ignorant, disrespectful and classless fans. which is not what i expected, we are usually if anything nice fans, even if its a bad things sometimes.
Tinman, I misread your response to Zong's post as a response to the question that I asked you in another post in this thread. My bad. Anyway, I think you are mistaken about Sampson getting into a fight with Bill Walton. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my guess is that you were incorrectly recalling the fight that Ralph Sampson got into with Jerry Sichting during Game 5 of the 1986 NBA Finals: "Game 5 was marred by a fight between Sampson and Sichting. With a little more than three minutes gone in the second period, the Houston forward and Boston guard got tangled up over the ball. They exchanged words, which led to Sampson throwing punches, one of which struck Dennis Johnson in the left eye when he attempted to break things up." http://www.nba.com/history/finals/19851986.html
From the Bill Walton Quote Page: "The patience of a coach. Rudy T... that guy's going STRAIGHT to heaven!" "Look at the chiseled body of Dikembe. Not a bead of sweat visible on his forehead. He is the prototypical center for the future of the NBA that all other centers should be based on." "Come on, that was no foul! It may be a violation of all the basic rules of human decency, but its not a foul." "Shawn Bradley, you're 7 foot 6. SUCCESS IS A CHOICE!" "If you don't like Vince Carter, you're either depressed or a critic" "Rasheed Wallace is a loose as any cannon on a ship." "When that ball was put up, to decide the fate of Western Civilization, the game itself was a celebration of life. Such a joyful explosion of youthful enthusiasm just racing up and down this court celebrating the dream and the vision. A harmonic convergence of the highest order!" "If Wilt Chamberlain played in today's age of ESPN, he'd have his own channel!" "John Wooden is an intergalactic treasure!"
I remember seeing that game as a kid and being sooo pumped up by it. Practically everyone thought the Rox were done that night. The Celtics had just won a close game two days earlier which people figured was the best the Rox could do, commentators were calling that Celtics team the greatest team ever and even scalpers outside the Summit were willing to unload tickets at a loss. The first quarter Sampson looked pissed and prepared to win the game single handedly. He was doing moves that I'd never seen then or since, someone that tall do. Imagine a 7'-4" T-Mac taking it to the hoop. Many of us would be willing to give their left nuts for Yao to move like that. Sampson is playing out of his mind and while the rest of the Rox aren't playing bad they aren't helping him out that much and the Celtics aren't slouching either. Through the first quarter and a half the game is closely fought but then in the second quarter things just erupt. Sampson coming down on the low blocks and getting tangled up with Sichting and Sampson suddenly loses it and starts swinging. He decks Sichting and then Johnson before the benches clear and it is pandemonium. After several minutes everything is cleared and Sampson and Sichting are ejected. The crowd erupts chanting "We Want Ralph!" and it was like all of Houston was chanting too. The Rockets come back and play possessed. The Celtics look rattled after appearing supremely confident and the Rox delay the Celtics coronation for another day. Unfortunately things in Boston were a lot diferent and the Celtics came out focussed while it was the Rox turn to look lost. The Celtics win the series 4 games to 2 and Celtics fans rush the floor of the Garden at the end. It was the end of a great season though for the young Rox after defeating a cunning and Denver team and then stunning the defending World Champion Lakers with James Worthy and Magic Johnson in their primes and finally taking a Celtics team that steam rolled through the East, and keep in mind the Eastern Conference was a lot different then than it was today. At that time it looked like the young Olajuwan and Sampson Rox would be back soon and hoisting the NBA Championship but sadly in the next two years drugs and injuries took a huge toll and it took another 8 years to see the a Rockets team hoist a championship.
hilarious! i don't usually like to quote the full video's on these things, but its just so classic Bill Walton...
check out my post in the last page of the entire game: Walton didn't hit Sampson during that game, he tackled Ralph when the bench cleared. I know Sichting is a midget. Finally able to break free, the 7-foot-4, 230-pound Sampson stepped back in plain view of referee Jack Madden and punched the 6-1, 180-pound Sichting in the face. That blow did not connect solidly, but Sampson's second blow - another right hand - caught Sichting. Johnson then came up on Sampson from the side, got in a punch and Ralph caught him squarely on the side of the face with a roundhouse left in return. For a moment, it looked like Sampson was doing his own version of Joe Louis' Bum of the Month Club," or impersonating Bruce Lee in a Kung Fu movie, taking on all comers. Both benches then emptied and Walton tackled Sampson from behind and brought him to the floor.
Walton is awesome, as an alum of ucla, i am not biased whatsoever but yeah he truly loves basketball so much, i've been lucky enough to meet him a couple of times. the owner of my company is extremely good friends with him, he came by the office one day and saw my Hakeem Olajuwon figure on my desk and burst out (I remember it clearly) "Ah Hakeem Olajuwon one of the greatest pivots of our time, I am proud to have said I've played against that all-time great. The grace and dignity he carried on the court was only surpassed by how he carried himself off the court." He look at the owner and said "This kid knows his history" my owner replies, "Yeah I dont know he is a rockets fan at least he is a bruin too" And Walton replies "Even better!" Great guy and yeah he loves the big men of the game I dont think he is a Rocket Hater. Generally its the people who love you the most that criticize you the harshest. preach on tinman, preach on!
lol, that was exactly what i was thinking, bill walton likes to exaggerate stuff and use ancient words, he should be a movie preview announcer
I was defending Mister Bill over in the Dish. He gives props when props are deserved. Sometimes I think he's having an acid flashback, but it's hard for me to recognize those. Don't know why. Bill lives in a time of his own...
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AEJG06qEwLA&rel=1&border=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AEJG06qEwLA&rel=1&border=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> Check out Caliendo doing Bill Walton near the end. Funny stuff.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zc7w0nn1az0&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zc7w0nn1az0&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> I like what he says about Eric Snow.
