa -a 4 seed that eliminated #1 Maryland State- in the regional final. The top seed in the West Region, Lane State, also fell in the second round as the Emeralds were nipped 56-54 by Whitney College. The Engineers would punch a ticket to New York and the national semi-finals with a 62-47 victory over defending champion Indiana A&M in the West Regional final. The Midwest Region was the biggest surprise as Custer College, an 8th seed, ran the table with wins over #1 seed Detroit City College, #5 Redwood and #3 Northern California to become the first eighth seed in decades to reach the semi-finals.

Custer College kept their Cinderella dream alive with a 52-44 victory over Bulein in the first semi-final while Noble Jones took care of business against Whitney College. The Colonels did trail by five points at the break but dominated the second half to win 67-59. Bill Nowell led the way for the winners with 19 points while Mickey Bell added 16.

The clock struck midnight on Custer College very early in the final as Noble Jones College raced out to a 16 point lead at the half and would win by 30, with the final scoring being 73-43. That 30-point margin tied the 1953-54 Rainier College 66-36 win over Western Iowa for the largest victory margin in tournament title game history.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOTES

Northern Mississippi junior forward John Jenkins was named the national player of the year for the second consecutive season. The Lewisburg, TN., native is considered a top pro prospect but before that he will have an opportunity to win a record third Barrette Trophy as the college cage player of the year. OSA feels that Jenkins is already the best pro prospect out of all the division one college basketball players but he will not be eligible for the FBL or CBL draft until the spring of 1970.
Custer College became the first 8th seed to make the national title game. They were the second #8 to reach the semi-finals this decade as Dickson did so in 1964-65, but the Maroons were knocked out by eventual champ Redwood in the semis. Entering the tournament the Calvary had not won a tournament game since 1928 and had not qualified for the tournament in the past decade.
CC Los Angeles two-sport star Tom Bowens Jr. finished off his college cage career with a terrific season. Bowens was among the nation scoring leaders in averaging 15.9 ppg for the Coyotes. The top scorer was Mississippi A&M senior Chuck Mitchell, a second team All-American selection. OSA has Bowens ranked as the number one pro prospect among graduating seniors and Mitchell is listed as number four on the list.

Next up will be the review of the 1969 baseball season.

Tiger Fan · 10-20-2025, 12:31 AM

1969 IN FIGMENT BASEBALL
October 28, 1969

A NEW LOOK AS FABL EMBRACES DIVISION PLAY
Four Expansion Teams Boost Baseball to 24 Clubs

1969 marked a monumental change in the sport of baseball. No longer would finishing in first place automatically win a club a league pennant and a trip to the World Championship Series. FABL expanded by four teams, adding two to each association and with 12 clubs in each group the sport introduced divisional play for the first time.

The newcomers were the Baltimore Clippers, Houston Comets, Kansas City Mavericks and Milwaukee Arrows. Just as was the case for the 1962 expansion clubs, their appeared to be some lean years ahead for the latest newcomers, none of whom were competitive in their first season and each finished in last place in their respective divisions.

The Clippers brought big league baseball back to Baltimore for the first time since 1939 when the Cannons fled the city after six straight last place finishes in the Continental Association and moved to Cincinnati. The Clipper nickname is a nod to the early days of the previous Baltimore franchise, which was known as the Clippers around the turn of the century before being redubbed the Cannons. This time around Baltimore found itself in the Federal Association, joining long-running franchise in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington as members of the Fed's East Division.

Houston, which briefly had big league baseball in during the Great Western League's brief dalliance with major league stats, will be known as the Comets and play in the sport's first indoor stadium, the Dalton Dome. The Comets will play in the Federal Association West Division alongside 1962 expansion clubs the Los Angeles Suns and Minneapolis Millers as well as the Chicago Chiefs, Detroit Dynamos and St Louis Pioneers.

The Milwaukee Arrows join the Continental Association and bring the Wisconsin city its first big league ballclub since the Milwaukee Cream Caps played in the old Century League prior to the formation of FABL. The Arrows will join the 1962 expansion New York Imperials as well as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Montreal and Toronto in the Continental Association East Division.

The CA West welcomes baseball back to Kansas City a year after the Kings packed up and moved to Seattle. The Mavericks will be the new Kansas City club and they will compete with the Seattle Kings, Chicago Cougars, Los Angeles Stars, San Francisco Sailors and the 1962 expansion Dallas Wranglers.

*** New Division, Same Old Stars ***

The Los Angeles Stars had the best record in baseball each of the last three years, averaging 110 wins a season. Hard to imagine but the Stars may well have been even better this time around as the once more were the class of the sport during the regular season with their second consecutive 111-51 season. No other club in either association won more than 97 games and the Stars finished a full 20 games ahead of the second place Chicago Cougars in the Continental Association West Division.

All the key stars of the club that entered the season with 3 consecutive pennants and a pair of WCS titles were back including Bobby Garrison (.328,26,93), Ralph Barrell (.275,37,127), Lew Smith (.284,32,106), Bill Bell (.295,14,69) and pitchers Floyd Warner (18-9, 2.78), Bob Hollister (18-9, 2.70), George Dunnigan (18-8, 2.79) and Harry Anderson (15-8, 3.54). The Stars also added young outfielder Mike Stevenson (.284,14,78) who was named the top rookie in the CA and made what already was the best pitching staff in the game even better with a deadline day trade to bring former Allen Award winning 27-year-old righthander Bill Dunlop (19-7, 2.79) over from Boston. It was the biggest July trade and possibly the most one-sided as while Boston received four prospects in return, none are considered to be of the blue chip variety.

The Stars had a slow start to the season but after a 21-7 June (they went 82-32 after June 1) it was clear that the rest of the CA West Division were battling for second place. The Cougars, led by the pitching of Hal Adams (18-7, 2.66) and the bats of Bill Grimm (.287,30,91) and Sam Morrison (.306,12,64) held off San Francisco to claim runner-up status. The Sailors did not finish below .500 in any season during the 1960s but failed to win a World Championship Series, something they have yet to accomplish since the move from Philadelphia in 1954.

The Dallas Wranglers broke the .500 mark for the first time in franchise history after going 84-78. Vean Conrad (18-10, 3.25) was very good in his second full season on the Wranglers mound while outfielder Steve Prather (.341,14,80) won the CA batting crown at the age of 25. In their second season in Seattle the Kings finished with the same record (78-84) as they did a year ago. Hank Williams (.290,39,131) had a bounce back season at the age of 35 after a couple of down years by his lofty standards. Veteran hurler Charlie Rushing (18-10, 3.16) came over from Philadelphia and also had a big step forward from his showing with the Keystones a year ago. The Kings also added shortstop Ben Baker (.277,9,59) to solve a need at that position that has been present since the days of Harry Barrell. The expansion Kansas City Mavericks brought baseball back to the city that lost the Kings to Seattle but it was a long year as the newcomers went just 52-110, but did finish a game ahead of the other CA expansion club in Milwaukee.

*** Montreal Ends 48 Year Post-Season Drought ***

The last time the Montreal Saints played a postseason game Warren Harding was the President, the Montreal Nationals overshadowed the Valiants on the ice in the NAHC and current Saints manager Harry Barrell was an 8-year-old driving his siblings nuts in Egypt, Ga. 1921 was the last time the Saints won a Continental Association title. This wasn't a pennant - they still had the unenviable task of trying to dethrone Los Angeles in the first Association Championship Series- but a division crown was certainly cause for celebration.

Barrell was a Hall of Fame player who knew how to win. He managed Boston to a pair of World Championship Series victories and the Pittsburgh Miners to their first pennant in 26 years before being fired after an 80-82 season a year ago. It took the Saints just two days to sign Barrell to be their skipper and he surrounded himself with people he felt could turn the Saints into winners, such as his bench coach Roger Cleaves, who is related to Harry and the half-brother of three baseball Hall of Famers.

It was another former Pittsburgh Miner that had just as big an impact on the Saints as their new skipper. That would be Dixie Turner (.315,42,133), who Montreal somehow pried away from the Miners at the trade deadline in 1968 (which helps explain why Harry Barrell's club finished below .500 that year). Turner is just 28 years old and earlier this month won his fourth Whitney Award. He is, in short, the kind of superstar player that has eluded the Saints all these years. Add in Jim Smith (.284,27,112), an outfielder acquired from Cleveland over the winter who had a breakout season with the Saints and homegrown products Jim Hendricks (.314,21,87) and Harry Swain (.266,16,70) and suddenly the Saints are an offensive power. The Saints have always seemed to have high end pitching prospects but most never seemed to live up to expectations. That might be changing with the trio of John Roberts (17-13, 2.82), Eddie Watson (14-6, 2.86) and Joe Downing (16-5, 2.45).

As surprising it was to see the Montreal Saints finishing in first place and with their highest winning percentage since 1916, it may have been a bigger shock to see the New York Imperials land in second place in the East Division. The 1962 expansion club had never won more than 73 games before going 89-73 this season. As late as August 26, New York was tied for first place and had dreams of a Miracle Season in 1969 but the Saints pulled away with a 22-5 September. Things are looking up in the Big Apple as 25-year-old third baseman George Love (.286,30,100) is now included in conversations about the best young players in the game and outfielders Bill Anthony (.267,28,82) and Phil Terry (.256,26,75) along with first baseman Dick Vitt (.289,26,108) give the Imperials an offense to fear. On the mound 23-year-old John Alfano (17-9, 3.27), who threw a perfect game a year ago as a rookie is starting to live up to his nickname "Johnny Ace."

The Toronto Wolves were also in the mix for first place, and led at the end of August but an awful 11-20 finish doomed them to third place. There is some talent, led by veteran Sid Cullen (.298,18,65) and Fred Tollefson (.292,13,85), who some call the best catcher in the game today, but more is needed if the Wolves are going to reach the post-season for the first time since 1940.

The Cincinnati Cannons have a pair of terrific young arms in Allan Award winner Marco Middleton (13-15, 2.66) and Joe McCarthy (15-8, 2.38) but the duo should sue for lack of support as the Cannons offense is one of the least productive in either association. Things are still looking bleak in northern Ohio as the Cleveland Foresters continue to struggle in their efforts to build back up after their great stars of the fifties aged out. Young outfielder Andy Babel (.312,17,82) is one piece but there is a long ways to go. Speaking of a long ways to go the expansion Milwaukee Arrows finished with the worst record in baseball and were last in nearly every category whether it be offensive or defensive. A bright spot? 26-year-old pitcher John Thomas (12-6, 2.93) was a gift as the Chicago Chiefs surprisingly waived him in August. He went 6-3 both in the Windy City prior to the move and afterwards once he joined the Arrows.

*** Miners Dig Their Way Back To Top ***

Many expected the Pittsburgh Miners to crash and burn after their much questioned decision to move Whitney Award winner Dixie Turner to Montreal and fire manager Harry Barrell last year but the demise did not happen as the Miners, under new skipper Don Fox, who had success in Philadelphia and won a pair of WCS title with the Keystones, got the team on the right track again in a hurry. Pittsburgh went 96-66 and outlasted the Washington Eagles by three games in a season long battle between the two clubs that ended up as the tightest division race of the season.

Pittsburgh still has a Barrell in Harry's son Reid (.286,15,76) who seemed unaffected by his father's dismissal and proved to be a solid contributor to the most productive offense in the Fed. Other key cogs were Earl Skains (.280,21,82), Mike Whisman (.307,22,98) and catcher Henry Woods (.278,17,101). None could replace the lost production of Turner but together they more than made up for the Whitney Award winners absence. Veteran Bill Scott (18-5, 2.84) and Bud Andrews (15-6, 3.10) along with 25-year-old Jack Kotarski (11-7, 2.51) showed the makings of a solid rotation.

The Eagles, as always, were led by third baseman Tom Lorang (.346,33,98), who won his second Whitney Award and third Fed batting crown. A season ending injury to shortstop Al Marino (.237,10,50) that ended his season in June and may prove more debilitating than it first appeared certainly made keeping pace with Pittsburgh tougher for the Eagles. On the mound Jake Watkins (16-8, 3.16) was a pleasant surprise as the 27-year-old had never won more than two games in a season entering this year.

Many were left scratching their heads when the Boston Minutemen traded pitcher Bill Dunlop to the Los Angeles Stars just prior to the end of July trade deadline. The Stars appear to have sold the Minutemen a collection of trinkets and beads in exchange for a 27-year-old pitcher who already has an Allen Award under his belt. It feels like the kind of move that destroys a franchise for a number of years and Boston simply meandered through a pedestrian 81-81 season. The only positive is it did end a two-year stretch of sub .500 seasons in Beantown.

The bottom half of the Federal Association East Division featured the Philadelphia Keystones, New York Gothams and expansion Baltimore Clippers. The Keystones likely hoped for much more out of the campaign after acquiring three time Allen Award winning pitcher Billy Hasson (17-10, 2.69) from St Louis prior to the season. The 35-year-old certainly can't be faulted for Philadelphia's first losing season since 1959. In fact, their starting rotation had the lowest ERA in the Fed. Unfortunately the Keystones offense seemed to underperform. The Gothams came within a playoff tie-breaker loss to the Chicago Chiefs from reaching the World Championship Series a year ago but little seemed to go right for them in 1969. Even ace Bunny Mullins (14-14, 2.92) finished with the lowest win total of his five year career but that was due to lack of run support and in a year that no Fed pitcher won more than 18 games Mullins was the recipient of his first Allen Award. Baltimore is an expansion club with a long road ahead but they found a gem in Kellogg Award winning third baseman Tony Nino (.281,15,79.

*** Pioneers Class of the West ***

One draw of the divisional format is the expectation that more teams will be in contention in September but had their still been a single division we would have been looking at yet another Federal Association tie-breaker as the West Division St Louis Pioneers finished at 96-66, an identical record to their East Division counterparts in Pittsburgh.

Things are changing in St Louis as the Pioneers parted with a long-time piece of their starting rotation, dealing Billy Hasson to Boston prior to the season, but Frenchy Mack (14-8, 3.29) is still around. Or at least Pioneers fans hope he will be after Mack suffered a devastating arm injury in October and is expected to miss the entire 1970 season. Doc Carver (18-9, 2.86) had a strong season elevated to the number two starter behind Mack. The Pioneers offense may not have a superstar -although Bob Bell (.301,18,89) might still qualify for that description- but it does have consistent production throughout the lineup from the likes of lead-off man Don Barker (.285,12,60), Sam Peterson (.270,8,77), John Richards (.255,23,76), Danny Davis (.259,23,80) and newcomer Quinton Vincent (.296,16,100), who came over from Philadelphia in the Hasson trade.

A strong June put the Chicago Chiefs in the drivers seat but they crashed with a rough July and August, going 26-29 over that span and could not keep pace with the Pioneers. Age may be a concern going forward as pitchers Don Hillshire (15-10, 2.87) and Vern Osborne (11-14, 4.35) are 41 and 38 years of age respectively.

The two 1962 expansion clubs in the Minneapolis Millers and Los Angeles Suns finished in a three way tie with the Detroit Dynamos for third place at 78-84. For the Millers it equaled their best ever victory output and established a new high water mark for the Suns. For Detroit it was a sixth straight season of sub-.500 showings and to make matters worse many questioned the decision to deal shortstop Ben Baker to Seattle in exchange for second baseman Bill Austin. Both are comparable but Baker was one of the top defensive shortstops in the Fed and now that position is a black hole for the Dynamos as newcomer Pat Miller (.273,16,76) can hit but his glove looks like a big liability for a team that is trying to develop confidence in its young arms now that veterans John Jackson and Bud Henderson retired. Last week Dynamos manager Lyn Trease also left after four seasons at the helm. He elected not to renew his contract and was replaced by the relatively unknown Jim Dirks, a 45-year-old former minor league pitcher who had never managed at any level of pro ball.

The Houston Comets finished last but their 65 win season was the best among the new expansion clubs. They do have a marquee player in 27-year-old infielder George Whaley (.254,21,64). The expansion draft selection was the first overall pick of the 1961 FABL draft and was a three-time all-star with the Washington Eagles. 22-year-old pitcher Heinie Schmidt (12-11, 3.27) may also be one to watch. The former top 100 prospect was snatched from the Montreal Saints system in the expansion draft and enjoyed a solid rookie campaign with the Comets.

MILESTONES AND OTHER NOTABLES
AWARDS

The Whitney Awards had a pair of familiar names as winners. In past seasons Tom Lorang and Dixie Turner seemed to regular battle it out for the Federal Association Whitney but with Turner traded to Montreal last July it allowed each of them to collect a Whitney. Turner (.315,42,133) won his first Continental Association Whitney and fourth overall in his first full season in Montreal while Lorang (.346,33,98), the Washington Eagles star third baseman, claimed his second Federal Association Whitney and has finished second in the balloting 4 times.

Bunny Mullins (14-14, 2.92), the New York Gothams 25-year-old ace, won his first Allen Award after finishing second each of the past two seasons. In the Continental Association, Cincinnati's 26-year-old Marco Middleton (13-15, 2.66) won his third Allen Award despite having a losing record.

The Kellogg Award for top rookie went to Baltimore Clippers 24-year-old third baseman Tony Nino (.281,15,79) in the Federal Association and outfielder Mike Stevenson (.284,14,78) of the Los Angeles Stars in the Continental. Both rookie winners have Louisiana connections as well as being late round picks who blossomed. Stevenson, 23, was a 1968 7th round pick of the Stars out of Bayou College while Nino was selected from Cincinnati in the expansion draft after originally being a 15th round selection of the Chicago Cougars out of a New Orleans high school in 1963.

By this point we might as well rename the Continental Association Theobald Award to the Charley McCullough Trophy. The veteran Los Angeles Stars skipper was named Manager of the Year in the CA for the fifth consecutive season and seventh time overall. Don Fox, in his first year at the helm of the Pittsburgh Miners after Harry Barrell's dismissal, led the Miners to top spot in the Federal Association East Division and won his third Theobald Award. He had previously won twice during his 12-year stretch as the Philadelphia Keystones bench boss.

HALL OF FAME

For the second consecutive season none of the players on the Hall of Fame ballot received enough support to be elected. Leo Mitchell, who has been on the ballot since 1960, came the closest with 74.9% of the ballots submitted listing his name. It was the highest total Mitchell had ever received but still shy of the 80% required for induction.

NO-HITTERS

1969 gave us two no-hitters and both were thrown against expansion teams. Ralph Cooper of Cleveland no-hit the Milwaukee Arrows in August and a month later the Chiefs Vern Osborne turned the trick against Baltimore. The no-hitter was also the 215th victory of the 38-year-old Osborne's career.

3000 HITS
Edwin Hackberry, San Francisco

2500 HITS
Rod Shearer, Chicago Chiefs

2000 HITS
Jerry McMillan, Chicago Cougars

300 HOME RUNS
Tom Lorang, Washington

300 STOLEN BASES
Carlos Jaramillo, San Francisco
Harry Dellinger, Philadelphia

2500 STRIKE OUTS
Jorge Arellano, Philadelphia
Beau McClellan, Seattle

200 WINS
Pug White, Chicago Cougars
Frenchy Mack, St Louis

[size="6"] 1969 FABL ALL-STAR GAME
Federal Association Wins For The 6th Consecutive Year

The all-star game made its first appearance in Baltimore as the expansion Clippers were the host. A new venue but the same old result as the Federal Association stars again dominated - winning by a 9-2 count to run their victory streak to six years. Bob Bell of the St Louis Pioneers was the MVP. Bell delivered a pinch-hit 3-run double in the fifth inning and finished with five rbi's and a run scored.

1969 PLAYOFFS

For the first time FABL had a second round of playoffs as the Association Championship Series, or ACS, made their debut following the introduction of division play. The Federal Association series had the Pittsburgh Miners and St Louis Pioneers facing each other after both finished at the top of their respective divisions with a 96-66 record. Head to head they were nearly as even with the Pioneers winning 8 of the 15 regular season meetings between the duo.

The ACS in the Fed proved to be a one-sided affair as the Pioneers swept the best-of-five series in three straight games. Bob Bell was the hero of the opener as the St Louis veteran smacked a pair of triples to pace the Pioneers to a 5-3 victory. Frenchy Mack was not at the top of his game but went 5 innings, allowing 3 Pittsburgh runs, for the victory. Jack Kotarski took the loss for Pittsburgh.

Two big innings, a three run first inning and a 5-run outburst in the bottom of the 8th proved the difference in game two as the Pioneers won by an 8-6 score and two days later in Pittsburgh the visiting Pioneers would complete the sweep with a 4-3 victory. The win sent St Louis to its fourth World Championship Series of the decade.

On the Continental side the Los Angeles Stars were heavy favourites over a Montreal Saints team make its first post-season appearance in 48 years. Montreal got off to a great start in the road in the ACS opener, plating a pair of runs in the top of the first inning courtesy of a Dixie Turner two-run homer off Stars starter Floyd Warner. However, Los Angeles would answer quickly with four runs of their own in the home half of the opening inning, with Lew Smith's 3-run longball doing the majority of the damage. Los Angeles would go on to win 7-4.

The second game saw the Saints once again score a pair of runs in the top of the first inning and this time it led to a victory as Montreal starter Jack Kessler held Los Angeles off the scoreboard for seven innings. Meanwhile Dixie Turner homered for the second time in as many games to put the Saints up 3-0. The Stars did score a pair in the 8th but that was as close as they could get, and Montreal evened the series with a 3-2 victory.

They shifted to Canada for a high scoring third game that saw Dixie Turner go 3-for-5 with two more homers, 3 rbis and 3 runs scored. It would not be enough as the Stars, with seven of the eight regulars in the lineup getting at least one hit, pulled out an 8-7 victory.

Los Angeles closed out the series with an 8-5 win in the fourth game, and the big news was Dixie Turner did not homer. He actually went 0-for-5 but still hit .294 with 4 homers and 6 rbi's in the series. Lew Smith and Bobby Garrison each drove in six for the Stars in the series while catcher Bob Griffin hit .471 with a pair of homers.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Los Angeles was making its fourth consecutive trip to the Fall Classic and looking for its third win in that span. The two teams had met in the 1964 series, where St Louis prevailed in five games for their third straight WCS win. This was the Pioneers first trip back to the WCS since that 1964 win.

GAME ONE

The series opened in St Louis and the Stars Bob Hollister tossed a gem, going the distance while scattering four hits -all singles- and earning a 4-0 shutout victory. Frenchy Mack was nearly as strong for St Louis. Mack allowed just four hits in his eight innings of work, but they included a rbi triple from Ed Bogan in the third inning, where the Stars took a 2-0 lead. Hollister not only pitched his way to victory, but he also added some insurance in the form of a solo homerun in the top of the ninth for the final Los Angeles run.

GAME TWO

The Pioneers answered in a big way with a 7-1 victory in the second game. Doc Carver went 8 innings for the victory while the Pioneers bats got to former Boston pitcher Bill Dunlop, who was making his first career WCS start for the Stars. Dunlop allowed 5 runs; all earned over seven innings of work. Quinton Vincent's three-run homer in the bottom of the first set the tone for the Pioneers.

GAME THREE

To the west coast we go for game three and the Pioneers forgot to pack their bats. Floyd Warner pitched a 3-hit complete game shutout while St Louis starter Red Kline had an awful evening, allowing 9 runs (8 earned) on 8 hits in five plus innings of work. Bill Bell and Ed Bogan each homered while Ed Moore had 3 hits, drove in two and scored twice in the 10-0 rout.

GAME FOUR

The series was turning into a laugher as the Stars pounded St Louis for the second game in a row, pummeling the Pioneers 13-3. Moore had another two hits, including a homer and drove in 4 runs. Bob Griffin had 3 hits, scored three runs and drove in two while Bell had a three-hit game as well.

GAME FIVE

The series ended with another lobsided game as the Stars won 10-4 to take the series in five games, outscoring St Louis 38-14 in the process. The Pioneers actually led 4-1 after three and a half innings but injury was added to insult in the series. Quite literally unfortunately for the Pioneers who watched ace pitcher Frenchy Mack grimace in pain after a third inning offering. The 32-year-old six-time Allen Award winner's career may be in doubt after he was diagnosed with a torn UCL and expected to miss the entire 1970 season.

The Mack injury just drained the energy from the Pioneers and Los Angeles pulled even with 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth off St Louis reliver John Hunt. That opened the floodgates as the final was 10-4 with Ed Moore smacking 3 hits: a double, a triple and a homerun and driving in 5 in the clinching win.

Moore was named the series MVP - he hit .500 (10-for-20) in the series with 3 homers and 12 rbi's. It was one shy of Charlie Berry's record 13 rbi's in the 1934 WCS for the Cleveland Foresters, but that one went seven games.

Next up a look at the Prospect Pipeline and then the 1969 recap from the gridiron.

Tiger Fan · 10-20-2025, 10:10 PM

October 28, 1969
LOOKING AT THE 1969 DRAFT CLASS AND TOP PROSPECTS

In an effort to stay abreast of who the top stars may be in the game once 1975 rolls around and human GMs return, here is an update on the first round picks both from the current June 1969 draft and from those of the last few years. As was the case a year ago we are listing below the players selected in the opening round of the latest draft and showing where they slot on the OSA prospect pipeline as of the end of their first professional season.

The list also includes the first round selections going back to 1965 and where they ranked on the prospect pipeline at the end of each season following their selection in the draft. If they have changed teams over that time it is noted. Players with FABL written have made it to the majors while players listed as (NR) are those who are still in the minors but outside the top 500 prospects.

With four new expansion clubs the first round has expanded to 24 selections and in the 1969 draft we actually saw a pair of former college pitchers skip the minors and go right to the major leagues. Larry Warren was selected first overall and went straight to Baltimore, becoming the Clippers number one starter. After making his big league debut in June, Warren went 6-8 with a 2.99 era in 22 starts. The other was Sam Rodgers, who was selected 8th overall by the New York Imperials. The 21-year-old went right to the Imperials bullpen in the midst of a pennant race. He pitched well, going 8-6 with 15 saves and a 2.24 era in 54 relief appearances.

DYNAMOS SYSTEM RANKED HIGH BUT LOSING CONFIDENCE

Well, Detroit baseball fans, I hate to say it, but I am feeling less confident in the future of the local ballclub than I did at this time last year. How can that be you ask and point to the fact that the Dynamos once more have their last two first round draft picks both ranked in the top ten on the prospect pipeline - making it five straight years the locals have at least one player in the OSA top ten.

I will admit that I am quite pleased with the job the scouting department has been doing in the draft. 1967 first rounder Eddie Yandow, a former #1 pipeline prospect, has now played two seasons in Detroit and both the 1968 and 1969 first rounders - third baseman James Huffman and centerfielder Geoff Taylor are ranked in the top ten. Not to mention that pitcher Pedro Ortiz, a former top ten prospect and 1966 first round selection, is still considered to be a solid big league prospect at the age of 22, although he has still not pitched above Class A.

It is the fact that Ortiz is still in A ball, and not pitching a lot of innings either, that is one worry. Another is the decision to make Yandow a reliever when I really thought he had the chance to be a top of the rotation arm. Perhaps that will change especially now that John Jackson has finally retired and there are openings in the rotation just begging to be filled.

I had a lot of confidence in Lyn Trease as a manager, but his contract was not renewed, and the Dynamos have now hired a former minor league pitcher who has never coached or managed at the pro level to become their new bench boss. That also worries me.

Not to mention what seems like just an awful decision to deal 1966 Kellogg Award winning shortstop Ben Baker to the Seattle Kings for second baseman Bill Austin. Austin (.290,8,80) had a solid season in his Detroit debut and at 27 is a year younger than Baker (.277,9,59). I like Austin, don't get me wrong but the issue is Baker was an elite defensive shortstop and a three-time all-star. I assume the thinking is there was a hole at second base and Detroit had a solid hitting shortstop in Pat Miller waiting in the wings. Miller (.273,16,76) had a great rookie season at the plate and may be a better hitter than either Austin or Baker, but the concern is Miller seems decidedly well below average in the field as a shortstop. It would have been a much more prudent move to shift Miller to second base and keep Baker as the shortstop.

Detroit owes it to the young pitchers on the way up to provide them with solid middle defense behind them. Right now, they simply do not have that with Austin and Miller as the double-play tandem. The Dynamos greatest successes came with pitching and defense as the foremost focus, and it appears that has been forgotten.

Hopefully Yandow goes back to the rotation and excels. Prospects like former first rounder Ortiz and Skipper Atkins, who made his big league debut this summer can continue to develop. Hopefully 25-year-old Juan Solórzano (16-8, 3.69) continues to progress. Hopefully top prospects Huffman, who likely would have been in Detroit now had he not missed half of the season with a shoulder injury, and Taylor become the hitters we, and the OSA, think they can be.

A lot of things need to go right for the Dynamos to return to being a club to be feared and I worry the lack of quality defense (Detroit was 11th out of 12 in the Fed in defensive efficiency and zone rating and 9th worst for committing errors) and an experienced manager to guide the team may do serious damage to a rebuilding plan that was supposed to see this club be back to being a contender by 1970 or 1971.

This writer has been wrong before and would like nothing better than to be mistaken this time, but my gut tells me the rebuild will take a lot longer than anticipated.

NOTE- This scouting update was made shorter than others because we are progressing towards 1975 at a pretty good pace at the moment. The 1969 football recap will be posted tomorrow morning and there is a good chance the hockey-basketball recaps for 1970 could come as early as tomorrow night. 1975 is when the leagues resume weekly sims and human general manager's return. With all the expansion there should be some openings in most sports. If interested in joining in any of the 4 featured team sports send me a message and I will put you in touch with our league commissioner.

Tiger Fan · 10-21-2025, 12:10 PM

JANUARY 2, 1970

ANOTHER HOUSTON, MIAMI FOOTBALL FINAL
Drillers and Mariners Meet in Title Game Third Consecutive Season

This is getting to be a habit. For the third straight winter, the American and National Football Associations will settle their rivalry with a familiar matchup — the Houston Drillers against the Miami Mariners. The two modern powers of the pro game once again outlasted all challengers, Houston battering its way through another punishing AFA slate to claim the association crown, while Miami once more rolled through playoff opponents to repeat atop the NFA.

But before the postseason drama, the 1969 season provided no shortage of fireworks — wild races in both circuits, an MVP campaign from Buffalo’s tireless Tom Fraley, and another banner year for defense in Houston, where end John Padgett terrorized quarterbacks to the tune of 22 sacks. From the tight brawls of the Capital Division to the runaway in the North, the season belonged to the grinders, the bruisers, and the clubs that learned how to win on cold Sundays.

AFA CAPITAL: Paladins and Wasps Battle to the Wire

No race was tighter this fall than in the Capital Division, where Pittsburgh and Washington finished neck and neck at 9–5 and the Cleveland Finches were just 1 game back. Even last place Buffalo was in the running until very late in the season and the Red Jackets still claimed a .500 record. It was the Paladins taking the crown by virtue of a stronger divisional mark than the Wasps could muster.

Pittsburgh proved nearly invincible at Forbes Field, winning all seven home contests behind a stubborn defense anchored by safety Doc Kopp and the steady leadership of quarterback Lou Robinson. The Paladins weren’t flashy, but they made the big plays when it counted — a late-season three-game win streak carried them past the Wasps in the stretch drive.

Washington, meanwhile, could only lament what might have been. Quarterback Paul Roberts posted a sharp 9-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio, while end John Pukas (59 catches, 812 yards, 7 scores) was one of the league’s most reliable targets. But two December losses — including a costly stumble in Cleveland — kept the Wasps out of the playoff picture.

Cleveland’s Finches (8–6) and Buffalo’s Red Jackets (7–7) both showed flashes of promise. Finches halfback Jay Field ran wild for 1,279 yards and 15 touchdowns, earning All-Star honors, while Fraley’s MVP season in Buffalo (a punishing 1,649 yards on 372 carries) stood out even as the Jackets’ porous defense cost them a shot at contention.

AFA CENTURY: Philly Rises as Giants Fall

In the AFA’s easternmost division, parity reigned — or perhaps mediocrity. Philadelphia’s Frigates emerged at 7–7 to claim the division despite being outscored on the year. Quarterback Bill Newberry was efficient (69.6% completions, 11 TDs), and linebacker Pete Lipsey led a gritty defense, but Philly’s title owed as much to the faltering play of its rivals as to its own strength.

New York’s Stars (5–9) and Boston’s Americans (3–11) both endured forgettable seasons, the former plagued by turnovers and the latter by injuries. The New Orleans Crescents only matched Boston’s 3-11 mark despite the breakout of quarterback John Simoneau, who led the league with 2,476 passing yards. His favorite target, Jim Pratka, hauled in 64 passes for 1,034 yards, but the defense’s inability to stop anyone left the Crescent faithful waiting for next year.

AFA CENTRAL: Wildcats and Ramblers Split the Spoils

The Midwest again produced two hard-nosed outfits in the Chicago Wildcats and St. Louis Ramblers, both finishing 9–5 and both boasting unbeaten home records. Chicago earned the edge with a perfect divisional slate (4–0), relying on a deep running game and the golden foot of Luther Cardona, whose 31-for-33 kicking mark paced the league and earned him a spot on the All-Star Classic roster.

St. Louis leaned on workhorse back Jeff Pierini (1,312 yards) and a suffocating defense led by cornerback Don Roth but a late season road loss in Milwaukee doomed the Ramblers playoff hopes. Milwaukee (6–8) and Detroit (5–9) both fought gamely but lacked consistency. Detroit’s dual backs, Dick Rice and Ray Gingerich, combined for over 2,100 rushing yards, but the Maroons’ defense surrendered too many big plays to stay afloat.

AFA COASTAL: Drillers Reign Supreme Once More

While the rest of the conference slugged it out, Houston sat comfortably atop the mountain again. The Drillers went 11–3, outscoring opponents by a stunning 428–185 margin. Quarterback Marty Bogert completed an eye-popping 75 percent of his passes, while end John Padgett wreaked havoc on defense, earning league Defensive MVP honors for the fifth time in his career.

Running back Vern Rebovich surpassed the 1,000-yard plateau and added 280 more in the playoffs to seize the Playoff MVP trophy. Tight end Robert Sperry and receiver John Keim gave Houston the most balanced offense in football, while kicker Thurman Vasquez and punter Luther Cardona gave the Drillers a decisive edge in the kicking game.

San Francisco’s Wings (8–6) flashed brilliance behind quarterback Joe Perdue’s 20 touchdowns and the acrobatics of wideouts Vern Doane and Bill Case, but a midseason stumble kept them from catching Houston. The Los Angeles Tigers (7–7) faded badly with a five-game skid to close the year, and Kansas City (6–8) could never quite get out of its own way.

NFA EAST: Mariners Fend Off the Pack

The defending champion Miami Mariners faced their share of challenges early, but rookie quarterback Bennett Smoot’s poised play — 2,464 yards, 19 touchdowns — steadied the ship. The hometown hero - Smoot played his college ball at Miami State- was a third round pick but proved to be a bargain as he was named offensive rookie of the year. With Steve Anderson as his top target and defensive end Tom Popham’s 13 sacks anchoring the pass rush, the Mariners closed with two straight wins to secure their third consecutive conference crown.

Atlanta (8–6) and Cincinnati (7–7) both pressed Miami deep into December with the Firebirds nabbing the second playoff berth in the division. Firebird linebackers Todd Webster and Roger Guth kept Atlanta in nearly every game, while Cincinnati’s Rich Gilmer became the first Riverman to top 1,000 yards rushing. The rest of the East — New York’s Titans and Dallas’ Stallions — limped home at 5–9, undone by injuries and inconsistency.

NFA WEST: Lakers Break Through at 12–2

Minnesota’s Lakers were the toast of the league during the regular season, roaring to a 12–2 record behind the league’s stingiest defense and a well-balanced offense. Quarterback Jim Lofgren posted a sterling 124.4 passer rating in limited action, while halfback Sam Davey churned out 1,160 yards and 10 scores. Receivers Ryne Hardy and Fernando Lopez gave the club big-play punch, and safety George Lucas was a turnover machine — five interceptions, six forced fumbles, and two touchdowns.

The Los Angeles Olympians (8–6) and Seattle Roughnecks (7–7) also played solid football, with Olympians end Jacob Schoonover and Seattle’s Michael Rosen earning All-Star nods. Denver (5–9) and San Diego (4–10) rounded out the division, each hampered by sputtering offenses despite strong defensive efforts from linebackers Jeff Lane and Chappie Raynor.

PLAYOFFS

The road to the third straight meeting between the Houston Drillers (AFA champion) and the Miami Mariners (NFA champion) in the AFA-NFA Classic Game was marked by a number of hard-fought contests in the quarter-final and semi-final rounds — and then a final showdown that settled the rubber match in front of an expectant national audience. Houston had taken the title two years earlier, Miami prevailed 9–7 last year, and now both clubs returned for one last tilt with all the chips on the table.

*** Quarterfinals ***

In the opening round of the playoffs, the eight clubs that had carved out spots in the postseason left little room for doubt. The Houston Drillers delivered a statement victory, their offense humming while their defense bent little. Meanwhile, in the other AFA bracket match-ups the St. Louis Ramblers and Chicago Wildcats each advanced on the back of dominant home performances, the Ramblers dispatching their opponent with a rushing barrage and the Wildcats grinding out a tight win behind their special-teams edge. Over in the NFA half, the Miami Mariners looked every bit the returning champion as rookie quarterback Bennett Smoot calmly managed Miami’s attack, while in the western side the Minnesota Lakers blew past their opposition in emphatic fashion — a 12–2 regular-season club now making it clear they were serious postseason contenders.

The upsets that might have lingered in preseason projections failed to materialize. The favourites held serve, and the margin of victory in most of the quarterfinal matches made clear that these teams came prepared. Houston’s ground game set the tone early, allowing the Drillers to dictate tempo and steamroll their opponent before the half was over. Miami, for its part, leaned on the interplay of Smoot’s passing and a defense that produced timely turnovers. The Ramblers and Wildcats both showcased that tough-nosed midwestern football remains very much alive — St. Louis’s running back posted north of 120 yards, while Chicago’s kicker knocked through a late field goal to ice their win. With the semifinal field now set, no team appeared to be cruising — but Houston and Miami looked just a bit more formidable.

*** Semi-Finals ***

In the AFA semi-final contest, Chicago travelled to Houston and found itself in a classic mismatch in both momentum and execution. The Wildcats came in with a 9–5 record and a sturdy home mark all season, but on the road they were met by a Drillers club in full stride. Houston jumped early, opening up a ground-and-pound attack that saw halfback Vern Rebovich break multiple long runs, while the Drillers’ offensive line repeatedly moved the line of scrimmage. On the defensive side, Houston’s front got consistent pressure and forced a pair of Chicago turnovers in the second quarter that turned the Wildcats’ momentum into Houston’s. Chicago attempted to rally in the third quarter, using a drive that mixed short passes and power runs to get into Drillers territory, but the Wildcats were unable to convert on a key 4th-and-1 at the Houston 35. From there the Drillers took over, chewed time off the clock and sealed the win in the fourth quarter as Chicago’s offense wilted. The final stat line showed Houston dominating total yards and controlling the tempo — a complete performance that sent the Drillers into the championship matchup with confidence.

On the NFA side, Miami hosted Los Angeles in a clash between the Mariners — fresh off a 9–5 regular season — and a western outfit in the Olympians that boasted more youthful upside than playoff experience. The game began with Miami’s rookie quarterback Bennett Smoot showing poise, hitting his first couple of throws confidently and moving the chains early. The Olympians struck back late in the first quarter with a 65-yard pass that put them ahead briefly, but Miami’s defense responded with a goal-line stand and then forced a turnover just before halftime. In the second half the Mariners leaned heavily on their rushing attack, while the Olympians’ pass-heavy approach stalled against Miami’s secondary. Los Angeles mounted one final push in the fourth quarter — driven by their star receiver — but Miami intercepted a pass at the 20-yard line that iced the game. The Mariners advanced thanks to balance, poise under pressure, and a defense that bent only rarely and broke at exactly the right times.

AFA-NFA CLASSIC GAME

The stakes could not have been higher: after Houston’s championship run two seasons ago and Miami’s narrow 9-6 triumph last year, the 1969 Classic would determine once and for all who held the edge. From the opening kickoff it was clear this was no regular season affair. Houston struck first, as after the club's exchanged punts on their opening series the Drillers picked up a couple of first downs to get within range for kicker John Bonilla, who made no mistake with his 35-yard field goal.

A big pass from Miller Bogert to Simon Looper came on the final play of the first period and netted 34 yards while moving the Drillers into the redzone for the first time in the contest. Four plays later Bogert found fullback Keith Gladfelter for a 3-yard scoring pass to increase the Houston lead to 10-0.

Miami responded doggedly, rookie quarterback Bennett Smoot showing poise under pressure as he methodically moved the Mariners into Houston territory with a mix of short throws and timely runs. The drive ate nearly 10 minutes off the clock and concluded with Miami back Preston Riendeau from less than a yard out diving over the mass of humanity fighting for turf on the goalline for a major that cut the Houston lead to 10-7.

Smoot guided the Mariners on another long drive to open the second half. It lasted 13 plays and used up half of the quarter before stalling out on the Houston 17 yard line. That was close enough for Miami kicker Mark Vincent to level the score at 10. The Mariners seemed to gain momentum as they forced Houston to punt without earning a first down and it allowed the Miami offense to start another drive. Momentum is a fickle thing, and it swung back to the Drillers quickly when, after a pair of first downs, Miami back Chris Carter fumbled the ball near midfield and the Drillers came up with it.

At that point Bogert and the Houston offense seized control. The Drillers would have a long drive of their own that stretched into the fourth quarter and ended with Bogert's second touchdown toss of the game, a 6-yarder to Clayton Dunbar that made the score 17-10 Houston. Much of the credit for that drive has to go to Vern Rebovich as the Drillers halfback chewed up both the clock and ground, finishing the day with a game high 83 yards rushing.

After Miami's offense could not accomplish anything on their series the ball was punted back to Houston and Bogert delivered a dagger to the Mariners in the form of a 44-yard pass to James Estrella. That set up a second Bonilla field goal and gave the Drillers a two-score lead at 20-10. The Houston defense did the rest as lineman John Padgett and Bobby Barrell Jr. put plenty of pressure on the rookie Smoot and Miami was unable to answer. With the focus on stopping defensive MVP John Padgett from getting to Smoot, it was young Barrell who had the game of his life on the Houston defense. Barrell had one sack and hurried Smoot on 5 other occasions while also recording six tackles - enough to earn him defensive player of the game.

Miami proved to be a worthy opponent but could not duplicate the success their defense had against Houston a year ago. In the end it was Houston’s moment. Having waited a year for redemption, the Drillers answered the challenge, righted last season’s wrong, and claimed their place atop the pro-football mountain with their second AFA-NFA Classic title in three years. For Miami, the young Mariners gave a valiant effort, but this night belonged to Houston.

GEORGIA BAPTIST WINS RECORD 6TH NATIONAL GRID CROWN
Gators Need Overtime to Nip Amarillo Methodist in Oilman Classic

The Georgia Baptist Gators became the first collegiate football team to win six National Titles after they narrowly escaped with an overtime win in the Oilman Classic to complete a perfect 12-0 season. The Gators, who finished second to Indiana A&M a year ago, have been crowned the best in the nation four times in the past eleven years. Georgia Baptist was ranked number one in 1963, 1960, 1959, 1919 and 1917 in addition to this year to become the only six time titlist. Coastal California, Noble Jones College and Travis College have all won or shared the national title five times.

Like their 1960 and 1963 championship teams, the Gators ran the table in an undefeated season. They had a couple of close calls in their 11-0 regular season including a narrow 20-19 victory over Tempe College after the Titans missed an extra point that would have tied the contest late in the fourth quarter. They also needed a late field goal to beat Western Florida 19-17 and a touchdown pass from Richard Davidson to Mario Weir with 1:26 remaining in the game to trim in-state rival Noble Jones College 17-16.

One could surmise that the Gators were used to sticky situations and the Oilman Classic proved to be a thrilling finish to the college football season. The Gators faced Southwestern Athletic Association champion Amarillo Methodist (10-2) for the second year in a row in the Oilman Classic. It was a tight struggle with the Gators taking the lead with under a minute left in the fourth quarter following a 56-yard drive that culminated in a 20-yard scoring strike from Davidson to John Sanders. That put the Gators ahead 17-14 but the Grizzlies, in desperation mode, had an answer. With less than a minute on the clock senior quarterback Max Wheeler made a couple of key passes and, with the help of a pass interference penalty on the Gators, the Grizzlies were in field goal range. Amarillo Methodist kicker Jimmy Provost split the uprights with a 32-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining to tie the game at 17.

The two schools traded touchdowns on the first overtime possession for each. The Grizzlies fumbled the ball away on their second turn and the Gators went on to win 27-24 on a short field goal from junior kicker Daniel Leahy. That completed the 12-0 campaign and guaranteed the Gators another national title.

**** Fighting Saints Overcome Early Losses to Finish Second ***

The St Blane Fighting Saints were national champions three years ago and after struggling through a 6-5 campaign in 1967 they bounced back with an 8-3 showing last year that left them 15th in the final poll. Big things were expected from an experienced club this season but the Saints had an awful start, dropping back to back games to Lubbock State and Wisconsin State to fall to 1-2. They would get back on track the following week and would not lose again, finishing off on New Year's Day with a 16-9 victory over Eastern Kansas in the Sunshine Classic to end up second in the rankings with a 10-2 record. Senior quarterback Wayne Canty had an outstanding season finishing second in the nation in both passing yards (1,505) and touchdown throws (17).

Mississippi A&M finished third in the final rankings after a 10-2 season and tie for second place with Western Florida behind Georgia Baptist in the Deep South Conference. The Generals were invited to their first Classic Game since 1962 and fared well in dumping Southern Border Association champion Canyon A&M 27-21 in the Desert Classic.

Fourth went to Chicago Poly (10-2) as the Catamounts cracked the top ten for the first time in decades and earned the right to play on New Years Day for just the second time in school history. Chicago Poly rolled over El Paso Methodist 33-13 in the Lone Star Classic. South Atlantic Conference champion Charleston Tech, also 10-2, finished fifth in the rankings as the Admirals wrapped up their season by downing Western Florida 28-10 in the Cajun Classic.

Indiana A&M won the Great Lakes Alliance title for the second year in a row and followed that up with a second consecutive win in Santa Ana. There was no national title on the line this time for the defending champs, but the Reapers did look impressive in stopping Rainier College 29-13 in the East West Classic. It was the Majestics first appearance in the East-West Classic since 1940. Rainier College, West Coast Athletic Association champs with a perfect 7-0 section record (10-2 overall) ended up 8th in the polls one spot behind the 10-2 Reapers.

Indiana A&M was seventh but in shock that they finished behind GLA runner-up Lincoln in the final rankings. The Presidents claimed the sixth spot in voting with a 10-2 record but they were blasted 62-9 by the Reapers during the season. Lincoln did finish on a winning note with a 28-25 victory over Potomac College in the Bayside Classic.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES

Quite a debut for Charleston Tech freshman quarterback Art Swisher. Not only did the youngster lead the Admirals to the South Atlantic Conference title and a top five finish, but he also set a freshman record for touchdown throws in season with 18 and his 1,692 passing yards was the second highest single season total ever by any quarterback, trailing only the 1,885 that George Girard threw for Bayou State in 1956.
Speaking of quarterbacks, St Blane's Wayne Canty looks like one to keep an eye on at the professional level. The three year starter had an outstanding college career which he capped off with an appearance in the Senior Classic.
Canty's favourite target was sophomore Alva Hallman and the St Blane wideout led the nation in receiving yards with 911 and his 9 touchdown catches were second only to John Holmes, a Lawrence State senior, who had a dozen scoring catches. Hallman was named to the postseason All-America team.
Payne State sophomore Mark Burchett led the nation in rushing yards with 1,746. This after a freshman season that saw the Florida native gain 1,412 yards on the ground.

YEAR OF TURMOIL IN HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION

The heavyweight division spent much of 1969 in turmoil after the sudden retirement of champion Norm Robinson left the American Boxing Federation without a titleholder for the first time in nearly a quarter century. Robinson, who had reclaimed the crown with a fourth-round stoppage of Ben Brumfield in August of ’68, walked away from the sport just weeks later, throwing boxing’s glamour division into chaos.

With no champion, at least a half dozen contenders staked claims to the vacant throne. The ABF, eager to restore order, initially planned to match its top two ranked fighters—Harry Pratt and Harry Rankin—for the crown in February at New York’s famed Bigsby Garden.

But the plan unraveled quickly. Former champ Ben Brumfield’s camp filed a legal protest, insisting he deserved another shot. His backers even threatened to form a rival boxing organization—an unprecedented move in a sport long unified under the ABF banner.

While the case stalled, Pratt took a side bout against Toledo’s undefeated slugger Luther Gaines. It was a costly gamble. Gaines dominated the 10-rounder, sending Pratt tumbling out of the title picture. Rankin, idle and frustrated, later accepted a sizable payout to step aside, clearing the way for Brumfield and a fresh-faced Newark contender, Vic Carbone, to settle matters in the ring.

Carbone, not yet 22, brought a perfect 17–0 record and plenty of buzz as part of a promising new wave of heavyweights that also included Gaines and Tony Rocco. Across from him stood Brumfield, the 30-year-old veteran seeking one last taste of glory. Their championship bout proved worth the wait. For fifteen bruising rounds, the two fighters traded leather in a back-and-forth war that had the Bigsby crowd roaring. When the final bell rang, Brumfield’s hand was raised—by a narrow unanimous decision—restoring him as heavyweight champion of the world.

But Brumfield’s second reign proved as brief as his first. In December, he stepped into the ring in Miami for his first defense, facing the last member of that trio of rising young contenders—23-year-old Tony Rocco of New Haven, Connecticut. Rocco, unbeaten at 18–0–2, showed poise beyond his years and power to match. He broke Brumfield down steadily and closed the show in the eighth round, scoring a technical knockout to seize the crown.

And with that, the guard officially changed. As 1970 dawns, a new era stands ready to define heavyweight boxing. Youth now rules the ring—Tony Rocco (19–0–2) wears the crown, with Luther Gaines (23–0) and Vic Carbone (18–1) close behind. The turmoil of 1969 may have settled the question of who holds the title, but one thing is certain: the battles ahead promise to be anything but quiet.

*** Consistency in Middleweight Division ***

Horace Zimmerman held the ABF middleweight title he won in late 1968 for the entire year, winning each of the three title defenses he made in 1969. Zimmerman, who claimed the title with a split decision victory over defending champion Lyman King, made his first defense a rematch with the former champ. This one saw the 26-year-old Zimmerman look even more formidable against the aging King and the fight was stopped in the 14th round, giving Zimmerman a technical knock out victory.

For his second defense Zimmerman faced European champion Mark Plews in Philadelphia. Plews, a 32-year-old Englishman, was no stranger to North America having fought twice on this side of the Atlantic in 1965. While he was very successful in that trip, this visit to the New World did not go well for Plews as Zimmerman dominated the fight and won by a 12th round TKO. Following the fight Plews announced his retirement from the sport. Zimmerman made a third defense in early December, scoring an easy unanimous decision over journeyman Johnny Newton (33-8-3) in Las Vegas.

The welterweight belt changed hands with Brandon Dart- the Welsh born fighter who grew up in New York City- losing the title to George Helveston in a November bout in Pittsburgh. Dart was in his second tenure as ABF champ, holding the belt from early 1964 until December of 1966 and then regaining it in June of 1968. He made three successful title defenses this stint including a unanimous decision over Sam Parker in January and a knockout of George Henry in May before falling to Helveston.

Helveston, a 24-year-old Chicago native, becomes World Champion for the first time and has announced plans to defend his title in March but as of this time an opponent has not been finalized.

The Year That Was
Current events from 1969

January 20 - Richard M. Nixon, the 37th President, takes the oath of office, pledging to bring the nation together after years of turmoil and to achieve “peace with honor” in Vietnam.
February 9 – Boeing 747 makes first flight as the world’s largest passenger jet takes off from Everett, Washington, ushering in the era of wide-body air travel.
March 3 – Apollo 9 launches as NASA tests the Lunar Module in Earth orbit for the first time, a crucial step toward a Moon landing.
March 17 – Gold standard ends for international trade as the U.S. suspends the dollar’s convertibility to gold for private transactions abroad, signaling strain in the Bretton Woods financial system.
April 9 – Student protests spread to Harvard and other campuses to protest the Vietnam War and campus military research ties, reflecting growing unrest across North America.
May 26 – Apollo 10 “dress rehearsal” for the Moon. Astronauts Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Eugene Cernan fly to within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface, setting the stage for the upcoming landing mission.
June 8 – Nixon announces withdrawal of 25,000 U.S. troops from Vietnam as the president begins the policy of “Vietnamization,” gradually transferring combat responsibility to South Vietnamese forces.
June 28 – Stonewall Riots in New York City. A police raid on a Greenwich Village gay bar sparks several nights of protests, marking the beginning of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.
July 18 -Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s car plunges off a bridge on Martha’s Vineyard, killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne and damaging his political future.
July 20 – Apollo 11 Moon landing. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon, while Michael Collins orbits above. Armstrong’s words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” are broadcast live around the world.
August 9–10 – Manson Family murders. Actress Sharon Tate and six others are brutally killed in Los Angeles, shocking the nation and symbolizing the dark turn of the 1960s.
August 15–18 - More than 400,000 people gather at Woodstock in upstate New York for a three-day festival of music and counterculture that becomes an enduring symbol of the era.
September 2 – Canada’s Official Languages Act signed as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau enacts legislation making English and French the official languages of Canada, reshaping the nation’s cultural landscape.
October 29 - The first successful connection between two computers at UCLA and Stanford marks the birth of the Internet.
November 15 – Vietnam Moratorium March on Washington. Over 500,000 protesters gather in the nation’s capital for the largest antiwar demonstration in U.S. history.
December 6 – Altamont Free Concert turns deadly. A violent confrontation at a Rolling Stones concert in California leaves one person dead, widely viewed as the symbolic end of the 1960s counterculture.

stratonapba · 10-21-2025, 06:00 PM

But What's Next for 1970 for the Figment Universe's version of the National Football League?, Are we still going to see a merger just like the NFL being merged with the AFL in real life?, If so who will be the Baltimore Colts, the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the Figment Universe?

Tiger Fan · 10-22-2025, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stratonapba

But What's Next for 1970 for the Figment Universe's version of the National Football League?, Are we still going to see a merger just like the NFL being merged with the AFL in real life?, If so who will be the Baltimore Colts, the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the Figment Universe?

1970 was the plan I believe to merge the two leagues fully. I have no idea which AFA teams our commissioner would move across but if I was to guess I would say Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Clevland would go. That would allow Washington to shift to what is currently the AFA Century Division, but it is strictly a guess.

Also my first sentence used the words "was the plan" because we are now using Wolverine Studios DDSPF26 and it has a known bug that will not allow you to switch an existing league to the standard NFL1970 format. A fix is coming but I have not seen it yet so I am not sure if that means the merger will be delayed until the patch or the pro football will not be simmed until the patch comes out and the quick played to catch up.

Tiger Fan · 10-22-2025, 10:51 AM

MAY 2, 1970

A MILESTONE FILLED YEAR IN THE NAHC
Plenty of Records Fall in Exciting Season on the Ice

The 1969-70 North American Hockey Confederation season will be long remembered for a number of reasons. It was a season filled with record-setting performances and one that continued to add to the incredible legacy that will be Quinton Pollack's career - that is assuming the 47 year old ever decides to retire.

Pollack had a season that would rival or perhaps even surpass any in his prime. The veteran Toronto Dukes center suited up for his 24th season and set a new personal best with 114 points on 47 goals and 67 helpers. None were NAHC records but all came close and Pollack extended his career totals to 1,531 regular season games played, 748 goals, 1034 assists and an amazing 1782 points. Pollack has more career assists than any other player ever to play the game except for Tommy Burns has points. Burns is the only other NAHC player to surpass the 1,000 point plateau and he ended up at 1,220 - or 552 less than Pollack has. Pollack led the NAHC in scoring to win the Denny Trophy for the record 10th time and also extended his own record for McDaniels Trophy wins with his 11th league MVP selection.

Those numbers may well continue to grow as Quinton Pollack has given no indication he plans to retire. He still wants to play a full season with his son Jack. Jack is now 20 and for the second year in a row was called up briefly by Toronto from the minors and played two games each season alongside his dad. The current season was a tough one for the younger Pollack as Jack missed four months recovering from a broken ankle suffered in October. He was held pointless in the NAHC but Jack did score 19 points in 19 games for minor league Cleveland this season and may be ready for full-time duty with the Dukes next season.

*** Detroit Duo Set Single Season Marks ***

It was a record-breaking year for a pair of Detroit Motors linemates. Hobie Barrell, the Detroit winger who has been selected to the first All-Star team each of the last nine seasons, shattered the single-season goal scoring record with a whooping 63 this year. The old mark had been 50 established by Scott Dueck two years ago and equaled by his Montreal teammate Tim Bernard last season.

Barrell's linemate Yves Dagenais also had a record-breaking season by setting the new mark for assists with 71. The mark had been set two years ago by Dueck when he collected 66 helpers. Dagenais was not the only one to surpass that total this season as Quinton Pollack recorded 67 assists. Pollack ended up with 114 points, two shy of Dueck's 1967-68 standard.

Here are the all-time single season leaders in goals, assists and points.

Now before you go and think this was just a crazy offensive season and the scorers went wild we should bring your attention to Nathan Bannister. The 39-year-old Montreal Valiants netminder is perhaps just as amazing for his age as Pollack. Bannister played every one of Montreal's 76 games, marking the third straight season he has been the only goalie his team used. That is not the incredible part. He also shattered the NAHC record for shutouts in a season with 17. The old mark was 12 set by Toronto's Scott Renes in 1954-55 and equaled by Bannister two years ago. Bannister also tied his own record for wins by a goaltender in a season with 53 - making it the third consecutive season he has won 53 games. Finally and perhaps most impressively he became the first goalie since 1952 to post a goals against average for the season of less than 2.00. Bannister's 1.88 GAA helped him win a record 8th Juneau Award, presented annually since 1927-28 to the league's top netminder.

A pair of long standing coaching records are likely to fall early next season as Chicago coach Mark Nader nears the NAHC modern day (post 1940) record for games behind a bench and coaching victories. Nader, who joined the Packers in 1953, has coached 1,206 regular season games. He is 11 away from tying former Brooklyn and Detroit coach Badger Rigney for number one and Nader's 545 coaching wins are just 8 shy of Jack Barrell's record 553 for Detroit and Toronto. Nader's 17 years behind the bench in Chicago mark the longest consecutive stint for any coach with one team.

*** Valiants Set New Points Standard ***

The NAHC just recently extended its regular season to 76 games so it is not a big surprise that a new record for points by a team in a season was established as the Montreal Valiants finished 53-11-12 for 118 points. The Valiants won 53 games each of the previous two campaigns but finished both times with 116 points.

As mentioned above it was another dominant defensive season for the Vals as goalie Nathan Bannister (53-11-12, 1.88) and his mates surrendered just 144 goals in 76 games. No other club in the league allowed less than 196. Bannister won the Juneau Trophy and Montreal defenseman Gil Thibault (16-21-37) was named the winner of the Dewar Trophy as top defenseman for the second time in his career, nosing out teammate Mark Moggy (13-49-62) who has won the Dewar a record six times. The Vals benefited from another big offensive season from their top line of Scott Dueck (48-45-93), Tim Bernard (37-44-81) and Pete Fortin (27-49-76).

Toronto, led by Quinton Pollack (47-67-114) and Hank Knackstedt (34-59-93) had the most dangerous offense in the league and became the first team in NAHC history to score more than 300 goals in a season. Ollie Perreault (22-44-66) missed 20 games with a broken hand but still averaged over a point a game. In 23-year-old Pat Stephens (46-18-9, 2.60), who completed his third season with the club, Toronto feels it may have found the long term answer in net it has been looking for since Gordie Broadway retired nearly two decades ago.

The Boston Bees finished third in the East Division, 10 points behind the second place Dukes. Bees captain Neil Wilson (18-39-57) may be starting to slow down at age 35 but 26-year-old Ray Dupuis (34-55-89) topped the 80 point plateau for the second consecutive season and may be ready to be the new offensive leader in Boston. Alex Daoust (40-20-2, 2.41) had another strong season in net.

Despite the scoring exploits of Hobie Barrell (63-46-109) and Yves Dagenais (13-71-84) the Detroit Motors were forced to settle for fourth place and the final playoff berth in the East Division. Goaltending remains a concern in the Motor City as neither Ty Monahan (16-9-3, 3.08) nor Sean Kempster (24-16-7, 3.09) could establish themselves as a clear number one option between the pipes. It was a nice turnaround for the Motors as they returned to the playoffs after finish last in the East a year ago.

The New York Shamrocks, once again, along with the Chicago Packers were the odd teams out this year. That is nothing new for the Shamrocks who have now gone a full decade without a playoff appearance and have not won a playoff series in twenty years. For the Packers, who reached the finals a year ago only to be swept by Vancouver, no hockey in April proved to be a strange occurrence as the Packers had made the playoffs each of the previous ten seasons and 16 of the last 18.

*** All Eyes Out West on Vancouver ***

In the West Division the big question was could the Vancouver Totems do it again. Led by coach Doug Yeadon the Totems shocked the hockey establishment by sweeping Chicago in the finals to win the Challenge Cup in just their second year in the league. The Totems were clearly the class of the expansion teams and finished atop the West Division each of its three seasons including this year where their 94 points was 22 more than second place Los Angeles. Veteran Justin MacPhee (28-15-8, 2.80) once more provided solid goaltending and Alan Porter (32-48-80) had another big season to pace the Totems offense. The addition of 28-year-old winger Earl Muirhead (29-37-66) over the summer from Detroit proved to be good both for the club and the player as Muirhead never could seem to get a chance to play regularly in the Motor City.

Los Angeles struggled to find offense at times but the Stingrays had a strong goaltender in Mike Connelly (30-34-9, 2.92) to keep them in games. Connelly enjoyed some pretty good seasons in Toronto earlier in the decade before heading west in the expansion draft. It was a big drop off to the bottom four teams in the West where St Louis was the best of the group. The Sawyers finished third and were led by Pat Valentine (25-43-68) who was the rookie of the year last season. The Minneapolis Norsemen qualified for the playoffs for the first time but their 44 points was just three more than both Philadelphia and San Francisco. None of the three had much talent worth mentioning

NAHC PLAYOFFS

Once again the opening round of the playoffs was just a one game series as opposed to a best-of-seven for both the semi-finals and Cup Finals. (Again a glitch with FHM is to blame). The opening round provided three very exciting games out of the four contests. First place Montreal nosed out Boston 2-1. The Bees struck first when Ray Dupuis opened the scoring in the first period but second period markers from Scott Dueck and Ron Kincaid lifted the Vals into the semi-finals. The Detroit- Toronto matchup was even more tense as the clubs needed overtime after Quinton Pollack scored the equalizer for the Dukes with a little more than two minutes remaining in regulation time. That knotted the contest at 4 and the game winner would come from NAHC goal scoring leader Hobie Barrell, who beat Toronto netminder Pat Stephens fifteen minutes into the first overtime.

In the West the Minneapolis vs Los Angeles game would also be decided by just a single goal. Norm Blakeley, a 21-year-old second year winger who scored just 9 goals during the regular season, was the hero as he scored twice in this game including the game winner 13 minutes into the third period to lift the Norsemen to a 3-2 win over Los Angeles. Defending Challenge Cup champion had the easiest time in the opening round as Earl Muirhead and Cole Petros each had a goal and an assist to lift the Totems to a 5-2 win over St Louis.

Vancouver also had an easy time with their semi-final series against Minneapolis as they swept the Norsemen four straight. The opener was tight as the Totems held on for a 4-3 victory but they followed that up with a 10-0 laugher in game two that was keyed by a five-point night from Alan Porter. Playing their first ever playoff game on home ice the Norsemen gave their best effort in the third game but still came up short as Alan Porter scored his fourth of the playoffs three minutes into overtime to give Vancouver a 2-1 victory. The Totems completed the sweep with a 5-2 victory in game four.

The other semi-final was a matchup of two rivals that had played each other quite a bit in recent playoff campaigns. Detroit and Montreal knew each other well and the Valiants, led by their top scoring line and an incomparable defensive game, were the favourites.

The series opened at the Montreal Arena and the hosts, led by a three point effort from Scott Dueck, skated to a 5-2 victory while outshooting Detroit 46-28. Game Two was a much tighter checking affair and Motors star Hobie Barrell got the only goal of the first period but Andrew Cleverley pulled Montreal even in the second. It stayed 1-1 and overtime appeared imminent but Detroit's Charles Bozek made a terrific effort to set up Jack Dennyson with the game winning goal late in the frame. After the game the Vals learned that second line center Clyde Raines, a 60-point producer during the regular season, was done for the playoffs after leaving the game with a shoulder injury.

Detroit went up two games to one with a 4-2 victory at the Thompson Palladium in game three. Hobie Barrell scored his third of the playoffs in the victory while his brother Benny had a goal and an assist. A Jack Dennyson hat trick and a 37-save night from goaltender Sean Kempster put Detroit in the drivers seat with a 5-2 victory in game four.

There was no quit in the Vals as they bounced back with a dominant effort in a 4-1 victory on home ice in game five. Cleverley scored twice and the Valiants outshot Detroit 47-14. Detroit missed another chance to close out the series in game six as the Valiants were all over them once more, winning 5-2 as Mark Moggy had three points and Roger MacKinnon a pair of goals for the winners.

Back to Montreal for the seventh game and Detroit's last chance to eliminate the regular season champs. It was tied at 2 after the opening twenty minutes and was still that score as the third period commenced. The Motors put the series away with three goals including Jack Dennyson's fifth of the playoffs and a game winner from Charles Bozek, a player who would also factor prominently in the following round.

So the finals saw the defending champion Vancouver Totems looking to upend an established club for the second year in a row. The series would begin in Vancouver but perhaps the well-rested Totems were rusty as Detroit carried over the momentum from its big third period in game seven in Montreal with another strong final stanza on the west coast. The Motors scored three times in the final 13 minutes of the game to take the series opener 5-1. Benny Barrell had 3 assists for the winners while Michael Kilburn, a rookie Detroit defenseman who scored just 8 times in 74 regular season games, notched a hat trick for the first three playoff goals of his career.

Game Two perhaps had the travel catch up with Detroit. Well that and the tremendous goaltending of Vancouver's Justin MacPhee who turned aside all but one of the 37 shots he faced in what ended up being a 6-1 Totems victory.

Things went from bad to worse for the Motors after they dropped both games three and four at home and each by a single goal. Game three was a 2-1 final as again MacPhee was nearly unbeatable and a former Detroit player in Earl Muirhead scored the game winner for the Totems. Detroit led 2-1 sixteen minutes into game four but the Totems battled back and pulled out a 3-2 to win to move within one victory over their second Challenge Cup. When news broke that Detroit star Hobie Barrell was done for the series with an arm injury sustained in game four it appeared all was lost for the Motors.

That is when Charles Bozek picked this moment to make his mark. With the emergence of Yves Dagenais as the center for Hobie Barrell, the 30-year-old Bozek, once an accomplished scorer who accumulated 99 points just two seasons ago, embraced a checking line role but with Barrell sidelined, Bozek became an unlikely clutch goal scorer.

Game five was primarily about Kempster as the Detroit goalie refused to concede, and shutout the Totems with a 40 save effort. Detroit scored once each period including a shorthanded goal from Bozek, just his second of the playoffs, to win 3-0. Back to Detroit for game six and it was a netminding duel tied 1-1 as time ticked off in the third period. Cue Bozek, who broke in on MacPhee and beat the goaltender along the ice with what would prove to be the game winner in a 2-1 Detroit win.

It all came down to game seven in Vancouver and again Kemster and MacPhee were both at the top of their game. Vancouver opened the scoring with a Patrick Ferguson goal midway through the second period and for a while it looked like that might stand up as the only marker of the game. But with six minutes left in the third period Vancouver's Matt Brophey took a roughing penalty. Jack Dennyson, with his playoff high 8th goal, tied the game on the power play. Game Seven would go to overtime but it did not last long. Charles Bozek jumped on the ice late in the opening minute of the extra frame and took matters into his own hands, scoring the game winner for the second contest in a row, on a shot very much like he beat MacPhee two nights earlier. The overtime winner, at 1:24 gave Detroit its eighth Challenge Cup and tying them with Montreal for third most.

Bozek, who scored just 4 goals, but all were timely, and added 4 assists was named the winner of the David Welcombe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.

KNIGHTS BRING BIG APPLE FIRST SPORTS TITLE OF DECADE

Teams from New York City have won more professional sports titles than any other city. Baseball's New York Stars were once a powerhouse and are again but they are now based in Los Angeles. The Gothams had their time at the top as well but of late there have been lean times in FABL for the Big Apple. Hockey's Shamrocks did win four Challenge Cups in a six year span but that was back around the time of the Great Depression and depression is what all New York ice fans are feeling these days as the Greenshirts have not even made the playoffs in a decade. Football's version of the New York Stars also won a number of titles but the last one came way back in 1960 and that is the last time a New York team was declared a champion. The Federal Basketball League New York Knights won titles in 1954 and again four years later but they, like the Shamrocks, have had trouble making the playoffs in recent years.

All that change in the spring of 1970 as New York ushered in a new decade with a title as the Knights won their third Federal Basketball League crown.

The Knights finished with their best record in franchise history, going 66-16 for an .805 winning percentage. They made no changes in their starting five from a year ago but with four young players in the starting lineup an extra year of maturity worked wonders. Those four were Dick Van der Linden, a 26-year-old who won a Barrette Trophy as AIAA player of the year five years ago at Rainier College, 23-year-old guard Charlie Cavallo, 24-year-old center Mickey Bemben and 24-year-old guard Elden Van Houten. That made guard Bob Terwilliger, at 30, the old man of the quintet and they meshed perfectly this season ranking among the top offenses and most successful defenses in the FBL.

Boston and Washington finished in a dead heat for second place but they were 10 games back of the Eastern Division leading Knights. There was also a tie for the final playoff spot with the Atlanta Vipers nosing out the Philadelphia Phantoms on a tie-breaker for the final playoff berth.

The St Louis Rockets, league champion a year ago, were the top team in the Western Division for the third straight season. The Rockets were led by forward Al Denning, a 30-year-old out of Noble Jones College who led the loop in scoring and was named league MVP for the second consecutive season. Rounding out the playoff teams in the west were the Chicago Panthers, San Francisco Miners and Los Angeles Condors, leaving the Detroit Mustangs on the outside looking in. It was the first time the Mustangs failed to qualify for the playoffs since the spring of 1955.

Each playoff series in the FBL was a best-of-seven affair and the opening round yielded no surprises as the higher seed won each. Three of the four series were over in five games but one went the distance. That was in the Western Division were second seeded Chicago and third seed San Francisco traded victories all series. The Panthers won the final one, a dominating 136-104 result in game seven led by 34 points from veteran Chicago center Tom Midgett and 20 from Dick Brown.

Chicago and St Louis also required the full seven games in the semi-finals. The Rockets led 3 games to two when Chicago pulled out a last second 113-112 victory in game six on the road to push the defending champion Rockets to the brink. St Louis survived with another tight victory in game seven. The final was 110-109 with Rockets guard Clarence Turgeon being the hero with a buzzer beating jump shot to push St Louis to the championship series. The New York Knights reached the finals in a much easier fashion, losing just once in their five game series with the Washington Statesmen.

New York opened the finals at home and held serve with victories in each of the opening two games. Game one finished 113-102 behind a 29 point effort from Dick Van der Linden to overshadow the 22 scored by the Rockets' Denning. New York exploded out of the gate in game two, building a quick 31-11 lead and coasted to a 101-84 victory with Van der Linden again topping all scorers with 27 points.

The defending champs did not go quietly as Denning scored 40 points and Turgeon add 28 to pace St Louis to a 121-114 victory on their homecourt despite 32 points each from Van der Linden and Mickey Bemben. Two night later the series was deadlocked at two wins apiece as the Rockets won 121-109 behind Denning's 29 point, 13 rebound effort.

Game five gave us the first road victory and turned the series as the Knights went on a scoring spree with a 140-109 victory. Bob Terwilliger, Eddie Van Houten and sub Scott Hoekstra all topped the 20-point mark for New York with four others scoring in double-digits. Back at Bigsby Garden for game six the Knights overcame a 9-point first quarter deficit to pull out a 115-102 victory. It was the Dick Van der Linden show as the Knights forward cemented his playoff MVP award by shooting 20-for-36 and scoring 45 points and New York had won its third Federal Basketball League title.

[b]SPIRITS REPEAT AS CBL CHAMPS

Despite finishing in a tie for third place in the Continental Basketball League's East Division the Louisville Spirits hit their stride in the playoffs and rolled to their second consecutive championship in the three year old cage loop. Earl Arsenault, the 30-year-old center who joined the Spirits from San Francisco of the Federal League when the rival group was formed, missed half of the season due to first a broken leg and later a sprained wrist, but the 1968-69 league MVP was healthy in the playoffs and a major reason why the Spirits once more ended up on top.

Without Arsenault, who topped the league during the regular season with a 32.8 scoring average, Louisville was a below .500 club but still easily claimed a playoff berth, joining the Norfolk Mariners at 41-37 and tied for third. The Mariners were given third on a head-to-head tie-breaker and squared off against the second place Baltimore Chargers in the opening round of the playoffs. That left the Spirits to have to contend with a team they are building a nice rivalry with, the nearby Cincinnati Steamers. The Steamers were a much improved club this season, going from missing the playoffs a year ago to a first place finish at 48-30 this time around. A high octane outfit, the Steamers flew by the seat of their pants, leading the CBL in points for but also surrendering the highest total against.

The class of the West Division, and the league as a whole, was the Dallas Drillers who went 61-17 and posted the loop's best record for the third consecutive season. Dallas is 177-57 over the three years of the CBL and won the league title in its debut campaign two years ago. The Drillers are led by the all-star tandem of Mark Robinson and Josh Simmons, two players who were long-time teammates with the Chicago Panthers before both jumped leagues. Robinson was named the league MVP this season and led the loop in assists for the third straight year. Second place Kansas City was 15 games back of the front-running Drillers with Denver and Portland claiming the final two playoff berths in the West Division.

In perhaps the biggest shock of the post-season the Dallas Drillers were swept in three straight games by the Portland Bighorns in the opening round. Further throwing the playoffs into chaos was the fact that Louisville also swept the top club in the East Division, proving that Cincinnati's run and gun all out offensive style did not prove as effective once the playoffs rolled around. The fact that Earl Arsenault was healthy and scored 111 points in the three games, including a whooping 52 to go with 21 rebounds in a 119-101 game three victory, certainly did not aide the Steamers cause.

Next up for Louisville was the Baltimore Chargers, who had survived a tough series with Norfolk in the opening round. The Chargers took a 2 games to one lead on the defending champs in the best-of-seven semi-final series before Louisville won three in a row to move on to the finals. Arsenault's best game was the fifth one, in which he had 42 points and 18 rebounds.

The other semi-final featured the teams that finished third and fourth in the West Division but Portland, fresh off its upset of top ranked Dallas could not repeat the feat with a win over Denver. The series went the distance with the Bighorns coming back from a 3 games to one deficit to advance to the finals for the first time. Denver won game seven by a 124-117 count led by another former Chicago Panther in Rich Edwards, who scored 27 points.

The finals opened in Louisville and the defending champs won each of the first two contests on their home court. The opener was 122-110 with who else but Earl Arsenault leading the way. The center scored 40 points and added 11 rebounds. Game Two saw Arsenault held to 27 points but the margin of victory was larger than the opener as the Spirits beat Denver 118-87.

Denver had better luck at home taking game three by a 114-111 score despite 37 points from Arsenault. Game four Arsenault got into foul trouble early, played just 19 minutes and only scored 9 points as Denver evened the series with a 113-86 victory. Arsenault's time on the bench further illustrated how much different a team the Spirits were without their star.

The Spirits bounced back with a 119-105 road victory in the fifth game as Arsenault had 32 points while Dan Eisenmenger added 24 for the winners. Up three games to two in the series and returning home, Louisville made sure there would be no game seven. After a slow start that saw the Spirits down 10 points at the end of the first quarter, the outscored Denver 31-13 in the second period and coasted to a 111-91 victory and their second consecutive league title. Arsenault, who averaged 32.0 points and 12.5 boards a game in the postseason, was an easy choice as playoff MVP for the second year in a row.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL RECAP
IS JOHN JENKINS THE GREATEST COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER OF ALL TIME?
Northern Mississippi Guard Leads Mavericks to First National Crown — Wins Record Third Barrette Trophy

Collegiate basketball officially tipped off as an AIAA-sanctioned sport back in the fall of 1909. Each season since, one man has been singled out as the nation’s most outstanding player. The names of those early stars still echo faintly through the game’s history — Clint Casstevens of Dickson College, who later found fame on the baseball diamond, and George Winter of St. Patrick’s, the first two-time MVP and an early standout in the old Federal Pro Basketball League.

In 1941 the award was formally named in honor of coaching legend Art Barrette, whose 799 career wins at Coastal California remain an unbroken standard to this day. Over six decades of competition, only three men had managed to win the Barrette Trophy twice — Winter, Long Werth of Miami State in the mid-1940s, and Liberty’s towering Luther Gordon in 1949 and 1950. All were dominant big men who ruled the paint through sheer size and strength.

Then came John Jenkins.

*** The Lewisburg Legend ***

A slender 6-foot-5 guard from Lewisburg, Tennessee, Jenkins didn’t fit the mold of the traditional Barrette winner. He wasn’t recruited by the powerhouse programs — not by Carolina Poly, not by Noble Jones, not by any of the Great Lakes Alliance schools. Northern Mississippi took a chance, and it turned out to be the best gamble in school history.

Jenkins played sparingly as a freshman in 1966–67, but the Mavericks still managed a 21–10 record and a rare tournament berth. Then, in his sophomore year, Jenkins exploded onto the national stage — averaging 13.4 points and 6 assists per game while leading Northern Mississippi back to the postseason. He was named a First Team All-American and became the first Deep South Conference player in more than a decade to capture the Barrette Award.

He repeated both feats as a junior.

This year, as a senior, Jenkins completed a trifecta no one before him had achieved: three straight Barrette Trophies, three straight All-America selections, and — most importantly — a national championship, the first in Northern Mississippi’s history in any major team sport.

*** Redefining the Guard Game ***

Jenkins changed the very shape of his position. He used his height to rebound like a forward but handled the ball with the grace and flair of a point man. He could thread a pass through traffic, hit from anywhere beyond twenty feet, and punished defenses at the foul line — where he connected on better than 91 percent of his shots.

He was a showman, yes, but never at the expense of the team. His leadership and poise under pressure were the Mavericks’ foundation. And now, with pro teams from both the Federal and Continental Leagues scrambling for his services, Jenkins stands on the threshold of another chapter. Whichever league he chooses, he’s expected to be the first man taken in the draft.

Right now, he’s already cemented his place as the finest guard — and perhaps the finest player — ever to grace the college game.

*** Mavericks Finally Strike Gold ***

Before Jenkins arrived on campus, Northern Mississippi was a basketball afterthought. The Mavericks had gone seven long years without a tournament bid; and their last appearance before 1959 dated all the way back to 1914. The Deep South Conference was loaded, and the Mavericks were merely trying to keep up.

That changed when Jenkins took over the backcourt.

As a sophomore, the Mavericks went 26–5. As a junior, 24–7. Both years they reached the tournament, only to bow out in the second round. This season, despite finishing a modest 9–7 in conference play and dropping their final two regular-season games to Central Kentucky and Cumberland, Northern Mississippi slipped into the AIAA field as the No. 4 seed in the West Region.

The Mavs opened with a 59–52 win over Western Iowa, Jenkins contributing 12 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds in typically steady fashion. Then came the shocker — a 67–51 upset of top-seeded Coastal California, the West Coast powerhouse ranked No. 3 nationally. Double- and triple-teamed all night, Jenkins took only five shots, scoring just 7 points, but he orchestrated the attack masterfully, dishing out 10 assists while forward Felix Hancock poured in 15.

Northern Mississippi rode that momentum into the regional final against another WCAA club, Northern California. The Mavericks prevailed again, 74–63, behind 17 from Al Green and a 12-point, 10-assist effort from Jenkins, sending the school to its first Final Four.

*** Down Goes A&M ***

The setting was Bigsby Garden in New York City. The opponent: the Mavericks biggest rival in top-ranked Mississippi A&M — the Generals, 30–3, two-time national champions, and winners of both regular-season meetings with the Mavericks. It was billed as a battle of backcourt stars: Jenkins versus A&M’s Frank Treece, a senior guard and two-time All-American.

Jenkins stole the show. He hit 10 of 14 from the floor, scored 21 points, and led Northern Mississippi to a 69–51 rout that stunned the crowd and sent the Mavericks into the national title game.

*** The Crowning Moment ***

Miami State, a 26–5 independent, awaited in the championship. The Hurricanes were a surprise finalist themselves, joining the underdog parade that also included Dickson College’s scrappy Maroons.

But the night belonged to the Mavericks. They seized a 34–23 halftime lead and never looked back, cruising to a 67–50 win. Jenkins, playing with calm authority in his final collegiate game, contributed 10 points, 4 assists, and 6 rebounds — letting teammates Chet Whittington, Green and Hancock handle most of the scoring.

When the final horn sounded, the Mavericks had their long-awaited crown, and Jenkins had written the closing chapter to one of the greatest individual careers in college basketball history.

What happens next for Northern Mississippi is anyone’s guess. But one thing is certain: wherever John Jenkins goes — be it the Federal League, the Continental, or beyond — basketball fans will be watching.

Next up will be the review of the 1970 baseball season.

Tiger Fan · 10-24-2025, 10:57 AM

1970 IN FIGMENT BASEBALL
October 28, 1970

MIRACLE IN MONTREAL! SAINTS END 49 YEAR DROUGHT
Montreal Rallies from 3-1 Deficit to Win First WCS Since 1921

After seeing the Montreal Saints, baseball's sad sacks for more than four decades, qualify for the playoffs last year and go all the way this time around with their first World Championship Series victory one can't help but think the first thanks from the Saints should go to the Pittsburgh Miners organization. After all it was the Miners that sent Montreal a big gift in Whitney Award winning infielder Dixie Turner at the trade deadline in 1968 and then doubled the offering by canning manager Harry Barrell three months later. Barrell was immediately signed by the Saints and he and Turner completely changed the mentality in Montreal. The Saints mined more talent out of Pittsburgh just prior to the start of spring training as they added Harry's son: third baseman Reid Barrell to Montreal.

With the influx of talent from Pittsburgh, the franchise that could not seem to get out of its own way and just never seemed to get the breaks, suddenly had a brand new attitude. The result was they tied the franchise record for wins in a season with 97 a year ago but they came up short against the mighty Los Angels Stars in the very first Association Championship Series. The Saints and Stars met again this October but it was Montreal that came out on top before going on to battle back from a three games to one deficit to beat the Chicago Chiefs in the WCS. That is right. Believe it or not the Montreal Saints are the best in baseball.

Dixie Turner (.324,43,157) won his second consecutive Continental Association Whitney Award after finishing third in the batting race, second in homers and led the CA in rbi's by posting the highest single season total since Bobby Barrell's 162 in 1936. Washington's Al Marino matched Turner's 157 rbi output. Reid Barrell (.276,33,108) fit in perfectly and added to what ended up being the most productive offense in the CA. Harry Barrell won his third WCS as a manager but there was more than just the former Pittsburgh threesome to lead the Saints this season. Let's start with 29-year-old outfielder Jim Hendricks (.328,21,114) who must love batting in front of Turner as he led the CA in hits with 203 and claimed the unprecedented trio of winning MVP awards in the All-Star Game, Association Championship Series and the WCS. Another relative newcomer was Jim Smith (.263,31,124), a 29-year-old former Cleveland outfielder who joined the team prior to the 1969 season. The Montreal lineup also featured a longtime Saint in veteran first baseman Harry Swain (.290,23,88) who had seen plenty of tough years at Stade Montreal but continues to excel even at the age of 37.

The Saints had their ups and downs, in a good part due to a pitching staff that often lacked consistency and did not have a true number one to top the rotation. They had a terrible July and entered August 2 games back of Cleveland for first place in the CA East. When August came to a close, there seemed little down Montreal would repeat as division champs as they now lead the second place Foresters by 7 games after a red-hot 18-11 month. Turner was at his best that month, driving in 35 runs in 29 August games while batting .379.

While Montreal was soaring, the Cleveland Foresters crashed and burned, stumbling through an 8-21 August and their September was not much better. The result was the Foresters fell to third as the New York Imperials slid into second place in the CA East for the second consecutive season. Imperials third baseman George Love (.296,49,112) is 26 and seems to be getting better every year. The pitching in New York is solid too although it was dealt a blow in early September when 24-year-old John Alfano (6-13. 3.90) tore up his elbow. A little more offense and the Imperials may just become the first 1962 expansion club to reach the post-season.

Much like Montreal, the other Canadian club has endured some lean years. The Toronto Wolves have not made the playoffs since 1940 and do not look that close right now after sinking below .500 for the first time since 1961. Sid Cullen (.273,38,112) is still their leader but age may start to catch up to the 34-year-old soon. Catcher Fred Tollefson (.311,23,93) may be the best at his position in the big leagues and 32-year-old Red Richards (18-9, 3.20) had the best season of his career but there are plenty of holes which explains why Toronto slipped to fourth.

Cincinnati was fifth as they still wait for Marco Middleton (13-14, 4.02) and Joe McCarthy (10-16, 3.85) to live up to their early hype. They are just 27 and 26 so there is still time. The Milwaukee Arrows still finished last in the division but did improve by 15 victories over their debut season.

*** Star-Studded Los Angeles Rules The West ***

The Los Angeles Stars lineup can often be confused for an all-star team as they are loaded but they did have the expected drop off and won "just" 99 games, but that was still best in the CA. This is a team that won 110,109, 111 and 111 over the previous four years but we don't think there is much cause for concern. Not with talent like this: Bill Dunlop (24-3, 2.48) won his second career Allen Award in his first full season since coming over from Boston and he is joined by Floyd Warner (14-4, 3.07), Bob Hollister (14-9, 4.09) and George Dunnigan (13-8, 4.09) in a very solid rotation. The lineup is overwhelming to face with Bobby Garrison (.289,32,99), Ralph Barrell (.283,33,128) and Lew Smith (.315,19,77) leading the way.

The race in the CA West was for second place with the Seattle Kings holding off both San Francisco and Chicago by one game to claim runner-up status. Hank Williams (.272,25,79) still leads the Kings offense but outfielders Tom Hicks (.305,28,110) and Ben Roberts (.287,17,70) and ex-Detroit shortstop Ben Baker (.292,15,66) also play key roles. Charlie Rushing (18-7, 3.68) had his second straight 18 victory season since coming over from Philadelphia but there is concern for the future as the 35-year-old suffered a series arm injury late in the season. He already had a 10-month absence in 1968 due to elbow woes.

San Francisco was led by the bats of Frank Bailey (.305,23,114) and Ron Turner (.268,24,95) and the glove of shortstop Carlos Jamarmillo 65,9,55). Bill Grimm (.265,32,108) remains the big bat in the Windy City but the Cougars strength was its pitching staff anchored by Hal Adams (15-13, 3.04), Manny Espinosa (11-11, 3.26) and 40-year-old Jim Norris (15-7, 3.78) who is now just 12 wins shy of 300 for his career.

The Dallas Wranglers and second year Kansas City Mavericks brought up the rear. Dallas is still searching for high end offensive talent eight years into its existence and the pitching is very wonky. Cecil Gregg (.274,17,65) and Tommy Kay (.277,14,73) are about the best the Mavericks have to offer.

*** Eagles Hold Off Miners in Wild Fed East Race ***

It was quite a battle for top spot in the Federal Association East Division as the Washington Eagles and Pittsburgh Miners were the only two teams in the sport to top 100 wins this season. The Miners started hot and had the best record in the game prior to the all-star break but the Eagles had the last laugh, going 53-20 after the midsummer classic to finish 3 games ahead of Pittsburgh. It is a shame for the hard luck Miners, who have not won a WCS since 1901. They went 46-27 after the break, better than every team in baseball save one. The result was 105 wins did nothing for Pittsburgh's post-season plans.

On the morning f July 5th the Eagles trailed the Miners by five games but from that day until the end of the season Washington posted a 60-21 record -a .741 clip- and finished 3 games ahead of Pittsburgh. The heart and soul of the Eagles once more was Tom Lorang (.336,42,111), who would win his second consecutive and third overall Whitney Award. He had plenty of support from the likes of Al Marino (.281,45,157), the Fed homerun and rbi leader, as well as catcher Howdy Oakes (.285,14,65) to give Washington the most productive offense in the sport. All that scoring made life easy for what was really just an average rotation as Jake Watkins (17-7, 3.06), Jim Stewart (20-8, 4.58) and Red Burtch (16-7, 4.69) all hit career highs in wins.

Pittsburgh was built much like Washington as they finished just 1 run shy of the Eagles on the year thanks to an offense that relied on rising star Earl Skains (.338,28,89), steady Ed Reeves (.333,5,104) and John Newton (.315,17,117), who was acquired from Montreal in the spring for Reid Barrell. Three-time all-star Jack Kotarski (14-5, 2.85) was the ace of a pitching staff that also included veterans Clarence Miller (17-7, 4.04) and Bill Scott (15-8, 4.55).

The Philadelphia Keystones won 89 games but in this division all that meant was they finished in third, 19 games back. Billy Hasson (17-7, 3.20) matched his win total of last year in his second season with the Keystones since coming over from St Louis and Jesse Walker (.279,44,121) may have finally figured things out at the age of 28 with his second strong season after some up and down years early in his career.

The second year Baltimore Clippers nosed out the New York Gothams and Boston Minutemen for fourth place but that might say more about the state of things for the Gothams and Minutemen than it does about the Clippers. Baltimore does have a rising star in 25-year-old third baseman Tony Nino (.302,12,83) who followed up his Kellogg Award winning rookie season with an even more impressive sophomore campaign. Baltimore also has to feel very good about 22-year-old righthander Larry Warren (12-16, 3.66), who also avoided a sophomore jinx.

The Gothams have fallen hard since the introduction of division play with back to back fifth place finishes after pushing the Chicago Chiefs to a 1-game tiebreaker for the pennant in 1968. Bunny Mullins (13-11, 2.85) earned a second consecutive Allen Award but received little to no offensive support. What little he did get generally came from outfielders Carl Bramlett (.283,22,110) and Mark Boyd (.277,25,95). The Minutemen are a mess and fans are still in despair about the trade to send Bill Dunlop to the LA Stars, where he won his second Allen Award and went 24-3. Yep, Dunlop won 24 games or just two less than Boston's top three starters combined. They were John McCormick (10-15, 5.00), Hardin Jones (10-12, 5.53) and Wayne Cooper (6-12, 5.23).

[/b] *** Chiefs Hold Off Detroit For West Crown ***[/b]

The Detroit Dynamos spent nearly the entire season chasing the Chicago Chiefs. Detroit got close, in fact to within 2 games on September 23 but the Chiefs had a strong finish to win the division crown a year after finishing second behind St Louis. Nobody in the West Division was as flashy as Washington and Pittsburgh in the East but the Chiefs certainly were effective.

Chicago relied on its pitching and defense, both best in the Fed, with a rotation that had five very effective arms led by 39-year-old Vern Osborne (16-11, 3.69), Joe Cipolla (17-8, 4.06) and newcomers Jake Brazill (11-7, 2.68) and Vean Conrad (12-16, 4.00). Outfielders Bob Starr (.242,39,122) and Joe Siniscalchi (.294,28,119) along with second baseman John Butts (.319,16,104) led the offense which also received some decent production from 41-year-old Rod Shearer (.212,14,51), who is closing in on 500 career homers and seems intent on returning next season.

Detroit was a surprise second place finisher as the Dynamos topped .500 for the first time since 1963. 26-year-old righthander Juan Solórzano (19-10, 3.43) was a big reason for the turnaround while former Seattle King Bill Austin (.326,11,107) and Freddy Curtis (.318,9,98) led a pop-gun offense that made up for a lack of power with a knack for getting guys on base.

The Los Angeles Suns finished third but at 75-87 were three wins shy of the team record established last year. The big story with Los Angeles other team is Sam Forrester (.283,53,120) who became the first FABL player to hit 50 homers in a season since Earl Howe back in 1955. On the mound young George Cox (13-7, 17 sv) looked impressive out of the pen in his first full season while 24-year-old Pete Meissner (11-12, 3.68) heads the rotation and has already played six full seasons in the big leagues.

The St. Louis Pioneers had the biggest drop off of any of the four division winners from a year ago as the Pioneers slipped to 74-88 and fourth place in the Federal Association West Division. You just knew it would be a bad year in St Louis after Frenchy Mack announced his retirement at the age 31 during the winter. Mack went 14-8 a year ago to finish with 200 career victories but the six team Allen Award winner suffered a serious arm injury in the World Championship Series and decided to retire rather than attempt a comeback at less than 100 percent. Offensively the Pioneers struggled and St Louis needs table setters as they finished 8th out of 12 teams in runs scored despite having the big bats of John Richards (.314,37,102) and Danny Davis (.280,31,102) in the lineup.

After back-to-back 78 win seasons the Minneapolis Millers dropped to 69-93 this time around. John Edwards (.315,31,122) and Rusty Robertson (.285,27,108) were both very good in the age 26 season for each while 27-year-old pitcher Fred Smith (19-8, 3.73) had a breakout season but there was not enough secondary talent to compete.

The last place Houston Comets finished with the worst record out of the four 1969 expansion clubs after finishing with the best mark of the four in year one. They can just ask the Minneapolis Millers how long the road to respectability is for a FABL expansion club.

MILESTONES AND OTHER NOTABLES
AWARDS

We can pretty much just copy and paste last year's awards recap as three of the four Allen/Whitney Award winners were the same as they were a year ago. Dixie Turner was amazing once more for the Montreal Saints and won his fifth Whitney although the first three came in the Federal Association with Pittsburgh. Tom Lorang of the Washington Eagles, who often trailed Turner on the ballot, must be happy that Dixie has left the Fed. Lorang won his second straight and third overall Whitney Award. Bunnny Mullins won just 14 games a year ago for the New York Gothams but still won the Fed Allen Award with the lowest win total since Dode Jefferis in 1926. Well this year Mullins earned another Allen Award but won just 13 games this time. His impressive ERA more than made up for the lack of run support from his Gothams teammates. The Allen Award in the Continental Association is a Los Angeles Star for the third time in four years but it is a new player - Bill Dunlop. The ex-Boston Minutemen, who won an Allen in the Fed in 1966 enjoyed one of the most dominant seasons seen in recent years, fashioning a 24-3 record with a FABL best 2.48 era.

The Kellogg Awards for top rookie went to Seattle relief pitcher Moe Lowery (14-10, 15sv) and 27-year-old Houston Comets centerfielder Hank Andrew (.316,13,95), who is believed to be the oldest winner.

HALL OF FAME

Adrian Czerwinski became the first player in three years to receive enough support to be welcomed into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Boone County, IL. Near unanimous as a first ballot eligible player, there was never any doubt that the man known as The Mad Professor would gain induction. Czerwinski won six Allen Awards and 313 games during his 18-year career, all but the last one for the Cleveland Foresters. He was the key piece of a Foresters dynasty that won 8 pennants and 2 WCS titles during Czerwinski's tenure. It will one day be broken now that we have a second playoff round but Czerwinski is the all-time leader in postseason wins with a 10-3 record and he will be remembered as one of the most clutch post-season performers the sport has ever seen.

NO-HITTERS

Only one no-hitter in 1970 and that was thrown by Otey Stevens of the New York Imperials in a June victory over Milwaukee. The 32-year-old Stevens, who also pitched for Boston before joining the Imperials in 1968, is 65-81 for his career including 9-12 this season. We have had at least one no-hitter thrown every year since 1964.

3000 HITS
Ken Newman of Seattle became the 19th member of the 3,000 hit club

2000 HITS
Carlos Jaramillo, San Francisco

400 HOME RUNS
Ken Newman, Seattle
Hank Williams, Seattle

300 HOME RUNS
Rex Pilcher, Baltimore
Ralph Barrell, Los Angeles Stars

1000 RBI's
Bob Bell, St Louis
Ralph Barrell, Los Angeles Stars

1500 RUNS SCORED
Al Farmer, Baltimore
Buddy Miller, Montreal

2500 STRIKEOUTS
Jim Norris, Chicago Cougars

1970 FABL ALL-STAR GAME
LOSING STREAK IS OVER. CA WINS

It was a long time coming but the Continental Association finally has bragging rights again in the All-Star Game. The Federal Association had won the midsummer classic each of the past six years but the Continental Association finally broke out with a victory and did some with a resounding statement - claiming a 13-1 victory in the 38th annual all-star game. The event was held indoors for the first time as Houston's eighth wonder of the world - the Dalton Dome, home of the second year Houston Comets - was selected to host the contest.

The Continental stars took the lead early as Montreal's Jim Humphrey, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player, hit a solo homerun in the first inning. Hendricks would go 3-for-3 in the game, adding a single and a triple for his evening. It was 2-1 for the CA until they blew it open with five runs in the bottom of the third inning keyed by a 3-run double off the bat of New York Imperials infielder George Love. Toronto's Sid Cullen also homered as part of that third inning outburst.

Despite the Federal Association's recent winning streak the all-time series is tied at 19 wins for each association.

1970 ASSOCIATION CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
CHIEFS SWEEP, SAINTS SURPRISE

The best record in baseball no longer means an automatic trip to the World Championship Series and for the Washington Eagles, who won a franchise record 108 games during the regular season, the ACS meant the season was a bitter disappointment as the Eagles could not even manage a single victory against the Federal Association West Division champion Chicago Chiefs. Washington won the season series with Chicago 9-6 including two of three in a season ending series between the two, but that too meant nothing in October.

The series opened in the nation's capital but it was the visiting Chiefs who struck first with three runs in the top of the first inning in an outburst keyed by a 2-run double off the bat of Joe Siniscalchi. The bats were working for Chicago, which rapped out 10 hits with six of them, including a Bob Starr 9th inning solo homerun, for extra bases. The result was an 8-6 Chicago win despite homeruns from Al Marino and Ed MacNaughton for the Eagles.

Game two was another slugfest and full of drama. The Chiefs led 8-5 going into the bottom of the ninth but Washington staged a rally, all of which came with two out. Tom Lorang got it started with a double and moved to third on a single from Al Marino. A wild pitch scored Lorang and a single from Carlos Zamudio plated Marino and it was now a one-run game. A walk and a Joe Cantrall single later and we were headed to extra innings. After a quiet 10th the Chiefs got a lead-off double from Siniscalchi in the top of the 11th. Two walks followed by an error from Eagles outfielder Roberto Lopez put Chicago up by two. Chiefs reliever Nate Carr pitched a perfect 1-2-3 bottom of the 11th to close it out.

The third game also needed extra innings and proved it just wasn't the Eagles year. Washington led 5-2 after six innings but the Chiefs knotted the game at five with a run in the seventh and two more an inning later thanks to a homerun off the bat of 42-year-old Rod Shearer. It would stay 5-5 until the bottom of the 14th despite the fact Washington had two on and none out in the 12th but could not push a run across. Earle Farmer, a 36-year-old backup infielder was the hero, with his only plate appearance of the series being a pinch-hit rbi single with two out and two on in the 14th. It gave the Chiefs a sweep with a 6-5 victory.

*** Saints Get Revenge For Last Year ***

The Continental Association Championship Series was a rematch of a year ago when the Los Angeles Stars won 3-1 to advance to the WCS for the fourth consecutive season. This time it would be Montreal that would win the series in four games.

The opener was a rout as Los Angeles, despite having CA Allen Award winner Bill Dunlop on the mound, was thumped 8-2 by the visiting Saints. John Roberts had a strong game on the mound for the winners, allowing just 5 hits while the Montreal offense was led by Jim Hendricks and Eddie Thomas, who each delivered 3 hits.

A day later the Saints proved the opener was no fluke as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead and went on to win a second game on the road, this one by a 7-3 count. Hendricks again had the big bat, going 3-for-5 with a rbi and two runs scored. Reid Barrell, Jim Smith and Harry Swain each drove in two runs and all three doubled.

Los Angeles did avoid the sweep with a 7-5 victory when the series shifted to Montreal but they needed a 5-run top of the ninth to get that win. The following day the Saints proved to be unfazed by the Stars late comeback. Montreal's Hal Bennett and Ed Wells of Los Angeles were in a pitchers duel as the game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Reid Barrell changed the game with one swing of the bat. With the bases loaded and two outs Barrell lined a double off Jackie Thompson, who came on two batters earlier to replace Wells, and it suddenly was 3-0 for Montreal. Bill Gillman would drive in two runs with a double in the 8th and by then the singing of "Ole Ole" by more than 30,000 rabid fans in Stade Montreal was deafening as 49 years of waiting finally erupted and the Saints returned to the WCS for the first time since 1921.

1970 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Thrilling Comeback Ends 49 Years of Failure For Montreal

While arguably the two best teams in baseball in the Washington Eagles and Los Angeles Stars were not present, the 1970 World Championship Series proved to be one for the ages. Fans in Montreal had not seen their club in a WCS since 1921. Their opponents, the Chicago Chiefs, were playing in their third in the past four years and had won it all in 1967.

GAME ONE

The series opened in Montreal but it was the visiting Chiefs who claimed the first victory, taking a 3-1 decision. 42-year-old Don Hillshire was the hero, allowing just one run over seven and two-thirds for the first WCS victory of his career. Chicago scratched out two runs in the top of the second on two singles, a walk and a hit batsman. They would get some insurance in the sixth inning in the form of a Bob Starr solo homerun and hold on for the 3-1 victory.

GAME TWO

The Montreal bats that performed so well against Los Angeles in the ACS came to life in game two. Reid Barrell homered, Jim Hendricks doubled twice and drove in two runs as the Saints doubled the Chiefs 8-4 to even the series.

GAME THREE

The series shifted to Chicago and if you told Montreal manager Harry Barrell that his team would have a 7-run inning against the Chiefs that day he would love his odds. Well, they did score 7 in the in the fifth inning to take an 8-5 lead but Chicago responded with 6 runs of its own in the bottom of the seventh frame and added 4 more in the 8th to win in a rout, 15-8. The lone bright spot for the Saints is CA Whitney Award winner Dixie Turner came alive with two doubles and 3 hits in total in the game.

GAME FOUR

The Chiefs had extra inning success against Washington in the ACS and it carried over to the WCS as Chicago took a commanding 3 games to one lead in the series with a 5-4 victory in 11 innings. It spoiled a Montreal comeback in the 8th inning when Jim Hendricks continued his hot hitting with an rbi double and then scored the tying run on a Dixie Turner base hit. Hendricks tripled with one out in the top of the 10th but the Saints could not bring him home. The bottom of the 11th inning had skipper Harry Barrell pulling his hair out as the Saints committed two errors. A fine defensive play by shortstop Carlos Hernandez nailed a runner at the plate for the second out but a Joe Flanagan single scored Joe Siniscalchi with the winning run.

GAME FIVE

Whatever Manager Harry Barrell said to the Saints before game five certainly worked as Montreal prolonged the series, allowing them to return home with a chance, following an 11-2 thrashing of the Chiefs. It was mound rematch of game one between Montreal's John Roberts and Chiefs veteran Don Hillshire and for seven innings the game was close with the Saints clinging to a 4-2 lead. For the second time in the series, Montreal had a seven run inning but this time, unlike in game three, it led to victory. The Saints plated 7 in the 8th with Dixie Turner and Jim Smith each homering in the outburst. The final score was 11-2 and the Saints now trailed 3 games to two.

GAME SIX

Perhaps Barrell drew inspiration from the story of the 1915 World Championship Series when the Montreal Saints trailed the Boston Minutemen three games to one only to battle back and win three straight thanks to some terrific pitching including a 1-0 shutout thrown by Hall of Famer Bob Johnston in game seven. It clearly was foreshadowing to mention the Saints have won the WCS twice in their history entering 1970 and both times they prevailed in seven games.

This, of course, was still just game six but no room for error for Montreal. Ted Mickiewicz, a 31-year-old who was acquired from Kansas City at the deadline and collected the win in game two, was on the mound for Montreal and he, along with two relievers, shut out Chicago on 4 hits. Jim Smith got the Saints on the scoreboard with a solo homer in the second inning off another trade deadline pickup in Chiefs hurler Vean Conrad. Bill Gillman doubled in Dixie Turner to make the score 2-0 in the fourth inning but the Saints could have had so much more as they left the bases loaded. It turned out it did not matter as Jim Smtih homered for the second time in the game and third time in the last two games. This one was a 3-run shot in the fifth inning that left plenty of breathing room and the Saints would add one more run to make it a 6-0 final - and the series was level.

GAME SEVEN

Chicago went with its other veteran hurler, longtime number one starter Vern Osborne while the Saints countered with Hal Bennett, a 24-year-old who won 13 regular season games in his second pro season and had shut down the Los Angeles Stars in ACS. Bennett was solid, pitching five scoreless innings before turning the ball over to the pen. His life was made much easier by the fact the Saints got to Osborne for two runs in the second and three more in the third. Reid Barrell's double and an rbi single from Eddie Thomas keyed the second inning outburst, which came after Bennett managed to wiggle his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the top half of the frame. In the third inning it was Jim Hendricks who once again took center stage with a 3-run homer. It made the score 5-0 and was Hendricks first homer of the series but he had 17 hits and batted .567 in the seven games.

The final score would be 7-0 as the Saints pitching had blanked the Chiefs for the second game in a row and once more, just as their previous WCS wins in 1915 and 1921, the Montreal Saints were celebrating following a game seven victory. But this celebration had been 49 years in the making.

TWIFS has had some problems with our printing press this week (too early to say internet issues in 1970) so we are a bit behind which means there will not be a full scouting update done for this season. We did want to make sure the first round drat selections of 1970 were documented so they are presented above along with where each of the sits on the OSA top prospects list as of November 1970.

None of them made their big league debuts this season which, in no small part was likely due to the fact that the four newest clubs all selected high school players. Two players cracked the top ten including number one overall selection John DeWitt, a high school pitcher from Illinois that was selected by the second year Milwaukee Arrows. OSA sees the 18-year-old right hander as having the potential to one day be one of the truly elite arms in the game. DeWitt split his first pro seasons between high and low A ball, going 2-7 in 20 starts but pitched much better than his record indicates.

The other top ten is what looks, at least at this early stage, as the steal of the draft. That would be Danny Anderson, a 21-year-old out of Ellery College who was selected 11th by the Seattle Kings but debuts as the third highest ranked prospect according to OSA. The Kings could use a win in the draft as they have not had any of their first round picks since we started tracking with the 1965 draft make it to FABL. In contrast, 12 of the 24 teams have had at least one pick make the big leagues and two of them - the New York Imperials and Detroit- have graduated three first rounders the past six years to FABL.

As for Anderson, after his 10-4, 2.80 draft season performance for the Academia Alliance Bruins, he went to AAA Portland and posted a 6-9 record with a 4.33 era in 19 starts. Anderson is a little disappointed because he feels he should have been in Seattle this season and OSA, which says he has a golden arm, seems to concur. It looks like a good bet the 22-year-old will get his wish next April and be the first Kings first rounder of the past six years to make it to the big club.

Seattle's 1969 first rounder is also a highly touted pitching prospect. That would be Bill Cox, who is still just 19 years old and split last year -his first full pro season- repeating in short-season ball. Like Anderson, Cox is originally from New Jersey and also like Anderson OSA feels he can be an ace at the next level.

PROSPECT PIPELINE UPDATE

Those two Seattle Kings pitchers are part of the large contingent of arms that head the prospect list. Since we are up to 24 teams now we thought we would expand the list to track the top 20 instead of top 10 prospects. Eight of the top 10 and 14 of the top 20 players currently on the OSA pipeline are pitchers.

Here are the current top 20

The New York Imperials continue to have a big presence with 3 pitchers in the top six. Those three have to get to FABL soon, don't they, as they were all in the top four a year ago and Weston and White -numbers one and two- have been in the top ten since 1966 and 1967 respectively.

A couple in the top twenty have been traded and one - #11 Frank Baldwin, was released and signed as a free agent. Baldwin is a curious case and one who should be followed. We worry he does not make it because he missed nearly a year with a major arm injury suffered in the summer of 1968 and has pitched just 20 innings since then, but OSA feels it sees something.

The Gothams are really counting on Charlie Todd Jr. (#10) panning out. They dealt a very good catcher in Roy Johnson, who is just 28 and coming off a .312,20,73 season to the Chicago Chiefs (remind anyone of the famous Gothams-Chiefs Pete Casstevens trade?). Three other prospects went with Todd Jr., who's dad spent a decade pitching for Pittsburgh and Boston, but Charlie is clearly the prize prospect of the deal.

Before you get too excited about all of these great pitchers on the way up it is worth looking back at the first top ten of the fast-forward. That would be 1964. Here are the top ten from October of that year and a brief update on what each has accomplished since.

So Bill Dunlop, coming off that amazing 24-3 season for the Los Angeles Stars, is clearly an elite player. John McCormick, the other Boston pitcher on the list, is still with the Minutemen and probably a better pitcher than his stats indicate but the rest of the top ten has not really accomplished a lot. Nava and Thurman had decent seasons but seem to have plateaued as back-ups. Maybe there is still a chance for pitchers McDonough, Schrieber, Stiles and Russell but really at this point I would say the top ten list of 1964 is a dud and maybe that does not bode well for all the names on the 1970 list either. Admittedly a small sample and limited data as we have focused on the 1964-1970 top ten lists, but from that information we can gather a top ten prospect is by no means going to develop into a big league regular.

Tiger Fan · 10-25-2025, 11:42 PM

JANUARY 2, 1971

THE NEW ERA OF FOOTBALL
AFA-NFA Merger Ushers in Unified Season; Houston, Kansas City Dominate in 1970 Campaign

After six years of talk and some tension, professional football finally came together in 1970. The long-rival American Football Association and upstart National Football Association — two leagues that had shared a draft, an annual All-Star Classic, and a championship game for years — officially merged under one banner this fall.

The new American Football Association, a 26-team superleague, took the field in September with 13 clubs in each conference — the American and the National — each split into East, Central, and West divisions. The season marked the first time all of pro football’s major powers would battle within a single organization.

But the merger didn’t come without debate. The league’s executive committee spent much of the offseason wrangling over which franchises would cross the divide to balance the conferences. In the end, two well-established AFA clubs — the Kansas City Cowboys and St. Louis Ramblers- along with the Buffalo Red Jackets, who were celebrating their 10th season — were moved to the NFA side.

The decision sparked heated discussions across the sport. St. Louis initially resisted, preferring to remain in familiar territory, but finally agreed once the league guaranteed that Kansas City — their longtime Midwestern rival — would make the move as well and join them in the same division. Buffalo, too, switched over to bring numerical balance and a northern presence to the NFA East.

When the first unified season kicked off, fans were uncertain how the balance of power would shake out. By season’s end, the answer was clear: football parity had arrived. The 1970 season was one of the most competitive and entertaining in memory — and a fitting debut for the new era of professional football.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
EAST DIVISION

The Washington Wasps stood tallest in the East, posting a 10–4 mark and taking the division crown behind quarterback Paul Roberts, whose efficient 106.5 rating and 16 touchdown passes ranked among the league’s best. Coach Pat Dennison’s club combined a crisp passing attack with a stingy defense anchored by safety Bob Freehan and linebacker Pete Miller, whose tackling and leadership set the tone.

Behind Washington, both Pittsburgh (7–7) and New York (7–7) remained in the hunt into December. The Stars found leadership in veteran passer Jack Osterman (2,000+ yards) and linebacker George Werner, who led the division in tackles. The Frigates of Philadelphia (6–8) featured one of the league’s sharpest arms in Bud Newberry (18 TD, 102.5 rating), but a porous defense betrayed them. Boston (3–11), is rebuilding with veteran coach Pete Walsh, the mastermind behind Pat Chappell and the Kansas City Cowboys of the old Continental Football Conference, and fought gamely but lacked the depth to contend.

CENTRAL DIVISION

The Chicago Wildcats repeated as division champions at 8–6, leaning on a strong defensive secondary led by corner Jerry Denny (4 INTs, 4 forced fumbles) and safety Bill Gilbert, who shut down opposing receivers all year. On offense, wideout Frank Daniels (799 yards) emerged as a reliable target in crunch time and made life much easier for rookie quarterback Brian Eagle. Eagle, selected 4th overall after a stellar stint as a 4-year starter at Georgia Baptist, adjusted well to the pro game.

The Detroit Maroons (7–7) were powered by the league’s second-leading rusher, Dennis Rice, whose 1,393 yards and 13 touchdowns earned him a spot in the All-Star Classic. Rookie linebacker Oscar Kramer made a name for himself as a punishing tackler and was named the loop's Defensive Rookie of the Year. Cleveland’s Hiram Gates led the entire league in passing yards (2,472) and found a dynamic target in Jerry Brown (1,036 yards, 9 TDs), but too many turnovers left the Finches at 6–8. Milwaukee (3–11) showed flashes from second year quarterback Stacey Stoner but struggled to sustain drives.

WEST DIVISION

If any team defined excellence in 1970, it was the Houston Drillers. Coach Mario Case’s powerhouse stormed through the schedule with a 13–1 record, blending defense, discipline, and dominance as they won the division and looked to extend their streak of reaching the championship game each of the last three years, and winning it all twice.

Defensive end Bobby Barrell Jr. was unstoppable, posting 16 sacks and 66 tackles en route to Defensive Player of the Year honors. Teammates John Padgett - a five time winner of the Defensive Player of the Year Award- and Mike Ouverson gave Houston one of the most feared defensive lines ever seen in pro football. On the other side of the ball, halfbacks Ken Gladfelter (1,143 yards) and former Christian Trophy winner Vern Rabinovich (1,013 yards) along with veteran quarterback Miller Bogert kept the chains moving and the scoreboard turning.

The San Francisco Wings (11–3) were the revelation of the season and earned the conference’s lone wildcard spot. Second year linebacker John Antalek, a 1969 second round pick out of Noble Jones College, led all defenders with 152 tackles, while cornerback Ron Pickle electrified fans with three defensive touchdowns. New Orleans (7–7) saw wideout Jim DePasquale emerge as a top-tier receiver in his sixth season, and the Los Angeles Stars (5–9) was led by a defensive gem in veteran linebacker Ed Hardy, who was healthy again after missing much of last season. However it was quite clear that the West belonged to Houston from start to finish.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
EAST DIVISION

The Atlanta Firebirds took flight behind quarterback Pete Fairfield, whose sharp play (16 TD, 2,007 yards) guided them to a 10–4 record and the division title. Tailback George Eliason added 1,256 yards and 10 scores to power a steady ground game that also benefitted from Eliason's backup Rick Meyer surpassing the 1,000 yard rushing mark.

Defending NFA champions Miami Mariners (9–5) stayed close behind, relying on quarterback Bennett Smoot and one of the league’s stingiest defenses, which yielded just 203 points. The Mariners showing was good enough to allow them to claim the NFA wildcard slot and qualify for the playoffs for a fifth straight year. The New York Titans (8–6) boasted the league’s most balanced offense, with Garton Bird throwing for 2,337 yards and halfback Elvin McGoldrick adding 1,317 on the ground, but inconsistency in the red zone cost them a playoff berth.

The Buffalo Red Jackets(4–10) found life in the NFA much more difficult than it was in the AFA. After going 9-5 two years ago and posting a 7-7 record last season the Red Jackets slipped to 4-10 this time around. There is some hope in rookie runner Chet Tyler (1,091 yards), while Cincinnati (4–10) had a defensive standout in linebacker Mike Hall, but an anemic offense as both clubs endured drop-offs from a year ago.

CENTRAL DIVISION

No team turned more heads in the NFA than the Kansas City Cowboys, who stormed through their new surroundings to finish 12–2 and claim the division crown to reach the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Halfback Charlie Evans was a wrecking ball, piling up 1,102 yards and 12 touchdowns to earn Offensive Player of the Year honors. Kicker Ricky Torres led the league in scoring (128 points), while cornerbacks Gene Arnett and Paul Calhoun anchored a ball-hawking secondary.

Their cross-state rivals, the St. Louis Ramblers (8–6), remained right behind them thanks to league MVP Jeff Pierini, who carried the ball an astounding 396 times for 1,550 yards — the heaviest workload in the game. The Dallas Stallions (8–6) also fought hard behind linebacker Jack Tombaugh’s leadership. Minnesota (5–9) flashed moments of promise behind veteran safety Jim Smith, but their offense sputtered much of the year as rookie quarterback Charles Singletary, selected 3rd overall out of Boulder State, dealt with a steep learning curve.

WEST DIVISION

It took a tiebreaker to settle the wild West but that is not to say there was an overabundance of quality football being played in the division. It was the only one of the six division's to have every team finish below .500 as both the Los Angeles Olympians and San Diego Admirals finished on top at 6-8. The Olympians earned the playoff berth thanks to a superior conference record, led by defensive end Jacob Schoonover, who notched 12 sacks. The Admirals split their season series with L.A. and featured one of the league’s livelier passing attacks under rookie quarterback Alan Bowers and second year wideout Rick Osorio (726 yards, 5 TDs). San Diego, which joined the NFA in 1964, has never finished a season over .500, but the building blocks, at least on the offense, seem to be there.

Third year Seattle (5–9) got a standout year from linebacker John Lombardo (115 tackles, 6 sacks), while Denver (4–10), another club that has never finished above .500, showed grit behind a career year from running back Ron Gorski (1,239 yds), but neither club could break even.

As the dust settled, the first season of the unified American Football Association had produced a well-balanced playoff lineup:

American Conference: Washington, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco (wildcard)
National Conference: Atlanta, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami (wildcard)

From Houston’s ferocious defense to Kansas City’s power running game, the 1970 campaign proved that football’s long-awaited union was worth the wait. Rivalries were renewed, new ones born, and fans from coast to coast embraced a single championship chase for the first time in modern football history.

PLAYOFFS

After playing an interlocking schedule for the first time, there would be far less mystery surrounding the championship game this year. As it would turn out there would be very little drama in the title game either. However, the road through the playoffs did feature some terrific games.

The opening round of the playoffs proved just a single upset as the Los Angeles Olympians, despite finishing just 6-8 and taking top spot in a decidedly weak NFA West Division, upset the East Division champion 10-4 Atlanta Firebirds 18-16. One of the newcomers to the conference - the Kansas City Cowboys- ended the Miami Mariners four year old on the NFA by scoring 21 fourth quarter points in a 35-16 victory. Reserve running back Steve Littleton had himself quite a game for the Cowboys. Littleton returned the game's opening kick-off 97 yards for a touchdown, and then would score two more in the fourth quarter. The first was a 3 yard pass from Gary Weis and the second on a 6-yard run. Littleton ran for a game high 106 yards as well.

The Cowboys continued their dominant play into the conference final, where they ended the Los Angeles Olympians season with a 26-13 victory. Charlie Evans, the Cowboys starting running back and league Offensive MVP, ran for 79 yards and two scores.

In the AFA the mighty Houston Drillers, who had represented the AFA in the last three championship games and won two of them, had little trouble with the San Francisco Wings in the divisional playoff, coasting to a 30-6 victory. The vaunted Drillers defense sacked Wings quarterbacks - and 3 different Wings attempted at least one throw in the game- seven times. Led by a 126-yard rushing day from John Anderson and four touchdown passes from Pat Roberts, the Washington Wasps tamed the Chicago Wildcats 38-10 in the other opening round game.

The AFA final was a thrilling game that saw Houston take a 20-3 lead midway through the third quarter only to see the Washington Wasps battle back to tie the game. Scott Houle ran for two Washington touchdowns and then with just 9 seconds remaining in regulation, Washington kicker Wilfred Ortiz split the uprights with a game tying field goal.

Houston never touched the ball in overtime as the Wasps opening drive, lasting nearly seven minutes and 12 plays, traversed 77 yards and culminated in a 2 yard touchdown run by Scott Umberger. The 26-20 victory lifted Washington to AFA Super Classic for the first time where they would meet another first time entrant in football's marquee event in the Kansas City Cowboys. As for the pre-NFA days, the Wasps owned two AFA titles won back to back in 1957 and 1958 while the Cowboys were AFA champions in 1950 and prior to that won three of the four league titles in the short-lived Continental Football Conference, that sprang up in 1949.

AFA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIC GAME

There was plenty of excitement as the Washington Wasps looked to build on the success of an overtime upset of Houston -which had the best regular season record in the AFA- a week ago, but the Wasps certainly met their match in the Kansas City Cowboys, who at 12-2 owned the second best regular season mark this year. Counted in the 12 Kansas City victories was a 34-17 victory over the Wasps in mid-November.

There was plenty of build up but the game seemed pretty much decided just two and a half minutes in. That is all the time it took for the Cowboys to score the first of their six touchdowns on the afternoon as they rolled to a 51-0 victory in the biggest blow in AFA playoff history. You have to go back to 1945 when the Boston Americans blasted the Detroit Dynamos 56-24 to find a championship game anywhere close to as uneven as the 1970 contest ended up.

Kansas City quarterback Gary Weis connected with wide receiver Al Blackburn on a 16-yard touchdown pass at the 2:17 mark of the opening quarter. Washington's first play from scrimmage followed and it was the start of an awful day for Wasps quarterback Pat Roberts. Roberts opening pass was intercepted by Cowboys safety Albert Spencer who returned it 22 yards for a score to make it 14-0. It would be the first of two interceptions by Spencer, each of which he returned for a score. In all Roberts, would be picked off three times and compete just 8 of 24 attempts.

The Cowboys led 34-0 at the break and the second half turned into a celebration as Kansas City won its first football title in twenty years.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIC RESULTS
YEAR ---- RESULT
1970 Kansas City 51 Washington 0
1989 Houston 20 Miami 10
1968 Miami 9 Houston 7
1967 Houston 44 Miami 14
1966 Pittsburgh 23 Miami 20 (OT)
1965 Boston 17 New York Titans 3
1964 St Louis 27 Minnesota 3

FIGHTING SAINTS CONTROVERISAL TITLE WINNER
10-2 St Blane Tabbed Over Trio of 11-1 Teams

Sometimes life just isn't fair. You can't blame CC Los Angeles Coyotes head football coach and former AFA receiving legend Tom Bowens from feeling that way today. Bowens had led the 11-1 Coyotes to their best season since the unbeaten 1947 CCLA team went 8-0-1 and they had won their first Classic Game in 13 years with a thrilling come from behind 30-27 victory over 9-3 College of Omaha in the Bayside Classic. The entire Coyotes club celebrated like they had won the National Title, and perhaps they should have but a couple of days later they found out that the voters had selected 10-2 St Blane number one and CC Los Angeles finished second. It was the highest the Coyotes had ever finished in the rankings but it still felt like defeat.

St Blane is national champion for the fourth time in school history and the second time in four years and they looked very good in beating Southern Border Association champion El Paso Methodist 33-13 on New Years Day in the Desert Classic. Still it was game everyone expected the Saints to win as the Bandits were only 6-6 on the year and many were quite surprised that the Fighting Saints ended up in Arizona instead of one of the bigger New Years ballgames.

St Blane had a strong season, led by a talented senior quarterback Gary Wayne, who finally got his chance to start after three years on the bench and made the most of his opportunity, leading the nation in passing yards and being selected to the TWIFS All-American team. Still, the Fighting Saints had lost twice during the season to finish at 10-2, and what irked Bowens and the Coyotes the most was the fact that one of the two St Blane defeats was at the hands of the same College of Omaha team that the Coyotes beat in Tampa on January 1st.

"We can still hold our heads high," said Bowens. "This group played their tails off and while we would love a chance to prove it on the field against St. Blane, the truth is we only have ourselves to blame for not ending up number 1."

Bowens was referring to the only loss they Coyotes suffered all season. It came on the opening weekend of the season and was a 34-10 beating administered by reigning West Coast Athletic Association champion Rainier College. It would be the only loss the Coyotes would suffer all year but, as it turned out, it cost them a national championship and what could have been their first appearance in the East-West Classic since 1954. The Majestics would finish tied with the Coyotes in section play with a 6-1 record after they fell to Portland Tech in late October but the win over CCLA gave them the conference title and the East-West Classic berth on a tiebreaker. Rainier College also lost an early season game to Indiana A&M and their 10-2 record left them third in the final poll.

CC Los Angeles was not the only 11-1 school that felt it had a claim on the national crown. College of San Diego and Commonwealth Catholic each also played on New Years Day. The Friars beat a pretty strong Minnesota Tech squad 21-15 in the Lone Star Classic but in truth their schedule was simply not strong enough to warrant consideration for the number one spot and College of San Diego ended up fourth in the final rankings. Their loss came to a rejuvenated Annapolis Maritime team that at 9-2 finished 7th in the rankings for the Navigators best showing since their 1961 squad went 10-0 and ended up second behind Maryland State in the polls.

Commonwealth Catholic would have had quite the case for number one had the Knights not come up on the short end of a 24-10 result against Lawrence State in the Sunshine Classic. Up to that point Commonwealth Catholic was the only unbeaten school at 10-0, although their schedule was quite light with only Garden State being a ranked opponent. Had the Knights defeated Lawrence State, they quite likely would have been celebrating their first college football national title.

Instead it is St Blane that unapologetically tops the polls. Quarterback Wayne pointed out that the Saints played one of the toughest schedules in the nation and that their two losses were by a combined total of four points and each came on the road against a ranked opponent. College of Omaha scored a last minute touchdown to nip the Saints 24-23 in early October while the other loss came in the final week of October in Atlanta against Georgia Baptist, which finished 7-4 and ranked 15th in what was clearly a down season for the perennially contending Gators. That one needed overtime with the Gators prevailing 41-38. St. Blane's victory included wins over 7th ranked Annapolis Maritime, 5th Charleston Tech as well as a 7-4 Rome State team and an 8-3 Chesapeake State.

*** WCAA Finally Gets a Win in Santa Ana ***

The Majestics resounding 34-7 victory over Central Ohio in the East-West Classic finally gave the West Coast Athletic Association something to crow about. Entering the annual game between the champs of the WCAA and the Great Lakes Alliance, the WCAA representative had lost seven straight games including a pair of wins for the Aviators.

This one saw the Majestics make a statement as they outgained the Aviators 375-153 yards of total offense, built a 17-0 lead at the half and did not let up. John Velaz, the Rainier College senior who was among the top halfbacks in the nation, ran for a game high 156 yards in his final collegiate game and the vaunted Central Ohio defense simply could not contain him.

The fact that CC Los Angeles rallied with 10 points in the final 2:36 to beat College of Omaha 30-27 in the Bayside Classic was another feather in the cap of a conference that has not enjoyed a lot of success the past decade. The WCAA has not had a school finish in the top five of the final rankings since Coastal California did it in 1963, so to have two of them do it is something that has only happened once before since 1949. It is also nice to see Tom Bowens' Coyotes have a big year, something that has not happened much in the past 15 years. They only seasons with more than 7 victories for CCLA since 1950 are the 9-2 campaign in 1959 and the 9-3 showing two years ago.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES

The College Football Association named El Paso Methodist junior Cal Matlock its quarterback of the year but he finished second in the first TWIFS All-American team selection process. We went with the man who engineered the victory over Matlock's Bandits in the Desert Classic. That would be St. Blane senior quarterback Gary Wayne, who seems a good bet to be playing on Sunday's in the future.
Another TWIFS All-American selection, Bulein wideout Allan Hicks, set a modern college record for catches in a season with 72 and receiving yards with 1,047. The sophomore also tied for Liberty end John Swanson's record of 14 touchdown grabs.
The latest Barrell family connection is close to starting his college football career. Bill McCarver is the son of Jack and Marty McCarver. Marty is the daughter of Detroit Maroons owner Rollie Barrell. Rollie's grandson is playing close to home as he is a five-star recruit who committed to Detroit City College but was redshirted for his freshman year. The youngster played linebacker in high school but is listed as a strong safety by the Knights.
It's no where near the 7 years that Baton Rouge State went without a victory between 1960 and 1966 but Abilene Baptist went 0-11 in 1970. It marked the third time in the past four years the Chaparrals failed to win a game. The are 1-43 in that span.
It was an unusual season in the Deep South and marked the first time the conference did not have at least one school finish in the top ten since 1943. Western Florida, 8-4 and ranked 13th, was the co-conference champ along with Northern Mississippi and its highest ranked school.
Central Ohio made its 9th appearance in the East-West Classic, most among Great Lakes Alliance Schools. Coastal California and Northern Cal, with 12 each, led in Santa Ana New Year's appearances. Rainier College, which grounded the Aviators 34-7, was making its seventh trip to the big game. It was a rematch of the 1950 East-West Classic, one in which the Majestics also triumphed, in this case by a 27-23 score. Central Ohio is 3-6 all-time in Santa Ana, while Rainier College improves to 4-3 with the victory. The Northern California Miners lead with 8 East-West Classic victories including a record 4 straight from 1957-60.

HIGH HOPES FOR HEAVYWEIGHTS

For the first time in years, there’s real excitement again in boxing’s marquee division. The heavyweights — long adrift without a superstar to capture the public’s imagination — may finally be headed for a revival.

Not since the glory days of Hector “The Cajun Crusher” Sawyer, who ruled the 1940s with an iron fist, has the division produced a figure who transcended the sport. And in the decade since Joey Tierney’s reign ended in ’68, the spotlight has shifted to the middleweights, where Lyman King and George Quisenberry kept fans buzzing. But as the calendar turns to 1971, the pendulum appears to be swinging back to the big men — thanks to a new wave of talent that promises a golden era for the heavies.

Dave Courtney, former champion and now the sharp-tongued voice of CBS boxing, calls it “the best group of young heavyweights since Sawyer’s day.” That trio — or perhaps quartet — began to emerge in earnest during 1970.

Leading the pack is Tony Rocco, the New Haven dockworker’s son who rose from Golden Gloves champion to world titleholder before his 25th birthday. Rocco extended his unbeaten streak to 20–0–2 in February, capturing the ABF heavyweight crown with a decision over veteran Elvin Caldwell.

Rocco’s title run was short but electric. In June, he met Toledo’s Luther Gaines — the 1964 Olympic gold medalist — in what many now call one of the greatest fights ever staged at New York's Bigsby Garden. For fifteen rounds the two traded everything in the book, neither giving an inch. Gaines floored Rocco with a right hand in the tenth, but the champ survived and finished strong, taking a razor-thin unanimous decision on all three cards.

Four months later, Rocco ran into an old nemesis — Brooklyn’s Pete Vassar, his rival from the amateur days. Under the neon of Las Vegas, Vassar came on strong in the later rounds to wrest the title from Rocco, winning a clear decision that set the division ablaze.

Vassar didn’t rest on his laurels. Eager to prove he was no one-fight wonder, he granted Gaines an immediate rematch for the title. Their December bout delivered another fifteen-round thriller, with Vassar edging Gaines once again by narrow unanimous verdict — three points on one card, two on the others.

Lurking just behind the trio is Newark’s Vic Carbone, the quiet craftsman of the group. At 26, two years older than the others, Carbone lacks flash but makes up for it in patience and precision. His grinding, late-round style has earned him a 21–1 record and a reputation as the man no one wants to fight. Though he fell short in his 1969 title bid against Ben Brumfield, few doubt he’ll get another shot soon — and next time, he may be ready.

With Rocco, Gaines, Vassar, and Carbone all rising at once, the heavyweight division hasn’t looked this lively in a generation. For boxing fans who’ve longed for drama, rivalries, and true star power at the top, 1970 may be remembered as the year the big men came roaring back.

ZIMMERMAN AND HELVESTON REMAIN ON TOP

While the heavyweights stole the headlines, the other divisions held steady in 1970.

Middleweight king Horace Zimmerman of Bakersfield, California, continued his steady reign, turning back all challengers. Zimmerman, who took the title from an aging Lyman King in late ’68, survived a close call in April when he was held to a majority draw by Kurt Wagoner. He silenced any doubts three months later, outpointing Wagoner convincingly in their July rematch — his sixth successful defense.

In the welterweight ranks, Chicago’s George Helveston remains firmly atop the mountain. After taking the crown from Brandon Dart last December, Helveston defended it three times in 1970, each time with the crisp, methodical style that has made him the most efficient champion in the lighter classes.

As the new decade dawns, the ABF finds itself in rare territory — stable at the lower weights, and suddenly wide open at the top. And if the promise of 1970 is any indication, the 1970s may well belong to the heavyweights once again.

The Year That Was
Current events from 1970

January 1 - The new decade begins with growing unrest as across North America, the 1970s open amid political division, antiwar sentiment, and social upheaval carried over from the turbulent ’60s.
February 18- Chicago Seven verdict. Five antiwar activists are convicted of inciting riots during the 1968 Democratic Convention but acquitted of conspiracy; the verdict later overturned on appeal.
March 5 – Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty takes effect. The U.S., U.K., Soviet Union, and dozens of other nations ratify the treaty aimed at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons.
April 1 – 1970 U.S. Census begins and when completed it marks a population topping 200 million for the first time, reflecting the postwar baby boom.
April 10 – Paul McCartney announces Beatles’ breakup, confirming his departure which signals the end of the most influential band of the decade.
April 22– First Earth Day. Millions of Americans participate in rallies, teach-ins, and cleanup efforts nationwide, launching the modern environmental movement.
April 29 -President Nixon announces the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia, triggering intense protests at home and abroad.
May 4 – National Guard troops fire on protesting students at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four and wounding nine. The tragedy becomes a defining symbol of the national divide over the war.
May 9 – Hard Hat Riot in New York City as construction workers attack antiwar demonstrators, revealing a widening cultural and generational split in America.
June 24 – Canada passes the Official Languages Act, a bilingual policy introduced in 1969 begins formal implementation, reshaping government communication and national identity.
August 26–30 – On the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, tens of thousands of women march in U.S. cities demanding equal rights, pay, and opportunities.
September 6–12 – “Black September” hijackings as Palestinian militants hijack multiple airliners and destroy them in Jordan, drawing global attention to the escalating Middle East conflict.
October 5–16 – Crisis in Canada. The Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnaps British diplomat James Cross and Quebec minister Pierre Laporte (later murdered). Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act — the first use of peacetime martial law in Canadian history.
November 12 - Torrential rains cause deadly flooding and destruction in Southern California, killing more than 140 people.
December 15 – Venera 7 lands on Venus. The Soviet probe becomes the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet.
December 31 – Nixon signs Clean Air Act. The landmark environmental law establishes national air quality standards, capping a year defined by protest, reform, and generational change.

Sevsdast · Today, 04:08 PM

Do you use AI to generate stuff like faces and logos? If that's the case... I would recommend not using it, but you all do you.

10-07-2025, 11:55 AM	#1141
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,779	1967 Football and Boxing recap JANUARY 2, 1968 NEW ORLEANS RETURNS TO AFA Grid Loop Expands to 25 Teams The American Football Association continued its recent trend of expansion with the addition of a sixteenth team. That, combined with the nine clubs in the National Football Association boosts the total of pro grid outfits to 25. The 25th entry is a familiar one to old time AFA fans as it marks the return of the New Orleans, complete with the same nickname. The old New Orleans Crescents were born as a member of the short-lived Continental Football Conference with the Crescents, along with the Kansas City Cowboys and San Francisco Wings, being the three teams that survived and moved over to the AFA when the Continental loop folded up shop following the 1949 campaign. The Crescents previous stay in the AFA was a brief one as the club, after going 0-11-1 in 1950, folded up operations and disappeared, until the return of the Crescents in 1967. The Crescents have no ties to the old CFC club aside from the nickname. They have a new stadium, which could house a big league baseball team as well, called Pontchartrain Park and has a capacity of 58,000. The owner is Jean-Baptiste "J.B." Marchand, who made his fortune in the shipping industry, and is heavily invested in the future of his city. Unlike the 1950 edition, the new Crescents did finally get New Orleans its first AFA victory, although it took until their 7th game and the club finished with a 3-11 record, good for last place in their division. Speaking of divisions, the AFA did change to four divisions of four teams each with the addition of the Crescents but after much debate the playoff system was left the same so that only two of the four division winners would qualify for the post-season. That is likely to change going forward, in fact there are rumblings that the AFA and NFA will completely restructure their divisions and play an interlocking schedule. Up and including 1967 the only time a team would face an opponent from the other league is in the League Championship Classic Game. The two playoff clubs to come out of the AFA in 1967 were the Houston Drillers and the Washington Wasps. Each boosted identical 10-3-1 records and they nosed out the Los Angeles Tigers for the semi-final berths. The Wasps strength was their passing game led by quarterback Pat Roberts (2549 yds, 16 TD) and second year wideout Dave Fitch (45 catches, 7 TDs). The Houston Drillers defense was not quite as imposing as it had been in previous years but still had plenty of talent led by veteran lineman John Padgett, linebacker Jim Griffin and safety John Wickman while 30-year-old Miller Bogert (1,706 passing yards, 11 TD's) continued to be the heart of the Drillers offense. The four-team playoff left the Kansas City Cowboys on the outside looking in despite the fact the Cowboys finished 10-4, marking their best season since 1951. In the National Football Association the Miami Mariners made the playoffs for the third time in the loop's four years of existence. The Mariners lost their season opener in Denver but then reeled off 13 consecutive victories. There was a clear disparity between divisions in the NFA as four of the five teams in the East Division finished with a better record than the club that won the West. That would be the Los Angeles Olympians, who made the playoffs despite their 7-7 record. Eldon McGoldrick of the New York Titans was named the Most Valuable Player after the 8th year pro out of Richmond State ran for 1,403 yards and had another 312 yards receiving. It was the second league MVP win for the halfback who was also named Offensive Player of the Year last season. This year the Offensive Player of the Year was Denver running back Mark Adams while the Defensive Player of the Year was Houston linebacker Jim Griffin. PLAYOFFS Miami and the Los Angeles Olympians met in the NFA playoff game, marking a rematch for their September meeting on the west coast that saw the visiting Mariners win rather easily by a 45-27 score. Miami, which reached the championship game a year ago, was a heavy favourite but the Los Angeles defense, led by lineman Bobby Powell, kept the score close. The only touchdown came in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Miami back Ronny Pfister as the Mariners won a defensive struggle by a 16-3 score. Through a quirk in scheduling and the fact they have never been in the same division the Houston Drillers and Washington Wasps were meeting for the first time. The Drillers, now in their seventh season, reached the championship game for the second time in their short existence with a 31-20 victory over the Wasps. Miller Bogert threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns while Keith Gladfelter, normally a reserve back, ran for a career best 130 yards to lead the Drillers attack. AFA-NFA CLASSIC GAME Houston and Miami were each making their second appearance in the AFA-NFA Classic and both were looking for their first win. The Drillers had reached the title tilt in 1965 but fell to the Boston Americans while the Mariners qualified a year ago but lost a heartbreaker in overtime to the Pittsburgh Paladins. Houston set the tone for the game on their first possession as Bogert guided the Drillers on an 11 play scoring drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock and culminated in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Bogert to Dan Hackbarth. A turnover deep in Houston territory allowed the Mariners to stay even with a 1-yard Don Eisenman touchdown run and the game stayed tight until late in the second quarter when the Drillers began to pull away. Miami was down just 3 points midway through the second period but the Drillers scored 27 unanswered points to cruise to a 44-14 victory. The win made the Houston Drillers the first of the post-1960 expansion clubs to win an AFA-NFA Classic Game. AFA NOTES Quarterback Jim Rizzi became the first player in modern AFA history to throw for more than 15,000 career yards. The 35-year-old, who moved from Denver to San Diego this season but also had stops in Cleveland and Buffalo, entered the season about 100 yards shy of the mark and threw for 1,553 for the Admirals this season. Rizzi also has thrown 9 touchdown passes as he chases former Washington quarterback Tommy Norwood, who threw 110, for the lead in that category. Boston halfback Kevin Sova also crossed the 15,000 mark but in career rushing yardage. Sova topped the 1,000 yard mark for the 8th time in his career, one that has been spent entirely with the Boston Americans. Sova is the modern-era (post 1950) career rushing leader. Bobby Barrell Jr. had another fine season as the Kansas City Cowboys defensive end finished third in the AFA with 9 sacks. The son of the former FABL slugger was in his second pro season after playing his college ball at Coastal State. Six quarterbacks were selected in the first round of the draft including Dwayne Hathaway, who had guided St. Blane to a perfect season and a national title as a senior. Hathaway was selected 7th by the New York Stars but spent the season as a backup behind Jack Osterman. The AFA won the annual All-Star Classic, beating the stars of the NFA 17-10. A pair of Washington Wasps combined on the game winning touchdown, a 39-yard pass from Pat Roberts to Dave Fitch. CUMBERLAND PUTS DEEP SOUTH BACK ON TOP Explorers Perfect Season Leads to Third National Grid Title Over the past couple of decades the elite teams from the Deep South Conference, and there are many, have established their conference to be the best section in collegiate football. Georgia Baptist, Noble Jones College, Bayou State, Central Kentucky and Cumberland have each been named number one over that time as Deep South schools were ranked number one in 10 of the past 22 years including a string of five straight in the late 1950s. There had been a three year drought, although Northern Mississippi finished second a year ago and Georgia Baptist ended up ranked third in 1964 but that drought came to an end as the Cumberland Explorers had a perfect 12-0 campaign to win their third National Title in the past 17 years. Led by the best defense against the run in the sport, the Explorers ran the table but had a few close calls along the way. The biggest challenge came in their regular season finale against Central Kentucky with a James O'Donnell 67-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter providing the margin of victory in a 14-7 win over the Tigers. They also needed a big fourth quarter to defeat a much improved Baton Rouge State club 17-10. The Red Devils finished just 3-8 but that was a huge gain for a school that had entered the season with an 0-73 record over the past seven years and had been on the verge of being dropped by the Deep South. As for Cumberland, led by O'Donnell's 1,473 yards rushing they were the class of the conference. The schedule-maker helped as they faced both Georgia Baptist and Noble Jones College at home and handily won each game from the pair of schools that finished tied for second in the Deep South and at 9-3 overall. The Oilman Classic game marked the 10th time that Cumberland played on New Year's Day and they did not disappoint, running their post-season record to 7-3 with a 16-0 victory over Southwestern Alliance champion Amarillo Methodist. O'Donnell, a senior halfback out of Bradford, TN., was once again the offensive catalyst, rushing for 152 yards in a game that was scoreless for the first 41 minutes. * Presidents Settle For Second * The Cumberland win in Dallas meant that the best the Lincoln Presidents could do was finish second in the final polls. Only an overtime loss to St. Ignatius prevented the Great Lakes Alliance champs from a perfect season of their own. Lincoln closed out its season with a 30-20 victory over West Coast Athletic Association winner Coastal California in the East-West Classic. The second place ranking was the highest finish ever for the Presidents and their first top ten appearance since finishing sixth in 1958. Another Great Lakes Alliance school ended up third in the polls as the Wisconsin State Brewers finished in the top ten for the first time since the 1930s. The Brewers lost on the road to both Lincoln and Minnesota Tech early in the season to drop to 1-2, before reeling off 9 straight wins including a 41-24 victory over Canyon A&M in the Desert Classic. Two other 10-2 schools rounded out the top five in Eastern Kansas and Charleston Tech. The Warriors led the way in the Plains Athletic Association before ending College of San Diego's bid for a perfect season with a 36-21 win over the Friars in the Sunshine Classic. College of San Diego finished 6th in the rankings. Charleston Tech was the winner of the South Atlantic Conference and rallied with 10 points in the final seven minutes to upset Georgia Baptist 20-17 in the Cajun Classic. COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES Ken Barnette of Central Ohio was named the Defensive Player of the Year, a new award introduced for the first time in 1966. The Aviators sophomore defense end set a new single season record for sacks with 13, topping the mark held by another Aviator, Larry Parker, who had 11 as a senior in 1964. Barnette's also smashed the single game sack record, which had been five, with a showing against Utah A&M in October that may never be duplicated. He sacked Aggies quarterback Charles Ellison an astonishing 9 times in the game. Senior quarterback William Scott of Coastal California set a new AIAA record for pass completions with 142 in 1967. Scott completed 64.8% of his pass attempts in guiding the Dolphins to a West Coast Athletic Association title. His 1,572 passing yards was the second highest single season total ever record, trailing only the 1,590 thrown by former Wisconsin State signal caller Paul Scothorn. The top rusher this season Peter Lynch, a senior at Alexandria. Lynch ran for 1,909 yards on the season. The Generals finished 8-3. Lunch was named the Christian Trophy winner and also an All-American. St. Blane, which won the national title a year ago with a perfect 12-0 record, got off to a 4-0 start this season despite losing much of its offense to graduation. The Fighting Saints then endured a four game losing streak and had to settle for a 6-5 season. Other schools to join this year's edition of the Cumberland Explorers and last season's St. Blane Fighting Saints with perfect seasons and a national title win over the past decade include the 1963 and 1960 Georgia Baptist Gators, 1962 Lubbock State Hawks and both the 1958 and 1957 Noble Jones Colonels. TURNOVER AT TOP OF ALL THREE DIVISIONS All three of the marquee American Boxing Federation divisions saw a change at the top as each of the pugilists who held the world title entering 1967 failed to close out the season still on top. The first to fall was heavyweight Norm Robinson who had an awful night at New York's Bigsby Garden on March 4 as he was making his 7th defense since winning the belt nearly three years ago. Will Flowers, a 28-year-old brawler out of Phoenix, AZ., caught the champ with a huge cross early in the second round. It was a punch that likely would have ended the night for most fighters, but Robinson gamely struggled back to his feet and narrowly beat the count from referee Johnny Addie. Robinson would be sent to the canvas again in the sixth and eighth rounds but somehow survived although the challenger had won each of the first nine rounds handily and was well ahead on all scorecards. Robinson would go the distance but be credited only with winning the 10th round and at the end of 15 Flowers would have a decisive victory with the judges on average scoring the bout 148-134. Flowers would fight twice more in 1967, earning TKO wins over Charlie White and Harry Rankin, who is now 0-for-3 in title shots. A few weeks later welterweight champion Mark Nock would suffer a similar fate, losing a decision -although this one was much closer than Robinson's loss- to fellow Englishman Anthony Warwick. The 36-year-old Warwick is an interesting champion as he went 12 years without fighting before reentering the sport in 1964. He made his debut as an 18-year-old in 1949 and was 12-1 when he quit the sport to take a factory job and play semi-pro soccer. In 1964, at the age of 32 he returned to the ring and has not lost since resuming his career. He knocked out Nock to claim the title and scored a split-decision over Italian champ Carl Rondinelli before knocking out former champion Matt Leach in December. Finally it was middleweight Lyman King who's latest reign at the top of his division came to an end in December. King has held and lost the title three times now after the Seattle fighter was outpointed by Charlie Kincaid in Las Vegas. It is the 24-year-old Kincaid's second turn at the top of the middleweight division as he briefly held the belt a little less than two years ago when he beat George Quisenberry but lost to Guy Williams in his first defense. The Year That Was Current events from 1967 January 8–26 – Operation Cedar Falls, the largest ground operation of the war to date, as U.S. forces clear out the “Iron Triangle” near Saigon, highlighting the escalation of American involvement. January 23 – U.S. ratifies 25th Amendment which clarifies presidential succession and procedures for dealing with presidential disability, a key concern after JFK’s assassination. January 27 – Apollo 1 Tragedy. During a launch pad test at Cape Kennedy, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee are killed in a cabin fire. It’s NASA’s first fatal accident and leads to major safety overhauls in the Apollo program. April 23–24, 1967 – Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov becomes the first person to die during a spaceflight when Soyuz 1 crashes upon reentry due to parachute failure. It’s a devastating setback for the USSR’s space program. June 5–10 – Six-Day War as Israel launches a preemptive strike against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, capturing the Sinai, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights, reshaping Middle East geopolitics. June 12 – The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down laws banning interracial marriage, a landmark civil rights decision. June 17, – China tests first hydrogen bomb, escalating Cold War nuclear tensions. July 23–27 – Detroit Riot. One of the most destructive urban riots in U.S. history erupts in Detroit, leaving 43 dead and thousands injured, highlighting racial tensions. September 29 -President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly pledges not to withdraw from Vietnam, reasserting America’s commitment despite rising protests at home. October 2 – Thurgood Marshall is sworn in and becomes the first African American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, a historic civil rights milestone. October 9 – Che Guevara executed as the revolutionary leader is captured and killed in Bolivia with CIA assistance, ending his global guerrilla campaign. October 21– March on the Pentagon as over 100,000 anti-Vietnam War demonstrators rally in Washington, D.C., in one of the largest protests of the decade. November 3–22– Battle of Dak To takes place as heavy fighting in the Central Highlands results in major casualties on both sides, including the costly assault on Hill 875, intensifying debate in the U.S. about the war’s direction. December 3- South African surgeon Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant, marking a milestone in medical history. December 23 – A suspension bridge between Ohio and West Virginia collapses, killing 46 people, shocking the nation and leading to major infrastructure reforms. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

10-10-2025, 10:00 AM	#1143
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,779	1967-68 hockey and basketball recaps MAY 2, 1968 NAHC EXPANDS TO 12 TEAMS Six New Clubs Join Loop The theme for the 1960's and professional sports has been expansion. In 1960 there were 42 pro teams in the big four sports. Today there are 81. Pro football grew from 12 to 25 clubs. FABL added four teams to swell baseball's ranks to 20 with plans for four more to arrive next year. Basketball went from an eight team league just two years ago to now 24 teams with addition of four expansion clubs along with a new 12 team cage loop. The NAHC had heard plenty of rumblings of a new ice league being considered but, unlike basketball, the hockey loop quickly took steps to head off their would be rivals by doubling the league in size and placing teams in three cities- Los Angeles, Vancouver and Philadelphia- that were at the forefront for any potential expansion loop. As a result just a few months after the Detroit Motors hoisted the Challenge Cup last May, the NAHC has doubled in size with the addition of the Los Angeles Stingrays, Minneapolis Norsemen, Philadelphia Rogues, St. Louis Sawyers, San Francisco Gulls and Vancouver Totems. The six newcomers would build their teams around NAHC castoffs, veteran minor leaguers and unproven youngsters and would pale in comparison to the quality of play exhibited by the original six clubs. The six expansion teams were placed in their own West Division to manage the significant competitive imbalance between the new, inexperienced teams and the established original teams. This separation allowed the expansion teams to play each other more frequently, (10 games vs each divisional opponent with just 4 against teams in the other division) offering a dedicated playoff path and a protected environment for the nascent franchises as they developed, a strategy that had been proposed to address concerns about the new teams' quality and to secure a more attractive national television contract. There was some dissent among the established club owners over the initial plan to allow four teams from each division to make the playoffs. The original club's correctly assumed that there was a strong chance that all six of them could finish with more points than anyone in the West Division and it was unfair to admit teams with losing records to the playoffs so a compromise was reached for this year only, with plans to re-evaluate it in the summer. For 1967-68 at least, the playoffs would remain at four teams with the two first place clubs being joined by the two wildcard teams with the next highest point totals. * Dueck Leads Record Setting Vals * The established clubs that compromised the East Division certainly did dominate, especially the Montreal Valiants who set a new NAHC record for victories (53) and points (116) in a season. Not only was the team points record shattered but so was the individual scoring marks as Scott Dueck of the Valiants became the first player in league history to score 50 goals in a season while also being first to top the century mark in points with 116. Detroit's Hobie Barrell also surpassed the old single season points record with 104 of his own, including 47 goals. For Montreal, this marked the fourth consecutive year they finished with the best regular season record in the NAHC. The Valiants had plenty of offense, as only Detroit scored more often, but once more Montreal's strength was it's ability to keep the puck out of its own net. Nathan Bannister (53-11-8, 1.98) shattered his own record for victories in a season and his 11 shutouts were one shy of the league record, which he also owns. Bannister collected his sixth Juneau Trophy for his efforts between the pipes, but credit must also go to blueline stalwarts Mark Moggy (15-53-68) and Gil Thibault (20-22-42) who once again comprised the D-pairing on the first all-star team while Moggy earned his fifth Dewar Trophy as the loop's top rearguard. Detroit could match Montreal's offensive output with the trio of Hobie Barrell (47-57-104), Charles Bozek (36-63-99) and Andrew Williams (31-46-77) leading the way. Bozek set a new NAHC single season assist record and the Motors really got hot in the second half of the season after a December deal with Toronto brought Williams to the Motor City. Detroit lost goaltender Justin MacPhee (29-22-6, 2.36) to Vancouver in the expansion draft but found the perfect replacement in Ty Monahan (24-8-3, 2.19), a 30-year-old rookie who had bounced around the minors for the past decade. The Motors had the league's best record over the final two months of the season and seemed to be peaking heading into the playoffs. The Chicago Packers held off an improved New York Shamrocks club for third place in the East and what would be the final playoff berth. Ken York (47-46-93) enjoyed the most productive season of his career for the Packers while the Shamrocks, despite missing the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season, are optimistic about the future after 24-year-old center Milt Young (46-33-79) enjoyed a breakout season and gives the team a rising star to join winger Alex Kalmakoff (18-47-65), who was named to the all-star team for the fourth time in his career. Both Boston and Toronto made coaching changes prior to the season but neither made the playoffs. For the Bees it was the first time in five years they did not qualify for the post-season while the Dukes have now missed the playoffs four of the past five years. Veteran Neil Wilson (23-46-69) was again the offensive leader in Boston with newcomer Patrick MacDonald (19-36-55), who was named the loop's top rookie, was also a pleasant surprise. The Dukes season was derailed when Quinton Pollack (17-28-45) blew out his knee in early January, limiting the all-time scoring king to just 35 games and fueling speculation that, at age 45, the injury may have ended his career. Pollack, who was still recovering in May, has remained silent on his plans for next season. * Vancouver Class of West Division * It became clear very early that only the first place team from the West would qualify for the playoffs and that turned out to be the Vancouver Totems, a team coached by former NAHC star and the son of one of the sports founders in Doug Yeadon. Coach Yeadon and his Totems lost their NAHC debut, falling 4-1 to Montreal in the first-ever meeting between an expansion club and one of the original six teams, but they collected 13 points from their first 11 games and jumped out to an early lead in the West Division and never relinquished it. At 6-15-3, the Totems ended up with the best record against established teams out of the six new clubs. Vancouver, with 80 points, was the only new team to finish ahead of any of the original six clubs from the East Division. Justin MacPhee, who won Challenge Cups with both Toronto and Detroit, provided a steady hand in the Vancouver net to help the Totems become the only West Division club to finish above .500. Another former Cup winner, Roy Forgeron (19-43-62), was selected from Montreal and he along with journeyman Dutch Obernesser (17-46-63), who spent some time with Toronto, led the Totems offense. The Los Angeles Stingrays finished second, 15 points behind the Totems and they, like Vancouver, relied on a former Toronto goaltender to carry the club. That would be Mike Connelly (27-32-10, 2.75), who won a Juneau Trophy three years ago. There was little in the way of offense for most of the new clubs and Los Angeles was no exception with Bruce Eskes (13-34-47) and Cody Walsh (20-26-46) topping the squad in scoring. Eskes was a former Toronto Duke while Walsh had a couple of stints with the Detroit Motors. Jack Littlechief (14-38-52) was a former junior league Most Valuable Player but deemed too slow by NAHC standards and was overlooked in the amateur draft which meant the 26-year-old spent six years in the Great Western League before joining the San Francisco Gulls this season. Littlechief must have done something right as he led the Gulls in scoring but the club struggled at both ends of the ice. Brooks Lochead (8-15-23) may be the Gulls best player, a steady stay-at-home defenseman who previously spent four seasons on the Detroit Motors blueline. The St. Louis Sawyers finished fourth, led by former Montreal Valiants Matt Mercier (23-38-51) and Alex Bates (15-33-48). St Louis did earn the distinction of being the first of the new teams to beat an established club after topping Detroit 5-2 in the Motor City on October 22. It was one of the few highlights in what proved to be a long season for each of the newcomers. Al Ferguson (20-36-13, 3.14), another former Valiant, was counted on by the fifth place Minneapolis Norsemen, but the 25-year-old netminder had his struggles. Former Toronto Duke Nicolas Poulin (14-30-44), 22-year-old rookie Bobby Dunstall (17-30-47) and career minor leaguer Larry Boivin (17-34-51) led the Minneapolis offense. Last place belonged to the Philadelphia Rogues, who struggled all over the ice. Sean Kempster (12-17-2, 3.38) and Ben Nachbaur (7-34-2, 4.20) both had NAHC experience as backup goaltenders but neither had much success on a Philadelphia roster loaded with rookies. The best of the newcomers was William Brasseur (15-25-40), a 26-year-old who spent the previous four years in the HAA. NAHC PLAYOFFS Despite finishing in second place the defending Challenge Cup champion Detroit Motors earned the easier of the two semi-final series as the Motors were up against West Division champion Vancouver while the East leading Montreal Valiants were forced to contend with the Chicago Packers. Perhaps overconfidence was a factor as the expansion Vancouver Totems stunned Detroit 4-2 in the series opener behind a pair of goals from Kevin Kelly, a 20-year-old rookie winger. Detroit benched goaltender Ty Monahan after the loss and backup Brock Vandale recorded a 3-0 shutout in game two. The Motors would also win the next three games, with Vandale notching a second clean sheet in game four and moved on to the finals with a four games to one victory. Motors star Hobie Barrell had himself a series, with 8 goals and 4 assists in the five games. The Valiants also won their series in five games with Chicago claiming a 2-0 victory in game two on the road after Montreal had taken the opener by a 4-1 count. Regular season scoring champ Scott Dueck was held in check by the Packers early in the series but he erupted for four points in the final two games to lead Montreal to the finals for the fourth time in the past five years. * Familiar Foes in Finals * Montreal and Detroit had faced each other in the Challenge Cup Finals four times in the past decade with Detroit winning three of them including last season. Detroit would not be at full strength for the series as Benny Barrell (11-35-46), Detroit's second line center, was still sidelined with a torn muscle that limited him to 58 games during the regular season. Detroit's starting goaltender during the regular season, Ty Monahan, would also not play in the series but that was a coach's decision as he had been benched in favour of Brock Vandale after the opening loss to Vancouver. Montreal had dominated the regular season series between the two foes, winning seven while losing just three times. That trend continued as the Valiants took the series opener 3-2 on home ice thanks to a Tim Bernard overtime goal. Detroit had led 2-1 entering the third period but Montreal, which outshot the Motors 49-25 on the night, was all over Detroit in the third and were rewarded when Maxime Lauzon scored the equalizer midway through the frame. Game two was another tight battle and once more Montreal outshot Detroit and prevailed by a 4-3 score. Scott Dueck scored his third goal of the playoffs but the real hero for the Valiants was Brooks Ivey, a 27-year-old rookie winger who set up three of the Montreal goals. The series shifted to Detroit and despite Hobie Barrell scoring his league leading 10th of the playoffs the Motors came up short. This one was by a 4-2 score as Montreal exploded for 4 goals in the final 18 minutes to take a 3 games to none lead in the series. Two nights later the sweep would be complete as after Hobie Barrell gave Detroit the early lead the Valiants scored three times including a pair from Scott Dueck in the final 2 minutes of the game to give Montreal a 3-1 victory and the Valiants could lay claim to their 8th Challenge Cup. Only Toronto with 12 and Boston with 9 have won hockey's famous chalice more often than Montreal. Hobie Barrell would lead the playoffs with 16 points but the David Welcombe Trophy as post-season MVP would go to Scott Dueck, denying Barrell a chance to win the award in back to back years. RIVAL CAGE LOOP FORMED FBL Expands Again Amidst Debut of Continental League For the first time since 1948 when it forced the American Basketball Conference to close, the Federal Basketball League has competition in the pro game. Hastily arranged last summer the rival pro loop, dubbed the Continental Basketball League, quickly set up shop in the fall and featured 12 teams. Just three short years ago there were only eight professional basketball teams. The 1967-68 season saw those numbers swell to 24 teams with the Federal Basketball League adding newcomers Atlanta and Seattle to join the pair of west coast teams in the Los Angeles Condors and San Francisco Miners that arrived over the past two years. The new Continental League matched the FBL's footprint in its initial season with a dozen teams of its own. The new loop raided the existing Federal League for a number of its stars but when the dust settled the championship title belonged to the Boston Centurions for the second consecutive season and third time in the past six years. Like most FBL teams, the Centurions lost a pair of key players in Johnny Bumgardner and Frank Black to the new loop, but they had more than enough depth to withstand the defections. Veteran Steve Barrell was once more the club leader and the 32-year-old let the FBL in assists for the first time in his career while also winning his third playoff MVP award. Boston finished second in the East Division during the regular season as the Washington Statesmen rolled through a dominant 64-18 season. Losing players to the new league opened the door for others and one who took advantage was Washington forward Norm Bennett. The fourth year pro out of Carolina Poly finally got a chance to start and made the most of by leading the Statesmen in scoring. With the addition of two new clubs in the Atlanta Vipers and Seattle Emeralds -each of whom finished last in their division- the league expanded its playoff format to allow the top four from each division into the post-season, ending the longstanding tradition of just three from each division qualifying. That meant there would not be a bye for first place Washington but they had little trouble knocking off Toronto in the opening round. Boston disposed of third place Philadelphia in five games and then upset the first-place Statesmen in round two, taking the semi-final series four games to two. The Chicago Panthers lost a lot of talent to the new league including two starters in Bob Christensen and Mark Robinson. However, the Panthers discovered a new star in the breakout season from Tom Midgett. The 6'8" center emerged as one of the top scorers in the game at age 29 and helped lead the Panthers to the league finals for the second consecutive season. Madgett, who played his college ball at Annapolis Maritime, got a late start to his career due to military commitment and did not make his pro debut until age 26. In the championship series Boston proved to be too much for the Panthers in the finals and led by another tremendous playoff from Steve Barrell, prevailed in six games. CONTINENTAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE DEBUTS Dallas Proves Class of Surprisingly Strong Loop When news broke that a new pro cage loop was set to be unveiled most expected the quality of play would greatly pale in comparison to the skills exhibited by the teams in the Federal Basketball League but as it would turn out they were in for quite a surprise. Continental League owners had deep pockets and were not afraid to open the cheque books and as result a number of top stars from the established loop were quick to jump to the new circuit. The result was a level of play that was certainly comparable to the established circuit and some went so far as to suggest that the Dallas Drillers - the top team in the new loop- may just be able to beat the best club in the Federal League. It was all strictly conjecture of course as, unlike the rival football leagues, the Federal Basketball League had zero interest in a championship series between the winners of the two leagues. FBL owners looked down on the CBL and publicly claimed the new loop would be the death of pro basketball because it was driving player contract costs to an unsustainable level. The Drillers, who finished with a CBL best 60-18 regular season record before going on to win the first playoff championship, were especially loaded. Among their starting five included a former FBL league MVP, a pair of former FBL rookie of the year award winners and a player who led the established loop in assists three times in his career. Former MVP Ken Robinson and assist specialist Mark Robinson (no relation) were each lured to Dallas and immediately made a huge impact on the new league. Ken Robinson earned the CBL MVP award while leading the league in scoring while Mark Robinson topped the new league in assists. There was former FBL talent scattered throughout the new loop but Dallas was far and away the class of the league. The Drillers finished 16 games ahead of the second place Kansas City Plainsmen in the West Division and had little trouble with San Diego and the Plainsmen in the opening two rounds of the playoffs. The East was a tight three-team battle for top spot with the Baltimore Chargers and Pittsburgh Ironmen each finishing with 44-34 records at the top of the division. The Chargers, led by former Detroit Mustangs center Abner McColpin and a guard out of Chicago who had only played semi-pro ball in Desi Camardan, would advance through the playoffs to meet Dallas in the first league championship series. The upset minded Baltimore quintet took a three games to one lead in the best-of-seven final before Dallas took over with three straight victories to win the series. COLLEGE BASKETBALL RECAP GREAT LAKES RISES TO THE TOP OF COLLEGE HOOPS Indiana A&M’s Breakthrough Continues Era of Conference Dominance All of a sudden, the Great Lakes Athletic Association has become the powerhouse of collegiate basketball. When Indiana A&M captured the 1968 AIAA championship last month, it marked the third straight national crown — and the fourth in five years — for the GLA. Even more impressive, three of the four teams in this year’s national semifinals hailed from the same conference. It’s quite a turnaround for a league that, for decades, could stock the tournament field with four, five, even six entries a year — yet rarely brought home the hardware. In the first 48 years of the AIAA tournament, GLA schools combined for only five championships, and two of those were won by Chicago Poly, a former member long since departed from the conference. * The Breakthrough Years * The tide began to turn in 1958 when Detroit City College broke through to win the title, ending years of frustration for the Great Lakes contingent. Before that, Whitney College had been the only active member to claim a crown. But the Knights’ triumph lit a spark that would soon ignite a full-blown dynasty. In 1964, the GLA finally reached the pinnacle of conference dominance when both finalists came from within its own ranks — Central Ohio edging Indiana A&M in a thrilling all-league showdown. Two years later, Detroit City College captured back-to-back titles, the second coming at the expense of those same Indiana A&M Reapers. * Reapers Finally Redeemed * This season, the Reapers at long last found redemption. After three previous runner-up finishes, Indiana A&M broke through with a convincing 65–54 win over Noble Jones College to claim their first national title. The victory not only ended years of near-misses for the Reapers but also seemed to pass along the “hard-luck” label to Noble Jones — a fine program that has now reached the championship game three times in the past four years, only to fall short each time. Indiana A&M wasn’t even the class of the GLA during the regular season. The Reapers finished 12–4 in section play (29–5 overall), tying Whitney College for second place and finishing a game behind Central Ohio. The Aviators, earning the top seed in the Midwest Region, cruised through to New York’s Bigsby Garden for the national semifinals. Whitney, the No. 3 seed in the West, also earned a trip east after outlasting Western Iowa — another GLA entry — in the regional final. * Path to New York * Indiana A&M, seeded second in the South Region, got a break when American Atlantic upset top-seeded Northern Mississippi in the regional semifinals. Meanwhile, Noble Jones College, representing the Deep South Conference, narrowly survived a 60–59 thriller over Carolina Poly in the East Region final, thanks to Randy Baker’s late jumper in the closing seconds. The semifinals both showcased and reshuffled the balance of power. Indiana A&M, having dropped two regular-season meetings to Whitney College, clearly learned from experience. Behind 17 points from All-GLA guard Joe Whaley, the Reapers dismantled the Engineers, 63–32, in a defensive masterpiece. Noble Jones advanced by edging Central Ohio, 57–54, led by junior college transfer Bill Nowell’s 22 points. The championship game was a tense, seesaw battle for 35 minutes. With 4:44 to play, the Reapers clung to a slim 50–49 lead — and then took complete control. Despite losing Whaley to fouls with six minutes remaining, Indiana A&M outscored the Colonels 15–5 down the stretch. Senior guard Dale Widmer caught fire at the perfect time, scoring eight of his ten points in the final four minutes to seal the 65–54 victory and deliver the Reapers their long-awaited national crown. For Noble Jones College, the defeat marked another bitter finish. The Colonels, who won their lone title back in 1950, have now fallen short in the championship game three times in the past four years — and four times overall — bringing their record in title appearances to 1–4. * New Standard of Excellence * From heartbreak to history, Indiana A&M and the Great Lakes Athletic Association have now established themselves as the gold standard of college basketball. The rest of the country may be playing catching up, as for now, the road to the national title clearly runs through the Great Lakes. COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOTES The Great Lakes Alliance dominance of late may not be restricted just to the tournament. Quite a few GLA graduating seniors may be first round picks in either the Federal or Continental Basketball League drafts. They include guars Joe Whaley and Dale Widmer from the national champion Indiana A&M Reapers as well as national player of the year Hank Van Eaton from Whitney College and as many as three Central Ohio starters in Wade Mulkey, Harry Brancato and Scott Gruninger. It was quite a year for the Heginbotham family as brothers Roger and Charlie each earned national recognition. Roger, a senior at Opelika State, was named a third team All-American while his younger brother Charlie, a freshman for Noble Jones College was selected to the Freshman All-American team. Roger is expected to be drafted by one of the pro clubs next month. While on the topic of family connections a pair of familiar names to pro basketball fans will be starting their collegiate career in the fall. That would be Roman Sollars Jr. and Billy Messer, each the son of a former Detroit Mustangs star. Sollars Jr., a guard like his father, has committed to play for Detroit City College while Messer is still working towards becoming eligible academically and may have to spend a couple of years at a junior college before joining an AIAA squad. Led by junior guard Tom Bowens Jr., the two-sport star who is also a football wide receiver, the CC Los Angeles Coyotes won their first West Coast Athletic Association cage title in 17 years. Bowens Jr., whose father Tom Sr. is the coach of the Coyotes grid squad, led the team with 12.2 ppg and was named to the WCAA all-league first team. FIGMENT FUTILITY WATCH This Week in Figment Sports has been deliberating over who the worst franchise in Figment Sports history is and while we candidates include the New York Shamrocks, the Detroit Maroons or maybe even the Pittsburgh Miners, there is, in our minds one clear winner, er loser. Before we get to the choice here is a look at what the other three clubs that were considered have done. The NAHC's New York Shamrocks have not won hockey's Challenge Cup since 1930, so we are at 37 years and counting without a title in a league that has consisted of just six teams for pretty much that entire period. They have been especially bad in recent years, missing the playoffs 12 out of the past 13 seasons in a league where 67% of the clubs qualify for the postseason. In 10 of those last 13 seasons the Shamrocks have finished dead last in the six team loop and, despite all of the first overall draft picks they have collected through the years, the club still shows little sign of improvement. The Detroit Maroons, Rollie Barrell's grid outfit, were a powerhouse in the early days of the American Football Association, winning four titles but have won nothing in the past 31 years. Detroit wasn't truly awful as they did make the AFA title game four times since then -most recently in 1945- but they came up short in each of those title attempts. They have shown flashes with five more playoff appearances since 1951 but the club seems to be snakebit as they are now riding a 9-game playoff losing streak that dates back to the 1930s. Detroit had an awful 1-13 season a year ago -the worst record in franchise history- but did bounce back to go 7-6-1 in the recently completed 1967 campaign. Some consideration was also given to the Pittsburgh Miners as they have now gone 66 years without a World Championship Series title but the Miners have had some good teams, and some Hall of Fame quality players through the years. They have won 6 Federal Association flags since 1901 but like the AFA's Detroit Maroons, just can't seem to catch a break in the WCS. Their franchise winning percentage is almost .500 (.495) and while they have had some lean periods such as 1956-65 when they finished no higher than 6th in the Fed, there have also been some memorable teams like the Lefty Allen/George Cleaves led squad of the late thirties that won 3 flags in four teams or the current version of the club that won the Fed pennant two years ago and finished just a game back. Ranking them we would put Pittsburgh 4th worst, the Detroit Maroons 3rd worst and the New York Shamrocks second. You have probably guessed it by now but the far and away worst franchise in Figment sports has to be the Montreal Saints. The Saints last won a pennant (and the WCS) in 1921. Their .467 all-time franchise winning percentage is .016 worse than any other original 16 franchise and they are 170 wins behind the Toronto Wolves, who are 15th. Since 1921 the Saints have finished within 5 games of first place only twice: in 1930 when they were 2 games back in third and again in 1950 when they were five off the pace but still ended up in sixth place. Only twice since 1951 have the Saints finished within 10 games of first place and they are currently on an 8-year streak of finishing at least 26 games behind the Continental Association flag winner. There have not been a real pennant race in Montreal in 37 years. Honorable mention in the college category when talking futility has to go to the Baton Rouge State Red Devils football team. How is this for struggling? The Red Devils went 80 games between victories. They won their season opener in 1967, beating Mobile Maritime on the road 13-0 for their first win since a 20-19 victory over McKinney State early in the 1959 season. It would be the only game they would win that year. Baton Rouge State went even longer without a conference win. They beat in-state rival Bayou State 19-10 in the final game of the 1957 season and did not win a Deep South section game again until week 3 of the 1967 season. 66 consecutive conference losses spanning nearly 10 years. We assume it is because of the draft evening things out over time (something real life baseball and hockey did not have pre-1965 or so) but Figment lacks one or two true historical dynasty clubs with far more titles than others like the Yankees or Montreal Canadiens accomplished. I guess the closest we might have is the LA Stars, winners of 15 pennants and 10 WCS titles but that is a far cry from the real-life Yankees. Same for hockey where the Toronto Dukes lead with 12 Challenge Cups but Boston is close with 9 while Detroit and Montreal each have 7. Next up will be the review of the 1968 baseball season. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 10-10-2025 at 10:05 AM.

10-12-2025, 10:07 PM	#1144
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,779	1968 FABL review 1968 IN FIGMENT BASEBALL October 28, 1968 ANOTHER PLAYOFF NEEDED TO CROWN FED FLAG WINNER Chiefs Nip Gothams in Wild Three Team Race It seems like you can always count on the Federal Association to deliver an exciting pennant race and for the third time in the past six years a 163rd game was required to determine who would represent the Federal Association in the World Championship Series. Just as they did a year ago, the Chicago Chiefs won the Fed flag by the narrowest of margins. Last year, unlike 1963 and 1964 did not require a tie-breaker but the 1968 campaign did with the Chicago Chiefs doubling the New York Gothams 6-3 to claim their second consecutive pennant. The Philadelphia Keystones made the final week of the season even more exciting as they finished just a game and a half off the pace. While the Chiefs-Gothams tiebreaker certainly made for a compelling finish in the Fed, there were a number of big stories that made headlines in 1968. The first was the move of the Kansas City Kings to Seattle, giving the Continental Association three teams based on the west coast. The hastily arranged move which saw the Kings leave suddenly in mid-December prompted the city of Kansas City to talk about suing FABL but it appears a compromise has been arranged as Kansas City is expected to land one of four new expansion teams set to join the league for the 1969 season. The second big story was the dominance of pitching. The hurlers did seem to be slowly taking over the past few years but 1968 saw base hits become a premium, with FABL batters hitting just .235, a full 16 points lower than the league average two years ago and the lowest total seem since 1908 - the heart of the deadball era. Only four players who had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title managed to break .300 with the high water mark being the .306 that John Butts batted for the Chicago Chiefs. The final big story was the dominance of the Los Angeles Stars. The Stars finished 18 games ahead of the second place Toronto Wolves and won 111 games to claim their third consecutive Continental Association pennant and fourth in the past five years. They have averaged 110 victories over the past three years and in 1968 were so dominant that they scored 64 more runs and surrendered 77 less than any other club in either league. Stars skipper Charley McCullough, who also was in charge for much of Cleveland's great run in the 1950's, has now won six pennants and three World Championship Series and his .580 winning percentage is the second highest of any skipper who has managed at least 10 years in the big leagues, trailing only turn of the century manager George McFadden. McCullough was named winner of the Continental Association Theobald Award as manager of the year for the third consecutive season and record sixth time overall. * Stars Certainly Live Up To Nickname * The Los Angeles Stars are loaded with talent and it is hard to imagine any team in the Continental Association challenging them in the next couple of years. 1968 marked the third consecutive season the Stars scored more runs and allowed fewer runs than any other team in either association. Over last two years the Whitney and Allen Award winners both came from the Los Angeles Stars and they were four different players. Lew Smith and Floyd Warner won in 1967 while this time around it was Ralph Barrell and Dutch Lane. OSA ranks the top twenty position players and top twenty pitchers in the league and eight of them currently play for the Los Angeles Stars. They include Barrell (.279,28,109), Bobby Garrison (.292,20,89), Bill Bell (.279,6,49) and Ed Moore (.280,22,74) along with pitchers George Dunnigan (17-6, 2.23), Warner (17-10, 2.20), Harry Anderson (19-6, 2.38) and Bob Hollister (16-7, 2.31). On July 1 the only team hanging with the Stars was the Toronto Wolves, who were a game and a half back. Any dreams the Wolves might have had of winning their first pennant since 1940 evaporated in the July heat as the Stars went 25-3 that month and entered August with a 7 and a half game lead. The Wolves did finish a strong 93-69 but that left them 18 games behind Los Angeles despite it being Toronto's highest winning percentage since 1945. Veteran outfielder Sid Cullen (.276,20,68) and talented catcher Fred Tollefson (.261,15,75) led a solid Toronto offense while the pitching staff was bolstered by a career year out of 33-year-old Wilson Pearson (14-3, 1.46), who posted the lowest earned run average in either association. Five teams duked it out for third place with the Chicago Cougars settling there at the end. The Cougars have a bright future with the likes of Bill Grimm (.258,24,68) and Sam Morrison (.273,15,72) leading the way but there has to be concern after pitcher Don Griffin (13-9, 2.69) blew out his elbow during the final week of the season and his status for opening day next year is in doubt. The Montreal Saints finished in fourth place for the second year in a row with the same record (83-79) they displayed a year ago. Fourth is their best showing since 1959 and things may be looking up next season after the club somehow convinced the Pittsburgh Miners to part with 27-year-old three time Federal Association Whitney Award winner Dixie Turner (.293,27,124) in mid-June. Montreal added another Pittsburgh cast-off in October as they quickly signed Harry Barrell to be their new manager just two days after the Miners parted with the skipper. The San Francisco Sailors finished in fifth place, just as they did a year ago. Carlos Jaramillo (.217,3,36) continues to be brilliant in the field but the 32-year-old had his struggles at the plate this year. Age may be catching up to them as Edwin Hackberry is now just a spare part and the pitching staff had its struggles which were amplified in July when Sonny Stoyer (4-6, 3.06) suffered a devasting arm injury that will sideline him for a full year. Maybe we can stop using the prefix "Expansion" when mentioning the Dallas Wranglers as they challenged for third and ended up in sixth for their best finish in the club's seven year history. The future is starting to look a little brighter with strong showings from a pair of 24-year-old outfielders in Steve Prather (.302,10,57) and John Vance (.287,11,62) along with moundsmen Vean Conrad (15-13, 3.05) , Sam Helsel (9-18, 3.13) and Clay Buddemeyer (11-9, 3.14). Maybe it was the stress of a move to the west coast but the now Seattle-based Kings dipped to seventh place. The last time the Kings finished seventh was 1946 when they were still based in Brooklyn. Hank Williams (.263,15,64) had a decent season and Tom Hicks (.296,16,89) looks like the real thing but it was on the mound where the Kings had some serious shortcomings. Like their 1962 expansion mates from Dallas, the New York Imperials finished the highest they have ever ended up in the Continental Association standings but 8th place was attained despite winning 3 less games than they did a year ago. The highlight of the season had to be the perfect game thrown by rookie John Alfano (10-16, 2.67) in July. A pair of 24-year-old's in George Love (.256,17,59) and Phil Terry (.258,25,67) lead the Imperials offense. It was an awful year for the state of Ohio as the Cleveland Foresters and Cincinnati Cannons finished 9th and 10th. The Foresters are in the midst of a complete rebuild while the Cannons have finished last in back-to-back seasons despite having what was supposed to be some very talented young pitchers. Marco Middleton (12-17, 2.78) seems far removed from his Allen Award winning seasons of 1964 and 1966 but he has had little in the way of run support the past two seasons. * Another Wild Pennant Race in the Fed * The Chicago Chiefs managed to repeat as pennant winners in the Federal Association and just like a year ago it was another nail-biting finish. Five teams were in the race as September began and as we entered the final weekend the Chiefs had a slim one-game lead on the New York Gothams. Philadelphia was third but at four back with three to play the Keystones were eliminated. That did not stop Philadelphia from trying to play spoiler as the Keystones swept a 3-game series in the Windy City. At the same time the Gothams could only manage one win in three games at home to the Los Angeles Suns setting up the fifth tie-breaker in Federal Association history. The Chiefs ended their three game losing streak by doubling the Gothams 6-3. The Chiefs offense was led by Fed batting champ John Butts (.306,11,75) and veteran outfielder Joe Siniscalchi (.247,24,83) but the strength of the club was its starting pitching including Augie Hicks (12-8, 2.34), Don Hillshire (12-8, 2.34) and Joe Cipolla (16-10, 2.57). The second place New York Gothamshad their highest finish and best winning percentage in a decade with co-aces Bunny Mullins (16-9, 2.17) and Harry Hayward (15-8, 2.89) leading the way. Carl Bramlett (.248,21,79) was a pleasant surprise at third base as the 27-year-old came over from Boston and immediately had an impact, joining Dode Cahill (.243,18,82) and Steve Burris (.254,17,69) as the heart of the Gothams batting order. The third place Philadelphia Keystones finished strong but a 12-19 August proved just a little too much to overcome. Jorge Arellano (17-9. 3.01) continues to impress on the mound despite turning 37 in spring training while Bill Calvin (.267,27,82) and Jesse Scott (.274,14,70) led the offense. The St. Louis Pioneers were fourth, but just 4.5 games off the pace. The story in St Louis continues to be Frenchy Mack (18-7, 1.84) as the 31-year-old won his 6th Allen Award. Fifth place Washington has Tom Lorang (.298,21,61) and a big season out of shortstop Al Marino (.227,31,104) but the Eagles continue to find the mix necessary to snap a 22-year long pennant drought. The Pittsburgh Miners are just two years removed from a pennant and finished with 96 wins a year ago but one can't help but think they are looking at a complete rebuild. June 18 can be pointed to as the day the Miners era of contention may have come to an end. They were only 4 games out of first place on that date but for some strange reason opted to trade 3-time Whitney Award winning infielder Dixie Turner to the Montreal Saints along with catcher Eddie Thomas in exchange for Montreal catcher Henry Woods and four prospects. One of the prospects is Hall of Famer Deuce Barrell's son Ace but the youngster is not a highly touted prospect. All Turner was doing at the time of trade was batting .344 with 9 homers and a 4.7 WAR thru 64 games. At the end of the season, the Miners fired manager Harry Barrell but he quickly joined Turner in Montreal. Harry's son Reid Barrell (.249,17,87) enjoyed his most productive season as a Miner but it will be interesting to see if anything changes now that his father has moved to Montreal. Like the two newest Continental Association members, the Minneapolis Millers enjoyed their best finish in the Fed, coming in 7th with a club record 74 victories. There was plenty of joy in Minnesota after 24-year-old John Edwards (.302,22,84) became the first expansion team player to win a Whitney Award. The Detroit Dynamos finished in 8th, marking five straight seasons in the second division - something that has not happened in Detroit since a run of eight straight ended in 1905. There is some talent in the cupboard but the Dynamos have a ways to go before they will be competitive. John Jackson (15-13, 2.45) continues to defy the odds with another strong season at the age of 44. Jackson crossed the 200 career win plateau this season. The ninth place Los Angeles Suns were the only 1962 expansion club not to have its best year. The Suns finished one spot lower than they did last year but they did tie last year's club record for wins with a 75-87 season. 26-year-old outfielder Sam Forrester (.286,26,77) is a player to build the offense around while 22-year-old Pete Meissner (12-11, 2.33) and 23-year-old reliever John Bennett (18 sv, 1.59) show promise on the mound. That leaves the Boston Minutemen in last place at 66-94. Frank Kirouac (.249,32,86) is probably their best trade chip if they want to improve a farm system that ranks about middle of the pack. Bill Dunlop (14-13, 2.92) pitched far better than his record indicated but the Minutemen need The Tobacco Twister to recapture the magic he displayed as an Allen Award winner three years ago. MILESTONES AND OTHER NOTABLES AWARDS The Los Angeles Stars led the way in Continental Association awards as skipper Charley McCullough won his third consecutive Theobald Award while third baseman Ralph Barrell (.279,28,109) won his second Whitney Award and Dutch Lane (17-3, 1.50) claimed the Allen Award for the first time in his career. The Stars did not have a candidate for rookie of the year as the Kellogg Award went to Frank Bailey (.257,9,61) of San Francisco while the New York Imperials John Alfano (10-16, 2.67), who threw a perfect game, finishing second. John Edwards (.302,22,84) of the Minneapolis Millers became the first player on an expansion club to win a Whitney Award as he narrowly outpointed Chiefs outfielder and Fed batting champ John Butts (.306,11,75) for the Federal Association honours. Frenchy Mack (18-7, 1.64) of the St. Louis Pioneers won his sixth Allen Award, tying him with former Cleveland ace Adrian Czerwinski for the most pitcher of the year awards. Chiefs skipper Dutch Becker won his third straight Theobald Award as top skipper in the Fed while the rookie of the year was 26-year-old Detroit outfielder Bob McNall (.283,10,58) HALL OF FAME The baseball Hall of Fame did not induct any new members in 1968. Al Tucker, George Garrison and Ralph Johnson all came close, with each receiving in excess of 70% of the votes, but none got to the 80% deemed necessary for inclusion. It was the first year that no one was inducted since 1961. Each of the previous seasons since then saw one player inducted. NO-HITTERS John Mullins of Montreal no-hit Cincinnati on May 7 22-year-old rookie John Alfano of the New York Imperials threw a perfect game against Seattle on July 13. It was just the fourth perfect game in FABL history and the first since Doc Newell of the Sailors tossed one in 1935. 400 HOME RUNS Buddy Miller - Montreal 300 HOME RUNS Tom Reed - Toronto 2500 HITS John Low- Boston 2000 HITS Harry Swain - Montreal Hank Williams- Seattle 400 WINS Vern Osborne - Chicago Chiefs John Jackson - Detroit 1968 FABL ALL-STAR GAME FEDS OVERPOWER CA ONCE AGAIN IN ALL-STAR TILT The Federal Association has now won five consecutive all-star games and tied up the overall series at 18 victories apiece after rolling to a 7-2 victory over the Continental Association stars in the 1968 All-Star Game played at Pioneers Field in St. Louis. 1968 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES STARS EARN THEIR REVENGE AGAINST CHIEFS The 1968 World Championship Series was a rematch of the one contested 12 months earlier but in this case it was the Los Angeles Stars who claimed the bragging rights, downing the Federal Association champion Chicago Chiefs in six games. It marked the Stars second WCS title in three years and their third consecutive appearance (and fourth in five years) in the series. Overall it is the 11th WCS win for the Stars, tops in FABL. The Stars would enter the series completely healthy while the Chiefs, already tired from needing a playoff tiebreaker to eliminate the New York Gothams, would be without #3 starter Don Hillshire, who went 11-8 during the season before suffering a strained forearm in late September. GAME ONE Talk about a statement game! The Stars chased Chiefs ace Vern Osborne early and went on to win in a rout, by an 11-0 scoring. Los Angeles starter Floyd Warner allowed just one hit, a lead-off single in the second inning by Joe Siniscalchi who promptly got picked off at first base, over 8 innings before turning things over to the pen. Meanwhile the Stars scored 6 runs in the fourth inning to send Osborne to the showers. Bobby Garrison led the way with a 3-run homer and an rbi single for the winners. GAME TWO A nice bounce back effort from the Chiefs in game two who evened the series on the road with a one-sided 10-2 victory of their own. Chicago's 2-3-4 hitters Ricardo Castillo, John Butts and Siniscalchi each drove in three runs while lead-off man Eddie Kellum had 3 hits and crossed the plate three times. Augie Hicks went 8 innings, allowing 2 runs, to claim the victory as George Dunnigan was tagged with the loss. GAME THREE The Series shifted to the Windy City and both clubs left their bats in LA as the Chiefs squeaked out a 2-1 victory. Ralph Barrell hit a 2-out double off of Chiefs starter Nate Carr in the top of the first inning but that was the only run the visitors would get. Chicago shortstop Tom Spruill, who homered just three times in 157 games during the regular season, accounted for both of the Chiefs runs with a homerun in the sixth. It was the second year in a row that Spruill homered in the WCS. GAME FOUR It took 12 innings but the Stars evened the series at two wins apiece with a 6-4 victory in game four. Ed Moore led off the top of the 12th with a double marking the second straight inning a Stars lead-off man hit a two-bagger. Chicago got out of the jam in the 11th but did not this time as Bill Bell's sac fly plated Moore after Miguel Paniagua had smacked a pinch-hit single. A Bobby Garrison single would bring home an insurance run, something Stars reliever Jackie Thompson, who pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 12th, did not require. GAME FIVE The Stars went up 3 games to two with a 7-4 victory in game five. Warner was not quite as good as he was in the opener, allowing 8 hits and four runs over eight and two thirds, but did enough for his second win of the series. Lou Allen and Bob Griffin homered for the winners with lead-off man Bill Bell collecting four hits including a pair of doubles. GAME SIX The series ended just as it started with the Los Angeles Stars winning in a rout. This one finished 10-1 with George Dunnigan atoning for his rough outing on the mound in game two. Ralph Barrell hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to blow the game open while Bob Griffin and Ed Bogan each had three hits and two rbi's for Los Angeles. Griffin, the Diamond Defense award winning catcher, was named WCS MVP after hitting .423 with 7 rbi's in the series. [ Next up a look at the Prospect Pipeline and then the 1968 recap from the gridiron. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

10-13-2025, 10:18 AM	#1145
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,779	1968 Minor League check in October 28, 1968 LOOKING AT THE 1968 DRAFT CLASS AND TOP PROSPECTS In an effort to stay abreast of who the top stars may be in the game once 1975 rolls around and human GMs return, here is an update on the first round picks both from the current June 1968 draft and from that of the last few year. As was the case a year ago we are listing below the 20 players selected in the opening round of the latest draft and showing where they slot on the OSA prospect pipeline as of the end of their first professional season. Here are the 1968 first rounders and where they rank on the current pipeline, along with the 1965-1967 first rounders with an update on how each has progressed through the pipeline. Players that have switched organization are noted who their new team is as of 1968. Players without a prospect pipeline are either in FABL or listed as (NR) for those who are still in the minors but outside the top 500 prospects. OSA TOP TEN PROSPECTS October 1969 For the dual purpose of staying up to date with who the top FABL players are as we move towards 1975 while also doing a bit of an assessment on the volatility of top prospects in OOTP26, here is our annual look tracking the prospect pipeline's top 10 over the past few years. This list shows the top ten every October from 1963 until today as well as a quick update on where that prospect is now. Looking at the chart below you can see that all but one player who was on the Prospect Pipeline top ten in October of 1963 has made it to FABL, with Pittsburgh pitcher Dan Wilson being the lone exception. Half of the players from the 1964,1965 and 1966 top ten lists are now in FABL while just two from the 1967 list have made it to FABL so far. DYNAMOS REBUILD GOING SLOWLY BUT SURELY 'Patience' is the word heard most often in the halls of the Detroit Dynamos offices at Thompson Field. Baseball's team of the 1950s bottomed out two years ago with a dreadful 96 loss campaign - their .407 winning percentage that year was the worst the club had shown since 1942. There is still a long road ahead towards contention but the Dynamos did win 78 and 76 games over the past two seasons so the hope is they are headed in the right direction. The team of the fifties won six pennants and four World Championship Series in a seven year span beginning in 1952 and from 1951 thru 1958 they won at least 90 games every season. They were still in contention in 1962 and 1963 with back to back 96 win campaigns before they crashed to 8th place in 1964 and have not escaped the second division since then. So many years at the top resulted in a long run of picking late in the draft and many of Detroit's first round selections failed to pan out. By 1964 the farm system was barren, among the worst in the league. Bob Caldwell took over as General Manager in 1965 and was given a mandate to rebuild the organization. Four years later many of the pieces are in place as the Dynamos system ranks third in all of FABL and has promoted some talented youngsters to Detroit already. Key among them is Ben Baker. The shortstop was named Federal Association rookie of the year in 1966 and now, at age 27, is a 3-time all-star and considered one of the best at his position in the sport. There is young talent on the mound as well led by last year's first round selection Eddie Yandow. The Springfield State product made his Detroit debut in July and had his struggles, going 5-10 with a 4.57 era but Detroit skipper Lyn Trease is very high on the 24-year-old. Another 24-year-old pitcher Trease has raved about is Juan Solórzano after the 1962 fourth round selection had a strong 16-9, 2.78 season in his third full year in the Motor City. The hope is Yandow, Solórzano and a trio of youngsters in Pedro Ortiz, Walter Flowers and Eddie Brown will be the rotation of the future. Ortiz is just 21 and like Yandow has spent time in the OSA top ten prospect list but he is still a couple of years away after the 1966 first rounder split last season between rookie ball and class A. The OSA scouting report continues to suggest Ortiz may someday rank among the best pitchers in any organization. Before you get too excited about Ortiz, keep in mind that the Dynamos have seen some other first round picks in recent years flame out. George Atkins, their 1962 first rounder and 1963 top pick Sam MacDonald are just two such examples. Flowers and Brown are both wildcards. Flowers was signed as a minor league free agent after being cut by four teams following Seattle's decision to draft him in the 8th round in June. OSA suddenly has fallen in love with the 19-year-old, suggesting he has a golden arm and should top a rotation. Same for Brown who is just 18 and was a sixth round choice of the Montreal Saints but was released by three teams before landing in Detroit's system. The most exciting prospect in Detroit's system right now is James Huffman. Selected 10th overall out of Manhattan Tech, the 22-year-old third baseman debuted at #3 on the OSA prospect pipeline making him the highest ranked 1968 draft selection. He split his first three months of pro ball between AA and AAA and handled it exceptionally well slashing .330/.477/.526 in 88 games and may just wrestle the starting third base job away from veteran Virgil Ewing next spring. There are still plenty of holes at both the big league level and in the minor league system but prospects like Yandow and Huffman provide a sliver of optimism that the team of the fifties may just have a chance to be the team of the seventies as well. But it will take some more strong drafts and of course, plenty of patience. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

10-15-2025, 01:52 PM	#1146
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,779	1968 Football and Boxing JANUARY 2, 1969 MIAMI WINS PRO GRID CROWN UPSTART NFA EARNS BRAGGING RIGHTS WITH FIRST TITLE The 1968 professional football season proved to be a historic one for a couple of reasons. Primarily, the year can be marked down as when the young National Football Association landed firmly on equal footing with the established American Football Association. The Miami Mariners, class of the NFA and playing in their third consecutive AFA-NFA title game, finally earned a victory over the AFA, giving the five-year-old NFA its first title. Some suggest that second NFA team could also more than hold its own with the best of the established loop. And that is where the second historic happening comes into play. Just a short eighteen months ago the city of Seattle did not have a single pro team. Now they have three. First it was the Emeralds, a Federal Basketball League expansion team that began play last October and then in April FABL's Kansas City Kings moved to Seattle. Now the city is home to the latest football expansion team, called the Seattle Roughnecks and the Roughnecks created quite a stir in becoming the most successful expansion team pro sports has ever seen. The Roughnecks went 11-3 in their debut campaign, easily posting the best record in the NFA and tying the Houston Drillers for the top record in all of pro football. Houston had held the distinction of being the best expansion club but even the Drillers could not dream to accomplish what Seattle did in its debut. Seattle General Manager Kevin Christenson struck gold in the expansion draft, with a focus on veteran talent that could make his club competitive right from the get-go, rather than looking for prospects to build around slowly. The result netted the Roughnecks some very talented players with none better than Doug Lucy. Now 36, the Philadelphia Frigates elected not to protect Lucy despite his 15 seasons of great success in the City of Brotherly Love. The Frigates figured Lucy was living on borrowed time at his age, but Seattle felt the veteran still had something left in the tank and they were rewarded when Lucy ran for 1,254 yards. Seattle also struck backfield gold with the selection of George Bauman from Buffalo. Bauman playing sparingly with the Red Jackets but he shared a backfield with Lucy and joined the veteran in surpassing the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the first time in his career. Seattle also disregarded age in building a strong defense as it was anchored by 34-year-old Billy Board, a long-time New York Star, and former Houston defensive back Rick Bolton, who turned 36 during the season. It wasn't all oldtimers in the Pacific Northwest. The other key acquisition for the Roughnecks was rookie quarterback Richard Cole. The former Tempe College star was selected first overall in the draft and, while he had some stumbles along the way, Cole went on to have an outstanding season despite leading the league with 14 interceptions. * Drillers Rule the AFA * The Houston Drillers, a relatively new squad as well having debuted in 1961, proved to be the best of the American Football Association. Houston could put points on the board but the key to the club was its defense, led by lineman John Padgett. The 29-year-old from Darnell State had an impact on the league immediately after being selected in the second round by Houston in its first AFA draft. He entered the season with 3 Defensive MVP awards to his credit and added a fourth one after recording 25 sacks, one shy of the league record that was set 16 years ago. That showing boosted Padgett's career sack total to 123. No other player had more than 98 and Padgett looks like he has at least another half dozen seasons to add to his totals. The Houston offense was again led by Miller Bogert as the Drillers quarterback led the league with 2,502 passing yards and had two talented targets in wideouts John Keim (54 catches) and Randy Renbarger (53 catches). Houston was pressed all season by the Los Angeles Tigers for top spot in the Coastal Division and only clinched the division title on the final day of the season when the Tigers lost in St Louis. The Pittsburgh Paladins led the in the Capital Division with halfback Swat Deskins being the key player. The 30-year-old had his best season since 1964 in rushing for 1,252 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns which left him tied with Los Angeles kicker Emilio Brewer for the scoring lead with 138 points. Deskins was named football's Player of the Year. The New York Stars and St. Louis Ramblers were the winners in the Century and Central Divisions. Each was the only club in its respective division to finish above .500. PLAYOFFS Seattle proved too much for the rest of the NFA in the regular season, but the Roughnecks stumbled in the playoffs, falling 20-18 to Miami in the opening round. The Mariners kicked two field goals in the final four minutes to pull out the narrow victory. Miami made the playoffs as a wildcard after finishing second in the NFA East Division but after the comeback victory over Seattle, they proceeded to down East Division regular season champion Cincinnati to reach the title game for the third consecutive season. In AFA opening round action Miller Bogert threw for 211 yards and a touchdown to lead Houston past St. Louis 23-15 in one opening round matchup while Pittsburgh nipped the New York Stars 28-27 in the other but only because they executed the two-minute drill to perfection. Paladins quarterback Chuck Girard drove his team 77 yards in 90 seconds culminating with a 4-yard touchdown toss to Alan Grubb. Mike Purnell's extra point proved the margin of victory. It was an even more exciting game the following week as the AFA champion was declared but it required overtime. Houston staged an improbable comeback to prevail 30-24. The Drillers trailed 24-10 in the closing minutes of the game but Miller Bogert and John Keim combined on a pair of touchdown passes -the last one coming with just 19 seconds remaining in regulation- to force overtime. In the extra frame the Pittsburgh offense never got on the field as Bogert engineered a 10-play drive that concluded with a third touchdown toss to Keim and sent Houston back to the AFA-NFA Classic game for the second consecutive season. AFA-NFA CLASSIC GAME Unlike a year ago when Bogert and his Houston offense shredded the Miami defense for 44 points; this game was much more of a defensive struggle. After Houston accomplished very little on its first possession the Mariners had a 9-minute drive that ate up much of the first quarter and culminated in a 23-yard Ron Featherston field goal to open the scoring. Featherston would add a second field in the second quarter to make the score 6-0 Miami at the break. Houston had only managed 28 yards of total offense in the opening half. The third quarter started in much the same way as the first two, with Featherston ending another Miami clock-eating drive with a field goal to put the NFA champs ahead 9-0. Houston continued to be stymied as the Drillers managed just one first down in the third quarter. The Houston defense bent, allowing those 3 field goals, but never broke and continued to give their offense a chance as the game entered its final 15 minutes. However, Houston's first two possessions of the fourth quarter went nowhere and time was running out. With 5:13 remaining the Drillers took over on their own 11 yard line and finally strung together some positive plays. Bogert hit tight end Robert Sperry for 13 yards and then connected with Keim twice - first for 14 yards and then in Houston's biggest gain of the game a 41-yard catch and run. That set up another big pass and once more it was John Keim on the receiving end, as he caught a 17-yard Bogert throw for a touchdown. It cut the Miami lead to 9-7 but time was running up with just over two minutes remaining in the game. The Drillers never got the ball back as Miami was able to run out the clock and become the first NFA team to beat an AFA club in the championship game. FEAR THE REAPERS INDIANA A&M WITH HISTORIC DOUBLE TITLE A collegiate football national champion has been declared every year since 1906 and the AIAA basketball tournament has been around since 1909 but never before had a school won both the grid and cage national title in the same year until 1968 when the Indiana A&M Reapers pulled off the feat. The Reapers run through the field to the college basketball crown was unexpected, but was nothing like the shock pulled off by the football team with the first perfect season in school history. Entering the 1968 football season the grid Reapers had never played in a classic game and were just two years removed from a dismal 2-8 season. 1967 was a much better showing as a freshman quarterback by the name of Terry Bergeron and an improved defense led by another freshman in defensive end Jamie Metzler helped the Reapers to a 7-4 campaign and 24th in the final polls, marking just the second time in a decade the school had been ranked at the end of the season. As impressive by Indiana A&M standards as the 1967 season was, it was nothing compared to what the Reapers had in store for 1968. Led by the passing of Bergeron and his favourite target in senior wideout Oscar Hoover along with the rushing of sophomore Thomas Tackett the Reapers strung together win after win. Bergeron threw for 178 yards and a touchdown in a season opening road victory over a strong Mississippi A&M Generals eleven. It was followed up by a skin of their teeth 17-15 victory over conference rival St. Magnus in which the margin of difference was an unsuccessful 2-point conversion attempt by the Vikings in the final minute. The winning streak reached six with four relatively easy victories over Commonwealth Catholic, Wisconsin State, McKinney State and St. Ignatius. The big win that proved this would be a special year for Indiana A&M came in mid-October when the Reapers shocked Central Ohio in Columbus by a 17-16 margin. Kicker Cecil Wilson split the uprights with a 41-yard field goal with less than 2 minutes remaining in the contest to give the Reapers just their second victory over the Aviators in their last 12 meetings. It would prove to be Central Ohio's only loss on the season. The Reapers rounded out the regular season schedule with conference victories over Lincoln, Western Iowa, Whitney College and Minnesota Tech, earning the school its first Great Lakes Alliance title since well before World War II. All that was left was a trip to Santa Ana for New Year's Day and the Reapers completed the dream season with a 31-27 victory over the Mammoths in the East-West Classic. Thomas Tackett led the way with 113 yards, to put the sophomore over the 1,000 mark for the season, while also scoring a pair of touchdowns. Is it a one year wonder? Will Indiana A&M slip back into the middle of a deep pack in the Great Lakes Alliance, happy just to enjoy this one miracle run? Some suggest no as while the Reapers will suffer some heavy losses to graduation on the offensive line and lose their top receiver, the defensive core along with quarterback Bergeron and halfbacks Tackett and Brant Benefield will all be back next year. * Great Lakes Alliance Takes Three of Top Five Spots * Another commonality between last spring's collegiate basketball season and the fall football campaign was the overall success of the Great Lakes Alliance. Three GLA teams made the basketball tournament semi-finals and the same number of football clubs from the conference cracked the top five in the final rankings. Central Ohio, which dropped out of the top ten for the first time this decade last year, rebounded and finished third in the rankings following an 11-1 campaign that culminated in a 27-24 nailbiter victory over Eastern Oklahoma in the Sunshine Classic. The lone blemish was that tough loss to Indiana A&M. Meanwhile Detroit City College, which has endured some up and down years, qualified for its fourth Classic game in a decade and finished ranked fifth in the final polls at 10-2. The Knights ended their season with a 23-17 victory over Tom Bowens CC Los Angeles Coyotes in the Bayside Classic. The other two spots in the top five were claimed by the two Deep South Conference powers from the state of Georgia in the Georgia Baptist Gators and Noble Jones Colonels. The 11-1 Gators cracked the top ten for the 8th time in the past ten years, finishing second following a 31-14 victory over Southwestern Alliance champion Amarillo Methodist in the Oilman Classic. Noble Jones College, which lost in the basketball finals to Indiana A&M, finished fourth in the football rankings. The Colonels destroyed Charleston Tech 38-3 in the Cajun Classic to finish the season with a 10-2 record. Both losses were heartbreakers as Gerry Callahan returned an interception 38-yards in the final two minutes for the game winning touchdown to lift Central Kentucky past the Colonels 20-13 in late September before the Gators won the annual Thanksgiving weekend between the two in-state rivals by a 21-20 score after Gators quarterback Brian Eagle teamed up with wideout John Sanders on a 28-yard touchdown pass with three seconds remaining in the game. COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES Georgia Baptist senior offensive tackle Robert Herrick became just the third player to win two Ipswich Trophy's as the top lineman in collegiate football. Herrick first won the award three years ago as a freshman and joins former Noble Jones College lineman Josh Ackerman and Northern California great R.C. Pickard as the only two-time winners. CC Los Angeles returned to the top ten for the first time since 1959 following a 9-3 season. Senior wideout Tom Bowens Jr. capped a stellar college football career with 25 receptions for 351 yards. Bowens, a two-sport star, still has a season of collegiate basketball left before he turns pro. The son of the CCLA football coach, Bowens Jr. may well be drafted in both sports but odds are he elects to play football and follow in his father's footsteps. Christopher Spain of Ferguson tied a record for kick-off returns for touchdowns in a season. The freshman ran three of them back this year, tying Dale Dejesus' 1966 record with Northern California. College of Omaha senior quarterback Tim Hirsch graduates having set the AIAA career record for pass completions. Hirsh completed 110 out of 180 passes this season to give him 400 for his career, one more than former Charleston Tech signal caller Allan Ott recorded. Baton Rouge State snapped an 80-game losing streak with a win in the season opener a year ago. The Red Devils ended up 3-8 last season. This year's club also avoided getting shutout in the wins department by finishing 2-9 including a victory over 0-11 Opelika State to keep the Red Devils out of the Deep South Conference cellar. Senior halfback Tim Gray of Noble Jones College rushed for 1,655 yards and was named to the All-American team but for the first time in recent memory that All-American halfback did not claim the Christian Trophy. It instead went to Marvin Epperson of American Atlantic, who gained 1,603 yards and scored 17 touchdowns. ROBINSON RETIREMENT LEAVES HW TITLE VACANT As we look towards 1969 boxing's premier division is without a champion, something that has not happened since 1951 when the legendary Hector Sawyer retired. It was Norm Robinson who decided to retire will holding the title this time around, leaving the heavyweight division in search of a new champion. Robinson held the title from 1964 until being outpointed by Will Flowers in the spring of 1967. The Los Angeles native decided at that point to retire but was convinced to step back into the ring when he was given a title shot 17 months later against Ben Brumfield. Brumfield, a 26-year-old who hails from New York City, claimed the title when he knocked out Will Flowers in April. In his August defense against Robinson, both fighters came out throwing haymakers and Robinson caught the new champ with a devasting combination that ended the bout in the fourth round. The fight, it turns out, had taken a toll on Robinson as well as the fight veteran had suffered a pretty serious concussion but continued to fight for the victory. Following a meeting with doctors shortly after the bout, Robinson confirmed that this retirement was going to be a permanent one. Both the middleweight and welterweight belts changed hands in 1968. Horace Zimmerman became an unexpected champion as the 25-year-old native of Bakersfield, CA., claimed a controversial split-decision victory over fight veteran Lyman King, putting a quick end to King's third turn as middleweight champ. Meanwhile, former welterweight champ Brandon Dart, 29-year-old Welsh born fighter who calls New York City his home, regained the crown with a knockout of previously undefeated Billy Love in the opening round of their October title fight. The Year That Was Current events from 1968 January 23 – North Korea captures the American intelligence ship USS Pueblo and its crew, sparking an international crisis that lasts nearly a year. January 30–February 24 -Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces launch a massive surprise attack across South Vietnam during the Lunar New Year. Though a military setback for the communists, it shocks Americans and turns public opinion against the war. March 12 – Eugene McCarthy surprises in New Hampshire as the anti-war senator wins a strong share of the Democratic primary vote, revealing President Lyndon Johnson’s vulnerability and energizing anti-war Democrats. March 16 - U.S. troops kill hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai. The atrocity is kept from the public until 1969, but it becomes one of the darkest chapters of the war. March 31 -In a dramatic televised address, President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he will not seek re-election, stunning the nation. April 4 – Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated. The civil rights leader is shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee, sparking grief, outrage, and riots in cities across the United States. June 5 – Robert F. Kennedy assassinated. Senator Kennedy is shot in Los Angeles after winning the California Democratic primary. His death shatters hopes of a unifying Democratic candidate. August 20–21 -Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, ending the liberalizing “Prague Spring” reforms and reinforcing the Cold War divide. August 26–29 -Violent clashes erupt between police and anti-war demonstrators in Chicago as Democrats nominate Vice President Hubert Humphrey, leaving the party deeply fractured. October 31 -In a late attempt to promote peace talks, President Johnson announces a complete halt to U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. November 5 -Richard Nixon narrowly defeats Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace, promising to restore order at home and seek “peace with honor” in Vietnam. December 24 - Apollo 8 orbits the Moon. NASA astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders become the first humans to orbit the Moon. Their Christmas Eve broadcast, including the famous “Earthrise” photo, captivates the world. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

10-07-2025, 05:48 PM	#1142
stratonapba Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2022 Posts: 16	New Orleans Cresents = Figment League's Version of the Buffalo Bills, period.

10-17-2025, 05:58 PM	#1147
stratonapba Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2022 Posts: 16	Does the AFA-NFA Classic takes place at a Neutral Site which is just like the Super Bowl?

10-20-2025, 10:10 PM	#1151
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,779	1969 Baseball Scouting October 28, 1969 LOOKING AT THE 1969 DRAFT CLASS AND TOP PROSPECTS In an effort to stay abreast of who the top stars may be in the game once 1975 rolls around and human GMs return, here is an update on the first round picks both from the current June 1969 draft and from those of the last few years. As was the case a year ago we are listing below the players selected in the opening round of the latest draft and showing where they slot on the OSA prospect pipeline as of the end of their first professional season. The list also includes the first round selections going back to 1965 and where they ranked on the prospect pipeline at the end of each season following their selection in the draft. If they have changed teams over that time it is noted. Players with FABL written have made it to the majors while players listed as (NR) are those who are still in the minors but outside the top 500 prospects. With four new expansion clubs the first round has expanded to 24 selections and in the 1969 draft we actually saw a pair of former college pitchers skip the minors and go right to the major leagues. Larry Warren was selected first overall and went straight to Baltimore, becoming the Clippers number one starter. After making his big league debut in June, Warren went 6-8 with a 2.99 era in 22 starts. The other was Sam Rodgers, who was selected 8th overall by the New York Imperials. The 21-year-old went right to the Imperials bullpen in the midst of a pennant race. He pitched well, going 8-6 with 15 saves and a 2.24 era in 54 relief appearances. DYNAMOS SYSTEM RANKED HIGH BUT LOSING CONFIDENCE Well, Detroit baseball fans, I hate to say it, but I am feeling less confident in the future of the local ballclub than I did at this time last year. How can that be you ask and point to the fact that the Dynamos once more have their last two first round draft picks both ranked in the top ten on the prospect pipeline - making it five straight years the locals have at least one player in the OSA top ten. I will admit that I am quite pleased with the job the scouting department has been doing in the draft. 1967 first rounder Eddie Yandow, a former #1 pipeline prospect, has now played two seasons in Detroit and both the 1968 and 1969 first rounders - third baseman James Huffman and centerfielder Geoff Taylor are ranked in the top ten. Not to mention that pitcher Pedro Ortiz, a former top ten prospect and 1966 first round selection, is still considered to be a solid big league prospect at the age of 22, although he has still not pitched above Class A. It is the fact that Ortiz is still in A ball, and not pitching a lot of innings either, that is one worry. Another is the decision to make Yandow a reliever when I really thought he had the chance to be a top of the rotation arm. Perhaps that will change especially now that John Jackson has finally retired and there are openings in the rotation just begging to be filled. I had a lot of confidence in Lyn Trease as a manager, but his contract was not renewed, and the Dynamos have now hired a former minor league pitcher who has never coached or managed at the pro level to become their new bench boss. That also worries me. Not to mention what seems like just an awful decision to deal 1966 Kellogg Award winning shortstop Ben Baker to the Seattle Kings for second baseman Bill Austin. Austin (.290,8,80) had a solid season in his Detroit debut and at 27 is a year younger than Baker (.277,9,59). I like Austin, don't get me wrong but the issue is Baker was an elite defensive shortstop and a three-time all-star. I assume the thinking is there was a hole at second base and Detroit had a solid hitting shortstop in Pat Miller waiting in the wings. Miller (.273,16,76) had a great rookie season at the plate and may be a better hitter than either Austin or Baker, but the concern is Miller seems decidedly well below average in the field as a shortstop. It would have been a much more prudent move to shift Miller to second base and keep Baker as the shortstop. Detroit owes it to the young pitchers on the way up to provide them with solid middle defense behind them. Right now, they simply do not have that with Austin and Miller as the double-play tandem. The Dynamos greatest successes came with pitching and defense as the foremost focus, and it appears that has been forgotten. Hopefully Yandow goes back to the rotation and excels. Prospects like former first rounder Ortiz and Skipper Atkins, who made his big league debut this summer can continue to develop. Hopefully 25-year-old Juan Solórzano (16-8, 3.69) continues to progress. Hopefully top prospects Huffman, who likely would have been in Detroit now had he not missed half of the season with a shoulder injury, and Taylor become the hitters we, and the OSA, think they can be. A lot of things need to go right for the Dynamos to return to being a club to be feared and I worry the lack of quality defense (Detroit was 11th out of 12 in the Fed in defensive efficiency and zone rating and 9th worst for committing errors) and an experienced manager to guide the team may do serious damage to a rebuilding plan that was supposed to see this club be back to being a contender by 1970 or 1971. This writer has been wrong before and would like nothing better than to be mistaken this time, but my gut tells me the rebuild will take a lot longer than anticipated. NOTE- This scouting update was made shorter than others because we are progressing towards 1975 at a pretty good pace at the moment. The 1969 football recap will be posted tomorrow morning and there is a good chance the hockey-basketball recaps for 1970 could come as early as tomorrow night. 1975 is when the leagues resume weekly sims and human general manager's return. With all the expansion there should be some openings in most sports. If interested in joining in any of the 4 featured team sports send me a message and I will put you in touch with our league commissioner. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

10-21-2025, 06:00 PM	#1153
stratonapba Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2022 Posts: 16	But What's Next for 1970 for the Figment Universe's version of the National Football League?, Are we still going to see a merger just like the NFL being merged with the AFL in real life?, If so who will be the Baltimore Colts, the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the Figment Universe?

Today, 04:08 PM	#1158
Sevsdast Minors (Single A) Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 50	Do you use AI to generate stuff like faces and logos? If that's the case... I would recommend not using it, but you all do you.