I have written several columns in the past about football and baseball, not as many on another of my lifelong passions, basketball. The passing of another Dec. 1 brought round ball to mind.
Dec. 1 used to be to basketball what Aug. 10 was to high school football and April 12 (more or less) was to Major League Baseball. The beginning. Opening day. At least for high school and college basketball teams and fans. No overlapping – in my days, there were no high school football playoffs and the season ended in mid-November. Kids who had played football were able to join basketball practice, albeit a couple of weeks late, and be ready to start the season the first Tuesday or Friday after Dec. 1. And there were no AAU teams or other year-round programs that made kids focus on one sport year-round like today, when parents become convinced that the floor for their offspring is a full ride college scholarship, the ceiling perhaps an NFL or NBA or MLB career that falls just short of Hall of Fame consideration. Check the odds folks. These days, the college basketball season at least seems to start right after Halloween, and even in high school the kids play in organized competition year-round.
Frankly, during my CHS and New River District days, it would have been hard for most of the schools in our area to field basketball teams at all if the football players hadn’t been able to trade in their shoulder pads for short pants. And vice versa. As I recall, the Blue Demon basketball starting five usually consisted of the football backfield from that fall. There were some exceptions of course, but the best athletes were in great demand.
There are few better sports memories I have than the smell of old leather basketballs that had been used for 10 years and the squeak of shoes (Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers of course) on the gym floor. We had only one real basketball court in Christiansburg at that time, the gymnasium at CHS, and it was used constantly from November through the end of February by the boys varsity, jayvee, and 8th grade basketball teams. Sadly, the schools at our level had no girls basketball, only volleyball, which overlapped with football season and gave the girls access to the precious gym. The smaller schools (Class III as I recall) in the county – Auburn and Shawsville (then Allegheny District High School and now Eastern Montgomery as I understand it) – did have girls teams. Don’t ask me why the larger schools did not.
I am proud to mention that my mom and her two sisters all played basketball for the Auburn High Eagles and that my Aunt Maggie was a star, or so her sisters said. Those interested in the history of the girls game should note that they played six aside then – two guards, two forwards, and two centers (my Aunt Mary Alma played a position called “standing center”, which I teased her about constantly). I guess no hops.
The girls game of that era also had some different rules than today’s game – only the two centers could cross the mid-court line, the two forwards always in the offensive end and the two guards staying in backcourt at all times. (I guess this gave my mom the opportunity to exercise one of her best skills, standing around and chatting with the other three girls while the ball was on the other end of the court.) The girls game of that era also limited the number of dribbles the player with the ball could take to three, emphasizing passing I guess.
I also recall that the rules required a jump ball after every basket, emphasizing the skills of the “jumping center”. Poor Aunt Mary Alma – all she could do was “stand” and watch. This was a relic of the original Naismith rules – the NBA and NCAA dropped the “jump ball after every basket” in the 1950’s, I think in large part because 7’ 1” Wilt Chamberlain at Kansas rarely lost one.
A few thoughts on college basketball and the significance of Dec. 1. Like high school, no games were played until Dec. 1, a much-awaited date. In fact, one of the first teams at Tech that I remember had several football players on it, although at the end of the bench. In today’s college basketball you only see a two sport – football/basketball- player in the rarest of instances. I remember Terry Kirby at UVA and Ronald Curry at UNC and Charlie Ward at Florida State, all now many years ago. The college football players of my day who also played basketball were largely there as fillers, to have enough guys to scrimmage in practice and to help out in fights.
An interesting aside and exception to the 1960’s guys who played college football and basketball without excelling in both is Terry Baker, quarterback of Oregon State, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1962 and also was Sports Illustrated’s Athlete of the Year. After the football season ended, Terry joined the OSU basketball team as the starting point guard and helped take the team to the Final Four. (This leads to the wonderful trivia question of “who is the only Heisman Trophy winner to also play in the Final Four”). In his spare time, Terry was an honor student in Mechanical Engineering. He went on to law school and founded a law firm specializing in products liability matters. Just your typical college student.
I can’t write a piece about December and basketball without remembering my years playing in the Kiwanis sandlot league during my fifth through seventh grade years. We played on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings under the wonderful direction and tutelage of the Christiansburg Kiwanis Club in the CHS gym. As I recall, we had six teams – I played on the Blue Devils (a name I take no pride in now given my feelings for the “Cousinhood” at Duke) my fifth-grade year and the Bears during sixth and seventh grade. Each year I had the great good fortune of being coached by Clyde Collins, postmaster in town in those years, and his son Tim, who was spending the rest of his time being an All-American golfer at Virginia Tech before joining the PGA tour. Good coaches, knowledgeable basketball guys, and good people. My fifth-grade year we won the championship, with me starting along with four seventh graders. I was what the coaches now would call an “on ball defender”, with limited ability to hit the bucket since I played without my glasses but tenacious in defending the dribbler.
So, when December 1 rolls around, I think of the old gym at CHS with the Blue Demon logo at mid-court, snowflakes swirling outside the doors opening on Sheltman Street, and the smells and sounds of basketball.
