MUScoop
MUScoop => Hangin' at the Al => Topic started by: NCMUFan on January 10, 2019, 03:19:45 PM
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While we are all in a great mood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta08uVdRzck
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Always a pleasure to hear Alfie's voice. He was 42y in that video and sure had a lot of confidence. One of a kind.
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While we are all in a great mood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta08uVdRzck
Those were the days my friend.
https://youtu.be/9gQ4qeAAz2Y
My apologies- this link was posted in the Greatest Shot thread just a few minutes before I hit sent.
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Great stuff.
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Best mouth I've ever heard.
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4ever
There is no doubt that Al set the standard. Said stuff, did stuff that the average guy only dreamed about. Decades later he still is the standard of cool for this guy.
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I wonder how many of the young pups around here know that many of today's nationally used basketball expressions come straight from Al.
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i tell my sons they can read all the stuff about al, what he said, what he did, how he recruited, his philosophies on life, etc etc and you cannot overstate them. at the time, we didn't realize what we had. maybe we did, but damn i miss that mofo. then at least we had rick cuz when he spoke, i heard a lot of al. now what? now i just open my book-"seashells and balloons" every time i need an "al fix" it's all right there-
"SEASHELLS and balloons is bare feet and wet grass,'' Al McGuire used to say. ''It means a light breeze. You know, a light breeze that would maybe move a girl's skirt a little. It's sweater weather. and malts and shakes"
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Thanks for sharing
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rocket
Rick had a lot of Al in him and I really miss a lot. It is impossible to properly describe Al and do it justice. He was bigger than life nearly five decades ago and his mark on the university, basketball and the sport still live on.
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I got to MU just after Al left, but I did get a chance to meet him later.
In the mid 80's I was back in Milwaukee for some family event, and was flying out of MKE. The airplane door was about to close and I thought I lucked out as the only open seat on the plane was next to me. However at that point Al came on as the last one on and sat next to me (btw the flight attendants were chasing him because he gave them the wrong boarding pass--he pulled 3 or four out of his pocket and told the attendant to take the correct one).
Anyway this was when smoking was still allowed in the back of the plane, and while we were taxiing for takeoff some guy was making a fuss because he did not get a smoking seat. The guy was loud and would not sit so we could take off, so Al starts yelling "Kick him off!" and soon others joined in. We did end going back to the gate and they did kick the guy off.
After we got going, I spent the whole flight talking to Al. Actually, he spent the whole flight talking to me. It was very clear why he was successful. He spent the whole flight asking me questions about my life, my job, my family and the like. He made me feel like I was the most important person in the world to him. I can see why he was a good recruiter. It was an incredible flight.
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Great memories, I was lucky enough to talk with him several times and he gave me an autographed picture that is one of my most cherished memorabilia.
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I got to MU just after Al left, but I did get a chance to meet him later.
In the mid 80's I was back in Milwaukee for some family event, and was flying out of MKE. The airplane door was about to close and I thought I lucked out as the only open seat on the plane was next to me. However at that point Al came on as the last one on and sat next to me (btw the flight attendants were chasing him because he gave them the wrong boarding pass--he pulled 3 or four out of his pocket and told the attendant to take the correct one).
Anyway this was when smoking was still allowed in the back of the plane, and while we were taxiing for takeoff some guy was making a fuss because he did not get a smoking seat. The guy was loud and would not sit so we could take off, so Al starts yelling "Kick him off!" and soon others joined in. We did end going back to the gate and they did kick the guy off.
After we got going, I spent the whole flight talking to Al. Actually, he spent the whole flight talking to me. It was very clear why he was successful. He spent the whole flight asking me questions about my life, my job, my family and the like. He made me feel like I was the most important person in the world to him. I can see why he was a good recruiter. It was an incredible flight.
Great story, Archie!
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I got to MU just after Al left, but I did get a chance to meet him later.
In the mid 80's I was back in Milwaukee for some family event, and was flying out of MKE. The airplane door was about to close and I thought I lucked out as the only open seat on the plane was next to me. However at that point Al came on as the last one on and sat next to me (btw the flight attendants were chasing him because he gave them the wrong boarding pass--he pulled 3 or four out of his pocket and told the attendant to take the correct one).
Anyway this was when smoking was still allowed in the back of the plane, and while we were taxiing for takeoff some guy was making a fuss because he did not get a smoking seat. The guy was loud and would not sit so we could take off, so Al starts yelling "Kick him off!" and soon others joined in. We did end going back to the gate and they did kick the guy off.
After we got going, I spent the whole flight talking to Al. Actually, he spent the whole flight talking to me. It was very clear why he was successful. He spent the whole flight asking me questions about my life, my job, my family and the like. He made me feel like I was the most important person in the world to him. I can see why he was a good recruiter. It was an incredible flight.
what a memory archie!!
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I wonder how many of the young pups around here know that many of today's nationally used basketball expressions come straight from Al.
You mean like "white knuckler" and so many others. Al was a true New Yorker that gave it to you straight from the heart with humor. I think his honesty, humor and objectivity made him so likable.
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You mean like "white knuckler" and so many others. Al was a true New Yorker that gave it to you straight from the heart with humor. I think his honesty, humor and objectivity made him so likable.
Even the term 'cupcake' comes from Al.
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jsglow
MU was the original Midnight Madness, only it was a game against the USSR. Add in guys going hardship, the original two or three and done. Al and that era of MU changed the game in many ways.
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People forget a lot of things about the McGuire era.
Our offense was as slow, if not slower than UW’s is now.
Most years we were a six or seven man team. We seldom had quality depth because of Al’s recruiting style.
The offense did not always feature our best player. Al’s game was to feature his senior star above all others.
As an independent, we played way more cupcakes than we do now.
Guys didn’t seem to improve as much year to year as they do now because his system was so rigid.
Despite these things, I absolutely enjoyed the McGuire era - the golden age of Warrior basketball.
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Jockey
All spot on. Would add, even though some of us old guys like to talk about the greatness of that era, many times Al's teams played down to their competition. Plenty of games that a 4-6 minute stretch of great ball and remainder looked pretty ugly. During that stretch, those teams played some of the greatest full court pressure D I have ever seen in my life.
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Really fun to listen to. Wish I'd been around during that time. I think the memory of Al is a big part of why so many here passionately loved Buzz. He was a Southern version of that rough and tumble street scrapper. Thanks for sharing.
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Really fun to listen to. Wish I'd been around during that time. I think the memory of Al is a big part of why so many here passionately loved Buzz. He was a Southern version of that rough and tumble street scrapper. Thanks for sharing.
There is a humongous difference brew. With Al, that was the real deal. Buzz, not so much.
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There is a humongous difference brew. With Al, that was the real deal. Buzz, not so much.
In retrospect, no, but in the moment, I think most Marquette fans were believers, just like most Va Tech fans seem to be now.
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In retrospect, no, but in the moment, I think most Marquette fans were believers, just like most Va Tech fans seem to be now.
I get it. I had thought it mostly genuine too, at the time.
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Jockey
All spot on. Would add, even though some of us old guys like to talk about the greatness of that era, many times Al's teams played down to their competition. Plenty of games that a 4-6 minute stretch of great ball and remainder looked pretty ugly. During that stretch, those teams played some of the greatest full court pressure D I have ever seen in my life.
Al said often that he wanted his teams to work hard while playing defense, and rest while playing offense.
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Jockey
All spot on. Would add, even though some of us old guys like to talk about the greatness of that era, many times Al's teams played down to their competition. Plenty of games that a 4-6 minute stretch of great ball and remainder looked pretty ugly. During that stretch, those teams played some of the greatest full court pressure D I have ever seen in my life.
Amen Brother Goose.
We had one game against the University of Tennessee where it was 12-0 before Tennessee got the ball across the mid-court line. Given the speed at which we played basketball in those days, that's almost half of a half.
We played a deliberate offense because there was no shot clock and no three-point line. We slowed our opponents down. And, yes, we did at times play down to our opponents, as was evident in 1976-1977, when we lost seven games on a schedule nothing like what we had today.
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Glow
I think the two guys are more alike than you think.
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Amen Brother Goose.
We had one game against the University of Tennessee where it was 12-0 before Tennessee got the ball across the mid-court line. Given the speed at which we played basketball in those days, that's almost half of a half.
We played a deliberate offense because there was no shot clock and no three-point line. We slowed our opponents down. And, yes, we did at times play down to our opponents, as was evident in 1976-1977, when we lost seven games on a schedule nothing like what we had today.
Actually I would say the 76-77 schedule was much harder than today. A lot of ranked teams and the ones that weren't ranked were very solid. Very few true cupcakes.
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There is a humongous difference brew. With Al, that was the real deal. Buzz, not so much.
Al was absolutely the real deal. But had he been allowed to leave for the Bucks job when he wanted to I'm sure many (not me) would have thought otherwise. Buzz is no Al, but IMO the evidence suggests that he's the real deal too.
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Buzz is no Al, but IMO the evidence suggests that he's the real deal too.
I think with Buzz it's a bit of both. The Buzz that truly loves his players, loves the people that helped him get where he is, and cares about Buzz's Bunch? I think that's the real deal.
But the institutional loyalty, the showmanship, I think that's a front. I don't think it's coincidence he left under acrimonious circumstances from his last two jobs, and don't imagine his departure from Va Tech when it comes will be any better.
That's probably largely human nature, and I'm okay with it.
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Glow
I think the two guys are more alike than you think.
100% disagree. Let's leave it at that.
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I think if you could some how normalize the eras they would closely resemble each other. No hard data to present but institutional loyalty really isn’t even a thing anymore vs in Al’s day it was taken for granted, at least compared to today.
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If Buzz wasn't going to give it his 110% because he felt the new BEAST somehow didn't measured up to the old, then it was time for him to leave.
Time has shown that although not the same, the new BEAST is just as competitive as the old.
Nice not having to worry about it splitting up because of football.
Also, except for the rivalry, who misses Louisville. I need to wash just thinking about them.
But like Al, Buzz was a hard working, self made man. Al's hiring at MU from Belmont Abbey is a good story in itself.
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jsglow
Seriously curious on why you feel that way? Buzz was not Al, by a wide margin, but many similarities IMO. I get accused of living the Al era, but I think Buzz had some modern day tendencies.
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Herman
The ‘76-‘77 season was definitely a very good schedule. Al played a ton of cupcakes over the years, but his last season was a very good schedule. Add in, the mid level teams looked at MU game like a NC game. There was serious target on the program’s back the latter years of Al’s time at MU.
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Herman
The ‘76-‘77 season was definitely a very good schedule. Al played a ton of cupcakes over the years, but his last season was a very good schedule. Add in, the mid level teams looked at MU game like a NC game. There was serious target on the program’s back the latter years of Al’s time at MU.
yes sir goose-and if i may add-i think the refs had a hair for al as well. they hated being shown up by him, but that was al just being al. he left it all out there. he might have been one of the first coaches to dare the refs into giving him a "T" just to fire his guys up. remember the "T" he got for motioning with a choke, hold telling his players, k-state was tightening up but the ref thought it was at him?