1977 Play-by-Play

January 12th, scoring opened with a solo for Mr. Debris, who tagged Henri Langlois and moved into the lead at 4 & 1... Jan. 13th, P. & E. Hepner stepped up to the plate with a solo on Bishop Kearny for one point... Jan. 14th, author Anais Nin was a three-point duet for J. Schinto and E. Sox... Jan. 20th, J. Basal, the Smoldering Giant, soloed for two on Carl Zuckmayer... Jan. 25th, five gamesters held a wake for Toots Shor and scored three each, but still no challenge to Mr. Debris... Jan. 29th, eight gamesters tallied one each on actor Burt Mustin.

February 18th, Andy Devine died and Mr. Debris could no longer hold on. Picking up three points were nine gamesters including two who had the Shor/Devine combo: G. Conway and Ghostwriter, in the lead at 6 & 2. Conway had last glimpsed the beauty of open track in 1974, just before Dr. Death's brutal 15-point punch-out. For Ghostwriter, it was a rare moment in the sun... Feb. 28th, D. Perriman Jr. scored a lovely three-point solo on Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, a hit who everyone knew and thus a very stylish call.

March 1st, ten gamesters voted for legendary pol Dan O'Connell. Seven scored one but three went Wild, including G. Conway who surged into the lead at 11 & 3. Contacted at home in Albany, New York, she noted, "I'm in the lead; it's my first Wild Card, and I feel fine!"... Mar. 10th, Mr. Clete and D. Perriman Sr., who probably both owned the same almanac, dueted on Henry Hull for two points each... Mar. 12, Mort U. Airy played a thundering three-note solo chord on organist E. Power Biggs... Mar. 16th, D. Heath was there for a super sudden six-point political solo on Lebanon's Kamal Jumblatt, shot dead by four gunmen... Mar. 20th, J. Basal tallied seven (7) points on Formula One driver Carlos Pace dying, ironically, in the Game's first plane crash. The hit tied him with G. Conway for the lead at 11 points, and Basal woke her from a sound sleep to give her the news.

May 10th, after a longish lull, J. Corrigan and R. Hunter (brother-in-law of W. Krug) tallied two on actress Joan Crawford for four points each... May 20th, a dream hit for three as the director of the Selective Service office drew his own number. Picking up two points on Lewis B. Hershey were Mr. Clete, those fabulous Hoffmeiers and D. Perriman Sr... May 28th, Miss Sally scored a four-point solo on her dad's boss, CBS legend Goddard Lieberson.

June 13th, Mr. Debris found his legs again but the pack had passed. The hit: a nice three-point solo on Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark, fraternity brother of Dr. Death, Binky Brown, Dupont Fluvius, Ghostwriter and R. Ward. (Clark once came to Syracuse University and was feted by the above-named Delts. As Clark mounted the steps to the reception, he was greeted by non-gamester David Taylor who said, "Hi ,Tom. How are they hanging?" to which the distinguished gentleman replied, "Fine, just fine." It was a Golden Moment. Although Ghostwriter missed the formal doings due to a Shakespeare exam, he met Clark as he toured the fraternity house and looked in the closets. But enough history.)... June 18th, 14 gamesters blasted off with four-point ex-Nazi Werner von Braun. Grinning in the g-forces was J. Basal, rocketing to the lead at 15 points, and The Last Roundup, breaking an 18-month dry spell... June 28th, a smiling Mr. Goodvibes went to the hoop for a solo four on N.B.A. Commissioner Walter Kennedy.

July 2nd, Mr. Debris and D. McCarthy donned their Lolita outfits for a three-point hit on Vladimir Nabokov... July 10th, two cats, Jason & Brindsley, scored a nice one-point solo on suffragette Alice Paul... July 20th, the highly lettered J. Schinto scored a very tasteful solo on Katherine White, writer, editor and wife of E. B. White.

August 3rd, two hits: five tallied four on Archbishop Makarios and the hit moved D. Heath into the lead at 16 points, edging past J. Basal at 15. Same day, four scored two on Alfred Lunt... And then on August 16th, The King. Ten gamesters tallied six on Elvis Presley, and they will always remember where they were when they got the news... Aug. 19th, a much more populous pick, 45 gamesters (out of 60 playing) raised their eyebrows for Groucho Marx. Five gamesters scored their Wild Card -- including Miss Sally who had tagged Elvis and thus scored 11 points in three days -- but the hit was especially notable as providing the only two points scored in 1977 by the 1976 Gran Prix winner N. Percia, who thus personified "sophomore slump." Meanwhile, up in front, the two points gave the lead back to J. Basal at 17-16 over D. Heath.... Aug. 21st, Binky Brown soloed on football's Jim Vellone for seven big points and moved to within two points of the lead... Aug. 23rd, five gamesters went for five portly points on actor Sebastian Cabot. Returning to the lead was D. Heath at 21 points, with D. Perriman Jr. moving to 15 and G. Conway to 18.

September 1st, D. Perriman Jr. was back, with W. Krug, singing a soulful three-point duet with Ethel Waters and moving to 18 points... Sept. 8th, G. Conway led the way with actor Zero Mostel for four and moved into the lead at 22 points! Also getting four for Zero were e. mcgrath and R. Levitan... Sept. 12th, D. Hillmann interjected a note of style with a four-point solo on poet Robert Lowell... Next day, nine gamesters sat up for one point as Leopold Stokowski tapped his baton on the podium. In the appreciative audience were J. Basal, Mr. Clete, Perrimans Jr. and Sr., and Mr. Debris going Wild for five points... Sept. 21st, K. Donovan soloed on Kurt Adler for three.

October 11th, P. & E. Hepner soloed for three on author McKinlay Kantor... Oct. 14th, 29 gamesters joined the chorus for three on crooner Bing Crosby. Singing "White Christmas" was G. Conway who moved to 25 points and still clung to the lead... Oct. 28th, well-read J. Schinto soloed on author James Cain for two.

November 6th, seven led by L. Lantz scored three on Guy Lombardo, who would not be buried with all of the Royal Canadians... Nov. 16, B. Hamilton scored two on the head of the Hare Krishna movement, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada... Nov. 28th, Mr. Clete (in his last Run for the Lilies as pet lists would no longer be allowed as of 1978), Mr. Goodvibes and B. Hamilton scored two on Sen. John McClellan.

December 5th, L. Smith (who the January 1978 Gazette characterized as "a drug-soaked hippie") and Ghostwriter started an argument that still rages today: Just who robbed who of the six-point solo on Rahsaan Roland Kirk?... Dec. 11th, six went to the hoop for the three-point play with Adolph Rupp and M. W. Miller made it five with his Wild Card... On Dec. 12th, four scored one on Lady Clementine Spenser-Churchill. Among them, D. Perriman Sr.... On Dec. 17th, E. Sox soloed for three on actor Cyril Ritchard... Dec. 18th, D. Perriman Sr. soloed for two on Marriner Eccles, and the earth began to shake ominously... Dec. 19th, four gamesters tagged 101-year-old Nellie Tayloe Ross and D. Perriman Sr. went Wild for five points, rising to 23, just two behind leader G. Conway... Dec. 25th, 27 gamesters scored two on actor Charlie Chaplin and thus entered history, scoring in the Game's first "Stocking Stuffer" on Christmas Day. Leading the way, G. Conway moving to 27 points BUT following right behind her was D. Perriman Sr. at 25... Next day (!), three gamesters scored two on director Howard Hawks: Mr. Goodvibes, D. Perriman Jr. and, yes, D. Perriman Sr., with his fifth hit of the month, 12th of the year (a new Game record), and the two points to tie G. Conway for the lead at 27!! And so it went into the books.

Once again, as in 1974, G. Conway was the victim of a fierce December rally at the hands of a Game master. This time, however, she held on to share in the victory with the Silver Warrior, D. Perriman Sr.

Let's look at the Top Ten for 1977.

Take me on to 1978.

Take me back to Play-by-Play.