Jack
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Post by Jack on Oct 8, 2008 13:05:13 GMT -5
So I know he gets a lot of grief from people around here, but Bill Simmons wrote a hell of a piece on Elgin Baylor today. I never knew very much about the guy- I knew he had been a star in the 60's, but mostly I just knew him as the inept GM of the Clippers (no small thanks to Simmons again, oddly). Recommended reading for anyone who enjoys basketball history: proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/081008
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Oct 8, 2008 13:13:29 GMT -5
Rumors at the time was that he wanted to go to Georgetown, but ended up at Seattle (another Jesuit school). At the time GU went straight by academics, even sports guys, and Elgin didn't make the grade, so to speak.
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Oct 8, 2008 17:03:33 GMT -5
I had just copied the article to post it. I never, ever, ever, ever thought I would say this, but this is a great column by Simmons. Absolute must reading, particularly for younger fans.
I grew up watching Elgin Baylor. As much as I loved Jerry West, Elgin was my favorite basketball player until Magic came around. He was Dr. J. before there was a Dr. J, only better.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Oct 9, 2008 12:31:54 GMT -5
I like Simmons more than most (though I agree he continues to get worse). This is a phenomenal article. Not so much from the writing as the topic -- like others here, I had no idea about anything about Baylor. Not the usual "let's all write the same article" sports writers do today.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Oct 9, 2008 12:36:15 GMT -5
Supposedly Simmons' book is going to be about the NBA. If it is anything like this article, it is going to be a great read.
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FewFAC
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Post by FewFAC on Oct 10, 2008 0:24:57 GMT -5
I saw the summary and thought it was a great idea, and appreciate the dilemma of Elgin Baylor. Happily, he is now free.
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Oct 10, 2008 5:38:13 GMT -5
Rumors at the time was that he wanted to go to Georgetown, but ended up at Seattle (another Jesuit school). At the time GU went straight by academics, even sports guys, and Elgin didn't make the grade, so to speak. The story goes that Baylor was stopped at Healy Gates en route to a visit. This was also 1953 and Georgetown College was an all-male, all-white program in a city that had not yet even desegregated its own public school system. Whatever the reason, the missed opportunity with Baylor was one of the biggest "what-if"'s in Georgetown athletics history.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Oct 26, 2008 15:49:11 GMT -5
Rumors at the time was that he wanted to go to Georgetown, but ended up at Seattle (another Jesuit school). At the time GU went straight by academics, even sports guys, and Elgin didn't make the grade, so to speak. The story goes that Baylor was stopped at Healy Gates en route to a visit. This was also 1953 and Georgetown College was an all-male, all-white program in a city that had not yet even desegregated its own public school system. Whatever the reason, the missed opportunity with Baylor was one of the biggest "what-if"'s in Georgetown athletics history. We were all-male in the college as late as my senior year in 1966. We had some non-white students, but I can remember just three - one a Nigerian, who played in the soccer team, and he graduated in three years and went to med school, one an arts major, and the other a friend of mine, who was a chem major, but unfortuantely he didn't return for his soph year.
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FewFAC
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Post by FewFAC on Nov 15, 2008 0:42:56 GMT -5
Apparently, AI just passed Mr. Baylor on the all-time scoring list.
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Nov 16, 2008 1:43:42 GMT -5
Yeah, it's interesting that AI passed Elgin in the same game that Kobe passed Larry Bird. Lots of big names there.
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