Hi gang. This is it, our new website, and my latest hobby...messing around on the internet and building websites. Reminds me of my Erector set when I was a kid. Remember those? I would spend hours building stuff. So, this is my adult Erector set.
If you don't like anything here, you can blame me.
Over the years I have attended many Survivors reunions, and loved them all. It is so much fun to see all the old gang again.
I am a lucky guy that I know so many folks in this business. I started in Tucson broadcasting in the late 50's while in high school. In 1965 after graduatiing from the U of A I came to Phoenix as an account executive with KRUX and then moved over to KTAR-TV in 1968. This allowed me a chance to meet lots of ad agency folks.
Then in 1972, Mac Jett and I started Lindstrom and Jett, Inc. advertising, and I got to meet plenty of media people.
Now, as some of you may know, Mac and I are still partners, this time in retailing. We have stores at The Riverside Resort in Laughlin, NV including The Watch Man, a very large watch store that has been featured on the NBC Today Show, The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, and in Forbes Magazine. (Forbes dubbed me "The Sultan of Schlock."-Of course, you've all known that for years!)
Anyway, I think quite a few of us were upset when we heard that this year's reunion would be our last. So, when Maurie Helle called and invited me to a board meeting, I I jumped at the chance. Everybody there felt that since the reception was so good to the last reunion that perhaps we could keep it going.
I suggested a website as a way to keep everybody connected during the year and the idea was accepted.
And, here it is!
I NEED YOUR HELP!
I can't do this whole thing by myself. I will do most of it, and I love doing it, but I need you folks to write stuff for me, to submit items, and to keep us up to date of people's passing. I bet there are a lot of retired writers who have some great stories they would like to pass along, or some new things they would like to say. How about some opinions? e-mail me anything. No censorship here, I'll run anything you want me to without reservation. How about some old pictures? Love to put them in.
I asked my old friends Mac Jett and Andy Limber to write a few things to get us started. I said, "Anything, I don't care." They both submitted stories involving me, which is embarrassing, but that's what they sent in. But, this is not about me, it's about you and about 800 folks on our mailing list.
So, the deal is: Look at the whole site. See how you can make it better. Got any suggestions? Additions?
I really look forward to hearing from you.
Ray Lindstrom,
Your Humble Webmaster
Those fun early years with the Phoenix Suns.
At our last reunion, I saw Bob Cowen. Bob was the first PA announcer for the Phoenix Suns, and a darned good one. There has been so much made about the Suns in the media this year, since they had the best record in the NBA. So, lately I have been thinking about the Suns and especially their early years in Phoenix. Haven't we always followed the Suns? After all, they were our first entry into big time professional sports here. And, Jerry Colangelo...what a guy. Real class. What a difference between him and the new owner of the Suns and his capers. A little of Robert Sarver goes a long way, but I digress...
In the fall of 1968 I left KRUX radio and got a job in the sales dept. at KTAR-TV, channel 12 in Phoenix. When I arrived they announced that they were the official TV outlet of the Phoenix Suns, a new expansion franchise in the NBA. Our job was to sell the advertising in the games. While doing this we got to meet the players and management, go to any games we wanted to, and really participate in this new, exciting operation.
Of course, the first year, the Suns were awful. And, we were all shocked when play-by-play man Bob Vache was killed in an auto accident half way through the season. Joe McConnell was hired to do the Suns announcing the second year. The Suns missed getting Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Their top draft pick yielded Neal Walk, and later they picked up Connie Hawkins. And, that second year they made the playoffs. It was exciting but they lost to the Lakers in the first round. How much were tickets to the NBA finals that year? You were issued every possible game in the set, so just for fun I kept the tickets for the finals, if the Suns would have made it. Can you guess how much NBA finals tickets cost in 1970, 35 years ago.
You can see how much it cost by just clicking.
on the ticket to your right.
Unbelievable!
That year I had Tex Earnhardt on the air for the first time and was always doing crazy commercials. I suggested we get a Suns player, go out to the Encanto Park hoops area and have Tex score a bucket. Of course, the difference between Tex and the Suns player would be, Tex would be on his horse. Neal Walk agreed to do it. The gig paid the player $50. $50! He hated doing it for such little money and complained the whole time as we did take after take of Tex on his horse beating Neal to the bucket. Tex didn't know anything about basketball or the Suns and couldn't remember Neal's name, calling him Falk instead of Walk all afternoon. It didn't help Neal's attitude.
The next year the sales dept. was asked to come up with clever promotions. That's when I had the idea of the "Most Popular Player Award" as voted by the fans. I got to collect the ballots at the games, add them up, and award the trophy at the final home game. The first year's award went to the newly acquired Paul Silas.
I left KTAR in 1972 to start Lindstrom and Jett Advertising with my friend Mac. But, I wasn't through with the Suns. We had the account, the Valley AMC Dealers Assn. and were sponsors of the Suns TV games. As part of package we wanted some merchandising from the Suns so we came up with "24 Seconds to Shoot" contest. At every home game, one fan was selected to shoot the ball from the free throw line. They had 24 seconds to make 6 shots. If they made them they won a new AMC car. The dealers didn't want to give away the car, but Mac and I assured them it was virtually impossible to do. One of the team's players, and great free throw shooters Gale Goodrich had tried it one afternoon and couldn't do it. After all, you had to shoot it, retrieve the ball, get back behind the line and do it all over again and you had to make six before the buzzer sounded.
Nobody was close the entire season, until the last game. I'll never forget the little black kid. I almost had a heart attack as he sunk 5 in 20 seconds, got the 6th shot off before the buzzer and it just bounced off the iron. We never had that contest again.
I've had Suns tickets since 1973, second row, center court. They've gone from $4 each to $105 each in those years. When my wife and I got a divorce in 1982 there was one paragraph about the custody of the kids and 3 pages on the division of the Suns tickets.
I hope they win the finals. I don't know whether the fans deserve it or not, but Jerry deserves it for the great the job he has done. What a ride!
