Being able to watch ACC basketball form the mid 1960's through the mid 1980's remains one of the highlights of enjoying sports for me. Like knowing a great pizza place or bbq joint that is under the radar. I cherish those memories.
Good article, Joe. It is always interesting to run across a Brook Steppe reference, also. He is a friend of mine. I played in on a softball team with him for several years after he retired from pro basketball I’m Israel. Best first step ever saw for a middle aged shortstop. LOL.
I saw Dalrymple play my freshman year at U of VT. The high school bball tourney was held at UVM's gym, top 8 teams I beleive, single elimination,. Being VT in 1981, Dalrymple was the only African American in the entire tourney. Jumped center, dribbled it up, put something up like 45/12/10. If he had Mark Price's outside shot he'd be in the HOF
Thanks for the memories! When I think of Georgia Tech, I think of one of the best squad nicknames, Lethal Weapon 3 for Dennis Scott, Kenny Anderson, Brian Oliver trio in 1990.
You remembered Yvon Joseph! Everyone remembers Price and Salley, some remember Dalrymple and Duane Ferrell, but it is rare that someone remembers Yvon.
He used to come out to the sand courts and play volleyball with us. He had played on the Haitian national team, and he dominated us. A much better volleyball player than basketball player. He was also an engineering major in an engineering school. I think he was the only one of the bunch that was. A friend was his TA and told him he would be doing a lot better, he was pulling B's if he would show up in class and hand in assignments. Yvon showed him his schedule and said: Prof, I am doing the best I can. The schedule was a nightware, this was duing hoops season. I think he graduated with honors but he was gone every week.
I can only wonder about the awe of living in ACC country in the 1980s. My 1980s was lived in Big East land and it was an incredible time. My team was the Syracuse Orange Men. Their games with Georgetown, St. John's and Villanova were legendary. Between 1982 and 1989 a Big East team played in the Championship game 6 out of 8 times, with Villanova beating Georgetown in 1985 where 3 out of 4 teams were Big East (St Johns was team #3). In 1987 Providence joined Syracuse as another Final Four with two Big East teams.
By the time the 1980s closed out both Georgetown and Villanova had won championships and Syracuse and St. John's had lost in a championship game. The ACC sent Virginia, Duke, NC and NC State to the Final Four but Virginia never made the championship game. The Big Ten had championships with Indiana and Michigan but no other Big Ten team played in the championship.
Thanks for this one. Came down south to go to college from the northeast where basketball was the Celtics, 6ers or the Knicks. Knew of Bill Bradley and Cazzie Russell as college players only due to Princeton being nearby and the Tigers having their wonderful NCAA run when Bradley put them on his back. (Followed by the wonderful, John McPhee New Yorker profile and book.) As a sports writer and then editor for the college newspaper, had to get up to ACC speed quickly and Billy Packer and Bones McKinney and the rest of the Pilot Life sponsored ACC crews were my guides as well. Fun to have been to ACC Tourneys back when only the winner went to the NCAA tourney and sitting courtside. Have always rued that I wasn't fan enough to miss a spring break trip and stay to see the legendary NC State / Maryland marathon game to get to the tourney. (Gave up my pass to John Feinstein who was a great writer even back then.) Great memories.
I grew up in NC (Greensboro), albeit a generation or so later — the late 80s and 1990s were my childhood. Interestingly, I don’t remember anyone caring about NASCAR, but pro wrestling became a thing again in the late 90s when I was in middle and high school.
College basketball was my favorite sport. I used to get the ACC Basketball Handbook every year before the season and repeatedly read it cover to cover; I knew the name of every player on every ACC team including the deep bench guys who never saw the court. ACC Tournament week was a HUGE deal in Greensboro — they used to bring a TV into our classroom in elementary school to let us watch the early game on Friday.
I still like college basketball, but it’s definitely lost something with the amount of roster turnover that happens every season. I think the conference changes have hurt as well.
Also, as an aside — I went to the NC State/Notre Dame Gator Bowl in the early 2000s. Chris Corchiani was sitting a couple of rows behind us, which was strange because we were nowhere near the field. You’d think he’d have been able to get seats basically anywhere he wanted. Regardless, he got sloppy drunk over the course of the game and was ramble shouting at the field by the end of the game. It was surreal.
We don't have to care about the politics of Billy Packer--for example, two of my idols, Red Barber and Vin Scully, weren't exaclty lefties--to know that he was the most important analyst in college basketball history. That said, wasn't his apex when he was part of the crew with Dick Enberg and Al McGuire?
Actually, we tend to forget him now because he spent so many years there and he wasn't a personality in the way that John Madden, who was the greatest football analyst imaginable, was. But Packer had 35 years at the top and knew the game and could convey that knowledge. That's hard to beat.
Agreed. I should be clear, I was talking about Vin's political views (Packer having been a bit vocal in his retirement years). In terms of cultural change, Vin kept current, in the sense that he didn't sit in the booth lamenting, say, that they wore tattoos or had long hair, as opposed to when he started. Now, the night he said that people were "twittering" about someone was legitimately funny, and the next night he talked about having since learned a bit about tweeting. :)
I'd add, Joe has written about him, and one of the greatest things ever said about Vin came from Ross Porter, who worked with him for 28 years until the low-class marketing director fired Ross without even talking with him. Ross said that he never--EVER--saw Vin be rude to anyone, or even give the hint of rudeness. That was a gentleman, and a gentle man.
Billy's dad was my dad's college basketball coach. Billy also played on the last Wake team to make the Final Four.
Being able to watch ACC basketball form the mid 1960's through the mid 1980's remains one of the highlights of enjoying sports for me. Like knowing a great pizza place or bbq joint that is under the radar. I cherish those memories.
There was never an announcing team like Dick Enberg, Billy Packer and Al McGuire!
Good article, Joe. It is always interesting to run across a Brook Steppe reference, also. He is a friend of mine. I played in on a softball team with him for several years after he retired from pro basketball I’m Israel. Best first step ever saw for a middle aged shortstop. LOL.
Kansas graduate here. I thought he was the best and still do, with only Jay Bilas coming close (and Steve Kerr when he was a color commentator).
I saw Dalrymple play my freshman year at U of VT. The high school bball tourney was held at UVM's gym, top 8 teams I beleive, single elimination,. Being VT in 1981, Dalrymple was the only African American in the entire tourney. Jumped center, dribbled it up, put something up like 45/12/10. If he had Mark Price's outside shot he'd be in the HOF
Thanks for the memories! When I think of Georgia Tech, I think of one of the best squad nicknames, Lethal Weapon 3 for Dennis Scott, Kenny Anderson, Brian Oliver trio in 1990.
Ticking off those names from the UNC, NC State and St. John's teams show just how much the sport has lost with the One and Done era.
Loved Packer talking about Bones McKinney on broadcasts of ACC games with Jim Thacker
So here’s one for Joe, one that no doubt prompted much head scratching, then acceptance, and then awe: Greensboro? Greensboro!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4gptzlIGow
You remembered Yvon Joseph! Everyone remembers Price and Salley, some remember Dalrymple and Duane Ferrell, but it is rare that someone remembers Yvon.
He used to come out to the sand courts and play volleyball with us. He had played on the Haitian national team, and he dominated us. A much better volleyball player than basketball player. He was also an engineering major in an engineering school. I think he was the only one of the bunch that was. A friend was his TA and told him he would be doing a lot better, he was pulling B's if he would show up in class and hand in assignments. Yvon showed him his schedule and said: Prof, I am doing the best I can. The schedule was a nightware, this was duing hoops season. I think he graduated with honors but he was gone every week.
I can only wonder about the awe of living in ACC country in the 1980s. My 1980s was lived in Big East land and it was an incredible time. My team was the Syracuse Orange Men. Their games with Georgetown, St. John's and Villanova were legendary. Between 1982 and 1989 a Big East team played in the Championship game 6 out of 8 times, with Villanova beating Georgetown in 1985 where 3 out of 4 teams were Big East (St Johns was team #3). In 1987 Providence joined Syracuse as another Final Four with two Big East teams.
By the time the 1980s closed out both Georgetown and Villanova had won championships and Syracuse and St. John's had lost in a championship game. The ACC sent Virginia, Duke, NC and NC State to the Final Four but Virginia never made the championship game. The Big Ten had championships with Indiana and Michigan but no other Big Ten team played in the championship.
Thanks for this one. Came down south to go to college from the northeast where basketball was the Celtics, 6ers or the Knicks. Knew of Bill Bradley and Cazzie Russell as college players only due to Princeton being nearby and the Tigers having their wonderful NCAA run when Bradley put them on his back. (Followed by the wonderful, John McPhee New Yorker profile and book.) As a sports writer and then editor for the college newspaper, had to get up to ACC speed quickly and Billy Packer and Bones McKinney and the rest of the Pilot Life sponsored ACC crews were my guides as well. Fun to have been to ACC Tourneys back when only the winner went to the NCAA tourney and sitting courtside. Have always rued that I wasn't fan enough to miss a spring break trip and stay to see the legendary NC State / Maryland marathon game to get to the tourney. (Gave up my pass to John Feinstein who was a great writer even back then.) Great memories.
I grew up in NC (Greensboro), albeit a generation or so later — the late 80s and 1990s were my childhood. Interestingly, I don’t remember anyone caring about NASCAR, but pro wrestling became a thing again in the late 90s when I was in middle and high school.
College basketball was my favorite sport. I used to get the ACC Basketball Handbook every year before the season and repeatedly read it cover to cover; I knew the name of every player on every ACC team including the deep bench guys who never saw the court. ACC Tournament week was a HUGE deal in Greensboro — they used to bring a TV into our classroom in elementary school to let us watch the early game on Friday.
I still like college basketball, but it’s definitely lost something with the amount of roster turnover that happens every season. I think the conference changes have hurt as well.
Also, as an aside — I went to the NC State/Notre Dame Gator Bowl in the early 2000s. Chris Corchiani was sitting a couple of rows behind us, which was strange because we were nowhere near the field. You’d think he’d have been able to get seats basically anywhere he wanted. Regardless, he got sloppy drunk over the course of the game and was ramble shouting at the field by the end of the game. It was surreal.
We don't have to care about the politics of Billy Packer--for example, two of my idols, Red Barber and Vin Scully, weren't exaclty lefties--to know that he was the most important analyst in college basketball history. That said, wasn't his apex when he was part of the crew with Dick Enberg and Al McGuire?
Actually, we tend to forget him now because he spent so many years there and he wasn't a personality in the way that John Madden, who was the greatest football analyst imaginable, was. But Packer had 35 years at the top and knew the game and could convey that knowledge. That's hard to beat.
Vin may not have been a lefty, but I would say he at least kept up with the times. I can name several announcers today who seem to wish it was 1955.
Agreed. I should be clear, I was talking about Vin's political views (Packer having been a bit vocal in his retirement years). In terms of cultural change, Vin kept current, in the sense that he didn't sit in the booth lamenting, say, that they wore tattoos or had long hair, as opposed to when he started. Now, the night he said that people were "twittering" about someone was legitimately funny, and the next night he talked about having since learned a bit about tweeting. :)
I'd add, Joe has written about him, and one of the greatest things ever said about Vin came from Ross Porter, who worked with him for 28 years until the low-class marketing director fired Ross without even talking with him. Ross said that he never--EVER--saw Vin be rude to anyone, or even give the hint of rudeness. That was a gentleman, and a gentle man.