Gold
Mine would help 49ers b-ball bounce back
By Todd Leland
On-line Forty-Niner
The
Long Beach State men’s basketball team is
in need of a collective boost. I propose
to all those who will read and listen that
we take the team back to the Gold Mine gymnasium
where basketball was basketball and fans
were fanatics.
Now the change of venue may not sit well
with the hundreds upon hundreds of fans
that frequent The Pyramid and watch as the
49ers wallow haplessly in a mire of turnovers
and ill-advised shots from their premium
seating. But the comfort of the fans is
not what I am suggesting.
I suggest a true home court advantage. I
suggest an arena where 1,000 fans actually
looks like a crowd. I suggest we go back
to the Gold Mine.
When a team is down and struggling sometimes
it takes more than a fiery halftime speech
or the berating of the team’s best player
for the good of the team. By the way, who
is our best player? It takes more than the
old college try.
This team needs to be reminded where it
comes from. It needs to be reminded of the
men that have came to and won for this university...
The Gold Mine is the foundation of basketball
at LBSU. Ed Ratliff running the court. Jerry
Tarkanian biting his towel. Frankie Edwards
moving the team up the floor. Luscious Harris
setting a screen for Bryon Russell.
Rod “The Cannibal” Hannibal soaring towards
the hoop. James Cotton sinking another three.
These guys were the epitome of 49er basketball
and they all played and coached in the Gold
Mine.
These names are mostly likely just names
to most of you, but if you check rosters
in the National Basketball Association you
will see a few of their names. Some in the
past and a few in the present.
But the Gold Mine offered so much more than
player memories, it was a place opposing
teams were smothered by the crowd.
The Gold Mine was the place where Jerry
Tarkenian returned to LBSU as the head coach
of University Nevada Las Vegas. A heated
rivalry existed between the 49ers and the
Running Rebels that has no match today.
The Mine was a part of that craze.
The downside of The Pyramid is the distance
of the crowd from the court and each other.
At the Gold Mine the fans were not only
side by side but looked as if they were
about to spill out onto the court. Opposing
players hated the Gold Mine and that was
the point.
People have said that the temperature in
the Mine during a game hovered in the high
90s, low 100s and I say great, just another
home court perk. People said the wooden
bleachers were outdated and uncomfortable
and I agree with them.
But a Forty-Niner Foot Stomp seemed to sound
so much better on those creaky floorboards.
People said the Gold Mine was too small
to fit the 49er faithful and The Pyramid
was built. Now The Pyramid is too big for
the 49ers.
Long gone are the days of Dangerous Dave
and his famous “Forty…..Niner” chant. Few
remember Rudy Harvey, who did a 360 dunk
from a stationary position under the basket.
Forgotten is the great Rod Hannibal Legends
chicken wing fiasco.
But the Gold Mine still stands, waiting
to be utilized by a struggling team.
A place where home court took on a sense
of reverence and pride.
A spin down memory lane worked for Jim Tressel
and national champion Ohio State, what would
it hurt to try? One night, one game, back
in the Gold Mine.
|
