100 Things Rockets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (100 Things...Fans Should Know) - Softcover

Feigen, Jonathan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1629375861 ISBN 13: 9781629375861

Verlag: Triumph Books, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

Most Rockets fans have attended a game at the Toyota Center, have marveled at Hakeem Olajuwon highlights, and remember exactly where they were when Houston became "Clutch City." But only real fans have sat with the Red Rowdies or know about the good luck ritual that preceded some of the team's top draft selections. Whether you're a die-hard from the Moses Malone era or a more recent supporter of James Harden, 100 Things Rockets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the ultimate resource guide for true Houston hoops fans. Beat writer Jonathan Feigen has collected every essential piece of Rockets knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them all from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist as you progress on your way to fan superstardom.

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Jonathan Feigen is the Rockets beat writer for the Houston Chronicle, a position he has held since 1998. He joined the paper in 1990 and has been the recipient of APSE, APME, and United States Basketball Writers Association awards. This is his first book.

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100 Things Rockets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die

By Jonathan Feigen

Triumph Books LLC

Copyright © 2018 Jonathan Feigen
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-62937-586-1

Contents

Foreword Tilman Fertitta, 
1. Fit to a T, 
2. The Dream, 
3. The First Championship, 
4. From Choke City to Clutch City, 
5. The White Bronco Game, 
6. How Sweep It Is, 
7. The Heart of a Champion, 
8. The Real MVP, 
9. Happy Valentine's Day, 
10. Moses Malone and "Four Guys from Petersburg", 
11. The Trade That Wasn't, 
12. Thunder and a Lightning Strike, 
13. The Beard, 
14. Trade Day, 
15. CP3, 
16. The Coin Flips, 
17. Ralph, 
18. Twin Towers, 
19. The Lottery Win, 
20. The Great Wall, 
21. 15–0, 
22. The Streak, 
23. The One and Only Calvin Murphy, 
24. T-Mac, 
25. 13 in 33 Seconds, 
26. The Rockets vs. M.J., 
27. 1986 and What Could Have Been, 
28. John Lucas and the Full Circle, 
29. The Punch, 
30. The Kiss of Death, 
31. The Shot, 
32. Big Shot Bob, 
33. The Jet, 
34. Mad Max, 
35. O.T., 
36. Sam I Am, 
37. Sir Charles, 
38. Tilman Fertitta, 
39. Leslie Alexander, 
40. Charlie Thomas, 
41. Linsanty-ish, 
42. The Franchise, 
43. The Cat, 
44. Jeff Van Gundy, 
45. Rick Adelman, 
46. Kevin McHale, 
47. Mike D'Antoni, 
48. Ray and Steve, 
49. CD, 
50. Daryl Morey, 
51. Dwight Howard, 
52. The Big E, 
53. Shane Battier, 
54. Luis Scola, 
55. Pat Beverley, 
56. Dikembe Mutombo, 
57. Toyota Center, 
58. The Summit, 
59. Barnstorming, 
60. E.G., 
61. Clint Capela, 
62. Bill Worrell, the On-air Point Guard, 
63. Gene and Jim, 
64. From Clutch to Turbo and Back, 
65. The Clipper Comeback, 
66. 0.9, 
67. Game 6, 
68. Van Gundy vs the Commissioner, 
69. Nene's Night, 
70. Eddie Johnson and the Shot, 
71. Stockton's Dagger, 
72. The Game 7 Loss That Changed Everything, 
73. See It, Three It, 
74. The Chuck Wagon, 
75. The First All-Star, 
76. Sleepy Floyd, 
77. Del Harris, 
78. Bill Fitch, 
79. The I-45 Rivalry, 
80. Bull, 
81. Ketchup and Mustard, Jet Streams and Stripes, 
82. The China Games, 
83. Zhou Qi, 
84. Basketball Reasons, 
85. Ariza, Parts I and II, 
86. Chandler Parsons, Here and Gone, 
87. Visit the Dream "Statue", 
88. Build a Rockets Library, 
89. Sit with the Red Rowdies, 
90. See the Long and Short (and a Few in Between) of the Hall of Fame, 
91. Attend the Sloan Conference, 
92. The Short Season with Scottie Pippen, 
93. Aaron Brooks, 
94. Robert Reid, 
95. Allen Leavell, 
96. The Shark, 
97. Rudy T and the Olympics, 
98. Harvey, 
99. And the Award Goes To, 
100. 2017–18, 
Acknowledgments, 

CHAPTER 1

Fit to a T

Twelve months later, Rudy Tomjanovich would deliver the most iconic address ever given in a trophy presentation ceremony. "The Heart of a Champion" address will be forever part of his legacy, repeated by players, fans, and coaches of teams across the globe.

The previous spring, however, he was every bit as on target. He spoke directly to the hearts and emotions of Houston sports fans, with understanding of the dues they had paid and the long road the Rockets had traveled to that moment.

"Houston has wanted this for so long," Tomjanovich said after the Rockets defeated the Knicks for the first championship in Houston team sports history, "and you've finally got it."

More than most, Tomjanovich had been there every step of the way. He was the young former All-American when the Rockets landed in Houston from San Diego as no more than an experiment (now so anachronistic that it's difficult to believe) to determine if professional basketball could work in Texas.

He was part of the barnstorming days when the Rockets played "home" games from the University of Houston's Hofheinz Pavilion to Waco, El Paso, and San Antonio.

He felt the promise and ultimate disappointment of the 1980s, when the Rockets twice reached the NBA Finals, only to fall apart around Hakeem Olajuwon as drug suspensions broke up a team with championship potential.

Finally, having reluctantly taken over as coach, after years as a player, scout, broadcaster, and assistant, he had guided the Rockets to that first championship. Though he is from Hamtramck, Michigan, and has long been a Los Angeles resident since his brief run as Lakers coach, he considered himself a Houstonian.

He knew of the pain from the Phi Slama Jama loss in Albuquerque and the Oilers collapse in Buffalo. He also knew that when the Rockets pulled away from the Knicks in Game 7, the Rockets had more than become champions. They had lifted the city above all the disappointments along the way, replacing the pain with elation few beyond the echoes of the honking horns and delighted shouts on Richmond Avenue could entirely understand.

Tomjanovich had instilled his determination into his championship teams. He had plenty to spare.

Tomjanovich grew up in a blue-collar factory town now cleaved by a highway since built through what had been his neighborhood. His father's chronic back problems often kept him from working, with the family getting by on government food with generic labels as Tomjanovich grew more driven with every indignity along the way.

He was doubted in his first high school tryout and even when he arrived at Michigan as one of the most highly touted offensive talents in the state. In his first varsity game, he had 27 rebounds and 13 blocked shots against Kentucky. By his last, he was the leading rebounder in school history, averaging 25.1 points in his career.

Yet, when the San Diego Rockets chose him with the second pick of the 1970 Draft, he was greeted with outrage from San Diego fans who wanted the Rockets to choose Pete Maravich. Criticism drove him. The negative press that he insisted on reading was his fuel. The hunger he kept from Hamtramck to the "Heart of a Champion" never left him, pushing him through obstacles great and small, on and off the court.

After a rookie season in which he rarely played, Tomjanovich heard a television report that the Rockets would move to Houston and expected to see cattle and tumbleweeds, rather than the rapidly-growing metropolis that would come to mean so much to him. Coach Alex Hannum was fired, replaced by a college coach, Tex Winter, who not only helped drill Tomjanovich into the player he would become, but provided much of the foundation of Tomjanovich's beliefs as a coach.

Tomjanovich did not play much in his first season in Houston, but he continued to develop the shooting touch that would make him a five-time All-Star. He played with that determination to overcome doubts and obstacles. He joked often that power forwards hated him for too often going over their backs, a sentiment Tomjanovich said with his familiar laugh, a laugh that Wilt Chamberlain never forgot after their first meeting, when Tomjanovich was too out of control for The Stilt's liking.

Tomjanovich's high-release jump shot made him an All-Star, and he averaged 21.6 points in the 1976–77 season. But on December 9, 1977, teammate Kevin Kunnert was locked up with the Lakers' Kermit Washington. Players ran toward them. Washington and teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fought with Kunnert. Washington saw Tomjanovich, turned,...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Triumph Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1629375861
• ISBN 13: 9781629375861
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 304
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Triumph Books; https://www.triumphbooks.com; ; 814 North Franklin Street; CHICAGO; IL; 60610; USA
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