|
Seeing the big picture
All Guy V. Lewis wanted was a special game, a chance to showcase his Houston Cougars against UCLA, the defending national champions and reigning kings of the court. Lewis' crazy idea -- play the game in Houston's Astrodome -- lit the fuse that led to college basketball's explosion in popularity. College hoops probably would have moved from regionalization to the national consciousness without Houston vs. UCLA, but The Game of the Century hastened the transformation. Forty years ago today, Jan. 20, 1968, one game changed a sport. Here are 40 who, what, why and how reasons:
1 UCLA defeated Houston in the 1967 Final Four semifinals before winning the national championship. Lewis envisioned a rematch between the Bruins and the Cougars in Houston the next season.
2 Houston athletic director Harry Fouke thought Lewis' idea of playing in the Astrodome -- the nation's first domed stadium and the 'Eighth Wonder Of The World' -- was crazy. Lewis finally convinced his boss, who then struck a deal with UCLA for the game. Each team would be paid $10,000. Fouke and Lewis hoped for a crowd of 35,000.
3 Civic leader Roy Hofheinz, the one-time Harris County judge, had conceived of and built the Astrodome. He was skeptical and concerned that fans would demand ticket refunds because they wouldn't be able to see the action.
4 Lewis used some down-home country logic to convince Hofheinz. 'Judge, people sit up here and see baseball players down there,' Lewis told Hofheinz. 'All of my players are bigger than your baseball players. You play with a little ol' baseball, we play with a big ol' basketball.'
5 Current White Sox co-owner Eddie Einhorn owned syndicated sports network TVS. He outbid Hughes Sports Network for rights to the game. The winning bid was $27,000. TVS was then televising regional college basketball games, but UCLA-Houston was its first national telecast. It was also the first college basketball game televised in prime time. 'It was a novel concept to have a regular-season game on national television,' said former CBS Sports and current ESPN executive Len DeLuca.
6 UCLA coach John Wooden wasn't thrilled because he thought the venue and national television would turn the game into a spectacle. He now says the game 'was very good for the sport.'
7 UCLA was top-ranked, 13-0 and carrying a 47-game winning streak. Houston, playing then as an independent, was ranked No. 2, 16-0 and had won 48 consecutive games in its home city. 'People were saying, 'Is there anybody who can beat those guys?'' CBS Sports college basketball analyst Billy Packer said of the Bruins. 'UCLA had established a dominance in the sport.'
8 Houston was led by 6-9 senior Elvin Hayes. UCLA's top player was 7-2 junior Lew Alcindor (who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Both are basketball Hall of Famers and were named two of the NBA's 50 greatest players.
9 Playing against California eight days before the Houston game, Alcindor suffered a 'superficial corneal abrasion' to his left eye. He missed the Bruins' next two games and was hospitalized for two days. Before the game, there was some doubt as to whether he would play.
10 The court came from the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Astrodome officials paid $10,000 to have the 18-ton, 223-panel floor shipped to Houston. Center court was placed about where second base was when the Astros played there. The court was placed with one end toward home plate and the other toward center field.
11 The day before the game, both teams practiced at the Astrodome. Houston center Ken Spain, who died of cancer in 1990, recalled in a Star-Telegram interview three years before his death how the Cougars had spied on the Bruins from the top row of seats: 'We thought we were really cute,' Spain said. 'But we were thinking, 'My God, how can anybody stand to watch a game from up here?' The court looked like a postage stamp.'
12 When Wooden got his first look at the Astrodome, he said, 'You sure could stack a lot of hay in here.'
13 As part of TVS' television deal, the network had to use UCLA announcer Dick Enberg. He was paired with former LSU and St. Louis Hawks star Bob Pettit. Enberg, one of the most well-known sportscasters of the last four decades, still lists doing play-by-play on the UCLA-Houston game as his career highlight.
14 The court was slightly elevated off the Astrodome floor. To make sure sightlines were not obscured, trenches were dug 18 inches deep next to the court to accommodate the player benches and the media.
15 Both teams' locker rooms were beyond the outfield walls. They faced a trek of about 50 yards. UCLA made two round trips before the game and another at halftime.
16 Einhorn was a one-man production crew, even selling commercials during the game. He handed Enberg hand-written spots
See more
at www.topix.net
|
