What game, what was the outcome and why was it so special for you personally?
Not even close to 1986 Cal win over Ucla. They are fucla you know.socaltownie said:
I was away when the streak ended but heard about it from my brother and dad.
For me it would be taking SCT Jr. to his first Bears BB game against Arizona when they were number 1 and Cobbs beat them with that sweet fadeaway.
As Roxie said
"Number 1, Unbeaten, no More!!"
Of course I have had to explain to him it all goes downhill from there ;-)
I've answered this before, and it isn't just to add some variety. The 107-102 win over the Ducks in 5 OT is my favorite all-time moment inside Harmon/Haas.Big C said:
Can't argue with Breaking-the-Streak-vs-UCLA or beating #1 Arizona in the last seconds, so I will throw a different one into the mix just to add some variety:
Cal beats Oregon in 5 overtimes at Harmon, 1977. Cal's Gene Ransom goes for 36, the Duck's Greg Ballard for 43(?).
Thanks socaltownie for posting this. I think winning the PAC12 conference regular season championship is one of the toughest things to do as a team, maybe even the toughest, because you have to play half your conference games in hostile arenas remote from home, not on a neutral floor like the PAC12 tournament or the NCAA. It isn't as important to modern fans these days, but it is still very important to the players.socaltownie said:
One that should be up there is beating ASU to win our first conference title in like FOREVER.
Big C said:
Can't argue with Breaking-the-Streak-vs-UCLA or beating #1 Arizona in the last seconds, so I will throw a different one into the mix just to add some variety:
Cal beats Oregon in 5 overtimes at Harmon, 1977. Cal's Gene Ransom goes for 36, the Duck's Greg Ballard for 43(?).
One of the coolest/weirdest things from that game... so, with FIVE overtimes, players are fouling out, right? Round about the second or third OT, it was like, well, who do we have to put in? Off the bench comes freshman Kevin Singleton, who hit (IIRC) a couple of key buckets!Cal8285 said:I've answered this before, and it isn't just to add some variety. The 107-102 win over the Ducks in 5 OT is my favorite all-time moment inside Harmon/Haas.Big C said:
Can't argue with Breaking-the-Streak-vs-UCLA or beating #1 Arizona in the last seconds, so I will throw a different one into the mix just to add some variety:
Cal beats Oregon in 5 overtimes at Harmon, 1977. Cal's Gene Ransom goes for 36, the Duck's Greg Ballard for 43(?).
Gene the Dream played all 63 1/2 minutes before fouling out! Forget about the 36 points, 63 1/2 minutes is the most impressive thing Gene did that day.
And, as I've also said before, my second favorite is the 67-65 victory over George Raveling's WSU team on January 13, 1979. If they took 64 teams to the tourney back then, WSU would have been one of them in 1979, finishing 10-8 in the Pac-10 and 8-1 OOC. The Bears finished solidly in last place in the Pac-10, 4-14 and 6-12 overall, the worst season in my time as a Cal fan until Wyking came along. That night, from the south stands, Tom Caselli, then an owner of the Come Back Inn (beer for all ages!), now dearly departed, willed the crowd to will the Bears to victory. I think you had to be there to really understand how it felt to be part of the crowd that night.
Beating UCLA in 1986 would have felt better if UCLA had been a better team that year. We weren't beating a great UCLA team, we weren't beating a #1 team, a top 10 team, or even a top 25 team. We were beating a UCLA team that having a worse year than the last one when they didn't make the NCAA but won the NIT. In 1986, the Bruins went on to finish 9-9 in conference, 15-14 overall, and lost in the first round of the NIT. It was crazy at Harmon that day, and great to get that monkey off our backs, but Cal played a more impressive game against the Bruins 3 years earlier when UCLA came into Harmon at #1 and squeaked out a 5 point win.
Beating-the-Streak was great, but since this isn't "best" but "favorite," I'll take the 5 OT game and the Tom Caselli game ahead of it.
My favorite loss was Groundhog Day 1981. 5th ranked ASU came in with sophomore Byron Scott (in 83 the #4 overall draft pick in the NBA and a 14 year NBA career), senior Alton LIster (first round NBA draft pick in 81, 21st overall, a 17 year NBA career), junior Fat Lever (in 82 the 11th overall draft pick, a 12 year NBA career with 2 All-Star selections and his number retired by the Nuggets), and senior Sam Williams (second round NBA draft pick in 81, 33rd overall pick, a 4 year NBA career).LudwigsFountain said:
Also have to go with the Ransom game, especially because ge was LF jrs freshman coach at Berkeley.
This maybe weird but I have two favorite games that were losses. The first was when I was a student and Cal very nearly upset the Alcindor led UCLA squad. This may be a false memory but I recall "Tree" Johnson blocking one of Lew's shots.
My other one is Eddie House scoring 61 (I think). Been to a lot of games over 50 years but that was the most amazing performance.
Great memory. Thanks.Cal8285 said:My favorite loss was Groundhog Day 1981. 5th ranked ASU came in with sophomore Byron Scott (in 83 the #4 overall draft pick in the NBA and a 14 year NBA career), senior Alton LIster (first round NBA draft pick in 81, 21st overall, a 17 year NBA career), junior Fat Lever (in 82 the 11th overall draft pick, a 12 year NBA career with 2 All-Star selections and his number retired by the Nuggets), and senior Sam Williams (second round NBA draft pick in 81, 33rd overall pick, a 4 year NBA career).LudwigsFountain said:
Also have to go with the Ransom game, especially because ge was LF jrs freshman coach at Berkeley.
This maybe weird but I have two favorite games that were losses. The first was when I was a student and Cal very nearly upset the Alcindor led UCLA squad. This may be a false memory but I recall "Tree" Johnson blocking one of Lew's shots.
My other one is Eddie House scoring 61 (I think). Been to a lot of games over 50 years but that was the most amazing performance.
We knew these guys were good. Harmon was pretty packed, with the eternal optimists hopeful of a Bears win plus getting to see good team with a lot of future NBA talent.
And the Bears came out and played a good game, a game we definitely had our chances to win, losing in double OT 84-81.
There were guys that were fun to watch on that 80-81 Cal team. Michael Chavez, Mark McNamera, Michael Pitts, Kevin Singleton as a fifth year senior, Butch Hayes was a freshman, Wes Howell was in his first year as a JuCo transfer (it wasn't until the next year that new football coach Joe Kapp saw Howell on the basketball court and recruiting him to play football for a season, Howell's most important moment at Cal being his TD catch in the 82 Big Game).
The Bears only went 5-13 in conference, but played some tough games like the ASU game. The home loss to #6 ranked UCLA that year was only by 6. The home game against #2 Oregon St. was 4 days after the ASU loss, and the team seemed a little emotionally worn out, and lost by 15, but then came out the next night and beat Oregon. The Bears beat LSJU at home by 2 to open the conference season and had a 2 point OT win over USC.
No game that season, however, was as exciting and thrilling as the 2 OT loss to ASU, easily my "favorite moment" in a loss at Harmon/Haas.
You got most of this right, and with all respect, a couple of corrections: First,the second-string center who held the ball for 8 minutes was Joe Hagler. You may have been thinking of Dick Doughty, who was the second-string center on Cal's '59 NCAA champion team, and on Cal's '60 NCAA Runnerup team. I don't think Doughty had yet arrived at Cal in 1956.caltagjohnson said:
My favorite moment was more than 60 years ago, either 1955 or 1956. USF (NCAA champion) vs Cal. Newell knew he had little chance against Russell. Russell was going to stay under the basket and block anything that was close (and he had long arms). Newell put the center, Dougherty, at half court with the ball and told him to hold it until Russell came out. Russell never came out. I think Dougherty held it for 7 or 8 minutes at one stretch. KC Jones slapped the ball out out of his hands, grabbed the ball, did a somersault and went in for a layup. Broke the game open. Legend has it that Dougherty had to pee and lost his concentration. The game ended in the 20s or 30s for both teams. Standing room only crowd.
After that game, the NCAA adopted the rule about advancing the ball in so many seconds. They widened the lane under the basket so you could not stand under it forever. Newell became, IMO, the best college coach EVER. He owned Wooden. Russell became the most dominant player in the NBA.
That Oregon game for me. I was exhausted. Can't imagine how tired the players must have been.Big C said:
Can't argue with Breaking-the-Streak-vs-UCLA or beating #1 Arizona in the last seconds, so I will throw a different one into the mix just to add some variety:
Cal beats Oregon in 5 overtimes at Harmon, 1977. Cal's Gene Ransom goes for 36, the Duck's Greg Ballard for 43(?).
Yeah, Cal scored 101 and Murry had 41. Harmon was LOUD that day.NVBear78 said:Big C said:
Can't argue with Breaking-the-Streak-vs-UCLA or beating #1 Arizona in the last seconds, so I will throw a different one into the mix just to add some variety:
Cal beats Oregon in 5 overtimes at Harmon, 1977. Cal's Gene Ransom goes for 36, the Duck's Greg Ballard for 43(?).
My roommate at the time wandered over to Harmon near the end of the game and ended up staying and hanging out for the equivilent of a whole nother game through 5 overtimes.
p.s. my roomie that year went to more game than me and I remember him telling me about Cal stomping (I think?) on the Furds and "Sugar" Ray Murray going off for lots of dunks and points. Can anyone corroborate this memory....
Very cool story. I always dreamed of getting called to participate in one of those contests. I always took some half-court shots as part of my daily practice routine, but it never happened. Now I don't have the strength to reach the rim.peterprescott said:
During my freshman year in 1974, I swished a half court shot during halftime at the San Jose State game. I was the first time winner of the contest. I won two roundtrip tickets on P.S.A. and tickets for the UCLA and USC basketball games. Funny addition to this memory, just before I was presented with my award during halftime of the Stanford game at the end of the season, I was sitting behind a guy who was telling the two girls next to him that he won the contest by making a half court shot. Needless to say, it was fun to tap his shoulder to ask him to slide over so I could pick up my prize as the first time and only winner.
I'd forgotten about the Tamir game. That was crazy good. Luke Jackson had 30 or something for Oregon iirc.RedlessWardrobe said:
I was fortunate to be at the 5OT game vs. Oregon in '77. With all the stuff that Ransom was doing, if I recall correctly the Bears were down by 2, with the ball, with seconds left in the third overtime when Gene drove to the center of the key and "teardropped" the ball in at the buzzer to send the game in to OT#4. As already mentioned in the fifth overtime freshman Kevin Singleton who was rarely used was the hero. I'm also pretty sure that between the two teams nine players fouled out, including Gene.
In more recent times 2 games stand out. The year we had Amit Tamir and were down 18 to Oregon last first half and won, I think it was in single overtime. And the "Jorge" game vs Stanfurd, again I think we were down 18 or 19, and in that one we actually won the game going away.
I looked it up, and you are right on all points. Must have been quite a game. It was a semi-final matchup in the Championship Bracket, won by Berkeley, 78-63, led by future Cal star Chenier's 42 points, a single game TOC record for points and field goals (18). Williams scored 20 points for McClymonds.orindabear74 said:
TOC, McClymonds Oakland against Berkeley HS. Nate Williams vs Phil Chenier. So long ago, I can't remember who won. I think the Yellow Jackets. Total shootout.
Ray Murray: There's a player I hadn't thought about for awhile! I doubt he had "lots of" dunks, but I seem to remember one, which would've brought the house down, as he was not a high flyer.bluesaxe said:Yeah, Cal scored 101 and Murry had 41. Harmon was LOUD that day.NVBear78 said:Big C said:
Can't argue with Breaking-the-Streak-vs-UCLA or beating #1 Arizona in the last seconds, so I will throw a different one into the mix just to add some variety:
Cal beats Oregon in 5 overtimes at Harmon, 1977. Cal's Gene Ransom goes for 36, the Duck's Greg Ballard for 43(?).
My roommate at the time wandered over to Harmon near the end of the game and ended up staying and hanging out for the equivilent of a whole nother game through 5 overtimes.
p.s. my roomie that year went to more game than me and I remember him telling me about Cal stomping (I think?) on the Furds and "Sugar" Ray Murray going off for lots of dunks and points. Can anyone corroborate this memory....