{"id":10339,"date":"2023-06-29T19:49:09","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T00:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=10339"},"modified":"2023-06-29T19:58:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T00:58:25","slug":"pete-maravich-my-regrets-and-a-missed-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=10339","title":{"rendered":"Pete Maravich- My regrets and a missed opportunity…….."},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u201d PISTOL\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h1>\n

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Here \u201c Pistol\u201d Pete Maravich had just been inducted into the (Oklahoma City All Sports Association) All College Basketball Tournament Hall Of Fame, less than a week before his passing. Credit: RTC \u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A MEMORY OF THE GREATEST SHOWMAN OF BASKETBALL<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

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JUNE 29, 2023<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

The time was December, 1987.\u00a0 It was the holiday season in Oklahoma City and for me, a few days after Christmas, my routine was to attend the All-College basketball tournament that was a staple in my city for decades.\u00a0 In fact, the tournament was hailed as the oldest holiday tournament in the nation.\u00a0 Truth is, it was older than the NCAA National tournament and the National Invitational Tournament which crowed national champion in the sport of college basketball.\u00a0 It was the best tournament during the holiday season and brough in some of the best teams in the country.\u00a0 And for me, it was my chance to view 12 games in three days with some of the best college basketball teams around.<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\"Tiger
1967 LSU Tigers: Pete and his LSU team in his three years were the Harlem Globetrotters of the college game, abet all white men.<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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For the 1987 tournament, the All-College was going to honor Pete Maravich, the LSU and NBA all-star and put him in the All-College Hall of Fame. He played on the Tigers 1968-1969 team that won the All-College tournament that year.\u00a0 He would join some of the greats of the past tournaments, that included Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, Bob Lanier, and Calvin Murphy among others.\u00a0 A complete list can be found below.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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As I sat in my seat at the \u201cIncomparable Myriad\u201d (13,400), with maybe two thousand fans in attendance, half time of the first of two first round games had come to pass.\u00a0 All of a sudden my brother-in-law Dale, sitting next to me, spotted the \u201cgreat one\u201d that was to be honored at the intermission between games one and two that night.\u00a0 Dale said that he was going over (a few sections) and visit with Mr. Maravich and tell him that we were their twenty years earlier to watch his LSU Tigers win the tournament.\u00a0 Being an eight team tournament, each team got to play three games in three days in Oklahoma City.\u00a0 Dale said come with me and we both can say hello.\u00a0 It would only take a second or two.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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I told Dale to go meet him and I would just stay and watch the interaction.\u00a0 Dale went over and spent every bit of the halftime and most of the 2nd half of the first game in his visit with \u201cThe Pistol\u201d.\u00a0 For me, it was sad that Mr. Maravich was sitting by himself and no one in the crowd, what there was of it, did not go and say HEY to the GREATEST SHOWMAN IN COLLGE BASKEBALL that every laced them up. But thanks to Dale as he did.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Dale told me that Pete Maravich was a gracious man and he was happy to visit and hear Dale tell his story of seeing him play in Oklahoma City.\u00a0 Dale said he was, in fact, a modest man, and really did not want to play up his basketball achievements and was totally honored to come back to OKC to get the honor of being put in the All-College Hall of Fame.\u00a0 He did say that his LSU Tigers, coached by his dad Press, won just one team college trophy in those three years, the All-College Championship, and that trophy was a most valued one the LSU Men\u2019s trophy case at the time. He said that the three wins were significant for the school and the basketball program at the time.<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Of all the games I have viewed, in my lifetime, any sport, the three games that I was able to watch \u201cPistol\u201d Pete Maravich were the most exciting, including any championship games (many) in any sport.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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Pete Maravich, in January 1988, just a week after the All-College, died of a heart ailment playing basketball.\u00a0 I will never forgive myself for not spending time, even for just a few minutes, with THE PISTOL that night in OKC.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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\"Yale
Unstoppable jump shot against Yale Univ. (photo credit: New Haven Post)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Players of the past:<\/span><\/p>\n

All-College Basketball Classic All-Time Greats
\n<\/strong>Elgin\u00a0Baylor, Seattle<\/span>
\nCornell Green, Utah State<\/span>
\nK.C. Jones, San Francisco<\/span>
\nBob\u00a0Kurland, Oklahoma State<\/span>
\nBob\u00a0Lanier, St. Bonaventure<\/span>
\nKarl Malone, Louisiana Tech<\/span>
\nPete\u00a0Maravich, Louisiana State University<\/span>
\nSlater Martin, Texas<\/span>
\nCalvin Murphy,\u00a0Niagra<\/span>
\nRobert Parish, Centenary<\/span>
\nBill Russell, San Fransisco<\/span>
\nFrank\u00a0Selvy,\u00a0Furman<\/span>
\nArnold Short, OCU<\/span>
\nDave\u00a0Stalllworth, Wichita State<\/span>
\nWayman\u00a0Tisdale, Oklahoma<\/span>
\nNate Thurmond, Bowling Green<\/span><\/p>\n

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All-College Basketball Classic Hall Of Fame
\n<\/strong>Henry P.\u00a0Iba<\/span>
\nRay Meyer<\/span>
\nJay Simon<\/span>
\nArnold Short<\/span>
\nJim\u00a0Roederer<\/span>
\nBob Kurland<\/span>
\nAbe Lemons<\/span>
\nPaul Hansen<\/span>
\nJohn \u201cTaps\u201d Gallagher<\/span>
\nGlenn Boyer<\/span>
\nBruce Drake<\/span>
\nCornell Green<\/span>
\nPete\u00a0Maravich<\/span>
\nStan Watts<\/span>
\nWayman\u00a0Tisdale<\/span>
\nBill Russell<\/span>
\nThurman Medley<\/span>
\nStanley Draper Jr.<\/span>
\nJohn\u00a0Philbin<\/span>
\nBilly\u00a0Tubbs<\/span>
\nEddie Sutton<\/span>
\nBill Hancock<\/span><\/p>\n

All-College Basketball Classic (archive.org)<\/a><\/p>\n

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The \u201d PISTOL\u201d \u00a0 A MEMORY OF THE GREATEST SHOWMAN OF BASKETBALL \u00a0 \u00a0 JUNE…<\/p>\n

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