Skip to main content

Christmas With Ricky

Cliff Note: To those who are new to my blog, Ricky is my brother who passed away this past March 4. He was one who had many challenges in life, due to a medical condition he inherited. Although Ricky had some developmental problems, he had a heart of gold.

As I have mentioned before, my brother Ricky was a sports fan. The reason he became a sports fan was because I was. Ricky worshiped the ground I walked on. I don't think I deserved such an honor.

Ricky and I went to several sporting events together and a couple of years in a row, I took him to the Richfield Coliseum to see the Cleveland Cavaliers as his Christmas present from me.

We had some good seats for these. The game in 1975, the Cavs were playing the New Orleans Jazz, not a great team, but their best player was "Pistol" Pete Maravich. Pete was chasing a loose ball out of bounds in front of the section where we were sitting. We were in the second row and he was close enough to hear us. Ricky said, "GO PETE." I was the one who usually behaved myself at these games(yeah right) and I looked Maravich straight in the eye and said "You hot dog!" If looks could kill, I would have never made it past 1975. Imagine that, I insulted one of the greatest basketball players of all time to his face. Needless to say, Ricky was telling me on our way home how I embarassed him.

The next year we went back to the Coliseum to see the Cavs play the Los Angeles Lakers. The game was on a Sunday afternoon and was originally going to be televised. We were able to get tickets two rows behind the basket for the unspeakable sum of *gasp* $12.50 per ticket. As we were waiting to get in, I told some people who were standing with us where we were sitting. He offered me $1000 if I kicked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in his private area. I would probably just be getting out of prison now if I took him up on that.

The game was originally supposed to be televised, but CBS decided against that at the last minute, as the Cavs were off to a slow start. But I will tell you this was a good game. Ricky and I both got into the game and we were yelling and hooping it up when someone sitting near us told us that they paid good money for their tickets and they would appreciate it if we would not cheer as loud as we were. I don't think he appreciated us at all that afternoon.

Because of the fact this was to be the first nationwide telecast ever of the Cleveland Cavaliers, all fans were given a Cavs pennant upon entering. The seats looked like a sea of white towards the end of the game. The final score was Cavaliers 99-Lakers 98. The real loser that day was CBS.

Ricky and I would talk about that game often.

Cliff Note #2: I hope you enjoyed the story. It's one of my favorite gift giving memories.

Comments

Pat Jenkins said…
great sutff wixy!!!... claim to fame, calling out maravich, that ain't a bad story!!... (on a de note pretty awesome you got to watch him play in person!).... aaah the glory days of cavs hoops. randy "bingo" smith, world b. free, nate thurmand.. the good ole days!!
Cliff said…
A couple of corrections are in order. First it was Bobby "Bingo" Smith, and World B. Free would not be with the Cavs until sometime in the 80's. But we did get to see Jim Chones, Dick Snyder, and Austin Carr. The 1976-77 season the Cavs were a broken foot(Chones) short of the NBA Championship.
Cliff said…
When the Cavs played the Lakers, I got to see Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich all up close. So I was blessed with that. And I got to go to the Coliseum several times during the "Miracle in Richfield" season.
Busy Bee Suz said…
What a great memory!!! I bet it was a great day for Ricky too, but I have a feeling he could have been anywhere with you and had a good time.
take care,
Suz
HWHL said…
I know this Christmas will be bittersweet without your brother around. Thank you for sharing this memory with us.
Anonymous said…
Thanks for sharing the story WIXY. This was a wonderful read. I can just picture the two of you there having a blast! I miss the Coliseum.
Connie said…
Sharing a love of sports is a great way to bond with someone, Cliff. That was a very nice story. My husband is surprising our two sons with a trip to see the Cavs play this week for Christmas. I'm sure they will have a great time just like you and your brother had. :)
Shelley said…
Sports seems like one of the best bonding events for men - I bet your brother was the happiest guy in the world to be w/ his brother there!
Jen said…
You should be proud to hold such great memories of your brother.
It was a great gift that you gave him.
Unknown said…
My favorite story of rick was when we first moved him in to Rittman. THe Nurse call here one after noon ans was very upset. When I got her calm so she could tell me the problem I agree to come down. Upon arriving at the nursing how I discovered Rick was popping wheel y with his wheel chair in the hall with another young man. they both thought it was way to funny and i didn't have the heart to stop them they were so funny. I did ask them to not do it any more but i almost wet my pants laughing at them. I really do miss rick a lot.
Michelle said…
What a great and wonderful memory to share.

Popular posts from this blog

Post 800: Time to chat

Hi Guys, It's hard to believe that this is post number 800 for this blog. I started this blog out of my desire to communicate. Since radio and television is becoming more and more automated and less and less personal, I'm glad I made the decision to go in this direction as it has given me many blessings. When I first decided to write my musings, a friend from the radio and television boards who goes by the name of newsnomore, told me not to be discouraged if I didn't get any readers. The fact that I did in the early going made me surprised and grateful that anyone was enjoying what I wrote. I've had people tell me that maybe it wasn't meant for me to ever be in radio, that maybe my calling was blogging. Nowadays I think blogging makes for better two way conversation than terrestrial radio, especially the way I do it, non confrontational. The closest I come from any confrontation is the innocent digs that Pat and I shoot at each other. On an average day I get betwee

Lawson's Chip Dip

On a couple of occasions I have written posts dedicated to Lawson's, a convenience store chain that was located in Ohio for close to 50 years. In the late 1980's the chain was bought out by Dairy Mart, of Engfield Ct. Dairy Mart was then purchased by Alimentation Couche-Tard, and most stored were rebranded Circle K. Something that has survived the years since Lawson's has left the landscape is Lawson's Chip Dip. I get many hits on this blog from people out of Ohio, I'm thinking former Buckeyes, looking for availability of this chip dip. I had gotten an email from a former resident of Cleveland looking for it. I emailed Circle K about this sometime ago asking if it was possible to send the dip out to those out of state, they said because of quality issues that it was not possible. My only suggestion would be to get in touch with Circle K in your home area and ask them to start stocking this very popular item that seems to make every get-together complete. Now we wil

Sometimes Sports are Just Sports

 This may or may not make the final cut of my book. I was writing about some events this weekend and what had started as a joyous Friday night at my home school district became a weekend of heartbreak in the area after what happened at another school. Sometimes We Need to Realize That Sports are Just Games   Friday nights in late summer and early fall are sometimes a big deal for high school students and their families. As the long-time band announcer for my local high school, it is a time of year I always look forward to. This past Friday night was originally supposed to be the homecoming game for the local high school. The schedule had to be changed a bit because of the uncertainty of the opponents being able to field a team. There was talk around the league that they may have had to forfeit this game, so homecoming for the local school was rescheduled. The opponents, which are rivals of my local school district, were able to field a team and the game was played. The game was