like hoosiers, but with kojak, farrah, and mr. kotter

i'm enjoying family time over the holidays, but also self-indulging just a little. when i came across a bill simmons article touting "572 magical seconds" a couple months back, i vowed to check it out as soon as i could spare the 9:32. well worth it, my friends:

My favorite YouTube clip runs 572 magical seconds. It celebrates an impossible-to-fathom era of political incorrectness, egotistical celebs, misguided testosterone and the purest unintentional comedy possible … only it finishes with a Hall of Fame sports moment. That's right—I'm referring to the match race between Robert Conrad and Gabe Kaplan on the 1976 debut of Battle of the Network Stars.



if you deal with actual tough people in your work, you tend to have less patience for phony macho blowhard academics, administrators, and entertainers -- and there's blowhards aplenty in this clip.

most of it is just good seventies-style fun, but you might develop a rooting interest in the competing visions of masculinity, femininity, and leadership. and you might also lament the passing of networks, smoking in tracksuits, and sportscasters who could reference the "smile etched in the visage as he breasts the tape" with a straight face.