This podcast is part of the Sports History Network - the headquarters of sports' yesteryear.

SHOW DESCRIPTION:

These days, the New England Patriots are often thought of as one of the elite teams in the NFL. However, that hasn’t always been the case, especially during the team’s infancy, when they were a charter member of the upstart AFL and chaos and confusion often reigned. The Patriots of the 60s and early 70s were a transient team and played its home games in no less than 5 different stadiums. The Pats also cycled thru its head coaches quite frequently back then and one coach in particular is often remembered as the one who best epitomized the team’s failings during this time.

In this 4-part series, we will take a look at the team’s humble beginnings in Boston in 1960 to their first years in Foxboro. We will also do a deep dive into the timeline between 1969 – 1972 to relive some of the most shocking and bizarre events to ever impact a professional sports franchise. The Patriots: From Boston to Foxboro.

HOST - JOE SANTOS:

Joe Santos grew up in Massachusetts and is an avid football fan, with a special fondness for the NFL in the early 70s. This Week in Pro Football and NFL Game of the Week were must-see TV back in the day. And living in Massachusetts meant you saw all of the NY Giants games on tv, both home and away, as they were the de facto home team for the NFC. Due to the blackout rules at the time, only the Patriots away games were shown. Being a huge sports history fan, Joe will continue to tell the unusual stories from an era that's considered to be the golden age of pro football.

Wrestling With Heels On is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

EPISODE SUMMARY

Sergeant Slaughter doesn't have a first name either. He's just Sergeant Slaughter, a Vietnam vet with a sharp campaign hat and mirrored sunglasses. He's billed as being from Parris Island, South Carolina, but that's a Marine base, not a hometown. And it's probably not a fine point anyone should take up with a 6 foot 6, 305-pound wrestler.

The wrestler who performs Sergeant Slaughter does have a name and backstory, however. His name is Robert Rudolph Remus. He made his debut in 1974, wrestling for the AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION (AWA). Even though he gained a modicum of notoriety wrestling in the AWA and Japan, it wasn't until 1980 that he truly hit his stride. That was the year he became Sergeant Slaughter. Professional wrestling would never be the same again; and neither would I.

A massive jawline beneath a pencil-thin moustache; a tree-trunk neck with a gleaming silver whistle swinging from it. In my ten-year old mind, this was how the ideal drill instructor should look, and soon enough, I wanted to wear a smart soldier uniform too. It was my way of looking strong and authoritative....

ABOUT WRESTLING WITH HEELS ON

Wrestling With Heels On Web Page

Hi EVERYONE. MY NAME IS ARIEL GONZALEZ, ORIGINALLY FROM BROOKLYN, NOW LIVING IN THE GARDEN STATE AND I HAVE A NEW PODCAST SHOW CALLED WRESTLING WITH HEELS ON. BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE SPORTS HISTORY NETWORK, OF COURSE.

ON THE PODCAST, I GET TO REMINISCENCE ABOUT MY FAVORITE WRESTLING BAD GUYS FROM YESTERYEAR. LIGHT ON STATS AND HEAVY ON NOSTALGIA, THIS LITTLE TRIP DOWN VILLAINY LANE GIVES ME A CHANCE TO VISIT THE DARK CORRIDORS OF MY WRESTLING SOUL. AND IT’S ALSO FUN TO HAVE A PODCAST.

SO JOIN ME AS I WAX NOSTALGIC ABOUT MY FAVORITE WRESTLING WEIRDOS AND NE’ER DO WELLS, THE NO-GOODNIKS OF A NO-LONGER TIME THAT STILL HAUNT ME TODAY. JUST KEEP IN MIND, LIKE SOME PEOPLE MY AGE, MY RECALL OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS CAN GET A LITTLE WOBBLY SOMETIMES. SO DON’T WORRY IF I GET IT WRONG. OH! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

I’M WRESTLING WITH HEELS ON.

Wrestling With Heels On is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

EPISODE SUMMARY

I am a big fan of the 1981 film My Dinner with Andre. The film stars Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory as fictionalized versions of themselves. They play old friends who haven't seen each other in five years and agree to meet for dinner. Andre is a theater director and Wallace is a playwright. The entire movie, the entire dinner, is just a conversation between two men who haven't seen each other in quite some time and have completely different worldviews.

What follows is a parody of My Dinner with Andre mixed with the philosophy of Roland Barthes, a French philosopher who wrote a piece on wrestling. I hope this parody doesn't go over anybody's head or bore anybody to death. With that in mind, I simply had to do this. I simply had to break the rules. Hey, this show is about bad guys. What good is a bad guy who doesn't break the rules? I hope you enjoy it.

ABOUT WRESTLING WITH HEELS ON

Wrestling With Heels On Web Page

Hi EVERYONE. MY NAME IS ARIEL GONZALEZ, ORIGINALLY FROM BROOKLYN, NOW LIVING IN THE GARDEN STATE AND I HAVE A NEW PODCAST SHOW CALLED WRESTLING WITH HEELS ON. BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE SPORTS HISTORY NETWORK, OF COURSE.

ON THE PODCAST, I GET TO REMINISCENCE ABOUT MY FAVORITE WRESTLING BAD GUYS FROM YESTERYEAR. LIGHT ON STATS AND HEAVY ON NOSTALGIA, THIS LITTLE TRIP DOWN VILLAINY LANE GIVES ME A CHANCE TO VISIT THE DARK CORRIDORS OF MY WRESTLING SOUL. AND IT’S ALSO FUN TO HAVE A PODCAST.

SO JOIN ME AS I WAX NOSTALGIC ABOUT MY FAVORITE WRESTLING WEIRDOS AND NE’ER DO WELLS, THE NO-GOODNIKS OF A NO-LONGER TIME THAT STILL HAUNT ME TODAY. JUST KEEP IN MIND, LIKE SOME PEOPLE MY AGE, MY RECALL OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS CAN GET A LITTLE WOBBLY SOMETIMES. SO DON’T WORRY IF I GET IT WRONG. OH! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

I’M WRESTLING WITH HEELS ON.