Epic Tug or War in 1978: KC Royals vs. Dallas Cowboys

[DanT]

Back in the 1970's, when there were only the three major networks, ABC had a sports competition pitting great athletes from various sports against one another in athletic feats. There were individual as well as team formats. The 1978 SuperTeams competition took place in February and came down to an epic tug of war between the Royals and the Cowboys. Here are a couple of links for us old-timers to reminisce and for the young'uns to see some history.

Webpage with results:
http://www.thesuperstars.org/comp/78team.html


Two videos (Parts 1 and 2) showing the broadcast of the tug or war segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdgV_vCLMxQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwwTADRwi0Y

[KCrockaholic]

Awesome, it's like the beach Olympics. When I was in Cabo earlier this month, I got to be in an 8 team beach Olympics that came down to the final two teams in a tug of war match quite like this. My team won, and when it all settled, one of the opponents ended up tearing a knee somehow during this, so quite an ending, but everybody ended up ok I think.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by DanT

Interesting. Fred Patek was the reigning American League Stolen Base leader and Harvey Martin handed off about the same time as Patek, and then Randy White burned Frank White. Says a lot about that pair of linemen.

I've never heard of Patek, but I was looking at him and thinking, "This guy was a pro athlete"? Nothing about him looked athletic or even graceful.

I thought it was funny that the Cowboys' nose tackle and defensive end were faster than the Royals' second baseman and short stop. In fairness, though, the linemen in those days were smaller than today's linebackers. I was surprised when they listed the weights of White and Martin as 245 and 238, because I always thought of them as being bigger guys, especially Randy White. He was a monster run stopper.

[DanT]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I've never heard of Patek, but I was looking at him and thinking, "This guy was a pro athlete"? Nothing about him looked athletic or even graceful.

I thought it was funny that the Cowboys' nose tackle and defensive end were faster than the Royals' second baseman and short stop. In fairness, though, the linemen in those days were smaller than today's linebackers. I was surprised when they listed the weights of White and Martin as 245 and 238, because I always thought of them as being bigger guys, especially Randy White. He was a monster run stopper.

Freddie Patek was a very popular player and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He was the shortest guy in the majors and, when asked about how that felt, would say it was better than being the tallest guy in the minors. One of the images seered into longtime Royals fans' memories is of Patek, dejected and alone, after the Royals great 1977 season ended so shockingly http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/ne...ure-id93044780

[DanT]

Originally Posted by Joe Posnanski

When you were the smallest boy in your class in 1970s, and you had stood in the front of lines ordered by height too many times, and you had heard all the, “Were you out playing handball against the curb:” jokes, and you were tormented again and again by Randy Nemwan’s song “Short People” — which came out, coincidentally, in 1977 — you turned to Freddie Patek.

He not just a short ballplayer. He was THE short ballplayer. He was the essence of what a proud little man could do in a big man’s world. He would run you ragged, and bunt you silly, and if underestimated him and threw him a cookie, he just might take you deep. And he still answered to “Freddie.”

To say Freddie Patek was a hero of mine undersells the word “hero.” He was someone who made me believe in possibilities.

One of the most poignant moments of my life as a sports fan happened when Patek hit into the double play that ended the 1977 American League Championship Series. The camera closed in on him in the dugout, he was the very picture of dejection, and I sat on the floor of our television room in our little house in Cleveland, looking I’m sure very much the same way. It just wasn’t right.

http://joeposnanski.com/going-all-the-way-back-to-1977/

[scho63]

I loved watching:

The SuperTeams

Battle of the Network Stars

Sports Challenge (Hosted by the recently departed Dick Enberg)

[displacedinMN]

Superstars was awesome.

Battle of the network stars was good too. One guy ran a 200m on a cinder track barefoot.

The latest Battle of Network stars SUCKED.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

The latest Battle of Network stars SUCKED.

Lacked the 70s jiggle factor

[displacedinMN]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

Lacked the 70s jiggle factor

and Stars.