NCAA D1…
Laramie, Wyoming was a small town in the Fall of 1970- about 10,000 regular inhabitants and a university population of about another 10,000. It sits at 7200 feet of elevation and is on a windswept plain. Story goes that it got the university because there were three things available when Wyoming became a state- the capitol, a university, and a prison. Cheyenne got first pick and took the capitol. Laramie got the second pick and took the university. I think the prison went to Rock Springs or somewhere like that. It was the only university in the state and everyone in the state was a Cowboy fan. Like I said earlier, their football program had been great- right up until the year before I got there. Then they had the infamous Black 14 incident, where the African American players on the team had gone to the head football coach, Lloyd Eaton, and demanded to wear black armbands in their game against BYU, because the Mormon church did not allow blacks in the priesthood. Eaton suspended the players, and the program began to tumble. To this day, it has never rebounded to where it was.
I did not have a sterling career at Wyoming for several reasons. I came up from Phoenix woefully unprepared for the brutality of the weather in Laramie. I think I had a couple of sweaters and a raincoat, which is all I had ever needed in hot Phoenix, and hot and humid Baytown, Texas. So it didn’t take me long to get sick, and was once so sick after practices had begun that I was hospitalized. For that reason, the first year I had a hard time getting in shape at that altitude. Practices ended just before the cafeteria closed, so we would run over, but most of the food was gone or put away, so most of us just drank milk or juices. I was always hungry at night, but too proud to ask my parents for any extra cash to be able to buy food. A lot of guys were doing that, or sponging off friends or girlfriends. I went hungry a lot of nights and was losing weight. Then, the shoe that Wyoming issued to us was a Converse low cut suede leather- very stylish, but had a serious flaw that caused several of us concern. The back of the shoe on the inside, where it rubs up against your heel, had a lip made of hard leather. It wore grooves in both of my heels that were open sores. I tried to work with the trainers to come up with a solution, but nothing seemed effective in allowing the sores to heal. Whenever you flex your foot to walk or jump, if you have a sore on your heel by the Achilles tendon, it will open up the wound. Mine eventually became infected. The team doctor then told me I was going to have to sit out until the sores completely healed. That was going to knock me out of everything until right before the first game. During that time, I was at least able to get to the cafeteria and eat on time, but lost all of my conditioning.
The first game was against the University of Nebraska- a home game at War Memorial. I was allowed to suit up, but pretty much knew I wouldn’t play. The only remarkable thing about it was running on to the floor for the first time with a full arena of about 10,000 people going nuts and hearing the school fight song- “Ragtime Cowboy Joe”. You know how it is when you dream something and then there you are- living your dream? Surreal. I thought back to the many days of deliberate practice that were no fun, but there I was. There was a moment during warmups when we heard the loud banging of a drum and some guy was in the upper deck dressed completely like a cowboy with an absurdly large hat. He would bang on the drum- stop- then point his drumstick at the opposing team and yell “you’re gonna lose!. The crowd would then repeat what he just said very loudly. It was impressive. The guy called himself Crazy George and he would go on to be the mascot for some major league baseball teams and NFL teams.
We beat Nebraska- I did not get in as predicted, but afterwards Coach Strannigan told me that they would like me to redshirt, because of all the things that had kept me out. I accepted and continued to practice with the team through the season. They even took me on the road trip to Arizona, which was great. I remember the day we left for Phoenix- the temperature in Laramie was minus 64 degrees. We got to Phoenix a few hours later and it was plus 75- a difference of 139 degrees. Some guys got sick and the doctor said they were suffering from something called “weather shock”.
The next year, I had put on some weight, worked hard on my skills, lifted weights, and bought adequate clothing for the weather ahead, so I fully expected a big year for basketball. It didn’t really happen that way. I had some good games- 17 points and 15 rebounds against Northern Colorado, 15 points and 12 rebounds against Montana were the best. In the Montana game, I still remember their fiery coach, Jud Heathcote, yelling at his team to foul me late in the game and then making 11 out of 12 free throws. Jud would go on after Montana to be the head coach at Michigan State and lead them to the NCAA title in 1979 with a guy named Magic Johnson. That title game against Indiana State with Larry Bird would change the face of NCAA and NBA basketball forever. And Jud wanted to foul me- so I got that going for me, which is nice. I even started a game against Denver University so it wasn’t like I didn’t have my chances. It just seemed like I was always in Coach Strannigan’s doghouse and could never get out. He was like all the other college coaches I had- impersonal and hard or unwilling to communicate with players. After the Montana game, for example, I was asked to do a post-game radio interview, during which the guy asked me where I preferred to play- inside or outside. Those radio shows were piped back into the dressing room area so everyone could listen, but it was my experience that no one really paid much attention to them in the locker room. I know I didn’t. So, to answer his question, I said I thought I was better suited for face up basketball, but would be glad to play anywhere the coach wanted me to. That was it, but I guess Coach Strannigan only caught the first part of the answer. He didn’t say anything, but the next day we flew down to Dallas and drove to Ft. Worth where the following day we would be playing TCU. Not a word from the coach. The TCU game was played and I didn’t play a second- coming off a 15 and 12 game against Montana. My parents had flown down from Phoenix to see me play for the first time in college. As the game ended, I was walking back towards the locker room, pretty shell shocked for not have gotten in, and Coach Strannigan walked by me and said “what do you think of your position now?” That hurt. The next night, we played North Texas State and I played. I never wanted to treat someone like that, though, and that has stayed with me through the years.
Next…the WAC…
Laramie, Wyoming was a small town in the Fall of 1970- about 10,000 regular inhabitants and a university population of about another 10,000. It sits at 7200 feet of elevation and is on a windswept plain. Story goes that it got the university because there were three things available when Wyoming became a state- the capitol, a university, and a prison. Cheyenne got first pick and took the capitol. Laramie got the second pick and took the university. I think the prison went to Rock Springs or somewhere like that. It was the only university in the state and everyone in the state was a Cowboy fan. Like I said earlier, their football program had been great- right up until the year before I got there. Then they had the infamous Black 14 incident, where the African American players on the team had gone to the head football coach, Lloyd Eaton, and demanded to wear black armbands in their game against BYU, because the Mormon church did not allow blacks in the priesthood. Eaton suspended the players, and the program began to tumble. To this day, it has never rebounded to where it was.
I did not have a sterling career at Wyoming for several reasons. I came up from Phoenix woefully unprepared for the brutality of the weather in Laramie. I think I had a couple of sweaters and a raincoat, which is all I had ever needed in hot Phoenix, and hot and humid Baytown, Texas. So it didn’t take me long to get sick, and was once so sick after practices had begun that I was hospitalized. For that reason, the first year I had a hard time getting in shape at that altitude. Practices ended just before the cafeteria closed, so we would run over, but most of the food was gone or put away, so most of us just drank milk or juices. I was always hungry at night, but too proud to ask my parents for any extra cash to be able to buy food. A lot of guys were doing that, or sponging off friends or girlfriends. I went hungry a lot of nights and was losing weight. Then, the shoe that Wyoming issued to us was a Converse low cut suede leather- very stylish, but had a serious flaw that caused several of us concern. The back of the shoe on the inside, where it rubs up against your heel, had a lip made of hard leather. It wore grooves in both of my heels that were open sores. I tried to work with the trainers to come up with a solution, but nothing seemed effective in allowing the sores to heal. Whenever you flex your foot to walk or jump, if you have a sore on your heel by the Achilles tendon, it will open up the wound. Mine eventually became infected. The team doctor then told me I was going to have to sit out until the sores completely healed. That was going to knock me out of everything until right before the first game. During that time, I was at least able to get to the cafeteria and eat on time, but lost all of my conditioning.
The first game was against the University of Nebraska- a home game at War Memorial. I was allowed to suit up, but pretty much knew I wouldn’t play. The only remarkable thing about it was running on to the floor for the first time with a full arena of about 10,000 people going nuts and hearing the school fight song- “Ragtime Cowboy Joe”. You know how it is when you dream something and then there you are- living your dream? Surreal. I thought back to the many days of deliberate practice that were no fun, but there I was. There was a moment during warmups when we heard the loud banging of a drum and some guy was in the upper deck dressed completely like a cowboy with an absurdly large hat. He would bang on the drum- stop- then point his drumstick at the opposing team and yell “you’re gonna lose!. The crowd would then repeat what he just said very loudly. It was impressive. The guy called himself Crazy George and he would go on to be the mascot for some major league baseball teams and NFL teams.
We beat Nebraska- I did not get in as predicted, but afterwards Coach Strannigan told me that they would like me to redshirt, because of all the things that had kept me out. I accepted and continued to practice with the team through the season. They even took me on the road trip to Arizona, which was great. I remember the day we left for Phoenix- the temperature in Laramie was minus 64 degrees. We got to Phoenix a few hours later and it was plus 75- a difference of 139 degrees. Some guys got sick and the doctor said they were suffering from something called “weather shock”.
The next year, I had put on some weight, worked hard on my skills, lifted weights, and bought adequate clothing for the weather ahead, so I fully expected a big year for basketball. It didn’t really happen that way. I had some good games- 17 points and 15 rebounds against Northern Colorado, 15 points and 12 rebounds against Montana were the best. In the Montana game, I still remember their fiery coach, Jud Heathcote, yelling at his team to foul me late in the game and then making 11 out of 12 free throws. Jud would go on after Montana to be the head coach at Michigan State and lead them to the NCAA title in 1979 with a guy named Magic Johnson. That title game against Indiana State with Larry Bird would change the face of NCAA and NBA basketball forever. And Jud wanted to foul me- so I got that going for me, which is nice. I even started a game against Denver University so it wasn’t like I didn’t have my chances. It just seemed like I was always in Coach Strannigan’s doghouse and could never get out. He was like all the other college coaches I had- impersonal and hard or unwilling to communicate with players. After the Montana game, for example, I was asked to do a post-game radio interview, during which the guy asked me where I preferred to play- inside or outside. Those radio shows were piped back into the dressing room area so everyone could listen, but it was my experience that no one really paid much attention to them in the locker room. I know I didn’t. So, to answer his question, I said I thought I was better suited for face up basketball, but would be glad to play anywhere the coach wanted me to. That was it, but I guess Coach Strannigan only caught the first part of the answer. He didn’t say anything, but the next day we flew down to Dallas and drove to Ft. Worth where the following day we would be playing TCU. Not a word from the coach. The TCU game was played and I didn’t play a second- coming off a 15 and 12 game against Montana. My parents had flown down from Phoenix to see me play for the first time in college. As the game ended, I was walking back towards the locker room, pretty shell shocked for not have gotten in, and Coach Strannigan walked by me and said “what do you think of your position now?” That hurt. The next night, we played North Texas State and I played. I never wanted to treat someone like that, though, and that has stayed with me through the years.
Next…the WAC…
