by gordie | Jul 17, 2021 | NBA
At a critical moment in Game Four of the NBA Finals Giannis Antetokounmpo was first one place, then another, and now the same can be said of his career. The Greek Freak’s block of Deandre Ayton’s dunk attempt with a little over a minute left Wednesday night preserved...
by gordie | Jul 11, 2021 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers
Mikal Bridges’ 27-point outing for Phoenix in Game Two of the NBA Finals afforded us all one more opportunity to have a chuckle at the expense of the Sixers: Behold the team that stupidly traded a hometown hero on draft night three years ago, and received next to...
by gordie | Jun 18, 2021 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers
Wednesday’s Sixers disaster brings to mind those of the past. Consider, for instance, the night of May 21, 1982, when they entertained Boston in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals. Philadelphia, holding a 3-2 series lead and looking to close things out, built a...
by gordie | Jun 14, 2021 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers
Know this about championship basketball seasons: They are the ultimate group project, requiring something from just about everyone on the roster. There is no better example of that than Game Two of the Sixers-Hawks playoff series. The Sixers, who definitely harbor...
by gordie | May 23, 2021 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers, Writing
Deep into a recent 40-minute telephone interview with former Sixers president Pat Croce, I raised the subject of death: How did he, as a 66-year-old cancer survivor, regard such a thing? “It doesn’t bother me,” he said. Well, of course. He has always been Mr....
by gordie | May 7, 2021 | NFL, Writing
I know of perhaps a half-dozen sportswriters and ex-sportswriters who, like myself, are fans of the Green Bay Packers — who have tended to text me on any given Sunday about the virtues of Clay Matthews and Kenny Clark, and the misadventures of Marquez...
by gordie | Apr 18, 2021 | NFL
The NFL Draft is fast approaching, heralded as always by a flood of analysis that alternates between the impressive and the amusing. How else could we find out that Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the likely No. 1 overall pick, has “fluid mechanics to easily...
by gordie | Apr 4, 2021 | College Basketball
The knee-jerk thing for a geezer like myself to say after Saturday’s Gonzaga-UCLA classic is that great as it was, it still doesn’t quite measure up to the 1992 Duke-Kentucky regional final. Gotta maintain perspective when it comes to a discussion of college...
by gordie | Mar 26, 2021 | College Basketball, MLB, Writing
On March 16, 2019, the East Stroudsburg University men’s basketball team lost an NCAA Division II first-round game to West Liberty, 106-99 in overtime. The silver lining for the Warriors that night at IUP was considerable, however: Freshman center Ryan Smith had...
by gordie | Mar 14, 2021 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers
The way Michele (Telfair) Ramsey remembers it, there were two ways for a junior-high-aged girl to stand out in Canyon, Texas in the late 1970s — either become a cheerleader, or a basketball player. She was neither, but set out to become the latter. It was a...
