Why were the 70s such a tacky decade?

[HudsonHawk]

Berg certainly buried his talents and never lived as purposeful a life as he might otherwise have done.

My favorite Berg story was his meeting with Werner Heisenberg in 1944, where he had orders to assassinate Heisenberg, if he felt the Germans were close to delivering an atomic weapon. For whatever reason (some say Heisenberg was deliberately sabotaging the German effort), he convinced Berg that they were not, and Berg did not pull the trigger.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You have to wonder why a man like that would have gone into professional sports in the first place. It's as absurd as imagining what Branch Rickey must've been like as a player: "You, Mr. Klem, are not merely posessed of a siluriformean mein most disagreeable to the sight, but also you are a mountebank and a scoundrel of the very deepest dye. The pitch, like the infant Moses in the bulrush, was clearly outside!"

 

[MikeKardec]

THere are those who will argue that the arrival of space-age-plastic helmets was what turned American football into the mess that it is today. Put those gigantic monstrosities into leather helmets again and I bet you'll see a lot fewer concussions, because they'll be a lot more careful about what they do with their heads.

I agree. My father who a journeyman professional boxer in the 1920s nonetheless knew a great deal about the sport and managed, promoted and trained fighters up until he went overseas in '43 or so. He always claimed that when they went to the heavier boxing gloves was when you started seeing the really serious brain injuries in boxers. The heavier gloves protect your hand better thus freeing boxers to strike more often at their opponents head ... a stiff punch to the head with a less protected hand can shatter the hand but repeated stiff punches with a well protected hand can do long term damage to the brain. He occasionally overstated his case by saying "You never saw a punch drunk fighter until they came out with the heavier gloves."

Anyone know when they went to the bigger gloves?

 

[HudsonHawk]

I agree. My father who a journeyman professional boxer in the 1920s nonetheless knew a great deal about the sport and managed, promoted and trained fighters up until he went overseas in '43 or so. He always claimed that when they went to the heavier boxing gloves was when you started seeing the really serious brain injuries in boxers. The heavier gloves protect your hand better thus freeing boxers to strike more often at their opponents head ... a stiff punch to the head with a less protected hand can shatter the hand but repeated stiff punches with a well protected hand can do long term damage to the brain. He occasionally overstated his case by saying "You never saw a punch drunk fighter until they came out with the heavier gloves."

Anyone know when they went to the bigger gloves?

I don't know when they went to the heavier gloves they use now, but serious boxing injuries are no more common today than they were in the past, in fact, probably less so. Deaths in the boxing ring peaked from 1920-1930, with over 270 deaths in that 10 year period. By contrast, there were about 100 from 2000-2010. Whether that's due to safer conditions or better equipment or shorter matches or just few matches, is open for debate, but the "sweet science" has always been a bloody affair.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Max Baer killed a fighter named Frankie Campbell in the ring in 1930, and the autopsy revealed Campbell's brain was floating loose inside his skull. Whether this was the result of that one fight or accumulated damage will never be known for sure.

As to the glove weight question, the Spring-Summer 1931 Sears catalog offers six, eight, and nine ounce gloves, but by 1939 only the eight-ounce size was offered. So'd I'd suggest glove weight was fairly standard thru that decade, at least.

My father had a brief career as a canvasback heavyweight in the sixties. I wasn't surprised, because lying down is the only thing he was ever any good at.

 

[GHT]

My father had a brief career as a canvasback heavyweight in the sixties. I wasn't surprised, because lying down is the only thing he was ever any good at.

A horizontal champ eh? Lucky he never went into law. No win, no fee.

 

[HudsonHawk]

As to the glove weight question, the Spring-Summer 1931 Sears catalog offers six, eight, and nine ounce gloves, but by 1939 only the eight-ounce size was offered. So'd I'd suggest glove weight was fairly standard thru that decade, at least.

Pro boxers, up through welterweight (147 lbs or less) wear 8 oz gloves. Above that, they wear 10 oz gloves. Amateur boxers wear heavier gloves, which are supposed to be safer due to more padding and the heavier weight making it more difficult to throw punches.

 

[Stearmen]

THere are those who will argue that the arrival of space-age-plastic helmets was what turned American football into the mess that it is today. Put those gigantic monstrosities into leather helmets again and I bet you'll see a lot fewer concussions, because they'll be a lot more careful about what they do with their heads.

The biggest difference between the leather helmet days, and these days is, back then the linemen were regular big humans, now they are mountains! [video=youtube;l-ufR6LWm0U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-ufR6LWm0U[/video]

 

[MikeKardec]

Max Baer killed a fighter named Frankie Campbell in the ring in 1930, and the autopsy revealed Campbell's brain was floating loose inside his skull. Whether this was the result of that one fight or accumulated damage will never be known for sure.

Dad knew Baer, though later in life when Baer was mostly acting rather than fighting. I believe Dad was talking about the long term effect of accumulated injuries rather than a single traumatic moment or death in the ring. Pretty horrible what happened to Campbell. I don't know if it was an issue in his case but old time fighters fought very frequently. It's hard to track many of their careers because they would often have aliases for when they were not in perfect health or perfect shape, so as not to tarnish their record with a fight they didn't think they could win. That only worked with fighters who were not well known but, in the days before TV and before people traveled much, a fighter could go on the road and have several careers and nobody'd be the wiser. Dad fought under three names, none of them his. He had a California second's card, also a pseudonym!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Frankie Campbell was actually a young Italian kid named Francisco Camilli. His brother was Dolph Camilli, who became a well-known major-league baseball player in the thirties and forties.

I have it on good authority that my father's ring pseudonym was Gettup Yabumm.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Dad knew Baer, though later in life when Baer was mostly acting rather than fighting. I believe Dad was talking about the long term effect of accumulated injuries rather than a single traumatic moment or death in the ring. Pretty horrible what happened to Campbell. I don't know if it was an issue in his case but old time fighters fought very frequently. It's hard to track many of their careers because they would often have aliases for when they were not in perfect health or perfect shape, so as not to tarnish their record with a fight they didn't think they could win. That only worked with fighters who were not well known but, in the days before TV and before people traveled much, a fighter could go on the road and have several careers and nobody'd be the wiser. Dad fought under three names, none of them his. He had a California second's card, also a pseudonym!

Not only that, but bouts were typically longer. Even after the days of a "finish fight", where the two pugilists slugged it out until one of them couldn't take it any more, fights typically went at least 15 rounds. That changed in 1983 following the infamous bout between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim, in which Kim was killed. That fight was shocking to the public for a couple of reasons; 1) because it happened live on American television, and 2) because it demonstrated just how dangerous the later stages of fights could be. After that, all the governing bodies went to 12 rounds for title fights, and many non-title fights went to 10 rounds.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Note: The following post is strictly for educational purposes and historic context.
Now do you really believe that???

[video=youtube;BQPBk0RD8d0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQPBk0RD8d0[/video]

 

[Stearmen]

To cleanse everyone's palate after the above assault on the seances, a great 70s song! [video=youtube;j5AUm_xaE9A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5AUm_xaE9A[/video]

 

[winterland1]

That was an over all very depressing thread but shouldn't have been.
I lived the 70's and just lived my life and took the ups and the downs, like I do every day. I could make a huge list of great art, music, films and huge medical and humanitarian accomplishments that took place. Of course like every day that goes by there is good and bad.
If people wearing huge bell bottoms or polyester were cooking in front of their avocado colored stove and were happy, then life was good. Maybe listening to Bob Marley, Elton John, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin or even Abba.

I understand this was a What Was Tacky? thread but even that should have had some humor to it. The platform shoes were funny looking.

 

[jamespowers]

To cleanse everyone's palate after the above assault on the seances, a great 70s song! [video=youtube;j5AUm_xaE9A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5AUm_xaE9A[/video]

Strike two. That stinks too.

 

[jamespowers]

Note: The following post is strictly for educational purposes and historic context.
Now do you really believe that???

[video=youtube;BQPBk0RD8d0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQPBk0RD8d0[/video]

They really stunk! Disco was another horror of the 70s.
http://youtu.be/CS9OO0S5w2k

http://youtu.be/A_sY2rjxq6M
Burn 70s burn!

http://youtu.be/DK4Q9J01FQs

And why the heck did the damned music always have to have tamborine in it?! :doh:

 

[Stanley Doble]

So they could pretend the leader's girlfriend was part of the band.

 

[jamespowers]

So they could pretend the leader's girlfriend was part of the band.

Makes sense now. lol lol

Better than cow bell I guess.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/536145

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

They really stunk! Disco was another horror of the 70s.
http://youtu.be/CS9OO0S5w2k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icViP-RZDy4

 

[JohnnyLoco]

To this cowboy the 70s were a good time.