I can't help but wonder if I have in my possession one of the earliest racquetball matches ever televised. A good friend of mine has given me his copy of Hogan-Brumfield, aired on PBS out of Memphis on March 26, 1978. This tournament is called the 4th Annual William B. Tanner Pro-Am Racquetball Tournament. It's sponsored by Leach, Seamco, Schlitz and put on PBS thanks to a grant from D-Con. While I believe PBS did matches before this, I wonder if there are any copies of those matches out there.

Some info:

- Marty takes Charlie out in 3 games, 15-5 or so in the breaker
- Pro Mike Zeitman is the color man and quite, well, corny sounding
- PBS gives way too much time to the ladies; Wright defeats Steding and that gets equal billing, or about 1/2 hour of the one hour air time.
- A check of my old magazines has Marty at about 19 or 20 in this match
- Both men wear Addidas Superstars (Marty got his own Addidas shoe a few years later I believe) and striped socks that go up a bit higher than what we wear today
- As the tape is quite old, it is no longer in great condition; nonetheless, the action is quite good and certainly watchable.
- Play has certainly evolved to say the least; what sport hasn't though; I have no doubt however if playing in his prime today, Hogan would give Kane all he could handle and probably play .500 with him
- Perhaps most entertaining are the between game interviews conducted by I believe Charlie Drake; Very funny takes from both Marty and Charlie; at one point Marty claims that he let Charlie win one of the first two games so he could crush Charlie in Game 3.

As the Visa commercial says, Priceless.

I understand Marty will be in Michigan this weekend and I look forward to talking with him about this match as my brother and I are traveling from Cleveland to take in the 16s, 8s and semis.

Thanks.

Get it digitized and on youtube, that kind of footage is invaluable to the community.

You are in procession of a piece of classic footage. That was a great event. Please try to put that on you tube that would be a blast to watch. I speak to Zit frequently I think he would really like to see it. Actually I’m surprised it didn’t rot sitting on the shelves.

Tanner was a media mogul that unlike the powers to be since have never had the foresight to use leverage to get on TV even if it was only PBS. Baby steps. If was not a great feat of magic he just used his business contacts, some strong arm tactics and bada bing the Tanner Pro-am is on the tube. I’m pretty sure he did more than once.

Zit was one of the best racquetball players you probably never heard of. Mike was one of the top ten players in the world from 1969-76 and even better at doubles than singles. He was the second best doubles player of the 70's after Brumfield and won multiple national and national invitational doubles titles. I'd also say he had the third best ceiling game all time just behind Brumfield and Keeley. He moved very well for a big man!

Marty

marty need to ask brum about the following he can give you a better answer. per zit he is the person that introduced the ceiling ball to r'ball. I'm not going to question Zit on this to close of a friend thus I ani't going to question him. speak to brum he gave a pretty detailed explantion that somewhat covers this shot and who and how it was introduced to the game. not that it matters but I know there seems to have been some discussion on this in the past.

not only was he a player he was a beast... had a freaking 12 pack, now its a keg

FYI: he loves your mom! he tells me that if it were not for her you would have never been the player you were...seriously.

You got this where we can see it yet? Do you need help?

Thanks. Spidey from these parts has offered his services and I'll be sending him the tape in the next few days. A couple of additional points:

- Zeitman does the interviews....not Charlie Drake. And while I said Zeit was corny, he's quite good actually.
- Hilecher is the referee and he takes a little abuse. But no more than what we see today.
- Brumfield is using a metal racquet; Marty's looks fiberglass.
- Hogan is built like the proverbial brick $hithouse.

Not that anyone would care but speaking of Wright, Hilecher, and Hogan, my brother had the good fortune of playing all of them in the late 70s, early 80s. He was one of the better Cleveland area players back in the day. Wright came in to town and played at our club. She needed an opponent and my bro stepped up. His recollection is that he took it to her pretty good and that she complained about his serve a lot. Hilecher too made an appearance around that same time and that didn't go as good. He said Jerry kicked his A$$. Lastly, he got to play Marty in an exhibition at the Canton Hall of Fame in the early 80s. Marty and Brum were there together putting on an exhibition during a tournament. He beat my brother like 7-2. Marty played 5 or 6 local guys that day in games up to 7 I believe. My father was watching through the glass taunting Marty....opening his wallet and fluttering cash at Marty as if wanting to bet him on the outcome. Glad Marty didn't take him up on that. Great memories. I was at that clinic and Marty and Brum were A1 with the audience.

What a great game this is.

How's this coming?

The Winnipeg tournaments pitting the top Canadian pros against the top American pros, from the late 70s and early 80s, were broadcast gems as I remember them. Our cable stations here in SE Michigan often carried Ch. 9 out of Windsor, ONT, CA. I believe at least one of them had Charlie Brumfield as a commentator. I sure would like to get copies of those.

Jim

just got the tape today ... have already copied it and there is a lot of static, more as the tape progresses ... thru the Shannon Wright vs Peggy Steding women's final and the worse thru the Hogan-Brum. My first impression is how bad Hogan is (esp technically) ... geez, my grandma could beat him :)

Should be able to get at least some highlights up this weekend ... I hope.

Spidey

just got the tape today ... have already copied it and there is a lot of static, more as the tape progresses ... thru the Shannon Wright vs Peggy Steding women's final and the worse thru the Hogan-Brum. My first impression is how bad Hogan is (esp technically) ... geez, my grandma could beat him :)

Should be able to get at least some highlights up this weekend ... I hope.

Thanks Spidey!

So looking forward to watching.

Game 1 is uploading ... about 14mins long. It'll be on the SpideyCentral youtube channel. Theres a lot of static and theres not much I can do about the resolution ... but there are various camera angles and there is slo-mo so there are some good looks. Should be up soon ... 25% uploaded right now. Gotta go rake them leaves :)

THanks Spidey! Great work!

can this be put up on you tube?

SpideyCentral is a youtube site ... here's the link SpideyCentral

Game 2 is almost uploaded.

Ed
Thanks much! What a treat it is to watch Marty in his prime again!

Jim

Dave
You're a lineman in this match! You were just mentioned by the announcer.

Jim

Don't thank me ... Thansk to Tim (tdeig) for providing the videos. OK ... I just got up the tiebreaker, so the whole match should be available. There is also a women's final between Shannon Wright and Peggy Steding which I will try to get up tomorrow.

Thansk Tim !!!

Brumfield was a truly great player and competitor! I was still a kid and lucky Keeley tired him out for me. I remember those great Tanner/Memphis crowds! This is the first video I've ever seen of an IPRO event!

Thanks,

Marty

Thanks Tim and Ed.
Everyone can talk about the "power" the players have today, but Smok'n & Brum put some pop on the ball with those butterfly nets!!
Love the pace of the game and the interviews during the match.
With the sensitivity of todays players they wouldn't be able to go back on the court if Kane said something close to what Hogan said with Charlie standing right there.