Tonight is the exact 56 year anniversary of an NBA game, in which Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points.
The game was played on Friday night March 2, 1962 in Hershey Pennsylvania.
Click below to view my post on the 50th anniversary of Wilt’s amazing feat.
Less than five thousand people attended the tilt vs the New York Knicks. A few Knicks players, including Willie Naulls, drove Wilt, who had a New York City apartment, home after the game.
It is believed Wilt slept for most of the trip, awakening to hear the other players state the incredulity of his scoring 100 points vs them.
Wilt’s team the Warriors, (the Eagles are NFL champions on this exact 56 year anniversary of Wilt’s 100 point game, another “56”) had a great employee named Harvey Pollack.
Mr. Pollack thought quickly and wrote the number 100 on a piece of paper, eventually that writing manifested in one of the most famous sports photos shown below.
Yesterday, Dr. H.T. turned 63 and apparently celebrated with a nice lunch with his otherwise all female family.
Some juxtaposition follows as within 24 hours, I viewed two iconic films, “On The Waterfront” sans commercials on TCM, which currently is airing a great interview conducted by Ben Mankiewicz with Faye Dunaway for its “Backlot” members and “The Hustler” with the so annoying ads, on Movies.
I turned 26 and Dr. H.T. regarded those at my childish but in some sense, stimulating party, as “so involved in comparisons, so intense in the often “apples vs oranges” which/who/whom/ is better.”
That went through my mind as the two great films cited above had something else in common, in addition to their greatness.
One at the party claimed “Waterfront” as his and the other did so regarding “Hustler.”
As with the annual, upcoming Academy Awards the comparison is “apples/oranges” but in this case it would be or was between two incredibly, moving, timeless works that endure.
Some great scenes in another great film, “Save The Tiger” starring Jack Lemmon.
Before the 2017 season, both eventual ALCS participants, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees were not regarded all that highly.
Both teams had failed to make the ‘offs in 2016, after Houston had “5 to 4 teams left gamed” the Yankees in 2015.
The eventual champion Royals, then added to the Astros’ history of excruciating post-season losses, beating Houston in the “quarters.”
Last season Houston won it all, while the Yankees projected to be around a break even team, had a great spring training season and made it to game 7 of the ALCS, before Houston defeated them.
This season the Astros are projected to win 96 plus games and the Yankees’ mark is set at 94 plus.
Thus far, each team is undefeated in “board” exhibition games, the Yankees (5-0) and Houston (4-0).
A young Jim Wynn, pictured above.
Wynn was an Astros star and was in the opening day lineup for the eventual 1977 World Series winning New York Yankees.
While recalling and reviewing an interview with the great sportscaster, Marty Glickman, the name of George Mikan surfaced, as Mr. Glickman expressed fond recollections.
Mikan was so far ahead of his time, a truly dominant big man who once led the Minneapolis Lakers to five NBA titles in six seasons, a feat only one team in the history of North American pro sports leagues (the Boston Celtics who won 8 straight crowns 1959-1966, obviously 6 in 6 seasons and coincidentally the first was vs Minneapolis, well after Mikan retired, in the team’s penultimate season in Minne, before moving to L.A.) has surpassed.
This Friday’s post will commemorate the exact 56 year anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game. I recall fondly my father once saying “we took the kids, (my friend and I) to see Chamberlain.”
Though Wilt at that time was part of a great, albeit underachieving, Philly 76ers team, my father referenced only Chamberlain.
A bigger tribute was paid to George Mikan. Though part of a great Minneapolis Lakers’ team, that did achieve so much, at least once the Madison Garden marquee read not Minneapolis vs the Knicks, but GEO MIKAN vs the Knicks (see below).
That was a well deserved big tribute to a great, big man, George Mikan.
As cited here, the Big Ten Basketball Tournament will begin this Wednesday February 28th at Madison Square Garden.
Michigan State won the regular season title and will be in the NCAA Tournament. Other bids will be at stake as the tournament will be played over 5 days, concluding on Sunday March 4th.
This is an earlier start time for one of the major conference’s post-season tournaments.
In its usual “week before the NCAA Tournament,” time the Big East will have its tournament at Madison Square Garden for the 40th consecutive season.
That tournament begins on Wednesday March 7th and concludes on Saturday March 10th. The next day all the tournament bids, including the N.I.T. which also concludes at Madison Square Garden will be announced.
Michigan State, the top seed, will play at noon on Friday.
The current NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks, each have (6-0) home playoffs game records en route to their 3 Supe appearances, with each team (1-2) in Super Bowl play.
That (6-0) mark tops the list of teams with no road wins, in years they made the Super Bowl.
However, Washington went (7-0) at home in making their first three Super Bowl appearances, going (2-0) (slots and title game wins in ’72 and ’83), but needed and attained 3 home wins to make and win the Supe in strike marred 1982 (hence an added ‘offs game).
Washington is (3-2) in Supes, also winning in strike marred 1987 and in 1991. Both of those Supe triumphs followed baseball titles, the only titles for any current Minnesota based team, (the Minneapolis Lakers with the great George Mikan and Jim Pollard), won 5 NBA crowns), by the Minnesota Twins.
In ’87, the streak of 7 straight home ‘offs wins en route to a “Wash” (speaking of Wash, will it ever stop raining?!) Supe appearance, was snapped when they won at Chicago, vs the Bears in the slots/division round game.
Subsequently, “Wash” won the ’87 and ’91 title tilts at home along with a slot 1 “div” round win at home vs Atlanta in ’91.
Thus “Wash” in 5 Supe appearances, achieved such with 10 of the 11 required wins at home.
The Steelers have made eight Super Bowls, winning six. They won 7 of the required 8 games at home en route to an amazing 4 titles in six seasons from (’74-’79), with the ’74 title game win vs John Madden’s Raiders, the only road win among the eight.
Pittsburgh also rode a pair of home wins, the usual slots and title game variety, to Supe appearances in ’08 and ’10, splitting the two Supes, winning the former. Thus in 7 of their 8 Supe appearances, Pittsburgh won 13 of the required 14 games to gain entry to the game at home.
However, completely against their historical pattern, the Steelers won three road games to make and eventually win the ’05 season Super Bowl. Thus 13 of their 17 wins, netting them eight Supe appearances, were achieved at home.
The great George Mikan is pictured above.
Yesterday, I reviewed an interview Sunshine Chance Smith and I (is it me and where is she?) conducted with the eloquent, great broadcaster, Marty Glickman.
In it, Mr. Glickman divulged one of his most memorable broadcasts/best games was an NBA All-Star tilt, in which George Mikan “grinning ear to ear” calmly sank two free tosses(ode to Joe Tait and Anna Fields for the “ode”) to send the game into overtime.
This past week on MeTV, the first episodes of “The Rifleman” aired.
Those episodes first did so in 1958.
Notably, in some of the first episodes, future Bonanza stars, Michael Landon and Dan Blocker (with mustache), appeared.
It was fun to look back at Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford and Paul Fix, who were the series stars.
All 30 major league baseball teams are in action this afternoon, as exhibition games commence.
In a redux of last year’s National League one game “5 teams to 4” game, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who won that tilt, face the Colorado Rockies.
Elsewhere, two games match teams that made last year’s baseball tournament, with the World Champion Houston Astros hosting the Washington Nationals and the Boston Red Sox hosting the Minnesota Twins.
Other than the Astros, who went (11-7), (the 7 post-season losses, a record number for a title team), the other three teams failed to win a round in last year’s tournament.
The Astros (3-1’d) the Red Sox in one “quarter,” while the 2016 champion Cubs continued the Nationals post-season woes, winning a decisive 5th game in Washington D.C.
It was the third such loss for Washington, which still has never made a “semi” as the Washington Nationals, having made just one in 48 completed seasons (as the Montreal Expos, the franchise also lost a decisive home 5th game, that a “semi” vs the Dodgers, which followed the lone post-season series victory in franchise history, that also in a decisive 5th game, a road “strike induced, extra round” win on the road, dethroning the defending champion, Philadelphia Phillies).
The New York Yankees, exhibition season whirlwinds and surprise playoff team, a year ago, took out the Twins in the “5 teams to 4 game,” overcoming a 3 run deficit right away. It was the fourth win in as many post-season entities for the Yankees, vs the Twins.
George Springer of the World Series champion, Houston Astros, pictured above.
It is great fun to go back in time and watch some great performers in any field on the old and distinguished panel shows.
Today there is such an example, as you can click below and watch Willie Mays, for whom the World Series MVP is named (of course Willie was great but he never did hit a World Series home run. His iconic catch and THROW, the latter more incredible, was the key play as the New York Giants swept the heavily favored Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series) as Houston’s George Springer won the first such Mays World Series MVP Award) on “What’s My Line.”
Philadelphia passed Pittsburgh, by winning its 17th major North American sports league crown, when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl two weeks and three days ago.
However, Philadelphia has had so many more possible seasons and has/had more teams than Pittsburgh by a wide margin.
After both cities won crowns in 1960, the Pittsburgh Pirates in baseball, riding big home runs by first Hal Smith and then a World Series clinching one by Bill Mazeroski, and the Eagles in football, Pittsburgh has won 13 titles while Philadelphia gained 7 in that span.
The Phillies were simultaneous champions with Pittsburgh teams for both of their titles. when they captured their first ever World Series victory in 1980, the Pittsburgh Steelers were reigning 1979 NFL champions.
After the Phils won it all in ’08, the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had been 6’d by the Detroit Red Wings in the ’08 Stanley Cup Final, won it all in ’09, winning the seventh and deciding game in Detroit.
Hal Smith is greeted at home plate after one of the most important, yet severely overlooked hits in baseball history, a two out, three run home run that transformed a (7-6) Pirates’ deficit into a (9-7) lead as late as “bottom 8/#7-1960 World Series.”
Dick Groat (#24) and Roberto Clemente (#21) are shown above greeting Mr. Smith
Andy B Sports 