Can basketball be a lead story in August? What do you remember about “Four, Four, Four?”

The phrase was emphasized by late Sixers’ center Moses Malone in 1983 when he helped lead the team to an NBA championship. Ten years in mid-August 1993, Malone was re-signed by the Sixers to be a tutor for highly-touted rookie Shawn Bradley.

In this week’s version of my Yesterday column - a trip back in time to the 1960s, 70s, 80s and sometimes beyond - I will look back at some old mid-August happenings, as well as those in pop culture.

No More Promised Land: Malone was a shadow of himself in the penultimate season of his career before he ended it with the San Antonio Spurs. Malone averaged 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 55 games.

The team, coached by Freddie “Mad Dog” Carter, was led by Clarence Weatherspoon, Jeff Malone, and Dana Barros and finished an abysmal 25-57. Manute Bol was even part of the show. The 7-6 Bradley never materialized as the dominant center the Sixers envisioned, and he was dealt to the Nets early in his third season.

Those Phumblin’ Phillies: The Sixers had some lean years in the 90s, but the Phillies followed suit in the late 90s.

Twenty five years ago, the Phillies, under Terry Francona, finished with an overall 68-94 record.

Scott Rolen, Rico Brogna, and Gregg Jeffries were some of the big names on the club that also featured Tony Barron, Ricky Otero, Midre Cummings, and Kevin Sefcik. Do you remember Darren Daulton playing right field? He was the team’s regular there.

Curt Schilling and Mark Leiter led the starting staff that also featured budding arms Mike Grace and Tyler Green. Ricky Bottalico, Jerry Spradlin, and Wayne Gomes were in the bullpen.

On the Road Again: In last week’s column, I wrote about preseason football, and how six preseason games were common until the late 70s.

Doing some further research, the Eagles hit the preseason road for some unique stops over the years.

In 1978, the Birds faced the Dolphins in Mexico City. They also played the Saints in Tokyo in 1995, Anyone remember either or both of those?

The Eagles also played the Saints in Syracuse in 1981, and they played the Bills and Browns at London’s Wembley Stadium in 1981 and 1989 respectively.

Some other stops were Raleigh (Jets) in 1989; Columbus, Ohio, (Rams) in 1995; and the Jets again in Jackson, Miss., in 1995.

Gene, Gene and the Gong: In our early teen and regular teen years, it was pretty common to watch some daytime TV during our summer days.

One show that will stay in all of our memories was “The Gong Show” that ran from 1976-78. Contestants would perform for their often outlandish acts by a celebrity panel and get the “gong” if they failed.

The highlight of most of the shows was the finale when “Gene, Gene, The Dancing Machine” would close the show, and host Chuck Barris turned the stage into complete mayhem. The show had a remake, but the original was a classic that will go down in TV history.

Old School Technology: Recently, I found a Blockbuster card in my wallet.

We can all remember the days on a Friday or Saturday night when we made the trip to the Blockbuster store to pick out our latest favorite movie or a classic. They also sold some of the usual movie food. You had to pay a membership fee, and it was special when you got your card laminated. In the early 2000s, there were over 900 locations across the country. Today, there is one lone store still in operation in Oregon.

Do you remember the Fotomat drive-thru kiosks in shopping centers to have your film developed normally in an hour or so? They also sold their own film, and the challenge was to get there early enough to get your film developed on the same day. They also sold their own film.

If you were a college student or working in any field that required a laptop, you may recall the Radio Shack portable models that had a modem with wires, having one outlet into the computer and the one line had to be inserted in a phone line to complete the process. If you’ve ever done any work for a newspaper, you know what I am talking about.

Another Classic Game: Back in the 1970s, Mattel’s “Talking Football” game became one of the more cutting-edge football games of its time.

You were either on offense or defense and had to choose a play or alignment with small record discs that would fit into a recorder. The offense would choose a play first and insert part of it into a recorder. The defensive player would choose a defense to counter on the back side of the disc and then push it down to insert.

You would then listen to the outcome of the play and move the ball on the field provided. I recall having the game, and wish I still did. You can still purchase it on EBay.

An Interesting Afternoon: The ABC “Afternoon Special” may have been forgotten by most of us, but it actually had a successful 25-year run that began in 1972 and ended in 1997.

It was a teen reality show that dealt with real-life issues such as teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and illiteracy among other timely topics for teens. The show took a different route than the cartoons and family-based dramas.

Pre MNF: Before the first Monday Night Football Game between the Jets and Browns on Sept. 21, 1970, ABC set another trend by broadcasting the first game at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium on Aug. 25.

The Giants made their way to Pittsburgh, and Keith Jackson, Howard Cossell, and “Dandy” Don Meredith had the call. The Pirates had christened the stadium in mud-July.

Do You Remember?: Every week, I’ll mention a likely forgotten player or manager from yesterday. Do you remember Del Unser? He had a 15-year career and two stops with the Phillies. Unser was the team’s regular center fielder from 1973-74 before he was traded to the Mets for Tug McGraw. He returned to the Phillies in 1979 after a three-year stint with the Expos. Unser played until 1982, and he became a valuable bench player and spot starter over his final four years.