Scott Adamson, Author at Adamsonmedia.com

When the Southmen tried to rise again

By February, 1976, the World Football League was more or less a distant memory.

It had folded on October 22, 1975 – a rebooted second season shunned by fans and TV networks. (The ill-fated, lower budget attempt followed an inaugural 1974 campaign that drowned in red ink).

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But while the likes of the Southern California Sun, Philadelphia Bell and The Hawaiians were no more, one team existed, at least in a technical sense.

Four months after the WFL’s demise, the Memphis Southmen were hoping to play on. Owner John Bassett still had former Miami Dolphins stars Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield and Jim Kiick under contract, as well as head coach John McVay. He even held a stadium lease for the Liberty Bowl.

While both Memphis and the Birmingham Vulcans, a fellow member of the defunct WFL, had applied to membership in the National Football League, only the Southmen had an existing infrastructure in place.

“I am optimistic about getting into the NFL this season because I have no reason not to be optimistic,” Bassett, a Canadian businessman, told the Toronto Star for a February 3, 1976, article. “They want to meet with us again. The NFL had to be impressed with the Memphis application. We have money from 46,000 applicants for season tickets, along with written requests for 8,000 more. That’s at $10 per ticket. There are 1,200 box seats at $15 each. They are sold.”

No question Bassett had all his ducks in a row. Only problem was, the NFL had already granted expansion franchises to Seattle and Tampa Bay. The Seahawks and Buccaneers were set to debut during the 1976 season, increasing the league to 28 teams.

Memphis squeezing in at 29 would be quite a feat.

But Bassett believed there was a chance, and so did McVay.

The coach who led the Southmen to a 24-8 record was busy, well, being a coach while Bassett continued to court the NFL.

“The things we’re doing are the same things we would do if the NFL accepts us,” McVay said in an interview with United Press International that appeared on February 29, 1976. “We’re getting ready for the draft, trying to evaluate personnel, rate them and see how they’d fit into our needs. Everything we’re doing is geared to going into the NFL in 1976.”

McVay scouted the Senior Bowl in January, and also sent scouts to the Hula Bowl. He told UPI he was researching the college draft as well as a potential expansion draft involving his team as well as Seattle and Tampa Bay.

McVay’s contract was valid until 1977, and he said 30 Southmen in all were still signed up to the team that last played on October 19, 1975. Aside from the “Big Three,” quarterback Danny White, receiver Ed Marshall and running back Willie Spencer continued to be paid by Bassett.

“In my heart I believe Memphis will get a franchise in 1976, ‘77 or ‘78,” McVay said. “All we can do is make a solid proposal and wait.”

The wait ended on March 16, 1976, when NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announced that with Seattle and Tampa Bay coming into the league, owners decided there would be no NFL expansion for “the foreseeable future.”

“After a lengthy and thorough discussion, the clubs concluded that under the present conditions – that is our legal and labor problems – they could not firmly commit to expansion at this time. However, it is clear that these two cities (Memphis and Birmingham) were the most active in recent months and will be among those most strongly considered when the league eventually feels it can expand.”

Needless to say, Bassett was not happy.

“It’s a tremendous disservice to the people of Memphis who worked so hard and demonstrated the ability to form and support the team,” Bassett said. “I think their (NFL owners) reasons are totally unacceptable and transparent.”

Once the Southmen dissolved, Csonka, Warfield and Kiick returned to the NFL.

Csonka spent three years with the New York Giants before returning to Miami for one last season in 1979. Warfield, who began his pro career with the Cleveland Browns, ended there as well, playing in 1976 and 1977. Both men are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Kiick signed with the Denver Broncos in 1976 and played with the Broncos and Washington Redskins in 1977. He died in 2020, and was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

McVay (grandfather of Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay) was assistant coach with the Giants in 1976 and head coach from 1977-79. He went on to have a 20-year executive career with the San Francisco Giants.

He was 91 when he passed away in 2022.

As for Bassett, he moved his World Hockey Association franchise, the Toronto Toros, to Birmingham in 1976, and owned the United States Football League’s Tampa Bay Bandits from 1983-85. Bassett succumbed to cancer in 1987. He was only 47.

Fifty years after the Southmen’s failed bid, Memphis is still without an NFL team – and that status will likely not change. Instead, it’s Nashville that represents Tennessee in pro football’s biggest league – with the Houston Oilers leaving Texas and ultimately morphing into the Tennessee Titans.

In 1997 the Titans (still carrying the Oilers brand) played their inaugural season in Memphis while a stadium was being built in the Music City. Local fans who wanted a team of their own mostly steered clear of the Liberty Bowl; the squad averaged just 28,027 fans per home game.

Bespoke Wishcasting

The “Open” sign on the door at Bespoke Wishcasting, Inc., illuminated promptly at 9 a.m. Once it did, Cuthbert Tiffany sauntered in and gave the place a quick once-over. The two employees, wearing light blue golf shirts bearing the company logo, recognized him immediately.

And who wouldn’t? Thanks to a monumental family fortune he inherited when he turned 21, Tiffany was the richest man in the world – by far – and made sure everyone knew it. He owned the largest yacht ever built (for a laugh, he named it the S.S. Minnow); oversaw construction of the tallest building on the planet (the Tiffany Tower in Qatar, which had plenty of space but, to date, no occupants); and even formed the World Elite Amateur Sailing League, in which players paid $1 million per event for the privilege of participating. He, in fact, served as president of WEASL as well as player-coach of the Martha’s Vinyard Diamond Deckers.

He had almost everything, but it was the “almost” part that bedeviled him.

That’s where Bespoke Wishcasting, Inc., came in.

For a price – and that price varied depending on the job – the friendly Wishcasters at the company could give you anything you requested.

A trip to the moon? No problem … the rocket would be fueled and ready for launch in no time. A spot in the Indianapolis 500? They’d make sure you had the car and the crew to run toward the front during time trials. A bestselling novel? Write whatever you like and it’ll fly off the shelves. If you named it and claimed it – and had the money to pay for it – it was all yours.

And what Tiffany wanted was Penelope Garner, his high school flame who was now married with a family and living abroad. He had contacted her several times over the years in hopes of luring her away from what he called “her dull life,” but to no avail. She wasn’t just uninterested in him – she had gone so far as to file a restraining order to make sure he stayed away.

That was fine … Tiffany wanted a fresh start anyway, and the only way to get it was to travel back to May 25, 1979, and get a do-over prom date with Penelope.

“So, who runs the show here?” asked Tiffany, staring at the workers.

“I’m Bernadine and this is my brother, Basil,” said the young woman as she stepped from behind the sparkling white counter and extended her hand. “I’ll be glad to assist you, Mr. Tiffany.”

“Yeah, I don’t do handshakes,” he said, waving her off. “Look, you people have a reputation for being able to do what no one else can do, and I’m gonna give you a chance to prove it. But before I waste my time, I need to know if you have reliable time travel capabilities.”

“Absolutely,” Basil said, without hesitation. “It’s quite expensive, of course, but I’m assuming that won’t be a problem for you.”

“You assume correctly. What I want is to be transported about 47 years in the past, to May 25, 1979. I even have the exact time for you … 6:12 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time. And the address in 312 Wisteria Commons Drive.”

Bernadine walked over to a computer, made a series of clicks, and smiled.

“OK,” she said. “You want to travel to the home of Gavin Garner, circa 1979. That shouldn’t be a problem in the least. I do need to know the reason for your visit … time travel is more than just a flash of light and a whoosh … we have to have data points.”

Tiffany shrugged.

“Whatever. I’m going back to take Gavin Garner’s daughter, Penelope, to the senior prom. The last time I tried it, things went sideways pretty quickly.”

“How so?” Bernadine asked.

“Is that really any of your business?”

“No, sir, none of mine,” Bernadine said. “But it’s part of the time travel business. To make this work, I have to know everything you remember. In other words, I need you to describe everything that happened on that date and that time.”

Tiffany let out a long sigh.

“OK, I rang the bell and her father answered the door – I had never met him before. Well, I had kinda met him before, but I didn’t realize he was Penelope’s dad.”

“Kinda met him?”

“He was a garbage man … you know, I guess they call them sanitation workers now. Anyway, I’d see him picking up our trash and you know – I was just a kid messing around – I’d throw quarters at him and yell things like, “How does it feel to be around rich people, Mr. Smelley? It was just a goof.”

Bernadine typed in the info.

“So, did he recognize you when you came to pick up Penelope?”

“He did … he did, indeed. Looked at Penelope and said, ‘Penny, this is the young man who likes to throw quarters at me.” Her face turned red and she slammed the door in my face.”

Bernadine nodded.

“So, I suspect you want to go back in time and apologize to Mr. Garner?”

Tiffany huffed.

“Hell, no. I wanna stick my foot in the door and tell Penelope I’m the richest man in the world and can make her the luckiest girl in the world. Once she knows she can spend her life with a billionaire genius and get away from garbage daddy, I’ll finally get everything I want. So, how soon can you portal me or zap me or whatever it is you people do?”

“It usually takes a couple of hours to get everything set up,” Basil said. “But considering who you are, we’ll do it right away. The fee is $57 billion. Something like this is normally $58 billion, but you’re our first customer today, so you get a discount. Once the transaction is done, you’ll just step into the Dematerialization Zone, which is that circle on the floor next to the counter. Once we activate it, you’ll see it glow, spin and hear a whir, and you’ll feel slightly dizzy. In roughly 10 seconds, you’ll be on the porch of the Garner residence at exactly 6:12 p.m. on May 25, 1979.”

Tiffany hastily pulled out his phone, transferred the money to the Bespoke Wishcasting, Inc., account, and stepped inside the circle.

“Do it,” he snapped.

Just as Basil said, within 10 seconds of the glow, spin and whir, Tiffany dematerialized and was transported to the time and destination of his choice.

When the process was complete, Bernadine and Basil looked at each other and broke into laughter.

“Oh, how I wish I could be there,” Bernadine said. “Just to see the look on Cuthbert’s face when he realizes he’s a 65-year old man trying to take a 17-year old to the prom. He really didn’t think this one through, did he? Now he’s stuck there and his money’s here. So much for being a billionaire genius.”

“Forget his face,” Basil said, flashing a huge smile. “Imagine granddad’s … and mom’s. Let’s call her and see if she remembers … I want details.”

The ABA’s longest games

A normal pro basketball game lasts 48 minutes.

But half a century ago in the American Basketball Association, the New York Nets and Virginia Squires completed a showdown that took 67 and a half minutes of clock time and 17 days – and it didn’t even go to overtime.

On January 7, 1976, at the Norfolk Scope, the Squires brought an ABA-worst record of 5-28 against Julius “Dr. J” Erving and the Nets. After four, 12-minute quarters, lowly Virginia had apparently secured a 112-89 victory, giving fans of the hard-luck squad a rare reason to celebrate in what would be the ABA’s final season.

To say the contest was tense would be quite the understatement.

New York coach Kevin Loughery drew six – yes, six – technical fouls, and his team was issued nine in all. One of the coach’s came in the second quarter, another was issued with 2:46 to play when officials claimed the Nets were using an illegal zone defense, and he was tagged with four more Ts for continuing to argue with the men in black (and white).

Mike Jackson led the hosts with 32 points and 17 rebounds, while rookie teammate Mel Bennett pumped in 24. Dr. J was limited to 26 points after fouling out with 7:28 left to play.

That, however, was not the end of the story – or even the end of the game.

ABA commissioner Dave DeBusschere called Loughery into his office the next day to discuss his rash of technical fouls. When he did, the Nets boss announced that he was protesting the game because Virginia’s Willie Wise was permitted to re-enter the tilt after being injured and failing to participate in a jump ball, a violation of Rule 6, Section 4 of the ABA rule book.

The rule reads: “The jump call shall be between the players involved unless injury precludes one or both of the jumpers from participating. If the injured player must leave the game, he will not be permitted to re-enter the game and the opposing coach selects the replacement.”

Loughery wound up being fined $1,000 and suspended two games for his multiple techs, but DeBusschere upheld the protest.

On January 13, the commissioner fined officials Jess Kersey and Bob Serafin for permitting the violation, which occurred in the third quarter of the contest. And he ruled that the game would be picked up with 19:05 remaining and the Squires leading, 63-49.

Wise would not be allowed to play in the continuation, which would take place on January 24 before the regularly scheduled rematch between the clubs.

“The referees erred by permitting Wise, then an illegal player, to return with 7:05 remaining in the third quarter,” DeBusschere said in a statement released by the ABA. “They are supposed to know the rules and, as a result of the circumstances surrounding the protest, I have ordered a replay from the point of the error and have additionally levied fines on the two officials. This was a book rule mistake.”

So, instead of losing by 23 points on January 7, the Nets found themselves trailing by just 14 with nearly 20 minutes to go on January 24.

New York had nearly half a game to make it closer on this trip to Norfolk, but in the end the Squires still came out on top, 107-100.

Then – following a break – the teams hooked up again in their regularly scheduled matchup. New York got 27 points from Erving and that helped avenge the protest game loss as the Nets took a 94-85 decision.

While this one was certainly notable, it was not the first successful protest in ABA history, nor the longest – at least in terms of days. That honor goes to the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers, who spent 18 days trying to figure out a winner back in 1973.

On Nov. 13, the Indiana Pacers thought they had defeated the Spurs, 84-83. But Spurs officials insisted the game clock was not reset properly when possession changed hands, costing San Antonio 10 seconds and a chance to cross mid-court and take a shot.

Mike Storen was ABA commissioner at the time, and upheld the protest. His solution was to replay the final 30 seconds before the teams faced each other again on December 3.

This time, the protest worked in favor of the protesters, as the Spurs rallied for a 95-90 overtime conquest.

So, has the NBA had any protested games?

Quite a few – including one that started in one year and ended in another.

The Miami Heat contested a December, 2007, game against the Atlanta Hawks in which Shaquille O’Neal was sent off in overtime when officials ruled he had six fouls. However, O’Neal had only five, and NBA Commissioner David Stern agreed the mistake had to be rectified. Thus, the final 51.9 seconds were replayed in March of 2008 – after Shaq had been traded to Phoenix.

But, that’s another story for another time …