Whoopees were a love story like no other
It ended on Valentine's Day ... 50 years ago today
Cupid never played goalie for the Macon Whoopees.
But I always think of the little guy on Valentine’s Day.
Especially today.
A portion of my life over the past three decades has been invested in keeping alive the memory of the Whoopees, whose improbable four-month romance with Macon crashed against the boards 50 years ago today – on Thursday, February 14, 1974.
They called it the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, although it was not nearly as bloody as the gang slaughter by the same name in Chicago in 1929.
On this day 50 years ago, the No. 1 song on the Billboard charts was Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were.’’ And, yes, we can remember the Whoopees for the way they were.
But the soundtrack might as well have been Doris Day singing “Makin’ Whoopee,’’ the song that inspired and gave birth to one of the greatest sports nicknames in history.
It was once the answer to a question in the board game “Trivial Pursuit.’’ Johnny Carson once mentioned it on “The Tonight Show.” President Richard Nixon had his own Whoopees T-shirt.
Who could have ever thought a song about love – “Makin Whoopee” – would be symbolic of the demise of a sports team on that special day for sweethearts?
But with the Whoopees up to their elbow pads in IOUs, agents from the Internal Revenue Service busted into the locker rooms at the Macon Coliseum and seized everything from aspirin to hockey sticks. The team left a trail of debt from the top of Gray Highway to the bottom of Pio Nono Avenue.
The song "Makin’ Whoopee” has been recorded by everyone from Doris Day to Eddie Cantor to Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole A few years ago, the song provided the background music for Cadillac commercials. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer sang it in the movie "The Fabulous Baker Boys.'' Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones recorded a version of "Sleepless in Seattle,'' starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.
Another bride. Another June.
Another sunny honeymoon.
Another season, another reason.
For makin’ Whoopee.
I began writing sports for The Macon Telegraph in 1978. Over the next 18 years, I did several “looking back” stories on Macon’s short-lived Ice Age. The city’s love affair with the team never really stopped. It was a wonderful story about how French-Canadian hockey players came here and really couldn’t speak the language, and a big old Southern country town that didn’t know one end of a hockey stick from the other.
My bond grew even closer in 1998 when I co-authored the book, "Once Upon a Whoopee: A Town. A Team. A Song. A Dream” with former business manager Bill Buckley.
It chronicled how Macon became the "Slippery Rock" of professional hockey. (You know, the fun college football team where the sportscasters always mentioned the score.)
The Whoopees are gone but not forgotten. They were ahead of their time. Macon wasn’t ready for hockey 50 years ago. We now have a team called the Macon Mayhem.
I raise a glass and offer a toast to the Whoopees every Valentine’s Day.
It was a love story like no other.
Great read as always! ❤️