In 1971 the Bruins got WBZ Radio to FIRE the Sports Huddle

[Fenway]

In 1971 Weston Adams, Jr the Bruins president told WBZ Radio he would take the Bruins to another station unless they canceled the Sports Huddle and WBZ did so. The Sports Huddle would move to WEEI but they lost the 38 states and eastern Canada where WBZ could be heard.

Here is the final show on WBZ and Eddie, Mark and Jim did not hide their hatred towards the Bruins.



SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL...HA!

Two of the Huddlers' favorite targets arc the Boston Bruins and their home rink, Boston Garden. The Bruins lack class, say the Huddlers. The charge lacks precision, not to mention an original turn of phrase, but apparently it makes sense to a lot of people who feel that they are being soaked by the Bruin management for the dubious pleasure of occupying a seat in the Garden where the rats run free and the service, if any, is insulting. In their plight, the fans turn to the Huddle. They know that the program will be heard over the clicking of turnstiles, even if they are not.

And the Huddle is heard. "Every building in Boston has rats," complains Weston Adams Jr., president of the Bruins. "Why does Sports Huddle have to pick on ours?"

No reason, says Andelman, except that "the Garden also has no escalators and no air conditioning, and it does have rude ushers, winos and stalactites."

The Huddlers claim WBZ, Boston's richest radio station, was pressured to drop the show by the Bruins. There also was something about a new station manager who did not care for the three loudmouths. A station spokesman says merely that it was a bad show and WBZ dropped it—a mistake, it soon developed. The American Research Bureau ratings for Boston revealed that WBZ's audience fell off 66% during the time spot vacated by the Huddle. WEEI, a 5,000-watter with a four-state audience, picked up the show, and its listeners for that same Sunday night time slot have more than doubled.

​

Click to read more...

 

[Fenway]

If you don't want to listen to the entire show just listen to this call when a listener tried to defend Adams

 

[pie19]

That was funny stuff.

 

[TheReal13Linseman]

Great show, that used to be. I did a lot of my high school homework on Sunday nights listening to them. They used to have a voice intro from Sun Myung Moon or Chiang Kai Shek, can’t recall, at one point. Comical.

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

I also remember that Eddie Andelman had a code name for Don Zimmer, and wouldn't allow callers to use Zimmer's real name. Zim really took a beating in this town.

 

[Fenway]

What nobody knew at the time was the Adams family was broke.

Westie could be found every afternoon working the counter of the pro shop as he couldn't afford to pay anyone. They held on through the 1972 season but finally sold out to the company that owned TV38. (Storer Broadcasting) simply because they did not have the money to compete with the WHA.

Storer soon found the tax situation involving Boston Garden too much to handle and they sold out 2 years later to 3 brothers from Buffalo.

 

[Fenway]

@Mr Irish - In 1970, dismayed that President Nixon had not congratulated the Bruins after their Stanley Cup victory, Sports Huddle phoned Edward Brooke and Ted Kennedy and got both Massachusetts Senators to say that the President was guilty of first-degree oversight. Before long, 30,000 listeners signed 7,000 letters to the White House demanding action. They got it—tardily, but big. President Nixon sent a congratulatory telegram five months later and followed it up with a most unusual bit of advertising while riding in a convertible through Dublin. The President held up a sign saying BOSTON BRUINS ARE NO. 1. Native Irishmen, nonplussed, shrugged their shoulders, but their Boston kinsmen knew what it was all about and chalked up another accomplishment for the Sports Huddle.

 

[Gordoff]

In 1971 Weston Adams, Jr the Bruins president told WBZ Radio he would take the Bruins to another station unless they canceled the Sports Huddle and WBZ did so. The Sports Huddle would move to WEEI but they lost the 38 states and eastern Canada where WBZ could be heard.

Here is the final show on WBZ and Eddie, Mark and Jim did not hide their hatred towards the Bruins.



SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL...HA!

Two of the Huddlers' favorite targets arc the Boston Bruins and their home rink, Boston Garden. The Bruins lack class, say the Huddlers. The charge lacks precision, not to mention an original turn of phrase, but apparently it makes sense to a lot of people who feel that they are being soaked by the Bruin management for the dubious pleasure of occupying a seat in the Garden where the rats run free and the service, if any, is insulting. In their plight, the fans turn to the Huddle. They know that the program will be heard over the clicking of turnstiles, even if they are not.

And the Huddle is heard. "Every building in Boston has rats," complains Weston Adams Jr., president of the Bruins. "Why does Sports Huddle have to pick on ours?"

No reason, says Andelman, except that "the Garden also has no escalators and no air conditioning, and it does have rude ushers, winos and stalactites."

The Huddlers claim WBZ, Boston's richest radio station, was pressured to drop the show by the Bruins. There also was something about a new station manager who did not care for the three loudmouths. A station spokesman says merely that it was a bad show and WBZ dropped it—a mistake, it soon developed. The American Research Bureau ratings for Boston revealed that WBZ's audience fell off 66% during the time spot vacated by the Huddle. WEEI, a 5,000-watter with a four-state audience, picked up the show, and its listeners for that same Sunday night time slot have more than doubled.

​

This gem really took me back Kevin.
It was astounding how innocent the young callers (in my age group at the time) sounded.
Anyway, this too me back, way back. Would love to hear earlier shows with that group
talking about the Garden, the rats and the huge increase of $1.00 a seat a game...

 

[Fenway]

This gem really took me back Kevin.
It was astounding how innocent the young callers (in my age group at the time) sounded.
Anyway, this too me back, way back. Would love to hear earlier shows with that group
talking about the Garden, the rats and the huge increase of $1.00 a seat a game...

@Gordoff

Those innocent callers today are in their 60's

@Kate08 - Ask your parents about this. How bad was the Garden in those years?

If you were a woman in the second balcony you had to use the men's bathroom and well nobody bothered to wait for the stalls. ( Hey it was the 60's ) - and the only way to get to the beer stand for anyone in the second balcony was thru the bathroom.

I'm ancient enough to say I saw the Bruins play in 4 of the other 'Surviving 6' arenas. ( I never saw a game at the Detroit Olympia but got a swine flu shot there )

The old Madison Sq Garden at 8th Av and 49th St was a palace compared to Boston as was Chicago Stadium and Toronto and Montreal were hockey cathedrals.

 

[Deleted]

@Mr Irish - In 1970, dismayed that President Nixon had not congratulated the Bruins after their Stanley Cup victory, Sports Huddle phoned Edward Brooke and Ted Kennedy and got both Massachusetts Senators to say that the President was guilty of first-degree oversight. Before long, 30,000 listeners signed 7,000 letters to the White House demanding action. They got it—tardily, but big. President Nixon sent a congratulatory telegram five months later and followed it up with a most unusual bit of advertising while riding in a convertible through Dublin. The President held up a sign saying BOSTON BRUINS ARE NO. 1. Native Irishmen, nonplussed, shrugged their shoulders, but their Boston kinsmen knew what it was all about and chalked up another accomplishment for the Sports Huddle.



View attachment 465846

Viral marketing before viral marketing was a thing.

I'd like to think more people here today would be familiar with who the Bruins are but I think they would be just as bemused.

 

[Fenway]

Viral marketing before viral marketing was a thing.

I'd like to think more people here today would be familiar with who the Bruins are but I think they would be just as bemused.

@Mr Irish I assume Newbridge is near Dublin?

I have seen a hockey game in Belfast where it appeared there was some understanding of the sport.

What I will never forget is after the game Belfast fans told me they trusted Dublin more than London.

Is there any organized hockey in the Republic?

 

[Deleted]

@Mr Irish I assume Newbridge is near Dublin?

I have seen a hockey game in Belfast where it appeared there was some understanding of the sport.

What I will never forget is after the game Belfast fans told me they trusted Dublin more than London.

Is there any organized hockey in the Republic?

Newbridge is about an hour or so from Dublin.

No, no organized hockey in the Republic. The Belfast Giants are part of the UK league being they are based in the North. There was a short lived attempt at a league in the Republic between 2007-10 with 6 teams but it wasn't able to sustain itself. There are very few permanent rinks in the country. I'm in Cork which is the second biggest city in the country and there is no permanent rink here. A lot of cities and bigger towns get temporary seasonal rinks for a couple of months over Xmas and you would see the odd hockey stick making an appearance at those.

It is funny, such is the number of north Americans immigrating to Ireland now (talk about a reversal) that last winter a Canadian family which had moved to Cork (Leaf fans ) made one of the tabloid papers when they donned their Leafs jerseys and grabbed their sticks and found a bit of frozen water.

https://www-irishmirror-ie.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/canadian-kids-play-ice-hockey-23300220.amp?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a6&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw==#amp_tf=From %1$s&aoh=16323032105223&referrer=https://www.google.com&ampshare=https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/canadian-kids-play-ice-hockey-23300220

I think I posted it before but Hockey really should be more popular here considering it directly descends from our national sport of Hurling. There is a great little documentary about the link.

Trailer:


The full doc is only available on the stations player so not sure if it is geo blocked, a nice watch if not:
Poc na nGael (1-1) | Player | Irish Television Channel, Súil Eile

 

[Kate08]

@Gordoff

Those innocent callers today are in their 60's

@Kate08 - Ask your parents about this. How bad was the Garden in those years?

If you were a woman in the second balcony you had to use the men's bathroom and well nobody bothered to wait for the stalls. ( Hey it was the 60's ) - and the only way to get to the beer stand for anyone in the second balcony was thru the bathroom.

I'm ancient enough to say I saw the Bruins play in 4 of the other 'Surviving 6' arenas. ( I never saw a game at the Detroit Olympia but got a swine flu shot there )

The old Madison Sq Garden at 8th Av and 49th St was a palace compared to Boston as was Chicago Stadium and Toronto and Montreal were hockey cathedrals.

My dad had season tickets in the balcony behind an end camera well, but that was probably in the early 80s (maybe late 70s). My parents were born in '58 and '59 so missed out on the 60's at the Garden for the most part, but I know they wreaked some havoc starting in the late 70s.

 

[BMC]

@Gordoff

Those innocent callers today are in their 60's

@Kate08 - Ask your parents about this. How bad was the Garden in those years?

If you were a woman in the second balcony you had to use the men's bathroom and well nobody bothered to wait for the stalls. ( Hey it was the 60's ) - and the only way to get to the beer stand for anyone in the second balcony was thru the bathroom.

I'm ancient enough to say I saw the Bruins play in 4 of the other 'Surviving 6' arenas. ( I never saw a game at the Detroit Olympia but got a swine flu shot there )

The old Madison Sq Garden at 8th Av and 49th St was a palace compared to Boston as was Chicago Stadium and Toronto and Montreal were hockey cathedrals.

I attended a Celtics playoff game there in 1985. Our friend warned us about the bathrooms so everybody made sure they went before we got there and we saved our drinking for after the game (which they won, of course)!!!!

 

[Gordoff]

@Gordoff

Those innocent callers today are in their 60's

@Kate08 - Ask your parents about this. How bad was the Garden in those years?

If you were a woman in the second balcony you had to use the men's bathroom and well nobody bothered to wait for the stalls. ( Hey it was the 60's ) - and the only way to get to the beer stand for anyone in the second balcony was thru the bathroom.

I'm ancient enough to say I saw the Bruins play in 4 of the other 'Surviving 6' arenas. ( I never saw a game at the Detroit Olympia but got a swine flu shot there )

The old Madison Sq Garden at 8th Av and 49th St was a palace compared to Boston as was Chicago Stadium and Toronto and Montreal were hockey cathedrals.

Right Kevin as I said
"It was astounding how innocent the young callers (in my age group at the time)"
They were my age at the time.

 

[Fenian24]

@Gordoff

Those innocent callers today are in their 60's

@Kate08 - Ask your parents about this. How bad was the Garden in those years?

If you were a woman in the second balcony you had to use the men's bathroom and well nobody bothered to wait for the stalls. ( Hey it was the 60's ) - and the only way to get to the beer stand for anyone in the second balcony was thru the bathroom.

I'm ancient enough to say I saw the Bruins play in 4 of the other 'Surviving 6' arenas. ( I never saw a game at the Detroit Olympia but got a swine flu shot there )

The old Madison Sq Garden at 8th Av and 49th St was a palace compared to Boston as was Chicago Stadium and Toronto and Montreal were hockey cathedrals.

My first away rink was the Meadowlands and I was amazed I could see all the ice. Then I went to the Forum and truly understood what a dump the Garden was. Maple Leaf Gardens and Chicago Stadium followed. Maple Leaf Gardens was as cramped as the Garden and just as hot, we moved to standing room in the Stadium and the view was great.

Never got to see the old MSG but I have been to the new one (1988 version) for a preseason game.

My Bruins seats were in section 73 behind the net and for two years I couldn't see the goal if people stood up, when the nets got moved out it was a revelation. The Garden was hot, cramped, occasionally violent and I miss it every day.

As for Andleman, I always thought he was a boorish clown and it is rare I feel sympathy for Dale Arnold but working with that clown for as long as he did Dale gets some empathy.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

First time to the old Garden was an NBA doubleheader. Knicks vs Pistons followed by Celtics vs Lakers.

Saw one pre-Orr Bruins game against Red Wings and then maybe 3 more still in the 60's.

 

[TheReal13Linseman]

Right Kevin as I said
"It was astounding how innocent the young callers (in my age group at the time)"
They were my age at the time.

I’ve got some audio on cassette tape of me calling into the show when they were on WHDH. They had Sinden and Bob Tindall on and I was asking Harry about his statement that our prospect Dave Pasin was like Mike Bossy. He backpedaled and said that Pasin had the same kind of qualities as a Bossy but he hadn’t meant to convey that he would be the “next” Mike Bossy.

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

Newbridge is about an hour or so from Dublin.

No, no organized hockey in the Republic. The Belfast Giants are part of the UK league being they are based in the North. There was a short lived attempt at a league in the Republic between 2007-10 with 6 teams but it wasn't able to sustain itself. There are very few permanent rinks in the country. I'm in Cork which is the second biggest city in the country and there is no permanent rink here. A lot of cities and bigger towns get temporary seasonal rinks for a couple of months over Xmas and you would see the odd hockey stick making an appearance at those.

It is funny, such is the number of north Americans immigrating to Ireland now (talk about a reversal) that last winter a Canadian family which had moved to Cork (Leaf fans ) made one of the tabloid papers when they donned their Leafs jerseys and grabbed their sticks and found a bit of frozen water.

https://www-irishmirror-ie.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/canadian-kids-play-ice-hockey-23300220.amp?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a6&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw==#amp_tf=From %1$s&aoh=16323032105223&referrer=https://www.google.com&ampshare=https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/canadian-kids-play-ice-hockey-23300220

I think I posted it before but Hockey really should be more popular here considering it directly descends from our national sport of Hurling. There is a great little documentary about the link.

Trailer:


The full doc is only available on the stations player so not sure if it is geo blocked, a nice watch if not:
Poc na nGael (1-1) | Player | Irish Television Channel, Súil Eile

My family is from Kerry so I'm supposed to like football best, but hurling is an amazing sport. My #3 favorite after hockey and rugby.

 

[Fenway]

From a historical standpoint, it is important to remember the Adams family were not good owners after WWII and actually gave control to Walter Brown who ran the Boston Garden and Arena Corporation.

Brown died suddenly in 1964 and the Adams reacquired the team.

The big problem was the Boston Garden and Arena Corporation was getting killed on property tax bills from Boston even though they did not own the building - The Boston and Maine Railroad did.

The Garden was basically the same building in 1974 as it was in 1928 and Delaware North started renovations when they took over.

Things got even worse after the B&M RR failed and the state became the owner of North Sation.

I can't stress this enough.....the team almost moved to New Hampshire.

18:04 - Brian McFarlane interviews former Bruin Johnny Peirson
20:45 - Dave Hodge interviews Bruin GM Harry Sinden

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

I remember being heartbroken as a child at the idea of the Bruins moving to Salem. And wondering if the Spoked "B" would become a Spoked "S." My brother assured me that the B stood for Bruins, not Boston.

I also remember Paul Tsongas constantly trying to get a new arena built in Boston, and getting nowhere.