My 54th Mayor's Cup

[oksportfan]

Tonight I will attend my 54th Mayor's Cup game. That is every TU-ORU men's basketball game ever played beginning with the March 1974 game at the Fairgrounds Pavillion. TU's Tim Carson hit the game winner as the Hurricane prevailed 85-84. ORU nearly made it to the final four that season, losing in the regional final to Kansas. In the second game played the following year TU fell behind I think 20-2 but came back to win in Ken Hayes last game at TU. Ironically Hayes coached his last game as ORU coach in a December 1983 loss to TU.

 

[cmullinsTU]

Thank you for sharing. I love reading about other posters’ history of fandom related to TU. Especially when it is related to rivalries.

And incredible and impressive you’ve been to every Mayor’s Cup!!

 

[EagleBackr]

I was at that game, sitting with my mom in folding chairs directly behind the ORU bench. As a 12-year-old at the time, it's funny the things you remember: the water seeping up through the cracks in the plywood over the hockey ice; the incredible crowd noise (particularly the booing), and the ice and paper cups that hit us in the back of the head before they reached the ORU bench.

Suffice it to say, the crowd was "passionate". LOL

Great game; incredible pace; and mid-range shooting the likes of which you simply do not see in today's game.

 

[mcane]

I've been to every game except for 3 (including the first) when I was in school in out-of-state. Even then, I had telephone calls at the end (before cell phone) and later watched the score on cell phone. I missed 2 wins, 1 loss.

I was there in the infamous game when ORU broke TU's long win streak in Mabee with JD Barnett as head coach. TU had a paltry scoring total at the half. I can't remember the number, but it was under 20. An ugly typical JDB game. I was disgusted.

 

['Cane-man]

JD's temper tantrums rivaled Wojcik's...and they were often in public!

 

[rusty-c]

JD's temper tantrums rivaled Wojcik's...and they were often in public!

Toss up for biggest d-bag coach in Tulsa basketball history.

 

[mcane]

Yes, and I saw his most famous meltdown in person at the MVC tourney in St. Louis when he bombed a player after TU lost and the AD overheard him. That got him fired. And he richly deserved it.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Yes, and I saw his most famous meltdown in person at the MVC tourney in St. Louis when he bombed a player after TU lost and the AD overheard him. That got him fired. And he richly deserved it.

He didn’t just bomb a player, what got him fired was cussing that player’s mom.

Although her screaming “Put Bennie in you sonofab****” probably didn’t help.

 

[Larry Lewis]

Dougie was a poor man's J.D. Both Jekyll and Hyde personalities. J.D. a better bench coach, and did make it to 2 NCAA's. Both could be incredibly mean spirited for no reason.

Should never be mean to a mom. Although Bennie would be the 13th man on the current TU team.

A comment on his coaches show after beating Arizona at home would get him fired today. He commented on Kerr (yes, that Kerr) missing a shot cause Tulsa got him to shoot on the move. He basically said players of Kerr's race don't like to shoot on the move.

He also called a 7-foot TU center on his team the worst competitor he had ever seen on his radio show. Said he needed to be playing 2 or 3 levels lower. Nolan had been more diplomatic about the guy the year before, saying he needed to fall in love with the game of basketball.

But JD did return an early morning call very quickly after leaving a message with his
wife while I was working for the Tulsa Tribune writing an advance for a game against his previous school, VCU.

 

[quincy101]

As a TU fan, I got really, really tired of J.D.'s "one mistake=pine time" philosophy. He would bench you for missing a shot,a turnover,a free throw-didn't matter. Can't imagine what the players felt like.

 

[alchemy]

For those of you that would like to relive Hurricane History that 1974 ORU game used to be on in its entirety on youtube. I don't know if it's still there, but I watched it a few years ago. Fantastic game and a chance to see the great Willie Biles in action.

 

[HuffyCane]

I've been to every game except for 3 (including the first) when I was in school in out-of-state. Even then, I had telephone calls at the end (before cell phone) and later watched the score on cell phone. I missed 2 wins, 1 loss.

I was there in the infamous game when ORU broke TU's long win streak in Mabee with JD Barnett as head coach. TU had a paltry scoring total at the half. I can't remember the number, but it was under 20. An ugly typical JDB game. I was disgusted.

Yeah. I was there too. It would have been like 26-22 ORU at half, but the brain trust got a T after a plus one shooting foul with like :30 before half, so it was like 31-18.

TU came back in the second half. David Moss and Byron couldn’t miss. Unfortunately neither could Haywood Workman who sang a :01 free throw to win the game.

Long drive back to campus that night.

 

[quincy101]

Dougie was a poor man's J.D. Both Jekyll and Hyde personalities. J.D. a better bench coach, and did make it to 2 NCAA's.

Wasn't JD the coach of one of those NCAA's vs Navy? I recall a Middie PG named, thas rite, D. Wojcik, feeding the rock to the "Admiral", a future Hall of Famer named David Robinson. TU never had a chance.

 

[TulsaRulzOSUdrools]

Major props on attending that many games. I really enjoy hearing about people and their history with the team. I love the commitment.

 

[jesterondirt]

For those of you that would like to relive Hurricane History that 1974 ORU game used to be on in its entirety on youtube. I don't know if it's still there, but I watched it a few years ago. Fantastic game and a chance to see the great Willie Biles in action.

 

[alchemy]

Thanks for posting Jester. A couple random observations about the game. The court looks naked without the giant center court decals, 3pt lines, etc. The TU cheerleaders are totally improve and at times manic. Very little coordinated cheering. I was there and it all looked normal at the time, but cheering has become a much different thing. Willie Biles didn't have a great game, but was clutch down the stretch when TU needed points, and Sammy High and Grasshopper Smith had really good short range shooting touches. It was fun to watch again.

 

[mcane]

Biles missing the two free throws near the end almost gave me a heart-attack

 

[ba11game]

What stood out to me about the game was 0 points for Anthony Roberts. He would go on to have games of 66 and 65 points.

 

[TU Sepp]

Didn't Alan Blackman guard Anthony Roberts that game...