I'm an Al McGuire fan. Have been since I met him back in 1968. He attended a St. Catherine's game in Racine to watch Jimmy Chones play. Jimmy, being about 6-11, was a real lanky kid and one of the guys on our softball team said we should try to grab Jimmy to play 1B. He had those long arms. So, since he knew him, because his brother played for St. Cat's, we started attending their games and got hooked. One helluva team.
After the game, McGuire had been sitting next to us, decided to join us for a pizza at Wells Brothers in Racine. He wanted to have our opinion of Jimmy, who had transferred to St. Cat's from Racine Park. We had nothing to say but good. The kid played smooth for someone near 7-0 tall.
Throughout our conversation, Al kept referring to Jimmy as an "aircraft carrier." He said it repeatedly. Then he added, smiling, "Imagine him on the court With Dean Memminger." In 1971, they both hit over 50% of their shots, and the Warriors damned near won the NCAA. They lost to Ohio State in the semi-finals by one lousy point.
To me, having met Al, and having known Jimmy as well, I'll always remember the statement Al made that all teams need at least one aircraft carrier out there, or they aren't going to win enough games to make it to the top.
Thanks for mentioning Al. I love going back in time. I've done so much, and met so many people, and a lot of it escapes me.