During the Golden Age of Sports from 1964 to 1999….all of the major televised sports networks had their “sports anthology programs”….ABC’s Wide World of Sports…NBC’s SportsWorld….and CBS Sports Saturday / Sunday…..which all aired on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. These programs covered the vast and expansive world of sports around the globe….as they featured many of the legends of sports broadcasting…..with Jim McKay and Jim Lampley at ABC….along with Bob Costas and Dick Enberg at NBC….and Pat O’Brien and Gary Bender at CBS….so, these programs were always “manned at the mike” by some of the best to ever sit at the sport’s desk.
This particular CBS Sports Sunday program finds Gary Bender and Terry Bradshaw at the mike….as this was Bradshaw’s first sportscasting gig….several years before he joined the legendary Fox NFL Sunday crew of James Brown, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson and Terry Bradshaw. During this program, Bender and Bradshaw cover the 1985 NFL pre-season games on this mid-August weekend….along with MLB highlights of the ’85 season in progress….and the impending world championship boxing match between Juan “Kid” Meza vs Lupe Pintor. Then the program shifts to an episode of John Madden’s Journey…. where the legendary coach and broadcaster interviews another coaching legend of the NFL in Cowboys Tom Landry….regarding his QB controversy surrounding Danny White and Gary Hogeboom….which also includes interviews with Cowboys Assistant Coach Ernie Stauntner and the Pokes future Hall of Fame running back, Tony Dorsett.
Any way you cut the pie….these sports anthology programs like this August 18, 1985 edition of CBS Sports Sunday….are well worth watching by any and all sports fans.