MetaChat - I'm fond of wearing Chuck Taylors.

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23 March 2008

I'm fond of wearing Chuck Taylors. →[More:]. The other day i was talking to two co-workers, a black man in his early sixties and a young white girl in her twenties and the subject of my sneakers came up and I reffered to them as 'Air Maraviches.' The girl looked mystified, but the old cat grinned widely and said 'There's a name I ain't thought of in a while.' 'Who was he?' she asked. 'One badass whiteboy on the court,' the old guy said, 'best left hand I ever saw.'

And it's true. With roundball fans of my generation, when the subject of 'Great White Hopes' comes up, people will usually mention Larry Bird or maybe Chris Mullin, but if you talk to people a few years older, the name most often mentioned is that of 'Pistol Pete' Maravich. This gawky looking kid in a pair of Chucks was for years the all-time scoring leader in NCAA history. He was full of dazzling showmanship and incredible scoring ability, and is still revered by fans today. Sadly he passed away of a congenital heart defect in 1988 at age 40. RIP, Pistol.. For further elucidation, check out this excellent bio.

post by: jonmc at: 11:42 | 5 comments

a great quote:

"The radio was playing and the morning news was on. I was startled to hear that Pete Maravich, the basketball player, had collapsed on a basketball court in Pasadena, just fell over and never got up. I'd seen Maravich play in New Orleans, when the Utah Jazz were the New Orleans Jazz. He was something to see - mop of brown hair, floppy socks - the holy terror of the basketball world - high flyin' - magician of the court. The night I saw him he dribbled the ball with his head, scored a behind-the-back, no-look basket - dribbled the length of the court, threw the ball up over the glass and caught his own pass. He was fantastic. Scored something like 38 points. He could have played blind." -Bob Dylan

posted by jonmc 23 March | 11:59

I love me some Chucks too, but I've since switched to No Sweat hightops.

posted by syntax 23 March | 12:03

Cool post Jon. He was a local boy here in Pittsburgh, grew up in the nearby little steel town of Aliquippa, PA. I've been meaning to get around to reading that biography Pistol for a while.

posted by octothorpe 23 March | 12:07

I didn't realize he never won a championship. Huh.

Also, his scoring totals are even more impressive when you taken into account the lack of a three-point line during all but the last three years of his career. And even when it was around, his career total for three-point attempts is only 15, which is ludicrously low for a guard.

posted by mullacc 23 March | 13:21

I watched that first movie and there was one shot he took (at around 4:20, I think) where it looked like he was going to do a behind the back pass and instead did a low underhand flip. Holy crap. Being able to do that makes him near impossible to defend.

posted by plinth 24 March | 08:37

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