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Post by Werebeaver on Apr 1, 2016 12:50:43 GMT -8
Being so deep in post season championship play and such a massive (21 point) underdog.
Only thing I can really compare it to is 2006 CWS and needing to take 2 straight against a rested Rice team (#2 national seed) while starting Daniel Turpen and then Jonah Nickerson on 2 days rest.
But I don't think that even comes close to the mountain we have to climb against UConn on Sunday.
Hey, I've been around long enough that I've seen my share of shocking upsets. I'm ready for another. |
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Post by Werebeaver on Apr 1, 2016 12:57:32 GMT -8
Being so deep in post season championship play and such a massive (21 pt) underdog.
Only thing I can really compare it to is 2006 CWS and needing to take 2 straight against a rested Rice team (#2 national seed) while starting Daniel Turpen and then Jonah Nickerson on 2 days rest.
But I don't think that even comes close to the mountain we have to climb against UConn on Sunday.
Hey, I've been around long enough that I've seen my share of shocking upsets. I'm ready for another. It was before my time but 1955 NCAA Far West regional final in Gill against 25-1 San Francisco with Bill Russell and KC Jones. We came within inches of closing the deal on that one. USF got the W and cruised on to the championship.
Not sure that even that compares to the current challenge.
Russell / Halbrook
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Post by gzrbvr on Apr 1, 2016 15:56:12 GMT -8
Being so deep in post season championship play and such a massive (21 pt) underdog.
Only thing I can really compare it to is 2006 CWS and needing to take 2 straight against a rested Rice team (#2 national seed) while starting Daniel Turpen and then Jonah Nickerson on 2 days rest.
But I don't think that even comes close to the mountain we have to climb against UConn on Sunday.
Hey, I've been around long enough that I've seen my share of shocking upsets. I'm ready for another. It was before my time but 1955 NCAA Far West regional final in Gill against 25-1 San Francisco with Bill Russell and KC Jones. We came within inches of closing the deal on that one. USF got the W and cruised on to the championship.
Not sure that even that compares to the current challenge.
Russell / Halbrook
I was there--great game. Ron Robins, a good shooter, had a good look for the last shot NE side of the east basket about 15 feet but it didn't go.
In those days, there were four regionals with four teams each. They were set up geographically so West meant something and East meant something. I don't know if the teams were seeded within the regionals. I can't remember now who we beat and who USF beat to get to the regional finals. Anyway, it was a tense game. As I recall, we were down most of the game. If you look on youtube sometimes you can find an abbreviated clip of the game. Of course, they had Russell and KC Jones. We had good players too, Halbrook was amazing for 7foot3. If he hadn't been such a dissipate, he could have played a long time.
To the question of how "big" it was, I would say it was not the same as today just because of the hype that is present in today's game, sweet 16, elite 8, final four etc--in those days it was more of an athletic contest than a television "event". However, fans really followed the course of the tournament, but of course with only 16 teams in the tournament, a lot of fans were already in spring sports.
I can tell you there was a lot of interest in our game. Tickets were practically impossible to get. There were a lot of people in the game without tickets. I don't know what the official attendance was but my guess it was north of 11000 and I would bet money there were at least 12000 people in there. It was only later that the fire marshal reduced the seating allowed to its present level. It was loud and the crowd was really into it.
The general consensus after the tournament was complete was that OSC (at that time) would have won just as well as USF.
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Post by Tigardbeav on Apr 1, 2016 16:44:26 GMT -8
Man , 12k fans in Gill. (btw, was it named Gill Coliseum then? seems a bit "odd" to name it after Slats while he was still alive...and coaching)
I'll bet the top 10 rows all had their shirts off it was so hot
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Post by gzrbvr on Apr 1, 2016 19:18:21 GMT -8
Man , 12k fans in Gill. (btw, was it named Gill Coliseum then? seems a bit "odd" to name it after Slats while he was still alive...and coaching)
I'll bet the top 10 rows all had their shirts off it was so hot
I wasn't at the top, so I don't know. In those days, most of the paying customers wore suits to an event like this, if you can believe it. Same with flying on a commercial airplane. I seems hard to believe now, but that was the way it was. Look at pictures of football games from those days. Men wore suits and women wore nice clothes.
It wasn't until the mid-60's that everything changed. When you rode a plane in your suit and your seatmate was a hippy with sleeveless tee shirt and dripping sweat from under his (and a lot of cases, hers) armpits that finally everyone said what the hell--why am I worried about this--now that a plane has been turned into a bus, "let it all hang out"--I wrote that so I can comment on how edgy that saying was in those days--It was outrageous at the time. Just like until that time, there was no profanity in the movies.
Moving back to your comments, there was a rule at the time that no building could be named after a living person. The sign on the building said Coliseum. Everyone called it Gill Coliseum anyway and for good reason. Most of us think the world of Ralph, I know I do, but Gill was a special coach, too. His teams were sound. He had good players, he won conference championships. He didn't take a back seat to Wooden or anyone else. He didn't win every year, but in a good conference who is going to? His teams did not get beat from showboating--that would get a seat on the pines for a long time. His teams played hard and were tough defensively. I am glad to see that we have finally found a coach that knows what he is doing. It is going to be a fun ride again.
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