I am somewhat a sports fan, have been all of my life.
Presently watching a rerun of an Ohio State, Michigan game from 1969. How times have changed.
NO tribal dances after making a good play or a touchdown, they acted like they had done it before, gave the ball to the official, no "high fives," none of those jumping into each other, not sure what that means. I always felt that if I was a coach I would insist they save their energy for the game and not use it up in "tribal exhibitions."
NO TV replays of each play, 2 or 3 or 4 or more times. NO red flags to determine if the call was correct or not.
The field and surrounding area are void of advertising, no scoreboard at the bottom of the screen to let me know the score and the down and the time and the temperature and upcoming TV shows. There is a small gold M on the 50 yard line, yard markers and nothing more.
AND ...... ONE announcer, Keith Jackson, not a press box full of "experts," there is someone in the booth with him, but he says very little. Actually, in this game, and I remember watching it at a local bar, the Draft House, which I owned at the time, Ohio State was highly favored to win the game. Bo and Woody were the coaches. VIP seats were a row of benches against the brick wall that surrounds the playing field. On the sidelines were a few cameramen, cheerleaders and the teams.
Game is almost over, big upset, Michigan is going to win. Game is over. Ohio State sideline is sad, Michigan sideline is happy, "the upset of the century," both teams are leaving the field, together, no big celebration, they just played a game, and one team won. Woody is walking off, no police escort, Bo is walking off, no police escort, no microphones being shoved in their faces. They played a football game to see who could win, not to sell Honda s, and, their were NO TV timeouts for commercials.
I miss those days, just pure football, the focus was on the game, how great was that?
