THE SIXTH MAN
05-24-2007, 03:05 AM
Link (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052307.01C.COL.BKNflores.spurs.3421b2d.html)
David Flores: Spurs' run is S.A. sports' Golden Age
Web Posted: 05/23/2007 01:32 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
When San Antonio "borrowed" Dallas' American Basketball Association franchise in 1973, few gave the team any chance of surviving in the Alamo City.
Yours truly, then an 18-year-old preparing for his freshman year in college, was among the skeptics.
After all, the thinking went, San Antonio was an oversized high school town. And what fool — or in this case, fools — thought a pro basketball team could flourish in South Texas?
If the Chaparrals, who had played in the ABA since its first season in 1967, couldn't generate fan interest in Dallas, why would anybody in their right mind think they could make it in San Antonio?
The answer to the second question was simple: A team in San Antonio wouldn't have to compete with an 800-pound gorilla in its own city. That would be the Cowboys, who already had won a Super Bowl and played in another by 1973.
Still, bringing pro basketball to San Antonio was seen as a risk.
But a group of 30 investors led by local businessmen Angelo Drossos and Red McCombs boldly pressed on, paying $200,000 to lease the Chaparrals for the 1973-74 season.
Even though the Chaps played in a fledgling league, Drossos, McCombs and their partners told anybody who would listen that they believed the team would be a good fit for the city and vice versa.
Looking back now, they couldn't have been more correct. And the skeptics, including yours truly, couldn't have been more wrong.
The Chaparrals were renamed the Spurs when they moved south in the summer of 1973, and it didn't take long for the city to fall in love with its pro basketball team.
Drossos & Co. were so encouraged by the Spurs' first season, when the silver and black took defending ABA champion Indiana to seven games in the first round, that they scraped together another $600,000 to buy the team from the franchise's original investors.
For those who always have resented Dallas' condescending attitude toward other Texas cities, it's always good to remember that sleepy San Antone succeeded where the folks up north failed.
Who would have thought 34 years ago that the Spurs would someday be in contention to win their fourth NBA championship in nine seasons?
Or that they would have one player in the Basketball Hall of Fame and two others who are locks.
"There are a lot of franchises that never have had one player of that stature in the history of their team, and here the Spurs have three Hall-of-Fame players," former Spurs coach and executive Bob Bass said Tuesday. "Spurs fans have been very fortunate."
No doubt, the Spurs' titles collectively represent the Golden Age of sports in San Antonio.
Let's face it, folks: You never say never, but it seems highly unlikely that San Antonio ever will be home to an NFL or Major League Baseball franchise.
Maybe a team could relocate here — if the stars and planets align just right, that is.
So what you've got, San Antonio, is, well, what you see now. A basketball franchise that ranks among the best not only in the NBA, but in all of professional sports.
That's not a bad return for an $800,000 investment.
Given the city's sports landscape and what the Spurs will look like when Tim Duncan retires, chances are it's never going to get better than this for San Antonio sports fans.
Yet, the Spurs' success during the Duncan era apparently has bred some complacency among some Spurs fans. How else do you explain not selling out Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at the AT&T Center?
Some advice to fans who may be a little spoiled: Savor the good times while you can, because when the Spurs' run ends, San Antonio may never reach such glorious heights again.
"Back when I first came aboard, things like this right here seemed unlikely," said Bass, 78, who began his 20-year association with the Spurs in 1974. "There was so much to do and we had so far to go."
Fans who remember the hard times know whereof he speaks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
David Flores: Spurs' run is S.A. sports' Golden Age
Web Posted: 05/23/2007 01:32 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
When San Antonio "borrowed" Dallas' American Basketball Association franchise in 1973, few gave the team any chance of surviving in the Alamo City.
Yours truly, then an 18-year-old preparing for his freshman year in college, was among the skeptics.
After all, the thinking went, San Antonio was an oversized high school town. And what fool — or in this case, fools — thought a pro basketball team could flourish in South Texas?
If the Chaparrals, who had played in the ABA since its first season in 1967, couldn't generate fan interest in Dallas, why would anybody in their right mind think they could make it in San Antonio?
The answer to the second question was simple: A team in San Antonio wouldn't have to compete with an 800-pound gorilla in its own city. That would be the Cowboys, who already had won a Super Bowl and played in another by 1973.
Still, bringing pro basketball to San Antonio was seen as a risk.
But a group of 30 investors led by local businessmen Angelo Drossos and Red McCombs boldly pressed on, paying $200,000 to lease the Chaparrals for the 1973-74 season.
Even though the Chaps played in a fledgling league, Drossos, McCombs and their partners told anybody who would listen that they believed the team would be a good fit for the city and vice versa.
Looking back now, they couldn't have been more correct. And the skeptics, including yours truly, couldn't have been more wrong.
The Chaparrals were renamed the Spurs when they moved south in the summer of 1973, and it didn't take long for the city to fall in love with its pro basketball team.
Drossos & Co. were so encouraged by the Spurs' first season, when the silver and black took defending ABA champion Indiana to seven games in the first round, that they scraped together another $600,000 to buy the team from the franchise's original investors.
For those who always have resented Dallas' condescending attitude toward other Texas cities, it's always good to remember that sleepy San Antone succeeded where the folks up north failed.
Who would have thought 34 years ago that the Spurs would someday be in contention to win their fourth NBA championship in nine seasons?
Or that they would have one player in the Basketball Hall of Fame and two others who are locks.
"There are a lot of franchises that never have had one player of that stature in the history of their team, and here the Spurs have three Hall-of-Fame players," former Spurs coach and executive Bob Bass said Tuesday. "Spurs fans have been very fortunate."
No doubt, the Spurs' titles collectively represent the Golden Age of sports in San Antonio.
Let's face it, folks: You never say never, but it seems highly unlikely that San Antonio ever will be home to an NFL or Major League Baseball franchise.
Maybe a team could relocate here — if the stars and planets align just right, that is.
So what you've got, San Antonio, is, well, what you see now. A basketball franchise that ranks among the best not only in the NBA, but in all of professional sports.
That's not a bad return for an $800,000 investment.
Given the city's sports landscape and what the Spurs will look like when Tim Duncan retires, chances are it's never going to get better than this for San Antonio sports fans.
Yet, the Spurs' success during the Duncan era apparently has bred some complacency among some Spurs fans. How else do you explain not selling out Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at the AT&T Center?
Some advice to fans who may be a little spoiled: Savor the good times while you can, because when the Spurs' run ends, San Antonio may never reach such glorious heights again.
"Back when I first came aboard, things like this right here seemed unlikely," said Bass, 78, who began his 20-year association with the Spurs in 1974. "There was so much to do and we had so far to go."
Fans who remember the hard times know whereof he speaks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]