Connecticut Gridiron

Football Minor Leaguers of the 1960s and 1970s

William J. Ryczek (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

388 Seiten

2014
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-0-7864-7833-0 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

This narrative history of minor league football teams in Connecticut in the 1960s and 1970s is based on extensive newspaper and periodical research and interviews with nearly 70 former players, broadcasters and journalists. Only a few players--like Marv Hubbard, Lou Piccone and Bob Tucker--made it to the NFL, but many more played for as little as $25 per game in their quest to make it big or just have fun. Wealthy men like Pete Savin and Frank D'Addario owned teams in Hartford and Bridgeport.

In the days before cable television saturated the media with live sports, small town fans turned out to support their local heroes, often men who worked on construction crews during the week and stopped by the diner Sunday morning to talk football. Now in their 60s, 70s and 80s, these men share their stories of a simpler era; the good times, like the Hartford Knights' 1968 ACFL championship season, and the long bus rides and missed paydays that were as much a part of minor league ball as first downs and interceptions.

William J. Ryczek is a finance professional from Wallingford, Connecticut, who writes about early baseball, football, the Yankees, and the Mets.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: The Twenty-First Century 1

1. A Minor League Town 13

2. One Big Step from the NFL 19

3. That’s What They Do in the Fall 24

4. A Football Crazed Town: The 1962–63 Ansonia Black Knights 38

5. The 1962 Stamford Golden Bears 62

6. A Hopeful Beginning and a Rude Awakening: The 1964–65 Hartford Charter Oaks 70

7. It’s Hard to Be a Major League: The 1966–67 Hartford Charter Oaks 97

8. Two Steps from the Major Leagues: The Meriden Shamrocks and New Britain Bees 116

9. An Unhappy Relationship: The 1966–67 Waterbury Orbits 138

10. A New Team in Hartford 161

11. The Championship Team: The Right Place at the Right Time 179

12. The Championship Season: The 1968 Hartford Knights 201

13. The 1969 Hartford Knights 224

14. The Snow Bowl: The 1970 Hartford Knights 239

15. Hi Ho, Hi Ho, to Bridgeport We Go: The 1968–70 Bridgeport Jets 260

16. A Four-Team ACFL: The 1971 Hartford Knights and Bridgeport Jets 287

17. A Perfect Season in an Imperfect League: The 1972 Hartford Knights 302

18. Back in the ACFL: The 1973 Hartford Knights and Bridgeport Jets 320

Epilogue 335

Appendix: Scores and Records by Season 351

Chapter Notes 359

Bibliography 365

Index 367

Zusatzinfo	24 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	517 g
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Ballsport
Themenwelt	Weitere Fachgebiete ► Sportwissenschaft
ISBN-10	0-7864-7833-0 / 0786478330
ISBN-13	978-0-7864-7833-0 / 9780786478330
Zustand	Neuware