54 Years Ago Tonight! Original post

LS71 · Post by **LS71** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:41 pm

The BC game…was Bob Cousy coaching then? I seem to remember a gambling thing happening then. Am I mistaken? I think Terry Driscoll was gone by then, but I could be wrong. I do recall that the Cage faithful being merciless as BC came out on the floor if I’m thinking of the right game….but the details are fuzzy (the fact that I remember as much as I do about some games is remarkable to me

)

I think MAD hit the nail on the head in terms of the historical perspective when comparing those two eras. But there are other perspectives to consider.

My frame of reference for the Erving games was that of a student. I saw the Cal years through the eyes of an alum who was bringing his kids to the games….Hey kids, this is what it was like when I was a student.

Also college basketball wasn’t as big as in the late 60’s/early 70’s as it was when Cal coached here and is now. Televised games, especially mid-week games like the nationally televised UCLA-Houston (Alcindor vs. Hayes in the Astrodome) game in January of 1968 were rare.

The fact that the UMass-Syracuse game that night in 71 was televised from the Cage was a real novelty.

Another thing was that Julius was sort of “our secret”. We knew how great he was but the rest of the country hadn’t caught on yet. I mean this guy was named as one of the top 50 NBA players of the league's first 50 years and we saw him at the Cage!

DrG...I was going to say Fan Gaudette but I could be wrong....maybe it was Boraca who coached Erving’s freshman team. The crowds were bigger for the freshmen games than for the varsity that year.

CarriageEstates22…the big difference between both the Erving and Cal era and the atmosphere in the stands when James Jimmy hit that 3…if he had made that shot during either of those periods, he would not have had to scream at the crowd to stand up. They would have been on their feet cheering for theirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Redmen/Minutemen…on their own. No prodding needed. Hopefully that atmosphere will return to the Bill sometime soon.

sasso72 · Post by **sasso72** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:57 pm

[quote="LS71"]The BC game…was Bob Cousy coaching then?

Bob Cousy was definitely coaching BC the first time they came into the Cage. I remember being really excited because Coos was and still is one of my favorite players.

MAD · Post by **MAD** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:44 pm

^
He may have been one of your favorite players, but he wasn't coaching BC in 71. He was in the NBA with the Royals. Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly was coaching BC. The 71 game was the one where Julius cruised in backwards during warm-ups, saw the refs weren't watching, and slammed home a thunder dunk. Daly had a hissy-fit and turned three shades of red while beseeching the refs for not calling a Technical foul on the dunk.

Cousy coached a Terry Driscoll led team that beat UMass in 69. That game was delayed 10 minutes when referee Al Perry had to repair himself and his trousers after taking a nasty spill on a floor made slippery by condensation dripping down from the glass roof.

LS71 · Post by **LS71** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:56 pm

MAD wrote:Cousy coached a Terry Driscoll led team that beat UMass in 69. That game was delayed 10 minutes when referee Al Perry had to repair himself and his trousers after taking a nasty spill on a floor made slippery by condensation dripping down from the glass roof.

Am I remembering correctly about the gambling thing and the 'greeting' bestowed on BC by the fans at the Cage that night?

UMass87 · Post by **UMass87** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:57 pm

MAD wrote:...
Cousy coached a Terry Driscoll led team that beat UMass in 69. That game was delayed 10 minutes when referee Al Perry had to repair himself and his trousers after taking a nasty spill on a floor made slippery by condensation dripping down from the glass roof.

quality prose right there, MAD.

xlgman · Post by **xlgman** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:22 pm

LS71 wrote:

The fact that the UMass-Syracuse game that night in 71 was televised from the Cage was a real novelty.

Are you telling me that there could be a game tape out there somewhere?

InnervisionsUMASS · Post by **InnervisionsUMASS** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:45 pm

km109 wrote:
InnervisionsUMASS wrote:I remember that game. I walked around the corner into the gym right as he dunked the balls. It was amazing. I've never experienced anything like it before..... hopefully again some day.
Uh, exactly how long were you a student? I've heard of the 6 year plan, but given your graduation date, that's ridiculous! If you claim to have been there 39 years ago I want to cut off your arm and count the rings.

sasso72 · Post by **sasso72** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:20 am

MAD wrote:sasso72 wrote:
Bob Cousy was definitely coaching BC the first time they came into the Cage. I remember being really excited because Coos was and still is one of my favorite players.
MAD wrote:
He may have been one of your favorite players, but he wasn't coaching BC in 71. He was in the NBA with the Royals. Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly was coaching BC. The 71 game was the one where Julius cruised in backwards during warm-ups, saw the refs weren't watching, and slammed home a thunder dunk. Daly had a hissy-fit and turned three shades of red while beseeching the refs for not calling a Technical foul on the dunk.

Cousy coached a Terry Driscoll led team that beat UMass in 69. That game was delayed 10 minutes when referee Al Perry had to repair himself and his trousers after taking a nasty spill on a floor made slippery by condensation dripping down from the glass roof.

I was refering to that 69 game. My memory is defintely not as clear as yours.

Mass Grad · Post by **Mass Grad** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:28 am

I was taking grad courses in 71 and had attended all of the 70-71 home games. Also attended the games in the early 60s as an undergrad. Doug Grutchfield roomed across the hall from me in Wheeler Dorm. I invited my dad to the Syracuse game. We were seated in the upper ring on one of the corners in front row right in front of the SID Dick Breschani (SP) who along with others were set up at a table for stat collection. Never saw the dunk, Breschani was standing blocking everyones view. I yelled at him to sit down. I was shocked that he heard me because the noise was incredible. He did not like it and objected saying he was there to do his job. A week or so later in NYC at the Garden we played George Washington, I think I still have the program, and my Dad and I went to a victory reception following the game. Breschani, my Dad and I had a beer and laughed about the Syracuse game. Breschani had those stats memorized as he recited them all in talking about that game. I did remind hem we missed the dunk and again we all laughed. AH, the memories that come back. That was a great year only to be ended in MSG in a blow out to North Carolina. I had to listen to it on the radio. Thanks LS for bringing it up.

LS71 · Post by **LS71** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:39 pm

xlgman wrote:
LS71 wrote:
The fact that the UMass-Syracuse game that night in 71 was televised from the Cage was a real novelty.
Are you telling me that there could be a game tape out there somewhere?

Who knows...

I emailed the GM at the current ch. 27 to see if there's away to find out. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to find out, please let me know.

UMass87 · Post by **UMass87** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:43 pm

I'd be pretty shocked if there is tape.

LS71 · Post by **LS71** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 3:10 pm

^
So would I. Ch. 27 is totally different now anyway. It's a Univision outlet.

But hey...I figured I'll at least ask the question.

MAD · Post by **MAD** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 3:44 pm

LS asked:

Am I remembering correctly about the gambling thing and the 'greeting' bestowed on BC by the fans at the Cage that night?

You misremembered LS. BC was roundly booed. Cousy, on the other hand, was greeted warmly. He was, after all, a Celtic icon long before anyone knew what an icon was. It was 1969. The Celtics were on their way to an 11th NBA title in 13 years and the student body was almost entirely Celtic fans.

The point shaving scandal came in 1979. You can google Henry Hill, Goodfellows, Rick Kuhn or Ernie Cobb and learn more than what you need to know. Dr. Tom Davis was the BC coach. When the news broke on that scandal rival bands often played the Gillette jingle of "Look Sharp, Be Sharp" to greet BC when they took the floor.

LS71 · Post by **LS71** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 4:44 pm

^
I'm glad I at least got the 'BC was roundly booed' part right!

Like I said, consdering where my head was at in those days it's a wonder I remember anything!

BC/Cousy then is not unlike BC/Al Skinner now. I mean the crowds today (I'd say 'student body' but too few of them come to games) are almost entirely UMass fans.

harbo · Post by **harbo** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 1:12 am

The mark of an amazing story is that it doesn't gain embellishments over the years. LS71's account is exactly the same as I heard in the early 70's.

This thread got me to thinking of what other players got the crowd into the games. Leaman's teams wee marked by the team concept, so there weren't many who worked the crowd. Until of course, Alex Eldridge showed up on campus with his showmanship. Mike Pyatt was also a crowd favorite and I recall Jim Town occassionally showing the passion.

But who fits that role since then and who is a candidate on the current or next year's roster?