Happy Birthday, Royals
50 years ago today, the Cincinnati Royals played their 1st game... to those of us who grew up loving the NBA in the 60s and 70s, the Royals always meant the incomparable O and Jerry Lucas... O missed by three-tenths of an assist a game of averaging a triple-double as a rookie... he got the triple-double average the next year. That's simply unheard of today... I dont know how he'd have handled the media madness of today back then. But I'm guessing it would have been the way he handles everything now, with understated dignity and class... it's a shame we couldnt have kept the Royals around...
Did you go to Royals games? I grew up in DC... my dad and I used to take a bus to the Baltimore Bullets games (now Washington Wizards)... I was a Philly fan, when the Sixers were Wilt, Hal Greer, Bill Cunningham and my favorite player, Wally (Wali) Jones... but I loved the old Bullets, especially Gus "Honeycomb'' Johnson... and Wes Unseld and Earl "The Pearl'' Monroe...
Sadly, no pro game has suffered a bigger disconnect with its fans than the NBA... I watch it a little now, which is a lot more than I watched 10 years ago... but usually only at Finals time...
we're working on getting Oscar, Connie Dierking and Adrian Smith on WLW SportsTalk tonight, 6 to 9... if you remembetr fondly the Royals, take a listen and grab a line...
posted by Paul Daugherty at 8:47 AM
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Post a Comment*I wore my Royals Sweatshirt yesterday... always gets a reaction... usually "That must be an old shirt"... My response is "No, just an old guy"... I had a pair of shirts made at Koch's five years ago, gave one to my brother... I still get chills whenever I see "O" around town..
wore my Royals sweatshirt yesterday... always gets a reaction... "Must be an ols shirt"... "No, just an old guy"... Koch's still has the logo and will put it on for the cost of the garment... I still get chills whenever I run into "O" around town...
My buddy's Dad was one of the Italioso Suit Mafia guys who sold suits at Pogue's. He would wrangle their ticket to Reds and Royals games, so I got to go to maybe 30 or 40 games during the '60s.
They were rarely on TV so I'd listen on the radio all the time.
Oh they were a great team then. Jumpin Joe Buckhalter, Tommy Hawkins, Joe Green, O, Smitty, Big Big Wayne, Luke, Butterbean Love, Twy, The Van Arsdale twins, Norm van Lear, Tiny, on and on. What a bunch of characters. The regional draft proved even then that we are in a great college basketball region.
Saw the infamous sixth(?) game in the finals against the Celtics one year , that got switched to Xavier becuz dhe Gardens had already booket the freakin circus!!! and wouldn't change it. What a great game. Saw your beloved 76s a nuber of times too, with Wilt, Greer, Lucious Jackson, Melchioni, and so on. They were great too. Loved booing Wilt, he was the natural easy target and such an incredible giant. Great great time for basketball fans here in Cincinnati.
If you talked to the beat writers in those days, I think you migh find Oscar wasn't always as classy as he is now. Some of his frustrations are understandble given the times. On athe court he was the best. Period. He was as magical in his prime as any player ever. He simply took over the game and willed the Royals to win. He would sometimes back the other teams center up closer and closet to the basket, dribbling patiently, and then step away and hit that little jumper. Unstoppable. And a great no look passer, too. I've not seen anyone like him since.
Saw the All Star game too when Odie won the MVP. He was the perfect compliment to O's mastery. Had they won that game at X, they would have probably won the title. But the Celts were truly one of the greatest teams ever.
I consider myself extremely lucky to have seen such great players as the Royals had, who toiled often in relative anonymity. Today I don't watch the NBA anymore. Too much one on one and dysfunctional stars. I say it loudly though; Back then it was the Best.
Pro basketball in Cincinnati was great...I saw Wilt with the old Philadelphia Warriors, and Kareem his first year in the league...Jerry Sloan with the old Chicago Zephyrs, and one night I sat under the basket at a Celtics-Royals game...Bill Russell looked HUGE! And what about the old NBA double-headers where say the Detroit Pistons played Philly in the 1st game and the Royals played the Knicks in the nightcap...pretty bizarre, but lots of fun...
I grew up in North Norwood - within walking distance of the 'Gardens' - and I was about 15 when 'O' went from Bearcat to Royal via the old territorial draft rule. I attended almost every Royals home game for 2 or 3 years. I usually stood in the upper corner concession area - it was the cheapest 'seat' in the house. I idolized Oscar.
What great memories of seeing Wilt, Havlicek, Alcindor, all the greats at the Gardens. We didn't have season tickets but we'd easily spend 30 nights a year down there. I was 10 years old and I would spend hours out in our driveway practicing moves and pretending I was the next Tom Van Arsdale, in the rain, past dark, you name it. Then they moved. I started to disconnect with the NBA after that, have been to two NBA games in other cities since, and wouldn't walk across the street today to see a game.
My biggest surprise of the Royals era was how Happy Hairston outplayed George Wilson in the rookie games at the Garden. Wilsonwas just back from the Olympics and was the No. 1 draft. He had a nice NBA career but nowhere near the offensive skill of Hairston.
Today's NBA is all 3's and dunks. The 15 foot jumpshot has almost disappeared.
Royals fans should check out royalshistory.com
I once saw the Royals at the old Cleveland Arena as a kid. Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Tom Van Arsdale. Today's hoops fans forget just how good these guys were.
Cleveland didn't have the Cavaliers yet, so we called them the Ohio Royals. That was a great era for sports as a whole.
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