25th Anniversary of the Shot!

[Utley]

During a week in which we are starting "Tough Week" posts, watching the Cheats head off to Phoenix (only to have their hearts broken again) and having to say good-bye to some members of the Duke family way too early, its worthwhile to remember that those of us old enough experienced one of the best nights of our life 25 years ago today.

I had just been accepted to Fuqua and had one of my college roommates call me from Japan about Duke choking after Woods hit his circus shot. I'll never forget my utter joy from hearing his anguish as we watched the greatest play in college basketball history together from half a world away.

It's been one hell of a ride and its far from over. Let's Go Duke!


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[mr. synellinden]

Linky linky

[sagegrouse]

Here is the text of a post I made on DBR a few years ago, after a conversation with my homeboy, Verne Lundquist, who was on the telecast of the Duke-Kentucky game in 1992.

In a recent column that some of you saw and quoted from, Norman Chad listed 23 supposedly true sports facts: “10. If Verne Lundquist lived next door to me, I’d go over to borrow a cup of sugar every other day.”

I don’t live next door to Verne but I do see him often in our small town of Steamboat Springs. As Chad intimated, Verne is a really good guy, totally pleasant and exceptionally well informed on many subjects. A few weeks ago, I spoke with Verne Lundquist about “The Shot,” which he called for CBS. Until I saw a recent You Tube clip, I hadn’t even realized that he was the game announcer. I was with another neighbor, former Duke hurler Larry Harrison. “What did you think,” I asked Verne, “when it happened?”

“Well,” he said, “there was total silence [at the mike] for a few minutes and the camera just panned the court and all the celebrations going on. Then Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe came over and asked Len Elmore [Verne’s partner that day – who knew?], ‘Until today I thought the ACC final you played against North Carolina State in 1974 was the best college basketball game I had ever seen. Which game do you think was better?’ Len hesitated for a long minute and finally said, ‘I think this game may have been better.’”

“It was a few minutes later before I could talk to Mike Krzyzewski. One of the things I really admire about Mike (and there are many things I like) is that immediately after the game he went over to talk to the Kentucky radio announcer, Cawood Ledford. Ledford had been there forever and, as the tournament started, had announced that the next Kentucky loss would be his last game. Mike spoke first to Ledford and to the Kentucky fans on the radio network.” K told the Kentucky fans that they had listened to one of the classic basketball games in history.

“When I talked to Mike a few minutes later,” he said, “I knew if I could get the ball to that son-of-a-I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this. in the circle, he would make the shot.’ I was asked later why we didn’t mention on the broadcast that Laettner was perfect from the floor and perfect from the line. [He was 10-10 and 10-10.] Well, I didn’t know. I asked my statistician, a guy who had worked with me for years, why he hadn’t told me. He was a bit strange. He said it was in the handwritten notes, which I hadn’t managed to figure out. I believe he ended up getting fired over the incident.”

[Atlanta Duke]

Pat Forde has a good article on the 4 Kentucky seniors ("The Unforgettables") who played in that game

From immortal to quite mortal, Kentucky's Unforgettables face midlife challenges 25 years after their greatest moment

“One of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, describing former college football star Tom Buchanan in “The Great Gatsby.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/from-im...173201004.html

I know Christian Laettner has experienced some rough times in his personal and business life, but IMO Richie Farmer has that beat by serving 20 months in federal prison for misappropriation of public funds

[summerwind03]

I like this (long) article from the Buffalo News:

http://buffalonews.com/2017/03/16/sh...rs-swish-ages/

My favorite are the quotes from his mom:

Bonnie Laettner: My eyes were closed.

I remember that she would often leave the arena and hang out in the bathroom or walk the concourse during games!

[Edouble]

In 1992, I watched the game with my best friend in junior high and high school, a Georgia Tech fan, here in Atlanta.

As the game progressed, and the level of play increased, my friend started cheering for Duke and when Laettner hit the shot we were both jumping up and down joyously. To have seen this scene, you would have thought my friend had been pulling for Duke for years.

I texted him today (we are still close) to ask him if he remembered The Shot and he did. On his return text, I found out that he was actually in Philadelphia (where the game was played in The Spectrum) today for one day for business. He only travels for business a few times a year and not usually to Philly. Funny coincidence, I thought.

[rolm]

In 1992 I was in my early 20s. After the championship the previous year, I had taken it for granted that we will repeat. I was watching the game with a couple of my friends who had absolutely no interest in college basketball but were watching with me because they knew how crazy I was about the blue devils. As the game progressed, they started to get into it and said, "This is a fun game. Are all duke games this much fun? Is this the reason you never miss any game?" I laughed and said, "No. Kentucky is playing out of its mind but Duke will win." But when Woods hit that shot, I sunk into my seat. There was disbelief as I resigned to the fact that the season was over. How could it be? This was our year. After years of final four disappointment, we had finally climbed the mountain the previous year. I felt that we deserved the back-to-back championships. My eyes were already tearing up and my friends could clearly see my despair. They sat there in silence and watched me with my face in my hands. And then as Hill made the pass and Laettner caught the ball, I instinctively got up from my seat and when the ball went through the hoop, I jumped so high with my hands in the air that they hit the low ceiling of the basement with a loud bang. The only other time I had felt such exhilaration in sports was the previous year when UNLV's final shot bounced off the rim. After that day, I never took a win (and a championship) for granted. To this day, I remember exactly where I was sitting to watch that game, what clothes I was wearing and the sheer joy I felt that entire evening and sleepless night. Somehow it feels it wasn't that long ago. How 25 years fly by. I'm glad that both my sons are huge Duke fans and it feels great to watch the games with them. Go Duke!

[Utley]

Love the color commentary here - wow!

I'm sure I am reaching here but when was this Board formed? There was barely an internet in '92 so I think its as unlikely that the Board existed as us wining with 2.3 seconds left. I can only imagine what the post game thread would have been like .

[Utley]

Here is the text of a post I made on DBR a few years ago, after a conversation with my homeboy, Verne Lundquist, who was on the telecast of the Duke-Kentucky game in 1992.

Thanks for this Sage - priceless. A little more interesting than the story of me and my buddy in Japan. Consider yourself virtually sporked.

[rolm]

Love the color commentary here - wow!

I'm sure I am reaching here but when was this Board formed? There was barely an internet in '92 so I think its as unlikely that the Board existed as us wining with 2.3 seconds left. I can only imagine what the post game thread would have been like .

I first discovered this board in 1996. I still remember how excited everyone was when in 1997, the board had hit 100K hits. Not a day goes by when I don't visit this board. I don't think there is another college basketball board with more knowledgeable contributors. I've learned so much about the game from everyone here. I still remember back in 1999, after the loss, Jason Evans started a thread called "From the mouth of babes". I still remember that thread and how it helped me get over the devastating loss. For me, the members of this board are part of my extended family.