RIP "The Dobber" & Your Earliest Sports Memories
Was sad to hear about the passing of Bob Lanier. A great player and even better person. A real ambassador for the NBA and a trailblazer as the president of the NBPA.
As I was born in 1967, my earliest memories of the Pistons involve the team with Lanier, Chris Ford, etc. My dad was not a frequent attendee of sporting events, but I do remember him taking me to Cobo a few times.
All of my other earliest sports memories are from the mid-'70's...the Ricky Green/Phil Hubbard & and Rick Leach/Anthony Carter Wolverines...the early days of the Trammell/Whitaker/Morris Tigers...etc.
Interested to have you share your earliest concrete sports memories...the ones you can remember experiencing rather than hearing about later on in your life.
Ralph Hauk and the Tigers organization had a lot to do with Mark's problems. Christ, go back and look at his stat line for that first year.
Ralph Hauk and the Tigers organization had a lot to do with Mark's problems. Christ, go back and look at his stat line for that first year.
Happy 119th Birthday to my Grandpa's favorite Tiger of all time, Fowlerville native and U of M baseball great Charlie Gehringer!
https://twitter.com/baseballhall/status/1524396472879439872?t=nlsiJYwpWHR2tSThKluB0w&s=09
Bill Fagerbakke is still alive.
Fortunately MgoBlog won't remember that I am an old guy........
My first sports memory was watching the 1965 Rose Bowl. As a small boy I sat watching with my dad and remember the Michigan team being booed as they ran onto the field. The TV mic must have been close to the OSU section. Anyway I felt so bad for the Michigan team being booed! Lifelong Wolverine ever since!!
My earliest sports memories (born in 1980):
- 6 or 7 years old living in Chicago and watching the Super Bowl Shuffle all the time (though I don't remember the actual Super Bowl)
- Watching the Bad Boys on TV
- My first MLB game in 1988 at Tiger stadium vs. the White Sox. Still have an autographed ticket stub.
- Watching Rocket Ismail return two TDs against UofM in 1989 from my Grandparents living room.
- My first UofM game in 1991 vs. Northwestern.
- The Fab Five (somehow I dont recall the 1989 National Title).
This one hurts. As a kid growing up in western PA without a local NBA team, I adopted the Milwaukee Bucks as my team. In the early 80s, the team was very good every season with Lanier, Marques Johnson, Sidney Moncrief, and Paul Pressey, and coached by the legend Don Nelson, but could never get over the hump in the playoffs.
On a side note, I read recently that Nellie is growing pot as a Maui retiree.
i started going to Michigan football games when I was 5, so i don't remember a lot of things from back then, because according to my dad i only cared about the band then... i found out that i was the carrier of bottles of schnapps back then, because my dads thought was was was going to search a kid...
one of my favorite memories is when i got to go to a couple of basketball practices during the 88-89 season... as a 10 year old and seeing Terry Mills walk past me and think that is largest person i have ever seen, and his shoes were 10x the size of mine... i got to play on the court after practice was over and watched Pelinka and Rummel play one on one...
Earliest sports memories include:
Pistons: 1988 NBA Finals, specifically Game 6 on CBS. My dad was barbecuing that day (it was an afternoon 3:30 pm ET tip-off) and I kept running in and out to give him score results. Of course, I didn't realize as a 6-year-old how controversial (and bogus) that Laimbeer foul call was at the end of the game. I remember my parents let me stay up to watch Game 7, which went LA's favor. Probably my first taste of sports disappointment.
Michigan: I remember seeing news reports about the 1987 Rose Bowl, but don't remember watching the game. I do remember seeing the block M on the TV sports reports and hearing/seeing about Bo Schembechler during the mid-late 1980s.
Red Wings: The Cinderella Jacques Demers-coached 1987 team--specifically the conference finals vs. Edmonton. My youngest brother was born around that same time, so that stood out.
Lions: Honestly, it was the 1991 season at 9 years old when I bothered starting to follow the Lions, but more for the magnificent things Barry Sanders did.
Tigers: 1987: "Wheel of Fortune will not be seen today but will return tomorrow at its normal scheduled time. Now stay tuned for a special presentation of the Detroit Tigers next on Channel 4!" ... which is followed by:
I'm old too. Best early sports memory:
My amazing dad (RIP) took me to Game 5 in '68 WS - the game where Willie Horton threw out Lou Brock at the plate. Brock inexplicably did not slide and former Michigan TE Bill Freehan WOULD NOT let him get to the plate. Turning point of the game and series - and a memory etched into a young boy's heart.
Second best was a year later - that magical '69 24-12 win over OSU. Was not at the game, but became a Wolverine fanatic that day. Our next door neighbor was a former OSU baseball player, and dad bet with him - winner got to paint the front door of loser's house in winning school's colors.
Dad painted neighbor's door blue before the neighbor got home from the game, and put a big sign on his lawn too. When the neighbor got home, my dad greeted him at the driveway pretending he didn't watch the game and casually asked "How'd the game come out, Nick?"
Glorious!
.... nvm ....
I'm a Lions fan, I have no memories.
I was working 2 jobs that summer before starting my final year at Michigan during the fall semester of 84. It was fun listening to Ernie and Paul on the radio and occasionally watching Al and George on TV. Al Akerman had his bless you boys thing all season. Eli did his pregame show. Yeah, when I to got watch it, TWIB was great late Saturday mornings.
I was 7 years old in ‘84, rolling up and down Jefferson with my mom after the Bless You Boys won it all!!
I remember seeing a Michigan basketball game with Ricky Green and Phil Hubbard when I was really young. The Mike McGee era was fun. 2439 points at UofM without the benefit of the 3 point line.
My earliest memory of watching the Pistons consists of Kelly Tripucka playing at the Pontiac Silverdome. He was not your prototypical NBA player and the silverdome was not a basketball arena. Maybe that’s why that memory stayed with me.
I distinctly remember visiting my grandmother’s apartment with my mom. I had just turned 9 years old. Mom sat me down in front of the TV and went to the kitchen to talk to Grandma. The Tigers were playing a doubleheader at old Comiskey. In between games, the fans ran onto the field and built a bonfire in the outfield. I was rather disappointed that the second game was canceled. Grandma’s apartment wasn’t the most interesting place for a boy to visit. Anyway, yes, I saw disco demolition night on a little black and white TV.
Seeing the Pistons go from the 2nd round in 2002, to the ECF in 2003, to finally pulling off the upset in 2004 to win the title.
Remember vividly watching the 2001 Finals with my dad and even at 6 years old I thought Iverson stepping over Ty Lue was so bad ass
Loved the Brazil soccer teams growing up. Not sure if it was the beautiful canary shirts or charismatic players like Ronaldo & Ronaldinho that got me hooked.
My earliest concrete sports memories are the Tigers always on the radio at my grandparents and the shock at the Harvey Kuenn for Rocky Colavito trade between the Tigers and Indians in April 1960, "ushering" at Michigan Stadium a couple years in a row with my Scout troop around the same time, and then the magical 1964 football and basketball seasons a few years later.
Just because the other thread had that long digression about the Athletic, I wanted to plug their tribute story on Lanier yesterday. Great piece by Damon Sayles.
Bob was one of the most underappreciated players of his era.