JANUARY 18, 1974
MINERS SOLD. PITTSBURGH STUNNED AS CLUB ANNOUNCES MOVE TO ATLANTA
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The long winter of uncertainty for Pittsburgh baseball fans ended Thursday and the result hit like a fastball to the ribs. The Pittsburgh Miners, a fixture in this city since the early days of the Federal Association, are headed south.
The announcement came only days after the club was sold by the heirs of the late owner Al Maday, who passed away earlier this month at the age of eighty four. Maday bought the club in 1946 from Daniel Fitzpatrick and oversaw nearly three decades of steady but unspectacular ball at old Fitzpatrick Park. The park opened in 1923 and remains one of the oldest parks in the circuit. By the end of Maday’s tenure it was showing every bit of its age.
Maday’s children made it clear they had no appetite for running a ballclub or fighting the uphill battle for a replacement park. That opened the door for Phil Cross, a rising Atlanta based construction magnate who has built his fortune in one of the nation’s fastest growing cities. Cross, forty six, was born in Norfolk, Virginia and comes from a family of shipbuilders. He has spent the last decade making a name for himself in construction and real estate in Georgia. His bid included two names well known to FABL fans: NARF owner and founder James Slocum and his uncle, Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Barrell.
Barrell’s presence, along with that of his wife Marla Fitzpatrick Barrell, stirred hope throughout Pittsburgh that the Fitzpatrick legacy might bring the club some much needed stability. That feeling lasted roughly ten minutes. Cross made no secret of the fact that he wanted a new ballpark and he wasted little time asking the city to help finance it.
City officials balked. Private talks between Cross and Mayor Harold Duncannon grew chilly in December. According to sources close to the negotiations, the two sides were miles apart on every major point and neither budged. Cross argued that Fitzpatrick Park was no longer suitable for a modern club and warned that standing still would cost Pittsburgh its franchise. The Mayor called those claims exaggerated and questioned the timing.
On Thursday, Cross made good on his warning. He confirmed that the club will begin play this spring in Atlanta and will carry a new name: the Atlanta Copperheads. They will take up residence in Peachtree Stadium, a modern multi purpose facility opened in 1966 for the AFA’s Atlanta Firebirds. The park already hosts football and will be adapted for FABL action with only minor renovations.
“This is not the outcome I hoped for,” Cross told reporters. “We came here ready to build something new. We offered a plan that would have kept this club right here in Pittsburgh. The city government forced my hand.”
Fans were left bewildered. In the Hill District and across the steel towns that fed generations of Miners faithful, the reaction ranged from disbelief to outright anger. A group of fans gathered outside Fitzpatrick Park last night, holding homemade signs and chanting “Save Our Miners.” One supporter called Cross “a hired gun who never wanted to stay here in the first place.”
Inside the ownership group the decision has created its own waves. Tom Barrell, who wore a Miners uniform during his pitching career and remains a beloved figure in the game, offered a brief statement. He expressed regret that the club could not remain in Pittsburgh but said he stood behind Cross’s plan. His wife Marla, daughter of former owner Daniel Fitzpatrick, has not spoken publicly.
The FABL office offered the standard league line. Commissioner Willard T. Dennison said the league “respects the rights of ownership groups to determine the future of their clubs” and wished Cross luck in Atlanta. Privately several league officials worry about a backlash in one of the oldest markets in the game.
As winter turns toward spring, Pittsburgh faces the reality of life without big league baseball for the first time in generations. Cross insists the Copperheads will open a new chapter in Atlanta. For now, all that remains in Pittsburgh is the empty ballpark on Federal Street and a bitter sense of what might have been.
DRILLERS WIN WORLD CLASSIC A RECORD THIRD TIME
Houston Downs Kansas City 26-20 for AFA Championship [/b]
Led by league MVP Bobby “Junior” Barrell, the first defensive player in AFA history to claim the honor, the Houston Drillers captured their third World Classic, edging the Kansas City Cowboys 26–20. Houston, which previously won in 1967 and 1969, now stands alone as the only club to win three titles in the ten-year history of the World Classic, first staged with the formation of the National Football Conference in 1964. Kansas City, like Houston, was making its third appearance, though the Cowboys’ lone victory remains the 1970 triumph over Washington.
Despite Barrell’s dominance at defensive end, the Drillers hardly looked like a championship outfit for much of the year. Houston stumbled through an 8–6 season—its fewest wins since 1963—but closed strong with three straight victories to claim the American Conference West, finishing just ahead of the New Orleans Crescents. The defense held firm all year, but the offense struggled in the red zone even with veteran halfback Vern Rebovich posting his seventh 1,000-yard season and newcomer Randall Silva providing steady play at quarterback after John Stevens’ departure. Houston was actually outscored over the course of the season.
The class of the American Conference during the regular season was Washington, which won the East for the fourth straight year. The Wasps finished 11-2-1, best in the league, chased all the way by the 10-4 Boston Americans. Boston boasted perhaps the top offense in football, with quarterback Jason Huff throwing for 2,550 yards and halfbacks Dennis Rice and Stephen McKeever finishing second and third in league rushing, combining for more than 2,300 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The final playoff berth in the American went to the Cleveland Finches, who enjoyed a resurgent 10-4 campaign to make the postseason for the first time in 26 years. Their last playoff appearance was the 1947 AFA Championship, when they defeated Washington.
*** Cowboys Ride Tall in National Conference ***
The breakout of rookie quarterback Joshua Sellers transformed Kansas City from a solid club into a powerhouse. Sellers, a fourth-round pick out of Daniel Boone College, beat veteran Gary Weis for the starting job in camp and proceeded to set a modern AFA record with 2,828 passing yards. He threw 23 touchdowns while leading the Cowboys to an 11-3 mark and a return to postseason play after missing out a year ago.
Kansas City was the only National Conference team to reach double-digit wins, and Sellers was rewarded with Offensive Rookie of the Year. Joining the Cowboys in the postseason were the Buffalo Red Jackets, Los Angeles Olympians, and Miami Mariners.
Buffalo, guided by second-year coach Tom Bowens—himself a former AIAA champion at CCLA—claimed the East Division crown and reached the playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s 12-year history. Like Kansas City, the Red Jackets rode a rookie passer: Jason Myers, a second-rounder from American Atlantic, who threw for 2,659 yards and 16 touchdowns. His 22 interceptions were a blemish, but Buffalo weathered the inconsistency. Myers’ favorite target was Bowens’ son, Tom Bowens Jr., whose 87 receptions led the league—second only to Monte Harriman’s 101 in 1949.
Miami’s run of division titles ended, but at 9-5 the Mariners extended their playoff streak to eight seasons. The Olympians also finished 9-5 to win the West, though their lone All-Star representative was punter Bob Davidson.
PLAYOFFS
The most dramatic game of the opening round came in the nation’s capital, where Washington and Boston met for the third time this season. Having split the first two meetings, the rubber match unfolded as expected—tight, physical, and tense. Boston led by ten entering the fourth quarter before Washington battled back to tie it 23-23. In overtime, Cyrus Dunaway drilled a 45-yard field goal to give the Americans a 26-23 victory.
Houston advanced as well, behind 196 passing yards from Silva and relentless pressure from Barrell Jr., defeating Cleveland 26-13, ending the Finches’ long-awaited postseason return.
In the National Conference, Leroy Avens rushed for 110 yards and defensive back Paul Calhoun opened the scoring with a 49-yard interception return as Kansas City topped Miami 26-10. Buffalo celebrated its first-ever playoff game with a commanding 23-3 win over the Olympians.
The jubilation didn’t last. The following week, Kansas City blasted Buffalo 42-9 in the conference final. Sellers threw for 214 yards and three touchdowns, while Charlie Evans and Avens each rushed for more than 100 yards. Evans’ pair of second-quarter scores broke the game open.
On the American side, Houston became the only road team to win a playoff game this year, storming into Boston and crushing the Americans 31-7. Barrell Jr. again anchored a ferocious pass rush, while Silva tossed three touchdown passes.
WORLD CLASSIC X
Both Houston and Kansas City were making their third appearance as the tenth World Classic kicked off, though the teams had never met in the title game before. They were far more familiar in regular-season play—this marked their 19th meeting, and Houston held a 15-3 advantage entering the day.
The Drillers struck immediately. On the first play from scrimmage, Silva hit Reggie Carpenter for 39 yards. The drive stalled in the red zone, but James Alcala booted a short field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Kansas City answered with a ground-heavy march featuring long runs from Evans and Avens, but penalties bogged the drive down and the Cowboys settled for three of their own.
Silva continued to find success through the air, helped by steady protection from a line anchored by All-Star tackle Angel Johnson. Before the first quarter closed, Houston went up 10-3 on a 3-yard scoring run by Hal Jagger, a lead the Drillers would never surrender.
The defenses dominated the second quarter, each side adding only a field goal, sending Houston to halftime up 13-6.
Late in the third, with the Cowboys trailing 16-6, Sellers threw his third interception—this one deep in Kansas City territory. The Houston offense could not cash it in for six, but Alcala hit his fourth field goal to extend the lead to 19-6.
Kansas City showed signs of life with 2:19 left, when Sellers connected with Al Blackburn for a 16-yard touchdown to make it 19-13. After a defensive stop, the Cowboys had one last chance, but a Donald Huff sack set up fourth-and-long. Sellers’ desperation heave was intercepted by rookie Daniel Teal, who returned it 18 yards for a crucial touchdown, stretching the margin to 26-13.
The Cowboys struck back immediately—a 71-yard bomb from Sellers to Davis McCoy—and the pair connected again from eight yards out as time expired. But the rally came too late, and Houston claimed its third World Classic, 26-20.
Sellers threw for 300 yards and two scores but was undone by four interceptions. Kansas City outgained Houston 487–292, but the Drillers committed only one turnover. Barrell Jr. recorded one of three Houston sacks and lived in the Cowboys backfield all afternoon. Kansas City generated pressure of its own and even knocked Silva out in the third quarter, but Houston’s line—led by the dominant Johnson—held firm. Johnson’s postseason performance earned him a historic honor: the first offensive lineman ever named Playoff MVP.
Now in just their 12th year, founded in 1962, the Drillers have established themselves as one of the AFA’s benchmark franchises—three World Classic victories and seven straight playoff appearances cementing their place among the league’s elite.
PERFECT SEASON FOR NOBLE JONES COLLEGE
Colonels Join Rival Georgia Baptist as Six-Time National Champions
It took fifteen long years, and more than a little patience, but Noble Jones College has finally climbed back to the summit of AIAA football. Forced to watch bitter rival Georgia Baptist reel off four national crowns during the interim, the Colonels answered at last in 1973—capping a flawless 12-0 campaign and joining the Gators as the only six-time national champions in AIAA football history.
This year’s triumph marks the Colonels’ first title since their back-to-back wins in 1957 and ’58. Before that, the school claimed championships in 1917, 1939, and 1942. The ’39 crown came despite a 14-14 draw with Lane State in the East-West Classic, while the ’42 title was punctuated by a 20-3 New Years rout of CC Los Angeles on the same Santa Ana field. Their twin perfect seasons in ’57 and ’58 featured victories in the Oilman Classic, the annual clash pitting the Deep South champion against the Southwestern Alliance winner. The Colonels remained perfect in the event with this year’s 20-3 decision over Travis College, improving to 4-0 all-time in the Classic.
Few expected Noble Jones to make such a run. The Colonels had missed New Year’s Day for four straight seasons and were coming off a dismal 5-6 campaign—one of the worst in school history. But what they did possess was a devastating one-two backfield punch in seniors Paul Edgewater and Wayne Elias, along with a sophomore quarterback, Tommy Williams, who made his living on the ground rather than through the air. Edgewater and Elias each surpassed 1,100 rushing yards, while Williams added 635 more on the ground despite throwing for just 459.
Edgewater, the workhorse of the trio, finished with 1,384 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns and earned TWIFS All-America honors. Sophomore guard Bruce Michel joined him on the All-America list, his blocking clearing the lanes that powered the Colonels’ run-heavy attack. Edgewater announced his intentions early with a four-touchdown, 251-yard explosion in the 47-0 opening-day wipeout of McKinney State.
Wins over Coastal California and Spokane State sent the Colonels into conference play at 3-0. Though the Deep South is widely regarded as the nation’s toughest section, a favorable early slate helped Noble Jones ease into rhythm. Bluegrass State (2-9), Alabama Baptist (6-5), Central Kentucky (4-7), and Opelika State (0-11) were dispatched without much strain.
The season’s toughest hurdle came in a typically gritty showdown with Cumberland. Even in a down year, the Explorers made the Colonels earn every inch in a defensive struggle that ended 13-3. Edgewater then supplied 120 yards and a touchdown in the annual clash with Georgia Baptist—a convincing 20-3 win over a Gators team that stumbled to 7-4 and fell out of the top 25 for the first time since 1958. Noble Jones closed the regular season with a 17-10 victory over 8-3 Western Florida before turning its sights to Travis College.
In the Oilman Classic, Edgewater (110 yards) and Elias (102 yards, 2 TDs) proved too much for the 10-1 Southwestern Alliance champions. The Colonels controlled the ball, controlled the tempo, and controlled the scoreboard—walking off with a 20-3 win and the school’s long-awaited sixth national title.
Generals Match Perfect March
Noble Jones was not alone in finishing unbeaten. The Alexandria Generals, part of the loose confederation of eight Atlantic independents, posted their second straight 12-0 season and climbed to No. 2 in the final rankings—the highest finish in school history. Overshadowed by a lighter schedule, the Generals were never realistic contenders for the championship; even a Noble Jones slip in the Oilman Classic likely would have handed the crown to Travis College. Still, it caps an extraordinary two-year rise for a program that had never appeared in the top ten before last season and only once before in the top twenty-five.
Oklahoma City State placed third at 10-2. The Plains Athletic Association champions secured their standing with a 33-26 victory over Midwestern Association winner Topeka State in the Sunshine Classic—the Wranglers’ first New Year’s Day triumph since the 1949 Lone Star Classic.
The West Coast Athletic Association rejoiced in a banner year, boasting three ranked programs, including No. 4 Redwood and No. 5 Portland Tech. Redwood enjoyed a perfect 7-0 mark in section play and captured its first East-West Classic since 1928, rallying with ten fourth-quarter points to edge Great Lakes Alliance champion Santa Ana 17-14. The comeback hinged on a touchdown strike from John Coughlin to Phil Vincent - the second time the duo hooked up on a scoring play that afternoon.
The Great Lakes Alliance, meanwhile, endured a down cycle. Detroit City College, despite a strong 7-1 section showing, finished only 8-4 overall and missed the final top twenty-five. The lone GLA representative in the final poll was Lincoln, which went 8-3 and finished 15th.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES- Northern Mississippi sophomore quarterback Courtney Ford set a modern AIAA passing record by throwing for 1,940 yards this season while Gus Robards, the senior Alexandria quarterback and TWIFS All-American, set a new touchdown passing mark with 23 in helping the 12-0Generals to number two in the final polls.
- Among the players selected to the TWIFS All-American team was the grandson of Rollie Barrell. That would be Bill McCarver, a senior defensive back who is the son of former AFA player Jack McCarver and Rollie's daughter Marty.
- The Great Lakes Alliance failed to place a school in the top ten for the second year in a row. Lincoln was the highest ranked GLA school each of the past two seasons, finishing 15th this year and 12th in the last two years. That has never happened before. In fact, since the full poll began being tracked in 1940 the only time the GLA failed to place a school in the top ten prior to the past two seasons was in 1957.
Rocco’s Reign: Can Boxing’s Blue-Collar Champ Bring Stability Back to the Heavyweights?
For more than half a century, boxing’s heavyweight division has lived and breathed through eras defined by great men — the kind of fighters who didn’t just wear the crown, they owned it. Alvin Carbey ruled the sport in its early days. Joey Tierney carried the banner through the 1950s. George Galleshaw and Norm Robinson traded thrones in the swinging ’60s. And then, of course, there was Hector “The Cajun Crusher” Sawyer — the man who towered over them all, holding the belt for eleven years and defending it an astonishing eighteen times.
But as the calendar flips to 1974, that kind of dominance feels like a memory from another world. Since Robinson hung up his gloves a little less than five years ago, the ABF heavyweight title has changed hands eight times. Parity has replaced dynasty. Maybe that speaks to the depth of talent in today’s ranks — or maybe it’s the lack of a single transcendent fighter to steady the ship.
The low point came in 1972, when no fewer than four different men held the championship in the same calendar year. The division looked leaderless — until Tony Rocco came along.
Rocco, the tough 27-year-old son of a New Haven dockworker, might just be the answer to boxing’s identity crisis. A fighter’s fighter with the face of a longshoreman and the discipline of a veteran, Rocco has now made three straight successful title defenses, making him the only man to wear the heavyweight crown throughout 1973.
He’s been here before — briefly. Rocco’s first brush with the championship came in 1969, before he surrendered it to Brooklyn’s Pete Vassar. But when he recaptured the belt in December of ’72 with a TKO over Barry Bernard in Las Vegas, there was a sense he’d grown into the role.
He’s done nothing since to prove otherwise. Last April, Rocco stopped unbeaten British challenger Hayden Embleton in the 12th round out in Los Angeles. In July, he flattened Curtis Rollins — himself a former titleholder — with a blistering sixth-round knockout that might’ve been the most complete performance of his career. Then in October, he returned to Las Vegas and turned back yet another ex-champion, Ben Brumfield, in a unanimous decision that underscored his maturity and command.
When Rocco next steps into the ring — likely in March at Bigsby Garden against the same Pete Vassar who dethroned him four years ago — he’ll be attempting something no heavyweight has managed since Norm Robinson’s heyday: a fourth straight title defense.
It won’t come easy. Vassar, the pride of Brooklyn, is the same slick, hard-punching technician who outpointed Rocco handily back in 1970. But this time, the stakes are higher — and Rocco is no longer the same fighter who lost that night.
The heavyweight division, once the most glamorous stage in all of sports, has been adrift in recent years. Whether Tony Rocco can steady it — and carve his own place among the Sawyers, Tierneys, and Robinsons of history — remains to be seen.
For now, the future of the crown, and perhaps of heavyweight boxing itself, sits squarely in the calloused hands of Tony Rocco.
The Year That Was
Current events from 1973
- January 22 – In the Roe v. Wade decision the U.S. Supreme Court rules 7–2 that women have a constitutional right to choose abortion, overturning many state laws and igniting decades of political and social debate.
- January 23 – President Richard Nixon declares that a ceasefire agreement has been reached, ending direct American military involvement in the Vietnam War.
- January 27 – Paris Peace Accords signed. Representatives of the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong sign a formal peace treaty in Paris, officially ending U.S. participation in the war.
- March 29 – The last American combat forces leave South Vietnam, ending over a decade of direct military involvement.
- April 3 – Motorola engineer Martin Cooper places the first-ever call from a handheld cell phone in New York City, an invention that would transform communication.
- April 30 – The Senate Watergate Committee opens televised hearings into the 1972 break-in and cover-up, capturing national attention as revelations mount.
- May 17 – Former White House counsel John Dean testifies before the Senate committee, directly implicating President Nixon in the Watergate cover-up.
- June 25 – Former Nixon aides indicted. H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, John Mitchell, and others are charged with conspiracy, obstruction, and perjury in the Watergate scandal.
- July 10 – Bahamas gains independence from Britain. The island nation officially becomes independent, reflecting a global wave of decolonization.
- July 16 – Watergate tapes revealed when White House aide Alexander Butterfield discloses the existence of Nixon’s secret tape-recording system, a turning point in the investigation.
- August 8 – Vice President Spiro Agnew investigated. Reports emerge of a bribery and tax evasion probe involving Agnew during his time as Maryland governor, further shaking the Nixon administration.
- October 6–25 – Yom Kippur War. Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Israel. The conflict triggers a worldwide energy crisis and reshapes Middle East politics.
- October 10 – Spiro Agnew becomes the first U.S. vice president to resign in disgrace since the 1800s after pleading no contest to tax evasion. Nixon nominates Gerald R. Ford as his replacement.
- October 17 – OPEC oil embargo begins. Arab oil-producing nations cut exports to the U.S. and allies supporting Israel, sending fuel prices skyrocketing and sparking long lines at gas stations across North America.
- October 20 – “Saturday Night Massacre” as Nixon orders the firing of Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox; the attorney general and his deputy resign in protest, plunging Washington into crisis.
- November 7 – War Powers Act becomes law as Congress overrides Nixon’s veto to pass legislation limiting the president’s power to deploy U.S. forces without congressional approval.
- December 28 – Endangered Species Act signed. President Nixon signs sweeping environmental protection legislation to preserve wildlife and ecosystems, a landmark in U.S. conservation policy.