Question about fandom & Pearl

[cbcuse3]

My first memory of SU hoops is Leo Rautins and Iistening to games on the radio with my parents/brother. Doug Logan on the call. Syracuse basketball was something we did as a family growing up. Games weren't on TV until road conference games and a select few home games so there was a lot of WSYR. My parents always took us to one or two games a year in long range view seats. I remember standing in line at ticketron in Penn Cann Mall to get tickets the day they went on sale. It took me until when I got older to realize that I relate SU hoops to family time and that is why it is so special to me.

Pearl memories- my Dad going to the BC half court shot game and my brother, mom and I listening to Doug on the air. My Dad also going to the Hoya game where Father B took the mike and told the crowd to stop throwing Oranges. We won that one and it was on TV.

Does anyone have the Doug Logan call when Pearl hit the half court shot vs BC? That would give me chills.

"THE SYRACUSE ORANGEMEN ARE ON THE AIR"

 

[RF2044]

My first Pearl memory was watching the halftime telecast hosted by Al McGuire, where Pearl announced that he was going to Syracuse. I think I was in fifth grade. My dad was a season ticket holder, had attended SU, and was a die hard basketball player / SU fan. That was around the time where I started picking up his love of the team.

So, we're watching the telecast on the living room couch, and I have no idea who the Pearl is or why my father is so excited on the edge of his seat. I remember that it was fairly no frills--the two of them were sitting there on two fold out chairs, no entourage or any of the stuff you see today, and Pearl matter of factly announced that he'll play at Syracuse University. What stands out to me is how excited my dad was at the time, and being curious because I had no idea who this player was.

I found out the next year, when he suited up.

Today has sucked on a lot of levels. I've watched a ton of videos of old Pearl clips, listened to Boeheim's heartfelt press conference, and sadly reflected on how this player who meant so much to everybody died too young.

But then I think about what happened to him back in the 95-96 timeframe, and how miraculous is was that his 5 year old step son was able to dial 911 and get Pearl the medical attention that saved his life, and I'm happy that the community got a chance to enjoy Pearl for another 19 years.

And I'm touched by the tributes to him--on ESPN, on the NBA telecasts, and on the radio. Pearl had a fairly pedestrian NBA career by most evaluative standards, and yet here he was being honored. I read here tonight that TNT did an 8 minute off-the-cuff tribute, which is amazing considering he really didn't make much of a dent in the NBA. Think about that for a second. I'm not surprised that a former foe like Patrick Ewing tweets about Pearl, but to have Magic Johnson and many others do it? It really shows how iconic the Pearl was. His NBA career was irrelevant--Pearl electrified basketball, and everybody who remembers seeing him play understands exactly why and mourns his death. What a tribute today has been.

 

[rrlbees]

Does anyone have the Doug Logan call when Pearl hit the half court shot vs BC? That would give me chills. "THE SYRACUSE ORANGEMEN ARE ON THE AIR"

It's part of this ESPN tribute.

 

[Dave85]

I first started watching Orange BB during the Erich Santifer, Leo Rautins and Rafael Addison era. I played video games one time with Andre Hawkins when he was a freshmen in the back of Zorbas. But the 83-84 season with Pearl is when Orange basketball became my religion. What was really goofy was at the end of the 82-83 season I was thinking "Oh my God, what are they going to do without Santifer and Rautins." LOL! Honestly, Pearl got me deeply hooked on Orange basketball and I've been watching it religiously ever since.

 

[cbcuse3]

It's part of this ESPN tribute. YouTube Video

unfortunately that one isn't the Doug Logan WSYR radio call I believe it is the tv call

 

[Dave85]

I was a fan going back to Roys Runts. But Pearl...was just ELECTRIC.

When you watch the old games, the crowd was more into it, because there was never any dead time. Every play could have been spectacular.

And every game was a fugging WAR.

The "fugging WAR" comment is what I remember from that era of Orange BB. It seemed like the last minute of every game took 20 minutes to complete with 4 or 5 lead changes, all time-outs being spent, and a crazy last possession shot which would win it or lose it.

 

[rrlbees]

unfortunately that one isn't the Doug Logan WSYR radio call I believe it is the tv call

Sorry

 

[MGP]

First memories were of the '75 FF team, but I started going to every game with my Dad around '78-'79 (when I was 10). Was there for every game during Dwayne's tenure - so fortunate to be a witness to it all. It was always so exciting, never knowing what would (could) happen next with him. It may be my nostalgia, but there was just something "different" about the games back then, a different electricity, and Pearl was a major part of it. EVERY game was an event. Can't explain it, but all of you from my era understand what I'm saying, right? Still live and die with my Orange hoops today, but that was just a magical time that I don't think will ever be equaled...

 

[Cowtown]

In 1965 we went to watch a wrestling dual meet when Cornell hosted Oklahoma St. Someone told us there was a scrimmage going on between Cornell's basketball team and Syracuse, so we snuck over to watch some of it. Yes, Dave Bing was there, so that was my first SU hoops experience. We played against Mike Lee in HS, so when he went to SU I became a fan of his, and later of his little brother Jim. I moved away from CNY and didn't get to see much of the basketball team until Pearl and SU helped usher in the golden era of the Big East in the early-mid 80's. Happily for me, his time with the Orangemen helped re-establish the connection between me and SU.

 

[rrlbees]

unfortunately that one isn't the Doug Logan WSYR radio call I believe it is the tv call

How about the WAER call?

https://t.co/PCu7iRFakF

 

[Millhouse]

i think i became a fan because of pearl indirectly. i don't have the vivid memory of him, it's piecemeal - not old enough to really commit those games to memory back then. but i became an SU fan in the mid 80s when they were on TV and started going to some games. i wasn't running around as a Pearl guy but it was still because of him.

 

[Marsh01]

Fan before Pearl but is my all time favorite Syracuse player by a landslide

 

[OttoMets]

...

But then I think about what happened to him back in the 95-96 timeframe, and how miraculous is was that his 5 year old step son was able to dial 911 and get Pearl the medical attention that saved his life, and I'm happy that the community got a chance to enjoy Pearl for another 19 years.

And I'm touched by the tributes to him--on ESPN, on the NBA telecasts, and on the radio. Pearl had a fairly pedestrian NBA career by most evaluative standards, and yet here he was being honored. I read here tonight that TNT did an 8 minute off-the-cuff tribute, which is amazing considering he really didn't make much of a dent in the NBA. Think about that for a second. I'm not surprised that a former foe like Patrick Ewing tweets about Pearl, but to have Magic Johnson and many others do it? It really shows how iconic the Pearl was. His NBA career was irrelevant--Pearl electrified basketball, and everybody who remembers seeing him play understands exactly why and mourns his death. What a tribute today has been.

This is what I've been trying to think of for the past couple days. Great overall post, by the way.

I'm too young to have had any substantive memory of the Pearl era -- I recall bits of watching him play, but it didn't matter like it would even a couple years later; Wendell Alexis was my favorite player on those teams.

Haven't really cared to share this, but we've got a nice minor family connection to Pearl. My father was a professor of Pearl's during his freshman year and Pearl (who liked most everyone anyway) seemed to like my dad, both Downstate guys, my dad's closer in age to Pearl than many of his other professors probably were. In spring of 1986, my dad was surprised to get a memo or call from the basketball office - Pearl was itching to leave and Bernie wanted my dad to have a sit-down with Pearl, go over the pros and cons of declaring early from more of a life-planning (rather than basketball) perspective. I wouldn't be able to do justice to the details of the talk, especially in a typed format, but apparently Pearl put a lot of thought into his decision and was characteristically excited about the move but also eager to consider the risks involved. Seems that he was an interesting and interested guy.

Sad couple days.

 

[Marsh01]

My first Pearl memory was watching the halftime telecast hosted by Al McGuire, where Pearl announced that he was going to Syracuse. I think I was in fifth grade. My dad was a season ticket holder, had attended SU, and was a die hard basketball player / SU fan. That was around the time where I started picking up his love of the team.

So, we're watching the telecast on the living room couch, and I have no idea who the Pearl is or why my father is so excited on the edge of his seat. I remember that it was fairly no frills--the two of them were sitting there on two fold out chairs, no entourage or any of the stuff you see today, and Pearl matter of factly announced that he'll play at Syracuse University. What stands out to me is how excited my dad was at the time, and being curious because I had no idea who this player was.

I found out the next year, when he suited up.

Today has sucked on a lot of levels. I've watched a ton of videos of old Pearl clips, listened to Boeheim's heartfelt press conference, and sadly reflected on how this player who meant so much to everybody died too young.

But then I think about what happened to him back in the 95-96 timeframe, and how miraculous is was that his 5 year old step son was able to dial 911 and get Pearl the medical attention that saved his life, and I'm happy that the community got a chance to enjoy Pearl for another 19 years.

And I'm touched by the tributes to him--on ESPN, on the NBA telecasts, and on the radio. Pearl had a fairly pedestrian NBA career by most evaluative standards, and yet here he was being honored. I read here tonight that TNT did an 8 minute off-the-cuff tribute, which is amazing considering he really didn't make much of a dent in the NBA. Think about that for a second. I'm not surprised that a former foe like Patrick Ewing tweets about Pearl, but to have Magic Johnson and many others do it? It really shows how iconic the Pearl was. His NBA career was irrelevant--Pearl electrified basketball, and everybody who remembers seeing him play understands exactly why and mourns his death. What a tribute today has been.

I remember watching that. McGuire responded "Why Syracuse, why snow country".

 

[KaiserUEO]

I was in HS when I went to my 1st game ever at the Dome...Pearl's shot.

that game and that era, is what college basketball was/is to me...which it no longer is, with all the 1 and doners or the 2 and dones.

it was a game of out of this world characters, performers. they were authors, poets, painters, everyone was larger than life and they were there year after year!

Pearl. Ewing. Mullin.

good lord.

but then there were others that made it legendary..and for me, they were at this game on BC too.

back then, I liked BC, St Johns & Syracuse...basically in that order, for my dad is a BC alum, Mullin is Mullin and then you had the local upstate NY 'Cuse with the Dome and now this guy Pearl.

it also gave me 6+ opportunities a year to really hate on gtown, but I digress.

BC had 2 such characters for me, Jay Murphy and Michael Adams.

Murphy was born 15 years too early. that skinny white boy could shoot em deep. if there was a 3pt line back then, his avg would've gone up by 5 a game. dude loved the corner J. his kids played major ball, think they in Europe now.

Michael Adams was a spectacle to behold, 5'10 but looked more like 5'7 with a shot-put shot and annoying ability on D to steal the ball regularly.

you didn't need a scorecard to check the #s to see who was who out there. they both stood out, obviously...so did the Pearl.

what a game. filled with great characters performing Shakespeare even, one where the main attraction would not be out done as he stole the entire show and rode (ran off) into the sunset (lockerroom).

I cant say for sure that 3 years later id choose Syracuse over BC because of that shot, but I can definitely tell you that my impression of what going to a big time school and rooting for its sports teams should be like...and I knew that nothing would ever top 4 years of what the Carrier Dome could offer based on what the Pearl was doing then.

oh to be young...

 

[Dave85]

I was in HS when I went to my 1st game ever at the Dome...Pearl's shot.

If I were your father I would have said, "Yeah, that kind of thing happens every game. Do you want to go again?"

 

[IthacaMatt]

how many of you became SU fans because of Pearl?

I definitely fall into that category - Pearl wasn't the sole reason that I got into SU basketball, but he was a pretty big part of the reason. I remember being mesmerized as a kid, watching him toy with defenders, and handle the ball like it was a yo-yo in his hands, all the while, with that huge, ear-to-ear smile. I can say that I very well may not have gone to grad school at SU had it not been for my love of SU basketball

Sorry for the LAMP nature of this post...I just had to vent.

Thank you, Pearl

That's the case for my wife. When we met, Pearl was just getting started at SU. I had already been a fan for over a decade, going back to Roys Runts. But when she saw Pearl, she was just mesmerized with how he could score seemingly at will, and the passes were like something you would see from the Harlem Globetrotters. Syracuse used to be the most entertaining college team to watch for about a decade, starting with Pearl until the end of the Billy Owens era.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I remember watching that. McGuire responded "Why Syracuse, why snow country".

I remember one time Al McGuire called one of our games, I'm pretty sure it was Pearl's freshman year and the first time Al was seeing him live, and I vividly remember Al falling all over himself with the compliments for Pearl's game. At one point, he called Pearl an "aircraft carrier".

The thing I remember most about him was his ability to drive through people in the open court. He was like a shark in the water; people talk about his "high dribble", but to my eyes he had a very low center of gravity and a forward lean like he was a shark moving through the water, fast and efficient. Watching some of these old clips has been wonderful. The way he just sliced through and found space between defenders was magical.

 

[KaiserUEO]

If I were your father I would have said, "Yeah, that kind of thing happens every game. Do you want to go again?"

let me just say that going to see Siena, was never the same after that.

'are you sure they are both in D1?'...

 

[tbonezone]

i started following syracuse hoops in the mid to late seventies but nothing in my memory compares to excitement the pearl brought to the court.
i think my best pearl memory was one of pearl's worst. the walter berry block. i was just so sure he was gonna score . i've never been so juiced and excited watching sports as i was when pearl headed up the court...and then:

"Eight seconds remained. Washington took the inbounds pass. He flew up court as if propelled by a turbo button, faster it seemed with the ball than without it. As Rowan watched Washington go coast to coast, at full speed, he saw “an unstoppable force.”

Walter Berry, an old friend and a fellow New York City basketball prodigy nicknamed the Truth, stalked Washington. He figured Washington was headed toward the rim. As Washington ducked under a defender and released the ball, Berry blocked him from behind. Washington never saw him.
He continued: “Pearl kept asking me why I blocked his shot. He asked me that 20 times.”
Always, the same answer."
“Bro, I knew exactly where you were going.”

Photo

Syracuse’s Dwayne Washington going to the basket in front of Walter Berry (21) in the 1986 Big East tournament championship game.CreditLarry Morris/The New York Times (pearl was mvp)

i never got to see dave bing play (at syracuse) and can only imagine how smooth he was. but i did get to see the pearl live many many times
and feel a little sorry for those who missed his fantastic show. i agree with JB here he was the most exciting player ever to grace the dome.