Sports Poets Society

Posted by bobkuska January 2, 2023 Posted in Uncategorized Tags: ABA , ABL , Bill Bridges , Bill Sharman , Connie Hawkins , Dick Barnett , Ed Fleming , George Mikan , George Steinbrenner , Minnesota Pipers , Pittsburgh Pipers , Vince Cazzetta , Wayne Hightower , Wilt Chamberlain [Happy New Year! This article comes from Jim O’Brien, a journalist who would cover the ABA like no other in the 1970s for the New York Post and The Sporting News .  But here, O’Brien is still in back his hometown (where he is today, actually) writing for Pittsburgh Weekly Sports . His subject is none other than Connie Hawkins. O’Brien’s article, which appeared in the magazine Fast Break 1969 All-Pro Basketball Annual (or pre-David Wolf’s classic book Foul ) doesn’t cover much new territory. But it does include some really nice quotes, which put Hawkins’ unique talent in perspective before his bolt to the NBA. That’s why I’m kicking off 2023 with a tribute to The Hawk. May all readers of this blog use thei...

https://from-way-downtown.com/2023/10/12/connie-hawkins-the-hawk-ages-gracefully-1991/ Posted by  bobkuska  -  October 12, 2023 [This is a nice article about Connie Hawkins as a 48-year-old NBA retiree living in his beloved adopted city of Pittsburgh . What’s doubly nice is the story’s told by Jim O’Brien, best remembered today for his 1970s ABA column in The Sporting News . As O’Brien gladly would have told you, he was a proud native Pittsburgher through and through and had known and admired Hawkins for decades from seeing him around town. The two were almost the same age, and, when he writes of Hawkins, O’Brien is writing about a friend—and vice versa. In fact, The Hawk once passed along the following note of mutual admiration: “To Jimmy O’Brien & Family. From one super player to one super writer equals two great persons. Peace & Love, Connie Hawkins #42.” In his retirement, The Hawk had taken up tennis. “I would classify myself as a moderate weekend hacker who...

https://from-way-downtown.com/2023/07/26/connie-hawkins-comes-home-1970/ Posted by  bobkuska July 26, 2023   [Here’s another feature on Connie Hawkins, his NBA banishment, and his million-dollar redemption with the Phoenix Suns. This article comes from the February 1970 issue of the popular men’s publication True Magazine . The feature also is clearly a follow up to the Life Magazine ’s 1969 blockbuster story on Hawkins that the blog recently posted. This True Magazine piece covers a lot of the same ground as the Life article. But reporter Al Stump , mostly remembered for his autobiography of baseball’s Ty Cobb, charts some new ground . . . and garbles a few facts to turn up the melodrama. But still, his sourcing is excellent and, for the quotes alone, Stump’s piece is still worth the read to understand just how ethically wrong-headed the NBA’s blackball of Hawkins really was.] **** The career of Connie Hawkins, now in his first season with the National Basketball Associatio...

https://aroundthegame.com/post/directors-cut-woody-allen-racconta-larry-brown/ La vita e la carriera dell’allenatore newyorkese sembrano il soggetto di una pellicola hollywoodiana: colpi di scena, cambi di casacca repentini, sfuriate e riappacificazioni. Per raccontare tutto, c’è bisogno delle parole di un regista a lui molto vicino. Alberto Pucci Around The Game - 10/12/2021 Storie “Tutti vogliono psicanalizzarmi, non so come mai.”  La vita e la carriera di Lawrence Harvey Brown si potrebbero riassumere in questa frase da lui pronunciata qualche tempo fa. Da sempre, infatti, più che ai suoi successi – è, ad esempio, l’unico allenatore ad aver vinto sia la NCAA sia la NBA, nonché ad aver portato otto franchigie ai playoff – la stampa pare interessarsi alle sue fragilità, al suo carattere forse nevrotico, al suo cattivo rapporto con i giocatori più giovani. Il lavoro di Brown sembra condannato a soffrire di quel morbo contemporaneo che è la fusione tra l’artista e l’arte. Quella co...