February 13, 1979 – Taft No Interest!

Cincinnati, Ohio – Met with Taft’s Board of Directors and quickly discovered that they didn’t even believe cable television was going to survive. Obviously, they didn’t want to hear much about this upstart sports network we were building.

While very courteous and professional in demeanor, their minds were closed to just about anything I said.

With a promise to let them know how our “idea” progressed in the weeks and months ahead and a reminder from the Chairman that I was always welcome should circunstances suggest another meeting, I was off to the NCAA again.

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February 12, 1979 – Four Days Left to Fund E. S. P. Network

Plainville, Connecticut – Scott and Ed worked with the Bristol Redevelopment Authority today and gained a two-week extension to close on the land we wanted to buy.

JB was very low. He had arranged for me to visit Taft Broadcasting tomorrow on my way to Kansas City for another NCAA meeting, but he was so discouraged that he didn’t plan to attend. Not only did he not plan to visit Taft, he added, “I don’t even know why we’re going to see Byers. We can’t sign a contract even if we want to – we can’t pay for it.”

“Let’s try Evey (Getty VP) one more time,” I suggested.

“OK,” he reluctantly agreed. That call drove him even deeper into depression. “Stu says if we insist n an answer today, it’s NO. I really think we should call off the NCAA meeting and save the plane fare,” he grumbled.

“We’ve come this far and we have our tickets,” I said. “Let’s play out the string.”

“Yeah, we might as well. See you in Kansas City.”