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jimsumner
02-25-2010, 12:49 PM
[note: I pulled this out of a separate thread - it was too worthy to languish. -jk]

Last year was the 30th anniversary of the airball game. I wrote an article for Blue Devil Weekly about that game and a game earlier that season against Marquette that was the first network nationally televised game from Cameron.

The article is not on-line. This is the doc file portion dealing with the air-ball game. It should answer most of your questions.

"North Carolina made the short trip to Durham for the regular-season finale leading second-place Duke by a single game. It was the final home game for Spanarkel and a bunch of Duke reserves. It was Duke versus Carolina. The sell-out crowd was stoked, the regional television audience was primed.

Duke was ranked sixth nationally, two spots below the Tar Heels.

The game started normally. Duke won the opening jump. Duke missed inside but Vince Taylor scored for Duke on the putback.

Then it got weird. Play word association and it won’t be long before Dean Smith is linked with “four corners.” But Smith’s spread-the-floor-scheme usually was reserved for end-of-game-situations or games where North Carolina was overmatched, such as UNC’s 21-20 loss to Duke in the 1966 ACC Tournament.

UNC was far from overmatched. They had handled Duke 74-68 at home after losing to the Devils 78-68 in the Big Four. Still, Smith had instructed his team to run the four corners until Duke came out of its 2-3 zone and chased his team.

Three decades later, Spanarkel still is incredulous. “I was pretty surprised. Smith is a hall-of-fame coach. But this was a strategy you used if you thought you couldn’t win. They had a great team and I don’t understand why they wouldn’t come in with the attitude that they could play with anybody. It was two powerhouses but only one powerhouse wanted to play.”

Duke didn’t take the bait. Foster signaled his team to stay where they were. After all, Spanarkel says “we led 2-0 and we were prepared to win
2-0, if that’s what they wanted. “

The crowd started off perplexed and surprised, advanced to indignant, and then moved way past indignant. Dennard remembers hearing “a hissing sound coming from the Crazies. It just got louder and louder. It sounded like a frying pan. My feet started to burn.”

There were only a few interruptions. Carolina held the ball for 11 minutes after the opening Duke basket. Duke knocked a pass out of bounds. The visitors in-bounded and held the ball for two more minutes of cat and mouse. Finally, UNC’s Rich Yonakor was double-teamed in the corner and Spanarkel picked off a pass.

Gene Banks missed a 15-footer but Gminski grabbed the rebound and was fouled on the follow shot by Yonakor. He made one of the foul shots. It was 3-0, with 5:43 left in the half.

Spanarkel tied up Dave Colescott but UNC retained the ball on the alternate possession.

The crowd still was hissing. Dennard says that made Yonakor “anxious.” For some reason, at the 4-minute mark, the UNC junior decided to launch a set shot from the baseline. It missed. Everything.

Duke rebounded and began its third offensive possession. Gminski scored on a dunk.

Carolina tried to hold for the final shot but the flustered Yonakor was forced into a turnover. Spanarkel hit a bank shot. Carolina pushed the ball up court. Colescott beat the buzzer with a launch from mid-court but his shot also missed everything.

So, that’s it, 7-0, all the action for an entire half of basketball between two top-six teams. Three field goals made, one of two foul shots, three rebounds. The Tar Heels ended the half with no points, no assists, no steals. A complete white-wash.

Smith stated following the game that he only intended to run the four corners for the first half. Down 7-0, he really didn’t have a choice. Carolina played the second half straight up.

There was one curious carry-over from the first half. Whenever Yonakor touched the ball in the second half, he was met with the chant “air ball.” His missed shot in the first half had missed the rim, had missed the backboard, hitting only air.

It’s difficult to pin-point with absolute certainty the first time a phrase is used. But I’ve never heard of any credible example of an earlier usage of the now ubiquitous term “air ball.” It seems fair to state that the term was invented that night in Cameron Indoor Stadium and it certainly wasn’t scripted.

The fans in Cameron and those watching on regional television got the game they expected in the second half. Spanarkel, Gminski, Banks, Mike O’Koren, Al Wood running and jumping and scoring.


Playing in his final home game, Spanarkel was superb. Great Duke players like Dick Groat and Art Heyman had posted career games in their senior finales against North Carolina and Spanarkel might well have joined them under different circumstances. “I might have had a 30-35 point-game,” Spanarkel muses. “I was focused and ready.”

Duke extended its lead, forcing UNC to foul. It was 41-32, with 30 seconds left, when Gminski grabbed a missed Carolina shot. He was fouled hard, and reacted with an elbow to Wood’s face. Gminski maintained that he hadn’t heard a whistle and was just trying to protect the ball.

Dennard agrees. “I doubt that it was on purpose. G-man wasn’t that kind of guy.”

Nonetheless, Gminski and Smith exchanged pleasantries before the situation was defused. Gminksi was ejected.

Steve Gray shot the personals for Duke and O’Koren the technicals for Carolina. All four were made and it was 43-34. Carolina played score and foul, Duke made its foul shots, and the game ended 47-40. Each team scored 40 points in the second half.

Spanarkel led all scorers with 17 points, missing only one of his nine field-goal attempts. Gminksi added 9 points and 5 rebounds. Wood scored a dozen for North Carolina.

Smith explained his logic following the game. “The 2-3 zone is the strength of their defense and we wanted them to play man-to-man.” Foster dead-panned “We had a chance to score eight points [in the first half] and we scored seven, which is pretty efficient. And our defense was flawless.”

Spanarkel could be forgiven if he blamed Smith for trying to ruin his senior night. But he’ll have none of that. “That first half made the game distinctive. Holding a team scoreless for a half has to be a first for modern basketball. Beating Carolina and having a 7-0 half made for a double dose of enjoyment.”


Dennard adds “Jim just didn’t have that kind of ego. None of us did. Carolina holding the ball wasn’t going to ruin our day. Losing the game would have. We had a sense of the collective. No one thought it was about them. “


Carolina got a measure of revenge a week later, beating Duke in the ACC Tournament finals. A week after that both teams ended their season with losses in the NCAA Tournament, a combined disaster still known as “Black Sunday.”

Regardless of how the season ended, nine-thousand fans and a Duke basketball team still carry a first-hand memory of that strange night when they watched a talented North Carolina go an entire half without scoring a point, or even hitting the rim. It’s a pretty safe bet that we won’t see that again."

flyingdutchdevil
02-25-2010, 12:51 PM
Don't think that post was long enough

alteran
02-25-2010, 12:57 PM
Don't think that post was long enough

Agreed-- big thanks, Jim. That was great.

oldnavy
02-25-2010, 01:00 PM
I'm still mad about that call, Jim. Get real, Lenny. (I'm just assuming it was Lenny Wirtz-- that kind of ridiculous, potentially game-wrecking call has all the hallmarks of the Lenster.)

I woulda sworn that was a different game, though (one we lost) -- but I defer to your obviously superior historical knowledge.

I remember it being that game with G-man, but for some reason I thought it was Dave Colscott, and G-man broke his nose. I too will defer to Jim as he is way, way more knowledgeable about those issues. I do remember how it happened, G had the ball and he was getting mauled by the heels as they were trying to take it away. G pivoted from his waist with the ball on his chest and his elbows slightly out. His elbow caught Woods and he hit the deck. Lenny Wertz who was a showboating ref made an emphatic call tossing G out. The crowd was stunned that he gave him the heave ho! I felt and still feel to this day that this was the double standard that K spoke of later. Dean seemed to get those types of calls more than others. Bill Foster was livid!! That game was probably the most tense game I ever attended. Doesn't compare the the Heyman game, but it could have blown up very easily.

MChambers
02-25-2010, 01:00 PM
Great memories!

I have to assume that it is the only time a college basketball team did not hit the rim for an entire half.

devil84
02-25-2010, 01:36 PM
At halftime, in a fit of zeal, I printed a "Duke 7, Carolina - ha ha ha" matchbook cover for my dad. When he got home and I gave it to him, he totally loved it. He showed it to everybody.

For the rest of the party, people kept bugging me to print them the same matchbook, and I enjoyed it every single time.

I'll have to check, but I think I still have one of those matchbooks at my mom's house. My dad LOVED that matchbook! (Actually, he thought the whole collection was pretty cool...) Greatest matchbook cover ever!

Kedsy
02-25-2010, 04:31 PM
I have to tell this story about that Chickie Yonaker "air ball game". I was in high school and attending the game on a concession pass, which allowed me to get on the floor level. The place was packed, and my friend and I sat down on the court on the sideline near the baseline facing the duke bench. We were so close to being on the court that we had to sit Indian style so that our legs would not be on the court itself. As the game proceeded, we continually shifted down toward mid court a little at a time. We ended up around the free-throw line when it was all said and done. Yonaker's 1st air ball (if I remember correctly 2 were taken) was taken from the corner in front of the tarheel bench, and the chant just began spontaneously. At the time, I didn't give it much thought, other than to join in and get a laugh. Only later when the chant took on a life of its own did I realize I had witnessed and participated in sporting history. That game also saw Yonaker get “chippy” with Gene Banks, which I think would have been the most mismatched fight of all times had it actually come to blows... Over all it was a very entertaining game and one I will obviously remember forever!
God I love CIS!!

I was a freshman that year. My group usually sat in the first two rows at the foul line across from the visitor's bench. That game, for some reason a group of grad students (or possibly other ticket holders) were let in the front door before the undergrads in line were allowed to enter the stadium from the rear. They snuck into the student section and sat at midcourt, forcing everyone else to move toward the baseline from their regular seats, and I ended up at the corner. Chick Yonaker's corner, as it turns out. I was standing about a foot and a half away from him for the entire first half, screaming at the top of my lungs (although I couldn't actually hear myself -- it was possibly the loudest game I've ever attended). That he committed the turnover and shot the air ball while we were screeching in his ear remains a source of pride for me and presumably for my friends as well (including BD80 and Jeff Frosh). The air ball chant was certainly spontaneous, and I don't remember hearing it anywhere before that night.

BD80
02-25-2010, 04:47 PM
I was a freshman that year. My group usually sat in the first two rows at the foul line across from the visitor's bench. That game, for some reason a group of grad students (or possibly other ticket holders) were let in the front door before the undergrads in line were allowed to enter the stadium from the rear. They snuck into the student section and sat at midcourt, forcing everyone else to move toward the baseline from their regular seats, and I ended up at the corner. Chick Yonaker's corner, as it turns out. I was standing about a foot and a half away from him for the entire first half, screaming at the top of my lungs (although I couldn't actually hear myself -- it was possibly the loudest game I've ever attended). That he committed the turnover and shot the air ball while we were screeching in his ear remains a source of pride for me and presumably for my friends as well (including BD80 and Jeff Frosh). The air ball chant was certainly spontaneous, and I don't remember hearing it anywhere before that night.

That's right, we were really wound up before that game started, not being able to get our regular seats, even though we waited in line (no tents then, but sleeping bags on the sidewalk) and the grad students just waltzed up just before the doors were scheduled to open. I really hated the grad students back then - inferior fans I recall believing.

After being douched by the grad students, we got a dose of prima donna deano for a full half of 4 corners.

The hissing KDog heard was my head about to explode. Fortunately, Chick let the air out and gave us something to cheer about.

77devil
02-25-2010, 10:11 PM
Oh the memories. My first game with a ticket upstairs having managed to get in most of the time since graduation as a "student." I remember how stunningly quiet CIS was in the beginning. We didn't know what to make of the stall.

I had totally forgotten that UNC was so highly ranked at the time.

The dead pan comment Jim recited was classic Bill Foster.

Newton_14
02-25-2010, 10:56 PM
I was 12 years old at the time and watched the game at home with my brother and mom. I was livid in that first half and screaming at the TV. Phil Ford had scored 38 on his Sr Day against Duke the previous year and I so wanted Spanarkel to top that in his final home game against the heels.

I will go to my grave believing Dean did that to insure Spanarkel would have no shot at topping Ford's game.

Yonaker was the typical role player for Dean back in those days. Seemingly had no talent yet Dean somehow managed to get production out of him and many like him. But it was great watching him shoot the airball and have the turnover due to panicking in the corner. He was spastic by nature and even moreso that night. I now know we have our buddies Kedsy and BD80 to thank for that! Great job guys!

Great write up Jim. Thanks for sharing.

OZZIE4DUKE
02-25-2010, 11:13 PM
As has been discussed on the DBR for many years and many times, DBR's own James Armstrong is the one who first uttered the phrase "Aaaair Ball!" and others joined him in unison. I'm almost surprised Jim didn't include it in his post.

alteran
02-26-2010, 10:14 AM
I'll have to check, but I think I still have one of those matchbooks at my mom's house. My dad LOVED that matchbook! (Actually, he thought the whole collection was pretty cool...) Greatest matchbook cover ever!

Wow-- that really makes my day to know that. thanks!

DeepBlue70
02-26-2010, 10:39 AM
I was fortunate enough to be at that game as well. A friend in Richmond was able to get us tix. I too remember it as one of the loudest games I ever heard in Cameron. But what I most remember was after G-Man clocked Al Wood in the beaker El Deano came out on the floor and instead of tending to his injured star he got in G-Man's face. He was shaking his finger at him and reading him the riot act. The refs should have corralled Dean but as has already been alluded to, Deano kind of controlled the refs in those days. The fans went nuts. It was a total loss of control on Dean's part and the fans had the reaction that nobody is gonna come in here and control our players - tend to your own! Loved knowing we had El Deano off balance. Of course, I have always thought that it was poetic justice that the final margin was the 7 point difference that Carolina gave up in the first half with their stall ball tactic, otherwise the teams played the second half dead even. Thanks Jim for bringing back such tremendous memories. That one certainly will always rank near the top in this storied rivalry.

rsvman
02-26-2010, 10:51 AM
Excellent post. I really enjoyed reading it.

One thing seems strange to me, though. You said last year was the 30th anniversary of the game, which makes me believe the game was played in 1979 (I don't know this, I just did the math).

However, in the article, you said that there was a held ball and one of the teams got the ball on alternate possession. Problem is that in 1979 a "held ball" was called "jump ball" and there was no alternate possession rule, since it was introduced in 1981.

Could you clarify this discrepancy for me?

Thanks.

alteran
02-26-2010, 11:07 AM
Excellent post. I really enjoyed reading it.

One thing seems strange to me, though. You said last year was the 30th anniversary of the game, which makes me believe the game was played in 1979 (I don't know this, I just did the math).

However, in the article, you said that there was a held ball and one of the teams got the ball on alternate possession. Problem is that in 1979 a "held ball" was called "jump ball" and there was no alternate possession rule, since it was introduced in 1981.

Could you clarify this discrepancy for me?

Thanks.

Speculation-- back in the Stone Age, the ACC used to try rules during league play that were different than the NCAAs. For example, when the Cardiac Pack won the NC in '83, the ACC had an "experimental" 3-point line (an absurdly close 3-point line) while the NCAAs didn't have one yet. There was some speculation that the emphasis on longer-range shooting gave NCSU a big edge from deep range that year.

It wouldn't surprise me if the ACC adopted an alternating possession rule a couple years prior to the NCAA doing so.

Granted, it's also possible that this is a goof.

jimsumner
02-26-2010, 11:37 AM
Obviously the author meant to write "UNC won the jump ball."

Probably just a bad editing job. :)

MChambers
02-26-2010, 11:54 AM
Why did Vince Taylor start? Was Dennard injured? I can't for the life of me remember.

fisheyes
02-26-2010, 12:33 PM
For those who weren't there, I found this on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRVmc6dO0g8

I was a senior that year...what a game!

JStuart
02-26-2010, 12:47 PM
One of the benefits, Jim, of doing such a good job with this story, is that you leave us wanting more!

Could you put together something about the game at Cameron when Dean went berserk and comandeered the scoreboard controls at the scorer's table?
If I remember correctly, that year JeffPilot didn't show all the ACC games, but there was a pay-per-view package being tried out ('Season Ticket' remains in my brain for some reason), and thus none of us locals without tickets could watch the game.
Can you fill us in?
Thanks in advance,
JStuart

jimsumner
02-26-2010, 01:00 PM
1984?

Condensed version. Somebody was shooting free throws. Carolina had a player on the sidelines ready to go in. The foul shot was made and the game resumed, without the sub being signalled in. This upset Dean Smith, who began yelling at pretty much anyone within earshot. When neither the refs nor the scorers table responded to his satisfaction, he went to the table and tried to stop the clock. He ended up pounding the table and changing the score.

Somehow, this tantrum did not result in a technical foul.

Context. This was Duke's first game after the infamous Herman Veal-panties-condom game. The Cameron Crazies had been pilloried in the national press for several days leading to the game. They responded by being on their best behavior for the Carolina game, clean but enthusiastic and creatively responding the Terry Sanford's Uncle Terry missive.

Following the game, the young, somewhat embattled Duke coach wondered if Dean Smith's activities would receive the same level of scrutiny and suggested than a media double standard might exist.

And yes, I remember the season-ticket-TV fiasco. I especially remember being upset that the Duke at Wake Forest game was not available on conventional TV in the Triangle. Given that Wake won that game by 31 points, I shouldn't have worried so much. :)

james
02-26-2010, 02:45 PM
Gene Banks didn't start. It was Gminksi-Dennard-Taylor-Spanarkel-Bender.

Down the stretch, Carolina ran out of time outs, and kept calling them. There were two team technical fouls and Bob Bender hit those foul shots.

Based on the allowed nature of physical play in the ACC today, Gminski's ejection would have been a no-call had it happened in 2010.

This was my first Carolina game. I still loathe Carolina.

This was not the first time there was a first-half stall in Cameron that season. La Salle tried it early in the season, and had some better success for a while, building a 4-1 lead before trailing 12-6 at the half. They ran in the second half, and Duke ran them off the court for a 66-42 win.

This was not the first time "air-ball" was chanted. Prior to this game, when players shot air balls, one would hear "air ball" chanted with the current cadence used for "defence." (two sharp syllables followed by two claps.) While Carolina was holding the ball, we were chanting "Boooring" in the A-C sing-song cadence, now the familiar "air ball" cadence. When Yonakor shot the air ball, it just happened... And the modern "air ball" chant was born.

oldnavy
02-26-2010, 03:00 PM
Jim,
In the 79 game, if my memory serves me well, and the video seems to support my recollection of the game, UNC was shooting on their end of the court in the first half, and on Duke's end during the second half. In otherwords, unlike today, when teams play offense on the goal in front of their own bench furing the second half, it seems to me that this was reversed during that game. Am I just remembering this wrong?

Kedsy
02-26-2010, 05:48 PM
Jim,
In the 79 game, if my memory serves me well, and the video seems to support my recollection of the game, UNC was shooting on their end of the court in the first half, and on Duke's end during the second half. In otherwords, unlike today, when teams play offense on the goal in front of their own bench furing the second half, it seems to me that this was reversed during that game. Am I just remembering this wrong?

Carolina was definitely playing offense in front of their own bench in the first half of that game. I sat in the corner across from the UNC bench and in the four corners Yonakur was standing about a foot and a half away from me.

blueprofessor
02-26-2010, 06:09 PM
1984?

Condensed version. Somebody was shooting free throws. Carolina had a player on the sidelines ready to go in. The foul shot was made and the game resumed, without the sub being signalled in. This upset Dean Smith, who began yelling at pretty much anyone within earshot. When neither the refs nor the scorers table responded to his satisfaction, he went to the table and tried to stop the clock. He ended up pounding the table and changing the score.

Somehow, this tantrum did not result in a technical foul.

Context. This was Duke's first game after the infamous Herman Veal-panties-condom game. The Cameron Crazies had been pilloried in the national press for several days leading to the game. They responded by being on their best behavior for the Carolina game, clean but enthusiastic and creatively responding the Terry Sanford's Uncle Terry missive.

Following the game, the young, somewhat embattled Duke coach wondered if Dean Smith's activities would receive the same level of scrutiny and suggested than a media double standard might exist.

And yes, I remember the season-ticket-TV fiasco. I especially remember being upset that the Duke at Wake Forest game was not available on conventional TV in the Triangle. Given that Wake won that game by 31 points, I shouldn't have worried so much. :)

Great story, Jim.
During FSU's inaugural season in the ACC (1991-92), FSU (in 1991)won its first ever ACC basketball game vs. UNC at Chapel Hill.

In the game at FSU (2--27--1992), not only did Deano refuse personally to accept his gift of welcome from Pat Kennedy (after the announcer and crowd gave Smith a very gracious intro with much applause), whose face turned beet-red at the snub, but Smith objected to the announcer's mention of Hubert Davis's outstanding performance.:mad:

Davis hit 8 threes that night and, sensing a record might well be set that night for a player's 3FGs, the announcer mentioned Davis's 5th such basket.

Well, Deano went ballistic and started screaming at the announcer after walking within 10 feet of him during game action--a good distance from the UNC bench.

With his arrogant attitude, Smith may have intended to grab the microphone but a play on the court seized his attention.

The Kennedy and FSU fans--Smith feud officially began that night.

FSU fans greatly respected Smith before that game---but not much after.

Best regards--Blueprofessor :)

Indoor66
02-26-2010, 07:53 PM
Carolina was definitely playing offense in front of their own bench in the first half of that game. I sat in the corner across from the UNC bench and in the four corners Yonakur was standing about a foot and a half away from me.

IRRC, there was a time when the visiting team could select it's end of the court to start the game.