Sports Then and Now

As we all continue to get used to the “new (and hopefully temporary) normal”, lack of live sports has likely been one of the things mostly missed in the evenings. Instead of unwinding while watching an NHL or NBA game or catching up on March Madness, the evenings has become a time for Law & Order SVU reruns and watching the same shows over and over on HGTV.

Fortunately, YouTube is home to a plethora of vintage sporting events that can help pass the time before live sports return.

In part two of a multi-part series, Sports Then and Now has selected 10 college basketball NCAA Tournament games that include some of the all-time moments and players in college basketball history. In part one we selected great conference tournament games and you can check those out through this link.

In this edition, we have chosen 10 games from the first two weeks of the NCAA Tournament, so these are games up through the Regional Finals. For each one we have included the records, rankings, coaches and notable players at the time of the game, but are not spoiling the game with a summary in case you don’t remember the outcome and want to enjoy the moment without spoilers.

Among the players you can check out during their college days are all-time greats Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, James Worthy and Sam Perkins. You can also watch some great upsets and last minute heroics.

There are certainly other great games to watch on YouTube, but we have chosen these party because the entire game is available on YouTube and the game epitomized the excitement of March Madness.

Enjoy!

2008 Second Round – #10 Davidson vs. #2 Georgetown

Records Entering Game: Davidson 27-6; Georgetown 28-5

National Ranking: Davidson: #23; Georgetown:

Coaches: Davidson:  Bob McKillop; Georgetown: John Thompson, Jr.

Notable Players: Davidson: Stephen Curry, Jason Richards, Thomas Sander; Georgetown: Roy Hibbert, DaJuan Summers, Jonathan Wallace

2006 Regional Finals – #11 George Mason vs. #1 University of Connecticut

Records Entering Game: George Mason: 26-7; Connecticut: 30-3

National Ranking: George Mason: not ranked; Connecticut: #1

Coaches: George Mason: Jim Larranaga; Connecticut: Jim Calhoun

Notable Players: George Mason: Jai Lewis, Tony Skinn, Lamar Butler; Connecticut: Rudy Gay, Rashad Anderson, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong

With March Madness cancelled, the entire sports world on pause and many public gatherings and places across the country and globe closed due to the COVID-19 virus, there are only so many shows on Hulu, Netflix, Disney+ and other streaming channels that we can watch before sports withdrawals are surely to kick in.

Fortunately, YouTube is home to a plethora of vintage sporting events that can help pass the time before live sports return.

In part 1 of a multi-part series, Sports Then and Now has selected 10 vintage conference tournament games that include some of the all-time moments and players in college basketball history. For each one we have included the records, rankings, coaches and notable players at the time of the game, but are not spoiling the game with a summary in case you don’t remember the outcome and want to enjoy the moment without spoilers.

The fun part about watching vintage games is that it includes the original announcers, as well as showcasing some players who went on to greatness often before they had become household names, or as they were building their reputation. Players like Patrick Ewing, Ray Allen, Allen Iverson, Ralph Sampson, Tim Duncan, Jerry Stackhouse and many more are included in our selections.

There are certainly other great games to watch on YouTube, but we have chosen these partly because the entire game is available and the game epitomized the excitement of March Madness.

Enjoy!

1983 ACC Tournament Championship Game – Virginia vs. North Carolina State

Records Entering Game: Virginia 27-3; North Carolina State: 19-10

National Ranking: Virginia #2; North Carolina State unranked

Coaches: UVA: Terry Holland; North Carolina State: Jim Valvano

Notable Players: UVA – Ralph Sampson, Othell Wilson, Ricky Stokes, Rick Carlisle; NC State – Thurl Bailey, Sidney Lowe, Lorenzo Charles, Dereck Whittenburg, Terry Gannon

Less than 24 hours after the World Health Organization declared the spread of the coronavirus to be a pandemic the sports world is coming to a screeching halt as sports leagues and college conferences struggle to deal with this intersection between public health and the sports world.

It started Wednesday afternoon with the NCAA announcing that all of their upcoming championships would be played without fans.

With most of the premier Division I conferences having started their men’s basketball tournaments earlier this week, it didn’t take long until they all announced that they would not admit fans starting on Thursday.

However, after a Wednesday evening address by the President as well as continued uncertainty on how best to address the growing crisis, by soon before game time on Thursday most conferences, including the ACC, Big Ten and SEC had all canceled the remainder of their tournaments. The Big East tipped off their first game on Thursday (Creighton against St. Johns), but the game and tournament were later canceled.

 So, what is typically one of the most exciting weekends for college basketball now looks to be an opportunity to catch up on shows from Netflix or Amazon Prime.

College basketball is not the only major sports group impacted by the growing crisis.

After two members of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the virus the game Wednesday night between the Oklahoma Thunder and Utah Jazz was postponed and the NBA later announced an immediate suspension of their season.

The Vintage Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Month came to national prominence in college basketball’s “Game of the Century” and then won an NBA title while becoming one of the top players in league history.

A three-time college basketball All-American at the University of Houston, Elvin Hayes helped lead the Cougars to three straight NCAA Tournaments and a pair of Final Fours.

Few figures in college sports have towered over the domain as forcefully as that of Bobby Knight over college basketball for more than 30 years.  Known as “The General”, Knight retired in 2008 as the all-time winningest coach in Division I men’s basketball history with 902 victories (currently ranks 3^rd) and is also credited with ensuring that his players were not just athletes, but true student-athletes.

However, his legacy is forever tarnished by his reputation as a bully and inability to control his anger sometimes both on and off the court.

Today, February 23^rd, marks the 35^th anniversary of one of his most famous blowups and in many ways the event that foreshadowed his fall from professional grace.

The last time a mid-major program won the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, George H.W. Bush was the President of the United States. The 1990 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels of the Big West Conference became the second mid-major in NCAA history to cut down the nets in that Tournament, joining the 1986 Louisville Cardinals, who were members of the Metro Conference at the time. Since then, just 13 mid-major teams have advanced to the Final Four and five have lost in the National Championship Game. Most recently Loyla-Chicago’s magical Final Four run as an 11th seed in 2018 captured the hearts of America. But, perhaps more than any time since 1990, there’s a strong likelihood that a mid-major program wins it all in 2020. 

Just one undefeated squad currently remains (No. 4 San Diego State: 19-0) and just two other teams in the AP Top 25 have only one loss (No. 1 Baylor: 15-1 and No. 2 Gonzaga: 20-1). A whopping 19 other teams in the Top 25 have three-plus losses, which is a clear indication that parity is at an all-time high. Even the experts who give out college basketball picks are having a tough time finding wins this year.Of those Top 25 teams, just Baylor and Gonzaga are undefeated against their ranked opponents, as well. Further, those two teams, along with San Diego State and No. 7 Dayton, are the only teams in the Top 25 with a perfect road record.