On this day 41 years ago...

[Old School]

On April 4, 1976, in St. Louis, the Kentucky Colonels beat the Spirits of St. Louis in overtime, 106-105, despite St. Louis having 32 points from Moses Malone. It turned out to be the final Spirits of St. Louis home game. The Spirits lost their final game on the road two days later to the Virginia Squires, 120-116. On April 12, the Kentucky Colonels played their final regular season game, a 100-99 win against the Indiana Pacers. The Colonels then beat the Pacers in the ABA quarterfinals but then lost a tight 7 game series to the Denver Nuggets in the ABA semifinals. The last Colonels home game was on April 25, 1976, a 119-115 double overtime win to tie the series with Denver 3-3 (after Kentucky, up 2-1, lost by 2 in Game 4). The Colonels final game was a 133-110 loss in Denver in Game 7. The Nuggets then blew a 22 point third quarter lead in Game 6 of the ABA Finals to the New York Nets on May 13 in the final ABA game. David Thompson scored 42 for Denver in that final game; Julius Erving had 34 and 37 in the two prior, and Thompson had 32 in Game 1.

The Colonels were sixth in all of pro basketball (NBA included) at the time.

In the ABA-NBA merger later in 1976, the Kentucky Colonels' owner, John Y. Brown Jr. (later governor of Kentucky) accepted $3 million to fold his team instead of joining the NBA. He used the money to buy the Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) and parlayed that later into ownership of the Boston Celtics. The savvy owners of the Spirits of St. Louis cut a deal worth 250 times as much. In addition to money up front and for selling the rights to their players (such as Moses Malone), the San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, and New York Nets each agreed to give the Spirits' owners (two brothers) one seventh of their television revenue, in perpetuity. The brothers made around $250 million from that until they finally agreed to give up that revenue in exchange for a one time $500 million lump sum payment from the NBA. It is probably the greatest deal in the history of sports: the Spirits of St. Louis never played a game in the NBA but made more than $750 million from the league.

http://deadspin.com/nba-to-pay-500-million-to-get-out-of-the-worst-deal-ev-1496519535

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2014/01/09/nba-settles-perpetuity-deal-with-former-owners-of-aba-spirits/

http://nesn.com/2014/01/report-nba-to-pay-500-million-to-abas-spirits-of-st-louis-to-get-out-of-38-year-old-deal/

http://www.stlamerican.com/sports/sports_columnists/sports_eye/the-great-nba-team-what-never-was/article_7bc07602-622f-11e5-b548-574d792876ed.html

As a result of the Spirits of St. Louis, the legend of the NBA's ghost team, the Utah Rockies, is based in truth:

http://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/ABA/articles/Rockies.html

[Matt Dillon]

Very interesting, Old School. Thanks for posting this.

[KevinHall]

Yes those owners of the Spirits of St. Louis turned out to be quite shrewd. They still could have been getting money from the NBA if they hadn't cut that deal with them. But $500 millions isn't bad money.
I didn't click on the links but the PBP announcer for St. Louis was a very young Bob Costas. He got his start in broadcasting with them. Chances are I heard him back then as I would listen to games from all across the country back in those days and KMOX came in loud and clear at night.

[Lighthouse]

Thanks for bringing back those memories. I remember all this happening and was very disappointed to learn about the merger and the demise of the Colonels. I had just been accepted into the ABA as an Official, so my Pro career didn't last very long.

[Old School]

Yes those owners of the Spirits of St. Louis turned out to be quite shrewd. They still could have been getting money from the NBA if they hadn't cut that deal with them. But $500 millions isn't bad money.
I didn't click on the links but the PBP announcer for St. Louis was a very young Bob Costas. He got his start in broadcasting with them. Chances are I heard him back then as I would listen to games from all across the country back in those days and KMOX came in loud and clear at night.

Costas was the Spirits of St. Louis play by play announcer.

There is a great book about the ABA called "Loose Balls". It is easy to read, enthralling, hilarious, and interesting. Costas is quoted at length in it. He has some great stories about that team.

Did you tune in KMOX for Colonels road games, or just for ABA games in general? I think WHAS broadcast all the Colonels games. When the Colonels and the Carolina Cougars were locked in a classic playoff series, there was actually litigation in court in Louisville over which local TV station had rights to broadcast the game(s).

Thanks for bringing back those memories. I remember all this happening and was very disappointed to learn about the merger and the demise of the Colonels. I had just been accepted into the ABA as an Official, so my Pro career didn't last very long.

Did you officiate some ABA games?

[Lighthouse]

Costas was the Spirits of St. Louis play by play announcer.

There is a great book about the ABA called "Loose Balls". It is easy to read, enthralling, hilarious, and interesting. Costas is quoted at length in it. He has some great stories about that team.

Did you tune in KMOX for Colonels road games, or just for ABA games in general? I think WHAS broadcast all the Colonels games. When the Colonels and the Carolina Cougars were locked in a classic playoff series, there was actually litigation in court in Louisville over which local TV station had rights to broadcast the game(s).



Did you officiate some ABA games?

Not regular season games, only a couple exhibition games. Bud Olsen, the director of Officials, told me he would give me a few games the next season, but the few teams merged into the NBA and the league folded. I worked a couple games when the AABA was formed and the Catbirds was the local team.

[KevinHall]

Costas was the Spirits of St. Louis play by play announcer.

There is a great book about the ABA called "Loose Balls". It is easy to read, enthralling, hilarious, and interesting. Costas is quoted at length in it. He has some great stories about that team.

Did you tune in KMOX for Colonels road games, or just for ABA games in general? I think WHAS broadcast all the Colonels games. When the Colonels and the Carolina Cougars were locked in a classic playoff series, there was actually litigation in court in Louisville over which local TV station had rights to broadcast the game(s).



Did you officiate some ABA games?

I have read Loose Balls. It is a good and funny book about the ABA days.

I listened to the Colonels games on WHAS. Van Vance, as you remember, was the PBP announcer. He was very good too. I listened to most of their games. They were my favorite pro team and never really had one since then. I guess that's one reason I fell out of watching the NBA.
KMOX came in the best for me of all the 50,000 watt stations. Even better than WHAS and WLW on a consistent basis for whatever reason. Back in the days before ESPN and every game was on TV I listened to games all over the country. KMOX,WWWE,WCAU,WSB,WJR along with WHAS and WLW were some of the big broadcast stations that I get could get on most nights. I think the furthest station I could get sometimes was from San Antonio and a time or two I can remember receiving one from Minneapolis. But that was rare from those places. There were a couple of pop music station I listened to a lot also. WLAC from Nashville and WLS from Chicago. Whenever I hear songs from the 70's I can still think back to first hearing them on those stations. It was a lot of fun as I remember it listening to games and just hearing the news and weather from those places. It help open up a world for a young boy in the mountains of eastern Kentucky.

[Old School]

Not regular season games, only a couple exhibition games. Bud Olsen, the director of Officials, told me he would give me a few games the next season, but the few teams merged into the NBA and the league folded. I worked a couple games when the AABA was formed and the Catbirds was the local team.

Did you officiate some of the exhibition games that ABA teams played against NBA teams? That's a somewhat forgotten part of both ABA and NBA history. The ABA won most of those games, especially in the last few years of the league. The 1975 ABA champion Colonels defeated the 1975 NBA champion Warriors in Freedom Hall...even after Kentucky had traded away Dan Issel.

I remember going to see the Catbirds play. Tom Payne played for them. Dirk Minniefield played for them also. I also saw Dwight Anderson play against the Catbirds, I think with the Ohio Mixers. They wore uniforms with a logo in which the two O's in "Ohio" were wheels on a cement truck. I think their owner owned a cement company or something like that. What a lot of talent was squandered by those three. Payne and his multiple rape convictions...have to wonder what his problems were. My understanding is that most of the first black players at many schools had rough lives afterward. I think the first at Auburn or someplace like that jumped off of a building and killed himself. Minniefield could've done a lot more in the NBA, IMO. Same for Anderson; he had incredible athleticism.

[Old School]

I have read Loose Balls. It is a good and funny book about the ABA days.

I listened to the Colonels games on WHAS. Van Vance, as you remember, was the PBP announcer. He was very good too. I listened to most of their games. They were my favorite pro team and never really had one since then. I guess that's one reason I fell out of watching the NBA.
KMOX came in the best for me of all the 50,000 watt stations. Even better than WHAS and WLW on a consistent basis for whatever reason. Back in the days before ESPN and every game was on TV I listened to games all over the country. KMOX,WWWE,WCAU,WSB,WJR along with WHAS and WLW were some of the big broadcast stations that I get could get on most nights. I think the furthest station I could get sometimes was from San Antonio and a time or two I can remember receiving one from Minneapolis. But that was rare from those places. There were a couple of pop music station I listened to a lot also. WLAC from Nashville and WLS from Chicago. Whenever I hear songs from the 70's I can still think back to first hearing them on those stations. It was a lot of fun as I remember it listening to games and just hearing the news and weather from those places. It help open up a world for a young boy in the mountains of eastern Kentucky.

Some of the stories in Loose Balls are hilarious and still make me laugh. I think it is probably my favorite of all sports books I have ever read.

Did you listen to a lot of Spirits games on KMOX? Spurs games on the San Antonio station? Muskies or Pipers games on the Minneapolis station?

It's interesting to me, the things some people recall hearing for the first time on the radio: news of Kennedy's assassination, sporting events, etc. A poster on WCF once told a great story on there about 1967, riding in a muscle car, hearing Light My Fire for the first time, and how that summer and maybe that moment were the happiest time of his life.

I used to listen to Catbirds games on the radio sometimes. Growing up, there was a group of us who would listen to Reds games on a homemade radio while playing basketball in the summer. Those were good times. I listened to many Kentucky football games on the radio in my youth, also, and some basketball games, too.

[KevinHall]

Some of the stories in Loose Balls are hilarious and still make me laugh. I think it is probably my favorite of all sports books I have ever read.

Did you listen to a lot of Spirits games on KMOX? Spurs games on the San Antonio station? Muskies or Pipers games on the Minneapolis station?

It's interesting to me, the things some people recall hearing for the first time on the radio: news of Kennedy's assassination, sporting events, etc. A poster on WCF once told a great story on there about 1967, riding in a muscle car, hearing Light My Fire for the first time, and how that summer and maybe that moment were the happiest time of his life.

I used to listen to Catbirds games on the radio sometimes. Growing up, there was a group of us who would listen to Reds games on a homemade radio while playing basketball in the summer. Those were good times. I listened to many Kentucky football games on the radio in my youth, also, and some basketball games, too.

I don't think I listened to many of the Spirits games. I think I listened to KMOX when the Cardinals were playing n the west coast. I used to love it when a MLB team was playing out west and I could listen to a game late at night.
It was the Spurs I heard on that station. That was the only pro team out there then. Come to find out when I moved to the DC area one of their local sports guys had worked at that same San Antonio station during that time. His name is Andy Pollin. So I probably heard him on there then. I'm sure it was the Twins I heard on that Minneapolis station. It was very rare I could pick it up. Maybe only a couple or three times.
In the early 70's I mostly listened to UK basketball and football. Football was never on TV. We didn't have cable and couldn't pick up the Lexington station off of our antenna up on the mountain. I listened to UK games mostly on WSGS from Hazard. Also listened to Reds games on that station too. Also HS games. I couldn't get any stations in the region I lived in the 13th region. So I listened to the 14th region mostly that Hazard covered. They also broadcast the entire Boys HS State tournament. Those games were never on TV and I would listen to the entire tournament on WSGS. They were definitely the leader in sports coverage in the mountains at that time.

[Lighthouse]

Did you officiate some of the exhibition games that ABA teams played against NBA teams? That's a somewhat forgotten part of both ABA and NBA history. The ABA won most of those games, especially in the last few years of the league. The 1975 ABA champion Colonels defeated the 1975 NBA champion Warriors in Freedom Hall...even after Kentucky had traded away Dan Issel.

I remember going to see the Catbirds play. Tom Payne played for them. Dirk Minniefield played for them also. I also saw Dwight Anderson play against the Catbirds, I think with the Ohio Mixers. They wore uniforms with a logo in which the two O's in "Ohio" were wheels on a cement truck. I think their owner owned a cement company or something like that. What a lot of talent was squandered by those three. Payne and his multiple rape convictions...have to wonder what his problems were. My understanding is that most of the first black players at many schools had rough lives afterward. I think the first at Auburn or someplace like that jumped off of a building and killed himself. Minniefield could've done a lot more in the NBA, IMO. Same for Anderson; he had incredible athleticism.

No, they wanted more experienced officials for those. It's been so long I can't remember who the other teams were, but nothing significant. I remember tossing the ball between Gilmore and whoever the other center was, and I felt real small. I do remember calling a Catbirds scrimmage at Shawnee HS when Tom Payne played. He is the largest human I've ever been that close to. If you remember, they couldn't find a warm up shirt to fit his arms, and he had to warm up in his game jersey. His arms were so big, they looked like legs. There was a 6'10" kid who played at Central and Cincinnatti named Miller who was the starting center. He stepped in front of Payne to take a charge, and as I called the block on him, he looked at me and said, "That will never happen again."