How lucky are we?

[Twodogs]

Sitting here in a Monday morning watching the NFL makes me reflect how much more sport is on TV now than when I was a kid.

Back in the day we got two highlights packages of footy on 7 and 2 in Saturday night (usually flashing with each other and we didn't have VCRs or anyway of taping it-you had to choose which one you wanted to watch.) on Tuesday night's there were escort cup games until about halfway through the year and apart from a live broadcast of the Grand Final and State of Origin matches and that was it as far as footy telecasting went until 1982 when Sunday games started being broadcast from Sydney.

So, apart from panel shows and there were only two or three of those, that's footy on telly in its entirety up until the mid to late 80s.

Apart from that there was cricket and tennis and golf in summer just in time for school holidays. Sometimes there would be first division soccer broadcast live and usually the ABC broadcast MOTD through the week so you'd get to see the goals at least. Well mainly Liverpool and Ian Rush in particular back in the 70s and 80s. Wallabies games sometimes depending on who they played. Rugby League sometimes but the rights bounced from the ABC to 9 and back all the time and the coverage was all over the place.

The Olympics, that's what made it such an exceptional orgy of sport and it kind of misses that now.

Boxing waxed and wained. Sometimes it was everywhere and then you wouldn't hear about it.. Wrestling came and went too. And the only sport I can think off that was on a lot was other than those was snooker.

[Remi Moses]

Re: How lucky are we?

Kiddies these days don't know how good they've got it .
I remember listening to 3RPH who'd cross ti the BBC at midnight to listen to the English first division .
They stopped after a few years , then it was one of those 5$ a minute 0055 score service .
Magazines Shoot ! Were usually sold 3 months after they went on sale in the U.K.

[ledge]

Re: How lucky are we?

They also have to put up with all the social media rubbish we didn't have to back then ., that's their punishment.

[Twodogs]

Re: How lucky are we?

Kiddies these days don't know how good they've got it .
I remember listening to 3RPH who'd cross ti the BBC at midnight to listen to the English first division .
They stopped after a few years , then it was one of those 5$ a minute 0055 score service .
Magazines Shoot ! Were usually sold 3 months after they went on sale in the U.K.

Shit I'd forgotten 3RPH and the BBC World Service's Sports Hour. And ringing the 0055 numbers from work and then trying to intercept the itemised phone bill and 'lose' it before the manager saw it.

I've got a fan produced magazine I bought 30 years ago at a news agency in Yarraville-God knows how it found its way there but it's just photocopys of almost every newspaper article about Arsenal's 1990-91 season. A fair bit happens. Captain goes to gaol, win the league.

[Remi Moses]

Re: How lucky are we?

The two shows were " Match of the day" with Jimmy hill , and " Big league soccer" with Brian Moore
Always a week behind ! It was virtually like we were on another planet .

[Webby]

Re: How lucky are we?

Shit I'd forgotten 3RPH and the BBC World Service's Sports Hour. And ringing the 0055 numbers from work and then trying to intercept the itemised phone bill and 'lose' it before the manager saw it.

"WELCOME TO THE ABC's ENGLISH SOCCER HOTLINE.... (pause)

...... WITH THIS SERVICE WE BRING YOU ALL THE LATEST SCORES FROM THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, THE SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE, ENGLISH DIVISION ONE, DIVISION TWO, DIVISION THREE AND DIVISION FOUR, AS WELL AS SCOTTISH DIVISIONS ONE, DIVISION TWO AND DIVISION THREE..... (pause)

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, 4th OF ....... DECEMBER..... BARNSLEY NIL...... NOTTINGHAM FOREST ONE......
(Pause)
ARSENAL TWO, ASTON VILLA ONE..... (pause) etc etc.

5 bucks later, you're ripping your hair out..! It was a rort!

From
Memory, Colin Turner ended up voicing it and it sped up a bit. Geez it could be excruciating, though!

[Twodogs]

Re: How lucky are we?

Didn't they do it backwards in those 0055 numbers? I seem to remember sitting through a lot of 4th and 3rd divisions scores being read out very slowly waiting for them to get to the top division scores.

[Twodogs]

Re: How lucky are we?

The two shows were " Match of the day" with Jimmy hill , and " Big league soccer" with Brian Moore
Always a week behind ! It was virtually like we were on another planet .

Bum to bump to bump to bum, bum bum bump to barmmmmp!

[Webby]

Re: How lucky are we?

Didn't they do it backwards in those 0055 numbers? I seem to remember sitting through a lot of 4th and 3rd divisions scores being read out very slowly waiting for them to get to the top division scores.

They might've cheekily done that for a while, but my recollection was that they went to the EPL first - albeit excruciatingly slowly. If your team had slipped to a lower division or you wanted an SPL score, you were in struggle town!

[Twodogs]

Re: How lucky are we?

They might've cheekily done that for a while, but my recollection was that they went to the EPL first - albeit excruciatingly slowly. If your team had slipped to a lower division or you wanted an SPL score, you were in struggle town!

Then there was the Wrestling line.

[AndrewP6]

Re: How lucky are we?

Then there was the Wrestling line.

Used to ring that every week for a while. I probably owe my parents even more than I thought!

[Bulldog4life]

Re: How lucky are we?

Years ago the Wrestling results for Festival Hall were in the classified section ....where the VFL scores are now....of the HUN. I can see it now Mark Lewin beats Big John's Army with the help of Spiros Arion.

[Twodogs]

Re: How lucky are we?

Years ago the Wrestling results for Festival Hall were in the classified section ....where the VFL scores are now....of the HUN. I can see it now Mark Lewin beats Big John's Army with the help of Spiros Arion.

I went to school with Alec Iakavides's (I think that's how it was spelt, he was a pro Wrestler and good guy champ back in the 60s) kids. Peter was in my year and was a really nice guy. He worked as a bouncer at the Prince of Wales hotel and The Venue and The Corner and a lot of band venues around Melbourne and always nodded me through whenever he was on the door.

His brother Con went into the family business and did pretty well in the states under the name Mr Damage. I read somewhere that he was working with Bret Hart at one stage.