Too high even for the big guys...
It was a one-game experiment to level the playing field, make that basketball court, on this date in 1954 that backfired. The height of the hoop in basketball is 10 feet for a reason...it works ! When the basketball lords decided that the NBA's dominant team, the Minneapolis Lakers with tall players like George Mikan, Vern Mikkkelsen and Jim Pollard, had a distinct advantage over most NBA teams, they decided to play a game with 12-foot high baskets to take away that advantage but they also took away the scoring...
The game ended with Minneapolis beating the Milwaukee Hawks 65-63 in a contest that would not be put in a time capsule for future viewing. I mean, you try to shoot a ball over a 12-foot basket. The game was boring, obviously lacked enough scoring and the one-game experiment was over. The Lakers would go on to win their 4th NBA title in 5 years in April. Yes they had height on their team but that's not why they won, they won because they had the best players in the league...
The NBA would keep the height of the basket at 10 feet but Syracuse owner Danny Biasone would soon save basketball and move it into the game it has become with the 24-second clock...
More March 7 Memories...
1774) The British close the port of Boston to all commerce (stand by, we're about to get even)...
1876) Alexander Graham Bell receives U.S. Patent #174,465 for a little thing called the telephone...
1926) The 1st successful trans-Atlantic radio-telephone conversation takes place between New York City and London...
1951) Ezzard Charles wins a 15-round decision over Jersey Joe Walcott giving the champ his 8th heavyweight title defense victory...
1954) The NBA raises baskets from 10 feet to 12 feet for a game between Minneapolis and Milwaukee (feature story)...
1955) The 1st Broadway play is televised in color, featuring the original cast of "Peter Pan" starring Mary Martin...
1955) Phyllis Diller makes her debut at the Purple Onion in San Francisco...
1960) "Tonight Show" host Jack Paar returns to the show after walking off the set one month earlier (over his "water closet" remark)...
1965) State troopers and a sheriff's posse breaks up the famous civil rights march in Selma, AL...
1967) Sandra Dee receives a divorce from Bobby Darin...
1970) Notre Dame's Austin Carr scores 61 points against Ohio University, setting an NCAA tournament scoring record...
1983) TNN (The Nashville Network) debuts (TNN is now "Spike TV")...
1987) 20-year old Mike Tyson becomes the youngest heavyweight champion after decisioning James "Bonecrusher" Smith in a 12-round fight in Las Vegas...
1999) Movie director Stanley Kubrick dies in his sleep from a heart attack at 70...
2002) A federal judge awards Anna Nicole Smith more than $88 million in damages in a legal battle over the estate of Smith's late husband, J. Howard Marshall II (Marshall's heirs are currently challenging the award)...
To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1934) "Today Show" weather guy Willard Scott...
1942) Michael Eisner...
1946) Peter Wolf (J. Geils Band)...
1950) Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris...
1952) Franco's Steeler teammate, Football Hall of Famer and future Pennsylvania Governor (?) Lynn Swann...
1952) Ernie Isley...
1971) Rachel Weisz (a birthday and an oscar in the same week)...
Today is the 66th day of 2006 with 299 days left in the year, 13 days until spring and 25 days until opening day...
