Len Bias and the cursed 1986 draft.

Tragic year for nba draftees hit the Celtics the hardest, but Washburn is trying to make amends.

http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2011/06/15/bias-not-the-only-sad-story-in-cursed-86-draft/

swish

Swish,

Thanks for the link to the article. It was an interesting read. Not that anyone (especially here) needs reminders about the lost potential of Len Bias, but it was nice to get a fresh take on Chris Washburn. He was a total bust for the Warriors and played like he had a basketball IQ of zero. It's good to see that he's doing something positive with his life.

Outside

Outside
And Roy Tarpley may have thrown away a Hall Of Fame career. 6'11",235 lbs. His stats per below

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/tarplro01.html

swish

Swish,

He did. I remember seeing him play in person, and you get a different perspective than you do on TV. He was a big body, broad-shouldered and noticeably bigger than other players, and he used it to his advantage. He was talented and skilled, a true impact player.

He had multiple chances to clean up but couldn't do it. I've never understood addiction, even though I've experienced it in my family, but it's obviously part of the human condition. Bias and Tarpley could've been two of the league's greats.

Outside

Outside,

I have often likened the combined potential of Bias and Bird to the potential of Ernie Davis and Jim Brown in tandem with the Cleveland Browns. Obviously a different cause of the tragedy in the case of Davis, who never got to play a regular season game with Cleveland. But similar in its sad impact nonetheless.

Sam

Sam

I remember Ernie Davis well, and it's hard to compare but I believe he was held in at least as high a regard in the Syracuse area as Bias was in Maryland perhaps more.

Oh what might have been,

beat

Beat, it's almost impossible to imagine Ernie Davis and Jim Brown in the same backfield. If you think about it, that could have changed NFL history. If the Browns had become more of a Cleveland icon, would they have slipped out of town in the middle of the night? Who knows?

Sam

Sam and beat,

Off topic but the Jim Brown mention took me there because of his legendary lacrosse career for Syracuse University...

Our nephew, Corey, is being highly recruited for lacrosse and will be a high school senior this fall. Schools expressing early interest include Villanova, Maryland, Yale, Penn, Air Force and Syracuse. Our other nephew, his older brother, is already a student at Syracuse so they could get the preliminary inside edge. It would certainly be something for him to play where Jim Brown did.

Not that a Yale education would be awful...

Regards

NYCelt,

Sounds as though your nephew is in the catbird seat. He could do a lot worse than to follow in Jim Brown's footsteps (except where women are involved).

I saw Jim Brown play football for Syracuse against my college team (Boston University). He was even the Syracuse placekicker. B.U. has since dropped football; I have no idea whether the lingering hurt put on them by J.B. was involved in the decision.

He received 10 letters at Syracuse in football, lacrosse, track and basketball. In basketball, he scored 13 ppg and was a ferocious rebounder for Syracuse (he averaged 38+ ppg in high school). He didn't play basketball in his senior year because there was then a rule that a college could not play three "negroes" simultaneously in intercollegiate basketball. Talk about people having their heads up their butts!

He didn't play baseball in college despite having thrown two no-hitters in high school. He was apparently a great boxer. He once participated in two sporting events on the same day: winning a couple of firsts in track and then playing lacrosse (very possibly in the year when the Syracuse lacrosse team went undefeated).

http://www.orangehoops.org/jbrown.htm

Lacrosse is the answer to one of my favorite trivia questions: What is the national sport of Canada? Many people think it's hockey. Of course, after last night, it appears the Canadians made a good choice.

Good luck to your nephew.

Sam

Sam, NYCelt

A couple years ago had the chance encounter with Floyd Little. He probably carried the tradition set by Little and Brown as well as anyone. He mentioned that although he hardley knew Davis he wanted to play at SU in large part because of him. Never actually saw Brown or Davis play except in highligths on the local TV but I did see Little play. And if Brown and Dvis were better man would I hated to be a defensive back and see that in my headlights.

As you probably know SU has a near lifesize statue of Davus near the quad near the Dome. (Where old Achbald Statium stood) As Marcus and I have season tickets we always get there a little early to walk around the quad area and grab a bite to eat (and gather in some freebees) We have seen a lot of the recent former players there such as Don McPherson, Tim Green and a few others. Seems that the statue always has a small crowd around it. It's not right in the middle and is sort of off to the side but if your in the quad you almost have to walk by it to get to the Dome.

As great as Brown was I heard the about the same things from the folks in the Elmira area, seems there was no athletic endeavor they could not do and do well.

beat

I remember watching the cotton bowl of 1957 but none of the details. Here is a clip of that game. It was Brown's final college game.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2955984381261788444#

Seems

I was a Cleveland Browns fan from about 1950—well before the time of J. Brown. They joined the new All-American Football Conference in 1946 and won all four championships with that league.

They moved to the NFL in 1950 and won that championship immediately. My hero was Lou "The Toe" Groza, who was an all-star offensive tackle and also an extraordinary straight-ahead placekicker. Marion Motley was a hulk who was really tough to stop. In those days, you didn't down a guy just by tackling him. You had to HOLD him down or he could keep going. I once saw Motley run down the sideline, get tripped, do a complete somersault, and run the rest of the way for a touchdown. Man, I loved the game of pro football back then.

After winning the 1950 championship, the Browns played in the finals in '51. '52, and '53, but didn't win those championships.

They won the NFL championship in '54 and '55.

In 1957, they got REALLY good by adding Jim Brown. But the rest of the league also improved, so the Browns went to the finals but lost the championship.

They did some rebuilding around Jim Brown and won the NFL championship in '64 and '65, after which Brown retired after only nine years in the league.

I claim the Browns represented the closest thing to an NFL Dynasty from 1950 to 1957.

Sam