Sports Poets Society

20 Dec 2023 - The Washington Post Reading that Hall of Fame basketball player George Mcginnis died reminded me of one of the Washington (then) Bullets’ most unusual advertising ploys [“Hall of Fame forward with one-handed jump shot dominated in ABA, NBA,” obituaries, Dec. 16]. At the time, the team highlighted the opponents’ stars to try to sell tickets. Having touted Mr. Mcginnis’s appearance with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Bullets were chagrined — and the fans who had come to see him were disappointed — when Mr. Mcginnis got ejected early in the game. The next time Philadelphia came to town, the team advertised “Guaranteed Mcginnis Night”: The fans in attendance would get a ticket to another game if Mr. Mcginnis got tossed again or fouled out. If I recall correctly, Mr. Mcginnis lasted until a lategame ejection for telling off a referee. My friends and I thought that with the outcome no longer in doubt, Mr. Mcginnis had done so just to trigger the guarantee. Intentional or not, the ...

Eric Mann 20 Dec 2023 - The Decatur Daily Democrat I’m not a basketball historian, but one of my favorite hoop tales is about the awesome George McGinnis: the Hoosier high school and professional all-star who died on December 14 at age 73 . This story is about his exploits in the only all-star games I care about: the high school wars between Indiana and Kentucky. In 1969, a few months after leading Washington High School of Indianapolis to a 31-0 record and the state championship (with Big George as Mr. Basketball), he did the same thing in the two state vs. state all-star tilts. In game one, McGinnis (at 6-8, 235) put up 23 points and made only eight of 26 shots from the field (but grabbed 14 rebounds) as the Hoosiers won. That led Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball (Ron King from Central HS) – who cares what his name is – to tell the news media that McGinnis was “overrated,” a word he used twice! When McGinnis read that, he told the other Indiana all-stars and the coaches that he wanted the ...