Spanning the globe

[Jake from State Farm]

One of the greatest lines in a movie filled with them

 

[HanSenSE]

There was also something called the Battle of the Network Stars. Howard Cosell was the host. Which of course reminds one of this SNL classic.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

I was at my aunt's house (just visiting with my family for some random reason less than 2 weeks before Turkey Day in 1982) when on a Saturday on WWWOS, I watched Ray Mancini literally beat the brains out of Duk-Koo Kim.

(The Googs say it was on CBS but I do not recall that.)

 

[dixiehack]

Aussie Rules Football
Roller Derby
Laffalympics

 

[Jake from State Farm]

That was the real Aussie football with refs in white hat and tails and raw boned sons of ******* on the pitch

 

[dixiehack]

That was the real Aussie football with refs in white hat and tails and raw boned sons of ******* on the pitch

Damn right. And the VFL was still discombobulated because there was a new team in Sydney.

 

[BTExpress]

 

[wicked]

Boxing live, on a Saturday afternoon. Imagine that. ABC had some decent bouts on Wide World in the late ‘80s. It wasn’t Tyson, but they were known fighters. The idea of having all these fights at midnight Eastern time hadn’t become a thing.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

I covered an NBC fight in Tampa: John “The Beast” Mugabi and Frank “The Animal” Fletcher. Got to interview Marv Albert too.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Demolition Derby from Islip Speedway on Long Island was a WWOS staple for many years.

Superstars was a nice offseason paycheck for some athletes in an era when they didn't make millions.

Islip NY, home of Tigers legend Tom Veryzer

 

[ChrisLong]

Islip NY, home of Tigers legend Tom Veryzer

Did Veryzer have a '52 Pontiac in the destruction derby or the Figure-8 race?

 

[Slacker]

Say what you like, but nothing beats "Battle of the PBS Stars."

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

One of the key linchpins of the Wide World of Sports in the 1970s was NASCAR. Maybe they should go back to that (although the can't have Keith Jackson as the announcer, obv).

 

[Here me roar]

It actually didn't matter what was on wide world of sports, we were watching it. We were thirsty for sports. I suspect that was even more true during the cold winter months.

 

[HanSenSE]

Boxing live, on a Saturday afternoon. Imagine that. ABC had some decent bouts on Wide World in the late ‘80s. It wasn’t Tyson, but they were known fighters. The idea of having all these fights at midnight Eastern time hadn’t become a thing.

Even better, those great shows Cosell would do a week or so breaking down an Ali fight that had been on closed circuit TV.

 

[Gym Beam]

I always liked the Celtic Games on ESPN, with feats of strength like the capel toss.

"Dafuq?"

 

[Gym Beam]

This filled many an hour of my youth...