Tuesday, March 27, 2007
HBO Documentary: "The UCLA Dynasty"
Airing on HBO this week is a documentary entitled The UCLA Dynasty (link for information). I haven't seen the film. Given that Eddie Einhorn and Elvin Hayes are listed among the interviewees, I would think the UCLA at Houston "Game of the Century" would receive some nice coverage, but I can't say so definitively at this point. HBO seems to sell DVD's of many of its sports documentaries, so it would seem likely a UCLA Dynasty DVD will become available.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
UCLA Holds 40-Year Reunion of 1966-67 Squad (Includes Many Who Played in GOTC)
UCLA's 1966-67 team held a 40-year reunion yesterday in conjunction with the current Bruin team's final home game of the season, against Stanford. The UCLA-Houston Game of the Century took place the season after the '66-67 campaign (on January 20, 1968, to be exact). However, with the '66-67 Bruins' starting lineup consisting of four sophomores and a junior, it was essentially the same UCLA squad that took on UH in the Astrodome a year later. This page from the UCLA athletics site is devoted to the reunion of the '66-67 team; from it, you can also click for a gallery of still photos and a video of the halftime ceremony. Gathering with their coach John Wooden, now 96 years old, were players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor), Lucius Allen, Lynn Shackelford, and Mike Warren.
I hope that next year, as close as possible to January 20, 2008, Houston will have a similar type of 40-year reunion for the Cougar team that won the Game of the Century.
***
Also yesterday, Game of the Century TV announcer Dick Enberg and I were under the same roof at Texas Tech's United Spirit Arena, as the Red Raiders hosted Oklahoma State in a game televised by CBS (see February 24 entry on this CBS list of announcer assignments). When UCLA and Houston met in their classic game at the Astrodome, Enberg was an up-and-coming 33-year-old broadcaster. Now 72, Enberg is an elder statesperson of the profession, still very much going strong.
I was hoping that I might be able to go up to Enberg at courtside after the game and perhaps get a picture with him for this website. However, he got away too quickly. Enberg writes in his memoir, appropriately entitled Oh My!, about a career of tight travel deadlines -- having to catch a plane or drive in a rental car to the next gig -- as he sometimes criss-crossed the country to announce three games within roughly 36 hours in the same weekend. He no longer packs that many games into his schedule, but he still knows how to get out of an arena right after the final buzzer!
I hope that next year, as close as possible to January 20, 2008, Houston will have a similar type of 40-year reunion for the Cougar team that won the Game of the Century.
***
Also yesterday, Game of the Century TV announcer Dick Enberg and I were under the same roof at Texas Tech's United Spirit Arena, as the Red Raiders hosted Oklahoma State in a game televised by CBS (see February 24 entry on this CBS list of announcer assignments). When UCLA and Houston met in their classic game at the Astrodome, Enberg was an up-and-coming 33-year-old broadcaster. Now 72, Enberg is an elder statesperson of the profession, still very much going strong.
I was hoping that I might be able to go up to Enberg at courtside after the game and perhaps get a picture with him for this website. However, he got away too quickly. Enberg writes in his memoir, appropriately entitled Oh My!, about a career of tight travel deadlines -- having to catch a plane or drive in a rental car to the next gig -- as he sometimes criss-crossed the country to announce three games within roughly 36 hours in the same weekend. He no longer packs that many games into his schedule, but he still knows how to get out of an arena right after the final buzzer!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
E-Mail from Vern Lewis
I received an e-mail the other day from Vern Lewis, a member of the University of Houston basketball team during the 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons. This is the first time anyone who played in the Game of the Century has been in contact with me, and I thank Vern for that.
As shown in the box score at the end of this UH basketball retrospective, Vern played four minutes in the Astrodome showdown against UCLA. I just played the DVD of the game (described in my posting immediately below the present one) over again and saw that Vern was in at the close of the first half, but apparently did not play in the second half.
In his message, Vern mentioned his continued involvement in college basketball via the South Padre Island Hoops organization, which hosts a tournament during the non-conference part of the season. In 2005, tournament officials conducted a canned-food drive at the games for the benefit of those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Vern's name also comes up as part of Item 50 in this NCAA basketball trivia quiz.
As shown in the box score at the end of this UH basketball retrospective, Vern played four minutes in the Astrodome showdown against UCLA. I just played the DVD of the game (described in my posting immediately below the present one) over again and saw that Vern was in at the close of the first half, but apparently did not play in the second half.
In his message, Vern mentioned his continued involvement in college basketball via the South Padre Island Hoops organization, which hosts a tournament during the non-conference part of the season. In 2005, tournament officials conducted a canned-food drive at the games for the benefit of those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Vern's name also comes up as part of Item 50 in this NCAA basketball trivia quiz.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
39th Anniversary of Game of the Century
Today is the 39th anniversary of the Houston-UCLA Game of the Century.
As detailed in earlier postings on this site, current UH Coach Tom Penders' hope for a 40th anniversary game next year (and a resumption of play between the schools more generally) had cold water tossed on it by UCLA Coach Ben Howland. I suppose there's still time for such a game to be scheduled for next year, but I've seen nothing to indicate it will happen.
As I've also discussed previously, what I would consider the definitive resource on the 1968 classic is Eddie Einhorn's book (written with Ron Rapoport) How March Became Madness. Released last year, the book consists of short chapters, each presenting an interview with a major figure in the modern history of college basketball. The book is not entirely on the Game of the Century but does have 10 chapters specifically devoted to it. Not only that -- the book comes with a DVD of the Game of the Century (actually, just the second half, plus the closing minutes of the first half).
As detailed in earlier postings on this site, current UH Coach Tom Penders' hope for a 40th anniversary game next year (and a resumption of play between the schools more generally) had cold water tossed on it by UCLA Coach Ben Howland. I suppose there's still time for such a game to be scheduled for next year, but I've seen nothing to indicate it will happen.
As I've also discussed previously, what I would consider the definitive resource on the 1968 classic is Eddie Einhorn's book (written with Ron Rapoport) How March Became Madness. Released last year, the book consists of short chapters, each presenting an interview with a major figure in the modern history of college basketball. The book is not entirely on the Game of the Century but does have 10 chapters specifically devoted to it. Not only that -- the book comes with a DVD of the Game of the Century (actually, just the second half, plus the closing minutes of the first half).
Friday, September 22, 2006
Notre Dame and Michigan State Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Their FOOTBALL Game of the Century
It's been a while since I last posted, but during the college basketball off-season, there's not a lot of news on the sport.
I just wanted to acknowledge tomorrow's Notre Dame-Michigan State football game, which marks the 40th anniversary of the 1966 contest between the schools -- a 10-10 tie, with both teams having come in undefeated -- that some also refer to as the "Game of the Century."
Here are some links to stories about the ND-MSU 40th anniversary match-up: MSNBC-AP (note the patch for the 40th anniversary), Lansing State Journal, and Detroit Free Press.
Getting back to college basketball, as some of you may have heard during the past season (and which you can read about in my archives), UCLA Coach Ben Howland seems to have rebuffed Houston Coach Tom Penders's request for a resumption of play between the Bruins and Cougars, including a 40th anniversary match-up in January 2008 of these schools' Game of the Century. There's still plenty of time before the 2007-08 basketball schedules are determined, but I'm not holding my breath.
I should also note that the situation between Notre Dame and Michigan State in football is different from UCLA and UH in basketball. The Irish and Spartans play virtually every year on the gridiron, so tomorrow's game is just the continuation of a long series. UCLA and Houston have met only sporadically in basketball over the past 40 years.
I just wanted to acknowledge tomorrow's Notre Dame-Michigan State football game, which marks the 40th anniversary of the 1966 contest between the schools -- a 10-10 tie, with both teams having come in undefeated -- that some also refer to as the "Game of the Century."
Here are some links to stories about the ND-MSU 40th anniversary match-up: MSNBC-AP (note the patch for the 40th anniversary), Lansing State Journal, and Detroit Free Press.
Getting back to college basketball, as some of you may have heard during the past season (and which you can read about in my archives), UCLA Coach Ben Howland seems to have rebuffed Houston Coach Tom Penders's request for a resumption of play between the Bruins and Cougars, including a 40th anniversary match-up in January 2008 of these schools' Game of the Century. There's still plenty of time before the 2007-08 basketball schedules are determined, but I'm not holding my breath.
I should also note that the situation between Notre Dame and Michigan State in football is different from UCLA and UH in basketball. The Irish and Spartans play virtually every year on the gridiron, so tomorrow's game is just the continuation of a long series. UCLA and Houston have met only sporadically in basketball over the past 40 years.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Status Update on UCLA and UH Basketball Programs
Today marks the first weekend of 2006 without any college basketball. I'm in a little bit of withdrawal, but doing a little writing on UCLA and UH may help ease the symptoms.
As probably everybody who would visit this website knows, UCLA made the NCAA championship game last Monday night, before getting trounced by Florida. Expectations were high three years ago when Ben Howland took over the Bruin program, but getting to the Final Four this quickly certainly exceeded my expectations.
The University of Houston continued its slow, but steady, road back to national prominence, by making the NIT for the second straight year. This year, the Cougars dropped a heart-breaker in the NIT to Missouri State. During the season, UH defeated such highly regarded teams as LSU (who also made the NCAA Final Four) and Arizona (game-by-game log). The Cougars also put together a nice league record in Conference USA, but the proverbial "asterisk" must go with that record as several of the historically best C-USA teams (e.g., Louisville, Cincinnati) had left to go to the Big East.
In summary, things seem to be moving in the right direction for both UCLA and UH, albeit with UCLA further along. Houston has signed Coach Tom Penders to a new contract, which should provide the needed continuity for the Cougar program to continue improving. Now, we just need someone to convince Howland to drop his stated resistance to playing UH in a 40th anniversary commemoration of the Game of the Century in 2008.
As probably everybody who would visit this website knows, UCLA made the NCAA championship game last Monday night, before getting trounced by Florida. Expectations were high three years ago when Ben Howland took over the Bruin program, but getting to the Final Four this quickly certainly exceeded my expectations.
The University of Houston continued its slow, but steady, road back to national prominence, by making the NIT for the second straight year. This year, the Cougars dropped a heart-breaker in the NIT to Missouri State. During the season, UH defeated such highly regarded teams as LSU (who also made the NCAA Final Four) and Arizona (game-by-game log). The Cougars also put together a nice league record in Conference USA, but the proverbial "asterisk" must go with that record as several of the historically best C-USA teams (e.g., Louisville, Cincinnati) had left to go to the Big East.
In summary, things seem to be moving in the right direction for both UCLA and UH, albeit with UCLA further along. Houston has signed Coach Tom Penders to a new contract, which should provide the needed continuity for the Cougar program to continue improving. Now, we just need someone to convince Howland to drop his stated resistance to playing UH in a 40th anniversary commemoration of the Game of the Century in 2008.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Einhorn Book "How March Became Madness" Includes Historical Review of GOTC
With the start of this year's NCAA tournament just a couple of days away, now is a good time for me to review the book How March Became Madness, by Eddie Einhorn with Ron Rapoport. Einhorn, of course, is the person who put together the television package for the 1968 Houston-UCLA Game of the Century. Also, as I wrote about at the time of last fall's World Series, Einhorn has also been part of the Chicago White Sox front office for many years.
The book attempts to provide a history of modern college basketball, with attention to the role of television in developing its popularity. Einhorn and Rapoport do so almost entirely via a series of five-page (roughly) mini-chapters, each based on an interview with a key figure in college hoops history.
The format of self-contained interviews rather than one continuously developing story, makes it easy to pick and choose which interviews you want to read, without worrying about disruption to any continuity. Others may see this as a shortcut on the part of the authors, who evidently elected not to try to integrate all the interviews and present their historical analysis as a traditional text.
These interviews are grouped into sections. One is on the UCLA dynasty, featuring interviews with John Wooden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bill Walton.
Not surprisingly, the largest section is on the Game of the Century, with ten chapters. The introduction to this section points out the following:
UCLA's game against Houston in the Astrodome changed the face of college basketball... The stars were all in alignment that night as we had the two top teams in the country -- which were both undefeated -- the top two players, the largest crowd ever to see a basketball game in the United States [52,693, since surpassed], and basketball's first prime-time television audience, which was its largest in history. And to top everything off, it turned out to be a great game, with Houston breaking UCLA's 47-game win streak with a 71-69 victory (p. 33).
The chapters in this section contain interviews with the following individuals (listed with their roles in the GOTC): Houston coach Guy Lewis, Cougar players Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney, UCLA assistant coaches Gary Cunningham and Jerry Norman, Bruin players Lynn Shackelford and Mike Warren, broadcaster Dick Enberg, UH Sports Information Director Ted Nance, and Houston sportswriter Mickey Herskowitz.
Importantly, these chapters convey the many breakthroughs associated with the GOTC: paving the way for college basketball to become a national television mega-hit over the years; raising the profile of basketball in Texas, long famous as a football state; and helping advance the fortunes of the city of Houston and UH, as well as aiding in their racial integration. Noted Chaney:
Three years after Elvin and I got there, Houston had its first black homecoming queen. That was amazing to me, that a school that had been all white could have something like that happen in so short a time (p. 82).
The book also comes with a DVD of the Houston-UCLA Game of the Century, which to me is the best part. It contains the last few minutes of the first half, then the entire second half. The players really seemed to shoot the ball with much more of a high-arch trajectory than is seen today (unless it's some kind of visual illusion). The commercials are edited out, but sometimes the first second or two of a commercial shows; it's interesting to see the kinds of things that were advertised in 1968.
As noted above, however, the book goes beyond the GOTC, encompassing many aspects in the history of modern college basketball. There's a section featuring interviews with great coaches of the modern era: Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Roy Williams, etc. The broadcast side of college hoops is covered in sections on great (or at least prominent) broadcasters, including Enberg, Dick Vitale, Billy Packer, and Al Michaels, and on media executives.
I learned an interesting thing from the interview with Bob Knight, who of course coaches at Texas Tech, where I am on the faculty. Shortly after Knight graduated from Ohio State, there was at least a possibility that he would go to law school at UCLA and help coach the freshman team. Imagine, Bob Knight might have progressed to being a UCLA varsity assistant and thus conceivably could have succeeded John Wooden at some point! Could Wooden's good citizenship have tamed the volatility in Knight?
The book attempts to provide a history of modern college basketball, with attention to the role of television in developing its popularity. Einhorn and Rapoport do so almost entirely via a series of five-page (roughly) mini-chapters, each based on an interview with a key figure in college hoops history.
The format of self-contained interviews rather than one continuously developing story, makes it easy to pick and choose which interviews you want to read, without worrying about disruption to any continuity. Others may see this as a shortcut on the part of the authors, who evidently elected not to try to integrate all the interviews and present their historical analysis as a traditional text.
These interviews are grouped into sections. One is on the UCLA dynasty, featuring interviews with John Wooden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bill Walton.
Not surprisingly, the largest section is on the Game of the Century, with ten chapters. The introduction to this section points out the following:
UCLA's game against Houston in the Astrodome changed the face of college basketball... The stars were all in alignment that night as we had the two top teams in the country -- which were both undefeated -- the top two players, the largest crowd ever to see a basketball game in the United States [52,693, since surpassed], and basketball's first prime-time television audience, which was its largest in history. And to top everything off, it turned out to be a great game, with Houston breaking UCLA's 47-game win streak with a 71-69 victory (p. 33).
The chapters in this section contain interviews with the following individuals (listed with their roles in the GOTC): Houston coach Guy Lewis, Cougar players Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney, UCLA assistant coaches Gary Cunningham and Jerry Norman, Bruin players Lynn Shackelford and Mike Warren, broadcaster Dick Enberg, UH Sports Information Director Ted Nance, and Houston sportswriter Mickey Herskowitz.
Importantly, these chapters convey the many breakthroughs associated with the GOTC: paving the way for college basketball to become a national television mega-hit over the years; raising the profile of basketball in Texas, long famous as a football state; and helping advance the fortunes of the city of Houston and UH, as well as aiding in their racial integration. Noted Chaney:
Three years after Elvin and I got there, Houston had its first black homecoming queen. That was amazing to me, that a school that had been all white could have something like that happen in so short a time (p. 82).
The book also comes with a DVD of the Houston-UCLA Game of the Century, which to me is the best part. It contains the last few minutes of the first half, then the entire second half. The players really seemed to shoot the ball with much more of a high-arch trajectory than is seen today (unless it's some kind of visual illusion). The commercials are edited out, but sometimes the first second or two of a commercial shows; it's interesting to see the kinds of things that were advertised in 1968.
As noted above, however, the book goes beyond the GOTC, encompassing many aspects in the history of modern college basketball. There's a section featuring interviews with great coaches of the modern era: Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Roy Williams, etc. The broadcast side of college hoops is covered in sections on great (or at least prominent) broadcasters, including Enberg, Dick Vitale, Billy Packer, and Al Michaels, and on media executives.
I learned an interesting thing from the interview with Bob Knight, who of course coaches at Texas Tech, where I am on the faculty. Shortly after Knight graduated from Ohio State, there was at least a possibility that he would go to law school at UCLA and help coach the freshman team. Imagine, Bob Knight might have progressed to being a UCLA varsity assistant and thus conceivably could have succeeded John Wooden at some point! Could Wooden's good citizenship have tamed the volatility in Knight?
Saturday, February 25, 2006
L.A. Sports Arena (Which Has GOTC Ties) Loses Last Major Client in USC
Tonight, the last college basketball game (presumably ever) will be played in the Los Angeles Sports Arena, as the USC Trojans host Oregon State.
The Sports Arena, which opened in 1959 in the Exposition Park area of L.A. (which also includes the USC campus and football's L.A. Memorial Coliseum), will no longer be needed for Trojan basketball, as the on-campus Galen Center will open for next season (construction cam).
The NBA's L.A. Clippers, of course, vacated the Sports Arena for the Staples Center about seven years ago (a photo of the Sports Arena's exterior is shown on this Clippers' historical website).
Although I couldn't find any definitive information on what will become of the Sports Arena, this newspaper column suggests that it could be torn down for parking should the Coliseum area be renovated to accommodate a new NFL team.
As many of you are probably aware, the significance of the L.A. Sports Arena for the Houston-UCLA basketball rivalry is two-fold:
First, when the Houston Astrodome was set up for the 1968 UH-UCLA Game of the Century, it was the Sports Arena's hardwood that Elvin Hayes, Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), et al., were playing on.
Then, when the Cougars and Bruins met again later that season in a semi-final game of the Final Four, they played in L.A. at the Sports Arena.
Houston's coach at the time, Guy V. Lewis, discussed his team's two 1968 games against UCLA in a January 2004 interview published in the new book How March Became Madness. This book was compiled by Eddie Einhorn, who put together the television package for the GOTC, with Ron Rapoport. Said Lewis:
...What's funny is that we lost on the same floor we beat them on. The floor we used in the Astrodome originally came from the Sports Arena in Los Angeles. They just bundled it up and put it on a truck and brought it here (p. 40).
A bonus feature of the book is that it comes with a DVD of the UH-UCLA Game of the Century broadcast. You get the last few minutes of the first half and the entire second half. One thing evident from the DVD is that the folks in Houston either used their woodcrafting skills to make a new center circle or painted over the one that arrived from L.A. At the GOTC, the center circle featured the word ASTRO arched over the top, the word DOME arched up from the bottom, and a UH logo in the small interior circle.
Between the DVD and the interviews with many of the principals from the Game of the Century (as well as with many other college hoops luminaries not associated with UH or UCLA), the book is an amazing resource for GOTC aficionados, in particular, and all those interested in the history of modern college basketball, in general.
I will be doing one or more future entries on How March Became Madness.
The Sports Arena, which opened in 1959 in the Exposition Park area of L.A. (which also includes the USC campus and football's L.A. Memorial Coliseum), will no longer be needed for Trojan basketball, as the on-campus Galen Center will open for next season (construction cam).
The NBA's L.A. Clippers, of course, vacated the Sports Arena for the Staples Center about seven years ago (a photo of the Sports Arena's exterior is shown on this Clippers' historical website).
Although I couldn't find any definitive information on what will become of the Sports Arena, this newspaper column suggests that it could be torn down for parking should the Coliseum area be renovated to accommodate a new NFL team.
As many of you are probably aware, the significance of the L.A. Sports Arena for the Houston-UCLA basketball rivalry is two-fold:
First, when the Houston Astrodome was set up for the 1968 UH-UCLA Game of the Century, it was the Sports Arena's hardwood that Elvin Hayes, Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), et al., were playing on.
Then, when the Cougars and Bruins met again later that season in a semi-final game of the Final Four, they played in L.A. at the Sports Arena.
Houston's coach at the time, Guy V. Lewis, discussed his team's two 1968 games against UCLA in a January 2004 interview published in the new book How March Became Madness. This book was compiled by Eddie Einhorn, who put together the television package for the GOTC, with Ron Rapoport. Said Lewis:
...What's funny is that we lost on the same floor we beat them on. The floor we used in the Astrodome originally came from the Sports Arena in Los Angeles. They just bundled it up and put it on a truck and brought it here (p. 40).
A bonus feature of the book is that it comes with a DVD of the UH-UCLA Game of the Century broadcast. You get the last few minutes of the first half and the entire second half. One thing evident from the DVD is that the folks in Houston either used their woodcrafting skills to make a new center circle or painted over the one that arrived from L.A. At the GOTC, the center circle featured the word ASTRO arched over the top, the word DOME arched up from the bottom, and a UH logo in the small interior circle.
Between the DVD and the interviews with many of the principals from the Game of the Century (as well as with many other college hoops luminaries not associated with UH or UCLA), the book is an amazing resource for GOTC aficionados, in particular, and all those interested in the history of modern college basketball, in general.
I will be doing one or more future entries on How March Became Madness.
Friday, February 17, 2006
NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston; Hayes Involved in Activities
Tonight begins the annual NBA All-Star Weekend, this year being held in Houston. Among tonight's events is the game between top NBA rookies and second-year players.
Activities surrounding all-star games often try to involve local heroes, and this year is no exception. Elvin Hayes, who led the UH Cougars to victory over UCLA in the Game of the Century and later played professionally for the Houston Rockets, is serving as an assistant coach for the rookie team.
In conjunction with his appearance back in Houston, Hayes was the subject of an article in today's Houston Chronicle. The article talks about Hayes's role in the GOTC, to be sure, but primarily features his reflections on playing in NBA all-star games. Hayes saw these games as opportunities to develop camaraderie with other elite players around the league. In fact, the article discusses how Hayes feels these gatherings helped warm up relations between him and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly Lew Alcindor), his rival from UCLA in the GOTC:
Hayes credits his All-Star appearances for easing a rift between him and Abdul-Jabbar. After they were pitted as rivals in college, the tensions carried over to the NBA.
"Once we got an opportunity to get into the All-Star situation and really begin to talk and be around each other, it became less strenuous," Hayes said. "It was less of a strain and effort to put forth, 'Hello, how do you do?' That kind of breaks the ice, breaks the walls down. The All-Star Game can resolve a lot of problems that players have on the court."
***
With Houston becoming the basketball hub of the universe this weekend, the city also served as the site for the announcement of this year's nominees for the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Guy V. Lewis, the UH coach in the GOTC, will still have to wait to get in the Hall, as he was not among this year's nominees. One discussant on the CoogFans chat board thought Lewis might not be eligible any longer for election via the regular route and must now go through a veterans' screening process; this may or may not be true. (I'm "AlanTech" in the discussion thread.)
How coaches such as former Purdue skipper Gene Keady, whose best NCAA showings are two Elite Eights, can be nominated ahead of Lewis, who coached UH to five Final Fours (including two title game appearances), has baffled a lot of people (nothing personal against Keady, of course).
Activities surrounding all-star games often try to involve local heroes, and this year is no exception. Elvin Hayes, who led the UH Cougars to victory over UCLA in the Game of the Century and later played professionally for the Houston Rockets, is serving as an assistant coach for the rookie team.
In conjunction with his appearance back in Houston, Hayes was the subject of an article in today's Houston Chronicle. The article talks about Hayes's role in the GOTC, to be sure, but primarily features his reflections on playing in NBA all-star games. Hayes saw these games as opportunities to develop camaraderie with other elite players around the league. In fact, the article discusses how Hayes feels these gatherings helped warm up relations between him and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly Lew Alcindor), his rival from UCLA in the GOTC:
Hayes credits his All-Star appearances for easing a rift between him and Abdul-Jabbar. After they were pitted as rivals in college, the tensions carried over to the NBA.
"Once we got an opportunity to get into the All-Star situation and really begin to talk and be around each other, it became less strenuous," Hayes said. "It was less of a strain and effort to put forth, 'Hello, how do you do?' That kind of breaks the ice, breaks the walls down. The All-Star Game can resolve a lot of problems that players have on the court."
***
With Houston becoming the basketball hub of the universe this weekend, the city also served as the site for the announcement of this year's nominees for the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Guy V. Lewis, the UH coach in the GOTC, will still have to wait to get in the Hall, as he was not among this year's nominees. One discussant on the CoogFans chat board thought Lewis might not be eligible any longer for election via the regular route and must now go through a veterans' screening process; this may or may not be true. (I'm "AlanTech" in the discussion thread.)
How coaches such as former Purdue skipper Gene Keady, whose best NCAA showings are two Elite Eights, can be nominated ahead of Lewis, who coached UH to five Final Fours (including two title game appearances), has baffled a lot of people (nothing personal against Keady, of course).
Monday, January 23, 2006
GOTC Revisited on ESPN Classic
Commenter "Yerke" notes on the CoogFans discussion board that last Friday night's episode of "Classic Now" (on ESPN Classic) marked the 38th anniversary of the Game of the Century by bringing on Houston sportscaster Bill Worrell and former Bruin assistant Denny Crum to discuss the Game. The CoogFans discussion thread is available here, then scroll down when the new page comes up.
Friday, January 20, 2006
38th Anniversary of Game of the Century
Just wanted to note that today is the 38th anniversary of the Houston-UCLA Game of the Century. As I wrote about in a previous entry (a bit down the page), current UCLA Coach Ben Howland has not been responsive to UH Coach Tom Penders's call for a resumption of Cougar-Bruin games to commemorate the 1968 classic. I really would like to see UH and UCLA play two years from now, to mark the 40th anniversary of the GOTC, and am disappointed with Howland's stance. If you would like to see a UH-UCLA match-up in January 2008, please contact the UCLA athletic department to let them know how you feel. Just follow the link below, and you'll see a phone number to call and a form to submit written comments.
http://uclabruins.collegesports.com/feedback/ucla-feedback.html
http://uclabruins.collegesports.com/feedback/ucla-feedback.html
Friday, January 06, 2006
E-Mail from Ted Nance
Shortly before the holidays, I received a nice e-mail note from Ted Nance, the former UH Sports Information Director who spent all or part of five decades involved with Cougar athletics. Ted said it was OK to reprint his message, so I've done so below, in slightly edited form. Many of the things Ted discusses were new to me, and perhaps they'll also be to some of you. Take a look!
Alan,
I have followed your web site and postings regarding the UH-UCLA game with great interest. That game changed college basketball forever. It opened up the game to a new world of large arenas (stadiums), national television and prime time entertainment. It will be a long time before the impact this game had on the sport can be duplicated. The fact that both teams were undefeated with winning streaks and ranked one and two, the nation's top two players (both All-America choices) were involved, and the game was the first college game to be televised nationally during prime time, played in the nation's only dome (at that time it was only four years old) and the largest paid crowd in history for a basketball game are an unusual set of facts that would also be very hard to duplicate today. Regardless of the outcome, the game was big for both schools because of the effect it had on the game's future..
On a totally different point, much has been made of Alcindor's eye problem prior to the game. However, little or no mention is made of these two factors.
First, Houston had two starters who missed the NCAA championship game in Los Angeles [NOTE: UH and UCLA actually met in the 1968 semi-finals]. George Reynolds, UH's 6-4 starting point guard did not play in the NCAA due to an eligibility problem. He played 36 minutes in the Astrodome game, hitting 5 of 8 field goal attempts, 3 of 3 at the line and took down five rebounds. For the season he averaged 10 points, five rebounds and was the team's best free throw shooter and best outside shooter (53.8 FG pct.). He also led the team in assists. His defense, due to his size and agility, was also an important factor in the Dome game that was sorely missed in the NCAA game. He was replaced by Vern Lewis in the NCAA game. Lewis was a 5-ll senior who averaged 2.8 points, 1.0 rebounds and hit 38.5 percent from the field and 60.5 percent from the free throw line. He had neither the size nor the physical ability that Reynolds had defensively.
In the book College Basketball's 25 Greatest Teams by Billy Packer and Roland Lazenby published in 1989, Elvin Hayes said, "George (Reynolds) was the greatest point guard I ever played with." That gives you a better idea of what Houston missed in the NCAA game in Los Angeles. That UH team was ranked 11th in the all-time rankings by the book.
Another starter, Forward Melvin Bell (6-7), a great rebounder and scorer, blew out a knee in pre-season and missed the entire season. Melvin had averaged nearly 13 points and nine rebounds as a sophomore the year before to rank third in scoring and second in rebounding on the team. He had broken some of Elvin Hayes' freshman records and was considered a great prospect. However, he never was able to regain his top form after the knee injury.
Incidentally, Eddie Einhorn is working on a book about his years in television and has a chapter on the UH-UCLA game. He called me while he was in Houston for the World Series and was trying to get together a mini reunion from the game with Elvin, Don Chaney, Guy, et al., but I was in Northern Michigan at the time so I don't know how it came out...
Best regards,
Ted Nance
Alan,
I have followed your web site and postings regarding the UH-UCLA game with great interest. That game changed college basketball forever. It opened up the game to a new world of large arenas (stadiums), national television and prime time entertainment. It will be a long time before the impact this game had on the sport can be duplicated. The fact that both teams were undefeated with winning streaks and ranked one and two, the nation's top two players (both All-America choices) were involved, and the game was the first college game to be televised nationally during prime time, played in the nation's only dome (at that time it was only four years old) and the largest paid crowd in history for a basketball game are an unusual set of facts that would also be very hard to duplicate today. Regardless of the outcome, the game was big for both schools because of the effect it had on the game's future..
On a totally different point, much has been made of Alcindor's eye problem prior to the game. However, little or no mention is made of these two factors.
First, Houston had two starters who missed the NCAA championship game in Los Angeles [NOTE: UH and UCLA actually met in the 1968 semi-finals]. George Reynolds, UH's 6-4 starting point guard did not play in the NCAA due to an eligibility problem. He played 36 minutes in the Astrodome game, hitting 5 of 8 field goal attempts, 3 of 3 at the line and took down five rebounds. For the season he averaged 10 points, five rebounds and was the team's best free throw shooter and best outside shooter (53.8 FG pct.). He also led the team in assists. His defense, due to his size and agility, was also an important factor in the Dome game that was sorely missed in the NCAA game. He was replaced by Vern Lewis in the NCAA game. Lewis was a 5-ll senior who averaged 2.8 points, 1.0 rebounds and hit 38.5 percent from the field and 60.5 percent from the free throw line. He had neither the size nor the physical ability that Reynolds had defensively.
In the book College Basketball's 25 Greatest Teams by Billy Packer and Roland Lazenby published in 1989, Elvin Hayes said, "George (Reynolds) was the greatest point guard I ever played with." That gives you a better idea of what Houston missed in the NCAA game in Los Angeles. That UH team was ranked 11th in the all-time rankings by the book.
Another starter, Forward Melvin Bell (6-7), a great rebounder and scorer, blew out a knee in pre-season and missed the entire season. Melvin had averaged nearly 13 points and nine rebounds as a sophomore the year before to rank third in scoring and second in rebounding on the team. He had broken some of Elvin Hayes' freshman records and was considered a great prospect. However, he never was able to regain his top form after the knee injury.
Incidentally, Eddie Einhorn is working on a book about his years in television and has a chapter on the UH-UCLA game. He called me while he was in Houston for the World Series and was trying to get together a mini reunion from the game with Elvin, Don Chaney, Guy, et al., but I was in Northern Michigan at the time so I don't know how it came out...
Best regards,
Ted Nance
Friday, December 09, 2005
UH's Penders Wants GOTC 40th Anniversary Contest with UCLA; Bruins' Howland Cool to Idea
I am a strong supporter of having Houston and UCLA play in 2008 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Game of the Century. Current UH Coach Tom Penders apparently has the same idea, but according to a Los Angeles Times article (registration required), UCLA Coach Ben Howland doesn't seem to be as enthusiastic about the idea.
Houston Coach Tom Penders would love to schedule a game with UCLA. He'd love to have a "commemoration" of the 1968 Game of the Century, when the Cougars of coach Guy Lewis and Elvin Hayes beat Lew Alcindor's Bruins, 71-69, in front of 52,693 at the Astrodome to end UCLA's 47-game winning streak.
"But I can't get Ben to return my calls," Penders said Tuesday. "Maybe he wrote me a letter. Maybe I should wait by the mailbox. Or maybe not."
This Penders quote gets to the heart of the matter, in my view:
"...With UCLA, we had the Game of the Century in 1968 and there's never been an anniversary or a commemoration. Reliant Stadium [which will host the Final Four in 2011] wants to host the game. It would be a huge money game and it would be great to have it while Coach [John] Wooden could attend. So many people just want to protect their own little nests and have a fool-the-fan mentality."
Raging discussions are taking place at both the UCLA and UH internet forums. Participants on each board tend to be backing up their respective coaches.
As a UCLA alum (Bachelor's, 1984) and post-doctoral researcher at UH (1989-1991), I would love there to be a 40-year revisitation of the GOTC. As one Cougar fan put it in one of the discussion threads, "It's good for basketball and those who respect the roots of the game. That game is widely credited with popularizing College basketball."
One person who sides with Howland asserts that, "That may have been the game of the century for Houston, but it was just one of many, many, memorable or important games in UCLA history." Sadly, I'm afraid that many Bruin fans share this view.
Think of the people who could be involved: Wooden, Lewis, Hayes, Jabbar, and (of course) Dick Enberg doing the play-by-play ("Oh My!").
I would urge those who feel similarly to how I do to contact the UCLA Athletic Department (the page that you'll reach has both a phone number and an electronic form for written comments).
Houston Coach Tom Penders would love to schedule a game with UCLA. He'd love to have a "commemoration" of the 1968 Game of the Century, when the Cougars of coach Guy Lewis and Elvin Hayes beat Lew Alcindor's Bruins, 71-69, in front of 52,693 at the Astrodome to end UCLA's 47-game winning streak.
"But I can't get Ben to return my calls," Penders said Tuesday. "Maybe he wrote me a letter. Maybe I should wait by the mailbox. Or maybe not."
This Penders quote gets to the heart of the matter, in my view:
"...With UCLA, we had the Game of the Century in 1968 and there's never been an anniversary or a commemoration. Reliant Stadium [which will host the Final Four in 2011] wants to host the game. It would be a huge money game and it would be great to have it while Coach [John] Wooden could attend. So many people just want to protect their own little nests and have a fool-the-fan mentality."
Raging discussions are taking place at both the UCLA and UH internet forums. Participants on each board tend to be backing up their respective coaches.
As a UCLA alum (Bachelor's, 1984) and post-doctoral researcher at UH (1989-1991), I would love there to be a 40-year revisitation of the GOTC. As one Cougar fan put it in one of the discussion threads, "It's good for basketball and those who respect the roots of the game. That game is widely credited with popularizing College basketball."
One person who sides with Howland asserts that, "That may have been the game of the century for Houston, but it was just one of many, many, memorable or important games in UCLA history." Sadly, I'm afraid that many Bruin fans share this view.
Think of the people who could be involved: Wooden, Lewis, Hayes, Jabbar, and (of course) Dick Enberg doing the play-by-play ("Oh My!").
I would urge those who feel similarly to how I do to contact the UCLA Athletic Department (the page that you'll reach has both a phone number and an electronic form for written comments).
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Rare National Television Game for Today's UH Cougars
Earlier tonight, ESPN2 televised the University of Houston's exciting victory over the visiting Arizona Wildcats. I cannot recall the last time I saw a UH game on national television. Clearly, Cougar Coach Tom Penders appears to have the UH program moving back toward national prominence.
A couple of references to Guy V. Lewis, the longtime Cougar mentor who coached against UCLA in the 1968 Game of the Century, were in evidence. For one thing, the court at Hofheinz Pavilion is named after Lewis. The telecast also showed the Guy V. Lewis banner -- complete with red polka dots like his legendary towel -- that hangs from the rafters in analogous fashion to players' retired uniform numbers.
For now at least, tonight's win over perennial power Arizona would probably be UH's Game of the 21st Century.
A couple of references to Guy V. Lewis, the longtime Cougar mentor who coached against UCLA in the 1968 Game of the Century, were in evidence. For one thing, the court at Hofheinz Pavilion is named after Lewis. The telecast also showed the Guy V. Lewis banner -- complete with red polka dots like his legendary towel -- that hangs from the rafters in analogous fashion to players' retired uniform numbers.
For now at least, tonight's win over perennial power Arizona would probably be UH's Game of the 21st Century.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
GOTC Television Mastermind Einhorn Now Exec with World Series-Bound White Sox
The 2005 World Series, which begins tonight, has a connection to the 1968 college basketball classic game at the Astrodome. And I'm not referring to the presence of a Houston team in each!
Chicago White Sox Vice Chairman Eddie Einhorn, whose team takes on the Houston Astros in the World Series, masterminded the television aspect of the 1968 Houston-UCLA hoops match-up. According to the book Oh My! by Dick Enberg, who did the TV play-by-play for the Houston-UCLA game, the Cougar-Bruin tilt was:
...televised nationally by TVS, a syndicated sports network that was founded in 1965 by Eddie Einhorn, a brilliant entrepreneur who was the first TV executive to see the enormous potential in college basketball (p. 76).
Einhorn (born in 1936) and Enberg (born in 1935) were thus both in their early thirties when they got involved with the 1968 Houston-UCLA Game of the Century. But, unlike Enberg, who has continued broadcasting major sporting events to this day and thus remains in the public eye, Einhorn's work on the business side of sports leaves him largely out of the spotlight.
As noted in the Einhorn biography linked above, however, he has a book coming out in early 2006 on the history of television and basketball. Perhaps that will boost Einhorn's visibility, assuming he makes appearances on sports-related television and radio shows to promote his book.
Chicago White Sox Vice Chairman Eddie Einhorn, whose team takes on the Houston Astros in the World Series, masterminded the television aspect of the 1968 Houston-UCLA hoops match-up. According to the book Oh My! by Dick Enberg, who did the TV play-by-play for the Houston-UCLA game, the Cougar-Bruin tilt was:
...televised nationally by TVS, a syndicated sports network that was founded in 1965 by Eddie Einhorn, a brilliant entrepreneur who was the first TV executive to see the enormous potential in college basketball (p. 76).
Einhorn (born in 1936) and Enberg (born in 1935) were thus both in their early thirties when they got involved with the 1968 Houston-UCLA Game of the Century. But, unlike Enberg, who has continued broadcasting major sporting events to this day and thus remains in the public eye, Einhorn's work on the business side of sports leaves him largely out of the spotlight.
As noted in the Einhorn biography linked above, however, he has a book coming out in early 2006 on the history of television and basketball. Perhaps that will boost Einhorn's visibility, assuming he makes appearances on sports-related television and radio shows to promote his book.
Friday, October 14, 2005
HAPPY BIRTHDAY COACH WOODEN!
Today is the 95th birthday of John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach from 1948-1975. Wooden's illustrious record of 10 NCAA championships, and personal qualities of leadership, decency, and commitment to having his players develop as full, well-rounded individuals need little elaboration. Detailed biographical sketches of Wooden are available here and here.
The 1968 Game of the Century match-up of Wooden's Bruins and the University of Houston Cougars is obviously but a small aspect of Wooden's career. Yet, because this webpage is devoted to the GOTC, a few reflections are in order. From what I can tell from reading various sources, the traditionalist Wooden naturally found many aspects of the game distasteful (e.g., playing a non-conference game in the middle of the conference season, playing basketball in a huge baseball-football venue). The prime mover behind the game was Houston Coach Guy Lewis, and UCLA Athletic Director J.D. Morgan saw the financial rewards of it.
But, as things ultimately worked out, the Houston-UCLA game made a huge mark on the history of college basketball, and something would have been wrong had Wooden not been a part of it.
For an interesting look at Wooden, the coach and the man, I recommend the 2001 book Be Quick -- But Don't Hurry! by former Bruin player Andy Hill (book homepage). Wooden's wisdom and greatness come through unmistakably, but like any human, Wooden is shown to not always be perfect, however much we may think of him that way.
On to the century mark for Coach Wooden!
[An addendum: Someone on a UCLA basketball discussion board pointed out a lovely article at ESPN.com on how several former Bruin players gave Coach Wooden a little birthday celebration, and on the strong bonds that have formed between Wooden and the players.]
The 1968 Game of the Century match-up of Wooden's Bruins and the University of Houston Cougars is obviously but a small aspect of Wooden's career. Yet, because this webpage is devoted to the GOTC, a few reflections are in order. From what I can tell from reading various sources, the traditionalist Wooden naturally found many aspects of the game distasteful (e.g., playing a non-conference game in the middle of the conference season, playing basketball in a huge baseball-football venue). The prime mover behind the game was Houston Coach Guy Lewis, and UCLA Athletic Director J.D. Morgan saw the financial rewards of it.
But, as things ultimately worked out, the Houston-UCLA game made a huge mark on the history of college basketball, and something would have been wrong had Wooden not been a part of it.
For an interesting look at Wooden, the coach and the man, I recommend the 2001 book Be Quick -- But Don't Hurry! by former Bruin player Andy Hill (book homepage). Wooden's wisdom and greatness come through unmistakably, but like any human, Wooden is shown to not always be perfect, however much we may think of him that way.
On to the century mark for Coach Wooden!
[An addendum: Someone on a UCLA basketball discussion board pointed out a lovely article at ESPN.com on how several former Bruin players gave Coach Wooden a little birthday celebration, and on the strong bonds that have formed between Wooden and the players.]
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Enberg's Book "Oh My!" Discusses GOTC
I've referred in a number of my previous postings to Dick Enberg, the television play-by-play announcer for the Game of the Century. In 2004, Enberg published a book of memoirs, appropriately enough entitled Oh My!, after his signature exclamation. Within the chapter about his days announcing UCLA basketball, Enberg spends a couple of pages on the Bruins' 1968 match-up with the Houston Cougars in the Game of the Century at the Astrodome.
Enberg makes a point that, in retrospect, seems obvious. But, I don't believe I'd ever heard anyone make it before:
Despite the buildup, if UCLA had won by 10 or 15 points, it would have been just another big game (p. 77).
He continues:
[UCLA Coach John] Wooden hates it when I say this, but for history, the right team won. The underdog won and won at home, giving the telecast a roaring crowd of nearly 53,000 fans to heighten the drama. And it was close all the way, decided with 28 seconds left on a pair of free throws by [Elvin] Hayes, "the Big E," bringing the final score to 71-69.
Enberg sees the game as a peak within his personal career ("From a historical perspective, I feel it's the most important sports event I've ever called," p. 76) and within the history of college basketball:
Most experts point to the Michigan State-Indiana State NCAA title game in 1979 -- Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird -- as the game that helped boost college basketball into the stratosphere. I disagree. I called that one, too, so I don't say this out of bias. UCLA-Houston, 11 years earlier, was the game that really showed the world how big college basketball could be. That was the skyrocket (pp. 77-78).
Two other pieces of GOTC trivia from Enberg's summary:
It was "the first national prime-time telecast of a college basketball game" (p. 77).
Enberg broadcasted the game with Bob Pettit.
Enberg makes a point that, in retrospect, seems obvious. But, I don't believe I'd ever heard anyone make it before:
Despite the buildup, if UCLA had won by 10 or 15 points, it would have been just another big game (p. 77).
He continues:
[UCLA Coach John] Wooden hates it when I say this, but for history, the right team won. The underdog won and won at home, giving the telecast a roaring crowd of nearly 53,000 fans to heighten the drama. And it was close all the way, decided with 28 seconds left on a pair of free throws by [Elvin] Hayes, "the Big E," bringing the final score to 71-69.
Enberg sees the game as a peak within his personal career ("From a historical perspective, I feel it's the most important sports event I've ever called," p. 76) and within the history of college basketball:
Most experts point to the Michigan State-Indiana State NCAA title game in 1979 -- Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird -- as the game that helped boost college basketball into the stratosphere. I disagree. I called that one, too, so I don't say this out of bias. UCLA-Houston, 11 years earlier, was the game that really showed the world how big college basketball could be. That was the skyrocket (pp. 77-78).
Two other pieces of GOTC trivia from Enberg's summary:
It was "the first national prime-time telecast of a college basketball game" (p. 77).
Enberg broadcasted the game with Bob Pettit.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
ESPN Classic Channel Revisits 1970s "Superstars" Competition, Which Included Elvin Hayes
The other night, I was watching a show called Cheap Seats on the ESPN Classic sports channel, and the focus of the episode was on the first "Superstars" competition, held in 1973.
Among the first of the made-for-TV sports programs (at least of which I'm aware), the Superstars brought together athletes from different sports to compete in tasks encompassing different sports (e.g., running, swimming, weightlifting). Points would be awarded for each event, and an overall champion crowned. From the initial all-male event, Superstars also evolved to include a women's Superstars, Superteams, and Celebrity Superteams.
The connection to the Houston-UCLA Game of the Century is that Cougar (and later NBA) star big man Elvin Hayes was among the participants in the inaugural Superstars. According to the highlights shown on Cheap Seats, Hayes won the 100-yard dash (this was before metric distances caught on in U.S. track and field). According to this summary of the 1973 Superstars, Hayes finished sixth overall out of 10 athletes.
Among the first of the made-for-TV sports programs (at least of which I'm aware), the Superstars brought together athletes from different sports to compete in tasks encompassing different sports (e.g., running, swimming, weightlifting). Points would be awarded for each event, and an overall champion crowned. From the initial all-male event, Superstars also evolved to include a women's Superstars, Superteams, and Celebrity Superteams.
The connection to the Houston-UCLA Game of the Century is that Cougar (and later NBA) star big man Elvin Hayes was among the participants in the inaugural Superstars. According to the highlights shown on Cheap Seats, Hayes won the 100-yard dash (this was before metric distances caught on in U.S. track and field). According to this summary of the 1973 Superstars, Hayes finished sixth overall out of 10 athletes.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Connection to UCLA's Jim Nielsen
I recently was in L.A. visiting family, and we saw Richard Roth. His family has been friends with mine for as long as I can remember. Richard played basketball for Van Nuys High in the early 1980s and his coach was none other than Jim Nielsen, who played for UCLA against Houston in the Game of the Century. A piece of GOTC trivia, as documented in this online reprint of an article from The Sporting News, is that it was Nielsen's foul that sent UH's Elvin Hayes to the stripe for what turned out to be the two game-winning free throws. According to this 2001 article, Nielsen has remained in education, but in more recent years as an administrator. Richard noted that he still sees Nielsen about once a year at Bruin games.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
George Mikan's Legacy in Asserting Big Man's Role
With the death of all-time basketball great George Mikan the other day, I began thinking that it was Mikan -- indirectly, at least -- who set the wheels in motion for there to be a Houston-UCLA Game of the Century in 1968.
A college star with DePaul in the mid-1940s and then as a pro with the Minneapolis Lakers up through the mid-1950s, Mikan made his mark in the following way, as noted in the obituary linked above:
A superstar decades before the term existed, Mikan was the first big man to dominate the sport. No one before had seen a 6-foot-10 player with his agility, competitiveness and skill.
Given that the mystique of the Game of the Century rests in good part on its match-up of big men -- UCLA's Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and UH's Elvin Hayes -- Mikan's contribution a generation earlier in demonstrating the potential dominance of the center role is unmistakable.
In fact, Mikan's contribution in defining the position extends well beyond 1968, in the eyes of one of today's leading practitioners of the low post. Shaquille O'Neal is quoted in the obituary -- with a reference to Mikan's famous uniform number -- as saying that, "Without No. 99, there is no me."
A college star with DePaul in the mid-1940s and then as a pro with the Minneapolis Lakers up through the mid-1950s, Mikan made his mark in the following way, as noted in the obituary linked above:
A superstar decades before the term existed, Mikan was the first big man to dominate the sport. No one before had seen a 6-foot-10 player with his agility, competitiveness and skill.
Given that the mystique of the Game of the Century rests in good part on its match-up of big men -- UCLA's Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and UH's Elvin Hayes -- Mikan's contribution a generation earlier in demonstrating the potential dominance of the center role is unmistakable.
In fact, Mikan's contribution in defining the position extends well beyond 1968, in the eyes of one of today's leading practitioners of the low post. Shaquille O'Neal is quoted in the obituary -- with a reference to Mikan's famous uniform number -- as saying that, "Without No. 99, there is no me."
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