Today is the 20th anniversary of Ralph Sampson's buzzer beater in game 5 that beat the Lakers and propelled the Rockets into the NBA finals. That shot was the greatest moment in Rockets history pre-championships. It's hard to believe that it has been 20 years. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was visiting my sister in Ft. Worth. Since the game was in LA, it was a late start. Everybody had gone to bed, so I was alone watching the game on CBS. After Akeem (he wasn't Hakeem yet) got thrown out I knew it would be pretty tough to win the game. With the score tied and one second left on the clock the Rockets called a timeout. I was thinking during the timeout that they would put up a prayer but miss, and we would go into overtime. I wasn't too worried if we lost the game because game 6 was in Houston, and I figured we would close out the series then. After the timeout they were lined up ready for the last shot. The ball was tossed to Sampson and he volleyballed it toward the basket. The ball bounced on the rim and fell in. I saw Wiggins throw up his arms and I let out an uncontrollable scream. The camera showed all the Rocket players swarming Sampson as well as Michael Cooper laying on the floor. What a great night that was. I don't think I slept a wink. The next day I drove back to Houston and once we got in radio range I tuned it into KTRH 740 (they broadcasted the games back then) and all the news was about the win. They played Gene Peterson's call of the shot over and over again. What a great feeling hearing him yell "Yesssssss!!!" In honor of Ralph Sampson's shot, I'm going retro today.
I was at Dan Patrick's Sportsbar(Beechnut & 59).As you can imagine the place was packed with a raucus crowd.We had saddled up to the bar a couple of hours before gametime and were fortunate enough to get a couple of stools.Over the course of this fantastic game,we probably ran up a 100 - 120 $ bar tab.When Sampson hit that shot,the whole place exploded....It was insane.Well,my buddy and I got so caught up in the celebration that we ran outside without thinking to pay the tab.Once outside,we realized our error,looked at each other and said to heck with it for now...and took off for a long night starting at Fizz.I went back the next day and payed Dan personally.What a night and what a game!
I was 16. The game was kind of late at night. I remember my Dad celebrating on his back on the floor kicking in the air like a little kid. He then just pointed at the tv mocking the mighty Lakers in their disbelief. My elderly neighbor was out walking her dog and all of the sudden she heard people yelling in their houses. She had no idea why. She thought it was the end of the world or something. I camped out for Finals tickets at the Summit that year. It was crazy. The spinklers came on at midnight while everyone was in line. It has a riot feel to it. It was a scene, man.
Thanks Ralph, you and Vernon are always heroes to us regardless of their bad accounting and horrible choices of women.
Ahhh......that team was a glimpse of what could have been....... They were just getting into their prime. What could have been.....
I remember SI did an article after the lakers blew us out in game 1 basically saying that the Rockets didn't have a chance. Of course, we went on to win the next 4 games... I was up in my room watching on my little black and white TV. I started screaming so loud that my step dad thought someone had broken in to the house and ran into my room with a baseball bat!! He (unlike my Dad) wasn't a big basketball fan and had gone to bed. Dr Strangelove, I watched games 3 and 4 at Dan Patricks place too. It was the place to be back then. One of the original "sports bars" in Houston. My sister's boyfriend (now husband) worked there as a bartender. I was 15 at the time and I showed up with a couple of friends to game 3. He came outside, grabbed us (ahead of about 200 people waiting in line) and set us up right in front of the bigscreen TV. Then he brought us pitchers of beer all night for the rest of the night. No charge. Not bad for a bunch of 16 year olds. He was just trying to butter me up so he could ask my sister to marry him. Clearly, it worked.
ima drummer2k - great story...Dude,your future brother in law did indeed serve up the royal treatment.Until you mentioned it,I had forgotten about the giant throng outside.To the best of my recollection,we got in fairly quickly as we were there pretty early.(I don't think we had to even finagle it)We didn't get free beer though! I was only 20 myself...and that night will always be among the best memories of my life.
