Sports at NorCal Courts

07/27/2024

"The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up."

- Bob Uecker

07/27/2024

As a freshman, Maravich scored 66 points in a game against the Baton Rouge Hawks and 50 in another. That happens when you average 43.6 points per game. There was one night he pulled down 22 rebounds.
Almost every time Maravich stepped on the floor, he had a chance to leave with one of the best games in his career.
He once scored 69 points against Alabama as a senior — one of the two times he made 26 shots in a game (also against Vanderbilt). There was a 66-point performance against Tulane, 64 against Kentucky and 61 versus Vanderbilt.
Those are the top four single-game scoring performances in LSU history. He holds seven of the program's top nine single-game marks, plus he's tied for 10th with 55 points in a game. LSU guard Chris Jackson reached 55 points on one occasion; Maravich did it six times.🏀🔥 ......Watch Video In comment below..!

07/27/2024

He ran the floor like a gazelle, leaped over would-be defenders like a high jumper, and mastered the chase-down block. But Bobby Jones never really planned to make basketball his calling in life, and in some ways, maybe the game chose him rather than the other way around. He was tall, lanky, and when he jumped, he flew as far as he did high, making adjustments in the air as he risked his body to intercept a pass or send back an open layup. His emphasis on defense made him a valuable commodity, the type of player that turned good teams into great teams. At the University of North Carolina, Jones played three seasons for legendary coach Dean Smith and when he was only a sophomore, he won a silver medal at the 1972 Olympics. The Tar Heels reached the NCAA Final Four the same year. After graduation, Jones landed in Denver with the ABA’s Denver Nuggets, where he proved that defense was more than a passing fancy. He earned a spot on the ABA’s all-defense each of his two seasons in the renegade league before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. In Philadelphia, Jones solidified his status as the game’s best defensive forward locking up eight straight NBA All-Defense First Team honors. Jones helped the Sixers capture the 1983 NBA championship when he was named Sixth Man of the Year.🏀👏🏾

07/27/2024

70 Years Ago Today: New York Giants star Willie Mays graces the cover of TIME Magazine during his first MVP season! (July 26, 1954)

07/27/2024

Meet Jim Ekman. He’s 89 years young and wakes up at 3 a.m. to help the agronomy team at the 3M Open.

Jim will voluntarily work 40 hours this week and his duties include trimming grass, tidying up yardage markers, cleaning up trash, taking care of the bathrooms around the course and is always looking to do more.

The course superintendent Joe Rolstad said, “Sometimes I have to ask him to leave because he loves to be here so much.”

Jim fell in love with golf in 1947 at age 12 when he'd spend 25 cents to tee it up with his friends at Como Park Golf Course in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Today he lives a block away from TPC Twin Cities, leaves his house around 4 a.m. and arrives at “4:02 a.m.” to work his seventh year here.

When Jim is done with his morning duties, he heads back home as a full-time caregiver to his wife, Carol, who he’s been married to for 69 years. They enjoy watching golf together and Jim will share with Carol places he worked on the course throughout the week.

He comes back to the course for more work from the afternoon into the evening.

Jim plays 9 holes of golf every Monday night in a group league and is the oldest in the league by 25 years. His career-low round is 69.

Rolstad said, “On days when he’s not here, we miss him.”

07/27/2024

A dominant force in high school, college, and the NBA, Jerry Lucas was the consummate team player. He had the unique experience of winning championships at every level of competition - high school, college, professional, and even the Olympics. Under Hall of Fame coach Fred Taylor at Ohio State, Lucas teamed with Hall of Famers John Havlicek and Bob Knight to produce a 78-6 record and three Big Ten championships. Lucas led the Buckeyes to three straight NCAA Finals (1960-62), and the 1960 national championship. In 1960 and 1961, Lucas was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player. His distinctive over-the-shoulder shooting style helped him amass 1,990 college points, but Lucas was an equally tenacious rebounder, grabbing 1,411 for his collegiate career. During 11 NBA seasons with Cincinnati, San Francisco, and New York, Lucas was a three-time All-NBA First Team selection. Named to seven NBA All Star teams, including his rookie season, he was the MVP of the 1965 game. Lucas was honored as Rookie of the Year at the end of the 1964 season. When Lucas was traded from San Francisco to New York, he helped orchestrate the Knicks 1973 NBA championship.🏀👍🏽

07/27/2024

Rafa Nadal, Serena Williams, and Amélie Mauresmo giving tennis a moment at the Paris Olympics.

07/26/2024

Thirty-Five years ago Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to start in and win a Super Bowl for (what is now) the Washington Commanders
Black History Month 🏈

07/26/2024

On this date in 1976, after a perceived snub by the U.S. Olympic Committee, Marquette legend Butch Lee shot a scorching 15 for 18 (83%) from the field in leading his native Puerto Rico with 35 points against the United States in the 1976 Montreal Olympic games.

The heavily favored U.S. team, coached by North Carolina’s Dean Smith and stocked with his All-American Tarheels, including Walter Davis, Phil Ford, and 1976 ACC Player of the Year Mitch Kupchak, barely survived Lee's onslaught as they eked out a 95-94 victory.

Down one with :08 left, Lee was whistled for a controversial charging call that could have gone either way but instead allowed the U.S. to narrowly escape what would have been one of the greatest upsets in American sporting history, resulting in the Puerto Rican team charging the scorer’s table in protest.

“It was a great feeling just being in the Olympics,” says Lee now, “and then when you talk about Puerto Rico, you know, just less than four million people going up against a USA, which is a giant in basketball, it was really crazy.”

But “[w]e went into the game with a lot of confidence,” remembers Lee, the youngest member of the Puerto Rican team at just 19 years old.

“We tried Phil Ford on him and then (Indiana's) Quinn Buckner and Quinn was one of the greatest defensive players in basketball," Smith would shake his head later. “And we still couldn't stop him."

“I was known for defense,” acknowledges Buckner now, “and I had a hard time handling him, and Coach Smith, he’d run myself at him, he’d run Phil at him…. Phil Ford was as good a guard as I’ve every played against and he gave Phil the blues, he gave me the blues, and Phil was better than I was.”

“We couldn’t control him,” remembers Michigan Wolverine Phil Hubbard. “He kept getting in the paint, he kept getting wherever he wanted to go, and he was finishing up, dropping it off, he was the main guy we had to stop to get to the next game.”

“He made two or three shots where he’d just get into you and bump you or, you know, bump into you, clear space,” recalls Buckner, “and he’ll make a shot and it’s a jump shot, not a layup, it’s like ‘Oh!’ And he does that three times in a row, you realize, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a long night.’ And it was.”

“He played great-- like the great player he is," Buckner summed up matter-of-factly after the game. “I think Butch Lee felt he had something to prove," referring to the fact that several of Lee's Warrior teammates had been among the 100 players invited to the Olympic tryouts while the sophomore Lee had been left out.

“I knew that I could play with anyone," smiles Lee, "and I was on fire."

Of course, Lee would avenge the narrow loss less than nine months later, when he and the other of Al's Warriors left off the Olympic squad would upset Smith and his Tarheels for the 1977 NCAA Championship in Atlanta, Georgia, 67-59.

07/26/2024

07/26/2024

Gentlemen's Singles champion: 2008, 2010, 2023, 2024 🇪🇸

07/26/2024

Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer and NBC swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines in showing the flag for Navy water polo in Paris during the lead up to the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.

Did You Know: From 1978 to 1984, Gaines set 10 world records. At the time, he was the world record holder in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyles. The 1980 boycott prevented Gaines from competing at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, but he returned to qualify for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He won gold in the 100-meter freestyle and two gold medals for relays, swimming the anchor legs for the U.S. team in the 4X100-meter freestyle relay and 4X100-meter medley relay.

07/26/2024

⚾️On July 19, 1950 the New York Yankees signed Elston Howard after purchasing his contract (along with the contract of Frank Barnes) from the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues. In 1955, he became the first African American player on the Yankees roster in franchise history, eight years after Jackie Robinson had broken MLB's color barrier in 1947. Howard and Barnes were assigned to the Muskegon Clippers, the Yankees' farm team in the Central League. Howard missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons due to his military service in the U.S. Army. Barnes would not make the Yankees roster but would play for the St. Louis Cardinals (1957–1958, 1960). Howard was named the American League's Most Valuable Player for the 1963 season. He would go on to be a 12-time All-Star (1957, 1958, 1959²–1965) and 6-time World Series champion (1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978).⚾️

07/26/2024

New Orleans Saints running back Chuck Muncie on the sideline during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium in 1978. Muncie was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 1976 NFL Draft with the third overall pick. He teamed with Saints' second round pick Tony Galbreath to form a backfield dubbed by then-coach Hank Stram as "Thunder and Lightning". He was the first Saints player named to the Pro Bowl and also was the first Saints player ever to reach the 1,000-yard rushing plateau when he ran for a then-team record of 1,198 yards in 1979.

* 3× Pro Bowl (1979, 1981, 1982)
* NFL rushing touchdowns leader (1981)
* PFWA All-Rookie Team (1976)
* San Diego Chargers 50th Anniversary Team
* San Diego Chargers 40th Anniversary Team
* Consensus All-American (1975)
* Pac-8 Player of the Year (1975)
* Pop Warner Trophy (1975)
* 2× First-team All-Pac-8 (1974, 1975)
* Second-team All-Pac-8 (1973)

07/26/2024

Wilts was a physical freak of nature. This man’s strength has never been matched by any nba player ever. He worked out with power lifters in the gym. His max bench press was 200 lbs more than Shaq’s. He had wide receiver speed in both the 40 and 100. His vertical leap was 46”. He is in the volleyball hall of fame, played for the globetrotters, and was a teak star in high jump, long jump, and high hurdles. A true 7 footer has never had these physical skills, actually, no nba player ever has. Actually, I cannot think of any athlete in any sport that has. Anyone lucky enough to have seen him play in the 60’s, truly understands. The true goat played every minute of every game. Never came out to rest. He averaged 8-10 blocked shots per game and not once in his career did he ever foul out. A nba ref once said, Chamberlain was fouled 2-3 times every trip down the floor. You just couldn’t call them or there wouldn’t have been a game.

07/26/2024

Yes he was a Hall of Fame pitcher, but with a bat in his hands, Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators was also productive. The "Big Train" tops all full-time pitchers ever with 547 career hits and holds the highest single-season batting average ever among pitchers, batting .433 (42 for 97) in 1925. On the mound, he went 20-7 that season.

07/25/2024

History for Coco Gauff!

Gauff will be the women's flag bearer for Team USA at Friday's opening ceremony 👏

07/25/2024

Brian Harmon is spot on! 👏🏻😂

via

07/25/2024

When asked if he got nervous on the mound. He replied,” Not really, at least nobody is shooting at me”.

Purple Heart - Bronze Star - Battle of The Bulge - Battle Field Commission…

Warren Spahn missed 3.5 prime years of military service and still won 363 games. Didn’t win his first game until age 26.

When asked if he regretted missing those 3.5 years, He said ”No. It made me a better man”