The 1966 Season

San Jose Civic Auditorium

 

Would like to begin by mentioning that, before the 1966 season began, there would be three new members of the Roller Derby Hall Of Fame.

 

The three were Buddy Atkinson Sr., Hal Janowitz and Bill Reynolds.  All three would contribute in various ways during the 1966 season.

 

Speaking of 1966,  it appeared that the off season began in January 1966 involving the Bombers and Northwest Cardinals.  The teams skated a road trip of roughly 35 games, some games in Northern California and some in the Midwest and East.

 

The Western season would officially open in late March against the New York Chiefs.

 

Things would be different in 1966.  There would be inter league play for the first time.  The Bombers first opponent would be the Detroit Devils on April 24th making it the first skated game under Roller Derby rules. (More on the first ever inter league game in the Roller Games section).

 

Other inter league teams the Bombers would see were the Los Angeles Thunderbirds, Texas Outlaws, New York Bombers (known as the New Yorkers) and the Chicago Hawks.

 

The Bombers would also skate against the league's Chiefs, Midwest Pioneers, Northwest Cardinals and a familiar nickname, the Braves.  This time, it wasn't the Los Angeles Braves but the Boston/New England Braves.

 

In early June, there would be a mid season concept for the first time.  It was called the Founder's Cup named after Roller Derby's founder, Leo Seltzer.  The top four teams in the standings would skate a two day tournament.  

The first night's action was skated at the Cow Palace while the second night happened at the Oakland Auditorium.  What was interesting was that the Bombers lost in the first night of action, something very unusual.  The Northwest Cardinals ended up as the winner of the tournament.  A win would guarantee a team a spot in the Championship Playoffs at the end of the Western Season. 

 

During this skating season, it seemed that there were more match races than ever before.  Also, and this was unfortunate, there would be a forfeit of a game at Kezar Pavilion.  The event took place late in the season during the final week of the regular season.  The game was ruled a forfeit after continuous debris was thrown on the track during a televised game.  The Bombers lost as a result.

The two day Championship Playoffs would be held at the Cow Palace for the final time.  In 1967, the newly built Oakland Coliseum Arena and the Cow Palace would alternate days going forward.

 

The Chiefs won the league pennant.  With the Cardinals clinching a playoff spot by winning the Founder's Cup and the Bombers doing well during the season, it came down to the Pioneers and Braves for the last spot.  It appeared that the Braves, maybe because of their series win over the Bombers, would be the final team in.

 

The playoffs were as tight as any year that I noticed.  The Chiefs and Bombers with one point victories, went to the championship round.

 

In the Championship Game, it would be the lowest scoring final in IRDL history.  It wasn't that the offenses were bad.  It was that the defenses were that good.  The Chiefs had Mike Gammon and Judy McGuire as their top jammers.  The Bombers countered with Tony Roman and Carol Meyer.  All four jammers had difficult times scoring points.  This fan remembers that the Chiefs were the favorites and the Bombers, the underdogs.

 

Moving ahead to the final period of play, I remembered Charlie O'Connell taken out of action with a clean block by Buddy Atkinson Jr.  He would be out for several jams before returning to the game late.  

 

Remembering vaguely, the Bomber team appeared shaken as well as the boisterous crowd of over 12,000 fans at the Cow Palace.

 

The final jam of regulation had O'Connell throwing a jump block at Atkinson Jr.  The Bombers prevailed, 19-18.  It has been noted that Charlie O'Connell likely suffered a concussion in the final period of play. 

 

A couple of months later, the Bombers would skate at the Oakland Coliseum Arena for the very first time.  It was billed as the Interleague World Series against the NSD's Los Angeles Thunderbirds.

 

The Bombers would prevail at the Coliseum Arena on November 11.  For more on what happened the next night in Long Beach, please see Roller Games.

 

In Roller Games, it appeared that the Los Angeles T-Birds were dominating for much of the 1966 season.

 

They would take care of the New York Bombers both in the President's Cup and the Championship Playoff Finals.

 

However, the T-Birds will go down as the first team to take part in interleague play (NSD vs IRDL).  

 

On April 24th, the Bombers skated their interleague opener against the Detroit Devils.  Ten days earlier, on April 14th, the T-Birds would open their inter league series against the Northwest Cardinals at the Grand Olympic Auditorium.  The T-Birds won 85-82 and would win the best-of-five series, three games to two.

 

A couple of days after that series, the Cardinals would travel to the San Joaquin Valley to face the New York Bombers in a three game series in Fresno and Tulare.

 

As mentioned in the Roller Derby section, the T-Birds skated a two game Interleague Championship series against the Bombers.

 

The T-Birds lost the first night in Oakland.  They would win the following night at the Long Beach Arena to split the two game series.

 

Moving on, what would the two leagues do for the 1967 season.  More on that when the 1967 season is posted soon!