Some 70-71 Topps Hoops, Odd Cards from an Odd Set

My pursuit of the '70-'71 Topps basketball set consists of adding cards to COMC and eBay orders to make paying the postage worthwhile. That, and cards people send me. It's just that casual. And I'm collecting it because, well, it's so unlike anything else I like. On a scale of 1 to 10 my interest in the NBA these days is too small to be measured. Call it a '0'. In 1970/71 my interest was about a '3'.

I got a bit more excited when the Rockets moved to Houston in 1971 and brought Elvin Hayes with them. For a couple of seasons my friends and I could watch games on the U of H campus for a dollar, and pretty much sit anyplace we wanted. That was fun.

Bottom line is that I remember some of these guys. Lee Winfield was from Houston and had friends among the guys I knew. And look at that card! I love the 'from above the backboard' shot. Winfield is doing the 'weave' drill in a warm-up top that's airbrushed into oblivion.

Next, take a gander at Dale Schlueter here. He looks like a happy high-schooler, doesn't he? Little do you know. He once shot the bird at me and made a nasty comment during an NBA game. It's a story my friends and I still share for a laugh sometimes. You can read it right here.

Close Encounters of the Basketball Kind

I haven't followed the NBA in about thirty five years. My friends and I took in Rockets games pretty regularly in the short time they played at Hofheinz Pavillion on the University of Houston campus. Tickets were a buck for UH students so it was a very cheap night of entertainment. But generally the Rockets sucked and we had to get our jollies by riding them, or even better, the opposing team. 

There was never any doubt that the players heard us. We'd sit behind the visitors' bench or in the front row across the floor. Hell, the place was so laid back and empty we could have probably sat at the end of either teams' bench without much fuss. And since I worked in the building at times I'd sometimes come down the ramp and watch from behind the goal standards.

It was about 1972 when Dale Schlueter played in Hofheinz as a member of the 76ers. He was a big center with zero 'hops'. I mean zero. I doubt his shoes ever got more that two inches off the floor. And we flat wore him out over it. Add to our drunken voices the fact that there were maybe 1000 people in the place and you had a case of six or so college fools pretty much acting as the life of the party.

And so at one point Schlueter comes behind the empty press row right in front of us to retrieve a loose ball, looks straight at poor innocent me and says 'Up Yours!!' I kid you not. And shockingly he's giving me the finger while hiding it from the court with the ball. Sweet Mother of God. I've been flipped of by an NBA player during a game!!

That moment has been a recurring source of hilarity among my buddies at get-togethers and golf rounds ever since. I found this card (and a couple of others) for about a buck on eBay. Brought me a laugh for sure. 

Here's to you, Dale Schlueter. Long may you wave!!

Next time: Furry Players and another Close Encounter