Why the Sixties?

As I mentioned in the initial entries at/near the bottom of this blog, this is the era many of us grew up in and have such wonderful memories of. And, regardless of where each of us lived or our exact ages at the time, a lot of us carry impressions from those days into the rest of our lives.

One of the things I find so fascinating from this period is the immense amount of super-talents, great teams, coaches, and fandom it produced. This is the time where television--especially for pro football--fully blossomed and created a tremendous zeal for the casual fan. He (she) began following the teams with a kind of vigor unapproached in earlier times. The generation of radio was fantastic in its own right, but nothing brought the reality of the events like television, and the growing popularity of color TV thru the decade only magnified that intensity of enjoyment.

Though money always talks--shouts, really--the world of sports hadn't been tainted by it to anywhere near the degree today's breed has been. I recall many pro football players, for instance, taking on off-season jobs; not due to an insatiable desire for the green stuff, but sometimes simply to make ends meet. Were the good ones paid handsomely? Sure, but it was microscopic compared to today's athlete, even adjusting for time.

Bottom line is the world of sports thrived in enormous ways, and there was still a certain purity in the pursuit of sports. We remember the excitement and satisfaction it produced. What's more, we knew quite well who our team would be comprised of. Well before free agency (baseball--the first main sport to undertake it--didn't begin in earnest until the next decade), most players continued with the same team, often through the very end or close to the conclusion of their career.

When you had that continuity, you had not only fan familiarity, but between teammates as well. It made the quality of the game overall superior--each of the players knew what his teammate would do on any given play. It cultivated a confidence that allowed the play to flourish, and hence the games. It's no surprise that complementary play, teamwork, and firm fundamentals were far advanced, even if the athlete himself had yet to generally reach the physical levels of superiority he now possesses.

Each era or decade possesses its share of standouts and superstars. But it's hard to imagine any that surpasses what the Sixties gave us. In baseball, we saw Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Pete Rose, and Harmon Killebrew. In football, we experienced Johnny Unitas (top picture), Bart Starr, Joe Namath, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Paul Hornung, Lance Alworth, Ray Nitschke, Dick Butkus, Merlin Olsen, Buck Buchanan. In basketball, there was Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell (pictured together), Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, John Havlicek, Rick Barry, and a young phenon named Lew Alcindor.

Coaches/managers included all-time legends Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Hank Stram, Sid Gillman, Bud Grant, Red Auerbach, Red Holzman, Walt Alston, Gene Mauch, Danny Murtaugh, and Red Schoendienst.

And, of course, there were the juggernaut teams, such as the Green Bay Packers and Boston Celtics, while two New York teams not nicknamed the Yankees (Mets and Jets) stunned the sports world. Predictably, the Yankees, on the strength of the record-setting home run prowess of Maris and Mantle, won their share of championships as well.

It also featured the ultimate David and Goliath challenge--the AFL vs the NFL, with David winning this sports war in the long run.

--and that was just the pros. Will be brief for now on the college game, but it's only fair and just to mention coaches like Bear Bryant and Johnny Vaught (pictured together), Darrell Royal, Frank Broyles, John McKay and Joe Paterno (yes, he was coaching even then, and at the same place!)

There are infinite reasons to relish what the decade of the 1960's offered in the world of sports. In the sense that those occurrences are just as real as the latest champion's success, they're every bit as important to remember. Legendary sportcaster Curt Gowdy's comments are again appropriate:
"There is no doubt that sports is a part of American history. The great moments of the past are firmly anchored in the country's memory. ... They live on as they should, preserved because they aroused interest and excitement in a nation that has always cherished its sports."