[QUOTE=NinerUpNorth;153659]Iām curious, does anyone think that our program would be any different today had we won the championship in 1977?[/QUOTE]
Tommy Tomlinson of the Observer wrote a really entertaining āwhat if?ā piece about that topic over a decade ago. In it, he pissed off basicly every Tarheel fan by making statements such as we would have gone on to beat the Tarheels in the final, which would have led to a couple of high school kids named Jordan & Worthy, among others, coming to Charlotte instead of the liberal arts school 2.5 hours NE of here. A little too wannabe for my tastes, but I couldnt help but smile and laugh. While Jordan and Worthy might not have come here, I think it would have had a profound effect on the decade of the 80ās for us, and ultimately, it may have evolved into a better funded and attended basketball program, and dare I say, football team? Halton would probably(?) have been built a good 5-10 years earlier than it was.
In any case, I wish MikeP would dig the article up and post it here, just for chuckles.
[QUOTE]There were three fouls/violations from what I have seen of the video. Whitehead pushes off to receive the pass, walks before he shoots, and then goaltends while tipping in the follow shot/winning basket. Obviously, none of the violations were whistled.[/QUOTE]
The Niners getting screwed by the refs? Nawww! No way! :wacko:
For the record, I was at this game too. Whitehead climbed Maxwellās back to get the ball and THAT should have been called a foul and was not. The refs tanked not wanting to destroy Al McGuireās storybook swan song. It was the saddest day in NINER game history and only one week after the greatest day in NINER history: beating #1 Michigan. I was there too. Sweet.
look at this quote from review for a book called The Final Four
āNovel which mixes the Mafia with college basketball. When the University of Charlotte [i.e. University of North Carolina at Charlotte] reaches the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tournament, the mob tries to fix it so that they will lose. By a Charlotte, N.C. author who served as executive director under UNCC head basketball coach and athletic director Lee Rose when the universityās basketball team made it to the 1977 Final Fourā
Sorry to jump in late on this one guys, I was out of town today. The violations were there but seldom are they called in a last second situation, even more rarely since this was still when only 2-man crews officiated. There was definitely offensive goaltending on the basket. However, all the officials were concerned with was if the basket was scored before the horn sounded. There was never any doubt about that in my mind, and replays show time remained.
It was a sick ending. I still remember going to Underground Atlanta that night with my mother and aunt and walking into a bar which must have had every Marquette fan in Atlanta there. We ordered drinks and the cheering was so bad that I walked out and sat outside while Mom and my aunt drank their drinks (and mine as well).
[QUOTE=49er1;153678] The refs tanked not wanting to destroy Al McGuireās storybook swan song.[/QUOTE]
For those that do not know, McQuire had announced his retirement earlier in the season. All eyes were watching Marquette by the time they got that far.
Marquette played the tarholes in the finals and it seemed Smith gave the game to Marquette by not forcing the tempo and letting Marquette play their deliberate style.
Talk about a big WHAT-IF. Weāll never know if that play had any bearing on the current status of 49er basketball, except that a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP banner would sure get some attention in Halton. I personally think it would have helped our program when instead we took a big plunge into the toilet.
I would love to travel back in a time machine, become the official in that game, call the basket no good, and then return to the future to see if weāre in the Big East or not. Of course, a win could have also had detrimental effects. Calapari could be our coach now.
Having said that, Max did something Iāve never seen beforeā¦jump into the air straight up, AND THEN MOVE FORWARD (Whitehead shoved him).
SIGH
What ifā¦
Thatās not the worst push-off foul not called in 49er history, just the most importantā¦Byron Dinkins was absolutely blocked out of bounds at Kentucky in the last seconds with the game on the lineā¦NO FOUL Calledā¦Damn refs!!!
The KY guard, I donāt remember his name, but he played in the NBA a few years, admitted he fouled Dink after the gameā¦
[QUOTE=Tenniner;153744]Did you have Max FRONT Whitehead??
Having said that, Max did something Iāve never seen beforeā¦jump into the air straight up, AND THEN MOVE FORWARD (Whitehead shoved him).
[/QUOTE]
Fronting Whitehead would have probably been a good decision if Whitehead had not gotten away with the shove.
That play happened almost 29 years ago and we can all still remember it. I remember reading that it was one of the most replayed sports moments on tv for quite a few years after it happened. It was within range of the loss to the Russians in basketball, the āDo You Believe In Miracles?ā hockey finale, and Valvano running on the court after their victory over Houston.
[QUOTE=Tenniner;153744]Did you have Max FRONT Whitehead??
Having said that, Max did something Iāve never seen beforeā¦jump into the air straight up, AND THEN MOVE FORWARD (Whitehead shoved him).
SIGH
What ifā¦
Thatās not the worst push-off foul not called in 49er history, just the most importantā¦Byron Dinkins was absolutely blocked out of bounds at Kentucky in the last seconds with the game on the lineā¦NO FOUL Calledā¦Damn refs!!!
The KY guard, I donāt remember his name, but he played in the NBA a few years, admitted he fouled Dink after the gameā¦[/QUOTE]
Max actually had the ball in his hands a split second before Whitehead climbed over his back and took it away.