The Perfect Season

Russell Grieger

Description

In 1964, the Evansville College Purple Aces raced undefeated through the Indiana Collegiate Conference, posting a perfect 24–0 regular-season record and winning the College Division NCAA championship. The skeleton of this season exists in newspaper archives and in books that capture the on-court action, but the flesh and blood has never been written—until now. This is the story of Russell Grieger, a starting guard, and his observations, feelings, reactions, and struggles of that season. It provides a game-by-game look into the team, showcasing Grieger's teammates, Coach Arad McCutchan, and Evansville's love for the Aces. The Perfect Season is an insider's inspiring story of a team whose motto—"If you're going to go, go big time or don't go at all"—inspired them to achieve their dream.

Acknowledgments
Prologue
Part One: The Aces Get Ready
1. The Armory Days
2. Carson Center Preparation
3. The Iowa Hawkeyes
Part Two: The Aces Grows Up
4. The Beginnings
5. From Bullpup To Bulldog
6. Flailing and Falling
7. Flying
8. St. Louis Blues
9. Return to Evansville
10. A Dream Comes True—Almost
Part Three: The Aces Succeed
11. Northwestern
12. Notre Dame
13. Holiday Feast
14. The Black Hills and The Badlands
15. Larry, Then The Holy Grail
16. Fans into Redshirts
17. Southern Illinois Surprise
18. DePauw and More
19. Five Games, Five Snapshots
20. Southern Illinois Redux
Part Four: The Aces Triumph
21. The NCAA Regional
22. The NCAA Finals

Sujets

• Sport
• Sports collectifs
• Basketball
• Basket-ball
• Netball
• National Collegiate Athletic Association
• Recreation
• Memoir
• Baloncesto
• Sports
• Personal Memoirs

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 19 septembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253023247
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Perfect Season is a winner! Russ Grieger was part of the 1964-65 Purple Aces Evansville College perfect season and takes us through that magical time. Grieger also shares how the lessons learned on the court with a team helped him later succeed in life.
-Kyle Keiderling, author of Trophies and Tears, The Story of Evansville and the Aces
Russ Grieger s poignant memoir is more than just a sports book. It is a book about how a quiet, genius coach and five very different personalities melded to produce something extraordinary, and how one of those personalities came to understand that he was not just a basketball player-he was a unique person who happened to play basketball.
-Tom Tuley, retired journalist
Relying upon his considerable skill as a master psychologist and his unique experience as an integral part of a star-studded national championship team, Russ Grieger not only captures all the excitement and thrills of the Evansville Aces perfect season of 1964-65 but also provides a very personal and in-depth analysis of what it meant to grow up in Indiana with a passionate love of basketball. Along the way, we get fascinating insider portraits of Coach Arad McCutcheon and superstars Jerry Sloan, Larry Humes, and the rest of that slick and talented team that accomplished the ultrarare feat of an undefeated national championship season. This is the story of a basketball odyssey filled with ups and downs and challenges both internal and external-a great story and a great read!
-Mike Roos, author One Small Town, One Crazy Coach: The Ireland Spuds and the 1963 Indiana High School Basketball Season
We ve all wondered what really goes on inside a player s mind during the tension of a close game, in a wild arena, when big things are on the line. We ve all wondered if these kids have egos and self-doubts. Russ Grieger answers those questions and more while introducing us to one of college basketball s all-time underappreciated great teams-and a season and a coach to match.
-Bob Hammel, author of All The Way: NCAA Indiana
Russell Grieger has lovingly captured a time and a place-Indiana a half-century ago-when basketball mattered so much to that part of the world, and when a boy who happened to be very good at the game enjoyed the sweetest season that any player anywhere could dream of.
-Frank Deford, author and commentator
The PERFECT SEASON
ALSO BY RUSS GRIEGER
Handbook of Rational-Emotive Therapy: Volume I (with Albert Ellis)
Cognition and Emotional Disturbance
Rational-Emotive Therapy: A Skills-Based Approach (with John Boyd)
Handbook of Rational-Emotive Therapy: Volume II (with Albert Ellis)
The Rational-Emotive Therapy Companion: A Clear, Concise, and Complete Guide to Being an RET Client (with Paul Woods)
Fearless Job Hunting: Powerful Psychological Strategies for Getting the Job You Want (with Bill Knaus, Sam Klarreich, and Nancy Knaus)
The Undefeated Season: The Newspaper Story of the 1964-1965 Evansville College Purple Aces Basketball Team (with Tom Tuley)
The Couples Therapy Companion: A Cognitive Behavior Workbook
Mastering Unrelenting Drive: A Cognitive Behavior Workbook to Produce Extraordinary Performance and Results (forthcoming)
The PERFECT SEASON
A Memoir of the 1964-1965
Evansville College Purple Aces
Russell Grieger

AN IMPRINT OF
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Bloomington Indianapolis
This book is a publication of Quarry Books
an imprint of Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2016 by Russell Grieger
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z 39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Grieger, Russell, author.
Title: The perfect season : a memoir of the 1964-1965 Evansville College Purple Aces / Russell Grieger.
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2016]
Identifiers: LCCN 2016018704 | ISBN 9780253022769 (print : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Evansville College Purple Aces (Basketball team)-History.
Classification: LCC GV885.43.E83 G75 2016 | DDC 796.323/630977233-dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016018704
ISBN 978-0-253-02276-9 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-253-02324-7 (ebk.)
1 2 3 4 5 21 20 19 18 17 16
FOR
My father, Russ Grieger Sr .,
who played catch with me by the hour ,
rebounded for me on more occasions than I can count ,
stood behind me through thick and thin ,
encouraged me every step of the way ,
cheered me through triumph and adversity ,
and lovingly did everything any dad could do ,
and so much more .
If you re going to go, go big time, or don t go at all.
-1964-1965 Aces slogan
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AUTHOR S NOTE
PROLOGUE
PART ONE: THE ACES GET READY
1 THE ARMORY DAYS
2 CARSON CENTER PREPARATION
3 THE IOWA HAWKEYES
PART TWO: THE ACE GROWS UP
4 THE BEGINNINGS
5 FROM BULLPUP TO BULLDOG
6 FLAILING AND FALLING
7 FLYING
8 ST. LOUIS BLUES
9 RETURN TO EVANSVILLE
10 A DREAM COMES TRUE-ALMOST
PART THREE: THE ACES SUCCEED
11 NORTHWESTERN
12 NOTRE DAME
13 A HOLIDAY FEAST
14 THE BLACK HILLS AND THE BADLANDS
15 LARRY, THEN THE HOLY GRAIL
16 FANS INTO REDSHIRTS
17 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SURPRISE
18 DEPAUW AND MORE
19 FIVE GAMES, FIVE SNAPSHOTS
20 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS REDUX
PART FOUR: THE ACES TRIUMPH
21 THE NCAA REGIONAL
22 THE NCAA FINALS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A s with a successful basketball team, the writing of a book requires the guidance of a great coach. My writing coach turned out to be Jay Kauffmann. I first met Jay when I attended one of his creative writing seminars. I found him to be such an outstanding teacher-intellectually astute, technically proficient, professionally inspiring-that I attended several other classes taught by him. Eventually, I prevailed upon him to edit this book. He considered every word on every page, in the process nurturing me along, encouraging me to never settle for good enough, helping me bring out the best I had. I am happy to say that, in addition to being my writing mentor, Jay has become my friend as well.
The curse all creative writers face is a poisonous combination of ignorance and self-doubt: ignorance in that it is hard to see what is missing on the written page, the doubt that what we do see isn t good enough. I have been so fortunate to have had writing teammates who have helped me defeat these twin scourges. I will forever be grateful to Jay Varner and Sharon Harrigan, both teachers extraordinaire, who gave me the kind of information, feedback, and support I found invaluable. Then there were my fellow members of Jay Kauffmann s Baptism-by-Fire writing group-Ingrid Alewine, Jay Glick, Annabel Jordan, Sherry Hauff, Amber Marley Padilla, and Amy Wissenkerk-each of whom gave me spot-on feedback, pithy suggestions, and, most of all, generous quantities of reinforcement and humor. Thank you, one and all.
Then there was my Aces family. How does one thank someone when thanks are not enough? To Arad McCutchan, whom I owe for so much more than his talents as a basketball coach. Every day of that glorious basketball season he modeled for me what it meant to be a man-the courage to compete, the value of hard work, the virtue of perspective, the integrity of character. Assistant coach Tom O Brien treated me and all the other guys with unflagging respect, so rare with so many coaches today, making us feel as if we were his partners as well as his players. My affection for him today is a direct result of his unflagging kindness and innate goodness back then. Dr. Paul Grabill was an unanticipated windfall. An Aces fanatic, he took me under his wing, teaching me, guiding me, and cheerleading me onto the path of psychological health and well-being. His passion for life was only matched by his inner wisdom. Each of these men, through their unique ways of being, helped mold me into the person I ve become. I hope, at least in part, I have made them proud.
Boys then, men now, my Aces family included, of course, the guys with whom I shared the court that glorious season. I start with Jerry Sloan, Larry Humes, Sam Watkins, and Herb Williams, the men who filled the pages of this book, all brothers I love. But there were the rest of the Aces as well, all equally responsible for the Aces success, each dedicated and devoted to us being the best we could be-Terry Atwater, Larry Denton, Ron Eberhard, Jim Forman, Ron Johnson, Don Jordon, Rick Kingston, Gary McClary, Earl McCurdy, John O Neil, Jim Rubush, and Bill Simpson. Thank you, guys; thank you so very much. Go Aces!
As with every significant endeavor in my life, I have been blessed with a loving family that stood by me during the long days and late nights I wrote this book. It warmed my heart to hear my older son, Todd, say, That s good, Dad, you put me right there on the court, or for my younger son, Gabriel, to tell me, I ve heard this my whole life, but you made it real. I love you both more than I can express. And I have been so fortunate to be on the receiving end of the love and loyalty of my wife, Patti, who not only put in countless hours typing every word of this book but also believed in me even when my confidence waned, tolerated the long hours I hunched over a writing pad, and loaned me her wisdom whenever I found myself baffled. Thank you for being my dear friend,