SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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A great discussion with Mike Waters on the occasion of the great mural being finished with Dloph Schayes, Earl Lloyd, Dreanna Stewart and Manny Breland.
The four greatest sports achievements in the history of this area were the National's NBA title, Carmen Basilio beating Sugar Ray Robinson, Ben Schwartzwalder's football team winning the national championship and Jim Boeheim's basketball team winning the national championship. Each was special: the only major league professional sports title we've ever or will ever win; beating the greatest boxer of all time, one of the greatest football teams of all time and modern March Madness. The first three took place withing 4 years in the late 1950's and each entity was aware of the others. I've read article describing the Nats wanting to know if Basilio won a big fight as they entered the locker room after a playoff game and Carmen said he loved rooting for Bens team because" they play football like I fight." I was a toddler in that era and have no living memory of it, but it must have been a great time to be a Syracuse sports fan. However, I think Jim's team winning the 2003 title was the biggest thing for this burg because of the way sports, baseball and college basketball had blown up in the intervening decades. I'll that got us more national publicity and positive feeling locally than the other three combined.
The four greatest sports achievements in the history of this area were the National's NBA title, Carmen Basilio beating Sugar Ray Robinson, Ben Schwartzwalder's football team winning the national championship and Jim Boeheim's basketball team winning the national championship. Each was special: the only major league professional sports title we've ever or will ever win; beating the greatest boxer of all time, one of the greatest football teams of all time and modern March Madness. The first three took place withing 4 years in the late 1950's and each entity was aware of the others. I've read article describing the Nats wanting to know if Basilio won a big fight as they entered the locker room after a playoff game and Carmen said he loved rooting for Bens team because" they play football like I fight." I was a toddler in that era and have no living memory of it, but it must have been a great time to be a Syracuse sports fan. However, I think Jim's team winning the 2003 title was the biggest thing for this burg because of the way sports, baseball and college basketball had blown up in the intervening decades. I'll that got us more national publicity and positive feeling locally than the other three combined.
