Flashback 1968: The 'Heidi Game'
The Shadow
(Editor's Note: The New York Jets-Oakland Raiders series has produced
several memorable games, but none more so than this infamous mid-November
1968 meeting. This story is republished from NFL's Greatest, Copyright ©
2000 Dorling Kindersley Publishing Limited and National Football League
Properties, Inc.)
What does a sweet little Swiss girl in dirndl have to do with pro football?
Quite a bit, as it turned out.
A seemingly innocuous decision by an NBC executive -- to pre-empt the
broadcast of the end of an AFL game for the start of the movie Heidi --
triggered a firestorm. Better than any poll, it delivered an unmistakable
message about the popularity of pro football and America's passionate
attachment to the game.
The particulars involved an AFL game between bitter rivals -- the New York
Jets and Oakland Raiders -- at the Oakland Coliseum on November 17, 1968.
The game would serve as a lead-in for Heidi, the network's new movie based
on the children's book. The game started at 4 p.m. (EST), the movie at 7
p.m.
The Jets and Raiders squared off in a classic AFL shootout tinged by hard
feelings. Fights, flags and big hits dominated a first half that ended with
Oakland leading 14-12. In the third quarter, Jets safety Jim Hudson became
so enraged that he was ejected. The teams traded scores until New York took
a 32-29 lead on Jim Turner's 26-yard field goal with 1:05 remaining in the
game.
The timing could not have been better for NBC. The game went to a
commercial, and when the break ended, Heidi started.
Network executives had cut away, believing New York's lead was safe with so
little time remaining. They were wrong. A 20-yard pass by Daryle Lamonica
and a 15-yard penalty put the Raiders into Jets territory. Then, halfback
Charlie Smith, isolated on Hudson's replacement, ran by the safety and
hauled in a 43-yard touchdown pass with 42 seconds left to put Oakland ahead
36-32.
The Raiders were not done, either. On the ensuing kickoff, the Jets' Earl
Christy bobbled the ball, and the Raiders swarmed him at the Jets' 10. The
ball squirted to the 2, where the Raiders' Preston Ridlehuber recovered and
ran in for a touchdown to conclude a 43-32 victory.
The Jets were alternatively shocked and furious, but that was nothing
compared to the emotions expressed to the NBC switchboard. So many angry
viewers phoned to complain about missing the fantastic ending of a fantastic
game that the network issued a public apology.
http://www.raiderslinks.com/images/walpap/chris286.jpg
131,33,17
> Believe it or not those of us who were at the game had no idea that it
> would be considered anything more than another great win against
> Namath's Jets. There was scant mention of Heidi in the Oakland
> Tribune. It was not until about a year later that they even called it
> " The Heidi Game."
Interesting ... I would have thought that many of those "lighting up the
NBC switchboards" were Oakland locals who weren't fortunate enough to
have tickets ... and thus it would've been front page material locally.
--
Godspeed RAIDERS!!!
131,33,17
tsp
cut it off as they did. And laughing at what the country would say the next
morning when they found out the true final score!
"131,33,17" <131-...@HOT.gov> wrote in message
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Sac D
"131,33,17" <131-...@HOT.gov> wrote in message
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There was no Mt Davis back then... so the games usually sold out.
-=Sac D=-
tsp
"Sac D" <Sa...@Alegate.org> wrote in message
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Nightcrawler
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