After many years watching this Great, Exciting, Thrilling & Tragic sport it was cool seeing the Miss Madison victory in the '71 Gold Cup. Keith Jackson had been the sports reporter for KOMO TV Seattle, where Hydro racing was king for many years & had so much experience calling Unlimited Boat races. Great Post!
I was 10 years old at the time when Jim McCormick won the Gold Cup in the Miss Madison and 1971 and here we are in 2019 and another Jim has won the Gold Cup again and that would be Jimmy Shane here on the hometown Waters in Madison Indiana. Technology has come a long way in the last forty some years. Little over a hundred miles per hour back then and now over 200 miles per hour today.
I was.at this.race. I have the program and the pit pass. I watched.standing I'm waist deep in the river. You could feel the vibrations of the props if you put your head at water level you could look under the boat and see daylight
The good is the Movie made people want to see the original race and learn more. It was a good movie that I liked, but the Madison was not the decrepit boat portrayed and had been there to win other races. McCormic tried forever to get the movie made and wrote much of it, but had passed by the time it did.
@mcfatty510 True. Not surprising really. I guess they just wanted to make everything more dramatic. Like the manufactured rivalry between the Madison and Budweiser crews.
A little like Hoosers where little guy makes big, in reality though the team portrayed had gone to the champoinship the year before and not won. But if it has people try to learn the actual events its a good thing, even if they are not as feel good or dramatic as a movie can make it!
this was an incredible and somewhat unlikely win for McCormick, and literally DID save hydroplane racing in Madison. if you saw the movie you got some idea , but it was not really that close to reality. the crap that Jim had to go thru to get that boat together would have had most men tossing in the towel and walking away. Jim was determined though, and he really believed he could achieve what he set out to do. the movie also mischaracterizes Bernie Little. I actually knew the man thru my father who owned the '85-'86 version of the Oh Boy Oberto. I was in my late teens at the time and frankly Mr. Little seemed like a god to me, but he was actually a really deep, caring man who did more to help other teams keep their boats on the water so he would have someone to race than anyone could have expected. he would actualy get on a patrol boat and race out to accidents that involved OTHER race teams boats because he was so concerned about the drivers and their safety, I mean what kind of a guy does that?he was tough, let there be no doubt, when you were competing with him you knew he was bringing his "A" game, but I saw his guys working on other boats, including ours a couple times, almost as much as they were working on his, and he never asked for a thing back but that you go out and race him. he tried, but failed, to take a stand against turbine engines, and when he realized he had lost he joined the band wagon and simply did it better. anyway, back to McCormick... I had a chance to crew for him in Tri Cities and Seattle (I live in Seattle, I was 20 at the time, was a great summer) in '87 because my dad sold his Oberto hull and equipment to him after the '86 season. he was not driving anymore, and I can't recall who was driving, could have been George Johnson. we won the consolation heat but were unable to turn the boat around (refuel etc.) in time to get the boat out to be the trailer in the final so another boat got in instead, cant recall who that was.
Bottom line, the movie needed a bad guy, so they put Bernie and the Budweiser team in that role. He was certainly not a one-dimensional individual, that's for sure, but I don't see him as a villain at all.
Miss Madison had been battling the Atlas Van Lines ll in actual race, NOT the Budweiser like in the movie.. Dean Chenowith was diver of the Bud and Bernie Little the owner of the Bud was not an asshole. Also Cat's Pride was not in the race..
Even so I think the movie conveyed the feeling of most race fans. The Bud was always winning because of its unlimited beer money and it was a real drag. People used to hate the Bud.
Actually at that point of time Bud wasn't winning all the time. Pay n Pak, Atlas i & ll, Bardahl, Exide won several..Bud never carried the U-1 till 1980, in which they won first 5 races.
yeah, the movie madison isn't even historically accurate with regards to the other drivers names. Guess they weren't given permission to use them. Kinda sad really.
This is, for all practical means and purposes, a worthless video. We never get to see who actually wins the race. We can only guess. Guy Lombardo? Interesting but not relevant to this particular race.
This is my first memory. 4 years old. My mom stood me on top of the trash in a full trash can so i could see. Hydroplane fan to this day.
After many years watching this Great, Exciting, Thrilling & Tragic sport it was cool seeing the Miss Madison victory in the '71 Gold Cup. Keith Jackson had been the sports reporter for KOMO TV Seattle, where Hydro racing was king for many years & had so much experience calling Unlimited Boat races. Great Post!
I was 10 years old at the time when Jim McCormick won the Gold Cup in the Miss Madison and 1971 and here we are in 2019 and another Jim has won the Gold Cup again and that would be Jimmy Shane here on the hometown Waters in Madison Indiana. Technology has come a long way in the last forty some years. Little over a hundred miles per hour back then and now over 200 miles per hour today.
Interesting fact. My dad was underneath the bridge in a basket and watched the whole heat. He was working for the TV station that weekend.
I was.at this.race. I have the program and the pit pass. I watched.standing I'm waist deep in the river. You could feel the vibrations of the props if you put your head at water level you could look under the boat and see daylight
Keith Jackson will be greatly missed! He was the best in his profession!
He's a Washington State Cougar!
Whoa Nellie!
History baby!
i have this on dvd
Can you share it? I lost my copy iin a hard drive failure. >> charles AT anglo AM DOT net .. thanks ;)
The good is the Movie made people want to see the original race and learn more. It was a good movie that I liked, but the Madison was not the decrepit boat portrayed and had been there to win other races. McCormic tried forever to get the movie made and wrote much of it, but had passed by the time it did.
Great race. It's a shame this video is such poor quality.
@mcfatty510 True. Not surprising really. I guess they just wanted to make everything more dramatic. Like the manufactured rivalry between the Madison and Budweiser crews.
The movie "Madison" sure made this seem like a closer race, but in reality Miss Madison dominated!!!
A little like Hoosers where little guy makes big, in reality though the team portrayed had gone to the champoinship the year before and not won. But if it has people try to learn the actual events its a good thing, even if they are not as feel good or dramatic as a movie can make it!
this was an incredible and somewhat unlikely win for McCormick, and literally DID save hydroplane racing in Madison. if you saw the movie you got some idea , but it was not really that close to reality. the crap that Jim had to go thru to get that boat together would have had most men tossing in the towel and walking away. Jim was determined though, and he really believed he could achieve what he set out to do. the movie also mischaracterizes Bernie Little. I actually knew the man thru my father who owned the '85-'86 version of the Oh Boy Oberto. I was in my late teens at the time and frankly Mr. Little seemed like a god to me, but he was actually a really deep, caring man who did more to help other teams keep their boats on the water so he would have someone to race than anyone could have expected. he would actualy get on a patrol boat and race out to accidents that involved OTHER race teams boats because he was so concerned about the drivers and their safety, I mean what kind of a guy does that?he was tough, let there be no doubt, when you were competing with him you knew he was bringing his "A" game, but I saw his guys working on other boats, including ours a couple times, almost as much as they were working on his, and he never asked for a thing back but that you go out and race him. he tried, but failed, to take a stand against turbine engines, and when he realized he had lost he joined the band wagon and simply did it better. anyway, back to McCormick... I had a chance to crew for him in Tri Cities and Seattle (I live in Seattle, I was 20 at the time, was a great summer) in '87 because my dad sold his Oberto hull and equipment to him after the '86 season. he was not driving anymore, and I can't recall who was driving, could have been George Johnson. we won the consolation heat but were unable to turn the boat around (refuel etc.) in time to get the boat out to be the trailer in the final so another boat got in instead, cant recall who that was.
Bottom line, the movie needed a bad guy, so they put Bernie and the Budweiser team in that role. He was certainly not a one-dimensional individual, that's for sure, but I don't see him as a villain at all.
Bernie was always good for an extra prop or sending crew over to help boats stay in the race. A class act all the way.
Miss Madison had been battling the Atlas Van Lines ll in actual race, NOT the Budweiser like in the movie.. Dean Chenowith was diver of the Bud and Bernie Little the owner of the Bud was not an asshole. Also Cat's Pride was not in the race..
Even so I think the movie conveyed the feeling of most race fans. The Bud was always winning because of its unlimited beer money and it was a real drag. People used to hate the Bud.
Hans Zarkov Only losers say the best team lost.
Actually at that point of time Bud wasn't winning all the time. Pay n Pak, Atlas i & ll, Bardahl, Exide won several..Bud never carried the U-1 till 1980, in which they won first 5 races.
New technology and guts is on my menu.
Yeah, in reality, Bernie Little was very competitive but also supportive of the other teams as well. Unlike the pompous character in "Madison".
yeah, the movie madison isn't even historically accurate with regards to the other drivers names. Guess they weren't given permission to use them. Kinda sad really.
This is, for all practical means and purposes, a worthless video. We never get to see who actually wins the race. We can only guess. Guy Lombardo? Interesting but not relevant to this particular race.