He placed UConn on the basketball map
UConn’s Jim Calhoun retires after 40 years coaching and 26 years coaching the UConn men’s team. Calhoun retires with 873 wins and a plethora of talent funneled into the NBA. Of the current active coaches only Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim have won more games than the 866 of Calhoun. Not surprising Calhoun was enshrined in in the Naismith Hall of Fame (Springfield MA) in 2005. A year later the same honor was accorded him in the Collegiate Hall of Fame (Kansas City MO). From “Jesus Shuttlesworth” a.k.a. Ray Allen to Donyell Marshall continuing to Emeka Okafor and concluding with Kemba Walker. Those former players are but a few of his former players who played or continue to play in the NBA. Calhoun was personally responsible for the national imprint UConn has now, prior to 1986 most folks other than New England residents probably had no idea where the school or even the state was located. Calhoun’s health issues might have been more a contributing factor to his retirement than the academic issues of the athletic department. Coach K. leads an even smaller group of active coaches with NCAA championships (4); right behind is Jim Calhoun with 3 the most recent in 2011. It will be difficult for Kevin Ollie to take over as head coach; he will discover the difficulty of replacing a modern legend. The late Gene Bartow faced a similar situation in 1975 when he replaced John Wooden at UCLA. After a sparkling 52-9 record Bartow left UCLA after a brief two years to build the basketball program at University of Alabama Birmingham. Coach Kevin Ollie will face the large looming shadow of Calhoun; hopefully he is up to the task of following the legend Calhoun was to become.

The LSU sharpshooter
Kareem Abdul Jabbar holds the record for all-time points scored in the NBA. What about Pete Maravich the LSU sharpshooter and Hall of Fame NBA player? Maravich had no opportunity in college and only the last year of his 12-year NBA did he even have an opportunity to shoot a
3-pointer. What a shooter he was especially in college, he played for his dad at LSU. Press Maravich allowed his son the green light to shoot almost “all the time.” As for Maravich on defense remember the Bill Murray line in Space Jam? “Whoa hoa hoa! I don't play defense” Maravich wasn’t quite that bad but was never a defensive wizard. I’m sure you’ve read or heard stories of defensive standouts like Dennis Rodman; they would “rest” when the team was on offense. This was done to conserve energy to give the maximum effort on the defensive end of the floor. Maravich was just the opposite, I’m not saying he didn’t play any defense let’s say it was limited. In that day freshman were ineligible to play varsity, they played on freshman teams. The only exception to the rule was NAIA schools, memory says freshman were always eligible.  In any event the numbers of Maravich only reflect his sophomore through senior year.  The Maravich scoring average his sophomore year was a blistering 43.8 ppg, but he would do even better his junior year.  He raised his scoring average to 44.2 and even higher his senior year 44.5. In 83 college games Maravich scored 3,367 points a NCAA Division One record; this 6-5 guard averaged 44.2 ppg and 6.5 rebounds. 

“His long-distance shooting skill thus produced far fewer points than would have been the case in a later era. Years later, former LSU head basketball coach Dale Brown charted every college game Maravich played, taking into consideration all shots he took. Brown calculated that at the NCAA rule of a three-point line at 19-foot (5.8 m), 9-inches from the rim, Maravich would have averaged thirteen 3-point scores per game, lifting the player's career average to 57 points per game.” Naturally no NBA coach would allow Maravich the free reign his daddy did at LSU. Modifying his game for the NBA he still managed to score 24.2 ppg playing principally for the Hawks and New Orleans Jazz. Nagging Injuries forced his eventual retirement from the game he loved at age of 33. His 12 year career resulted in a 24.2 ppg average and 15,948 points scored. This Hall of Fame player died in 1988 of a heart attack while playing in a pick up game. One additional note, Maravich was ahead of his time in the passing department, the behind the back pass or between the legs was common place for him. Naturally he toned down that portion of his game for the NBA, the passing skills he learned as a youth would be continued by Magic Johnson and others to follow. (statistical history; basketball.reference.com & wikipedia)

Perhaps the “real” St. Louis Blues
I read an article on TV households in America. It was no surprise to note the Metro St. Louis population is substantially larger than Metro Kansas City. Every time I read or hear of movement in the NBA Kansas City is almost always mentioned, few identify St. Louis as a possible destination, why? The Hawks once called St. Louis home prior to leaving for Atlanta in 1968. Might the arrival of the Blues been a contributing factor in their departure? The playing seasons are roughly the same, the NHL and NBA play their games November to early spring. Before going further a history stop, I once mentioned St. Louis wasn’t the Hawks original home the franchise was founded in Buffalo (N.Y.) as the Bisons and played there the 1946 season. They became the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in the fall of 1946 and remained in the Tri-Cities until 1951. The Tri-Cities franchise represented the cities of Moline and Rock Island (Ill) plus Davenport (IA).

In 1951 the franchise moved to Milwaukee and renamed the Hawks where they remained until 1955. The franchise moved to St. Louis in 1955 until the Atlanta move. I first thought the arrival of the Blues might have been a contributing factor to the departure of the Hawks. Not so according to my buddy, the one friend I can say is an NHL and NBA fan. Dave says unlike him they are actually two sets of fans, those of the NHL and NBA. Rarely do fans follow both sports as he does. One other note, the Blues arrived as an expansion team in 1967, the Hawks left the following year. The Blues would not have impacted the Hawks in such a short period of time, they left in 1968. The final question could the Gateway City support both the Blues and an NBA franchise? (dates, Wikipedia) 

(Jerry's) going to need a bigger (boat)!
Excuse me for using the Roy Sheider line from the movie Jaws as a headline, I couldn't help it.  The 2013 NBA All-Star game will be held in Houston Texas. The All-Star game will see a brand new state of the art video board in the Toyota Center. The new video board will be the largest indoor center-hung scoreboard in the United States. “The new board is the centerpiece of a sweeping arena-wide improvement project that was announced today and also includes the installation of new HD flat panel screens throughout the concourses, upgraded Wi-Fi connectivity options, new concessions point-of-sale systems and other upgrades for Toyota Center patrons.” Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones likes to brag about the fact they have the largest video board in the nation. The Rockets will counter his claim by pointing out Cowboys Stadium is located outdoors. (probasketball.com)