Sports Poets Society

4 Sep 2024 Ai Laghi di Covadonga vince Soler, con Zana 2°. Primoz vede la vetta, Wout in lacrime si ritira La Gazzetta dello Sport - Verona di Ciro Scognamiglio @CIROGAZZETTA Ben O’Connor aveva capito che la maglia rossa era rimasta sulle sue spalle. Ma allora perché, una volta tagliato il traguardo, è sceso fino alla zona dei bus, circa 15 chilometri più in basso, non fermandosi al podio per la premiazione? «Perché pensavo fosse lì dove stavo andando, e non a 500 metri dall’arrivo . Per fortuna mi hanno riportato con l’auto e non sono dovuto risalire in bicicletta...». Si vedeva poco ai Laghi di Covadonga, traguardo in salita iconico che la Vuelta ha proposto alla 16a tappa: la nebbia l’ha fatta da padrone oltre alla pioggia, ma la sostanza non è sfuggita al termine di un’altra giornata che di storie ne ha raccontate parecchie: a cominciare dall’operazione rimonta di Primoz Roglic che resta in corso, ma che non si è ancora compiuta del tutto. Distacchi  Lo sloveno ha ancora una vo...

4 Sep 2024 - L'Équipe MANUEL MARTINEZ En haut des lacs de Covadonga, l’Australien a sauvé sa tunique de leader pour cinq petites secondes.  À cinq jours de l’arrivée à Madrid, il n’a plus de marge de manoeuvre face à Primoz Roglic. "J’ai bien peur que vendredi,  ce soit plus difficile"    - BEN O’CONNOR LACS DE COVADONGA – À l’évidence, Ben O’Connor a du courage à revendre, mais cela risque de ne pas suffire. Hier, au terme de la grandiose étape menant vers les sommets des lacs de Covadonga, l’Australien s’est fait la peau pour pouvoir conserver son maillot rouge de leader un jour de plus. Mais il n’a pas été loin d’abdiquer. Nanti d’une grosse minute d’avance sur Primoz Roglic au matin de la 16e étape, le coureur des antipodes a vu cet écart fondre quelques heures plus tard.Ben O’Connor a sauvé d’extrême justesse son maillot rouge de leader. Longtemps placé durant l’étape sous la protection de ses coéquipiers Clément Berthet, Valentin Paret-Peintre et Bruno Armirail...

https://thegregger63.wordpress.com/2023/03/27/todays-pistons-got-you-down-they-aint-got-nothing-on-1979-80s-debacle/ Today’s Pistons got you down? They ain’t got nothing on 1979-80’s debacle Date: March 27, 2023 Author: thegregger63 2 Comments They played in a cavernous building with an inflatable roof that leaked. Half the time, the crowd could be seen bundled up in their seats, because the cavernous building could get awful drafty in Michigan winters. They gave away tickets for damn near for free—sometimes they were free, especially if you didn’t mind sitting in the high altitude sections. The halftime entertainment was the Classy Chassis, who were a gaggle of lovelies with pom-pons and skimpy outfits. Think Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, retro fitted for Detroit. Or sometimes a fellow named Crazy George would perform. Crazy George did all sorts of tumbling and other physical gyrations on the hardwood, along with some balancing tricks with basketballs. If you cared to drive up to the Po...

(Top photo: Detroit Pistons file) https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/335963/2018/05/01/forty-years-after-being-hired-dick-vitale-recalls-tenure-as-pistons-head-coach/ Thomas Neumann - The Athletics May 1, 2018 LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. — It’s a Monday morning, and Dick Vitale is following up his daily workout with a stack of newspapers and his usual breakfast at Another Broken Egg Cafe : strawberries, apple slices, blueberries, bananas, decaf coffee and water with lemon. It’s no secret that Vitale is a regular customer, and fans come to eat here all the time just so they can shake his hand, take a picture and get an autograph. A husband and wife from Michigan come up to say hello. They met him here years ago and wondered if they might see him again. “Why don’t we go back to The Broken Egg where Dick Vermeil was?” the wife recalls suggesting to her husband. “Vitale,” the husband says, politely correcting her. “It’s OK,” Vitale says with a wide grin. “My wife has called me worse.” After the ens...

https://www.nba.com/pistons/news/vitale_071031.html Latest look back at 50 years of Pistons basketball brings us to... The Dickie V Era  by John Maxwell October 31, 20073:50 PM EDT Most basketball fans probably have vague recollections of Dick Vitale’s brief tenure as head coach of the Detroit Pistons, while most Pistons fans probably wish they could shove a Brillo pad in their ear to scrub away the memories of that forgettable 94-game stint. Fresh off of resurrecting the University of Detroit basketball program, and brandishing the same colorful personality that would later make him one of the most well-known television broadcasters in the wide world of sports, Vitale was charged with the task of getting the Pistons back on the postseason track in May of 1978. Detroit advanced to the playoffs four straight seasons from 1974 to 1977, including two appearances in the conference semifinals, but a fifth place finish to the 1977-78 campaign opened the door for local hero Vitale. Promis...

https://alumni.web.baylor.edu/person/2013/vinnie-johnson Brooklyn native Vinnie Johnson remains one of Baylor's greatest basketball players of all time. A two-time NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons , his hard work and dedication to the people of Detroit has remained long after he completed his career as a professional athlete. Vinnie left his mark on the Baylor record books, averaging 24.1 points per game from 1977-79 . The two-time All-American and All-SWC player holds the Baylor record for most points scored in a game and is a member of the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame. A top-10 NBA draft pick dubbed “the Microwave” for his ability to heat up fast, Vinnie helped the Pistons win it all in 1989 and again in 1990. When his playing days were over, Vinnie was determined to return the love that had been given him by the people of Detroit. He opened a business in inner city Detroit's Empowerment Zone to help improve the lives of those in the community. As CEO of Piston Autom...

https://www2.baylor.edu/baylorproud/2021/03/vinnie-johnson-builds-success-from-baylor-to-the-nba-to-business/ March 4, 2021 // Posted In Alumni , Athletics The stories of “boom to bust” for college and pro athletes after their playing careers end are legion. Vinnie Johnson , Baylor Class of 1980, is not one of those. Johnson — a two-time all-American at Baylor, one of the greatest sixth men in NBA history, and our pick as the greatest Baylor alum in NBA history — has found even more success in the business world after his retirement from professional basketball. The Brooklyn native first came to Waco to play for nearby McLennan Community College in 1975, transferring to Baylor two years later and posting two of the all-time great scoring efforts in Baylor men’s basketball history. Johnson left Baylor as both the single-season (25.2) and career (24.1) record-holder for points-per-game — both records that stand to this day. Drafted No. 7 overall by the Seattle Supersonics in the 1979 N...

https://mclennanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150129otd7j1 January 29, 2015 Former McLennan Community College basketball standout guard Vinnie Johnson was one of three inductees named to the 2015 NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame class released today. Best known for his role as the sixth man on Detroit's 'Bad Boys' Pistons team, Vinnie Johnson was one of the best bench players of his era. Earning the nickname 'Microwave' for his ability to heat up quickly and score a flurry points in a short period of time, Johnson was the Pistons' unsung hero during their 1989 and 1990 championship runs. Prior to his days in Detroit, Johnson made a name for himself as a versatile player at McLennan. Beginning his career with the Highlanders in 1975, Johnson quickly established himself as one of the best two-year players in the nation and earned NJCAA Honorable Mention All-America honors as a freshman . Johnson took his production to the...

https://roonation.org/vinnie-johnson-the-baylor-bears-and-ac-basketball/ By Marc Parrish May 13, 2021 Baylor Bears men’s basketball finds itself in the Final Four this weekend against Houston. If you had to point to a single date for the resurgence of Baylor basketball, you’d probably have to go with November 24, 1978. Still smarting from a 50-20 thumping by Austin College men’s basketball in 1920, Baylor invited Austin College to open the 1978-79 Bears season at the old Heart O’ Texas Coliseum in Waco . Bob Mason’s pesky little NAIA squad put up all the fight they could, but were no match for a Baylor team that would later notch wins against teams like Eddie Sutton’s Arkansas Razorbacks . That Arkansas team almost made the 1979 Final Four, losing in the regional finals by 2 points to Larry Bird & Indiana State. The 1979 NCAA Championship game between Bird and Magic Johnson (Michigan State) is a tournament classic. The star of that Baylor team was Vinnie “Microwave” Johnson. By th...

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) https://www.basketballhistory.org/dennis-rodman/ By Ben Donahue @NFLTales He was known as “the Worm,” “Country,” “Demolition Man,” and “Dennis the Menace.” There was also the multi-colored hair, the copious tattoos, and the wedding gown and makeup when he dressed in drag. Dennis Rodman also became a five-time NBA champion, one of the best defenders in league history, and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Rodman overcame a tumultuous youth and shy demeanor to become a notorious cult figure on the hardwood and beyond. This is the story of Dennis Rodman. Late Bloomer Dennis Keith Rodman was born on May 13, 1961, in Trenton, New Jersey. Not long after his birth, Rodman’s father, Philander, who was in the Air Force, left for the Vietnam War. Philander then relocated to the Philippines to start a new family. Rodman was only three at the time, and he recalls that his dad simply did not come home one day. With his father out ...