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Past Our Prime

Past Our Prime

De : Scott Johnston
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 Growing up on boxscores, the Game of the Week, and Sports Illustrated, three longtime Sports TV Producers reflect back on the world of sports through the lens of old issues of SI from 50 years ago. Larry Csonka and the Dolphins; Reggie Jackson and The Swinging A's; The Wizard of Westwood; The Golden Bear and Muhammad Ali are just a few of the many heroes showcased weekly by Scott, Bill and Marc on the Past Our Prime podcast. Stay up to date on what happened in the past as they go back in time and return to the glory days of sports week by week, issue by issue of Sports Illustrated starting in January of 1974 Base-ball et softball
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    • 108. Jack Ham and the Steel Curtain defense

      108. Jack Ham and the Steel Curtain defense
      Jan 26 2026
      The Pittsburgh Steelers’ victory in Super Bowl X cemented their place as the NFL’s team of the decade, delivering a 21–17 win over the Dallas Cowboys and a second straight championship to cap the 1975 season. The cover of Sports Illustrated went to Lynn Swann, whose acrobatic catches and timely big plays earned him Super Bowl MVP honors and provided the game’s most indelible images. Yet the true backbone of Pittsburgh’s dynasty was once again the Steel Curtain defense, which dictated the tone of the game and the era. Built on speed, intelligence, and relentless pressure, the unit forced Dallas into mistakes, controlled field position, and delivered punishing hits that slowly tilted the game. It wasn’t just about sacks or turnovers—it was about denying comfort, eliminating rhythm, and making every yard feel contested. In Super Bowl X, that defensive suffocation allowed the Steelers to survive swings in momentum and close the door late. At the center of that defense stood Jack Ham, the quiet conductor of chaos. Playing outside linebacker with rare instincts, range, and speed, Ham could diagnose plays instantly, cover receivers downfield, or crash the line with equal effectiveness. He wasn’t flashy, but he was devastatingly efficient—often arriving at the ball just as it got there, sometimes before. Against Dallas, Ham helped neutralize the Cowboys’ passing attack by clogging lanes, disrupting timing, and making sure nothing easy developed over the middle. One of 10 Hall of Fame players on that Steelers Super Bowl team, Ham tells us on the Past Our Prime podcast how the team could have won without any of them but the the one person they couldn’t have won 4 Lombardi trophy’s was Hall of Fame Coach Chuck Noll. Ham tells us how winning the first Super Bowl was the hardest one. He talks about how dominant the defense was and makes the case for them being the best defense of all-time. Ham’s credentials tell the larger story of why the Steel Curtain endured. A perennial Pro Bowl selection, a multiple-time All-Pro, and later a Pro Football Hall of Famer, Ham embodied the Steelers’ defensive identity: disciplined, intelligent, and ruthless. While Swann’s catches earned the headlines and the magazine cover, it was Ham and the defense that made the repeat possible—proof that Pittsburgh’s dynasty was built not on moments, but on dominance. One of the greatest players to ever play the game for one of the NFL’s all-time great teams… Jack Ham of the Pittsburgh Steelers on the Past Our Prime podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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      1 h et 27 min
    • 107. 1976 Swimsuit Issue and what it's worth today w/Mark Humphries

      107. 1976 Swimsuit Issue and what it's worth today w/Mark Humphries
      Jan 19 2026
      The January 19, 1976 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue marked another glossy step in a tradition that had begun almost accidentally a little more than a decade earlier. What started in 1964 as a winter stopgap—filling pages when sports calendars were thin—had evolved into a cultural event, blending fashion, fantasy, and far-flung travel. This ’76 edition leaned hard into escapism, taking readers to Baja Mexico, where sunshine, surf, and sequins replaced box scores. The swimsuits themselves reflected the era: metallic fabrics, daring cuts, and a growing emphasis on glamour over athletic utility—a far cry from the functional swimwear once seen on Olympic pools and beaches alike. The cover perfectly captured that shift. Swedish twins Yvonne and Yvette Sylvander shimmered under the Baja sun, embodying the issue’s theme, “Taking a Shine to a Resort with New Glitter.” Inside were familiar faces who would soon define the genre—Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, and others who became icons not just of the Swimsuit Issue, but of 1970s popular culture itself. For many readers of a certain generation, these images weren’t just pinups—they were part of the shared visual language of growing up with Sports Illustrated, when the magazine felt like a weekly companion arriving in the mailbox. And while nostalgia drives the emotional connection, there’s another side to these old issues of SI: their growing significance as collectibles. That’s where Mark Humphries comes in. Growing up in La Cañada, California, Mark’s sports education began with secondhand copies of Sports Illustrated, pages already creased, corners bent—but endlessly fascinating. That early fascination carried him through Stanford, Wall Street, and eventually back to the hobby he loved, where he became a pioneer in treating Sports Illustrated magazines as serious collectibles—worthy of grading, encapsulation, and long-term value, just like cards. As founder of the first grading system for past issues of Sports Illustrated, owner of ThePit.com, and now a contributor to PSA Magazine, Humphries has helped redefine how collectors view vintage issues. While not every Swimsuit Issue is destined to fund a retirement, condition, cover subjects, and historical context matter—and early, iconic editions continue to gain traction. In that sense, the 1976 Swimsuit Issue sits at the intersection of memory and market value: a snapshot of an era when Sports Illustrated shaped culture, sparked conversations, and—sometimes without meaning to—created artifacts that still matter, decades later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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      1 h et 28 min
    • 106. 1976 Rose Bowl MVP John Sciarra

      106. 1976 Rose Bowl MVP John Sciarra
      Jan 12 2026
      The 1976 Rose Bowl wasn’t necessarily a game for Ohio State to win, but rather a coronation for their National Championship. They were facing Dick Vermeil’s Bruins in Pasadena, having already battered UCLA in the regular season, 41-20 at the L.A. Coliseum. The Buckeyes were favored by 15/5 points to do it again and end their season unbeaten, untied and unblemished. However, with an opportunity to play the top ranked Buckeyes a 2nd time, Vermeil practiced hard instituting double days on his Bruins team as if it was the beginning of the season all over again. And in front of a national audience and 105,464 fans at the Rose Bowl, Ohio State went into halftime of the rematch with just a 3-0 lead. That’s when Vermeil called an audible. His vaunted option offense which had scored 20 points off OSU in the first matchup, the most Ohio State had given up all season, hadn’t done a thing in the first 30 minutes of the New Year’s Day game. So he told his quarterback John Sciarra that in the 3rd quarter they were scrapping the gameplan… they were going to open things up and start passing. And it worked. Sciarra connected with Wally Henry for two scores the 2nd one covering 67 yards and UCLA had a shocking 16-3 lead over the heavily favored Buckeyes. A 54-yard TD run in the 4th quarter by Wendell Tyler made it 23-10 Bruins and that is how it would finish. The last Rose Bowl Woody Hayes would ever coach ended in a dramatic loss to Vermeil and his Bruins led by Rose Bowl Game MVP John Sciarra who finished the game completing 13 of his 19 passes for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns. 50 years later, Sciarra recalls how he could have been the Heisman Trophy winner had the Bruins won the first meeting instead of the second one with Ohio State and how he would never trade the Heisman for that Rose Bowl win he guided his team to. He remembers how he led the team into a meeting to complain to their coach about the two-a-day practices leading up to the Rose Bowl… and tells us Vermeil’s shocking answer to them that paved the way for their win. He also recollects how at the half his coach told him they were going to make adjustments and to be ready to let ‘er rip in the 2nd half. And he tells a great story about how his best buddy and fellow former UCLA QB Mark Harmon cast him in a movie and the role he was born to play! But mostly, he reminisces about the greatest half of football he and his Bruin teammates ever played on New Year’s Day, 1976 on the Past Our Prime podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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      1 h et 37 min
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