When growing up one of the more densely populated parts of a large city (Brooklyn, NY), the competition to find an open basketball court is almost as fierce as the games themselves. At least in the 1970’s, the local courts were always full, with more players on the sideline ready … Read more
Once upon a time, a basketball going through a hoop meant one of two things: a successful free throw attempt during play stoppage — worth one point — or a successful field goal attempt while the clock was running — worth two points. The distance on the field goal attempt … Read more
Basketball fans who were born in the mid-1960’s and prior have seen the evolution of the sport in ways we never thought possible. We may like some of the changes and dislike others, but at the end it’s still basketball. It’s not until we reflect back on what we used … Read more
Does anyone really have fear of the NBA becoming the ABA? During an early-season contest involving the Brooklyn Nets, there was an interview with a gentleman named Herb Turetzky, who has been the Nets’ official scorekeeper since the team’s and American Basketball Association’s (ABA) inception in 1967 as the New … Read more
During the summer of 2017, the National Basketball Association decided to extend the number of calendar days in the regular season in an effort to reduce the wear and tear on its athletes, and hopefully lessen the need for teams to rest its top players on game nights. This is … Read more
The sports doubleheader was created with folks like myself in mind. Before greed set in, with baseball eliminating scheduled doubleheaders and charging separate admissions for two games played on the same day, we’d save our allowance money, head out to Shea Stadium and spend the entire day watching the Mets … Read more
Photo by Andrew Itaga on Unsplash A couple of Saturday mornings each month, a childhood buddy of mine and I venture out to a nearby park with a basketball court to shoot some middle-aged hoops. We’re both 57 years old, he’s in better shape than I am, but neither of us would be … Read more
The homework was done. The chores weren’t, but for the teen-aged sports junkie in the pre-cable television era, priorities tended to come in second to the possibility of finding a live sporting event on a slow night. As I began my search for the rare live sporting event, I had … Read more
Before home game blackout rules were lifted and cable packages eventually gave unlimited access to every game, basketball junkies were at the mercy of their local television station’s schedule of broadcast games (or their television’s ability to get a decent reception) to see their favorite team play or, if they … Read more
So one Saturday night in March of 1972, this eleven-year-old basketball fan was amped because his favorite team, the New York Knickerbockers (more on the current version in a later post), had a late-night game scheduled for television in Portland against the Trailblazers, who were in their second year of … Read more
