WSNS Channel 44 - Al Lerner Sports - "So Long..." (Part 3, 1971)

Here's Part 3 of the final episode of Al Lerner Sports on WSNS Channel 44. Lerner was the station's first sportscaster, and would go on to a long career with such stations as WLS Channel 7, WMAQ Channel 5, WGN Radio 720 and WSCR-AM, as well as being a wrestling announcer. Also featuring a young (and at this point, moustacheless) Tim Weigel, then a sportswriter for the now-defunct Chicago Daily News, who himself would become a familiar face on Chicago television, working for all three network-owned stations at one time or another. Includes:

Al Lerner Sports title bumper

Al begins taking phone calls. The first is from a caller who asks "how can you defeat this negative spirit" and the proceeds to answer his own question (Al says it sounds like "Dial-a-Prayer"). The second call is from a woman, Val Smith, who asks what the number on "Big Al's" jersey stands for, and he explains what it's about; this leads to his mentioning that he and Tim were both Northwestern alumni. The third call is from Bob Zaroni (sp?) from Crete, who asks Al how he would rate the run of his show as opposed to My Fair Lady. Throughout this part, the phone number (set in Alternate Gothic No. 2) is shown on the screen at various points. After those first three calls, Al resumes reading college football scores:

- Cincinnati beats Louisville, 19-16

- Clemson beats South Carolina, 17-7

Al then resumes taking calls; his first in this round is a busy signal, then back to college football scores:

- Tennessee beats Vanderbilt, 19-7

Al takes another phone call, from Gwen Sistek (sp?) of Lyons, asking about the Florida-Miami football score; he explains it would be played later in the evening so he couldn't give it at this time, but she predicts Florida will win (and they did, ultimately beating Miami, 45-16); however, Al and Tim think Miami will win (which they didn't). This is followed by some fooling around, with Al finally saying, "I'm gonna wait and see what you do," which leads to:

Al Lerner Sports title bumper

Commercial: Joe McAdams for Yates Ford of 8639 So. Chicago (he came in several seconds late), promoting a limited-time offer for new Fords and late-model used cars, and a five-day vacation for the family in Miami Beach or four days in Las Vegas, with a choice of 15 famous hotels - "You Haven't Got Your Best Deal Until You've Checked the Yates Deal" (NOTE: Because of his delay in coming in, there is black for the last 15 seconds of his spiel)

Commercial: Data-Wheels, Inc. of Oak Park, IL - used car dealers - with shots of cars going up and down freeways - "Not only do they have the most complete inventory of cars to buy, they can sell your car to a ready-made buyer" - Matches Buyers and Sellers by Computer - "No Muss, No Fuss and No Mind-Boggling" (voiceover by ??)

Commercial: Paneling Unlimited - starts off with brief shot of Yates Ford slide, then pictures of various panels for walls and ceilings - "Over 90 Styles of Paneling" - at 1011 Aurora Avenue, Route 25 in Aurora and 65 West Irving Park in Roselle - "You May Never Climb Your Walls Again" (voiceover by Mal Wyman?)

"I taught Tim everything he knows about television."

This aired on local Chicago TV on Saturday, November 27th 1971 during the 5:30 to 6pm timeframe.

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