3 killed execution style behind school

N.J. - Three friends were forced to kneel against a wall behind an elementary school and were shot to death at close range, and a fourth was found about 30 feet away with gunshot and knife wounds to her head, police said.

All were from Newark and planned to attend Delaware State University this fall.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said authorities didn't have any suspects or a motive in the killings late Saturday. None of the victims had any criminal record, she said.

"They were good kids," Dow said.

The four had been listening to music in a parking lot behind Mount Vernon School when they were gradually joined by a group of men, authorities said.

Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy said the four exchanged text messages saying they should leave, but were attacked before they could do so.

Police said the attackers shot one young woman, then forced her three companions down an alley, lined them up against a wall, made them kneel and shot each in the head.

Natasha Aerial, 19, was listed in fair condition at Newark's University Hospital, authorities said. Police identified her companions as her brother, Terrance Aerial, 18, Iofemi Hightower, 20, and Dashon Harvey, 20.

The Aerials' mother, Renee Tucker, said the last time she saw them was around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, when they told her they were going around the corner to get something to eat.

"They said they were going to come right back to the house," Tucker said.

Hightower was a motivated student who had recently enrolled at Delaware State, according to his great-uncle John McClain.

"She was one of the most beautiful ladies you'd ever want to meet," McClain said. "Very smart, very intelligent. She wanted to be something in life."

In the wake of the killings, Mayor Cory A. Booker's administration was again hearing from residents angry about the city's homicide rate.

A month ago, Booker and Police Director Garry McCarthy announced that crime in the city had fallen by 20 percent in the first six months of 2007 compared to a year ago. Yet despite decreases in the number of rapes, aggravated assaults and robberies, the killings have continued.

"He doesn't deserve another day, another second, while our children are at stake," said Donna Jackson, president of Take Back Our Streets, a community-based organization. "Anyone who has children in the city is in panic mode."

Booker's office didn't return a call for comment on Monday.

Saturday night's killings, along with an unrelated shooting over the weekend that killed a Montclair man, brought Newark's 2007 homicide toll to 60. That is three fewer than in the same period in 2006. But there have been 17 slaying in the eight weeks since June 12.

At Delaware State, officials said the school plans to hold a memorial service Aug. 28, after the student body returns for the fall semester.

"While the murder of the two students is a terribly loss in human terms, the facts that they were a part of the DSU family and were striving to earn a degree, create a bright future for themselves and become a solid contributors to society, makes this violent act especially tragic and senseless," university President Allen Sessoms said.

Why or why not college Athletes should get paid

College athletes should not get paid not get paid no matter how much money there school makes from selling products that they somewhat promote. There would no longer be a distinction between an amateur and a professional athlete.

If allowed to pay their student-athletes than what would stop them from paying high school or even a middle school athlete. It would take away the real reason for attending the school in the first place and that is to be a student. Why would they need to work hard when they could just play and get the big pay check.

Being college athlete is supposed to be an experience of a lifetime that many people don’t get. It is a chance not to play for money, and not just a chance to play for you, but for your school and region. Once players come out of college and get drafted they are moved around from team to team and usually don’t get to play where they want to play.

All the big time college could sign anyone the wanted because they would be able to pay them whatever they wanted. Coaches would really no longer spend hours trying to get players they would just send them numbers and they bigger schools have the bigger numbers.

Would it be nice to get a pay check every week from playing a game that I love. Yes, I would love it but than what would be the point of trying to get a good grade in my classes? I wouldn’t take the same pride in my school as I do now. I am playing for myself to have a better collegiate experience.

Native American Gender roles

The Europeans fist landed in North America in 1492 and the Native American women had been living with their husband for a long time. The Europeans started a change in the world that they Native knew and it would never be the same. The Europeans did not like things that were different then them, but the way the Native American women acted was not actually the different at all.

Native Americans had been living in North America for thousands of years before the Europeans started to come to the New World. Native American men and women acted and performed certain tasks that were very different but also similar to the Europeans. The early explorers and colonists viewed the Native American woman’s role as a servant to the more male-dominate society. Many researchers believe that Native American woman actually played more of a bigger role rather than just a servant to the men. They felt that early tribes revered women as the life-giving force for the future. There were several songs and myths, which discussed passing down the generation as the phrase “Mother Earth.” Life begins at birth and many Indian legends tend to include women when referring to their origins. Women were responsible for the continuation of the line and men were responsible for feeding the women and children. Native American women, like their counterparts around the world, were responsible for keeping their children healthy and strong.

Women had several duties to perform in their daily lives. The main duty was raising the children as well as teaching the girls the tribe’s values, culture, and traditions. Women were also in charge of taking care of the tipis (which included the setting up and taking down). They were in charge of packing the entire camp up when it was time to move. Women helped to butcher the animals for the meals, as well as gather berries and other plants collect fire wood and prepare the meals. Women also made the clothing and other articles from skins that they had to prepare (cleaning, curing, scraping and tanning). Finally, women had to quilt and do bead work (The Plains 2-3). The women had more of a traditional role in the Native American village. They tended to most of the things that were in the village.

Most Native American tribes had traditional gender roles and it varied from tribe to tribe. In the Cherokee custom, the wives owned the family property. This was very different from European life, as the Europeans would never allow a woman to own land. Except for those specific exceptions, life was not that different for European and Native American women; their roles in life were very similar, to take care of their children and husbands.

In addition to being a wife and mother, many women became religious practitioners, medicine women or skilled artisans because none of these careers affected their ability to raise a family. This was because no matter how skillful women were at other “careers,” the very survival of the tribe depended upon the women reproducing. Because women were not only allowed, but also encouraged to be religious practitioners, indicates the high level of respect that women had in society.

Women’s role during childbirth was to insure that their child was born alive and healthy. They were usually assisted by female relatives or mid-wives who had the knowledge of the birth customs. In some tribes, it was customary for the woman to leave the village and to deliver the baby all alone. No matter how the baby was born, with or without assistance, the one aspect that always remained constant was the health of the baby.

The bond between a mother and daughter was special, but much of the training of young girls was the responsibility of their grandmothers. The grandmother would teach their granddaughter how to sew and cook, tan hides, make their clothing, to fashion and decorate items. They would also teach them the tribe’s moral values as well as traditions. As the young girl would reach the age of puberty, her mother and grandmother would increase her workload. That workload would prepare her life work as a wife and mother.

Native American marriages were different depending on the tribes that they lived in. As for the Plains Indian woman, her family usually arranged her marriage. People did not marry for love, but for the social contact of sharing responsibilities and child bearing. Although the marriages were arranged, the woman could actually refuse their chosen mate; however very few ever refused. If the woman accepts the marriage, then they are married. While it depended upon the customs of the tribe, the newly wed couple would generally live with the bride’s parents. Then both mothers of the couple would begin to gather enough household goods so that the couple could live alone. The bride’s mother would generally set up a new tipi close to her own tipi.

. The men on the other had most of the duties that happened outside of the village. They hunted, protected as well as taught the boys to hunt and fight. They made the tools, weapons, and shields. They were also the ones who fought in the battles if there was ever one (The Plains 3).

Native American women that had higher status, such as a chief or counselor, often had tattoos that showed their status (The European 138). This was very different from the Europeans who saw women as being subservient to their male counterparts. This was one of the reason why the Europeans felt that the Native were such savages, even though in all actuality they were actually more advanced in the sense of equality between men and women. Women were seen as essential to life, and treated as such.

Like the rest of the world, Native Americans differed from tribe to tribe. Just as the roles between men and women differed between Britain and Greece, they differed between different tribes in the Americas. While it is difficult to generalize on this point, it is obvious that in some tribes, women were seen as important parts of society, while in others, women were seen as their husband’s servants.

Gender roles in the Plains Indians society varied from tribe to tribe. The Plain Indians lived in the Mid-West and live off the thousands of buffalo that roamed the land. Women were an indispensable part of tribal life because the men and women both had responsibilities that were needed to be done. They supported the hunters and warriors of the tribe and a great deal of work was involved in this (Women’s). All of that work did not go unnoticed because their value to the tribe was duly noted. The main source of the Plain Indian’s food and other supplies came from the buffalo and so the camps needed to move when the buffalo herds moved. The women were responsible for packing while the men rode ahead and looked out for any threat of attack. They would pack their possessions on horses and travois (a frame that would be attached to a horse and drag behind it). They would even pack their possessions on the backs of dogs before the introduction of the horse. Early Plain Indian women had no voice in tribal affairs, but they had the big job of running the home. If the woman had a grievance she would likely be vocal about it and stand her ground. Even though she had no voice in tribal affairs, the Plain Indian women owned almost all of her and her husband’s possessions.

The most important task that took place every day for the survival of the tribe was food. The woman was a very important part of this because once the men killed the buffalo it became the property of the woman. They needed to work very fast in the skinning, tanning (tanning was regarded as the best skill to have), and cutting the meat. They used pits, using heated stones with the meat and vegetables put in skin from the buffalo. Meat was cooked by placing it on rocks that had been heated up. After the arrival of the Europeans pots and kettles were introduced. The woman also needed to gather berries, seeds, and plants for other food. Some Plain Indians that lived in some what permanent camps the woman actually made gardens that they would tend to (Early 1). When they would harvest them they would put them into storage for the winter. The woman would gain honor and respect depending on how well she know her food. In many of the Plain Indian tribes the woman had complete control over the food and often their status in the community would depend on which manner she would distribute (their generosity and hospitality) their reserve of the food.

Some women in the Plain Indian tribes did play a very important role and that was as a medicine woman (medicine 1). They would collect and celebrate the gift of life from the mother earth. Women were not the only ones that had the knowledge of herbal medicine but they were generally more familiar with the various potions and brews. In certain tribes the woman would learn from her husband if he was a medicine man or she was taught by her mother or grandmother. Wherever she learned of the ways of healing, she still needed to have a vision or dream in which she was given personal knowledge that only she would know. She was usually not allowed to practice by herself until she was of middle age, but the ability to heal never left her.

The women of the Plain tribes lived their lives in a world of ceremony and ritual. The women used daily prayers to help her with understanding the world around her (A Full). They would always pray for blessings of good health, for protection, and for a healthy food supply (Spirituality). They would increase whenever her husband went on hunts or raids. Being involved in religion and being spiritual gave them a deep sense of dignity and understanding.

The men would help a small part with the heavy work but for the most part they stayed out and let the women work by themselves. The woman would not work alone on all of this work because they would each have someone such as a young girl or an older relative.

Plain Indians were very good craftswomen and they took great pride in their families appearance. It was a measure of status in a community to be recognized for clothing. They spent many of days decorating clothing and accoutrements. They would fashion ornaments and clothing with bright paints, quill, pieces of bone, shells, feather, claws and later beads (Skilled). The men highly respected their domestic skills because they were the primary benefactors of their work. Often time the men would keep track of their war deeds or hunting records, well the woman would often keep track of their own domestic accomplishments. The women would have meeting in which they would exchange techniques and ideas as well work together.

One of the tasks of men was to battle but sometimes women could not help but get involved in combat activities. Usually the woman would help with battle by helping out with the supplies and other such tasks before the men left. Sometimes the wives of warriors would go with the men and tend to the wounded. After a victorious war party the women would then decide the fate of the captured enemy. Most cases being a warrior was left to the men but in some cases some strong willed women actually became outstanding warriors. However, they did not always go to fight because they wanted to. Sometimes it was because they did not want to become a spoil of war or even die. If a women’s husband had been killed in battle, then there were several ways that the woman would mourn his death. One was to organize a revengeful war party and sometimes she would be allowed to accompany them. Another was that their tipi would be burned and all of their possessions would be given away. She then would be looked after by the tribe until she would remarry. She would almost always remarry because her skills were needed for the survival of the community

Native Americans were very matriarchal societies. Matriarchal simply is stated in the Merriam- Webster dictionary as “a woman who rules or dominates a family, group, or state; a mother who is head and ruler of her family and descendants,” In most Native American tribes this was the way of life. In today’s world we are in a patriarchal society which is the exact opposite. The male, or father is the head of the household. Many males are the rulers of the family. The patriarchal society began way back in colonial times, which caused the matriarchal society to diminish.

There is a great similarity between the women of Native American tribes and women from Colonial America. They had most of the same tasks. They faced extremely difficult and exhausting jobs. They both had extremely difficult work. They both were married for financial or practical reasons rather than because they were in love (colonial 1). Unlike the Natives who had much control over their belongings and personal business the colonist women had little to no control over many aspects of their life (1). However, colonial women were highly underappreciated. Colonial women were not allowed to have professions because they were not allowed except for writing and teaching (Women’s History). Native American women were treated with respect and were looked at as knowledgeable even though they were the keepers of the house. Most would selldemly work because that was a job that was left to the men of the house. Women of colonial times were treated as property rather than people. The Europeans looked at most Native Americans as strange and that they were savages because they would let women hold high positions in the tribe. The Europeans tried and were successful in assimilation the Natives into their way of thinking.

Today’s world is completely different for women that is was during colonial America. There is no more moving around in tribes or having to skin buffalo to get food. Women are no longer treated as though they are property of the husband. Woman can vote, be witness in court, and also own land. It is hard to imagine a place in which they could not. It is not uncommon to find a woman who works instead of being a house wife. On reservations today that still live the way their ancestors lived you may be able to find a Native American women who will still work the same ways that the women before her but for the most part they have not been around for hundreds of years. Women have won the civil liberties that they have not had during the colonial times.

It took in till 1919 for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Maybe if the Europeans would have taken the time to understand the Natives instead of trying to assimilate them and kill the ones that did not, than they would have received that right sooner (The Day),

Journal 1

History has always been my best and favorite subject. Mostly I like to learn about how people use to live and how battles were fought and won. I find it amazing how much war has changed even over the past 100 years. I am really interest in World War 2 and the Vietnam War. My last history class was called “American History” and I did not enjoy it because of the teacher. I don’t know if it was really her so much or that I really did not know anyone in my class. I did well in it, but I just did not enjoy it like most others. Before that I took an online course about Vietnam and passed with flying colors. I also took a world war 2 class which is one my favorite because we watched movies most of the time.

My understanding of colonial period is mostly about the French and Indian war and the Revolutionary War. I know that America was taxed without proper representation in the British parliament.

I really hope that I come out of this class knowing more than I do now. Last year I made a promise to my coach that I would do my best to raise my grade point average up because this is my life no one else’s.

I graduated from Kenmore East high school in 2005. I am currently a sophomore studying sports management. I played basketball last season and plan to again this year.

College football needs a playoff system

Introduction

The most popular NCAA sport is Division 1-A football. It is also the only sport not to have a tournament to determine the national champion. The BCS system determines the top two teams based on wins and strength of schedule. In theory this is a great system but the problems comes when there are more than only two clear cut teams to play in the national championship. There are two major reasons why a Division 1-A NCAA playoff system is needed to really determine who the best team in the nation is. There are plenty of people out there that are for a playoff system but there are also those who are opposed to such a system. There is also the option of having both a playoff and a bowl system.

The BCS determines who will play in the five major bowl games (it was four but a fifth was added this season). The selected teams are the champions from the six BCS conferences and two other schools. It takes into account polls of both associated press writers and coaches, polls from seven computer rankings methods, number of losses, strength of schedule, and whether or not a team has beaten other teams in the top ten (Bowl). The computers then sum all the numbers to create a total. The teams with the two lowest totals will play in the national title game. It has been in place since 1998 and was needed to determine using a system who should play for the national championship. The BCS replaced the bowl alliance which was in place from 1995-1997 (Bowl).

Problems

There are two major controversies with the BCS bowl standing. In 2003-2004 five teams finished the regular season with only one loss and there were no unbeaten teams. While in 2004-2005 the same number of teams finished with no loses. So in each year all three teams had a legitimate case to play for the national title. So it is up to the BCS to figure out which team really is worthy to play in the game. This is decided on by looking at the strength of schedule and point totals (Bowl). Another criticism of the BCS is that it is bias towards the six BCS conferences. Since the start of the BCS four non-BCS conference teams have finished with an undetected record and have been unable to play for the national title game. Those teams are Tulane in 1998, Marshall in 1999, with Utah and Boise State in 2004 (Bowl). This makes it impossible for any non-BCS conference team to make the national title game no matter how many wins of points they score.

How can this be the system in place when there are clearly problems with it? These are not minor problems they are very big ones that can ruin a teams entire season. Something needs to be done because how can you let a team work as hard as they do to not have a shot at the title game.

Many football fans argue that Rutgers and Boise State should be ranked higher than they really are. They feel that they should be number 3 or 4 in the BCS ranking rather than 6 and 12. They believe that since they have not lost a game that they deserve to win and rightfully so. People feel that it is all about winning and how can a team that lost a game be better than a team that is undefeated. More goes into the rankings than not losing a game. Also many people feel that the whole process of deciding a national champion should be different because they feel that there are certain parts that do not allow smaller division 1-A to compete for the title.

The Changing Process

The process of changing the current system starts with the coaches, players, and supporters of a football team and school. They need to bring the idea to their athletic director. He will than take it to the commissioner of their league. Only teams that are in the six BCS conferences can really bring attention to having a change made. If there are enough teams that suggest a change than the commissioner will take it to the other commissioners of the conferences. They will than take it to Myles Brand who is the president of NCAA athletics. He will than make a committee that will decide on specific changes or a totally new system all together. There needs to be strong support from every in the major conferences for this to be accomplished.

The way the BCS bowl championship works is that the champions of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10, and Southern eastern conferences are automatically in a BCS bowl game (Bowl). Those six teams will fill six of the eight spots in the bowl games. Those BCS games are Orange, Rose, Fiesta, and Sugar. The other two spots will be given to at-large schools. They will go on to their designated games unless they qualify for the championship game. There are also four additional games that go to at-large entries. A team outside the six conferences will be guaranteed a slot if it finishes in the top 12 of the BCS rankings or in the top 16 and higher than one of the six champions from those conferences. Notre Dame is not in anyone of those conferences but is guaranteed a spot if it finishes in the top 8. No conference may have more than two teams.

The BCS bowl rankings come out every week on Monday. They are updated based on a teams’ performance during the previous week. At the end of the season the teams at one and two on the poll play each other for the national championship. The four major components that contribute to a teams rank are subjective poll, computer rankings, strength of a team’s schedule, and number of losses. Each of those factors are given a numerical value to represent them. Teams are than assigned a certain number of points for their performance, and than the four totals are added together to find a teams final score. The team with the lowest point total is given the number one and so on from there.

How it Works

The first variable is a subjective poll. Both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches poll make up this variable (How). They are personal choices by both of them and the BCS incorporated their input by averaging the rankings from both polls. So if a team is number 7 in one poll and number 9 in the other they would be given 8 points in the category. For the computer ranking variable there are eight computer-generated rankings that make it what it is. The rankings are actually the output of computer programs that compute weekly game statistics. Their formulas factor in many variables including who won, to where a game was played. The teams get a point total from each computer poll and the lowest one is dropped. The remaining 7 totals are than added to produce a team’s score. That score is than divided by 7 and that is the teams BCS score. This is done so that one team’s championship chance will not be ruined from one computer (How). Many times the teams at the top of the BCS rankings can be separated by a few tenths of a point so every point counts. Each computer system is run by a different person or organizations that are highly trained. They each take in different very important variables to compute their score. A list of the computer rankings, which they are run by and their important variables are below.

The third variable is again computed by a computer and is the strength of a team’s schedule. The cumulative win and loss record of a team and their opponents’ opponents. A team’s strength of schedule is computed by the computer program giving a number for the strength of an opponents schedule (So) and one for the opponents’ opponents (Soo). The team’s individual strength (St) is than calculated using these numbers (How). The formula looks like this.

So+Soo=St

The resulting number is than set up against the other 119 division 1-A football programs. Once the have been placed in order they are divided into quartiles between 1-25, 25-50, 50-75, 75-100, and 100-115. That rank is than multiplied by 0.04 and allows a team to be ranked based on their placement within a given quartile (How).

The final variable is the number of losses. For every loss one point is added to a team’s total. Now remember the ranking is from lowest score to highest score. This is why losing one game can really make the difference between playing in the championship game or even in a BCS game.

The reason why Rutgers and Boise State being ranked so low is because of all of these variables are combined not just their win losses. Rutgers is ranked 7^th and 8^th in the AP top 25 and the Coaches poll (College). Than Rutgers will than receive 6.5 points toward their total. Boise State is ranked 13^th in both of them, so they would receive 13 points (College). Their strength of schedule is 81^st for Boise State and 31^st for Rutgers (College). They both do not have any loses but with these factors and their computer rating added together they are not in the top 4 in the nation (NCAA). One of the major factors that Boise State has going against is that it is not in one of the six BCS conferences. Rutgers is a part of the Big East conference.

The current system of determining a NCAA division 1 champion is not working the way that it is supposed to and that is to find the best two teams in the nation to play each other. There have been several controversies ranging from undefeated teams not making the championship teams to loosing their chances of playing with one loss.

Alternatives

There are several other alternatives to having the BCS. They could have March madness type playoff like basketball with 64 teams making it in and playing several games to decide the national champion. Some people feel that this would take to long and could cause major problems for some power house football teams. A playoff system like this would mean that there would be underdogs and people love to watch underdogs win. There could be major injuries that occur that could greatly decrease the chance for a title shot. The bowl games would than turn into the semi finals and finals games. That way they sponsor will still be happy with their games. The national championship will rotate between the 5 major bowl games still.

Another option is to still have a playoff system but to make it smaller and to include several bowl games. Have only the top 10 teams in the nation play in the tournament with a week and a half in between games. The top ten teams would be decided by the USA today and the Associated Press poll. Spread the games out through out the week so that they will each get their own hype. Than have the same type of bowl system with the other teams that they would normally get. The finals and championship game turn into the 5 major sponsorship games. With the championship game still is rotating between the five of them. That way the sponsors would still be happy because there games would still be the high profile games that they are not.

Conclusion

Every other football division has a playoff system and why should the most popular NCAA sport be any different? There needs to be a change with it and it needs to be done as soon as possible. No matter what happens there needs to be something done with the current system. It is not currently working the way that is it supposed to be. Some people say that if there is a playoff system that it would take way too long to complete. But if they NCAA would change the schedule to having teams play only conference games and 1 non-league game than there would be plenty of time for a playoff system and bowl games.

Case Study

Mattel’s target market for Barbie and hot wheels are 1-12 years of age and 5-15 years of age. They felt that these were the ages that most of children play with them and collect.

Mattel had tried to be a socially responsible firm with its various actions that it takes. They demonstrate a commitment to the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities. Mattel must always be aware of current social problems and always their rights. They offer and strongly suggest that parents read and follow Mattel’s suggestions on internet safety. They also provide tips for creating rules and regulations for their children when it comes to the internet. One of the last things that they include is an internet safety promise that children and their parents fill out together forming a contract ton conduct safe environment for using the internet.

They have increased their international sales each year from 2000-2002. With most of the sales coming from Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. One of the major problems with the expansion into other parts of the worlds is that not everyone’s culture is the same. The Malaysian Consumers tried to ban the Barbie doll because the felt that she did not look Asian enough, and also the lack of creativity it takes to play with her. Government agencies in other countries such as Iran are also trying to carry out such bans. The good thing is that the public and media soon protested against the bans which shows that they are wanted.

Mattel’s target market for Barbie and hot wheels are 1-12 years of age and 5-15 years of age. They felt that these were the ages that most of children play with them and collect.

Mattel had tried to be a socially responsible firm with its various actions that it takes. They demonstrate a commitment to the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities. Mattel must always be aware of current social problems and always their rights. They offer and strongly suggest that parents read and follow Mattel’s suggestions on internet safety. They also provide tips for creating rules and regulations for their children when it comes to the internet. One of the last things that they include is an internet safety promise that children and their parents fill out together forming a contract ton conduct safe environment for using the internet.

They have increased their international sales each year from 2000-2002. With most of the sales coming from Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. One of the major problems with the expansion into other parts of the worlds is that not everyone’s culture is the same. The Malaysian Consumers tried to ban the Barbie doll because the felt that she did not look Asian enough, and also the lack of creativity it takes to play with her. Government agencies in other countries such as Iran are also trying to carry out such bans. The good thing is that the public and media soon protested against the bans which shows that they are wanted.

Some Crazy Basketball stories

Can you imagine scoring 184 points in a pro basketball contest and losing the game? That’s what happened to the Denver Nuggets on December 13, 1983. At the end of regulation time, their game against the Detroit Pistons was tied 145-145. After three overtime periods, Detroit finally prevailed 186-184. The combined score 370 points is still an NBA record.
The combined scoring record in a game ending in regulation time is 318 points, set when the Denver Nuggets defeated the San Antonio Spurs 163-155 on January 11, 1984.

BIG FEET

The player who replaced Bob Lanier of the Detroit Pistons had to fill some pretty big shoes. Lanier wore size 22 sneakers!

BIG CHANCE

In 1979-80 the Detroit Pistons finished the NBA season with a rotten 16-66 record. To try to improve their team, the Pistons’ management decided to hold an open house of sorts, in hopes of discovering a new superstar. Detroit general manager Jack McClosky announced that the team would have an open tryout for people who thought they could play pro basketball. The tryout was a week-long test held at Oakland University in suburban Detroit.
To Jack McClosky’s surprise, over 390 players of all ages, shapes, and sizes showed up for the open-door tryout. More than 50 players six feet tall or shorter tried out. Over 100 came with only high school basketball experience under their belts. Some 30 players showed up for the tryout w ad never even played basketball in high school! After it was all over, not a single player from the tryout camp ended up making the Pistons’ roster for the next season. It just goes to show that a lot of people believe they could play in NBA if given a chance, but they really couldn’t. The Detroit Pistons’ wacky tryout camp in 1980 certainly proved that.

CLOSE CALL

In a 1979 NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and the San Diego Clippers, a veteran NBA official suffered a heart attack while refereeing the game. Luckily, there were six cardiologists in the stands to help out the two team doctors, who rushed to the official’s assistance. Fortunately, the official was well taken care of and rushed to a nearby San Diego hospital, where he recovered.

NOT SO SHORT

In 1981 the Golden State Warriors chose a player in the eight round of the NBA draft who was just a fraction of an inch shorter than the height of the world high-jump record at the time. The Warriors picked 7’8” Yasutaka Okayama, who was from Japan. Unfortunately, he had played only junior varsity basketball at Portland State (Oregon) University, and wasn’t interested in signing an NBA contract. He decided to return to Japan, where his nickname is Chibi, which means “Shorty.’’


SCARY STUFF

Phil Smith was a tough rookie guard for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors in 1975. Smith never let the pressure of a big game affect him. He was always cool and calm during the season. But as soon as the season ended, Phil Smith got a bit rattled. As he was about to wed his college sweetheart in a big ceremony at the conclusion of the NBA season, cool-and-calm Phil Smith fainted at the altar before he could even say, “I do’’!

JINXED

Calvin Murphy of the Houston Rockets set an NBA record by making 78 consecutive free throws in a season from December 27, 1980, to February 28, 1981. In 1991 it began to look as if Ricky Pierce of the Seattle Supersonic might just beat Calvin’s mark. Pierce went into the Supersonics game against the Boston Celtics in Boston with 75 consecutive free throws under his belt. But unfortunately for Pierce, he had bad luck. He missed his very first free throw attempt of the night to end his bid for a record. Pierce’s streak came to a skidding halt on an appropriate date. The streak ended On Friday the 13th!

REALLY FOUL SHOOTING

Center Chris Dudley refused to accept charity during a game played between New Jersey Nets and the visiting Indiana Pacers on April 14, 1990. In the fourth period of that contest, Dudley went to the charity stripe 13 times without making a single point. Dudley’s 0-for-13 performance from the foul line was the worst free-throw demonstration in the history of the NBA. Even the great Wilt Chamberlain, who was a notoriously bad foul shooter, never did as poorly. Wilt once missed 10 free throws in a row, but no NBA player had ever missed 13 straight foul shots until Dudley’s less-than-deadly performance in 1990.

WHERE’S THE COACH?

The Los Angeles Lakers had trouble keeping a coach on the bench during the 1979 season. When head coach Jack McKinney was injured in a freak bicycle accident, Paul Westhead became the Lakers’ interim coach while McKinney was recovering. But then Westhead had to temporarily give up his coaching duties to have a kidney stone removed. In stepped assistant coach Pat Riley, who became the Lakers’ interim head coach. Coach Riley went on to become a highly successful NBA coach.

SNACK ATTACK

The Utah Jazz basketball squad was getting walloped by the home team Los Angeles Lakers in an NBA contest on March 12, 1985. It became evident to everyone that Utah had no chance of getting back into the contest. The score was 123-108 in the fourth period, and the Lakers were dominating play at both ends of the court. Things were so bad that fans started to leave the game.
Since Utah’s head coach, Frank Layden, was feeling depressed about his team’s performance and a bit hungry, he too decided to leave and go out for a snack. Layden turned control of the Utah team over to his assistant. He then left the basketball arena while the game was going on and went out to a nearby deli to grab a sandwich. The Jazz lost the game, but thanks to his snack coach Layden lost his ravenous appetite at the same time.

RAIN MAN

Jerry West was an outstanding college basketball player at West Virginia, where he won All-America honors. He was also a great NBA player and helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to many winning seasons. West always loved playing basketball, even as a young boy. Once when he was ten years old, Jerry got in trouble with his parents for playing basketball outside in a driving rainstorm with one of his friends. It was raining so hard that Jerry had come into the house three times to change from soggy sneakers into dry ones.

FORGETFUL

In 1958 Wayne ‘’Goose’’ Embry was a rookie NBA player for the Cincinnati Royals. When the Royals traveled to Minnesota Lakers (now the Los Angeles Lakers), Embry hoped to see action for the first time as a pro. But Embry was so excited about the prospect of playing that he forgot to bring his gym bag, which contained his team uniform. So when the Royals arrived for the game, Embry didn’t have a uniform to wear. Luckily, he managed to play anyway. He wore a borrowed Lakers’ uniform turned inside out.

GOOD OLD DAYS

Jerry West was an All-Star player for the Los Angeles Lakers, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a star performer for several NBA teams, including the Lakers. Not surprisingly, both were outstanding high school player too. When West played at Middletown High School in Ohio in the 1950’s, he led his school to 76 straight wins. When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) was a high school player for Power Memorial High in New York City, he led his team to 71 straight wins.

CHAMP WHEREVER HE GOES

Coach Bill Sharman was a winner when it came to managing pro basketball teams. He won titles in three pro leagues and is the only coach to ever accomplish that feat. Sharman coached the Cleveland Pipers to the American Basketball League (ABL) championship in 1962. He then led the Utah stars to the American Basketball Association (ABA) title in 1971. Finally, Sharman coached the Los Angeles Lakers to the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship in 1972. Once a winner, always a winner.

SMALL-FRY CENTER

To be a good center in basketball, a player has to be tall, right? Not necessarily! At least that wasn’t the case in 1953 when a center named Johnny O’Brien of Seattle University was named to the Associated Press All-American team. O’Brien was only 5’9’’. Even if he didn’t have the usual size of an all-American center, he certainly had the credentials. He averaged over 28 points per game in his junior and senior years and tallied over 2,500 points in his college career.
The story doesn’t end here. Johnny had a twin brother who also played on the Seattle team. Eddie O’Brien was 5’9’’ starting guard. After college, the O’Brien twins signed to play pro baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and both played several years in the majors. Perhaps they didn’t think they were tall enough to play in the National Basketball association (NBA)!

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Gastonia is a small town in North Carolina. It’s a place where two childhood friends, Eric Floyd and James Worthy, grew up playing basketball together. When they got older, they went to different high schools, Floyd to Hunter Huss High and Worthy to Gastonia Ashbrook High. When Floyd was a junior and Worthy was a sophomore, their two schools met in the finals of the state championship. Floyd’s Hunter Huss High edged Worthy’s Gastonia Ashbrook High by a single point to take the title.
After high school, Floyd and Worthy both went to college on basketball scholarships and became All-Americans. Floyd was an all-American at Georgetown, while Worthy was an all-American at the University of North Carolina.
In March 1982 Georgetown played North Carolina in the finals of the NCAA basketball tournament, and Floyd and Worthy faced each other in a championship game again. This time Worthy got his revenge for that one point loss to Floyd in the high schools championship game. Worthy’s North Carolina team edged Floyd’s Georgetown team for the title, 63-62. Again the difference was only one point. Both men went on to star in the NBA.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

The 1966 NBA All-Star Game was held at the home arena of the Cincinnati Royals (who are known today as the Sacramento Kings). Since the game was to be played in Cincinnati, Adrian “Odie’’ Smith, a Royals player, was a late addition to the All-Star roster. Smith wasn’t really a great player. He was put on the team just to please the hometown fans. But when game time rolled around, Smith showed everyone he truly deserved to be a member of the NBA East All-Stars. Smith pumped in 24 points to lead his East squad in scoring. Amazingly, the player who was a late addition to the roster just to please crowd ended up being voted the Most Valuable Player of the 1966 All-Star contest.

TRY AGAIN

One of the best NBA players to ever handle a basketball was also one of the worst foul shooters in history. The great Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 31,419 points as an NBA star, was a rotten free-throw shooter. In fact, he missed more free throws than any other player in NBA history! Chamberlain attempted 11,862 free throws during his regular-season career (1960-73) and missed 5,805 of them. During the 1967-68 season, he missed 528 of 932 free throws. Chamberlain’s lifetime field-goal percentage of .540 is higher than his lifetime foul-shooting percentage, which is .511. Now that is a strange stat!

HE CAN’T LOSE

Bill Walton was a great NBA player who knew how to win games. Any team that had Bill Walton playing on it was hard to beat. When Bill was a student at Helix High School in San Diego, California, he led his team to a 49-game winning streak during his junior and senior years. Walton then went to UCLA, where he played on a freshman basketball team that went 20-0. As a college sophomore, he contributed to the astounding 88-game winning streak that UCLA had begun with 18 straight wins when Walton was playing on the freshman squad. Walton helped the varsity team win 70 games in a row before they finally lost to Notre Dame to snap the streak. In all, Bill Walton played 139 high schools varsity, college freshman, and college varsity games without experiencing a single defeat!

FOOT FEATS

Where would any basketball player be without shoes? Basketball shoes suffer a lot of wear and tear, especially in the NBA. According to a study done in 1989, NBA centers, on average, wear out 40-45 pairs of basketball shoes per season. Forwards are little easier on their feet. They wear out only 35-40 pairs of shoes per season. NBA guards take care of their feet. They go through only about 30 pairs of shoes a year!

SWEAT SOCKS

Forward Kelly Tripucka, who played for several NBA teams, was a hard-working player who sweated a lot on the court. In fact, Tripucka once wore out 60 pairs of basketball shoes in a single season! He perspired so much that his sweat soaked right through his shoes and ruined them.

THAT’S A LOT OF JUMPING

Wilt Chamberlain, who played for several NBA teams from 1960 to 1973, did a lot of jumping on the court. Chamberlain pulled down a record 23,924 rebounds during his career. He was also a gentleman on the court. He played in 1,045 games—his entire NBA career—without ever fouling out

POINTLESS PROS

An NBA game is supposed to be jam-packed with action, thrills, and lots of scoring. But that wasn’t the case on November 22, 1950, when the Fort Wayne Pistons traveled to Minneapolis Lakers, who were led by George Mikan. Mikan, who was 6’10’’, was the most dominant player in the NBA at the time and a great scorer.
The Pistons figured the only way they could defeat the Lakers was to slow sown the pace of the game to keep Mikan from scoring. And slow it down they did. At the end of the first period of play, Fort Wayne led 8-7. At the half, they lead changed hands and Minneapolis led 13-11.
The second half was just boring as the first. The Pistons kept holding the ball. The third period ended with the Lakers leading 17-16. The final period practically put the fans to sleep. The Lakers added one point to make their game total 18, while the Pistons added 3 to up their total to 19. Fort Wayne got the win in one of the most boring basketball games in NBA history. George Mikan didn’t score a lot of points, but he tallied 15 of the Lakers’ 18 points.
Fans, sportswriters, and league officials were so angered by the boring game that they churned up a storm of protest. League president Maurice Podoloff agreed that games like the Pistons’ 19-18 win had no place in the NBA. He saw to it that a 24-second clock was added to the rule book. The rule meant that teams could no longer hold the ball and stall. They had only 24 seconds to handle the ball before taking at least one shot, or possession of the ball would go to the other team.

SWAPPING PLAYERS

It’s a common thing for two National Basketball Association teams to swap baskets in a game. But is it possible for two teams to swap players in a game? Amazingly, that’s what happened during the 1978-79 season in a game between the New Jersey Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers.
In a game early in the season, Al Skinner and Eric Money played for the Nets, and Harvey Catchings played for Philadelphia. The game was suspended because of a protest and was scheduled to be made up at a later date. Before the game could be replayed, however, the Nets traded Skinner and Money to the 76ers in exchange for Catchings and another player who was injured when the teams first met.
When the suspended game was finally continued, Eric Money and Al Skinner played for Philadelphia against Harvey Catchings and his New Jersey Nets teammates. Thus, those three players played for both teams in the same game. It’s wacky, but true.

PERFECT

In 1983 Walter Davis of the Phoenix Suns had a hot shooting hand against the Seattle Supersonics. You might even say he burned up the backboards. Davis scored the first 34 of his 36 points by shooting 15 for 15 from the field and 4 for 4 from the line. His 34 straight points without a miss broke 1 22-year-old NBA record formerly held by Larry Costello (32 points without a miss).

TOURNAMENT TERRORS

Only one college has ever won both the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in the same year. It happened in 1950, and the unlikely champion of those two tournaments was tiny City College of New York (CCNY). Strangely enough, CCNY beat the same team in both of those finals to take the crowns. CCNY beat Bradley University 69-61 to win the NIT, and defeated them again 71-68, to take the NCAA title.

NOT CAMERA SHY

On February 13, 1954, Furman University traveled to Newberry College to play a basketball game. The game was the very first sports event in the state of South Carolina to ever be televised live.
The game turned out to be a history-making broadcast for another reason, too. Playing for Furman was Frank Selvy, a great scorer who had been averaging close to 40 points a game that season. The cameras seemed to bring out the best in Frank. When the first half ended, he’d already tallied 37 points. When he added 25 more points in the third period (college games were played in quarters then) to up his game total to 62 points, fans everywhere realized something special was happening. With an entire quarter still to play, Selvy had a chance to break the major-college single-game scoring record of 73 points set by Bill Mlkvy of Temple. Selvy easily went on to pass Mlkvy’s record and had a chance to notch 100 points in a single game as time ticked down. With two seconds left to play, Selvy had 98 points as Furman inbounded the ball. The passed it to Selvy, who tossed up a desperation shot from just inside mid-court as the buzzer sounded. Amazingly, it went in! Frank Selvy set an NCAA Division I scoring record of 100 points in a single game.

WHO?

The Northeastern University Huskies didn’t get much respect in 1982. That year, in the NCAA tournament, the Huskies played St. Joseph’s University (Pennsylvania) in the opening round.
When the public-address announcer introduced the Huskies squad, he said, “And now the starting lineup for Northwestern!’’ Getting their named mixed up in the introductions, however, didn’t prevent Northeastern from upsetting St. Joseph’s 63-62.
Unfortunately, the Huskies still got no respect in the second round of the tournament. When they arrived at their locker room to get ready for the game, the sign on the door read “Northeasten’’ instead of “Northeastern.’’ Worst of all, the Huskies received no respect from Villanova, their opponent in the second round. Villanova beat Northeastern 76-72 in triple overtime.

BIG START

It’s always nice if you can get your college coaching career off to a good start. And that is exactly what first-year coach Bill Hodges of Indiana State did in 1979. Hodges is the only rookie coach to ever take a team to the Final Four with a perfect record in his very first season. Hodges’ Indiana State squad was 32-0 when it reached the NCAA finals in 1979. Indiana State ended up losing in the tournament to Michigan State 75-64, but no other head coach of a four-year school has ever gone to the Final Four with an unblemished record in his rookie season.

JAMMIN’ GEORGEANN

West Virginia University’s Georgeann Wells jumped into the NCCA record books in 1984. In a game against the University of Charleston, Wells, a 6’7’’ center, became the first player in women’s college basketball to ever dunk a ball in a game. Wells’ slam helped West Virginia to a 110-82 victory.

WINNING ISN’T EVERYTHING

Setting NCCA basketball record is usually something to be proud of. The Newark (New Jersey) branch of Rutgers University set an NCAA record in 1985, but they didn’t feel very good about it. The record was for losing 47 straight basketball games! However, things looked up just one day after they set that depressing record. Rutgers-Newark won their very next game to end the two-year losing streak.

BUDDY BUDDY

When Seton Hall University met Duke University in the NCAA Basketball East Regional semi-finals in 1992, it was a reunion of sorts for some the players. Bobby Hurley, Duke’s star point guard, had been a high school teammate of Seton Hall superstars Terry Dehere and Jerry Walker at St. Anthony’s in New Jersey. What made the matchup even more strange for Hurley was that his brother, Danny Hurley, was a freshman player for the Seton Hall squad. Bobby Hurley took the family bragging rights from brother Danny as Duke defeated Seton Hall 81-69.

TRIPLE TROUBLE

In 1957 the University of North Carolina posted a 32-0 season record and won the NCAA basketball tournament to take the national title. But putting the finishing touches on that perfect season wasn’t easy. In the semifinals North Carolina had to beat a stubborn Michigan State team, and the game went into a triple overtime before North Carolina won it 74-70. Less than 24 hours later, North Carolina took on the University of Kansas in the NCAA finals and won 54-53 to capture the title. However, that game also went three overtime periods. So North Carolina won it all with two triple overtime wins in less than 24 hours in its final two games of the season.

KNIGHT TIME

When it comes to basketball, Bobby Knight was and still is a winner. In 1960 Knight was a player on the Ohio State team that won the NCAA basketball championship. In 1976 he returned to the NCAA tourney as a coach and watched his Indiana University team take the crown. Bobby Knight was the first person to win college basketball titles as a player and as a coach.

SHORT TRIP

Modern college basketball teams usually have to travel all around the country to play in various tournaments. But in 1958 the University of Kentucky didn’t have to go far to be crowned the best basketball team in the country. That year, Kentucky won the Mideast Regional playoff game, which was played in its home city of Lexington, Kentucky, to advance to the Final Four. Kentucky then played in the championship round, which was held in Louisville, Kentucky, and beat Seattle University 84-72 to take the national title. Kentucky won the 1958 NCAA tourney without ever having to leave its home state!

WHAT’S THE SCORE

The coach of a losing basketball team can blame a lot of people. He can blame his players. He can blame the officials. He can even blame himself. But when Penn State played the University of Maryland in March 1990, losing Maryland coach Gary Williams could have blamed the scoreboard operator for the loss, and with good reason.
It happened in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. With 34 seconds left in the contest, Maryland’s Jerrod Mustaf hit what appeared to be a game-tying three-point jump shot. After the shot, the scoreboard showed the score, tied at 78-78, but the officials on the court ruled Mustaf’s shot to be only a two-pointer. So contrary to what was shown on the scoreboard, Maryland trailed Penn State 78-77.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until there were only 16 seconds left in the game that the scoreboard operator finally corrected his mistake and put the right score on the board. And no one told the Maryland players, who didn’t notice they were losing until only ten seconds of play remained. Frantically Maryland rushed to foul a Penn State player to stop the clock. Now there were only five seconds remaining in the game. Penn State’s Freddie Barnes hit two free throws, and time ran out on Maryland. Penn State went on to win 80-77. Who was to blame for Maryland’s loss? Just ask the scorekeeper.

REFEREE HAZARD

In Second round of the 1992 National Invention Tournament, Manhattan College took on the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights in a big college match up. The game was a hard-fought contest, but it looked as if the Rutgers would emerge the winner, as the Knights led 61-60 with 13 seconds remaining and also had possession of the ball out of bounds.
Rutgers’ Creighton Drury did the in bounding honors.
He saw the Knights’ top score. Steve Worthy, break into the open and tossed him the ball. Worthy could have gone in for a breakaway lay-up but chose instead to run around and dribble away the seconds on the clock.
Unfortunately, one of the officials didn’t see worthy change direction and got in his way. Worthy and the official almost collided, and the ball bounced off the official and rolled free.
Rutgers and Manhattan players dove for the ball, and it was ruled a held ball. The possession arrow favored the Manhattan Jaspers, and they got possession with seven seconds remaining. The Jaspers’ Chris Williams took the inbound pass, dribbled the length of the court, and made a basket to give Manhattan a 62-61 lead with one second remaining. Manhattan went on to win the game, and Rutgers was eliminated from the 1992 NIT with a little help from a referee who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

DOUBLE BAD LUCK

Talk about rotten luck! On March 24, 1979, the New Jersey Nets lost not one but two games to the same team! Here’s how it happened. The Nets traveled to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers in a regular-season contest. But before that game could begin, the teams had to replay the last 17 minutes of a game that had been suspended because of a protest earlier in the year. Because of the protest, the game could not count officially until those 17 minutes were replayed. In the replay of the protest game, Philadelphia beat New Jersey 123-117 (the 76ers had also won the original game) for win number one of the night.After an hour’s rest the teams took the floor again, and the 76ers defeated the Nets in the regularly scheduled game 110-98. Philadelphia officially won two games on the same night.

HEADS UP

Basketball coach Joe Lapchick was well known for his emotional outbursts during basketball games. Once while coaching the New York Knicks, Lapchick saw something happen in a game that upset him. He happened to be reaching for a cup of water from a tray filled with water cups, so he vented his anger by seizing the tray and hurling it into the air. Unfortunately for Lapchick, the tray, the cups, and the water all came back down right on top of his head!

PIE GUYS

In 1980 the New York Knicks traveled west for a game against the San Diego Clippers. When the teams returned to the court after halftime, they discovered that the start of the second half would be delayed for a while. In fact it was delayed more than an hour. During halftime, there had been a pie throwing contest, and pies had spilled all over the court. The players had to stand around and wait while the pies were cleaned off the court.

SEEING DOUBLE

In 1980 there was a professional basketball league for women in the United States called the Women’s Pro Basketball League. One of the teams in that league, the New York Stars, had opponents seeing double. That was because the Stars had a pair of identical twins named Kaye and Faye Young playing for them that year!

YOU AGAIN?

In 1980 Doug Moe and Billy Cunningham were both NBA coaches. Moe coached the San Antonio Spurs and Cunningham coached the Philadelphia 76ers. When the Spurs played the 76ers, the two coaches didn’t meet for the first time. In fact, it was just the continuation of a long-term relationship between them. Moe and Cunningham attended Erasmus High School together in Brooklyn, New York, and later they both attended the University of North Carolina. It seems that Where Moe and Cunningham were concerned, where one went the other followed.

ENJOY YOR TRIP?

Darryl Dawkins was a young NBA player who liked to joke around and have fun when he played for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1978. Dawkins was a fooling around at practice one day when Coach Billy Cunningham decided to put an end to Dawkins’ antics. He took Dawkins off the court and yelled at him about taking things more seriously--especially basketball practice.

NO JOKE

Coach Jerry Reynolds of the Sacramento Kings had quite a reputation for pulling jokes and pranks. So when Reynolds collapsed to the floor during a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, everyone thought he was just fooling around. The referee even called a technical foul against Reynolds because he thought the coach was mocking his calls. It took a while for fans, players, officials, and everyone else in the building to realize that Coach Reynolds wasn’t kidding around. He had hyperventilated and actually passed out in front of the Kings’ bench!When everyone realized that Reynolds wasn’t faking his condition, help was quickly summoned. The coach eventually came to and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Luckily tests proved negative. But through the entire ordeal, jerry Reynolds never lost his keen sense of humor. One of the first things he asked for when they wheeled him into the emergency room was a bag of popcorn!

BIG JUMP

Bill Willoughby made a big jump from high school basketball to the NBA in 1975. Willoughby, who graduated from high school in New Jersey,was signed by the Atlanta Hawks without ever having played college basketball. He made his debut in the NBA for the Hawks on October 23, 1975,when he was only 18 years,156 days old. Willoughby was the youngest man ever to play in the NBA. Although he never became a star, he played nine years in the NBA.

WAY TO GO

When basketball great Bill Russell left the University of San Francisco and joined the Boston Celtics, he made a wise move. In back-to-back season (1956-57) he went directly from a championship college basketball team to a championship pro basketball team, becoming the first player to do that.

AIR BALL

Pro basketball players are supposed to be good shooters, and a foul shot is supposed to be fairly easy to make. That’s why some people call the foul line the charity stripe. But Garfield Smith, who played for the Boston Celtics in 1971, was a terrible foul shooter. That year Smith hit a measly 6 of 31 foul shots for a poor .194 average. One of his worst days at the line came in a game against the Phoenix Suns on November 17, 1971. Smith stepped to the line and was allowed to take three shots to score a maximum of two points. His first shot went to the left and missed everything- a classic air ball. His next shot was another air ball. His third and final shot likewise missed the rim, the net, and the backboard for air ball number three. Three consecutive air balls from an NBA player! You might not be surprised to learn that the 1971-72 season was Garfield Smith’s last in the NBA.

SLIP SLIDING AWAY

Basketball games get called off for strange reason. One of the strangest postponements ever involved a 1996 hoop contest between Dallas Baptist College and Tyler Junior College. The game was postponed because the court was just too slippery to play on! Apparently the floor had been repaired and then heavily waxed. The court was so slick that the players couldn’t maneuver on it. So the game just slipped off the teams’ schedules until it could be played at a later date

WRONG-WAY SLAM

Everybody makes mistakes, but the mistake the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Johnny Warren made in NBA game against the Portland Blazers in 1970 was a humdinger.
It was late in the game and the Cavaliers were down to the Blazers by three points. Cleveland coach Bill Fitch called a time-out. After a short pep talk by Fitch, the Cavaliers got the ball and seemed a bit disorganized and confused. Suddenly Cleveland guard Bobby Lewis saw Johnny Warren streaking down the court unguarded. Lewis fed Warren the ball, and Warren slammed it through the hoop for two points. Unfortunately, Warren had run the wrong way and jammed the ball into Portland’s basket, scoring two points for the Trail Blazers! The mistake gave Portland a five-point lead, and they went on to win the game

SOCK IT TO ME

Orlando Woolridge played for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1989. Before joining the Lakers, Woolridge had played for the Chicago Bulls and the New Jersey Nets, where he’d enjoyed some of his finest moments as a player. As a Nets player, he averaged over 20 points per game. Unfortunately, his game fell off just a bit when he first came to Los Angeles.
Woolridge badly wanted to regain the form he’d demonstrated as a Nets player. One day he came upon an old box of New Jersey Nets socks stored in his closet. Woolridge decided to try wearing the socks to see if they might improve his luck as a Lakers player. For the Lakers’ next game, he secretly wore Nets socks under Lakers socks. Amazingly, Orlando played much better in the game, which happened to be against the Denver Nuggets. Whether the Nets socks contributed to Woolridge’s play, no one knows for sure. But he continued to wear Nets socks under his Lakers’ socks for the rest of the season, and his play continued to improve. In fact, Woolridge finished the 1989 season in fine form. Was it because of his socks? You’d have to ask Orlando Woolridge!

BIG MONEY

Nat Holman won lasting fame in basketball as the coach of City College in New York. CCNY is the only school in history to win both the NCAA tourney and the NIT in the same year (1950), and it was Holman who coached that squad. However, before turning to coaching, Nat Holman was a star pro player for the original, pre-NBA Boston Celtics. But Holman never made big bucks as a pro. He was paid a mere six dollars a game to play for Boston.

ONE-ON-ONE

In 1965 Don Nelson was put on waivers after playing two seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers. He thought his NBA career might be over. Luckily for Nelson, Red Auerbach, the coach of Boston Celtics, called and offered him a tryout. To make the team, Nelson would have to impress Auerbach by playing one-on-one against Ronnie Watts, a player already on the Celtics squad.
Nelson went to the tryout and played Watts one-on-one while Red Auerbach watched. Shortly after the tryout, Nelson was signed to a contract and joined the Celtics. And whom did Nelson replace on the Boston roster? Ronnie Watts!