Monday, March 30, 2020

A different time, but staying busy

So the questions have been posed repeatedly in the past three weeks: How are you things at your place? How are you spending your time?

Short answers: We are fine; we are well. But, believe it, we are staying fairly busy.
We are reading a lot -- here are the stacks of books Beatrice and I have been working. (That's in addition to e-mail and Facebook messages.)
I am working on my sixth book in the past month. Some are sports-related, some are not. I have had some of these stacked here for months, and now have time to read them.
Bea usually reads books much more than I do -- I read more Internet (sports) news than she does -- so she always is in reading form.
We are watching more television news than I care to do. Enough said.
We are not on lockdown, but we are being urged to mostly stay out of sight. So we venture out some -- we have walked to the nearby store, across the 7th Street bridge, to stock up on a couple of times recently.
(Haven't found any toilet paper, though.)
To expand on the answers -- if you care to know more -- here is a blog post with some details.
For those who live in our facility and read this blog, they will be familiar with some of this material. For you "outsiders," here is what is going on here (if you care).
First, credit to management here at Trinity Terrace and at Pacific Retirement Services (PRS), the managing firm based in Oregon, for doing all they can to keep us safe.
Most importantly, no outside visitors, including family and friends. Only exceptions: (1) essential health personnel -- nurses, doctors, (limited) caretakers; (2) end-of-life situations.
Before people come in from outside, medical personnel is checking their temperatures and asking health-related questions.
Emphasis is being placed on social-distancing rules, urging us to stay at least 6 feet apart. Do you realize hard difficult that is on, say, an elevator? (They now have spaces marked in the elevators, so no more than four people at a time.)
Hand sanitizers available in many, many places. This had been a growing concern before the current crisis.

No meetings (we have a Resident Council and its various committees and a Foundation group that meet occasionally).

No games (regular card games, bingo games, pool table and ping-pong table).
No exercise classes (yes, I miss them -- yoga, stretch-training, water aerobics, and for Bea, tai chi).
Getting some exercise with daily walks; I am still going for lengthy walks -- weather permitting -- outside a couple of times a week. There are people here who regularly walk the hallways in the buildings, and they still are.
No gatherings. So no Social Hour in our big auditorium -- every Thursday at 4 p.m. -- with a program each week (usually a guest speaker or musical performer, sometimes a resident).
No twice-a-month Saturday Morning Coffee events (with a program). No monthly birthday party. No regular Wednesday PM practice for the world-famous Trinity Terrace Ukulele Orchestra and Singers.
No regular events scheduled by the Resident Services department. (Exception: a sing-along on the apartment balconies and in our terrace area, with people spaced apart, a couple of Saturdays ago.)
No scheduled outside trips scheduled by Resident Services -- to restaurants, museums, plays, concerts. These are usually popular.
No transportation services, except medical/dental visits. Those of us who no longer have a car can take seven "free" trips -- not counting medical/dental rides -- we are allowed per month.
Limited access -- one hour early in the day, two hours in the afternoon -- to our in-house Country Store (a convenience store for residents, guests and staff).
No White Elephant Store (an in-house retail store for goods) activities, which also means no apartment sales. (This store's benefits go almost exclusively to workers here.)
The pool, usually open at all hours, is limited to one person at a time, for no more than 30 minutes -- and that time must be scheduled.
Nail and hair salons closed.
Restaurants (three of them here) closed. But we're not going hungry. We now order meals (one a day) and they are delivered -- in a bag, with plastic dispensers -- to our door.
(What made the decision to close the restaurants an easy one for management was evident a couple of Sundays ago when there were some 60-plus people at one time in the restaurant at one time, and the buffet line was full, with people standing right next to each other. We saw that, and said that ain't going to work.)
Housekeeping service -- once every two weeks -- remains intact. This requires an explanation.
Management had decided that housekeeping services could be a hindrance in social distancing. But many of the aging, limited residents suggested -- uh, complained -- that they were not capable physically of doing their own housework. So management reversed its thinking, and reinstated the schedule.
Same was true with the Country Store (this is basically not a money-making operation, but available for the convenience of staff and residents).
Decision was made to close the store (which is usually open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to noon Saturday).
Reasoning: often too many people in the store, too close together, at once, too much touching. Doors, especially to the coolers that hold the most popular items (50-cent soft-drink cans, 50- and 80-cent ice cream bars), being touched repeatedly. Items on shelves -- candy bars, chips, cookies, etc. -- being touched.
But several/many older residents were not happy with the closure, saying they could not go to outside stores and regularly relied on our Country Store for some items.
So management partly reversed its decision. Now instead of two residents volunteering to work the two-hour shifts, the staff person (Brandon Roberts) who usually buys and stocks the store's goods is manning the store three hours a day, setting up at a desk blocking the door entrance, taking people's orders and filling them, handling the money (while wearing protective gloves).
We thank him. I especially thank him.
To personalize this -- and I don't mean to be bragging -- I have been committee chairman (with some co-chairs) of The Country Store since December 2018. That means scheduling the workers, filling in when needed, and often stocking the store (mostly soft drinks) between shifts.
Similarly, the suspension of the Social Hour also affects me. With several other people, we have been chairpersons of that committee since the start of this year, which means being the host/emcee of the program and scheduling the guests.
We had the programs lined up through the end of July. When we resume activities, it will require rescheduling guests ... so far we have a month's worth to reschedule.
Ah, heck, we like doing it.
Bea also is affected by suspension; in her case, the White Elephant Store activities. Starting a few weeks ago, she took over the chairperson role of that 25-person committee and -- I'm sure a lot of those people will agree -- it is no easy task (much more difficult than Social Hour or Country Store).
Frankly, it had been about a month's work -- several hours, many phone calls and visits a day -- for Bea. There was some stress involved. No, a lot of stress.
White Elephant goods -- clothes, furniture, miscellanous discarded items -- are donated by residents and/or staff, but much of them come from apartments that are vacated here. Most, unfortunately, are vacated by deaths, and after the family takes what it wants from the apartment, the rest is left to the White Elephant committee' disgression.
There is a near-the-end-of-the monthly sale, plus apartment sales. Whatever profits are made go into year-end bonuses for staff, and for school scholarships for staffers.
It is, in our opinion, one of Trinity Terrace's biggest assets, an important contribution to this place.
And we give credit to management for re-thinking some of its decisions, thinking of the benefits for our residents and staff.
Good news -- and we pray this holds up -- no COVID-19 cases here.
---
As for me, I have been asked if I miss sports. Obviously, yes, but so do all sports fans.
I would be deep into following major-league baseball right now -- especially the New York team in the American League -- but, honestly, people remaining healthy is a helluva lot more crucial than any sports event.
So, like everyone, we missed the NCAA Tournaments -- always fun -- and college spring sports, and the NHL and NBA playoffs (so far). But, don't laugh, the intensity of LSU's football season wore me out, so the break is OK.
In addition to reading, one of the things that keeps me busy -- in addition to writing way-too-long pieces like this -- is that I do research online.
I generally have some research projects going regarding the history of Louisiana high school athletics ... that has been a passion since I was a teenager.
Spent way too many hours looking at microfilm at The Shreveport Times and Shreveport Journal in the 1960s, '70s and '80s when I should have been working on becoming a better writer.
So I have updated Louisiana baseball state-championship game results, and for the past year and a half, have been researching, updating and, in some cases, correcting Louisiana high school state track and field champions -- individual events, relays and team results -- that Jerry Byrd Sr. had compiled (and published in a book) through 2004.
Having to retype what Jerry had because they were not available online, and still working on that. Still to go: compiling the results from 2005 to 2019. (Looks as if we won't have to deal with 2020; that's awful, isn't it?)
So big task, hours and hours of looking at past files in newspapers.com
Always plenty to do, always plenty to read.
Stay safe out there. Keep the faith that all will be well.

Friday, March 13, 2020

ESPN story, with LSU historical perspective

This was written by Ivan Maisel -- one of the nation's top college football writers for a quarter century (now with ESPN, formerly with The Dallas Morning News and Sports Illustrated).
It appeared on the ESPN web site the night LSU won the national championship in January. Excellent story, with a historical perspective, and we have saved it since then to publish at the right time.
And with the sports world -- as the rest of society -- in practical standstill, why not put it out there now.
---

LSU and Joe Burrow's national championship season places Tigers among greatest ever

Joe Burrow outduels Trevor Lawrence as he passes for 463 yards and five touchdowns while adding another TD on the ground to lead LSU to a 42-25 defeat of Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship. (2:16)

1:32 AM CT

Ivan MaiselESPN Senior Writer

NEW ORLEANS -- There was Joe Burrow, getting rid of the ball in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Monday night as quickly as Saints quarterback Drew Brees has done here on so many Sundays.

There was the LSU quarterback, scrambling for three first downs and a touchdown in a critical second-quarter rally when No. 1 LSU found itself trailing for the first time since Oct. 22 against Florida, three months and 33 quarters ago. And there was LSU wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, doing such a number on All-ACC corner A.J. Terrell, Clemson's best defensive back, that Clemson moved Terrell off of him in the second half.

With its 42-25 victory against No. 3 Clemson, a team that had won its previous 29 games over 741 days, LSU made its pitch to stand among the greatest teams in 150 years of college football. This LSU team that fought to the program's fourth national championship played the game the way it has played all season -- a brand of decidedly 21st-century football replete with big plays, a passing game as unstoppable as it is irresistible, and a quarterback who tortured Clemson with his arm and, when LSU really needed it, his feet.

"This team is going to be mentioned as one of the greatest teams in college football history," Orgeron said, "15-0, as one of the greatest teams in LSU history.

"But that's for you guys to decide."

It says here the 15-0 Tigers belong on a short list with two other unbeaten teams, Nebraska (1995) and Miami (2001).

Every national championship is special. But not every national championship is transformative. It might be too soon to say the success of the 2019 LSU Tigers has carved out a new path (Burrow is moving on to the NFL, where perhaps a defense will challenge him); but this team's performance shows hints of the 1958 LSU Tigers, the national champions who changed the way we view LSU, and how Tigers fans view their own, as well.

These LSU Tigers play football that would seem unfathomable to Paul Dietzel, the coach of the most beloved LSU team of all time, the 1958 Tigers who finished No. 1 in the era of one-platoon football. They play football that would mystify Charlie McClendon, the winningest coach in LSU history. For that matter, they play football nothing like the 2018 Tigers played. Moving the chains is as out of date as fullbacks and single-bar face masks.

Joe Brady, LSU's young co-offensive coordinator, came to Baton Rouge this season from the New Orleans Saints with a playbook that remade this offense. LSU erupted for 628 yards against Clemson. After falling behind 17-7, LSU went on a 35-8 run that quieted the orange side of the dome.

"What this offense has done, I'm amazed. I really am," co-offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger said. "We changed the whole durn thing in one year, you know what I'm saying? We changed everything in one year. And these guys bought into it. They worked their ass off to get where they're supposed to be, to get where they want to be, and they did it."

Burrow finished this season with 60 touchdown passes. It is one thing to say that's an FBS record. More to the point, LSU quarterbacks threw for 59 touchdowns in the previous four seasons combined.

"You never imagine this," said Ensminger, a Baton Rouge native who played quarterback for LSU in the late 1970s. "But it's always your goal."

You never imagine your team will be the best in 126 seasons of your program's history. At LSU, you never imagine your team will match the achievement of those 1958 Tigers, the team that gave birth to the program we know, the fiercely partisan and proud fan base, the raucous atmosphere in Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers who excelled at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Monday, as they did 14 times before during this campaign, changed how we see LSU on the field.

Ed Orgeron, the homegrown coach who focused on keeping Louisiana recruits home, transformed this program with a quarterback from Ohio. No longer is this program known for viewing the modern passing game with suspicion. Burrow and his coterie of receivers reached offensive heights never before seen in Baton Rouge -- or, for that matter, anywhere else.

Viewed through a purple-and-gold lens, this team stands out because the history of LSU football has been filled with passion more than dominance, pride more than championships.

"The Tigers often were underdogs, just like the state of Louisiana," wrote John Ed Bradley, the author who played four seasons on the LSU offensive line in the late 1970s.

The history of LSU football before 1958 is sparing in its success. The 1908 team went 10-0; the highlight of the next 50 years was the fandom of Louisiana Gov. Huey Long, who commandeered the LSU campus in general -- and the Tigers' football team in particular -- as a campaign prop.

"LSU can't have a losing team because that'll mean I'm associated with a loser," Long once told a friend, according to biographer Richard D. White Jr.

In White's 2006 biography, he recounted how Long paraded up and down the sideline signaling plays he wanted run and barged into the locker room to give halftime speeches, once promising every player a job if the team came back and won (it did). He moved four players into the governor's mansion, loading them up with steaks and milkshakes. Long ran off one coach, Russ Cohen, following the 1931 season; and his successor, Biff Jones, quit in 1934 rather than allow Long into his halftime locker room.

Over the next two decades, LSU found little success, and Tiger Stadium bore little resemblance to the house of horrors that awaits visiting teams today. Then came the 1958 Tigers, who, under the 34-year-old Dietzel, laid the foundation of the program we know today. Those Tigers endeared themselves to the state, especially Billy Cannon, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1959. Cannon went to Istrouma High School, six miles from campus. In 1958, the fans began filling Tiger Stadium to the rim, and they have done so pretty much ever since, even as the stadium has grown half-again its size, from 67,720 to 102,321.

In the six decades after Cannon and his classmates graduated, LSU fans displayed their pride in the noise and heat and general hullabaloo that descended upon Tiger Stadium on autumn Saturday nights. The number of wins might have wavered, but the pride rarely did, sustaining itself through the thin of most of the 20th century and the thick of the 21st.

McClendon, who from the early 1960s through the 1970s won more games (137) than any other coach in LSU history, chastised his players by saying, "You are letting down the whole state of Louisiana." He meant it, and he might have been right.

Orgeron grew up in Larose, Louisiana, in the part of the state that is losing its battle against the incursion of the Gulf of Mexico. Orgeron's first memory of LSU football is of hometown hero Ronnie Estay, a 215-pound defensive tackle. Estay anchored the defensive line that held Notre Dame to a cumulative 11 points in a home-and-home series in 1970 and 1971. In a 28-8 defeat of the Fighting Irish in 1971, LSU made several goal-line stands with Estay right in the middle.

"It was the talk of the town for 10 years -- or still," Orgeron said. "And I remember [thinking] this: 'Wow, if I could ever be a part of something like that ...'"

Estay epitomized the undersized fighters signed by McClendon. Most recruits have to get bigger to play college football. Estay came to LSU and had to lose 15 pounds to get on the field.

That ability to punch above their weight both endeared the Tigers to their fans and explained why for so many years they never reached the top. LSU under McClendon went 2-14 against Bear Bryant (McClendon's coach at Kentucky) and Alabama.

A generation later, LSU again measures its success against the standard set in Tuscaloosa, largely because of the coach who broke their hearts. As much as LSU fans celebrated the BCS championships that their Tigers won in 2003 and 2007, the dominance those titles represented was diminished by the shadow cast by Nick Saban.

The 2003 season, as memorable as it is, turned out to be only a rung in the ladder Saban climbed to his ultimate destination. He won one national championship at LSU. He has won five at Alabama, including the 2011 title that the Crimson Tide claimed by humiliating the Tigers 21-0 in their last visit to the Superdome.

On Monday night, back in the Dome, LSU gave a performance for the ages.

"You know, I think what we did tonight can't be taken away from us," Burrow said. "I don't know about the whole hero thing, but I know this national championship will be remembered for a long time in Louisiana. To do it in New Orleans is even more special. This is going to be remembered for a long time."

Orgeron said one other thing that needs no contemplation.

"We wouldn't be here without Joe Burrow," Orgeron said. "We know that."

Thursday, March 12, 2020

A state basketball tournament on the move

(Third of three parts)
Consider the 60-year history of the Louisiana boys state basketball tournament and this question arises:
Why, oh, why, did it ever leave Lafayette?
The fifth home of the tournament -- which went from being known as the Top Twenty to the Top 24 and then to the Top 28 -- was in Lafayette, home of what was the University of Southwestern Louisiana (we've heard it called other names).
In the university's Cajundome, from 1997 to 2011 (so 15 years), the Top 28 had unprecented success in attendance and revenue.

The tournament had grown steadily, with an occasional decline, from its start in Shreveport (Hirsch Youth Center) in 1961-66 through several moves -- to Alexandria's Rapides Coliseum (1967-76), the Lake Charles Civic Center(1977-78), Alexandria again (1979-82) and to a very successful 14 years (1983-96) in Baton Rouge (at LSU's Assembly Center).
There was one glorious day in Alexandria in 1970 -- a full house in the afternoon, a packed-to-the-rafters, immovable crowd at night -- that showed how much of a draw the state tournament championship games could be.
That 1970 tournament (total attendance: 49,385) was by far the best of the event's first 30 years.
The final year in Alexandria (1982) was a blip in what had been the format from the start. That year, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association powers-to-be decided to try something different: a combined boys/girls "Tournament of Champions," 12 championship games in three days.
It wasn't the event's worst move (just wait another 20 years), but perhaps it prompted this long-anticipated happening: The move to Baton Rouge, to the Assembly Center (and its 14,327 seats).
There, attendance for nine years was no greater than it had been in the previous homes. But boosted by success of Baton Rouge-area teams, its last five years brought some of the biggest crowds in tournament history ... to that point.
Still, Lafayette loomed. Its organizing committee presented the LHSAA with a financial package that Baton Rouge could not match, and hardly tried.
Fifteen years later, how good was that move?
In the Cajundome, at SLI/USL/ULL/UL, the first-year attendance (43,973) was the fifth-best in tournament history; the second year (48,418) was the third-best.
It got better, peaked by 1999 (69,269), 2007 (67,559) and 2004 (63,428). In 2002-03, the total attendances were 56,430 and 52,305. Only one year in Lafayette, the draw was under 40,000.
Crowds of 13,000-plus to 16,000-plus were routine for the Saturday night finals. (It was almost like being in Indiana.)
Everyone agreed that Lafayette's bluecoated organizers topped all previous efforts.
At the same time, the girls tournament had moved to Hammond (Southeastern Louisiana University Center) in 2001 and established a solid base.
This is certain: The state tournaments have never been the same since.
Sure, the excitement is still there for the (boys and girls) teams that make the tournaments. But attendances and interests no longer match anything like the Lafayette/Hammond days.
Why leave Lafayette? Well, maybe it was Shreveport's fault.
---
The same city that took the (financial) baby steps, in 1959-60-61, to bring the state tournament into existence, in 2011 brought the LHSAA a lucrative proposal for the new Century Tel Center in Bossier City.
The LHSAA liked the terms and, at the same time, its brainpower -- and I use that term facetiously -- decided to change the state-playoff format, and have playoff games through the semifinals be contested on three or four regional neutral courts, then bring all the championship games (boys and girls) to one site.
The LHSAA voted in the new format, but Shreveport's bid -- accepted for 2012 and 2013 -- fell through. It could not meet the financial promises made.
Hastily, the LHSAA had to play the boys/girls finals in Ruston (at Louisiana Tech's Assembly Center) in 2012 and in Monroe (at Louisiana-Monroe's Fant-Ewing Coliseum) in 2013.
Nice, but temporary. And it was obvious to most that the boys and girls tournaments needed their separate time and space.
It was on to Lake Charles and Burton Coliseum (domed roof, rodeo-arena base, home of McNeese State University basketball, seating for up to 8,500) ... and there it has been since 2015.
---
Which brings us to now. Seems to me that the state championships these days are a diluted version.
Not having lived in Louisiana since 1988, only following from a distance (and not from a point of knowledge), please correct us if we are being too cynical, or if we are wrong.
Our reasoning: (1) These days, competition isn't as difficult; there are not nearly as many schools, especially in the lower classifications, many having folded through consolidation with bigger -- or parish -- schools; (2) there are too many classes, too many state championship decided because of (3) the select/non-select split of schools in Louisiana, a split that has so weakened athletics in the state (my opinion).
It is a feud, the public schools not wanting to compete for championships against the private and magnet schools because of jealousy/resentment of how the privates/magnets draw their students.
(The magic word here: recruiting. It's all in how you interpret what goes on. The LHSAA always has had a tough time policing this area).
So, 12 state champions (seven non-select, five select). Too many.
And now, in a throwback to the pre-1960 days, the non-select playoffs again are being played on one school's home court, based on pre-playoffs seedings. No state tournament for them.
But put 12 classes (semifinals and finals) together in one place for one week -- so, 36 games total -- that's enough basketball to make a spectator, or sportswriter, spin. That's impossible.
   We have been told that the LHSAA no longer even publishes attendance figures for the state basketball tournaments. We know it's not anywhere near Lafayette level.
Still, there was a strong North Louisiana representation in the Lake Charles boys tournament, including two of our favorites and perennial basketball powers -- Bossier and Woodlawn.
Bossier, which won the last top-class boys title prior to the state-tournament era (1960, Class AAA), added two last-decade titles (2011, 2016), has been the runner-up six times (1968, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2019) and has -- best we can tell -- made nine Top 28 appearances in the last 12 years.
The Bearkats reached the state-championship game again and might -- depending on what the LHSAA decides -- face Wossman (Monroe) on Saturday afternoon in the 3A final.
Woodlawn, my old school, has three boys state basketball titles (1969, 1972, 1980), has been the runner-up three times (1971, 1979, 2018) and made its third Top 28 in four years. The Knights lost to Peabody (Alexandria) in the 4A semifinals.
    Maybe it's not what it used to be, but it's still the state tournament and, for those kids, that's exciting. It's not 1961 anymore, and we just can't turn back the times, can we?

When the state's basketball eyes were on Shreveport

(Second of three parts)
From Jim Dawson's column, The Shreveport Times, on the Top Twenty's first day (March 9, 1961):
Louisiana is fortunate to have an arena such as the 10,500-seat Youth Center in which to stage its "Top Twenty." This cavernous auditorium on the State Fair Grounds isn't likely to be taxed to capacity during the inaugural "Top Twenty," but stranger things have happened. North Louisiana has its usual strong semifinals contingent and appears likely to cart away three of the five championships.
(Three North Louisiana champs, indeed -- AA, Ruston; B, Ringgold; C, Athens.)
From the start, the tournament format/schedule was Thursday and Friday, two sessions a day -- two afternoon games (1:30 start), clear the place, three night games (starting at 6); Saturday -- five championship games, two sessions -- Classes C and B in the afternoon; Class A, AA and AAA at night.
No way the tournament made money the first year. Ticket prices -- each session -- were $1.50 for adults, $1 for students, 50 cents for children under 12. Ah, 1961 prices.

The schedule for the first state tournament

The Times sports pages on opening day included all the team rosters, a capsule look at the tournament's top players, a list of previous state champions, and -- through the week's buildup -- various team photos. My opinion: impressive coverage for four days.
(A personal note: In Jim Dawson's column, a section titled "Tourney Potpourri" included this note: "LOGANSPORT HAS THE YOUNGEST player, 13-year-old Kenneth Harvey, an eighth-grader." That Kenneth Harvey, the once-young man who was the subject of my blog's nine-part series in 2013.)
One giant (and strange) LHSAA mistake the first year: The scheduling of the tournament's biggest attraction, Shreveport's Byrd Yellow Jackets.
They were in the Class AAA semifinals, and their game vs. Baton Rouge High (the eventual champion) was scheduled at 1:30 p.m. on Friday; yes, a weekday afternoon game, instead of one of the featured slots, the wrapup game on one of the first two nights.
So the per-session average attendance the first year was 2,159 -- OK, but not exactly a success. Still, the LHSAA approved a second year for Shreveport ... and later, two more two-year deals.

In the third year (1963), a big break and a step up for the tournament: Fair Park, Byrd's top rival, emerged as the final hope in what was one of the best Shreveport-Bossier seasons ever for high school basketball. Wisely, the LHSAA scheduled the Indians for a Class AAA semifinal vs. Fortier (New Orleans) in the 8:40 p.m. Friday wrapup game.
Fair Park breezed to a 62-33 victory and the next night, before the first almost capacity crowd in tournament history, beat Lafayette for the state title and helped give the attendance total a 5,800 boost over the previous year.
And by then, the thrill of reaching the Top Twenty and playing at Hirsch had set in for all the schools, small and large. Even the New Orleans teams and their fans did not mind making the trip.
Plus, it was a meeting place for the state's coaches and for the college recruiters scouting -- and pursuing -- many of the state's top prospects.
(Also in 1963, the girls state tournament -- the "Sweet Sixteen," four teams in four classes -- began in Pineville. It, too, has carried on; the 58th annual was played last week in Lake Charles.)

Last time in Shreveport (the 1966 schedule)

Top Twenty tournament attendance (with one small exception) and revenue grew with each year. But in 1966, Shreveport and Hirsch's host time ran out.
Alexandria, with its 1-year-old Rapides Coliseum (which seated near 10,000), and -- most importantly -- its central location (thus shortening the trip for South Louisiana schools) made the LHSAA a financial offer that Shreveport did not match.
So starting in 1967, Rapides -- on Highway 28 West -- was the basketball mecca.
---
As a high school sophomore, I first attended Shreveport's Top Twenty in Fair Park's title year (1963) and most games of the 1964 and '65 tournaments ... in '65, on media row, thanks to my Times connections.
One '65 memory (thanks to a reminder from longtime Louisiana sports writer/editor Bob Tompkins about a team from his school): The "Century Club" Jesuit (New Orleans) Class AAA state champs, probably the best team of the all-white era. Deep and talented, the Blue Jays scored 100-plus points in their two Top Twenty games. The year before, Jesuit had routed Fair Park in the Class AAA final; this Jesuit team was even better.
By 1970, in my first full year as a Times sportswriter, my first day of Top Twenty coverage was memorable. The afternoon session was a packed house (national scoring leader and phenom Greg Procell and Ebarb in the Class C final was the big attraction); the night session was an overflow, no-room-to-move crowd and a monumental Class AAA championship between Captain Shreve (Shreveport) and Brother Martin (New Orleans), a classic overtime slugfest.
(Wrote about that day, those games, in a previous blog:
https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2018/11/cannons-friend-but-not-captain-shreves.html)
Another personal note: Covered the Top Twenty for six years in Alexandria, and it was among the best times I had in an early stage of my career. So much work, but so much fun, being part of the scene, being among the top prep writers in the state ... and watching so much great basketball.
(Next: What's happened to the tournament)