AFL Needs to Fess UP

I watched a show on the NFL Network about the AFL league (1960-1969). It talked about chronological years about teams, coaches, and players. Likewise, innovations, rules, and players salaries. Of course, Joe Namath making that guarantee. Most of the player interviews tended to be toward the latter years when NFL films starting to cover them in 1968. However, they did talk about the New York Titans but more than the Houston Oilers who won those championships in the early days. Charlie Hennigan? Yet, they discussed the Sid Gillman and his 1963 Chargers, Buffalo Bills (Lou Saban was too damn weird) '64 and '65 championship, Hank Stram, "keep matriculating the ball, boys.   LOL. Finally, they discussed the "RRRaiders" and Al Davis concerning the rules of play and how they get players.

There was the players revolt of the 1964 AFL All-Star game due to the racism of the host city, New Orleans.  The players voted not to play and moved the game to Houston. Also, players getting higher salaries from both leagues by threatening to jump to the other league if they didn't get the money they wanted. Pete Gogolak, Alex Karras, John Brodie, and Fred Billetnikoff were examples. My personal like is getting players from smaller colleges particularly black colleges. Eventually, a merger came through with some agreements of using the stadium clock, names on jerseys from former NFL teams (AFL had theirs since inception), and playing in a 50,000 capacity seated stadium (Goodbye Wrigley Field and Fenway Park).

One of the things that they didn't talk about was discussion of each individuals' salaries, players' rights, and players' injuries when the merger occurred. I was suspicious because I was wondering why Joe Namath was able to play in all those games with the AFL Jets but was constantly injured during the NFL time. Through research, Joe was injured in his AFL days but didn't have to take a physical as it was required by the NFL for any player new or old. Further, the AFL didn't have to report who was injured on a game to game basis till the merger. Finally, other players didn't know how much each team was making or what Joe Namath was making.

What really blew my mind was the testimony of Ernie Barnes, a former player and well-renowned artist. My take here is how come I never heard of him? I watched NFL films since 1982, no mention. The "Remember the AFL" website, made a mention of him as an obit. Of course, he wasn't a great player but dude, this guy made that painting still was was used at the end credits of the show "Good Times" and he was the official artist for the Los Angeles Olympiad. My goodness something. Journeyman players who went on to being great in something has always been welcomed in media such as NFL films. Dick Post comes to mind. In reading his bio where he talks, he mentions about a player named Howard Glenn. Ah-Ha!

Howard Glenn was Barnes' teammate when they played for the then New York Titans (now Jets). Howard died in a game against Houston suffering a broken neck on October 9, 1960. But Barnes and a doctor it says it was due to heat exhaustion. However, the coaching staff insisted that it was a broken neck and that he broke it the game before. But he asks, how could he have practiced it the whole week leading up to the Oct. 9, game? I have heard the story of Monte Johnson of the Raiders broke his vertebra against the Colts in the 1977 game and playing the next week against the Broncos. But according to Don Maynard, Glenn complained of not feeling well during the game,slumped to the floor in the dressing room after the game and. the team trainer even said it was too much heat and football but he'll be fine."

Which brings me more questions of the AFL. NFL had some casualties but not like the AFL. You had Stone Johnson dying in a exhibition game, Mack Lee Hill dying in a operation table for a knee injury, and Frank Buncom dying before a game in his sleep at 29. Barnes complained of bad coaches, poor equipment, and while others complained of bad field conditions. What I looked at is how these players like a Sherrill Headrick playing with broken thumb that protruded from his skin, a broken vertebra, and shattered ribs. You hear other stories of Jim Otto, Emil Karras, Houston Antwine, and Walt Sweeney just to name a few from that time and their debilitating injuries that they carry post football that seem worse than the NFL guys.

Which leads to me to the next question, when you are guys going to start telling the truth and who is going to cover it?

Mr. McNally 19 Alive

 Final out in the 1966 World Series, Brooks Robinson (5), Andy Etchebarren (8), and Dave McNally (19).

The Wilt Chamberlain Technique

With this year's Summer Olympics. I mostly like to see how the women are doing. Not so much in their abilities but their attitudes concerning feedback from their coaches, family, friends, and peers. What I see  bothers me. Lack of goodwill towards other women from other countries. I call it the Hillary Rodham Clinton complex. They are so to themselves;  competing for their countries to make they coaches, family, friends, peers or husband, happy.  The mutual respect of women just isn't there like you see in men's competition, sometimes?

Many years ago, I read an autobiography of basketball legend, Wilt Chamberlain from 1992. In it, besides his sexual conquests, he mentioned sponsoring women's sports like amateur track, volleyball, basketball, and so on. I appreciated his respect for the opposite sex besides looks. According to the female participants, he was very respectful to them, never hit on them or pressured them. Likewise, he appeared in a cover of woman's sports magazine. His sponsorship included Florence Griffith-Joyner, Jeanette Bolden, Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Yet, I was curious why his sponsorship affiliations with women sports didn't last long. Mind you this was 1992 and he died, seven years later.

Then comes a  recent Wilt Chamberlain's bio by Robert Cherry. The book mentions about how Wilt dealt of being slighted or bullied by his peers in high school. He would get his sister to run with him everyday before school even though she didn't want to and wasn't interested. Eventually, she became a good runner with incredible endurance. Unbeknownst to her, he was preparing her to beat the bullies in a race in which Wilt would bet that they couldn't beat her. Wilt would goad them and her sister would naturally win. This wasn't just an isolated situation. He would do this with his girlfriend track star, Lynda Huey, where he would constantly train with her and then challenge NFL legend, Jim Brown to a race. Who won? In some ways, that is how society is and when it comes to women's sports, men using women as a tool to defeat intense masculinity pressures by other men.

Mind you, I think Wilt was sincere in his support of women's athletics but he always had to deal with masculinity pressure like his sex life. Many basketball peers still maintain that they never saw him with a woman. Many men have always questioned and tried to test Wilt's courage. Lynda mentioned that she never married because Wilt scared off any man that came close to marrying her. Likewise, he never invited her to her family events and treated her rudely in front of people (Robert Lypsyte article, Oct. 13, 2002, New York Times). In short, he remained Peter Pan. However, one thing about Wilt, he never cheated in competition. When he found out that a famous track coach was supplying his athletes with illegal drugs, Wilt immediately withdrew his support to the track team.

The Question Myth of Ruthie Campanella

I came across her from the Sports Illustrated story discussing Roy Campanella in 1990 by Ron Firmite. It mostly discussed his career with the Dodgers, Jackie Robinson, and the accident that paralyzed him life and the afterwards. It briefly discussed his first wife, Ruthie and how the accident caused the separation. Roy accused of her adultery and then Firmite mentioned her death in 1963. Tommy Lasorda mentioned about her leaving due to his paralysis and about making you wonder why she died? This theme held true in the 1974 movie Its Good To Be Alive where the Ruth showed her alcohol problems and mentioned about him not being to perform due to his paralysis. When Roy died in 1993, same kind of deal but the next week his former teammate, Don Drysdale, died of a heart-attack. That is when things started to change for me, slowly.


When Don died, the whole Dodger was talking about him being a man's man and so on (who could forget about Hawk Harrelson crying). Now, Don was a great guy and very honest in his broadcast but he had drinking issues. I mean, two years before, he got busted with a D.U.I. and sent a lady to the hospital. In his book, Once a Bum, Always a Dodger, every other paragraph seemed to mention about alcohol consumption. Many people have said this death was attributed to his drinking including Mickey Mantle who died two years later. It gave me an impression that Roy was pushed aside for Don. At first, I thought it was a racial but the Edward Murrow show 'Person to Person" which featured Campanella showed me something else. 


The background of this was that Roy hit a game winning homer to win Game 3 of the 1953 World Series. Now, he comes home to his family and does the interview. What really stuck was the unhappiness and uneasiness of the whole family including the children. With the exception of Roy Jr., nobody was smiling when Morrow was throwing questions to them. Ruthie looked miserable and sort of tired-passive as if the family got into an argument before the show. What blew me away was how Roy, Sr. behaved? He was smiles and all that but when it came to talking about his kids, he was just praising Roy, Jr. and how he was going to be the star of family-- in front of his other children. He didn't talk about them at all only introducing them to Morrow.


Now, mind you I have seen this with other parents like Richard Williams but this is Roy Campanella after hitting game winning homer in the World Series. Likewise, he acted like it was another ho-hum game (The Dodgers were trying to win their first World Series). The kids acted like his father struck out. I have seen the children of Jackie Robinson look unhappy but I never saw that weariness and unhappiness in his wife, Rachel when they were interviewed for pictures and magazines. But, Jackie showed favorite to his slowest child, Jackie Jr. Maybe reading too much into it but something just wasn't right in Dodger town.

Ruth with Roy and daughter after the accident.

This was in the mid-90's. No blogs then and no commercial publications were going to break myth about Roy and Ruthie Campanella. Only time could do it. But I did look at stories of the Negro-Leagues. There were mentions about Roy having a wife and two girls by the time he was 20 years old. That they were living in his parents home. They mentioned her name as Bernice Ray and why he didn't fight in World War II. Then he divorced her and married Ruth. People didn't divorce back then because it was expensive and Roy was Italian and black living in his parents home! Now, separate, yes. No mention about Bernice. For that matter with Roy's parents. They just seem to disappear when it comes to written when he joined the Negro Leagues. When did they die and so on? Did they care for him when he got paralyzed, too? But this one is about Ruth not Babe but Ruthie.


First I like to know who she was and what she was before she met Roy? I heard she had a son before Roy named David that Roy adopted. He was a do-wop singer before drugs and alcohol killed him at age 41. A newspaper clips mentions him in 1959 about being getting arrested for juvenile gang fight while his father was recovering from his paralysis. You know, I don't remember him on that Edward Morrow interview?  With Roy, I now hear the stories about his womanizing and that he was at a mistress's house before the accident. So, Ron Firmite can you stop the "B.S.ing" and your obsession of Reggie Jackson selfishness. Second, I like to hear from Roy, Jr. and how he felt about his mom and what really went on. That goes for Tony and John as well as the daughter's view which we never heard a thing about. Finally, I like to hear about how things really went down with Ruth and was it a Tiger Woods thing?


Ruthie Campanella has been vilified wrongly for all these years to cover Roy's indiscretions.  She is no angel but I don't think Roy was either and the truth is slowly coming out. Likewise, I think he followed the Kubler-Ross theory about his paralysis instead of the optimism one that his former teammates talk about.  The people in Dodger land history, Campanella family, and the Robinson family need to step up and tell the truth.   This is totally wrong. The writers and the truth seekers from that time need to be punished severely for still covering up the truth. Because, Ruthie Campanella is still being punished for no good reason by print. 

Brittney Griner, M.D. (Most Dominant)

I hear that Brittney Griner reads comments of what people say about her in the negative. Well, here something in the positive. You have and will make continuous impact on basketball. There. Here is why: Yes, she can dunk, run the floor, and post up like men do. But she takes more abuse than men do from her women compatriots with the trash talking, physical harassment (Sorry, Jordan Hardcastle, you flung her), and ignorance for her achievement by media, fans, and players. ESPN and Fox are trying but the websites, the papers, and magazine give her no love. Yes, she is protected but still you still did a story on Steve Carlton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

I compare her game to Kareem in his UCLA days as Lew Alcindor in this sense. Shaq and Wilt have said that they should be judged on impact instead of their abilities. One being, did they change the rules due to their dominance.  Rule changes? There will be one like the 10 sec. time-line for women. But I don't think the dunk will be outlawed? With her and her team going 40-0. Something has got to give or maybe they will accept her dominance as well as her team?  "Sports Century" did a feature on Wilt Chamberlain. It discussed why his team lost concerning that North Carolina played the same way of defense but a 2-3 zone and his teammate, guard, Maurice King, couldn't hit that mid-range shot. The big girl showed her small girls how!

She has a leadership that you don't see in dominant centers then or now. Its quiet but very effective. For instance in that Stanford game, her teammates had open shots due to her opponents all surrounding her in a umbrella man/zone defense. Her teammates started pressing by  missing easy open shots from mid-range distance. At open point, they missed something like four in a row. Well, Brittney goes outside and the Stanford defense lets her shoot. She hits one, swish in the first half  to keep Baylor tied with Stanford. In the second half, she hit another to extend the lead to eight. She hit only three shots from the floor: two outside, a layup, and free throws for thirteen total points. But her teammates got the message real quick because they started hitting their outside shots.

Credit should go to her coach, Kim Mulkey, for developing her game and so on by getting advice from NBA coaches who coached big men. But the one thing, that coaches have never done for the big guys is to stand up for her when opponents gotten rough with some exception. You hear Wilt, Kareem, Bob Lanier, and other big men complain about coaches' lack of ability of not standing up to the roughness. Hence, they lose respect. I'm sure they will say that Kim Mulkey is tougher than the coaches that they played for and wished they played for her.

But ultimately when it comes to taking responsibility for her team, Brittney Griner is a class by herself from the center position. I have watched women's basketball since 1987 (The 1984 Olympics but U.S. was too dominant and boring due to Russia boycott) due to the restlessness of wanting to see the men's finals the next day. I started to really watch it in 1990 with Stanford winning it, Tennessee responding the next year, and Stanford winning it in 1993. Afterwards, Charlotte Smith, Rebecca Lobo, and Shamique Holdsclaw on their respective teams. But the game really didn't evolve when the WNBA started to get players from college that made immediate impact which took awhile. Yeah, you can say Candace Parker, Lindsay Whalen, and Angel McCoughtry. But all they get asked if they are married to ugly guys. With Brittney, its about her play and how she impacts her team. Period. None of that nonsense.

The talk shows and other discussion outlets are nothing but hypocritical hustlers. They talk about guys shouldn't leave college and how college basketball is missing something with high-schoolers leaving for the pros. They don't have anybody or teams to dislike or like to have rivalry like Duke with Christian Laettner. The whiny stuff. But when it comes to women who stay all four years, good citizens, and students, its "they don't dunk" bull. With Brittney, its wondering about her sex, literally. Well, I don't care because she has impacted the game with such ferocity that I don't bother watching the men. Nothing personal but Brittney's impact is greater than then the guys which you have to go back to Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq. One more of Brittney in college? Wow. New Orleans, here I come even if the talk won't.

Why Have You Gone, Carl Morton?

Originally signed by the Braves

Tom House, the pitching guru, made an admission that he took steroids in the 70's while playing for the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and Seattle Mariners. What struck me from the 2005 article is he said that he and other "pitchers" were doing it to keep up with the competition. Not only roids but HGH. This was in the 70's! When Frank Thomas accused pitchers of taking roids about 2002, everyone thought it was sour grapes or just impossible because pitchers are throwing the ball while hitters are hitting. House's teammates joked that they weren't beaten but "out-milligrammed." Okay, it could be one guy and he could be not telling the truth. But I have always had this Arsenio Hall thing of "hmm" of certain players when I started reading this book called Baseball 1977 in 1982 which featured players from 1976 with bios of All-stars, rookies, and managers then basic stats of top players to mediocre ones in hitting and pitching.

Cincinnati Reds pitchers from the 1976 championship team just disappeared from sight. Gary Nolan, Rawly Eastwick, Will McEnaney, Jack Billingham, Pat Zachry and Don Gullett, gone. Yeah, some went to other teams but only one pitched after 1981. The 1979 Reds had two pitchers remaining from the '76 team, Fred Norman and Pedro Bourbon. Fred was the oldest player during that championship. While his teammates became mediocore (Billingham the exception), Norman maintained his consistency of 10 or more wins from 1973 to 1979. He finished his career with Montreal in 1980 at 38, going 4-4. Also in 1976, Mike Cuellar, who pitched so well with the Orioles in years past, went 4-13, traded to the Angels in 1977, and released by the Angels in '77 after going 0-1 with an era of 18.90. Earl Weaver said he gave him more chances than his wife when he went 4-13. John Montefusco, Ron Bryant, Randy Jones (Brent Strom), Bill Campbell (he pitched some more years but wasn't the same), Wayne Garland, Ken Holtzman, and Mark Fidrych. Done or mediocore after '76. But the one guy that really gets me is Carl Morton. MLB Network needs to do a show like Bill Kurtis' Cold Case, A&E stuff, and VH1 behind the music. When they do, his should be the first feature.

Rookie year. 

I came across him when I bought this book called NL Rookies of the Year. What struck me was that I heard about Ted Sizemore '69, Bake McBride '74, Earl Williams '71, John Matlack '72, and so on before I even read the book. Yet, no mention of him. That was true of co-winner with Zachry, Butch Metzger '76. Carl won it in 1970. He was 26 years old and was in the Braves organization until the expansion draft of 1968 where the Montreal Expos picked him. After that great season of '70 where he won 18 and lost 10, he had two subpar years and was traded to the Braves in 1973. With the Braves, he won 15, 16, and 17 games for the next three seasons. After a 4-9 record in '76, he was done despite signing a 100,000 contract from Ted Turner. I figured he started old and age caught up him. I found out later that he got traded to the Rangers in 1977 and was cut in spring training. Wow! I mean, you would think somebody would give him a chance to redeem themselves but apparently he couldn't because he tried to play in the Rangers' minor league system and was cut by the Pirates in spring training of 1978 .

What really struck me was his early death at the age of 39 in 1983. I mean baseball players don't die that young unless of some tragedy like drug overdose, accidents, or violence. He died while jogging near his parents house. Now, football players, yes, but baseball? Pitchers? Now, Tom House article opens up a can of worms because he mentions that not only he took steroids that horses wouldn't take but amphetamines and anything he can pop. In his confession, he doesn't mention cocaine or marijuana. However, he does mention that steroids was the additional cause of his knee surgeries (5 on the right and 2 on the left) because he gained so much weight from it. Studies show that it causes strain on your heart.

House says he came clean when he went back to school during the off-season and read the dangers about drugs. Today, he is a spokesperson about playing clean. But I have to wonder, how much is he telling the truth about who used and who didn't? But when he says 6 or 7 on each baseball staff either used steroids and HGH, it doesn't sound like sour grapes. I wonder how many hitters and position players were doing them? I guess it was impossible for hitters because they have to hit the ball while pitchers can throw the ball back in '76? I'm hoping Carl was clean on that staff and that Mr. House wasn't including him. Likewise, that heart attack was just that. But like then, I'm scratching my head a bit.

I Talked to Pauline Betz

Her famous cover from 1946

With this 2011 Wimbledon commemorating Billie Jean King's 50 year anniversary of her first grandslam title in doubles, I thought they should have honored Pauline Betz who died in late May of that year. Maybe, they will at they will at this year's U.S. Open.

When I got into tennis history research, I learned about Pauline from a Billie Jean King book when she wrote about great female tennis players from the past. Thanks to internet you get a lot of info but I didn't really trust those things. She was a war-time player who made the front page of Time Magazine. Her best year was 1946 when she was won Wimbledon, U.S. Amateur (Australia was too far so didn't play), and lost in the finals at the French to Margaret DuPont. Due to World War II, she could only play tournaments in the United States at the time. Won a lot of U.S. Amateur Titles. She was banned from amateur tournaments when she hinted that she might turn professional on a letter.   As a pro, she was pretty much undefeated but with less competition. However, she did beat Althea Gibson when she was 5 months pregnant at the age of 40 in a exhibition and lost to her in 2 hour match a few months before.

All these things made me do one of the craziest things but now looking back probably my favorite. I "talked called" her at some home she was staying for elders in Maryland. I had googled some article about a private school and it featured an article about her coaching there for many years. The article mentioned about where she was staying. I decided to make a phone call and boy was I nervous. The first time, it didn't get through but it got there the second time. She ended up talking to me.

I can't really remember what I said but I had so many questions. I only remember a few like was Pancho Gonzales the best tennis player, you saw?  She mentioned about Jack Kramer and then I mentioned about Don Budge (she copied his backhand). Likewise, I mentioned about her coaching Darlene Hard and she modestly said that she really didn't do anything. Finally, I asked her about her daughter going with the last name of Addonizio from the shortened Addie (her husband was Washington Sports writer, Bob Addie).

I  felt envious and threatened by her accomplishments. Word is that she was actually the first woman to beat Bobby Riggs when he was in his prime in private.  Likewise, Jack Kramer both in a practice session. She had a great backhand but a weak serve. Won a tennis scholarship to play on a men's team at Rollins. Her coach Eleanor "Teach" Tennant said that she had the heart of a "stevedore."  She won many titles except a grand-slam titles in doubles (she like the baseline, bad overhead). Off the court, a great academic, piano player, tournament bridge master, and took courses to take apart a car engine. Renaissance woman.

All these factors contributed to her being a great champion and help her hang socially with the guys as they called her "Bobbie." Gossip columnists followed her as she dated Jack Dempsey, Spencer Tracy, and friends with Katherine Hepburn and heiress, Barbara Hutton. However, she had bitter rivalry with her opponents of Margaret Osborne (later DuPont) and Louise Brough who received  favors with cash and lavish gifts from William DuPont Jr. He sponsored women's amateur tennis tour duing that time. Pauline never wanted to date him because he was a jock wannabe who was unathletic. As a result, Pauline had to sleep on the floor while Louise and Margaret got nice rooms in their tours.

Eventually, Pauline was banned from amateur tennis which ran the majors of Australian, French, Wimbledon, and U.S. until 1968 when professionals were allowed in those tournaments (Australia in 1969).  She simply wrote a letter to a friend that she was thinking about it. She played on a tour with Jack Kramer a former amateur and a pro player running the events with Bobby Riggs. They played everywhere in unusual arenas like basketball courts and dining places. It was deemed a failure because Pauline was too good and no opponent could match her for many years. Jack Kramer remarked that "a women's sports can never survive, its not competitive enough."

Being honored with her family and Billie Jean King

At the same time, she married Bob Addie and had 5 children (2 adopted). She said that she need a man who either could match her athletically or someone who didn't play sports. She did make comeback in the late 60's in doubles and local pros who played her when she was in her late 50's says that she could have given Chris Evert a run for her money. She stuck to being an instructor and a touring demonstrator. Home life proved to be difficult as described by her daughter, Kim, a poet in the San Francisco area. Her husband died in 1982 but she lived on.  Parkinson's disease eventually claimed for her many years and  her life at the age of 91.

I don't know how she will be remembered. I remember ending the conversation to her by saying that she reminded me of a biblical story of Ruth and asked her if she had gypsy ancestry due to her pointy nose from that Time Magazine cover. Whatever, dude. Regardless, I hope Billie Jean or whoever will get her organizers to bring Pauline's history to the forefront as well.