50 Years Ago, ABC Had Another Game Show Hit With Split Second

 Because of the state basketball tournament preview in late March, HSGN is belated to mention that 50 years ago on March 20, the network debuted a new quiz show titled Split Second.  

Hosted by Tom Kennedy and produced by the team of Stefan Hatos and Monty Hall (who were also involved with the Hall hosted Let's Make a Deal), Split Second was a fast paced quiz show that featured three contestants.  The show's announcer was Jack Clark, his first game show since the network's short-lived prime time game show The Reel Game.  

Three answers were displayed on a board or answers to questions read by Kennedy.  The first player to ring in got to pick the first answer.  Whether the answer is right or wrong, the other two players get a chance to answer.  Unlike Jeopardy, it's not how fast you know the answer but how fast you ring in.  Correct answers in the first round paid $25 for only one right answer, $10 for two and if all three are right, $5 apiece.  In the second round, a contestant received $50 for the only right answer, $25 if two are correct and all three right answers won $10 apiece.  

The third round was known as The Countdown Round.  The money amounts on the contestant's readouts were replaced by the number of correct answers needed to win the game.  The first place contestant needed three answers to win, the second place contestant four and the third required five.  What differed from the first two rounds was, the player who rung in, got a chance to get up to all three answers right.  Over the show's three year run, there were few instances that the first contestant could win on the first question.  An incorrect answer allowed the other two to respond.  The first player to reach zero won the game.  Win or lose, each contestant kept the money they won.  

The winning contestant advance to the Bonus Round where five cars were displayed.  The contestant picked a car and if it starred, they won the car and retired as a champion.  If it didn't start, the champion returned for the next game and if they won, the number of cars would be reduced to four, giving a better chance to win a car.  A contestant who won five games, retired undefeated and won a car.  

Split Second enjoyed a three year run, airing following Password, which was moved up a half hour to noon and reruns of Bewitched were moved to 11:30 AM ET.  It solidified a hit game show lineup that included Let's Make a Deal, The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game.  

But in June 1975, Split Second was canceled due to declining ratings from its Password lead in and a revamping of ABC's midday lineup.  The show would return in syndication in December 1986 with Hall hosting and Sandy Hoyt as the announcer.  This version was taped in Hamilton, Ontario and suffered from low clearances as well as low ratings which resulted in its cancellation in 1987.  

Split Second was a success thanks to Kennedy's pacing and the format allowed the home viewer to play along.  It's a show that should be revived someday, given the right host and format execution.  Hopefully if it returns, it won't be gone in a split second.  

Rockford Rockets Roll Past SLP Orioles

 Saturday morning was Little League Day at Derrick Keller Field and the more than two dozen St. Louis Park little leaguers saw Nolan Perry hit a two run double in the top of the fourth inning and pitched well in relief to help lead the Rockford Rockets to a 7-5 over the St. Louis Park Orioles.  

In the first two innings, both teams scored one run apiece.  In the top of the first, the Rockets run came on an RBI single that scored Alex Altmann and the Orioles capitalized on two Rockford errors and a walk to Kristofer Hokenson to load the bases.  Graham Sullivan stole second and Ben Farley would steal home.  The rockets run in the second came from Luke Pilot's RBI single that brought Aiden Smith home.  Smith hit a one out double.  St. Louis Park evened the score at two after Farley and Jacob Favour walked, followed by Hokenson's RBI single that accounted for Farley's second run.

Altmann would put the Rockets ahead in the top of the third on his RBI single that scored Perry, who reached base on an error by Farley.  

Sloppy fielding by St. Louis Park would add two runs to Rockford's ledger.  Smith reached base on an error by second baseman Henry Odens, Pilot walked and Logan Vicino reached base on Farley's error.  Perry came to bat and hit a two run double to bring home Smith and Pilot.  

The Orioles attempted to bounce back from a three run deficit in the bottom of the sixth as Favour hit a one out single and Hokenson, battling Perry who came in for Pilot in the bottom of the fourth made the most of a 10 pitch at bat with a base hit to advance Favour to third.  Zach Helfmann's sacrifice fly would score Favour and the margin was trimmed to 5-3.  

The Rockets would extend their lead to four in the top of the seventh on Max Hudlow's sacrifice fly that scored Nick Birrebose and Smith drove home Joey Cook with an RBI double.  

Could the Orioles send the youngsters home happy with a walk off win in the bottom of the seventh?  Andruw Vela walked and Tait Myers singled to put two runners on base.  Then Farley hit a long triple to left field to cut the lead to two.  Favour and Hokenson walked to load the bases and Helfmann had a chance to tie or win the game.  But Helfmann flied out to left field and that concluded the game.  

Both teams were plagued by leaving runners on base.  Rockford left nine runners stranded and St. Louis Park left 14, including two innings where the bases were loaded. 

The Rockets improved to 5-6 and host the Holy Family Catholic Fire on Monday, May 9 at 7:30 PM.  The Orioles lost their third straight game and fell to 5-5.  They will host the Wayzata Trojans on Tuesday, May 10 at 6 PM at Derrick Keller Field.  The game was rescheduled from April 30 due to torrential rain in the St. Louis Park area.  

A Chaska Comeback

Wednesday night was Strikeout ALS Night at Derrick Keller Field and Henry Bushey's two RBI double in the top of the seventh inning led the Chaska Hawks to a 5-2 come from behind win over the St. Louis Park Orioles.  

The Orioles struck first in the bottom of the first when Stanley Regguinti reached base on an error by Hawks shortstop Henry Bushey and Ben Farley singled.  Zach Helfmann singled to score Regguinti to give St. Louis Park the early lead.  

Regguinti would account for St. Louis Park's second run in the bottom of the third as he crossed the plate on Kristofer Hokenson's RBI single and the lead increased to two.  

Things were looking good for Oriole starting pitcher Stefano Giovannelli, whose mother Lynn, battling ALS, was one of three women who threw out the first pitch prior to the start of the game.  He had a perfect game through four innings with no walks and four strikeouts.  But in the top of the fifth, the roof started to cave in on Giovannelli when Drew Benson singled and Hawks pitcher Maddox Foss reached base on Giovannelli's throwing error.  Benson would score on Bushey's sacrifice fly to cut the lead to one.  

Could St. Louis Park shut down the Chaska offense in the top of the seventh?  The answer would eventually be no since the first five batters hit safely.  Dayne McNaughton and Benson reached base on singles and McNaughton was forced out at third base on an excellent heads up play by Giovannelli.  But Bushey hit a two run double and came home on Thomas Hanson's RBI single.  The Orioles only managed to get one base runner on a one out single from Henry Odens but Hanson, pitching in relief of Foss, struck out Jacob Favour and pinch hitter Zach Johnson to end the game.  

Giovannelli would strike out seven batters in a losing effort.  

The Hawks improved their record to 7-2 and host the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars on Friday, May 6 at 7 PM at Chaska Athletic Park.  The Orioles fell to 5-3 and travel to Waconia on the 6th to take on the Wildcats at 7 PM at the Waconia Lions Baseball Field.  

SLP Orioles Come Up Short Against BSM Red Knights

 On a rainy Friday night in St. Louis Park, the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights scored four runs in the fifth inning as they took advantage of three St. Louis Park errors to lead them to a 7-6 win over the Orioles at Derrick Keller Field at Dakota Park.  

The Red Knights led off the game with a double from Caleb Koskie, son of former Twins Corey Koskie but he was stranded at second base since Oriole starting pitcher Kristofer Hokenson struck out the side.  

However, St. Louis Park would bat around in the bottom of the second as they would take the lead with four runs.  Zach Helfmann led off with a double, Andruw Vela singled and Henry Odens' single drove home Helfmann.  Vela would cross the plate on Hank Bendickson's RBI single and Brady Walsh ground out to second base scored Odens.  The fourth run would come on Stanley Regguinti's RBI single that scored Bendickson.  

BSM would cut the lead to three in the top of the third.  Two runs would score on wild pitches and an error by St. Louis Park shortstop Ben Farley would bring home Ben James.  

The Orioles would add a run in the bottom of the fourth that began with Walsh's leadoff double followed by singles from Sullivan and Hokenson following a throwing error by Red Knight catcher Sullivan Lawrence to give St. Louis Park a 5-3 lead.  

The lead didn't last as BSM would score four times in the top of the fifth due to three St. Louis Park errors.  The only hit of the inning was a one out double by James.  James, Easton Breyfogle and Tomas Lee crossed the plate for the Red Knights.  

St. Louis Park had a chance to send the fans to their warm homes happy in the bottom of the seventh.  Helfmann led off with a single, followed by Vela's double that put two runners in scoring position.  But Odens struck out and Bendickson popped to second, leaving the Orioles with one out to go.  Peter McBride, the third BSM pitcher, hit Walsh and Regguinti to load the bases.  But Sullivan hit into a force play to end the game.  

The Red Knights improved their record to 6-1 and will host the Cooper Hawks on Monday, May 2 at 7 PM.  The Orioles fell to 4-2 and host the Wayzata Trojans Saturday, April 30 at noon at Derrick Keller Field.  

Prior to the game, a moment of silence was held for former St. Louis Park head baseball coach Dan McEachran, who passed away April 14 at the age of 67.  

Orono Spartans Freeze SLP Orioles in Home Opener

 The weather was chilly Tuesday night for the St. Louis Park Girls Lacrosse team's belated home opener as Celia Dahl scored five goals to lead the Orono Spartans to a 18-5 rout of the host Orioles.  

The game marked the home debut for new Oriole head coach Kate Pearson, who replaced Kyle Sweeney.  Pearson moved to the Twin Cities from Denver.  

In the first half, the Spartans got on the scoreboard :34 into the game on Dahl's first goal from the right side of the net.  Ryan Rasmussen would tie the game and Lily Fandel Thompson would follow :13 later to put St. Louis Park in front.  The score would be even at two as Dylan Collins fired the ball part Oriole goalie Carina Otos.  St. Louis Park would regain the lead on Meg Ridgway's goal and that would be the last lead for the Orioles as Orono would wrap up the first half scoring with four unanswered goals.  Two would come from Dahl and Bridget Kringen and Lila James found the net to give the Spartans a 6-3 halftime lead.  

The second half would pick up where the Spartans left off as the extended their unanswered goal run to 10.  Two more goals would come from Dahl.  Also entering the scorebook for Orono were Layla Ragan, Haley Holzschuh, Kate McGrann and Caroline Close.  St. Louis Park got a little life when Riley Ridgway's center slot goal, ended the Orono run.  But the Spartans would send the game into running time and utilize their bench that resulted in another six goal run.  Close would score her second goal of the game and the same with James.  Macy Rasmussen (no relation to the Orioles Ryan) would get some varsity playing time and it paid off in a goal.  Dylan Collins added two more goals to extend the lead to 13 and St. Louis Park would end the run on Meg Ridgway's second goal.  That was all the offense the Orioles could generate as Holzschuh wrapped up the scoring with 1:36 to play.  

Orono improved their record to 2-1 and will travel to Waconia on Thursday, April 28 for a 4:30 game against the Wildcats.   St. Louis Park fell to 1-2 and will also be in action on the 28th as they head up Highway 169 to New Hope to take on the Cooper Hawks at 4 PM.  

Weather Picture Grim for First Full Week of SLP Oriole Athletics

 Monday starts the first full week of regular season action for the St. Louis Park athletic teams but the weather picture doesn't look good from Tuesday to later in the week.  

Looking at Monday's forecast, the outlook isn't bad with high temperatures in the upper 50s.  The Oriole baseball team opens their season on the road at Chaska Athletic Park against the Chaska Hawks.  They were supposed to have their home opener last Friday against the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars but the game was postponed due unplayable field conditions.  No word on a rescheduled date yet. 

Now here's where the weather turns wet and cold.  Tuesday, the forecast is for showers and it could impact the girls golf team's season opener.  Not affected by the weather is the synchronized swim team's home opener since it's at St. Louis Park's home indoor pool.  

More showers are in the forecast for Wednesday, which is another potential baseball home opener, this time against Waconia.  But that could be postponed due to wet weather.  

It gets colder Thursday with snow showers impacting the girls lacrosse team's season opener against the Hopkins Royals.  The boys tennis team is also in action that day, hosting the Chanhassen Storm.  

The weather will still be cold the rest of the week.  Will the spring sports season finally begin or will fans have to wait to see their teams next week?  

ABC Cancels Three Prime Time Game Shows

 The prime time game show lineup ABC has airing for the last few years is going to get smaller.  

That's because the network has announced the cancellation of four of its prime time game shows.  They are Match Game, Card Sharks, The Hustler and Celebrity Dating Game.  

Match Game, hosted by Alec Baldwin was a revival of the long running celebrity panel game that was originally hosted by Gene Rayburn and for several years in a 1970s revival the top rated daytime show.  

Card Sharks was hosted by Joel McHale and was a big money incarnation of the game that was previously hosted by Jim Perry, Bob Eubanks and Bill Rafferty.  It would also come back in a short-lived version in 2001 that was hosted by Pat Bullard.  

The Hustler was hosted by former late night talk show host Craig Ferguson.  It was a trivia game that featured several contestants.  But one of them was designated The Hustler and given all the answers.  The object was for contestants to choose The Hustler in order to keep them from winning the pot.  

Celebrity Dating Game was co-hosted by Zooey Deschanel and Michael Bolton.  The original version was Chuck Barris' first game show and debuted on that network in December 1965.  

ABC said that the shows were canceled due to declining ratings.  

The good news for game show fans is that Celebrity Family Feud, Press Your Luck and The $100,000 Pyramid will return.  

Will there be any new game shows this summer on ABC or will there be other programs that take its place Stay tuned this summer.