50 Years Ago Today

Hard to believe a half century has passed since the Game of the Century played out on the floor of the Astrodome in 1968. I can't say 'I remember it like it was yesterday' but I do have a lot of memories of that night.

I've posted about the game several times so I won't repeat all that. I just have a few photos and rambling thoughts.

Here's a postcard I received recently as part of the mailing from Joe Shlabotnik featured yesterday. It's a beaut. We had first arrived in Houston that previous summer (July '67) and seen Astros games and Houston Cougar football games. So the Dome wasn't new to me but it was still awe-inspiring.

This is not my ticket but I do still own mine. I stored it in a plastic case a few years ago to protect it. I need to pull it out and have a display made with it. This one belonged to a high roller who paid $5 to sit in the red field boxes. I had a better view.

We had $2 seats in the front row of the upper level directly across from where this photo was taken. In baseball terms we were right up behind home plate. Funny thing is I ended up in that section as a student for UH football games for years and bought them as a young alum after I graduated.

I have a folder of game pics that I save from various online stories.

I have the program and some replica covers that UH gave away. This one I got signed by Guy Lewis and Elvin Hayes and a dinner held for Coach Lewis.

The roster pages from the program. They are hard to read but Vern Lewis was on the team....Guy Lewis' son. In those days colleges fielded freshman teams.

Mike Warren of UCLA went on to become an actor and starred in one of my favorite shows, Hill Street Blues. He's now Jessica Alba's father-in-law.

Here's Mike Warren as Officer Bobby Hill in HSB.

Playing that night in the prelim game for Tyler JC was one Poo Welsh who ended up at UH as a shooting guard. He was the star player when I got to campus.

The Coogs won 71-69. Inexplicably Elvin Hayes found himself dribbling out the clock as the final seconds ran down. He's said it was the worst moment of his career. He was by far the worst ball handler on the court. How he ended up plodding around the backcourt among UCLA guys reaching for the ball is a mystery.

Game Over!

I remember the crowds coming out of the stands in waves from each side and people jumping over the press rows and team benches which were below floor level. Crazy stuff.

It took my father and me a looong time to get out of the parking lot and headed home. There were newspaper vendors selling copies of the Houston Post and Chronicle in the lots and at the exits to the streets out of the backs of trucks. I have part of this Post front page. I chose to cut the relevant parts out and saved it.

Finally here's a really lousy pic I took of my signed Hayes poster showing him in the GOTC. Unfortunately the reflection on the glass is my office. LOL

January 20, 1968 was the greatest sports night I've ever experienced. I've noted many times that because of that I chose to return to Houston and attend UH even though my family had moved back to New Jersey later in 1968. If I had gone to Rutgers, or Fairleigh Dickinson, or Glassboro State like I had thought I would, my life would have been far different. I'm glad it turned out the way it did.

Guy V Lewis RIP

Coach Guy V. Lewis 1922-2015

Rest In Peace, Coach. I owe you much more than I can say.

Bobbles For Charity

Last week I attended a performance by the Spirit of Houston, the University of Houston Marching Band. Proceeds went to the band's scholarship fund. A silent auction was held in conjunction with the show and lots of UH sports memorabilia was up for bid.

I won a couple of lots and my favorite was this group of three UH related bobbleheads. The Guy Lewis is a dupe and this one will end up with a friend but the other two were new to me. Jim Nantz is a UH alum and he does a lot for the school. He joins Vin Scully and Chuck Thompson in a group of three broadcaster bobbleheads I own. Not too exciting but all three are among my favorite media types so that's pretty cool.

The one I really wanted was this guy, The Big E, Elvin Hayes.

The base is signed.

Hayes does Cougar hoops radio broadcasts so he's around the school a lot these days, and that's a good thing.

I recently had to install a couple additional shelves to accommodate more of my display items as I pull them out of boxes.

More shelves coming soon.

EEEEE-asy Street

Back when Elvin Hayes had retired and come back to Houston he became the paid spokesman for Houston's Yellow Cab company. He did a bunch of recruiting ads that seemed to run every two minutes on late night TV. The tag line was something along the line of' "Driving a Yellow Cab will put you on EEEE-Z Street" with the gimmick being his well known nickname of 'The Big E'.

All that has nothing to do with today's post which contains a bunch of vintage Elvin Hayes cards, many of them from the ever-generous Mark Hoyle.

These first two are from the 1976/77 Topps set. I am  posting them in a large size because they are oversized cards. Mark assures me that these were the regular issue cards that year. I had no idea. I also have no idea why the copyright date at the bottom is 1969. Anyone?

This is the Hayes All Star from the same set. I like this one more I think. Cool picture and the back is kind of neat with the stars containing his highlights.

The 79/80 Hayes card proclaims him to be "perhaps the best big forward in history". You'll get no argument from me.

From '71 through '76 Elvin played for two franchises but his uniform over that time went like this:
San Diego->Houston->Baltimore->Capitol->Washington.

The '74 All Star card from Topps shows a pensive Elvin Hayes. Whenever I've seen him he's smiling or very intense. One of the things I admire about him is how he worked to overcome a serious speech impediment. His speech situation caused him to shy away from interactions and made him come off as either aloof or terribly shy. You'd never know he had that issue if you spoke to him today.

My favorite Elvin Hayes story was one he repeated at the Guy Lewis Hall of Fame Induction ceremony I attended last fall. After he signed to play for Guy at UH the Lewis', that is Guy and his daughter, drove to Rayville, Louisiana  to pick him up and take him to Houston. Hayes sat in the back seat with Guy's daughter praying that they wouldn't be stopped by a Louisiana lawman because he assumed he'd be in a world of hurt for being with a white girl. Elvin's version is much funnier than mine but at the same time it says a lot about the way things have changed in 50 years (or have they?).

Here is the last one for this post. It's his '72-'73 card showing him as a Bullet but he's wearing a Rockets jersey as evidenced by the red and yellow piping. Watching him play back here in Houston was a lot of fun. I wish that era had lasted longer than a season. 

Today in Springfield, Massachusetts

This afternoon I will have the honor to be in attendance as the great Houston Cougar  basketball coach Guy V. Lewis is finally inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

I've ranted on this previously and I won't repeat all of that other than to say that it's something that is overdue by literally decades. I'm so grateful that Coach, who is now 90 and not in good health, is alive to see it happen.

Here are some pics, cards and links I'm posting today for Coach Lewis' special day.

Cougar family thrilled for Guy Lewis

Guy Lewis: His 10 defining moments

Here's to you, Coach!!