Cover of Past Our Prime

Past Our Prime

Past Our Prime

By: 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 Baseball & Softball
Episodes
  • 147. Talking Dr. J & Dave Cowens w/Bob Ryan

    147. Talking Dr. J & Dave Cowens w/Bob Ryan
    25 Oct 2026
    On the cover of the October 25, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated stand two Hall of Famers—Dave Cowens and Julius Erving—as four ABA teams prepare to join the NBA and the Doctor arrives to change the league forever. Cowens, the relentless Celtic center fresh off a championship, shares the spotlight with Dr. J just as the merger brings dazzling new talent into the established league. Inside the magazine, the Big Red Machine rolls over the Yankees, George Foreman steamrolls another challenger, and Seattle Slew announces himself as a future champion. Julius Erving appeared on that cover in a New York Nets uniform, symbolizing the ABA’s arrival in the NBA, yet the image was already outdated by the time the magazine hit newsstands. Just days earlier the financially strapped Nets had sold their transcendent superstar to the Philadelphia 76ers, a transaction that instantly altered both franchises. The Nets lost the player who defined them and slipped into years of struggle, while the 76ers gained the cornerstone of a new era that would carry them to the 1977 Finals and a championship in 1983. Bob Ryan joins Past Our Prime for the fifth time and takes us inside the seismic shift of the 1976 ABA-NBA merger, beginning with the immediate impact Julius Erving had on the league. Ryan recalls first seeing a young Erving as a sophomore at UMass, when the future Doctor dropped 26 points and 18 rebounds long before the afro and the nickname. He walks through the wave of talent the merger delivered and how the 76ers, armed with Dr. J, looked ready to claim a title only to run into a Bill Walton-led Portland team at the absolute peak of its powers. Ryan also explains why Dave Cowens briefly left the Celtics after Red Auerbach made one of the worst decisions of his career by trading Paul Silas, reflects on the “tortured soul” that was Jerry West, and shares that John Havlicek would never have retired when he did had he known how great Larry Bird was going to be. The same intensity that made Cowens great also made the Silas trade especially hard to accept. So much so that Cowens walked away from the game for a bit and famously took a job driving a taxi around Boston before eventually returning. It’s a rich conversation about a pivotal moment in basketball history—and Bob Ryan was there to see it all and now to tell it all… this week on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 42 min
  • 146. Chuck Foreman: The OG of Dual Threats

    146. Chuck Foreman: The OG of Dual Threats
    18 Oct 2026
    Chuck Foreman was one of the NFL’s most versatile and exciting running backs of the 1970s, a key weapon in the Minnesota Vikings’ run of success that included three Super Bowl appearances. Nicknamed “The Spin Doctor” for his elusive running style, Foreman was as dangerous catching passes out of the backfield as he was carrying the football. Named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1973 and a five-time Pro Bowl selection, he became a central figure in the Vikings’ offense alongside quarterback Fran Tarkenton and helped define an era of Minnesota football built on toughness, creativity, and winning. The October 18, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated featured Foreman on the cover in a dynamic action shot by photographer Walter Iooss Jr., captured while rushing against the Chicago Bears on October 10 in Bloomington. The cover highlighted his powerful presence during another tight Vikings victory—a 20-19 “squeaker” in which Minnesota dominated the first half before the Bears surged back in the second. Inside, Robert F. Jones’s story “The Two-for-One Special” detailed the back-and-forth contest and underscored how the Vikings continued their habit of winning close games that season with Foreman as a central force in their potent offense. On the Past Our Prime podcast, Foreman joins a growing list of Vikings legends that includes fellow great Fran Tarkenton and his dear friend Ed White, the very first guest in the history of the show. He talks about how coach Bud Grant helped mold him into the game’s original dual-threat back, leading the entire NFL in receptions as a fullback in 1975 while scoring 22 touchdowns, then following it up with another Pro Bowl season in 1976. Foreman explains how that innovative Vikings offense was really a precursor to the famous West Coast offense, yet never quite gets the credit it deserves. He gets honest about how losing all those Super Bowls and being branded a “loser” still stings to this day, because those teams were loaded with great players and even greater men. Foreman also reflects on finishing second in the 1975 MVP voting to his quarterback and close friend Tarkenton, and shares stories about learning to catch the ball in the brutal, freezing Minneapolis weather—conditions that became a real home-field advantage for the purple and gold. The great Chuck Foreman, this week on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 41 min
  • 145. The Big Red Machine and the Crazy Left-Hander

    145. The Big Red Machine and the Crazy Left-Hander
    11 Oct 2026
    The October 11, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated featured Cincinnati Reds slugger George Foster on the cover, at a time when the Big Red Machine was chasing its second consecutive World Series championship. Foster was becoming one of baseball’s most feared power hitters, joining Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Pete Rose in a lineup that overwhelmed opponents. The Reds would go on to sweep the Phillies in the NLCS and the Yankees in the World Series, cementing their place among baseball’s all-time great teams. This week on Past Our Prime, we welcome former major league pitcher and longtime Reds broadcaster Chris Welsh as we look back at that incredible team from half a century ago. Welsh tells us how Foster developed into one of the game’s most dangerous hitters—and reveals the funny side of George that fans rarely got to see. Welsh also shares how Pete Rose helped him get one last shot in the big leagues, bringing him back to his hometown Reds. He explains how he broke into broadcasting with no experience, no résumé and no credentials beyond a love of baseball—and somehow turned that opportunity into a career spanning more than three decades. He also reveals how Marty Brennaman gave him the nickname “The Creeper” and tells a hilarious story about how he avoided getting intimate with Reds owner Marge Schott. Chris Welsh has been in baseball for over 40 years, and he's got the stories to match... and he shares a good deal of them this week on Past Our Prime. Download, listen... like... you know the drill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 35 min
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