53 Years Ago Tonight! Original post

[capezona]

The annual bump...this time for the big 50!

He's 3 years younger than I am. I suppose that means he could probably take me in a little one-on-one matchup.

[LS71]

^ He's less than 3 months older than I am. No chance for me...now or then.....

[LS71]

Wonder how many memories of that game haven't already been shared in this thread over the years.

If any of you have them, please keep 'em coning...

[Berkman]

I was also at that game. Took one of my GE Pittsfield co workers and he enjoyed the game that much that much that he went to several others when I had my spare season ticket.

[MikeUMA]

If you aren't following me (the site) on Twitter or Facebook, you haven't been seeing the posts I've been making for each game from that 1970-71 season. I've been digging up the old Collegian articles and putting them into the site.

Today's offering:
https://twitter.com/UMassHoops_com/stat ... 8534703109 (thread)

[LS71]

Bump...and the clock just keeps on ticking.

I know he was on campus for the statue dedication, but unless I'm forgetting something...there hasn't been Julius Erving night since 1989 at the Cage...(vs. Duquesne).

[vanmeter]

I think the Julius Erving jersey retirement was 1988 if I’m not mistaken

[LS71]

^ I knew it was in the 80s....packed up the wife and kids and made attendance mandatory! The impact he had on campus life was immeasurable....definitely a 'you had to be there' to understand.

I'm cleaning out stuff in advance of a move and came across the program. Most, if not all, of the programs from my 33 years of being a season ticket holder.

[PreecherJenkins]

anyone have photos from Dr. J retirement night?

[MikeUMA]

I think the Julius Erving jersey retirement was 1988 if I’m not mistaken

I think you're correct on the year, that's what I have noted down on an old page I did for Julius.

[LS71]

anyone have photos from Dr. J retirement night?

I have some newspaper articles clipped from that night that are in boxes now, but I'll see what I can do to scan and post them.

[philosopher]

It doesn't seem that long ago to me and that night was special. Syracuse was on the verge of not only being an Eastern power but a national power. It seemed as if Providence and Syracuse were the teams that believed they were better then us. Well on this night Julius showed everyone he was the best. To show you what kind of teammate Julius was he acted no different after this game and it was no big deal and the team made no big deal about it. Jack Leaman did a great job treating Julius no different then any of us. That was the secret of Jack - He absolutely had no favorites!
I was one of the guys who boxed out so Julius could go get the ball. That game we jumped all over them and they had an All-American Bill Smith who was 6'10" and an NBA prospect. Julius had to block at least 7 or 8 of his shots and as soon as Smith turned to shoot we'd take off running looking to get a breakaway layup Julius was sending the ball out towards half court. Jack never let us run except on a steal or block so this was fun.
The three things I remember most was when the entire packed cage sang Happy Birthday, when at timeouts the managers had to wipe off the court because the cage was so packed there was condensation on the floor and the last thing was the energy of the fans. Playing in the old cage was magical because the fans would energize you and you would play with your heart.
Trying to explain the feeling between the fans back then and now is extremely difficult. When you'd arrive at the Cage at 5:30 for a 7:30 game you would see thousands of students standing in line waiting to get in. You weren't every thinking about losing all you wanted to do was get on that floor and play. Those fans were unbelievable and playing in the Cage was the best feeling an athlete could ever have. The fans were behind us and we knew it- we were all one and we played for them and they made it special every night we took the floor to represent UMass. We loved to stick it to Syracuse, UConn, BC and Providence because they always thought they were better then us. We had a lot of fun beating them and the Cage became known as the place you didn't want to play at because the fans were right on top of you. It was special!!!

Often showing up 2 hours before tip-off wasn't enough. Snow?
Who cared? Wind? An inconvenience (that's why we huddled). Julius was the biggest draw. Betancourt, Pagliara, Vogeley, Austin, (yeah, and you too Tom!) and Jack - added volume to the sound of crowd. Great years and memories.

[LS71]

Bumping this one...it was 52 years ago tonight that UMass played Syracuse at the Cage. It was Julius Erving’s 21st birthday and it turned out to be his last home game.

UMass had the right idea when it had a Dr. J day on February 4th, but it should’ve been tonight, his birthday, instead of on the 30th anniversary of the Opening of the Mullins Center.

As many of you know, dunking was not allowed then…even during warm ups (thanks to Lew Alcindor). If a player dunked during warm-ups a T was called.

On this night, Syracuse came to town with an All-American center by the name of Bill Smith. The game was on TV (channel 27 in Worcester), a rarity in those days. The Cage was packed early in anticipation of the big game.

Before the refs came out, Julius appeared at the south end of the Cage floor with two basketballs. He went from one end of the floor to the other and dunked BOTH balls. The place went wild. Syracuse and their center never had a chance. UMass won 86-71 and Julius got a double-double…36 point and 32 rebounds as UMass went to 20-3.

Still my favorite UMass basketball memory!

Happy 73rd birthday Julius Erving!!

[stevemaz]

I was not there 52 years ago but was there for the night they retired his jersey and like his playing days there was a huge line that started 2 hours before tip. I wish today's students would get off their fucking phones and start showing up.. there should be 1k at least every game.

[Berkman]

I was there .