About the only thing that was different about this Notre Dame vs Central High School basketball game was that it was the first game that I can recall was delayed because of a lost contact lens.
The Feb. 1, 1967 Missourian photo caption said,“Basketball wasn’t the only action on the floor at the Central High gymnasium Tuesday night. Tim Bucek, Notre Dame player, lost one of his contact lenses. Action stopped while players, coaches and fans from both teams got down on hands and knees to search for the tiny eyepiece. Finally, someone looked at Tim and saw the bit of glass clinging to his jersey. Play resumed while he returned to the dressing room to insert the lens before going back in the game.”
Pep Band Tigered up
The Central Pep Band dressed a little spiffier in 1967 than it did in this photo from 1963.
Routine basketball action
I really didn’t like shooting basketball, even though it was easier than shooting football. In later years, when I had faster lenses and faster film, I’d shoot available light (when I was in a gym that had light available) and concentrate on mid-court action where the pictures were more interesting than armpit shots.
One of the problems with shooting with a single direct flash was that the photos had no modeling in the players’ faces because the light was coming from straight on. You also tended to get a “soot and whitewash” effect, where objects closer to the camera were overexposed and objects further back went to black.
All white faces on the court
Cape schools had long been intergrated by 1967 and the teams had a mixture of races on them, so I’m surprised to see all white faces on the court in these shots.
I just pulled out my 1965 Girardot. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see all white faces. The only black player pictured on the 1965 varsity and junior varsity teams was standout Sylvester Johnson, who was also on the 1964 football varsity along with Albert Estes and Charles Duncan. I remember Clyde Benson broke the tennis color barrier.
Photo gallery of basketball game
Who won the game? Well, Bob Evans wasn’t exactly kind in his story. “As of Tuesday night, it is a proven fact that the favorite food of a Bulldog is Tiger. This was shown when a talented Notre Dame ball club defeated cross-town rival Central, 86-63 in area basketball. This was the third defeat of the season for the Tigers in games with the Bulldogs and the fifth in a row over a two-year period.”
Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery. For the record, the players weren’t imitating zebras in some of these photos. For some reason or another, my Nikon film scanner picked up some noise that I didn’t bother to spot out.
Notre Dame was a tough rival for CHS basketball. I remember this game. In fact I thought I knew the Notre Dame player who lost his contact lens (although I didn’t think his name was Tim). At any rate fun trip down memory lane…BTW two years later I was on the sidelines taking photos of CHS basketball. I got in trouble from the coach when I fired off a flash shot right before the player was going to take a free throw. My bad! But I think he made the shot nonetheless.
Coaches generally only complained about flashes when their player missed. It’s funny how the pros didn’t gripe when Sports Illustrated hung strobes all over gyms.
Studies showed that the flash duration of an electronic flash was so short that it shouldn’t cause any persistence of vision problems.
Don’t get me started on golfers.
I have no sympathy for pro athletes who can’t concentrate.
This certainly was a long time ago. Some of the CHS players I see in the photos are John Wilkins, Terry Field, John Long and Larry Johnson. This was a game during the ’66-’67 season. ND probably prevailed. I think they won all 3 games against us that season. Short tight pants and high knee socks, what a era!
Fred Williams CHS 1967
Frony shot some basketball with his 4×5 Speed Graphic. Here is one of Central’s Kermit Meystedt and Notre Dame’s Norman Robert Jr., as identified by family who left comments.
http://www.semissourian.com/blogs/flynch/entry/32922
Personally, I got to where I would hang a second strobe, my potato masher, on the wall behind the basket with another strobe on camera. The Central gym was that dark.
Well, number 22# is Fil Blackiston…and Ron Bedell is sitting the front row to the far right!
I recognize Tim Ludwig in the band photo, the one with glasses, playing the trumpet. I think we were in Jr High at the time. That photo #10 is awesome! Perfect timing of those 2 players in the air and the ball almost in the basket.
I just noticed in image #4, I think I see Brenda Parsh on the left. She was a cheerleader for Central I think.