Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 2230287, member: 289"] ([I]This is along post about a short period but it's the most significant and perhaps the most interesting period in the history of pro basketball so I really didn't want to leave anything out. Whether you read it it or not, check out some of the rare videos in the links. They show what the NBA looked like in its infancy.[/I]) THE PILLARS OF CREATION You may remember an image from the Hubble telescope that someone decided to call the “Pillars of Creation”: [URL]http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2457764/images/o-PILLARS-OF-CREATION-facebook.jpg[/URL] It depicts three columns of gas and dust within which new stars are being formed. The name is derived from a sermon by a preacher named Charles Spurgeon in which he said “And now wonder, ye angels…the Infinite has become an infant; he, upon whose shoulders the universe doth hang, hangs at his mother's breast. He who created all things, and bears up the pillars of creation.” In basketball those three pillars would represent the American Basketball League, the National Basketball League and something called the Basketball Association of America. The first two had been in business since 1925 and 1937 respectively when the baby of the bunch, the BAA was formed in 1946 and yet most histories of pro basketball start with the BAA’s creation. They see only the one pillar. When World War II ended, people wanted to have fun and the basic way for sports fans to have fun in the winter was to go to downtown arenas and see either a boxing card or a hockey game. The ABL and NBL played mostly in smaller arenas in smaller cities, sometimes in places like ballrooms. Basketball was not big-time in the big cities. The owners of the big arenas belonged to Arena Managers Association of America. Many of them owned hockey teams that played in the National Hockey League or in the (of course there had to be one), American Hockey League. Their idea was that they could make more money if they had something to show the fans when the hockey teams were out of town. Walter Brown of Boston was the leader of the pack and he mortgaged his home to get the money to found the Celtics. Ned Irish, the sportswriter who had put together college doubleheaders and then the NIT in Madison Square Garden, “strong armed” his way into the new league. Wikipedia: “With the Garden backing him, Irish claimed he represented a corporation with $3.5 million in assets. According to Sports Illustrated, when his other competitor for the franchise, Max Kase, a New York newsman, was making his pitch to the other league representatives, Irish would interject from time to time, "Three and a half million." Ironically the idea for the new league had originated with Kase, who had first contacted Brown about it. Eddie Gottlieb of the ABL’s Philadelphia SPHAs was invited to purchase a BAA franchise. He could see that the larger arenas meant bigger crowds and more money so that was the place to be. But he didn’t move his SPHAs to the new league. Instead he created a new team- you might have heard of them - the Warriors. He also became their coach-and everything else- for the next nine seasons. Mike Lupica: “"He promoted the team on street corners and he sold tickets and then he counted the cold house." Fran Seike, who was running Maple leaf Gardens in Toronto, created the Huskies for that city. Chicago got a team called the Stags to alternate home dates with the Black Hawks. No, they weren’t owned by George Halas. Instead Arthur Morse, a lawyer representing Chicago Stadium was at the initial meeting on D-Day, June 6, (but in 1946). Detroit had the Falcons. Montreal was the only NHL city of the time without a BAA team. It could be said that the NBA had four pillars of its creation, the forth being the National Hockey League. In fact, the new league’s first game was played in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on November 1, 1946 with the New York Knicks being the visiting team. The Capitols, coached by Red Auerbach, represented Washington. Providence had the Steamrollers, (an old NFL name). St. Louis had a team called the Bombers, coached by Ken Loeffler, who would later win an NCAA championship at LaSalle. Cleveland had the Rebels, coached by Original Celtic, Dutch Dehnert and starring the well-travelled Ed Sadowski. Pittsburgh had – what else- The Ironmen. No Oshkoshs or Sheboygans in the group. The new league had the arenas but they didn’t have the players- yet. They did have a commissioner, Maurice Podoloff, co-owner of the New Haven Arena and the Commissioner of the American Hockey league, (he did both jobs simultaneously until 1952). It was said that “he didn’t know a backboard from a backcourt” but he did know how to organize things. He hired a young man named Walter Kennedy to handle the league’s publicity. He would succeed Podoloff in 1963 and hold the job until 1975. They decided to have an ambitious 60 game schedule, (same as the NHL). They wanted to produce excitement and decided to outlaw zone defense to increase scoring. They decided to play 48 minutes games in four 12 minute quarters to give the fans “an evening’s entertainment”, rather than a 40 minute game in two halves. Home teams would keep all the gate receipts while visitors would “paid off in boos”. There was a salary cap of $50,000 per team. They also decided that would be no black players in the league. I guess the hockey fans weren’t used to them. The NBL was still the best league but the BAA raided the ABL the way the ACC has raided the Big East, with similar results. They also benefited from the large number of athletes who were getting out of the service. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?