by gtmoBlue » Wed Oct 28, 2015 12:31 pm
Great short film. it touches on several issues from those days - including the "historic" banning of the Independent schools from the NCAA Tourney the following year (1977-78) and the climate in which independents were forced into conferences to reduce their impacts in the growing NCAA Tourney. The majors convinced the NCAA to eliminate the independents from the dance in order to provide more bids for major teams. This was directly responsible for the formation of the BE in 1979. The "dance" has devolved into the multi-bid scenarios we have witnessed over the last 37 years. Seminal information in this short film pertaining to the political side of the NCAA and how the organization is controlled by the power conferences. Al, Tark, Dave Gavit, and a few others were outspoken leaders of the independent schools, but Al and Marquette were the "leaders" within the independent ranks by 1970. IMO Al McGuire was the greatest coach of the era and Marquette one of the greatest programs of the era. ND has always aligned itself with the power leagues (except when financially beneficial for the Golden Domers to claim to be an "independent". Digger was always sucking up to the Big 10. When Marquette, Providence, UNLV or other "big" independent school won - we all won. Luv'd seeing Al, Hank, and Majerus sitting on the bench.
Great film...Long live the Warriors of Marquette!
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - Nicholas Klein (1918)
"Top tier teams rarely have true "down" years and find a way to stay relevant every year." - Adoraz
Creighton