Memories for the middle aged male

I grew up in North Carolina in the early seventies and I was occasionally able to watch the Carolina Cougars. The ABA was a freewheeling league, where a lot of weird things happened; and the game appeared to be a lotta fun; both for the fans and the players. I watched the game where George McGinnis set a new rebounding record by banging the ball of the rim and backboard a few times. I can still remember the voice of the Cougars; Bob Laney of WSOC-AM doing the play-by-play as I lay in my bunk bed at night.

When I originally listened to this book the narrator was horrible, now there are several different voices telling the story and when they quote the players, coaches, executives of the league it even sounds like them. There are limits to how relevant some of the information is since this book was originally published in 1990. The changes in the world , not to mention the world of professional basketball have been legion in the last 30 years. If you're a hard-core fan of the ABA; or a fan of old school hoops from the seventies; this will probably be an excellent listen for you. For those who weren't even alive during the time of the ABA it is a look back at a world that might be hard to conceive of in today's sports climate; either way, sit back and enjoy.

6 people found this helpful

Best Book About The ABA

The American Basketball Association is and has always been hated by the nba and that makes absolutely no sense. The nba has taken so many things from the ABA and now they act as if they were the ones who thought it all up. The ABA added excitement to the game when nba basketball was boring. I recently saw a special from KDKA in Pittsburgh which celebrated all of that cities Championships and there was one glaring error. They made no mention of the Pittsburgh Pipers who with Connie Hawkins, had won the 1st ABA Title in the 1967-68 season. When I called to enquire about this, I was greeted by a very snobby young man who proclaimed to me "The ABA wasn't a real pro league!" Wow, I wonder if he'd say that to the likes of Julius Erving or David Thompson? Anyway, this book was a great read when I purchased the 1st edition in 1990 (I didn't put it down until I'd read it all) and is still great today. I will ALWAYS love the ABA!

Great story lots of mispronunciation

I loved learning about the history. The narrators mispronounced SO many names!! Still worth it

Better late than never

I took too long to get around to it. Really glad I did! Your turn.

Good read only if you lived then

If you're a basketball fan and lived during the ABA heyday and knew the great players from back then, it's a great story. However, it's too long and the narrators regularly mispronounced names which was a real distraction

2 people found this helpful

Synopsis

Very enjoyable and informative story! I learned things that were somewhat shocking and quite interesting.

great book

A really great format with Really great stories makes it a really great and enjoyable book.

Basketball Heart

You know that you have a basketball heart when you spend the better part of two days listening to this book. I know that some of the inside stories are just a crock; The story about how the Dr. got his nickname has been proven incorrect buy the Doctor himself. So when you know that piece of information it does reduce the credibility of the rest of the "insider" story. However, if you love basketball and lived a few of these stories yourself then sitting down for an afternoon with this Audible book is not such a bad way to spend the afternoon.

1 person found this helpful

It's pronounced de bush er. Not debooshay

A fine oral history with just one GIANT caveat. Mispronounced names are never ending. Through the entire book. The fact the pronunciations even change for the same name during the same chapters. From chapter one thru the conclusion it is non stop.

1 person found this helpful

Great Story funny & Very informative!

Growing up in NC, my Dad took me to see the Carolina Cougars in Greensboro, NC. I really loved the Cougars and especially that Red-White-Blue basketball!

This book brought back a lot of great memories and was very informative.

The only negative comment: Several of the narrators continually mispronounced names of key people and players. (Don't they rehearse?)

Other than that,...GREAT BOOK!!