[Cracked Sidewalks] Legendary

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

Legendary

Written by: noreply@blogger.com (Rob Lowe)

Al McGuire would have broken the Internet.

That's been bouncing around in my head ever since Buzz danced on West Virginia's home court.

Read more..

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2012/03/legendary.html

[UticaBusBarn]

This fan was at Marquette during Coach McGuire's first four years (1964-68).

It hard to describe the atmosphere during those four years. Red Hickey had been rather successful in the 1950's, and was even strong willed enough to turn-down a NCAA bid, because he did not think the Warriors were good enough to win it.

In those days, the campus was still seething with anger because of the good Jesuits dropping football, especially the way they did it, and particularly with the talent the Coach Blackburn had recruited. (Six of these freshmen went on to the NFL.)

Into this was dropped Al McGuire. How he got the job is as mysterious as how Coach Williams got the job. Coach McGuire fit 1960's Milwaukee like zoot suite. He didn't fit into the scene one bit.

He worked the student body hard for support, did the token Milwaukee public relations stuff, but it was clear the guy belonged in a street gang, or running an alley ball tournement in New York City and not at Marquette.

If Coach Williams is a polite Southern Baptist with a chip on his shoulder to prove himself, Coach McGuire was an obnoxious New Yorker with a City chip on his shoulder who took no prisoners, and asked no quarter. To compare, it was sort of a Johnny Cash country chip on the shoulder, verses a Frank Sinatra put-up your fists city chip on the shoulder -- beer verses a martini, if you will.

The Coach McGuire that most remember is the (almost) mellow television "color" announcer. (Though even on TV, one time McGuire, got pissed-off at Billy Packer taking issue with an insight offered by McGuire, so he asked former coach Packer how many NCAA championships he had won. Packer did not say much for the rest of the game.)

Anyway, if Coach McGuire were to act today like he did during his first four years at Marquette, not only would the internet freeze from over-load and collapse, but Coach McGuire would probably be out of work, or arrested.

As all know, McGuire won starting in 1966-67, and, as he said, moved from being a nut case, to merely being eccentric. Coach Williams to his credit, admits to being a nut, and leaves it at that.

Regardless, Marquette has a tradition that began before McGuire, who took the program to new heights, and as Bama pointed out, Williams will take the program to at least that level.

Stay turned fans ...

[nycwarrior]

Thank you for this post. Made me smile and look forward to seeing Buzz's next coaching job and dance routine.

[karavotsos]

Great post. 

Can I just add that it's lion-chasers, not lion-hunters, and its from II Samuel 23:20 "Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit.  Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it."

Also, I assume most know that "faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love" is from 1 Corinthians 13:13.   Maybe not though.

Buzz is a preacher man.  Never thought I'd say this phrase, but I cannot wait for more sermons.