Slog - Comments on I Can't Find a News Peg or Any Excuse ... http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse ... to put this great quote on Slog, but then I realized: I don't need a news peg or any excuse. I read the autobiography of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar this weekend, Giant Steps. It's a good read. Not a typical sports book at all. For example, the only thing he says about UCLA's famed NCAA three-peat in 1969 is, "In spring 1969, after we'd won our third straight NCAA championship...it was time to think about the pros." That's all he says about perhaps his most famous accomplishment in sports. Mostly, his account of college is about LSD, not fitting in with... Copyright 2008 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:51:12 -0800 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:13:38 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by neo-realist Josh, I don't believe UCLA won 3 NCAA championships in a row. Didn't they lose to Houston in the 1968 game in the Astrodome?

]]> neo-realist http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816092 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816092 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:02:01 -0800 Comment by Josh Feit @1,
I was confused about that too. Elvin Hayes is, of course, my favorite player of all time.

Turns out Elvin's 39-point, 15-rebound face job on Jabbar (Alcindor) in the Astrodome in 1968 was just a mid-season game. The big deal about the game was that it ended UCLA's 47-game winning streak. (It was also the first-ever regular-season college basketball game to be televised nationally.)

UCLA actually went on to win the NCAA that year, beating Houston along the way in the semi-finals.

Jabbar and UCLA won the NCAA in 1967, 1968, and 1969.

]]> Josh Feit http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816098 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816098 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:14:21 -0800 Comment by Ryan How subtle can a religion that hits its followers with sticks be? Zen is anything but subtle (and not just because of the stick thing).

But Jabbar is a cool dude. Thanks for the book rec.

]]> Ryan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816110 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816110 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:34:22 -0800 Comment by Ebenezer Maybe he's talking Japanese Zen, with tea ceremony, ikebana, and all that.

Forget Zen though, what did he say about acid?

]]> Ebenezer http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816131 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816131 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:56:01 -0800 Comment by Huh Reminds me of what happened after Gary Snyder wrote Ed Abbey a fan letter, gushing about Abbey's writing and relationship with the earth. Ed wrote back and said, "Gary, I love your stuff too, except for all that Zen and Hindu bullshit."

And at that moment, for all his faults and because of them, I fell in love with Edward Abbey.

]]> Huh http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816141 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816141 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:19:00 -0800 Comment by Seth Currently reading David Halberstam's book on the NBA, Breaks of the Game, which is primarily about another mercurial UCLA center, Bill Walton (known as Lew Alcindor during college).

]]> Seth http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816142 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816142 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:20:15 -0800 Comment by Mahtli69 Does he talk about moonlighting as an airline pilot?

]]> Mahtli69 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816143 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816143 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:23:55 -0800 Comment by Gitai Come to my dojo and work out for a couple years, Josh. You'll understand Zen a bit better after that.

]]> Gitai http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816151 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816151 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:41:25 -0800 Comment by flamingbanjo I am pretty sure that being set free from trying to be Zen is in fact some kind of major Zen milestone. That is, I was always given to understand that anybody who claims to have a firm grasp on the whole Zen thing is doing it wrong.

But I could be mistaken.

]]> flamingbanjo http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816152 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816152 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:42:21 -0800 Comment by gnossos @5: one of my favorite Abbey quotes. Thanks for the reminding.

]]> gnossos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816157 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816157 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:07:26 -0800 Comment by Br. Pervert The Christian Brothers of Ireland (Edmund Rice) closed Lew's hs, Power Memorial Academy down years ago. But the alumni put together a great website.

]]> Br. Pervert http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816170 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816170 Religion Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:39:38 -0800 Comment by Roger Williams Neither Kareem nor Giant Steps can hold a candle to the much greater Wilt Chamberlain and Wilt's amazing book Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door.

]]> Roger Williams http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816192 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816192 Religion Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:31:07 -0800 Comment by Jude Fawley Try not. Do.

]]> Jude Fawley http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816245 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816245 Religion Tue, 02 Oct 2007 07:08:33 -0800 Comment by Todd You're right, Josh, zen is too subtle for you (as it is for most Americans, we're over stimulated). Why don't you take a stab at right-wing fundamentalism? Nothing subtle about that, plus it would add an interesting viewpoint to the Stranger staff!

]]> Todd http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816283 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816283 Religion Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:55:22 -0800 Comment by SeMe kareem was also a great jazz connoisseur and an old school new yorker. peep his new book on the harlem renaissance ( on the shoulders of giants.)

kareem would make a great coach for the sonics, but they have never called on him. instead they went for that choke artist carlissimo whose greatest accomplishment is having been choked by spreewell and playing second fiddle in San Antonio. kareem has coached native americans on reservations and advised the LA Lakers. but the league just will not give him a chance, despite being one of the best minds in basketball. the man is too outspoken.

]]> SeMe http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816306 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816306 Religion Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:30:51 -0800 Comment by DOUG. @1: UCLA won SEVEN national basketball championships in a row. They also won 88 straight games, post-Alcindor.

@6: Bill Walton was not "known as Lew Alcindor during college".

UCLA has the coolest fucking sports alumni is the USA: Alcindor, Walton, Arthur Ashe, Rafer Johnson, Jackie Robinson, Flo-Jo and others. Suck it 'SC!

]]> DOUG. http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816329 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816329 Religion Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:07:05 -0800 Comment by SeMe "Bill Walton (known as Lew Alcindor during college"

Ok this is just too out there to be a typo.

Lew Alcindor was Kareem. Lew Alcindor ruled the high school circuit in New York City. Lew Alcindor was not a tall red headed hippie. Bill Walton came of age at UCLA and was one of the baddest white boys ever.

]]> SeMe http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816333 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/i_cant_find_a_news_peg_or_any_excuse#c816333 Religion Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:13:38 -0800