Posted on 03/29/2020 4:07:46 AM PDT by Kaslin
Consider a little history from the Hawkeye state.
The University of Iowa basketball team has a junior center who just completed one of the most amazing seasons in Big Ten history. Luka Garza scored at least 20 points in 16 consecutive games. He set a single season Hawkeye scoring record. He was named Big Ten player of the year and a first team All-American. His achievements came against some of the best big men in the country, in spite of the fact he was usually double and occasionally triple-teamed. The Northwestern coach described Luka with one word, “relentless.”
Ironically, even Luka’s father Frank acknowledges that he will not likely be drafted by any of the NBA teams this year. Scouts think he can’t jump and he’s too slow.
Also ironic, for all of his impressive records and as great as he has been, Luka Garza is probably not the greatest player ever to accept a basketball scholarship at the University of Iowa. Most basketball historians would argue that that honor would go a guy who never played a varsity game for the Hawkeyes. His name was Connie Hawkins. Ironically nicknamed “The Hawk.”
Connie Hawkins grew up in New York City. Legend has it that he could dunk a basketball before he became a teenager. He held his own with the likes of Wilt Chamberlain when he was still in high school. He led his high school team to two consecutive City Championships. Connie was 6’8” and a phenomenal jumper. He had huge hands and held a basketball like most players would hold a volleyball. He was both the prototype and the inspiration for a guy nicknamed Dr. J., Julius Irving.
He accepted a scholarship offer to perform his art and perfect his game at the University of Iowa. As an eighteen-year-old kid he also accepted $200 to help cover his expenses for moving to Iowa City. Back then freshmen couldn’t play in varsity games, only practice. Most players acknowledged that even as a freshman he was the most talented player on a squad that included a future All-American and NBA great, Don Nelson.
A tragic thing happened to Connie Hawkins on the way to collegiate stardom. He had his scholarship revoked and was forced to leave school. Worse, no other college would accept him either. Sadly, the guy that gave him the $200 was named Jack Molinas, a former NBA player who had been banned for betting on games. Molinas was later at the center of a federal point-shaving investigation. When the $200 surfaced in the investigation, the Hawk was blackballed from college basketball. It mattered not that he had never even suited up, let alone shaved a point.
Connie Hawkins would bounce around what became the ABA. In spite of his stellar performances, the NBA would not allow him to sign with any of their teams. He sued and after several years the NBA surrendered. He became the league’s first 27-year-old rookie. The Hawk was an all-star four times and was ultimately elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame.
If he was bitter, he didn’t seem to show it.
From cockfights to baseball, there have long been shadowy figures making book on the outcomes of contests. There have also been those who would bend the odds in their favor. We can surmise that most coaches know the point spread on their games. Coaches also know that many of their alumni are placing wagers. We will never know how many times they left starters in longer to cover the spread.
We do know that gambling is corrosive. It destroys lives, and not just the compulsive. An eighteen-year-old kid named Connie Hawkins was a victim. So were the tens of thousands of Hawkeye basketball fans who never got to see him play.
That’s why it was so ironic that the governor and legislators seemed almost proud when they legalized sports betting last year in the Hawkeye state. With more people betting on more games, the odds of future scandals will surely increase. Human nature hasn’t changed.
It’s only a matter of time.
(Sorry. I had to ask.)
LOL. Great 1980s music reference.
Too bad the NBA only absorbed four teams - would have been great if they brought them in as a separate Conference, like the AFC/NFC.
They certainly had star power (Dr J, Ice Man, Whopper, etc) maybe more than the AFL had. "The Hawk" in a good example - show time way before "Show Time"!
From where I sit, aged, decrepit, and having spent years, literally, setting as fine an example of ethical behavior as I could (no cheating, lying, stealing, malicious behavior, etc.) in my life, in my work in academia and all my endeavors, and in my own brain and heart, I think expecting honest/ethical behavior in those we work and live with or for is forlorn hope overall.
We seem not to have any role models any more. And, very importantly, and having watched the highly published unethical and dishonest behavior of our politicians such as the Clintons, Pelosi, etc and our local politicians, I have no hope it will change.
Role models are scant and found only after searching. I am pleased, inordinately so, that Free Republic publishes the thoughts and ruminations and works of such people. I find few other sites of such.
I live in a very small “city” in PA9 <100 people, and financial disclosures, hiring and firing decisions of those who run this place are hidden from those of us who would like to know. It seems one group “does it all”. In the microcosm, a perfect example of the dishonest macrocosm....
Seemingly it would be possible to publish reams of reasons why honesty and ethical openness from histories such as mine would be desirable. My history which is not unique. I expect no one wants to hear it, the conclusions we “truthers” have drawn during and after a lifetime of fighting against dishonesty, duplicity, etc.
I truly hope reincarnation, (I am a Buddhist) does not include a return to this environment of lying, conniving and overall dishonesty. I cherish those you are NOT a participant in such.
From where I sit, aged, decrepit, and having spent years, literally, setting as fine an example of ethical behavior as I could (no cheating, lying, stealing, malicious behavior, etc.) in my life, in my work in academia and all my endeavors, and in my own brain and heart, I think expecting honest/ethical behavior in those we work and live with or for is forlorn hope overall.
We seem not to have any role models any more. And, very importantly, and having watched the highly published unethical and dishonest behavior of our politicians such as the Clintons, Pelosi, etc and our local politicians, I have no hope it will change.
Role models are scant and found only after searching. I am pleased, inordinately so, that Free Republic publishes the thoughts and ruminations and works of such people. I find few other sites of such.
I live in a very small “city” in PA9 <100 people, and financial disclosures, hiring and firing decisions of those who run this place are hidden from those of us who would like to know. It seems one group “does it all”. In the microcosm, a perfect example of the dishonest macrocosm....
Seemingly it would be possible to publish reams of reasons why honesty and ethical openness from histories such as mine would be desirable. My history which is not unique. I expect no one wants to hear it, the conclusions we “truthers” have drawn during and after a lifetime of fighting against dishonesty, duplicity, etc.
I truly hope reincarnation, (I am a Buddhist) does not include a return to this environment of lying, conniving and overall dishonesty. I cherish those you are NOT a participant in such.
I agree that the ABA-NBA merger was a missed opportunity. The ABA was failing financially, mainly because the NBA, as the legacy league, had the biggest cities, more teams and a richer tv contract. The ABA was a small market league. That said, by the time of the merger, the ABA would have mopped the floor with the NBA teams. Denver and San Antonio were financially able to enter the NBA intact and immediately became divisional champions and long-running powerhouses. The Pacers and the Nets had been outstanding ABA teams but had to sell off most of their talent to keep afloat while meeting the price of entry into the NBA. Had they come into the NBA intact, they would have been even stronger than Denver and San Antonio; as it was, they had to go through a difficult rebuilding cycle. The Kentucky Colonels didn’t make the cut, but they would have been a top NBA team as well. Had the entire ABA been absorbed as a simple merger without financial penalties, the NBA could well have been embarrassed by all four divisions being immediately dominated by old ABA teams. That wouldn’t have been good for the NBA’s hyped reputation, which may be why the merger was done as it was.
Agree. But the same thing was true of the old AFL - and the NFL wasn't afraid of absorbing 10 AFL teams in their entirety.
The first to be absorbed were teams from the old All American conference. I can recall the Cleveland Browns, the SF 49ers, and the Baltimore Colts were approved. The Browns could beat anyone in the NFL.
You forgot Jackie Moon.
Those are Spalding basketballs. Anyone else notice that the Spalding “S” looks like a non italicized version of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (Canadian Football League team) logo?
He lost to Paul Simon in one-on-one, LOL!
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