Wednesday, June 8, 1966: NFL-AFL merger

The National Football League and American Football League announced plans Wednesday for a merger into a giant circuit of 26 teams in 25 cities under a single commissioner. The commissioner will be Pete Rozelle of the NFL, who, according to the joint announcement, will administer all inter-league business under a structure similar to major league baseball. The actual merger will not take place until 1970 after existing contracts expire. 

-- Story by Associated Press: @. Photo of Pete Rozelle by Bob Gomel.

* Summary from www.history.com: @

* "How Merger Will Operate" (Associated Press): @

* "Here's How It Happened" (Tex Schramm, Sports Illustrated, June 20, 1966): @
* "Birth of the new NFL: How the 1966 NFL/AFL Transformed Pro Football" (Larry Felser, 2008): @

* "The AFL-NFL merger was almost booted ... by a kicker" (Ken Rappoport, NFL.com, 2009): @
* "The American Football League's Foolish Club" (Jim Morrison, Smithsonian magazine, 2010): @
* NFL history by decade, 1961-1970 (www.nfl.com): @

* "The Merger: Forming the Conferences" (video, www.nfl.com): @
* www.remembertheafl.com: @

* afl-football.50webs.com: @

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Monday, April 18, 1966: AstroTurf

The Los Angeles Dodgers shelled veteran Robin Roberts with a barrage of singles Monday night and defeated the Houston Astros, 6-3, in the first official game played on the Astrodome's infield of synthetic grass. ... Neither club gave indication of concern about the pool table green infield made of tough nylon strips zippered together. There were three errors, but none could be blamed on the carpet-like material that Astro officials plan to extend into the outfield by mid-June.

     -- Story by Associated Press: @

     -- Image by Associated Press from July 1966, showing the installation of Astroturf in the Astrodome outfield.

* www.astroturf.com: @

* "Astroturf Applauded by Dodger" (Associated Press, April 19, 1966; from www.newspapers.com, subscription only): @
* "The Cool Bubble" (Roger Angell, 1966): @

* "The Rise and Fall of Artificial Turf" (Mark Armour, Baseball Analysts, 2006): @

* "MLB's turf wars are just about over" (Associated Press, September 2009): @

* "Materiality and Meaning: Synthetic Grass, Sport, and the Limits of Modern Progress" (Benjamin D. Lisle, 2012): @

* "Turf Wars" (Jennifer Weeks, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2013): @

* "Movies, Bullfights, and Baseball, Too: Astrodome Built for Spectacle First and Sports Second" (Eric Robinson, Society for American Baseball Research, 2014): @

* "Monofilament Ribbon Pile Product" (Patent, 1967): @
* Earlier post on the Astrodome (April 1965): @

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Saturday, March 19, 1966: Texas Western 72, Kentucky 65

With a starting lineup of five black players, Texas Western College beats the University of Kentucky (which did not have a single black player on its roster) for the NCAA men's basketball championship. Many accounts of the game -- including those from the Associated Press, United Press International, The New York Times and Sports Illustrated, all linked below -- did not mention the game's social significance. Shown here are two exceptions -- a column by sportswriter Harvey Yavener of The Trentonian (N.J.) newspaper, published March 21; and a story by Time magazine, published March 25). Texas Western is now known as the University of Texas at El Paso.

* Associated Press game story: @

* United Press International: @

* New York Times (from www.bigbluehistory.net): @

* Sports Illustrated (from www.UTEPathletics.com): @

* The Road to Glory (UTEP website): @

* "Significance of Texas Western's 1966 NCAA title not realized at first" (Jon Solomon, CBS Sports, 2016): @

* "Basketball's Game-Changer" (John Feinstein, Washington Post, 2008): @
* "A Win for Texas Western, A Triumph for Equality" (Michael Wilbon, Washington Post, 2006): @

* "Texas Western's 1966 title left lasting legacy" (Frank Fitzpatrick, ESPN Classic, 2003): @

* "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (Curry Kirkpatrick, Sports Illustrated, 1991): @

* "The Game: A Study in Black & White, 1966" (Bryan Woolley, Nova magazine, 1991): @
* "In An Alien World" (Jack Olsen, Sports Illustrated, 1968): @

* "All-America First: All-Negro 1st Team Topped by Alcindor" (Associated Press, 1967): @
* "And The Wheels Turned" (UTEP student-produced documentary): @

* "And The Walls Came Tumbling Down: The Basketball Game That Changed American Sports" (Frank Fitzpatrick, 2000): @

* "Basketball's Biggest Upset: Texas Western Changed The Sport With A Win Over Kentucky in 1966" (Ray Sanchez, 2005): @

* "Benching Jim Crow: The Rise and Fall of the Color Line in Southern College Sports, 1890-1980" (Charles H. Martin, 2010): @ 

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October 1965: Gatorade

    Gatorade was the result of an offhand question posed in 1965 by assistant football coach Dewayne Douglas to Dr. J. Robert Cade, a professor renal medicine: "Why don't football players ever urinate during a game?" Cade and his team of researchers -- Drs. Alejando de Quesada, Jim Free and Dana Shires -- began investigating dehydration on the sports field -- a topic on which no reliable data existed.

     They soon designed and tested a drink that replaced the electrolytes lost through sweat during intense exercise. With the permission of the coaches, Cade's team was allowed to test the drink on the freshman football team, which unexpectedly beat the upperclassmen in a practice session (Friday, October 1). Ray Graves, Florida's head coach, immediately ordered up a large batch for his varsity squad, and on Saturday, October 2, the Gators upset the fifth-ranked LSU Tigers, 14-7.

     -- Summary from Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention, Gainesville, Florida

     -- Photo of Florida offensive coordinator Ed Kensler and quarterback Steve Spurrier, September 1966; in the early days players drank the mixture from milk cartons provided by the university's Department of Dairy Science. Image from University of Florida.

* "Gators Do It Again, 14-7" (Ocala Star-Banner, October 3, 1965): @

* "The Taste That's Gatorade" (Newspaper Enterprise Association, April 18, 1967): @
* "Gatorade Gives the Gators Their GO!" (All Florida magazine, April 23, 1967): @
* "Guzzling Gatorade" (Red Smith, September 7, 1967): @
* "The Bottle and the Babe" (Sports Illustrated, July 1, 1968): @
* Interview with Robert Cade (1996; University of Florida Digital Collections): @
* "Gatorade: The Idea That Launched an Industry" (Office of Research, University of Florida, 2003): @ 
* "First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon" (Darren Rovell, 2006): @
* University of Florida historical marker (dedicated 2007): @

* "Raise a Glass to the Father of Energy Drinks" (New York Times, 2007): @
* A Little Glucose, A Little Sodium, One Giant Legend" (The Post, Health Science Center, University of Florida, December 2007-January 2008, page 4): @
* "Dr. Cade Wins the Orange Bowl" (chapter from "It Happened in Florida: Remarkable Events That Shaped Florida History," 2009): @ 
* "Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports" (Tim Noakes, 2012): @
* "Gator Go: The Story of a Failed Sports Drink" (Home: Living in the Heart of Florida magazine, October 2014): @ 
* "Lightning in a Bottle" (SportsBusiness Daily, 2015): @
* "Innovation Turns 50" (Office of Research, University of Florida): @
* "The Sweat Solution" (ESPN Films, 2015): @

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Sunday, August 22, 1965: Juan Marichal and John Roseboro

Photo by Neil Leifer: @

From Sarasota Herald-Tribune: @

Photo by Neil Leifer: @

* "Marichal Clubs Roseboro With a Bat" (New York Times): @

* "The Fight of Their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball's Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption" (John Rosengren, 2014): @

* Excerpt from "The Fight of Their Lives" (Sports Illustrated, 2014): @

* 2005 story by Gwen Knapp, San Francisco Chronicle: @
* "Incident at Candlestick" (MLB Network, 2009): @

* "What Baseball's Most Famous Brawl Photo Didn't Show You" (Deadspin, 2014): @
* "Juan Marichal clubbed John Roseboro 50 years ago in ugly, iconic incident" (ESPN, 2015): @

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Tuesday, May 25, 1965: Clay-Liston 'phantom punch'

LEWISTON, Maine -- In a one-minute fiasco that was worse than their first meeting in Miami Beach 15 months ago, Cassius Clay retained the world heavyweight title by knocking out old Sonny Liston in St. Dom's Arena Tuesday night. The first punch thrown by the 23-year-old champion was a short, nearly invisible right hand that landed on Liston's jaw. It was his only punch, after running, backing and ducking from Liston's determined pursuit. Liston crumpled from the blow, rolled over flat on his back, turned and tried to get, fell again. 

     -- "Just A Minute Clay Still Champ" (Jesse Abramson, New York Herald Tribune): @

     -- Photo by Neil Leifer, Sports Illustrated

* "Clay Wins By KO In One Minute Of 1st Round" (Associated Press): @

* "Muhammad Ali in Lewiston: The Legend of the Phantom Punch is Born" (New England Historical Society): @
* "The Night the Ali-Liston Fight Came to Lewiston" (New York Times, 2015): @

* "Ali-Liston 50th anniversary: The true story behind Neil Leifer's perfect photo" (Slate, 2015): @ 

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Friday, April 9, 1965: The Astrodome

HOUSTON, Tex. -- There was a bomb scare but President Johnson showed no concern Friday night as he and 47,876 other fans watched air conditioned baseball. An anonymous report that a bomb had been placed in the $31.6 million Harris County Domed Stadium proved false but it caused the President and the first lady to be late for the opening of the all-weather structure. They saw 7 1/2 innings as the Houston Astros opened their astrodome by beating the New York Yankees 2-1 in 12 innings. The President told newsmen he was impressed with the stadium, which permits professional baseball to move indoors for the first time. Because of the bomb scare, the presidential party watched the game from the private suite of Roy Hofheinz and R.E. (Bob) Smith, owner of the Astros. The suite is 30 feet above the right field pavilion and the crowd saw the President and Mrs. Johnson only through its windows. They did not go down on the playing field.

     -- Story from Associated Press

     -- Photo from Houston Chronicle; caption reads: A photo taken from the Astrodome's gondola shows the stadium's baseball field on April 1, 1965.

* "First Game in the Astrodome" (www.astrosdaily.com): @

* "Rain or shine -- play ball!" (Life magazine, April 9, 1965): @
* "What a Wonder! What a Blunder!" (Life magazine, April 23): @
* Summary from Texas State Historical Association: @

* Summary from American Historic Engineering Record, National Park Service: @
* Overview from "Housing the Spectacle: Dome Case Studies" (Columbia University): @
* "Game Over for the Astrodome, 'Stadium of the Future' " (New York Times, March 2015): @ 

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Saturday, January 16, 1965: AFL All-Star game

The American Football League's All-Star game is played in Houston. The game was moved from the original site, New Orleans, after black players voted against playing because of their treatment by businesses in that city.

-- UPI photo from talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com

* "50 Years Ago: How New Orleans Lost the 1965 AFL All-Star Game" (New Orleans Advocate, 2015): @
* "Players Boycott AFL All-Star Game" (Pro Football Hall of Fame): @

* "Protest of Race-Related Slights Brought '65 Game Here" (Houston Chronicle, 2005): @

* "New Orleans, New Football League, and New Attitudes: The American Football League All-Star Game Boycott, January 1965" (Maureen Smith, in "Sports and the Racial Divide," 2008): @
* "AFL All-Star Game Is Moved to Houston" (Associated Press, January 12, 1965): @

* "Tackle Mix Backed Idea, Not Method" (Associated Press, January 14, 1965): @
* "Was This Their Freedom Ride?" (Sports Illustrated, January 18, 1965): @
* "AFL's Switch Dramatizes Negro Importance to Game" (Shirley Povich, Washington Post, January 17, 1965): @
* "The Black Athlete: A Shameful Story" (Five-part series in Sports Illustrated, July 1968): @ (first installment; click on "covers / full issues for rest of series)
* Photos of All-Star squads (www.remembertheAFL.com): @ and @ 

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Thursday, October 1, 1964: Bullet train

TOKYO -- Japan's new electric "Dream Train" rolled out of Tokyo station this morning on its 347-mile maiden trip to Osaka. The train has a top speed of 125 mph. Japanese rail officials planned the fast service to start in time for the Olympic games opening here Oct. 10. (United Press International)

-- Photo from Kyodo News Service. Caption: A superexpress Hikari train passes by (Tokyo's) Nichigeki Theatre in Yurakucho district on Dec. 21, 1964. Tokaido Shinkansen line was inaugurated on Oct. 1 just before Tokyo and Shin-Osaka in four hours and emerging as the world's first high-speed rail for mass transport.

* "Japan's Bullet Train, the World's First (and Still Best) High-Speed Rail Network, Turns 50" (Next City): @

* "Japan's Shinkansen: Revolutionary design at 50" (BBC): @

* "Fifty Years Ago and Today, Japan Blazes Trails with Trains": @

* "About the Shinkansen" (Central Japan Railway Company): @

* Episode of "Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections" (2011): @
* "High Speed Rail in Japan: A Review and Evaluation of the Shinkansen Train" (University of California Transportation Center, 1992): @ 

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Tuesday, August 18, 1964: South Africa banned from Summer Olympics

South Africa has been barred from taking part in the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo over its refusal to condemn apartheid. The International Olympic Committee announced the decision in Lausanne, Switzerland, after South Africa failed to met an ultimatum to comply with its demands by 16 August. The IOC originally withdrew South Africa's invitation to Japan during the winter games in Innsbruck, Austria. It said the decision could be overturned only if South Africa renounced racial discrimination in sport and opposed the ban in its own country on competition between black and white athletes.

     -- From BBC; link: @

* "South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games" (South African History Online): @

* Excerpt from "The Politics of South African Football" (Oshebeng Alpheus Koonyaditse, 2010): @ 

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Friday, April 10, 1964: Polo Grounds

A massive steel ball crashed against the grandstand wall of the Polo Grounds Friday with a thud -- unlike the sharp crack of a bat on a ball. The thud started the demolishing of the old diamond home of such greats as John J. McGraw, Christy Mathewson, Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott and Willie Mays to make way for 30-story apartment buildings.
     -- "Historic Polo Grounds Comes Tumbling Down in New York" (Associated Press; full story: @)
     -- Top photo from www.ballparksofbaseball.com; bottom photo from ESPN

* "Wrecker's Ball Tolls Knell at Polo Grounds" (Associated Press): @

* History of ballpark (Society for American Baseball Research): @

* Entry from www.ballparks.com: @
* Entry from www.ballparksofbaseball.com: @
* Entry from www.andrewclem.com: @
* "Classic Shots of the Polo Grounds" (Sports Illustrated): @
* "Polo Grounds, and Its Former Tenants, Emerge From the Shadows" (New York Times, January 2011): @
* "Land of the Giants: New York's Polo Grounds" (Stew Thornley, 2000): @ 

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Thursday, March 12, 1964: New Hampshire lottery

They're off and running in the New Hampshire sweepstakes, the nation's only state-sponsored lottery in the 20th Century. Tickets went on sale at Rockingham Park race track last night and some 3,600, including Gov. John W. King, paid $3 for a chance to win $100,000.

     -- Associated Press, March 13 (link to story: @)

* "Gambling For The Yankee Dollar" (Sports Illustrated, March 30): @

* "New Hampshire Lottery Drum Yields First Racing Tickets" (Associated Press, July 15): @

* "Big Draw In A Little State" (Sports Illustrated, July 27): @

* "Sweepstakes Copped by Roman Brother" (Associated Press, September 13): @

* "Roman Brother Wins New Hampshire Sweepstakes" (newsreel): @

* "The $100,000 Finish in First U.S. Sweeps" (Life magazine, September 25): @

* "New Hampshire Sweepstakes: Early Returns Are Indecisive" (Associated Press, December 13): @

* New Hampshire Lottery history (from www.nhlottery.com): @

* Lottery timeline (from North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries): @ 

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Tuesday, February 25, 1964: Cassius Clay

Jabbing, jabbering Cassius Clay ruled as heavyweight champion of the world today in an unbelievable upset at Miami Beach because of one punch -- and he didn't even throw it. Sonny Liston, the supposedly unconquerable "killer," threw the punch and when it missed the follow-through, twisted a tendon in his massive left shoulder.

     -- The Miami News (link: @)

Tuesday night was the night that was for Cassius Clay. He became heavyweight boxing champion of the world -- just like he said he would. He didn't do it so much with his fists, or his fast talk for which he is noted, but with an "injury" to his opponent, Charles "Sonny" Liston. 

     -- United Press International (link: @)

Cassius Clay, a 7-1 longshot, scored one of the major upsets in boxing history Tuesday night when Sonny Liston gave up the world heavyweight title in his corner because of a strained left shoulder.

     -- Associated Press (link: @)

Incredibly, the loud-mouthed bragging, insulting youngster had been telling the truth all along. Cassius Clay won the world heavyweight title tonight when a bleeding Sonny Liston, his left shoulder injured, was unable to answer the bell for the seventh round.
     -- The New York Times (link to PDF: @)

Like the Lord High Executioner getting ready for another payday, Sonny Liston fixed a fresh victim with his famous full-whammy stare. Cassius Clay didn't pay much attention. Taunting, jabbing and above all, staying out of range of the champ's left hook, Clay simply kept his mind on proving that, as he had so often noted, "I am the greatest!"
     -- Life magazine (March 6; link: @)

There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats.
-- Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene 3
     But there was. In Miami Beach last week, Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. acted out a scene that was worthy of the Old Bard himself -- or maybe P.T. Barnum. Just as he said he would, he took the heavyweight championship of the world away from Charles ("Sonny") Liston, thereby proving that the mouth is faster than the eye.
     -- Time magazine (March 6; subscription-only link: @)

It was, no matter what you have read or heard, an enormously exciting fight. It matched the classic contenders for a heavyweight championship of the world -- a beautiful, controlled boxer against a man who could hit with deadly power. The fight -- Clay against Liston -- restored balance and intelligence to the concept of boxing. The boxer, using his skills with aplomb and courage and forethought, confounded and defeated the slugger.
     -- Sports Illustrated magazine (March 9; link: @)

The February 25 midnight "Victory Party" planned for Sonny Liston at Miami Beach's luxurious Fontainebleau Hotel was canceled due to the lack of a guest of honor. 
     -- Jet magazine (March 12; link: @)

     -- Photo by Associated Press

January 27
"Fighter Cassius Clay Has Keen Interest in Muslims" (New York Herald Tribune): @

February 28
"Cassius Clay Admits Adoption of Black Muslim Membership" (Associated Press): @

"Cassius Clay Admits He's a Black Muslim" (Associated Press): @
"Clay Admits Joining Black Muslims Sect" (United Press International): @

March 7
Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Black Muslims, Friday night bestowed upon heavyweight champion Cassius Clay the name "Muhammad Ali." (Associated Press): @

* Video of fight: @
* Excerpt from "Bert Sugar on Boxing" (2003): @
* "Ali and Liston: The Boy Who Would Be King and the Ugly Bear" (Bob Mee, 2011): @
* "The Devil and Sonny Liston" (Nick Tosches, 2000): @ 

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Monday, January 20, 1964: Sports Illustrated's first swimsuit issue

Babette March is pictured on the magazine's cover; inside is a Caribbean travel guide, with five pages of swimsuit photos. (Note: The February 21, 1955 issue showed Betty di Bugnano on the cover, but the 1964 issue was the first of what would become the magazine's annual showcase.)
* January 20, 1964 cover: @

* February 21, 1955 cover: @
* Covers through the years (from SI): @

* "The Pixie Pioneer" (SI, 1989): @

* Babette March's website: @

* "The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue: An Intellectual History" (Bryan Curtis, Slate, 2005): @
* "The Girls of Winter" (audio from Vanity Fair, 2014): @

* "The Swimsuit Issue and Sport: Hegemonic Masculity in Sports Illustrated" (Laurel R. Davis, 1997): @

* Entry on "bikini" from "The Berg Companion to Fashion" (Valerie Steele, 2010): @ 

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Saturday, December 7, 1963: Instant replay

     It was early in the fourth quarter of the 64th Army-Navy football game. Army quarterback Rollie Stichweh broke a tackle from 1 yard out and ran in for a touchdown. A few seconds later, television viewers watched it again -- the first instant replay.
     "This is not live!" CBS announcer Lindsey Nelson said. "Ladies and gentleman, Army did not score again!"
     -- From The Associated Press, 1999; full story: @
     -- Image of Stichweh's touchdown from video, linked below

* "Instant Replay: The Day that Changed Sports Forever" (Tony Verna, 2008): @ (book) and @ (website)
* "Army-Navy, instant replay, Tony Verna, 45 years later" (The Associated Press, 2008): @
* "The Instant Replay: Time and Time Again" (Christopher Hanson, Spectator journal, University of Southern California, 2008): @

* "A look at TV's instant replay through the years" (Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 2013): @
* "Sports on Television: The How and Why Behind What You See" (Dennis Deninger, 2012): @
* "The President's Team: The 1963 Army-Navy Game and the Assassination of JFK" (Michael Connelly, 2010): @

* 1963 Navy highlights (video): @

* Highlights of an iconic show: A short history of 'Hockey Night in Canada' " (Tara Deschamps, The Globe and Mail, 2013): @

* "Something You Might Not Know About Canada: Instant Replay" (video, CBC, 2012): @ 

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December 1963: Sonny Liston

The heavyweight boxing champion appears on the cover of Esquire magazine in a Santa hat. Cover design by George Lois; photo by Carl Fischer.

Esquire editor Harold Hayes would write in 1981: "Sonny Liston was a bad black who beat up good blacks, like Floyd Patterson; there was no telling what he might do to a white man. In 1963, when this was the sort of possibility that preyed on white men's minds everywhere, George Lois's Christmasy cover was something more than an inducement for readers to buy Dad extra shaving soap. Lois's angry icon insisted on several things: the split in our culture was showing; the notion of racial equality was a bad joke; the felicitations of this season -- goodwill to all men, etc. -- carried irony more than sentiment."
* Comments from George Lois: @

* "The King of Visceral Design" (New York Times, April 2008): @
* Carl Fischer Photography: @

* Short Liston biography (from American National Biography Online): @

* "O Unlucky Man: Fortune never smiled on Sonny Liston, even when he was champ" (William Nack, Sports Illustrated, 1991): @
* "Esquire covers honor boxing's prime" (Todd Boyd, ESPN, 2008): @
* Esquire covers through the years: @
* "The Esquire decade" (Vanity Fair, 2007): @
* "It Wasn't Pretty, Folks, but Didn't We Have Fun? Surviving the '60s with Esquire's Harold Hayes" (Carol Polsgrove, 1995): @ 

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