Epilogue
Well, it was quite the adventure, and it gets a little better with each retelling. To this day, every Disco Winnebagoer remains a good friend (except James-at-22 who – like D-Day in “Animal House” – screeched out of The Legend’s parking lot, never to be seen again). But there’s even more at work here, though.
Like some “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” experience, Knights’ basketball has become one of those common threads of life for fun, friends and family since that 1975-76 season. For instance, I’ll be forever indebted to the Future Mrs. Cat for introducing me to the Future Mrs. McKnight at Nickel Beer Night at Rosie O’Grady’s (RIP) December 8, 1980. Our first date was a UCF-Florida Southern basketball game – meeting me at “The House That Chuck Built,” she almost turned around on that long, unlit 2-lane University Boulevard then in existence, certain that nothing could possibly be THAT far out in the woods. Afterward (we lost to the Mocs – AGAIN – 57-53) we joined Fifi, CK, Big Ralph and the gang at the Knights’ Den (where Fifi admiringly remarked “Gee, she chews gum, drinks beer and cusses all at the same time!”), and from there on she was hooked (so was I).
The love for basketball expanded to all UCF sports – The Legend got most of us on the Team Host Committee when the Lady Knights won the 1979 AIAW National Championship on campus (now THAT was a fun gig!). Knights Hall of Famer Laura Smith led that dominating squad to an undefeated season, after losing only one match the year before (they refused to change their FTU jerseys to UCF for the tournament). CK, The Legend and I drove to St. Leo later that year to see Bobby Joe Plain slosh his way into Knight immortality in that first football game (now that might be another story…). Ya’ know, they didn’t give us a home-and-home, did they?
And it’s not confined to athletics, either. Among all the gents mentioned in these chronicles are found numerous Alumni Board members, a couple of Alumni presidents, Booster Board members and one Booster president, athletic and academic search committee members, Distinguished Alumni and College Hall of Famers. Almost everyone pays alumni dues annually, a couple are lifetime members (Manny’s gonna audit me on these assertions), Alumni Trust Donors (at $1,000 a pop), scholarship contributors, college donors, FB and BB season ticket holders, booster members and Cornerstone donors to the new athletic facility (at $10,000 each). This isn’t meant to brag – it’s to demonstrate that an enthusiastic, involved student pays off for the University athletically and academically later. And it’s a phenomenon not confined to our little merry band, either.
“So what!” I asked. [Begin editorial] So, if I were a local AD, coach or athletic administrator I’d be knocking on dormitory, sorority and fraternity house doors (and that of any other student group) before the end of this academic year, schedule cards and posters in hand. I’d beg them to plan their social schedules around home games, and plead for them to fill the stands every time.
I’d encourage the coaches and players to mingle with the student body like Torchy, Bo, Calvin, Jerry, Laura, Noffke and Boles (but maybe not quite as “one-on-one” as Bennie). Put a face and personality on the program. Make the kids feel special and have them want to see their friends play. It’s a cheap way to increase attendance today, and one that will keep butts in the stands and pay off in the bankbook 10-years down the road. [End editorial]
Well that’s it, except that the next generation of Cats, CKs, Eltons, McKnights, et al are already enthusiastic Knights-in-waiting. I sincerely hope that they have nowhere near as much fun, or nearly as many adventures as we did.
That, and I DO start welling up a tear whenever I hear “Staying Alive.”
=======================================================================
It’s been a blast preparing these posts, but in order to get all the scores and stats right I had to conduct a lot of fun research. It wouldn’t have been possible without the knowing help of UCF Library’s Special Collections archives and staff, and the unknowing assistance of John Marini’s basketball media guide, and FuTUre and Orlando Sentinel-Star beat writers of the era:
From the FuTUre there were Rick Jaffe, Tony Hutcheson, Don Coble (at one time sports writer at the Florida Today newspaper), Myron Carden, Mark Hess (last I heard a NASA PR wheel), Fred Lee (a manager at Central Florida’s Largest Single Concentration of Slide Rules and Pocket Protectors) and Vince Cotroneo (radio play-by-play man for the Texas Rangers).
Also from Sentinel-Star sports stories by Bill Buchalter, Larry Greene, Jerry Greene, Larry Guest, Chris Cobbs, Don Archer, Bill Skutt, Nick Sweers, Myron Carden, Mickey McCarthy, AND Bill Marx (long, deep breath!).
And again thanks to CK, BiB and The Legend for sharing their memories, usually obtained at some type of UCF event and/or adult beverage opportunity.
Thanks for reading!!
Well, it was quite the adventure, and it gets a little better with each retelling. To this day, every Disco Winnebagoer remains a good friend (except James-at-22 who – like D-Day in “Animal House” – screeched out of The Legend’s parking lot, never to be seen again). But there’s even more at work here, though.
Like some “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” experience, Knights’ basketball has become one of those common threads of life for fun, friends and family since that 1975-76 season. For instance, I’ll be forever indebted to the Future Mrs. Cat for introducing me to the Future Mrs. McKnight at Nickel Beer Night at Rosie O’Grady’s (RIP) December 8, 1980. Our first date was a UCF-Florida Southern basketball game – meeting me at “The House That Chuck Built,” she almost turned around on that long, unlit 2-lane University Boulevard then in existence, certain that nothing could possibly be THAT far out in the woods. Afterward (we lost to the Mocs – AGAIN – 57-53) we joined Fifi, CK, Big Ralph and the gang at the Knights’ Den (where Fifi admiringly remarked “Gee, she chews gum, drinks beer and cusses all at the same time!”), and from there on she was hooked (so was I).
The love for basketball expanded to all UCF sports – The Legend got most of us on the Team Host Committee when the Lady Knights won the 1979 AIAW National Championship on campus (now THAT was a fun gig!). Knights Hall of Famer Laura Smith led that dominating squad to an undefeated season, after losing only one match the year before (they refused to change their FTU jerseys to UCF for the tournament). CK, The Legend and I drove to St. Leo later that year to see Bobby Joe Plain slosh his way into Knight immortality in that first football game (now that might be another story…). Ya’ know, they didn’t give us a home-and-home, did they?
And it’s not confined to athletics, either. Among all the gents mentioned in these chronicles are found numerous Alumni Board members, a couple of Alumni presidents, Booster Board members and one Booster president, athletic and academic search committee members, Distinguished Alumni and College Hall of Famers. Almost everyone pays alumni dues annually, a couple are lifetime members (Manny’s gonna audit me on these assertions), Alumni Trust Donors (at $1,000 a pop), scholarship contributors, college donors, FB and BB season ticket holders, booster members and Cornerstone donors to the new athletic facility (at $10,000 each). This isn’t meant to brag – it’s to demonstrate that an enthusiastic, involved student pays off for the University athletically and academically later. And it’s a phenomenon not confined to our little merry band, either.
“So what!” I asked. [Begin editorial] So, if I were a local AD, coach or athletic administrator I’d be knocking on dormitory, sorority and fraternity house doors (and that of any other student group) before the end of this academic year, schedule cards and posters in hand. I’d beg them to plan their social schedules around home games, and plead for them to fill the stands every time.
I’d encourage the coaches and players to mingle with the student body like Torchy, Bo, Calvin, Jerry, Laura, Noffke and Boles (but maybe not quite as “one-on-one” as Bennie). Put a face and personality on the program. Make the kids feel special and have them want to see their friends play. It’s a cheap way to increase attendance today, and one that will keep butts in the stands and pay off in the bankbook 10-years down the road. [End editorial]
Well that’s it, except that the next generation of Cats, CKs, Eltons, McKnights, et al are already enthusiastic Knights-in-waiting. I sincerely hope that they have nowhere near as much fun, or nearly as many adventures as we did.
That, and I DO start welling up a tear whenever I hear “Staying Alive.”
=======================================================================
It’s been a blast preparing these posts, but in order to get all the scores and stats right I had to conduct a lot of fun research. It wouldn’t have been possible without the knowing help of UCF Library’s Special Collections archives and staff, and the unknowing assistance of John Marini’s basketball media guide, and FuTUre and Orlando Sentinel-Star beat writers of the era:
From the FuTUre there were Rick Jaffe, Tony Hutcheson, Don Coble (at one time sports writer at the Florida Today newspaper), Myron Carden, Mark Hess (last I heard a NASA PR wheel), Fred Lee (a manager at Central Florida’s Largest Single Concentration of Slide Rules and Pocket Protectors) and Vince Cotroneo (radio play-by-play man for the Texas Rangers).
Also from Sentinel-Star sports stories by Bill Buchalter, Larry Greene, Jerry Greene, Larry Guest, Chris Cobbs, Don Archer, Bill Skutt, Nick Sweers, Myron Carden, Mickey McCarthy, AND Bill Marx (long, deep breath!).
And again thanks to CK, BiB and The Legend for sharing their memories, usually obtained at some type of UCF event and/or adult beverage opportunity.
Thanks for reading!!
