what a great website!
I'm tired of agitating mindless, anonymous liberals, so let's talk about something fun!
http://www.remembertheaba.com/
I have wonderful memories from my childhood of jumping in the car with my dad, and making the trip to Indy to the State Fairgrounds Coliseum to watch the Indiana Pacers. In those days, $10 would get you a front row seat to see Rajah and Big Mac and Neto and Dr. Dunk play great basketball for a coach named Slick. Those were the days of the wild and wooly American Basketball Association--the ABA. Click the above link to take a walk down memory lane, and revisit the "outlaw league with the psychedelic red, white and blue basketball and the huge afros."
My most vivid recollection? I have three. The first is from a game at the Coliseum between the Pacers and the Utah Stars. The Stars had a 6-9, 235 pound forward named Zelmo Beaty who, although he was considered to be a very smooth, slick player, was not afraid of the "bump-and-grind" under the basket. I remember a play where "The Big Z" caught a pass at the top of the key, and drove to the basket like a runaway Volkswagon. The only man between Zelmo and the bucket was 6-8, 240 pound George McGinnis, who planted both feet and prepared to take the charge. Zelmo hit Big Mac at about 30 MPH, and put McGinnis 2 rows deep into the courtside seats. That was quite a sight for an 11-year old boy!
The second recollection I have comes from the days after the Pacers moved downtown to Market Square Arena (the scene of Elvis Presley's final concert) in 1974. The song Long Tall Glasses by Leo Sayer became a staple at all Pacer games. It's hard for me to describe what that was like to be at a game where the Pacers were piling on the points and the P.A. man would cut loose with Long Tall Glasses and MSA would be ROCKING, but I can tell you that I am smiling right now just thinking about it!
http://mp3how.com/leo-sayer-just-a-boy/Leo-Sayer-Just-A-Boy-Long-Tall-Glasses_mp3.php
My third most vivid recollection is of the coach. Bobby "Slick" Leonard was the coach of the Pacers from 1968-1980, and was the winningest coach in the history of the ABA. Slick won 529 games (387 in the ABA) and 3 ABA Championships. In his 8 seasons as coach of the ABA Pacers, he led them into the ABA Finals 5 times. Slick was a hard-coaching, hard-drinking, hard-working man who demanded total effort from his players. All old-time Pacers fans know the story about how, at halftime of a game in Duluth, Minnesota, Slick grabbed a hockey stick and chased Bob Netolicky all around the locker room in an attempt to improve Neto's work ethic. It worked! Neto escaped harm and became "the hardest working man in show business!" Slick has been the radio color man for the Pacers for years, but I still remember him patrolling the sidelines in those outlandish leisure suits and screaming like a mad man at the refs. Even though he hasn't coached in 26 years, he is still a Hoosier legend (see www.nba.com/pacers/media/bobby_leonard_bio.html). My 7-year old son and I saw Slick in an Indy grocery store recently, and my son recognized him immediately. He grabbed my arm and said, "Dad--that's Slick Leonard!" Slick heard my son and a big smile broke out on his face. He winked at me and said to my son, "How ya doin' buddy?" As you can probably tell, that was just as big a thrill for me as it was for my son! (Note to my buddies reading this--Insert your own joke here!)
I'll leave you with my picks for the All-Time ABA All-Star Team, and the All-Time Indiana Pacers All-Star Team. Then, give yourself an early Christmas present and surf around on the "Remember the ABA" website. Merry Christmas!
All-Time ABA Team
Louie Dampier
George Gervin
Julius Erving
Mel Daniels
Artis Gilmore
Dan Issel--6th man
All-Time ABA Pacers All-Stars
Freddie Lewis--Most Pacer fans never really liked him, but I did! He was the team captain.
Roger "The Rajah" Brown
Bob Netolicky
George McGinnis
Mel Daniels
Billy Keller--6th man, and one of the greatest under-6 ft. players ever
Darnell "Dr. Dunk" Hillman--"ABA's Biggest Afro" award winner at 1997 ABA reunion
http://www.remembertheaba.com/
I have wonderful memories from my childhood of jumping in the car with my dad, and making the trip to Indy to the State Fairgrounds Coliseum to watch the Indiana Pacers. In those days, $10 would get you a front row seat to see Rajah and Big Mac and Neto and Dr. Dunk play great basketball for a coach named Slick. Those were the days of the wild and wooly American Basketball Association--the ABA. Click the above link to take a walk down memory lane, and revisit the "outlaw league with the psychedelic red, white and blue basketball and the huge afros."
My most vivid recollection? I have three. The first is from a game at the Coliseum between the Pacers and the Utah Stars. The Stars had a 6-9, 235 pound forward named Zelmo Beaty who, although he was considered to be a very smooth, slick player, was not afraid of the "bump-and-grind" under the basket. I remember a play where "The Big Z" caught a pass at the top of the key, and drove to the basket like a runaway Volkswagon. The only man between Zelmo and the bucket was 6-8, 240 pound George McGinnis, who planted both feet and prepared to take the charge. Zelmo hit Big Mac at about 30 MPH, and put McGinnis 2 rows deep into the courtside seats. That was quite a sight for an 11-year old boy!
The second recollection I have comes from the days after the Pacers moved downtown to Market Square Arena (the scene of Elvis Presley's final concert) in 1974. The song Long Tall Glasses by Leo Sayer became a staple at all Pacer games. It's hard for me to describe what that was like to be at a game where the Pacers were piling on the points and the P.A. man would cut loose with Long Tall Glasses and MSA would be ROCKING, but I can tell you that I am smiling right now just thinking about it!
http://mp3how.com/leo-sayer-just-a-boy/Leo-Sayer-Just-A-Boy-Long-Tall-Glasses_mp3.php
My third most vivid recollection is of the coach. Bobby "Slick" Leonard was the coach of the Pacers from 1968-1980, and was the winningest coach in the history of the ABA. Slick won 529 games (387 in the ABA) and 3 ABA Championships. In his 8 seasons as coach of the ABA Pacers, he led them into the ABA Finals 5 times. Slick was a hard-coaching, hard-drinking, hard-working man who demanded total effort from his players. All old-time Pacers fans know the story about how, at halftime of a game in Duluth, Minnesota, Slick grabbed a hockey stick and chased Bob Netolicky all around the locker room in an attempt to improve Neto's work ethic. It worked! Neto escaped harm and became "the hardest working man in show business!" Slick has been the radio color man for the Pacers for years, but I still remember him patrolling the sidelines in those outlandish leisure suits and screaming like a mad man at the refs. Even though he hasn't coached in 26 years, he is still a Hoosier legend (see www.nba.com/pacers/media/bobby_leonard_bio.html). My 7-year old son and I saw Slick in an Indy grocery store recently, and my son recognized him immediately. He grabbed my arm and said, "Dad--that's Slick Leonard!" Slick heard my son and a big smile broke out on his face. He winked at me and said to my son, "How ya doin' buddy?" As you can probably tell, that was just as big a thrill for me as it was for my son! (Note to my buddies reading this--Insert your own joke here!)
I'll leave you with my picks for the All-Time ABA All-Star Team, and the All-Time Indiana Pacers All-Star Team. Then, give yourself an early Christmas present and surf around on the "Remember the ABA" website. Merry Christmas!
All-Time ABA Team
Louie Dampier
George Gervin
Julius Erving
Mel Daniels
Artis Gilmore
Dan Issel--6th man
All-Time ABA Pacers All-Stars
Freddie Lewis--Most Pacer fans never really liked him, but I did! He was the team captain.
Roger "The Rajah" Brown
Bob Netolicky
George McGinnis
Mel Daniels
Billy Keller--6th man, and one of the greatest under-6 ft. players ever
Darnell "Dr. Dunk" Hillman--"ABA's Biggest Afro" award winner at 1997 ABA reunion
posted by hondo at 10:00 PM
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