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Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
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billyjack Offline
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Post: #1
Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
ESPN 30-for-30 tomorrow night (Tues Oct 8th) at 8pm will be about the ABA's Spirits of St Louis team in the mid-70's.

The ABA of course was the NBA's competitor for about 10 years from the late 60's to late 70's. The ABA introduced us to the 3-point shot, the red-white-and-blue basketball, and the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets. The "old-ABA" was almost like the "old-AFL" as far as its wide-open play and innovations.

The Spirits were around just a few years just as the league folded, but had Bob Costas as play-by-play announcer, Moses Malone (went straight from high school to pros), Maurice Lucas, and All-America South Providence legend Marvin Barnes out of PC. Wild team and times. Definitely going to try to catch this. Costas should have some good stories. Hopefully they interviewed Marvin too.
(This post was last modified: 10-07-2013 12:33 PM by billyjack.)
10-07-2013 12:30 PM
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stever20 Online
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Post: #2
RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
Those 30 for 30 specials are by far the best thing ESPN does.

just look at the ones coming up:
next week- No Mas
10/29- Jimmy Connor's 1991 US Open Run
11/5- Tonya and Nancy(can you believe that's been almost 20 years?)

in terms of ABA- yeah they were a lot like the AFL- though I think in terms of innovations- the AFL was much more meaningful. ABA really gave us the Slam Dunk contest and 3 point shot. AFL gave us names on back of jerseys, scoreboard clocks being used for game time, 14 game schedule(vs 12 NFL was playing), 2 point converseions.

I think in terms of legacy the AFL is a lot of what we see now- I mean yesterdays Denver Dallas game was just like an old AFL game.
10-07-2013 12:48 PM
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
The Spirits are also the beneficiaries of one of the best franchise buyouts in sports history. The owners of the Spirits, in lieu of being paid a lump sum for their franchise from the NBA, agreed to be paid a 1/7th share of the NBA's TV rights fees in perpetuity. That was a small amount back in the 1970s, but that has obviously changed quite a bit since then. So, to this day, the owners of the Spirits are getting paid about $20 million per year (and about $300 million total over the past 35 years) in TV money from the NBA without having any expenses whatsoever. The NBA has tried to break that agreement numerous times in court to no avail.
(This post was last modified: 10-07-2013 01:07 PM by Frank the Tank.)
10-07-2013 01:07 PM
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NJRedMan Offline
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
When was the first one? It was about this famous surfer who died saving some people. I really wanted to see that one!
10-07-2013 02:20 PM
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stever20 Online
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-07-2013 02:20 PM)NJRedMan Wrote:  When was the first one? It was about this famous surfer who died saving some people. I really wanted to see that one!

I think it was last Tuesday or Wednesday.
10-07-2013 03:00 PM
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
at least ESPN is pretty good about repeating those shows frequently.
10-07-2013 03:31 PM
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Melky Cabrera Offline
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-07-2013 12:30 PM)billyjack Wrote:  ESPN 30-for-30 tomorrow night (Tues Oct 8th) at 8pm will be about the ABA's Spirits of St Louis team in the mid-70's.

The ABA of course was the NBA's competitor for about 10 years from the late 60's to late 70's. The ABA introduced us to the 3-point shot, the red-white-and-blue basketball, and the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets. The "old-ABA" was almost like the "old-AFL" as far as its wide-open play and innovations.

The Spirits were around just a few years just as the league folded, but had Bob Costas as play-by-play announcer, Moses Malone (went straight from high school to pros), Maurice Lucas, and All-America South Providence legend Marvin Barnes out of PC. Wild team and times. Definitely going to try to catch this. Costas should have some good stories. Hopefully they interviewed Marvin too.

Thanks for the heads up, Billy Jack. That Providence team with Barnes and Ernie D was one of my all time favorite teams. Watching them run the fast break was like watching a clinic. Ernie D could hit Marvin in full stride with a behind the back pass thrown from half court and Narvin would take it to the hole for a lay up without even having to put the ball on the floor. Too bad that Barnes got hurt during their Final Four run or there's no telling what might have happened in that tournament. It was a great team. Of course, you didn't want to trust Marvin with a tire iron in his hands.

Watching him in the ABA would be almost as much fun as watching him with PC. What you didn't mention about the ABA is that it was the league that gave us Doctor J. That's where his legend was born and that's where he could be seen in all his glory. As great as he was, he was more limited in what he could do in the NBA because of their better interior defense than in the ABA.
10-07-2013 05:33 PM
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billyjack Offline
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-07-2013 05:33 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 12:30 PM)billyjack Wrote:  ESPN 30-for-30 tomorrow night (Tues Oct 8th) at 8pm will be about the ABA's Spirits of St Louis team in the mid-70's.

The ABA of course was the NBA's competitor for about 10 years from the late 60's to late 70's. The ABA introduced us to the 3-point shot, the red-white-and-blue basketball, and the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets. The "old-ABA" was almost like the "old-AFL" as far as its wide-open play and innovations.

The Spirits were around just a few years just as the league folded, but had Bob Costas as play-by-play announcer, Moses Malone (went straight from high school to pros), Maurice Lucas, and All-America South Providence legend Marvin Barnes out of PC. Wild team and times. Definitely going to try to catch this. Costas should have some good stories. Hopefully they interviewed Marvin too.

Thanks for the heads up, Billy Jack. That Providence team with Barnes and Ernie D was one of my all time favorite teams. Watching them run the fast break was like watching a clinic. Ernie D could hit Marvin in full stride with a behind the back pass thrown from half court and Narvin would take it to the hole for a lay up without even having to put the ball on the floor. Too bad that Barnes got hurt during their Final Four run or there's no telling what might have happened in that tournament. It was a great team. Of course, you didn't want to trust Marvin with a tire iron in his hands.

Watching him in the ABA would be almost as much fun as watching him with PC. What you didn't mention about the ABA is that it was the league that gave us Doctor J. That's where his legend was born and that's where he could be seen in all his glory. As great as he was, he was more limited in what he could do in the NBA because of their better interior defense than in the ABA.

Yeah, I should have mentioned Dr J...! I caught the last 20 minutes of the show last night, and it was really good. They interviewed most of the players.

Speaking of tire irons, there was a Friar PG in '78 or so (I think he was still only a sophomore) who won the New England Player of the Year award... but he then had a tire iron incident of his own and was kicked off the team. This is part of the reason, I think, that PC had a downturn starting in '79... do you remember this Melky?

Also, the Barnes tire iron thing... his story is that his victim, teammate Larry Ketvertis (sp) was constantly and deliberately throwing elbows in practice (and in games), and after a contentious practice one night ('73 FF season), Barnes took the tire iron to him. I don't know the details beyond Barnes's version. Anyway, Ketvertis (sp) was also a center and tall bruiser under the basket, and if he was still on the team (probably for tire iron injury reasons he couldn't play (?)) vs Memphis State, the Tigers couldn't have exploited the Friars inside after the injury to Barnes. This is what I know about this from years later, when my brother relayed this fourth-hand story to me (since I turned 5 in 1973!)...
10-09-2013 01:37 PM
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billyjack Offline
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-07-2013 01:07 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  The Spirits are also the beneficiaries of one of the best franchise buyouts in sports history. The owners of the Spirits, in lieu of being paid a lump sum for their franchise from the NBA, agreed to be paid a 1/7th share of the NBA's TV rights fees in perpetuity. That was a small amount back in the 1970s, but that has obviously changed quite a bit since then. So, to this day, the owners of the Spirits are getting paid about $20 million per year (and about $300 million total over the past 35 years) in TV money from the NBA without having any expenses whatsoever. The NBA has tried to break that agreement numerous times in court to no avail.

Great point Frank... the show discussed this near the end. Apparently, the St Louis owners get 1/7 of the shares from each of the old ABA's Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets... so, 4/7 of an NBA team share "in perpetuity". Denver, San Antonio, Indiana and Brooklyn I think still get only 6/7 of a share. The show called it the greatest deal in the history of sports.
(This post was last modified: 10-09-2013 01:42 PM by billyjack.)
10-09-2013 01:41 PM
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Post: #10
RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-09-2013 01:37 PM)billyjack Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 05:33 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 12:30 PM)billyjack Wrote:  ESPN 30-for-30 tomorrow night (Tues Oct 8th) at 8pm will be about the ABA's Spirits of St Louis team in the mid-70's.

The ABA of course was the NBA's competitor for about 10 years from the late 60's to late 70's. The ABA introduced us to the 3-point shot, the red-white-and-blue basketball, and the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets. The "old-ABA" was almost like the "old-AFL" as far as its wide-open play and innovations.

The Spirits were around just a few years just as the league folded, but had Bob Costas as play-by-play announcer, Moses Malone (went straight from high school to pros), Maurice Lucas, and All-America South Providence legend Marvin Barnes out of PC. Wild team and times. Definitely going to try to catch this. Costas should have some good stories. Hopefully they interviewed Marvin too.

Thanks for the heads up, Billy Jack. That Providence team with Barnes and Ernie D was one of my all time favorite teams. Watching them run the fast break was like watching a clinic. Ernie D could hit Marvin in full stride with a behind the back pass thrown from half court and Narvin would take it to the hole for a lay up without even having to put the ball on the floor. Too bad that Barnes got hurt during their Final Four run or there's no telling what might have happened in that tournament. It was a great team. Of course, you didn't want to trust Marvin with a tire iron in his hands.

Watching him in the ABA would be almost as much fun as watching him with PC. What you didn't mention about the ABA is that it was the league that gave us Doctor J. That's where his legend was born and that's where he could be seen in all his glory. As great as he was, he was more limited in what he could do in the NBA because of their better interior defense than in the ABA.

Yeah, I should have mentioned Dr J...! I caught the last 20 minutes of the show last night, and it was really good. They interviewed most of the players.

Speaking of tire irons, there was a Friar PG in '78 or so (I think he was still only a sophomore) who won the New England Player of the Year award... but he then had a tire iron incident of his own and was kicked off the team. This is part of the reason, I think, that PC had a downturn starting in '79... do you remember this Melky?

Also, the Barnes tire iron thing... his story is that his victim, teammate Larry Ketvertis (sp) was constantly and deliberately throwing elbows in practice (and in games), and after a contentious practice one night ('73 FF season), Barnes took the tire iron to him. I don't know the details beyond Barnes's version. Anyway, Ketvertis (sp) was also a center and tall bruiser under the basket, and if he was still on the team (probably for tire iron injury reasons he couldn't play (?)) vs Memphis State, the Tigers couldn't have exploited the Friars inside after the injury to Barnes. This is what I know about this from years later, when my brother relayed this fourth-hand story to me (since I turned 5 in 1973!)...

I'm sure you're talking about Dwight Williams who was a lightning quick guard for PC in the late '70's. The only reason I remember him is because the Friars went up against North Carolina who had Phil Ford at PG, the national Player of the Year and one of the all time great college PG's. He's the one who made Dean Smith's 4-corner offense go. Williams stole Ford's lunch and just about anything else he tried to put up in that game and Providence pulled off the upset of the Friars. I remember it because it was on national TV.

Those are the days when my fanaticism for Eastern basketball was being formed. There was a magazine that began to publish in that period, called Eastern Basketball. The publishers had the same feelings that did, which is that Eastern basketball, which had once been the heart and soul of the college game, was getting short shrift from the national media and the NCAA selection committee. I was pulling hard for the Friars that day as I did for any Eastern team playing a team from any other region. Providence had been the premier program in the East since the early '60's and I was a big admirer of Gavitt as a coach.

The formation of the Big East was a dream come true for all of us who shared those feelings. Finally there was a platform for the East to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other national conferences. The league quickly proved the quality of its teams by successfully going toe to toe with the best teams in the country. Just think of it . Had it not been for a bad pass here, or a lucky shot there, or a bad call in '89, the Big East could easily have won 5 national championships in the '80's. The first 2 losses (Georgetown '82 & Syracuse '87) were the teams' own doing, but the '89 championship was stolen from Seton Hall.

BTW, Dwight Williams stabbed another student at PC in some kind of a fight and left school after that. I don't know the particulars.
(This post was last modified: 10-11-2013 03:50 AM by Melky Cabrera.)
10-09-2013 02:38 PM
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Post: #11
RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
This is the most positive posts on St. Louis so far...

Oh wait, not that one. :)
10-09-2013 02:42 PM
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-07-2013 05:33 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 12:30 PM)billyjack Wrote:  ESPN 30-for-30 tomorrow night (Tues Oct 8th) at 8pm will be about the ABA's Spirits of St Louis team in the mid-70's.

The ABA of course was the NBA's competitor for about 10 years from the late 60's to late 70's. The ABA introduced us to the 3-point shot, the red-white-and-blue basketball, and the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets. The "old-ABA" was almost like the "old-AFL" as far as its wide-open play and innovations.

The Spirits were around just a few years just as the league folded, but had Bob Costas as play-by-play announcer, Moses Malone (went straight from high school to pros), Maurice Lucas, and All-America South Providence legend Marvin Barnes out of PC. Wild team and times. Definitely going to try to catch this. Costas should have some good stories. Hopefully they interviewed Marvin too.

Thanks for the heads up, Billy Jack. That Providence team with Barnes and Ernie D was one of my all time favorite teams. Watching them run the fast break was like watching a clinic. Ernie D could hit Marvin in full stride with a behind the back pass thrown from half court and Narvin would take it to the hole for a lay up without even having to put the ball on the floor. Too bad that Barnes got hurt during their Final Four run or there's no telling what might have happened in that tournament. It was a great team. Of course, you didn't want to trust Marvin with a tire iron in his hands.Watching him in the ABA would be almost as much fun as watching him with PC. What you didn't mention about the ABA is that it was the league that gave us Doctor J. That's where his legend was born and that's where he could be seen in all his glory. As great as he was, he was more limited in what he could do in the NBA because of their better interior defense than in the ABA.

Good old Marvin "tire iron" Barnes. I was in grad school at Brown when that all went down. Marvin allegedly held up a bus driver while "disguised" as a PC basketball player. But that Friar team was fun, between Marvin and Ernie (No) DiGregorio, aka "put some mustard on that guy".
10-10-2013 07:29 AM
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
Just watched it, man was Barnes a real POS or what?

He blames the drugs and alcohol for his issues when clearly the personality he had he would have still been a POS without it. He had an attitude that he didn't HAVE to work hard or do the right thing because he was good at BBall. Potential wasted on a person who didn't have the head to take advantage of it.

Basically he was the first AI.



10-10-2013 01:45 PM
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RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-09-2013 02:38 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  
(10-09-2013 01:37 PM)billyjack Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 05:33 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 12:30 PM)billyjack Wrote:  ESPN 30-for-30 tomorrow night (Tues Oct 8th) at 8pm will be about the ABA's Spirits of St Louis team in the mid-70's.

The ABA of course was the NBA's competitor for about 10 years from the late 60's to late 70's. The ABA introduced us to the 3-point shot, the red-white-and-blue basketball, and the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets. The "old-ABA" was almost like the "old-AFL" as far as its wide-open play and innovations.

The Spirits were around just a few years just as the league folded, but had Bob Costas as play-by-play announcer, Moses Malone (went straight from high school to pros), Maurice Lucas, and All-America South Providence legend Marvin Barnes out of PC. Wild team and times. Definitely going to try to catch this. Costas should have some good stories. Hopefully they interviewed Marvin too.

Thanks for the heads up, Billy Jack. That Providence team with Barnes and Ernie D was one of my all time favorite teams. Watching them run the fast break was like watching a clinic. Ernie D could hit Marvin in full stride with a behind the back pass thrown from half court and Narvin would take it to the hole for a lay up without even having to put the ball on the floor. Too bad that Barnes got hurt during their Final Four run or there's no telling what might have happened in that tournament. It was a great team. Of course, you didn't want to trust Marvin with a tire iron in his hands.

Watching him in the ABA would be almost as much fun as watching him with PC. What you didn't mention about the ABA is that it was the league that gave us Doctor J. That's where his legend was born and that's where he could be seen in all his glory. As great as he was, he was more limited in what he could do in the NBA because of their better interior defense than in the ABA.

Yeah, I should have mentioned Dr J...! I caught the last 20 minutes of the show last night, and it was really good. They interviewed most of the players.

Speaking of tire irons, there was a Friar PG in '78 or so (I think he was still only a sophomore) who won the New England Player of the Year award... but he then had a tire iron incident of his own and was kicked off the team. This is part of the reason, I think, that PC had a downturn starting in '79... do you remember this Melky?

Also, the Barnes tire iron thing... his story is that his victim, teammate Larry Ketvertis (sp) was constantly and deliberately throwing elbows in practice (and in games), and after a contentious practice one night ('73 FF season), Barnes took the tire iron to him. I don't know the details beyond Barnes's version. Anyway, Ketvertis (sp) was also a center and tall bruiser under the basket, and if he was still on the team (probably for tire iron injury reasons he couldn't play (?)) vs Memphis State, the Tigers couldn't have exploited the Friars inside after the injury to Barnes. This is what I know about this from years later, when my brother relayed this fourth-hand story to me (since I turned 5 in 1973!)...

I'm sure you're talking about Dwight Williams who was a lightning quick guard for PC in the late '70's. The only reason I remember him is because the Friars went up against North Carolina who had Phil Ford at PG, the national Player of the Year and one of the all time great college PG's. He's the one who made Dean Smith's 4-corner offense go. Williams stole Ford's lunch and just about anything else he tried to put up in that game and Providence pulled off the upset of the Friars. I remember it because it was on national TV.

Those are the days when my fanaticism for Eastern basketball was being formed. There was a magazine that began to publish in that period, called Eastern Basketball. The publishers had the same feelings that did, which is that Eastern basketball, which had once been the heart and soul of the college game, was getting short shrift from the national media and the NCAA selection committee. I was pulling hard for the Friars that day as I did for any Eastern team playing a team from any other region. Providence had been the premier program in the East since the early '60's and I was a big admirer of Gavitt as a coach.

The formation of the Big East was a dream come true for all of us who shared those feelings. Finally there was a platform for the East to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other national conferences. The league quickly proved the quality of its teams by successfully going toe to toe with the best teams in the country. Just think of it . Had it not been for a bad pass here, or a lucky shot there, or a bad call in '89, the Big East could easily have won 5 national championships in the '80's. The first 2 losses (Georgetown '82 & Syracuse '87) were the teams' own doing, but the '89 championship was stolen from Seton Hall.

BTW, Dwight Williams stabbed another student at PC in some kind of a fight and left school after that. I don't know the particulars.

Hey Melky,
Thanks for remembering Dwight Williams's name! The game vs North Carolina was 6 days after the Blizzard of '78...! We were all pretty much still pinned in our houses. I think everyone walked to the Civic Center...!

I completely agree with your thoughts on eastern basketball in the late 70's. The excitement definitely left an impression on me at 10 yrs old, and I've always been a huge college hoops fan. In Rhode Island at least, Ernie D and Marvin were as big as Bobby Orr and Yaz...!

By the way, a side note-- the Friars announced that they'll be retiring Joey Hassett's number (finally!)... one of the original NBA 3-point specialists, with Seattle in the late 70's-- got a ring there with Lenny Wilkens coaching.
10-13-2013 01:15 AM
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Post: #15
RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-13-2013 01:15 AM)billyjack Wrote:  
(10-09-2013 02:38 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  
(10-09-2013 01:37 PM)billyjack Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 05:33 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 12:30 PM)billyjack Wrote:  ESPN 30-for-30 tomorrow night (Tues Oct 8th) at 8pm will be about the ABA's Spirits of St Louis team in the mid-70's.

The ABA of course was the NBA's competitor for about 10 years from the late 60's to late 70's. The ABA introduced us to the 3-point shot, the red-white-and-blue basketball, and the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets. The "old-ABA" was almost like the "old-AFL" as far as its wide-open play and innovations.

The Spirits were around just a few years just as the league folded, but had Bob Costas as play-by-play announcer, Moses Malone (went straight from high school to pros), Maurice Lucas, and All-America South Providence legend Marvin Barnes out of PC. Wild team and times. Definitely going to try to catch this. Costas should have some good stories. Hopefully they interviewed Marvin too.

Thanks for the heads up, Billy Jack. That Providence team with Barnes and Ernie D was one of my all time favorite teams. Watching them run the fast break was like watching a clinic. Ernie D could hit Marvin in full stride with a behind the back pass thrown from half court and Narvin would take it to the hole for a lay up without even having to put the ball on the floor. Too bad that Barnes got hurt during their Final Four run or there's no telling what might have happened in that tournament. It was a great team. Of course, you didn't want to trust Marvin with a tire iron in his hands.

Watching him in the ABA would be almost as much fun as watching him with PC. What you didn't mention about the ABA is that it was the league that gave us Doctor J. That's where his legend was born and that's where he could be seen in all his glory. As great as he was, he was more limited in what he could do in the NBA because of their better interior defense than in the ABA.

Yeah, I should have mentioned Dr J...! I caught the last 20 minutes of the show last night, and it was really good. They interviewed most of the players.

Speaking of tire irons, there was a Friar PG in '78 or so (I think he was still only a sophomore) who won the New England Player of the Year award... but he then had a tire iron incident of his own and was kicked off the team. This is part of the reason, I think, that PC had a downturn starting in '79... do you remember this Melky?

Also, the Barnes tire iron thing... his story is that his victim, teammate Larry Ketvertis (sp) was constantly and deliberately throwing elbows in practice (and in games), and after a contentious practice one night ('73 FF season), Barnes took the tire iron to him. I don't know the details beyond Barnes's version. Anyway, Ketvertis (sp) was also a center and tall bruiser under the basket, and if he was still on the team (probably for tire iron injury reasons he couldn't play (?)) vs Memphis State, the Tigers couldn't have exploited the Friars inside after the injury to Barnes. This is what I know about this from years later, when my brother relayed this fourth-hand story to me (since I turned 5 in 1973!)...

I'm sure you're talking about Dwight Williams who was a lightning quick guard for PC in the late '70's. The only reason I remember him is because the Friars went up against North Carolina who had Phil Ford at PG, the national Player of the Year and one of the all time great college PG's. He's the one who made Dean Smith's 4-corner offense go. Williams stole Ford's lunch and just about anything else he tried to put up in that game and Providence pulled off the upset of the Friars. I remember it because it was on national TV.

Those are the days when my fanaticism for Eastern basketball was being formed. There was a magazine that began to publish in that period, called Eastern Basketball. The publishers had the same feelings that did, which is that Eastern basketball, which had once been the heart and soul of the college game, was getting short shrift from the national media and the NCAA selection committee. I was pulling hard for the Friars that day as I did for any Eastern team playing a team from any other region. Providence had been the premier program in the East since the early '60's and I was a big admirer of Gavitt as a coach.

The formation of the Big East was a dream come true for all of us who shared those feelings. Finally there was a platform for the East to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other national conferences. The league quickly proved the quality of its teams by successfully going toe to toe with the best teams in the country. Just think of it . Had it not been for a bad pass here, or a lucky shot there, or a bad call in '89, the Big East could easily have won 5 national championships in the '80's. The first 2 losses (Georgetown '82 & Syracuse '87) were the teams' own doing, but the '89 championship was stolen from Seton Hall.

BTW, Dwight Williams stabbed another student at PC in some kind of a fight and left school after that. I don't know the particulars.

Hey Melky,
Thanks for remembering Dwight Williams's name! The game vs North Carolina was 6 days after the Blizzard of '78...! We were all pretty much still pinned in our houses. I think everyone walked to the Civic Center...!

I completely agree with your thoughts on eastern basketball in the late 70's. The excitement definitely left an impression on me at 10 yrs old, and I've always been a huge college hoops fan. In Rhode Island at least, Ernie D and Marvin were as big as Bobby Orr and Yaz...!

By the way, a side note-- the Friars announced that they'll be retiring Joey Hassett's number (finally!)... one of the original NBA 3-point specialists, with Seattle in the late 70's-- got a ring there with Lenny Wilkens coaching.

Sonar still does color commentary on their games, doesn't he?
10-13-2013 05:45 AM
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billyjack Offline
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Post: #16
RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
Yeah, "Sonar"...! :)
He does the color commentary on the radio, with John Rooke doing play-by-play. John Rooke has been there a long time. Back in the day, I'm sure you remember the great Chris Clark, "the voice of the Friars", who was also the main sports guy on Channel 10.
(This post was last modified: 10-13-2013 05:27 PM by billyjack.)
10-13-2013 05:26 PM
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gosports1 Offline
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Post: #17
RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-10-2013 07:29 AM)X-man Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 05:33 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 12:30 PM)billyjack Wrote:  ESPN 30-for-30 tomorrow night (Tues Oct 8th) at 8pm will be about the ABA's Spirits of St Louis team in the mid-70's.

The ABA of course was the NBA's competitor for about 10 years from the late 60's to late 70's. The ABA introduced us to the 3-point shot, the red-white-and-blue basketball, and the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets. The "old-ABA" was almost like the "old-AFL" as far as its wide-open play and innovations.

The Spirits were around just a few years just as the league folded, but had Bob Costas as play-by-play announcer, Moses Malone (went straight from high school to pros), Maurice Lucas, and All-America South Providence legend Marvin Barnes out of PC. Wild team and times. Definitely going to try to catch this. Costas should have some good stories. Hopefully they interviewed Marvin too.

Thanks for the heads up, Billy Jack. That Providence team with Barnes and Ernie D was one of my all time favorite teams. Watching them run the fast break was like watching a clinic. Ernie D could hit Marvin in full stride with a behind the back pass thrown from half court and Narvin would take it to the hole for a lay up without even having to put the ball on the floor. Too bad that Barnes got hurt during their Final Four run or there's no telling what might have happened in that tournament. It was a great team. Of course, you didn't want to trust Marvin with a tire iron in his hands.Watching him in the ABA would be almost as much fun as watching him with PC. What you didn't mention about the ABA is that it was the league that gave us Doctor J. That's where his legend was born and that's where he could be seen in all his glory. As great as he was, he was more limited in what he could do in the NBA because of their better interior defense than in the ABA.

Good old Marvin "tire iron" Barnes. I was in grad school at Brown when that all went down. Marvin allegedly held up a bus driver while "disguised" as a PC basketball player. But that Friar team was fun, between Marvin and Ernie (No) DiGregorio, aka "put some mustard on that guy".

from what ive heard he wasnt the brightest bulb. the story i heard was he wore a PC sweatshirt/jacket with the name "marvin" embroided on it. hmm i wonder who that could have been behind that ski mask? 03-lmfao
10-15-2013 10:11 PM
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billyjack Offline
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Post: #18
RE: Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St Louis, Tues 8pm...
(10-15-2013 10:11 PM)gosports1 Wrote:  
(10-10-2013 07:29 AM)X-man Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 05:33 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  
(10-07-2013 12:30 PM)billyjack Wrote:  ESPN 30-for-30 tomorrow night (Tues Oct 8th) at 8pm will be about the ABA's Spirits of St Louis team in the mid-70's.

The ABA of course was the NBA's competitor for about 10 years from the late 60's to late 70's. The ABA introduced us to the 3-point shot, the red-white-and-blue basketball, and the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets. The "old-ABA" was almost like the "old-AFL" as far as its wide-open play and innovations.

The Spirits were around just a few years just as the league folded, but had Bob Costas as play-by-play announcer, Moses Malone (went straight from high school to pros), Maurice Lucas, and All-America South Providence legend Marvin Barnes out of PC. Wild team and times. Definitely going to try to catch this. Costas should have some good stories. Hopefully they interviewed Marvin too.

Thanks for the heads up, Billy Jack. That Providence team with Barnes and Ernie D was one of my all time favorite teams. Watching them run the fast break was like watching a clinic. Ernie D could hit Marvin in full stride with a behind the back pass thrown from half court and Narvin would take it to the hole for a lay up without even having to put the ball on the floor. Too bad that Barnes got hurt during their Final Four run or there's no telling what might have happened in that tournament. It was a great team. Of course, you didn't want to trust Marvin with a tire iron in his hands.Watching him in the ABA would be almost as much fun as watching him with PC. What you didn't mention about the ABA is that it was the league that gave us Doctor J. That's where his legend was born and that's where he could be seen in all his glory. As great as he was, he was more limited in what he could do in the NBA because of their better interior defense than in the ABA.

Good old Marvin "tire iron" Barnes. I was in grad school at Brown when that all went down. Marvin allegedly held up a bus driver while "disguised" as a PC basketball player. But that Friar team was fun, between Marvin and Ernie (No) DiGregorio, aka "put some mustard on that guy".

from what ive heard he wasnt the brightest bulb. the story i heard was he wore a PC sweatshirt/jacket with the name "marvin" embroided on it. hmm i wonder who that could have been behind that ski mask? 03-lmfao

Right, but I think it was when he was still at Central High School... not sure that changes the story much...!
04-cheers
10-15-2013 11:13 PM
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