Brother Dave, my oldest son, Bo, who was 9 years old, and I camped at Snowbird, in the North Carolina mountains, for the first time in March 1974.
The weather was perfect those first two days. The sun was out in the daytime and the stars at night. We cooked over a camp fire, and roasted marshmellows. We hiked a little; we took turns shooting at tin cans with a .22 caliber rifle.
It also happened to be the weekend of the ACC basketball tournament. So that Friday night the three of us walked a mile and a half, two miles, down the mountain to our car, so we could listen on the car radio and find out who had won, who was going to play in the finals on Saturday. [We had to leave our car halfway down the mountain because the road was too rough to go any further.] There was a lot of static but we heard enough to know that N.C. State, then ranked No. 1 in the country, would play Maryland, ranked No. 4, on Saturday night for the ACC championship.
In those days only one ACC team, the tournament champion, could play in the NCAA Tournament so it was winner take all. Dave said he could get tickets –I have no idea how — and on the way back to camp he and I decided to go to the game.
We left Snowbird on Saturday morning, drove to Charlotte, took Bo home, and then high tailed it to the airport. Dave owed a Baron, a twin-engine plane, and he flew us to Greensboro. We rented a car and arrived just in time.
The game featured eight players who went on to be NBA draft picks, including David Thompson, the national player of the year and arguably the best ACC player ever.
State won in overtime, 103-100, and went on to win the NCAA championship.
One night we were the mountains, alone, under the stars, and the next night we were in a cheering crowd of thousands, witnessing the game that 43 years later is still regarded as one of the best basketball games ever played.
Nice weekend.
NOTE: I have one unpleasant memory of the flight to Greensboro. After we took off I discovered I had failed to secure my door. And once we were airborne, I couldn’t. We didn’t have time to land and shut the door, so I held it closed the best I could. It was cold flight. Noisy too.
Coming Monday: The Danger Of Success