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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 4773934, member: 289"] An excerpt from the basketball memoir of my early days as an SU fan "From the Mists of Time": I finally persuaded my father to take me to an SU game. It was the biggest game of the 1966-67 season. SU was 19-2 and ranked #8 in the country in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. St. John’s was 18-3. I have forgotten their ranking but it may have been as high as #7. (I’ve since looked it up: We were #8: they were #17, which surprises me.) They had a big man named Sonny Dove. Sonny was only about 6-8 and probably only weighed about 200 pounds but in that era, he was like Patrick Ewing. He was a great leaper who could block shots, ram in dunks, (when most players couldn’t), and rip down rebounds with the best of them. We had nothing like him. Nonetheless, the SU players and fans had their usual confidence. Everything had gone our way for two months. All the shots had gone in for us and the balls had bounced our way. It was a magical year. This game would determine the best team of the eastern independents and open the door to the NCAA tournament in an era where only 24 teams went there. Of those only 8, (two per region) were “At large” teams. In those days that meant independents as there was a rule than only conference champions could go to the NCAAs, (a rule that made the NIT nearly as prestigious a tournament as the NCAAs). There were only two at large births in each region and SU, the Johnnies and BC were the leading contenders in the East. The game progressed as did most SU games that year. We couldn’t handle Dove inside but we shot well, handled the ball well and got the bounces and the Orange led until the last minute of play. That’s when Dove really took over. St. John’s had about three straight trips down court where they missed but Sonny rose up and violently slammed the ball in the hoop. The birds who lived in the Manley Dome went flying about in a panic. SU was unable to answer and went down to defeat, 64-71. That was the beginning of the end of the Orange dreams for that year. [/QUOTE]

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