One hostage said it reminded him of being home with family.
In November 1979, the world watched as Iranians stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Iran had taken U.S. citizens as hostages.
In Los Angeles, a KMPC radio reporter named Alex Paen wanted to cover the story on site. It was stretch for him because, at the time, he was covering local news. But he got the assignment and left for the Middle East.
Photo from MSN.com
When Paen arrived in Tehran, he saw posters hanging in the streets, ‘Death to the USA,’ and teenagers with automatic weapons protesting outside the Embassy. But Paen found common ground with Iranian students who had studied in the United States. He learned that they loved American sports, especially football.
Paen soon found that he had become a voice for the U.S. and he delivered mail from home to American hostages. But he learned that his time in Iran might be coming to a quick end. The Government announced that all U.S. reporters would have to leave the country.
Paen thought long and hard about how he might be able to talk his way into staying. He came up with an idea. What if he told authorities that he’d record the Super Bowl for the American hostages? If they bought the idea, then he’d be able to stay at least until the day of the game.
On January 20th, 1980, Super Bowl XIV was played at the Rose Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Rams. Paen’s station (KMPC) was covering the game. Per the agreement, Paen would tape it from the radio feed, play the tape for the hostages, and then leave the country.
Paen in Iran (photo, The PostGame.com)
Paen went to bed early the day of the game because he knew it would be played in the middle of the night Tehran time.
Back in America, news spread about the plan. AL Wisk, KMPC’s play-by-play announcer, was told that American hostages would be listening to the game. The players also knew they’d be listening, and some of the players– Pittsburgh’s John Stallworth, was one–wanted to step up their game.
As soon as the game was over (the Steelers won), Paen rushed the tape to the Embassy. The hostages were thrilled! One hostage, a man named Rocky Sickmann, told Paen that it reminded him of the wonderful life he had at home, sitting with sitting at home with his family having a beer and watching the game.
What came next? Stay tuned next week for Part 2 of this article.
