30 Years Ago

Scavenging through a pile of magazines at a yard sale last week, I stumbled across the depicted, which I immediately seized for the rather fair price of $0.25.

Those of us who remember the dismal years of the 1970's will always have a special place in our memories for the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team, and their recognition as Sports Illustrated's "Sportsmen of the Year" comes complete with a 12-page (!) article on the team's selection, development, and road to success, complete with individual pictures of all 20 players and head coach Herb Brooks in their disposition as of late 1980, less than a year after Lake Placid.

A remarkable piece of nostalgia, with the "where are they now?" angle rather ironic today in light of the passage of 30 years. While the cover story was certainly worth the purchase price (to say the least), the magazine contains numerous other bits that tweak the old brain cells, including:

- A masthead featuring Robert W. Creamer, Frank Deford, Curry Kirkpatrick, and Dan Jenkins.

- Ubiquitous tobacco and alcohol ads, including the perennial "Merry Christmas from Marlboro Country."

- Other ads touting Enterprise Radio, HBO,

- An article on the Phoenix suns featuring a page-length color photograph of the late Hall-of-Famer Dennis Johnson in a Phoenix uniform.

- An article on the baseball winter meetings that mentions trade talk surrounding Fred Lynn, Bobby Bonds, Rick Burleson and Ron Guidry.

- An ad featuring the 1980 Kodak All-America Football team, which included Jim McMahon, Herschel Walker, Lawrence Taylor, Mark May, Mike Singletary, and Ron Lott.

- And, finally, on page 92, an editorial proposing a Division I-A College Football playoff system. Seriously.

The more things change...