Basketball games are totally around us everywhere!
It doesn't matter which level you prefer, pee wee to the pros, the seasons are in full swing, dear fans of Our Town and far beyond.
As I have stated in the past, it is my favorite spectator sport, and, in my humble opinion, the sport's professional athletes are the finest overall skilled athletes in the world.
And every season, I look forward to watching my beloved local OSU Cowboys, a love affair that began with the 1953-54 season. Back then, the locals were called the Oklahoma A&M Aggies, playing under the legendary coach, Henry. P. Iba (aka Mr. Iba). Their home was the still relatively new Gallagher Hall (GH), which seated a "mere" 6,381 originally for basketball. This magnificent lady was constructed in 1938 for the whopping cost of $1.5 million; almost $27 million in today's dollars, It's original name was the 4-H Club and Student Activities Building, but became known early-on as the "Madison Square Garden of the Plains".
Another commonly used nickname was "Mr. Iba's House of Horrors" because the "Iron Duke" (one of his nicknames) was so famous, and almost never was defeated at home inside GH on that incredible solid maple court, the oldest basketball court still in use today. In 2005, it was named Eddie Sutton Court, to honor another of our legendary head basketball coaches.
Enter your humble correspondent in 1953, when I was a mere 6 years-old, and my father, Col. C.H. Breedlove, had moved our family here that summer, relocating from suburban Washington, D.C.; the city of Falls Church, VA.
My dear father was good friends with Mr. Iba, and we used to regularly attend their local practice sessions inside GH. Mr. Iba and the Colonel would talk, we would watch the players run through their workouts, and I would shoot the adult-size balls on the maple floor's end-positioned goals. Occasionally, I talked with the big Aggie players.
A particular player I was drawn to due to his great playing ability and 6'11" frame was second team All-American center, Bob Mattick. He truly was a giant among men, and an incredible player on the court. I remember his #12 jersey, and he was our first player in school history to average a double-double each game for the entire season, averaging 20.7 points and 11.2 rebounds per game his senior year. To put those numbers in context, too, most winning teams in college games then would score less than 50 total points! There was no shot clock, and Mr. Iba's teams played very deliberate offense, and great defense, therefore, resulting in low scoring games.
Bob Mattick passed away just before this last Christmas at age 85, but his accomplishments and basketball fame still live on in the walls of our old GH. He was such an icon.
Continuing, as I was growing up in Our Town, on basketball game days, my father would park our family car in the large graveled lot just south of Lewis Field (today Boone Pickens Stadium). We would then walk through the old south-facing doors and inside, and always be greeted with sheer noise and excitement! It was especially loud when a fellow Missouri Valley Conference foe such as Drake, Hardin-Simmons, Wichita, St. Louis, Tulsa, etc., would come to GH to challenge our Aggies. Our assigned seats were on the player side of the court, front row, and I would rest my arms on the old portable wooden tables the press, broadcasters, etc. used to help them cover the games. My father would talk to his old friend, sports information director, Otis Wile, and I would also look at the various statistic paper sheets given to me by Otis throughout the games. Regularly, I would listen to the live radio broadcasters (no television then!), frequently standing near our local voice, Bill Platt. I would make a special effort when certain visiting announcers were in the house, such as when the St. Louis Billikens came to town, I would stand near their famous announcer, Harry Carey. Many times I recall hearing his classic phrase, "Holly Cow!". Even then, I thought those experiences were priceless!
Oh, well, I certainly could go on, and on, and on, about my memories of the incredible ol' place. If I listen very carefully, maybe I am able to still hear a faint roar of when our Cowboy heavyweight wrestler pinned OU's "Dr. Death" (aka Steve Williams), and we upset the Sooners in a wrestling dual?? There was absolutely no way OSU could defeat OU that night (I was in attendance on the very back row at the very top of the building!). Nor did we have any chance to beat basketball's Wilt Chamberlain and his Kansas teammates in 1958 with our Buckland, KS, sharpshooting small forward, Eddie Sutton, on our team (I was there that night, too!). As fate would have it, we WON both times, dear friends!!!
Wow, it certainly has been an incredible ride, experiencing my beloved Gallagher-Iba Arena for what seems like forever. As always, Go Cowboys, and let's help Coach Mike Boynton keep our basketball magic alive and well!
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