Jerry Tarkanian "Tark the Shark" at UNLV

At the UNLV stadium Thomas and Mack Center, is a statue of Jerry Tarkanian chewing on a towel, and his history at UNLV in the background.  The Aggies use to have a hard time with them as they played in the same league.  His UNLV team went to four final fours and won the championship in 1990.  His history is available in the pictures.  He ended his career as the winningest coach in history.

history in general

History with UNLV

Native American Biography: Jim Thorpe: Athlete

Canton Bulldogs

Miss-matched socks and shoes, 1912 Olympics

An argument could be made for Jim Thorpe as the greatest American athlete of all time.  He could do so many things and do them well.  He is of Sauk and Fox descent, and the great-grandson of Black Hawk, The Chippewa War Chief.  Both his parents were half Caucasian but he was raised in an Indian household.  He began his career on the football field, playing for "Pop" Warner at Carlisle Institute.  He then played semi-professional baseball (he was paid to play) a couple years and then returned to Carlisle for football.  In 1912 his football team won the national championship with an 11-1 record.  Thorpe played running back, defensive back, punted and kicked.  He scored 25 touchdowns and 198 points.  President Eisenhower, while a youth played against Thorpe, playing for Army.  Of Thorpe he said, "Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw." In the game he ran a 93 yard touchdown, called back for a penalty, and he ran 97 yards for a touchdown the next play.  At the 1912 Olympics he showed his versatility.  He won the pentathlon and the decathlon.  He not only won the events but dominated.  Taking first in 8 of the 15 individual events.  He also competed well in the long jump and the high jump.  An interesting side note, Thorpe's shoes were stolen.  He competed in the decathlon in shoes he found in a trash can.  Because they were mismated, he wore heavy socks on one foot so they would fit.  He was also given two special awards, by the King of Sweden and the Czar of Russia.  Upon given him the award the Kind of Sweden reportedly said, "You are the Greatest Athlete in the World."  Thorpe replied, "Thanks Coach."  (This maybe anecdotal but the feeling was accurate.)  Thorpe was greeted by a ticker tape New York parade upon his return to America.  Later his gold medals were taken away because of his time playing professional baseball.  They were returned to his family in 1982.

With the New York Giant

He played basketball, baseball and football professionally, and retired in 1929.  He organized a professional Indian football team at one point, and although they didn't win many games, Thorpe played well and was honored as an all league player in the league which became the NFL.  DUring his career, when racial issues were prevalent, his race was sometimes an issue, particularly in the newspapers.  The papers would say such things as He passed away in Lomita, California in 1953.

The Legacy of Stew Morrill

Stew Morrill retired this year from coaching at Utah State.  He made basketball at Utah State fun again, as his team was always in the game, and you knew if things fell the right way they would pull out another victory.  Morrill won more games as a basketball coach at Utah State than any other coach, coached more seasons, went to more NCAA tournament and post season tournaments than any other coach.  He also had the most 20-win seasons.  His was a legend of success.  From last year’s press guid we read:

While at Utah State, he has guided the Aggies to a 21-win season a total of 14 times, as USU's 13 straight postseason appearances (NCAA-8, NIT-4, CIT-1), was snapped in 2012-13, but both of which are school records. Prior to Morrill's run, USU had never posted more than three-straight 20-win seasons and participated in more than three-straight postseason tournaments.

Morrill has also led Utah State to the sixth-best winning percentage in the nation during the last 14 years at 73.9 percent with an overall record of 369-130. Against conference opponents, Utah State has a 219-82 record with seven regular season league championships and six tournament titles during that time, including appearances in its league's tournament championship game 10 times in the last 15 years.

The recent Utah State magazine in an article by Jeff Hunter noted that he ended with 401 wins as a head coach at Utah State (a school record) and 620 total.  620 puts him at 81 on the all-time list.

Morrill retires with 40 total years coaching, 29 at the NCAA Division I level.  He coached at Montana, Colorado State, and the past 17 years at Utah State. 

 Pictures scanned from Utah State magazine

Documentary: Karl Malone: ESPN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzR-23AQZa0

This is an ESPN biographical documentary about Karl Malone.  I really enjoyed watching the combo of Karl Malone and John Stockton for many years.  They came so close.  That game six loss really hurt.  The documentary focused on Michael Jordan overcoming Karl Malone.  It said nothing about the Howard Eisley three-pointer being taken away by the official, which was clearly before the clock, while another shot was allowed for Chicago which was after the 24-second clock.  That turn of five points would have made Jordan's heroics a mute point.  I feel the NBA owes the Jazz a big apology for that one; but it will never come. Don't believe watch her.  The announcers in Spanish agree with my point as the watch the plays.  You would think with instant replay the result would have been different, but I doubt they would have even looked.  The Jazz were cooked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGSiEEpF3WM
This documentary reveals several things about Malone's life which I didn't know, including three children from before he came to the NBA.  I watched Malone's career, and how he was so willing to work hard to achieve success. 
Malone and Stockton got to the point where they were poetry in motion.  It was beautiful to watch.  The pick and roll was beautiful, and how many different ways they ran that, back and forth and then cut to the basket.  Fantastic! 
I love watching about Karl Malone, and the additional information was very revealing.  I just wish they would have added the piece about the refs screwing the Jazz.  It wasn't all Jordan.

Texas Western Miner Basketball Championship 1965-1966

In the season of 1965-1966, Texas Western won the NCAA championship.  Don Haskins was having difficulty recruiting talented players, so recruited seven African American players, and thus set himself up for a run at the national championship.  The were undefeated, except for the last game of the regular season.  At that time Texas Western was independent, and had to be invited to the NCAA.  They beat Kansas in the regional championship in double overtime.  Th overcame Utah in the semifinal, setting up the championship game against Kentucky, an all white team.  When Haskins started five black players in the championship game, it was the first time an all black starting line up played in a championship game.  In fact he played all black players in the final, and the proved victorious.  This story is about overcoming odds.  The odds against Texas Western included their lack of experience in pressure games, lack of experience in playing disciplined ball, but also overcoming race issues.  In the championship game they were the more disciplined and the more talented team.  I watched the movie Glory Road, but it is the after movie interviews which were significant.  There are shots of talking to Pat Riley (player for Kentucky), Don Haskins, and many of the players for Texas Western.  This is an important story in our history.

Movie Review: ***^Pistol Pete Maravich The LSU Years - Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puqd5SZmY-Ue

After watching "The Pistol" I decided to explore Pete Maravich on You Tube, to see some of his incredible plays.  I was especially interested in seeing some incredible moves.  This movie covers his college playing days.  Maravich was the greatest college player ever.  He still has record for the most points scored 3667, as well as the best scoring averge ever 44.2.  But what is incredible are his passes.  He made some tremendous passes.  I like this movie, because is mostly just shows high lights.  There is some commentary.  Eight hour days with a basketball from the time he was twelve, and even earlier.  There is a reason a scrawny kid became successful.  It also talks of his father, Press, who was his son's coach at LSU.
25 years ago this past January Pistol Pete died from a congenital heart problem.  It is likely he had a heart issue through his playing days.  What is true, he had a love and heart for the game he embraced.

Wayne Estes: Greatest Aggie Basketballer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4wEbKTBfwE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZK6j-kCmAM&NR=1&feature=endscreen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=Qx769zYAtdY&feature=endscreen
Wayne Estes is the best basketball player in USU history.  In 1965 he was second in the nation in scoring behind Rick Berry.  He averaged 33.7 points per game that year, and 26.7 for his career.  He also was a prolific rebounder at 6'6".  He averaged 13.7 his senior year and 11.9 for his career.  He is still second all time in points, and third in rebounds for Utah State.  This was in less than three years.  (At the time freshmen did not play varsity ball.)  He was destined for greatness in the NBA.

I remember hearing stories of how he practiced and practiced.  A  best friend would throw him the ball over and over as he practiced his shot.
However an accident and a downed power line cut his life short. He scored 48 points, but complained of numb fingers on February 8, 1965.  There was an accident and he and friends went to see if they could help.  A live wire which was dangling as a result of the accident, struck him in the forehead and killed him instantly.
So his memory includes a lot of what ifs.  Reportedly the Lakers wanted to draft him in the first round.