Thursday, May 28, 2015

The Warriors' Hangover; KGO-TV Is Giddy; The Last Time The Warriors Won The NBA Finals Was 1975; Visuals For Those Who Care; Patty Hearst; 'Do The Hustle' And President Jerry Ford Outside The St. Francis

 Image result for 1975 in San Francisco

 If you think KGO-TV personnel are happy now (like presumably every other Warriors fans this morning) just wait for the next few weeks.


For starters, KGO killed in the May Sweeps. They blockheaded the competition at all-important 11 PM and did very well at 5 and 6 PM too.


Now, they get the NBA Finals and ratings nirvana (ABC broadcasts the NBA Finals and of course KGO is ABC's O and O (Owned and Operated) station in the Bay Area.


Take that, everyone else!


Which means everyone at 900 Front will be donning yellow and blue and the sales department will be eating a lot of cake.


The last time the Warriors were in the NBA Finals was 1975 (as pointed out) --they played at the Cow Palace, the dilapidated dump in Daly City.




In 1975 Jerry Ford was the POTUS. (Sarah Jane Moore tried to assassinate him in September outside the St. Francis Hotel) Joe Alioto was SF mayor. Patty Hearst was living on Morse Street with Bill and Emily Harris of the SLA. The Streets of San Francisco on ABC was #5 on TV and the local news was dominated by "Channel 7 News Scene"


#1 hit: "Do the Hustle"--Van McCoy. "When Will I See You Again."--The Three Degrees


*Follow me on Twitter

32 comments:

  1. I was 14 and loved that Warriors team. Jeff Mullins will always be the original "23" for me, not MJ and not Lebron. Some of my all time favorite players were on that team: Phil Smith, Jamaal Wilkes (then Keith) and Charles Johnson went to my hometown high school. Like this year's Warriors, they had some great characters and reserves like Charles Dudley and George Johnson. Playing on sports team, it was always a coup getting the 24 jersey because it represented Rick Barry and Willie Mays.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mullins was my favorite, which is why I wore 23 when I played in school. When I went to basketball camp, one of their films on fundamentals featured Jeff. Met Phil Smith at that same camp! In many respects, I don't think Mullins received the recognition he deserved.

      Delete
  2. I like the part where that guy stood up & said "Hey! Don't you tell ME what to do! This is America, & I'll do what I want!" America Balls!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Be careful when you say "Which means everyone at 900 Front will be donning yellow and blue and the sales department will be eating a lot of cake." Don't forget that a mortuary also now resides in that building.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Caught a late nite bite and even I turned my chair around so I could watch the game on the restaurant's big screen tv.

    By the way, does anyone believe SF would be this giddy about the Warriors if they weren't moving to SF? Can't wait to see how the team disses Oakland should they win the championship.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Funny thing that year. Less than 10K showed up during most of the games in the regular season, then jumped to over 12K for the playoffs. The games at the Cow Palace had over 13K fans there as it held more than the Arena at the time.
    The Cow Palace was a great place to watch a game, crazy loud in there. How old is the Cow Palace, 75 years old?

    ReplyDelete
  6. The 1974-75 Warriors were supposed to have a down year, since they'd just traded away Nate Thurmond and were rebuilding. They were underdogs all year long, and were dismissed nationally as a fluke. The Bullets were supposed to sweep the Warriors in 4, not the other way around. It was all brought to us by Bill King, the greatest basketball announcer who ever lived...no one could describe the details on the court as rapidly and exacting as he could. Spice in a little criticism of the referees and CBS-TV and you had an unmatched product on the radio. That team captured the Bay Area just as this year's team has captured the Bay Area. It's been 40 years, but the interest and passion for this team is very similar. Beloved players on both squads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I could be wrong, but Hank Greenwald also called Warriors games along with King during these years.

      Delete
    2. 12:06 Was thinking the same. I remember Hank doing the televised games.

      Delete
    3. Was that still the period where Bill King was not allowed to do television because of his beard?

      Delete
    4. Hank Greenwald was the color man on the King radio broadcasts during the 60's, and he took over the play-by-play for the beginning of the 3rd quarter. He also did the TV games, which there weren't that many of.

      But by the mid-70's championship run, it was all the great Bill King, doing both play by play and color on radio, as well as the TV simulcasts.





      Delete
  7. Channeling my inner Stan. I predicted this back in 2007 when they drafted Jermareo Davidson with the 36th pick in the 2nd round. I wrote about it on my blog and you all doubted me.

    Why don't the warriors have more white players? Racism.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fillmore Phil Smith, Washington H.S., University of San Francisco, Warriors...left us way too early.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't allow my family to watch basketball ,I am not a fan of basketball.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The NBA did get extremely "thug-like" and "hoodish" (many analysts and fans have echoed this) and the NBA did get a pretty bad reputation and lost alot of viewers for a ten or so year period there from 2000-2010ish however I feel it has changed and you can see it represented in the recent Rockets/Warriors series. I would give it another try.

      Delete
    2. @12:20 Now that The Duggars are off the air, what exactly do you "allow" your family to watch?

      Delete
    3. So is your "family" happy with your gestapo like parenting? Because if I was your kid I would tell you to stick it up your ass...

      Delete
    4. 1:26pm Please give specific examples of thug/hoodish behaviors that delineate a trend.

      Delete
    5. 3:08, 3:10....Where to begin? I don't think he wants to dedicate the next 8 hours giving examples and even then he'd just touch the tip of the iceberg. I know I wouldn't. Google is your friend.

      Here's something to digest on your way to Google...
      The league is “full of thugs,” to quote Forbes editor Michael K. Ozanian. San Francisco Examiner writer Bob Frantz recently wrote that the NBA’s “overly ink-stained players look like a bunch of gang-bangers playing in the recreation yard at Pelican Bay,” following that up by saying that Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittendon had validated his opinion. Frantz: “A league filled with guys that look like thugs is bound to be filled with guys that act like thugs” (sfexaminer.com, 1/4/10).

      Common impression.

      Delete
    6. Lots of ink on all kinds of white people but somehow they are not thugs. Outlaw bikers are covered in ink and have been involved in shootouts in Texas, Nevada and Cali but no one will call them thugs but black basketball players are thugs merely because they have tattoos. How do tattoos make someone a thug? Hockey players have tats but alo beat the crap out of each other but no one calls them thugs. Hmmm, now why is that? What's different about hockey players?

      Delete
    7. I only allow my family to watch dvds of Bozo the Clown's Big Top Circus,The Three Stooges, The Munsters and The Addams Family, in that order.

      Delete
  10. Wow. Having a moment about That year. My first television job- one-man band. In the first month, I interviewed Al Attles and Warriors of the day multiple times, covered 2 attempted assassinations (and witnessed one), and covered the end of the Hearst saga. In the following months, shot and reported all related trials. It was quite an adrenaline rush. I just assumed it was always that way..

    ReplyDelete
  11. The Warriors were playing all home games at the Coliseum in 1975 when they won the World Championship. They did play two games at the Cow Palace in the 1975 NBA Finals.. They moved to the Coliseum now known as "Oracle Arena" in 1966 and played home games off and on until 1971 then started playing all home games there less 6 games in 1971/1972 at the San Diego Arena and one season in San Jose (SAP Center) in 1996/1997 while the Arena was remodeled.

    ReplyDelete
  12. @1:26
    Yes, it's certainly unfortunate that while the NBA has spruced up its image, NHL remains populated by hoods on ice whose thuggish behavior is cheered on and encouraged. Hockey is a great sport and one that requires exceptional skill, but it's marred by the goons who make a spectacle of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh ignorant one @310...Have you watched the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year? Or are you leading the Warriors bandwagon? In fact, have you watched any hockey lately? The game is physical. There's lots of contact. But if you haven't noticed, fighting has gone down. The designated "goon" (from your limited vocabulary) is losing a place in the game. Today’s NHL player has to have speed. The physical aspect is always there, but if all you can do is drop the gloves, then your time will be very limited. Go back to eating your sugary donuts, licking your fingers and drinking your high fructose corn syrup sodas.

      Delete
    2. Nice diversion from the point on multiple posts, Hockey guy. A page right out of the Democratic playbook.

      Delete
    3. @8:38
      Awwww, someone's tighties are in a bunch. It's too bad your delicate sensibilities were offended by the facts, which even you underscored. Violence and fighting are a celebrated part of hockey culture and several NHL players have publicly stated as much. Guess your beer-addled brain was incapable of processing that. Now run along and enjoy your "donuts" and "burrito's" while you listen to "rap song'"s. Yes, you're rather obvious—oh imbecilic one.

      Delete
    4. 9:34 sounds like that Looney lady out in Las Vegas

      Delete
    5. 934 probably doesn't exercise, eats too many foods with GMOs and has advanced brain damage.

      Delete
  13. I remember that the Warriors had to play the championship at the Cow Palace because the Coliseum Arena was booked with the Ice Capades. When scheduling the 1974-75 season, the Warriors brass didn't think they would make the playoffs so they didn't reserve the playoff dates at the Coliseum, hence the need for the Cow Palace. Good thing the CP existed because the other options were not very good (SF Municipal Auditorium or the Oakland Municipal Auditorium). For most teams in the 70's (except the Lakers, Celtics & Knicks) the NBA was a Mom & Pop business run by small businessmen like Franklin Mieuli. I don't think Mieuli had the cash to book out the Coliseum for three sets of playoffs - what if the team flopped and there were no playoff games? He'd still have to pay for the arena dates.

    BTW, the Cow Palace may be dilapidated today, but that was not the case in the mid-70's. It was a decent place to watch a game and there were few arenas around the NBA (save the Forum or MSG) that were shoulders above. Remember in those days, the Bulls played in the 1920's Chicago Stadium, Detroit played in the 1940's Cobo Hall. St. Louis played in an old facility and so on. The NBA in the 70's was still a penny-ante game that was only major league in name.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Interesting that in the mid-70s when CBS picked up the NBA rights they decided to go with tape delayed broadcasts for many mid-week playoff games. The games would come on at 11:30 pm. If I recall, some of the west coast games would be 'live', but would start at 8:30 pm...to get the 11:30 slot on the east. Prior to CBS owning the rights, ABC had them, and in those years (late 60s, early 70s), any games shown were done 'live'. All of this of course changed when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson arrived in he league and NBA started to market it's stars.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The series where Mike Riordan went from being a hard-nosed, respected defensive player, to being an overmatched nutcase posterboy for Washington's frustration.

    ReplyDelete