1.
North Carolina
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North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U. S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties, the most populous municipality is Charlotte, which is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City. The state has a range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell. The climate of the plains is strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a highland climate. North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, the United States Census Bureau places North Carolina in the South Atlantic division of the southern region. So many ships have been lost off Cape Hatteras that the area is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the most famous of these is the Queen Annes Revenge, which went aground in Beaufort Inlet in 1718. The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the states most populous region, containing the six largest cities in the state by population. It consists of rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. The Piedmont ranges from about 300 feet in elevation in the east to about 1,500 feet in the west, the western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, the Black Mountains are the highest in the eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. North Carolina has 17 major river basins, the five basins west of the Blue Ridge Mountains flow to the Gulf of Mexico, while the remainder flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins,11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the states border – the Cape Fear, the Neuse, the White Oak, and the Tar-Pamlico basin. Elevation above sea level is most responsible for temperature change across the state, the climate is also influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, especially in the coastal plain. These influences tend to cause warmer winter temperatures along the coast, the coastal plain averages around 1 inch of snow or ice annually, and in many years, there may be no snow or ice at all. North Carolina experiences severe weather in summer and winter, with summer bringing threat of hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rain
2.
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
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Rocky Mount is a city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the Atlantic coastal plain region of the U. S. state of North Carolina. Although it was not formally incorporated until February 28,1907, the first post office in the area opened in 1816. The citys population was 57,685 at the 2010 census, Rocky Mount has received the All-America City Award from the National Civic League two times, in 1969 and 1999. Rocky Mount is the city of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area. Rocky Mount is also a part of a Combined Statistical Area which encompasses the Rocky Mount, the Rocky Mount–Wilson CSA population is currently over 200,000 residents. It is also a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA with a population of 2,132,523. Rocky Mount had its beginning in the part of the 19th century around the first post office which was established at the falls of the Tar River on March 22,1816. At that point, the name Rocky Mount appeared in documented history. The name undoubtedly derived from the mound at the falls of the Tar River. The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad was built two miles east of the mill in 1845 and became the main connection for Rocky Mount to the outside world. An important change the railroad brought was the establishment of Rocky Mount as a point of departure for travelers from the north and south, the Raleigh-Tarboro stage route passed just below Rocky Mount, which became the logical debarking point for railroad travelers wishing to proceed east or west. The Civil War and Reconstruction Era brought hard times to Rocky Mount, on February 19,1867, Rocky Mount was incorporated as a town. The establishment of the Rocky Mount tobacco market in the late 1800s is one of the towns most noteworthy developments. The demand for bright leaf tobacco rose rapidly as the industry took shape. Also during this period, the railroad exerted an influence on the town. The tracks first reached Rocky Mount on Christmas Eve in 1839, in 1840, a train of cars en route to Wilmington stopped in Rocky Mount to import some Old Nash for special toasts at opening festivities. The fame of Nash County apple brandy had spread fast, as Rocky Mount encouraged the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to locate shops and yard facilities in the town, an influx of railroad employees into Rocky Mount occurred. In 1871, the county moved from the Tar River to its present location in the center of the tracks
3.
Continental Basketball League
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The Continental Basketball League was a mens basketball minor league in the United States that began play in April 2010. The league is headquartered in Florida, in 2009, Dennis Truax, who was previously affiliated with the Continental Basketball Association, was named the first commissioner of the CBL. Gary Perry, an owner of the Augusta Groove when it was in the Premier Basketball League was named the first director of basketball operations, on November 2,2009, the Wilmington Sea Dawgs were the first team to announce joining the league. On February 16,2010, the Carolina Cougarz became the team to join the CBL. On February 18,2010, the Savannah Wildcats became the team in the CBL. On March 5,2010, the Birmingham Steel joined the league, however, after the removal of the Gwizzlies, the schedule and playoff structure were truncated and adjusted. The playoffs became a one game championship between the first and second teams, the Sea Dawgs and Wildcats respectively, which was won by the Wildcats 96-86 in overtime. In July 2010 the Florida Flight moved from the WBA to the CBL, in September 2010, the Miami Stars and Palm Beach Titans joined. On March 28,2011, the Heartland Prowl announced they had left the ABA to join the CBL, in the announcement of the Prowl, the absence of the Carolina Cougarz as a listed team coupled with their removal from the CBL website indicated that they had folded. In April 2011, the Gainesville Galaxy joined, on 13 April 2011, the Cary Invasion was added. Sometime between April and early May, the Fayetteville Crossover was added, before the 2011 season was to start, the owners of the Savannah Wildcats announced the team would be sitting out the season due to a family matter effecting the owners ability to lead the team. Shortly after this announcement, the CBL announced the addition of the Port City Sharks as a replacement for the Wildcats in Savannah, the league also removed the Miami Stars and the Palm Beach Titans from the team list for the 2011 season. The Port City Sharks failed to play the complete schedule and were replaced in later games by travel teams, no official explanation was given why the winner of the South Division, the Heartland Prowl, did not play in the game. The Wilmington Sea Dawgs and the Cary Invasion announced the formation of the Tobacco Road Basketball League and their membership therein, the Fayetteville Crossover then announced their move to this league as well. The Florida Flight moved to the newly formed Florida Basketball Association, in 2012, the Raleigh Rough Riders were added to the league. However, the 2012 season was never played, the league planned to return in spring 2013, but a lack of teams prevented that
4.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
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Fayetteville is a city in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, Fayetteville has received the All-America City Award from the National Civic League three times. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 200,564 and it is the sixth-largest municipality in North Carolina. Fayetteville is in the Sandhills in the part of the Coastal Plain region, on the Cape Fear River. With an estimated population in 2013 of 210,533 people, the Fayetteville metropolitan area is the largest in southeastern North Carolina, suburban areas of metro Fayetteville include Fort Bragg, Hope Mills, Spring Lake, Raeford, Pope Field, Rockfish, Stedman, and Eastover. Fayettevilles mayor is Nat Robertson, who is serving his second term, the area of present-day Fayetteville was historically inhabited by various Siouan Native American peoples, such as the Eno, Shakori, Waccamaw, Keyauwee, and Cape Fear people. They followed successive cultures of indigenous peoples in the area for more than 12,000 years. Two inland settlements, Cross Creek and Campbellton, were established by Scots from Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, merchants in Wilmington wanted a town on the Cape Fear River to secure trade with the frontier country. They were afraid people would use the Pee Dee River and transport their goods to Charleston, the merchants bought land from Newberry in Cross Creek. Campbellton became a place where poor whites and free blacks lived, Fayetteville was the first city to be named in his honor in the United States. Lafayette visited the city on March 4 and 5,1825, the local region was heavily settled by Scots in the mid/late 1700s, and most of these were Gaelic-speaking Highlanders. The vast majority of Highland Scots, recent immigrants, remained loyal to the British government, despite this, they were eventually defeated by a larger Revolutionary force at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. The area also included a number of active Revolutionaries, in late June 1775, residents drew up the Liberty Point Resolves, which preceded the Declaration of Independence by a little more than a year. Robert Rowan, who organized the group, signed first. Robert Rowan was one of the leading public figures of the 18th century. A merchant and entrepreneur, he settled in Cross Creek in the 1760s and he served as an officer in the French and Indian War, as sheriff, justice and legislator, and as a leader of the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War. Rowan Street and Rowan Park in Fayetteville and a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution are named for him, though Rowan County was named for his uncle. Flora MacDonald, a Scots Highland woman known for aiding Bonnie Prince Charlie after his Highlander armys defeat at Culloden in 1746 and she was a staunch Loyalist and aided her husband to raise the local Scots to fight for the King against the Revolution
5.
Spirits of St. Louis
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The Spirits of St. Louis were one of two teams still in existence at the end of the American Basketball Association that did not survive the ABA–NBA merger. They were a member of the ABA in its last two seasons, 1974–75 and 1975–76, while playing their games at the St. Louis Arena. The Spirits were the third incarnation of a franchise that was known as the Houston Mavericks. However, only one player from the 1973–74 Cougars followed the team to St. Louis, the Spirits were a colorful team featuring a number of players, both on and off the court, who were fairly successful in their basketball careers. Among them were Moses Malone, acquired during their second and final season, maurice Lucas spent most of his time in the ABA as a Spirit, then later became an all-star in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers. Other well-known players that played for the team included former Boston Celtics sixth man Don Chaney, carr, and Ron Boone, who held the record for consecutive games played in pro basketball for many years. One of the most colorful players on the team was forward Marvin Barnes, famous for stories about his off-court behavior, a couple of off-court personalities from the team became well known as well. One of the coaches in 1975 was former NBA player Rod Thorn, on radio, the team featured Bob Costas as an announcer. Costas would go on to a successful career working for NBC television. After a slow start in their season, 1974–75, the Spirits reached the playoffs with a late rush. But the team squandered this good start the following year, at seasons end, negotiations were under way to move the franchise to Salt Lake City, Utah, and rename the team the Utah Rockies. In the summer of 1976, with the ABA at the point of collapse after 9 years. But the senior circuit decided to only four teams from the rival league. Brown, owner of the Kentucky Colonels, by giving him a $3.3 million settlement in exchange for shutting his team down, on June 27,2007, it was extended for another 8 years, ensuring another $100 million+ windfall for the Silnas. In 2014, the Silnas reached agreement with the NBA to greatly reduce the perpetual payments and take a lump sum of $500 million. In the last few years before the lump sum agreement, the Silnas were receiving $14.57 million a year, despite being owners of a team that hadnt played one minute of basketball in more than 35 years. The Silnas will, however, still be receiving a now much smaller portion of the revenue through a new partnership with the former ABA teams the Nets, Nuggets. On October 8,2013, ESPN presented a documentary about the team, Free Spirits, as a result, – and on the advice of their attorneys – the Silnas refused to be interviewed for the program, directed by Daniel Forer
6.
Greensboro Coliseum Complex
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The Greensboro Coliseum Complex is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opening in 1959, the arena was one of the largest venues in the South, with a seating capacity of over 23,000. The complex holds eight venues that includes an amphitheater, arena, aquatic center, banquet hall, convention center, museum, theatre and it has hosted the Mens ACC Tournament twenty-three times since 1967 and the Womens ACC Tournament twelve times since 2000. The Coliseum hosted both tournaments until 2015, other notable sporting events include the National Collegiate Athletic Association Mens Final Four in 1974 and the East Regionals in 1976,1979 and 1998. The complex has hosted the Central Carolina Fair since 1999, the complex was first proposed in 1944 by the citys mayor. The idea was to create a war memorial to veterans of World War I. The building was approved by city officials in 1956, followed by a groundbreaking in January 1958, with its opening in 1959, the complex held four venues, War Memorial Auditorium, Town Hall Auditorium, The Blue Room and the Greensboro Coliseum. The complex opened on October 29,1959 for historic show, shortly after its opening, the Coliseum began to scout for a hockey team. Partnering with the EHL, the city formed the Greensboro Generals, the teams first match was November 11,1959 against the Washington Presidents. The Generals won the game 4–1, the Generals would go on to win the EHL Championships. Over the years, the complex hosted several conventions, sporting, the Coliseum was part-time home of the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association from 1969 to 1974 after the Houston Mavericks moved to North Carolina in 1969. The Cougars were a franchise, playing home games in Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum. Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown began his career with the Cougars in 1972. Billy Cunningham was the ABA MVP for the Cougars in the 1972-73 season, despite a strong fan base the Cougars were sold and moved to St. Louis in 1974. To meet demands, the Coliseum expanded its seating to 15,000 in 1972, six years later, the complex expanded to include an exhibition center, known at the time as the Greensboro Coliseum Complex Exhibition Building. The buildings first event was Super Flea, a market for the Triad area. In 1991, the Coliseums manager proposed an expansion of the complex. This expansion would raise the capacity of the Coliseum an additional 8,000 to 23,000
7.
Bojangles' Coliseum
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Bojangles Coliseum is a 8, 600-seat multi-purpose arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which also oversees nearby Ovens Auditorium, the naming-rights sponsor is Bojangles Famous Chicken n Biscuits. The buildings signature domed roof is made of tin, and not steel or iron, the dome spans 332 feet in diameter and rises to 112 feet tall. Construction began on the Coliseum in 1953 after some delays, gouldie Odell served as project designer, this represented his first major project and he would later found the Odell architecture firm. In September 1955 the building was opened and dedicated as the Charlotte Coliseum, at the time, it was the largest unsupported dome in the world and the first free-spanning dome in the United States. Numerous newspapers and architectural magazines ran stories about the building over the following years, total evacuation time for the entire structure was just four minutes, while seating capacity could be anywhere between 10,000 and 14,000 seats, approximately, depending on the event. A Billy Graham Crusade took place at the Coliseum in 1958, Graham also dedicated the building when it first opened. Elvis Presley had his first performance at the Coliseum in 1956 and his one in 1977. In 1958, a storm went through the region, damaging the Coliseums roof. However, the roof held up despite the damage, in 1970, a new north entrance was added that, due to its location, made visitors walk onto the buildings upper concourse after purchasing their tickets. This entrance is used today. After the new Charlotte Coliseum opened in 1988, the original Coliseum was shuttered since the new building took over all the original Coliseums duties. However, people realized the original Coliseum would still be useful. Over the next five years, a refurbishment was made to the structure, including technology, infrastructure. Once reopened in 1993, it was considered as an alternate to the larger Coliseum for events that required less seating or overall space, the Charlotte Checkers, the citys minor-league hockey team, were the buildings primary tenant. It also got its first name change that year to Independence Arena. Color TVs were installed inside the concourse and a restaurant opened for select fans in 1995. In 2001, the arena was renamed Cricket Arena in a naming rights arrangement with Cricket Communications, in 2005, the Checkers departed Cricket Arena for the then-new Time Warner Cable Arena
8.
Dorton Arena
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Dorton Arena is a 7, 610-seat multi-purpose arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the grounds of the North Carolina State Fair. Its design features a cable supported saddle-shaped roof in tension. The arches cross about 20 feet above ground level and continue underground, the outer walls of the arena support next to no weight at all. Originally named the State Fair Arena, it was dedicated to Dr. J. S. Dorton, former North Carolina State Fair manager, in the past, it has hosted many sporting events, concerts, political rallies and circuses. The longest serving tenant was the Raleigh IceCaps ice hockey team from 1991–1998, the American Basketball Associations Carolina Cougars also played some games there from 1969–74. It was also the home of the Carolina Rollergirls, the Cougars became tenants after the Houston Mavericks moved to North Carolina in 1969. The Cougars were a franchise, playing home games in Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum. Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown began his career with the Cougars in 1972. Billy Cunningham was the ABA MVP for the Cougars in the 1972-73 season, despite a strong fan base the Cougars were sold and moved to St. Louis in 1974. Dorton Arena was a venue for professional wrestling in the 70s and 80s. Wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper defeated “Nature Boy” Ric Flair for National Wrestling Alliance U. S, heavyweight championship in Dorton Arena on Jan. Beginning in 2016 it will be the home of the Triangle Torch in American Indoor Football, besides hosting sporting events, the arena is also used for concerts during the North Carolina State Fair. Various conventions and fairs also use floorspace of the arena as an exhibition space, the arena has hosted the FIRST Robotics Competition regional robotics competition and was the first space to hold a regional in the state. Dorton Arena and Reynolds Coliseum were the concert venues in the Capital City for many decades before Walnut Creek Amphitheater. The building was designed for livestock shows, not for concerts, so while there are unobstructed views of the stage. Fair officials have made significant changes to improve the acoustics of the building in recent years, many of the biggest names in entertainment have played in this arena. com,4 September 2014
9.
Greensboro, North Carolina
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Greensboro is a city in the U. S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the county seat and largest city in Guilford County, as of the 2010 census, the city population was 269,666, and in 2015 the estimated population was 285,342. Three major interstate highways in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina were built to intersect at this city, in 1808, Greensborough was planned around a central courthouse square to succeed Guilford Court House as the county seat. In 2003, the previous Greensboro – Winston-Salem – High Point metropolitan statistical area was re-defined by the U. S. Office of Management and this region was separated into the Greensboro-High Point MSA and the Winston-Salem MSA. The 2010 population for the Greensboro-High Point MSA was 723,801, the combined statistical area of Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, popularly referred to as the Piedmont Triad, had a population of 1,599,477. At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that became Greensboro were a Siouan-speaking people called the Saura, other indigenous cultures had occupied this area for thousands of years, typically settling along the waterways, as did the early settlers. Quaker migrants from Pennsylvania, by way of Maryland, arrived at Capefair in about 1750, the new settlers began organized religious services affiliated with the Cane Creek Friends Meeting in Snow Camp in 1751. Three years later,40 Quaker families were granted approval to establish New Garden Monthly Meeting, the settlement grew rapidly during the next three years, adding members from as far away as Nantucket in Massachusetts. It soon became the most important Quaker community in North Carolina and mother of several other Quaker meetings that were established in the state and west of the Appalachians. After the Revolutionary War, the city of Greensboro was named for Major General Nathanael Greene, although the Americans lost the battle, Greenes forces inflicted heavy casualties on the British Army of General Cornwallis. Following this battle, Cornwallis withdrew his troops to a British coastal base in Wilmington, Greensboro was established near the geographic center of Guilford County, on land that was an unbroken forest with thick undergrowth of huckleberry bushes, that bore a finely flavored fruit. Property for the village was purchased from the Saura for $98. Three north-south streets were laid out intersecting with three east-west streets, the courthouse was built at the center of the intersection of Elm and Market streets. By 1821, the town was home to 369 residents, stimulated by rail traffic and improved access to markets, the city grew substantially, soon becoming known as the Gate City due to its role as a transportation hub for the Piedmont. The railroads transported goods to and from the textile mills. Many of the manufacturers developed workers housing in mill villages near their facilities, Textile companies and related businesses continued into the 21st century, when most went bankrupt, reorganized, and/or merged with other companies as textile manufacturing jobs moved offshore. Greensboro is still a center of the textile industry, with the main offices of International Textile Group, Galey & Lord, Unifi. ITG Brands, maker of Kool, Winston and Salem brand cigarettes, is the third largest tobacco company in the United States and is headquartered in Greensboro, rail traffic continues to be important for the citys economy, as Greensboro is a major regional freight hub
10.
Charlotte, North Carolina
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Charlotte /ˈʃɑːrlət/ is the largest city in the state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Mecklenburg County and the second-largest city in the southeastern United States, just behind Jacksonville, Charlotte is the third-fastest growing major city in the United States. In 2014 the estimated population of Charlotte according to the U. S. Census Bureau was 809,958, the Charlotte metropolitan area ranks 22nd-largest in the U. S. and had a 2014 population of 2,380,314. The Charlotte metropolitan area is part of a sixteen-county market region or combined statistical area with a 2014 U. S. Census population estimate of 2,537,990, residents of Charlotte are referred to as Charlotteans. It is listed as a global city by the Globalization. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is an international hub, and was ranked the 23rd-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic in 2013. Charlotte has a subtropical climate. The city is located several miles east of the Catawba River and southeast of Lake Norman, Lake Wylie and Mountain Island Lake are two smaller man-made lakes located near the city. The Catawba Native Americans were the first to settle Mecklenburg County and were first recorded in European records around 1567, by 1759 half the Catawba tribe had been killed by smallpox. At the time of their largest population, Catawba people numbered 10,000, Mecklenburg County was initially part of Bath County of New Hanover Precinct, which became New Hanover County in 1729. The western portion of New Hanover split into Bladen County in 1734, Mecklenburg County formed from Anson County in 1762. Further apportionment was made in 1792, with Cabarrus County formed from Mecklenburg and these areas were all part of one of the original six judicial/military districts of North Carolina known as the Salisbury District. The area that is now Charlotte was settled by people of European descent around 1755, Thomas Polk, who later married Thomas Spratts daughter, built his house by the intersection of two Native American trading paths between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers. One path ran north–south and was part of the Great Wagon Road, within decades of Polks settling, the area grew to become Charlotte Town, incorporating in 1768. The crossroads, perched atop the Piedmont landscape, became the heart of Uptown Charlotte, in 1770, surveyors marked the streets in a grid pattern for future development. The east–west trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road became Tryon Street, in honor of William Tryon, the intersection of Trade and Tryon—commonly known today as Trade & Tryon, or simply The Square—is more properly called Independence Square. While surveying the boundary between the Carolinas in 1772, William Moultrie stopped in Charlotte Town, whose five or six houses were very ordinary built of logs, local leaders came together in 1775 and signed the Mecklenburg Resolves, more popularly known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. While not a declaration of independence from British rule, it is among the first such declarations that eventually led to the American Revolution
11.
Raleigh, North Carolina
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Raleigh is the capital of the state of North Carolina, the seat of Wake County in the United States. Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks for its oak trees. The city covers a area of 142.8 square miles. The U. S. Census Bureau estimated the population as 451,066 as of July 1,2015. It is also one of the cities in the country. The city of Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who established the lost Roanoke Colony in present-day Dare County, Raleigh is home to North Carolina State University and is part of the Research Triangle area, together with Durham and Chapel Hill. The Triangle nickname originated after the 1959 creation of the Research Triangle Park, located in Durham and Wake Counties, partway between the three cities and their universities. The Research Triangle region encompasses the U. S. Census Bureaus Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Combined Statistical Area, the Raleigh Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated population of 1,214,516 in 2013. Most of Raleigh is located within Wake County, with a small portion extending into Durham County. Raleigh is an example in the United States of a planned city. It was chosen as the site of the capital in 1788. The city was laid out in a grid pattern with the North Carolina State Capitol in Union Square at the center. Raleigh is home to cultural, educational, and historic sites. The Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown Raleigh features three venues and serves as the home for the North Carolina Symphony and the Carolina Ballet. Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek is a large music amphitheater located in southeast Raleigh, one U. S. president, Andrew Johnson, was born in Raleigh. Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina, was the first nominal capital from 1705 until 1722, the colony had no permanent institutions of government until the establishment at the new capital New Bern in 1743. In December 1770, Joel Lane successfully petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly to create a new county, on January 5,1771, the bill creating Wake County was passed in the General Assembly. The county was formed from portions of Cumberland, Orange, the county gets its name from Margaret Wake Tryon, the wife of Governor William Tryon
12.
Bones McKinney
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Horace Albert Bones McKinney was an American professional basketball player and coach. He also played for the Boston Celtics and his final year with the Capitols, McKinney was a player-coach, the team folded midway through the season. McKinney, known for his antics, would later coach the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons. McKinney also coached Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association from 1969 through 1971 and he coached them to a 42-42 record during the 1969–1970 season, good for third place in the East Division. The Cougars then lost in the first round of the 1970 ABA playoffs to the Indiana Pacers,4 games to 0, as the 1970–71 season got under way, McKinney was named a vice president of the team. After a 17-25 start, halfway through the season McKinney was replaced as coach by his assistant coach Jerry Steele. Steele also went 17-25 for the remainder of the season for a 34-50 record that failed to get the Cougars into the 1971 ABA playoffs, during the 1970–71 season, McKinney provided color commentary for the television broadcast of the 1971 ABA All Star Game. Subsequently, McKinney would have a long and successful career as a color analyst for broadcasts of ACC basketball games. McKinneys picture hangs in the North Carolina History Museums North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and one of his basketball jerseys is also displayed there
13.
Tom Meschery
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Thomas Nicholas Meschery is a Russian American former professional basketball player. He was a forward with a 10-year National Basketball Association career from 1961 to 1971. He played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics and he led the league in personal fouls in 1962 and played in the 1963 NBA All-Star Game. His jersey, number 14, was retired by the Warriors, Meschery was born as Tomislav Nikolayevich Meshcheryakov in Harbin, China. His parents were Russian emigrants who fled from the October Revolution in 1917, the Meschery family was later relocated to a Japanese internment camp near Tokyo during World War II. After the war, Meschery and his parents emigrated to the United States, living in San Francisco, California, Meschery attended Lowell High School. After graduating in 1957, he went to Saint Marys College of California in Moraga, standing 6 ft 6 in, Meschery also was a highly talented basketball player. After graduating from St. Marys, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors as the 7th pick overall in the 1961 NBA draft, Meschery played alongside legend Wilt Chamberlain, to whom he later dedicated a poem. Meschery was the forward on the 1961 Philadelphia Warriors team in which Chamberlain scored 100 points. Meschery led the NBA in personal fouls in 1962 and played in the 1963 NBA All-Star Game, Chamberlain left the Warriors in 1965, returning to his home town Philadelphia, to play with the 76ers. The Warriors however, strengthened by the arrival of Rick Barry, made it to the 1967 NBA Finals, after his NBA Finals appearance, Meschery was selected by the NBAs Seattle SuperSonics during the 1967 NBA Expansion Draft. In the SuperSonics inaugural season, Meschery led the team in rebounds as well as personal fouls and he retired following the 1970–71 season, having played four seasons for the SuperSonics. After retiring as a player, Meschery became head coach of the ABAs Carolina Cougars, Meschery has been inducted into the San Francisco High School Hall of Fame, Saint Marys College Hall of Fame, and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. Meschery published his first book of poems in 1970, and returned to school after his coaching stint and he studied poetry with Mark Strand, U. S. poet laureate at University of Washington. After receiving his credentials at University of Nevada, Reno, Meschery taught high school English in Reno, Nevada. He is also a poet, whose works often relate to basketball, teaching, in 2002, Meschery was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. Meschery is living in Sacramento, California with his artist wife Melanie Marchant Meschery and his son is Matthew Meschery who is the former lead vocalist of OPM. Meschery continues to write poems, fiction, and essays and he traces his love of writing to his Russian maternal ancestors, Alexei and Leo Tolstoy
14.
Larry Brown (basketball)
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Lawrence Harvey Larry Brown is an American basketball coach, who was most recently head mens basketball coach at Southern Methodist University. He is the coach in basketball history to win both an NCAA national championship and an NBA title. He also won an ABA championship as a player with the Oakland Oaks in the 1968–69 season, and he is also the only person ever to coach two NBA franchises in the same season. Before coaching, Brown played collegiately at the University of North Carolina and he has been a basketball coach since 1972. Brown was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on September 27,2002, Brown is Jewish, and was born in Brooklyn, New York. A5 ft 9 in point guard, he attended Long Beach High School and then played at the University of North Carolina under legendary coaches Frank McGuire and Dean Smith. During that time Brown was selected for the 1964 Summer Olympics team, on which he played and with which he won a gold medal, Brown was named MVP of the ABAs first All-Star Game in 1968, and was named to the All-ABA Second Team the same year. Brown led the ABA in assists per game during the leagues first three seasons, and when he ended his career, Brown was the ABAs all-time assist leader. His total of 2,509 assists places him seventh on the ABAs career list, Browns first head coaching job was at Davidson College in North Carolina in 1969. Unfortunately for Wildcat fans, it would only last during the summer offseason, Brown moved on to the ABA and coached with the Carolina Cougars and then the Denver Nuggets, who later joined the NBA in 1976, for five and a half seasons from 1974 to 1979. He then moved on to coach for UCLA, leading his freshman-dominated 1979–80 team to the NCAA title game before falling to Louisville, 59–54. However, that appearance was vacated by the NCAA after two UCLA players were found to be ineligible—one of the few times a Final Four squad has had its record vacated. Brown was the coach for the NBAs New Jersey Nets for two years following that, from 1981 to 1983. Brown began his tenure at the University of Kansas, replacing the fired Ted Owens, who had overseen back-to-back losing seasons in 1981-82 and 1982-83. In the meantime Brown signed the most coveted high school player in the country, Danny Manning, to play for KU after signing his father, Ed Manning, perhaps Browns finest team at Kansas was the 1985-86 team. This squad put together a 35-4 record, the first 30-win season in KU history, in the 1987-88 season, Kansas got off to a mediocre 12–8 start, including 1–4 in the Big 8, and the end of the Jayhawks 55-game homecourt winning streak in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas then proceeded to defeat 11th-seed Xavier, 14th-seed Murray State, and 7th-seed Vanderbilt before meeting rival Kansas State, KU upset the 4th-seeded Wildcats 71-58 in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four in Kansas Citys Kemper Arena. Once there, Kansas upset the East Regions #2 seed Duke, 66-59, Manning, who scored 31 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the final, was named Most Oustanding Player of the Tournament
15.
Jim Gardner (politician)
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James Carson Jim Gardner is a North Carolina businessman and politician who served as a U. S. Representative and as the 30th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, in May 1961, Gardner, along with Leonard Rawls, opened the first franchise store of the fast food restaurant Hardees in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Later, in 1969, he bought the troubled Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association, Cooley, the powerful chairman of the United States House Committee on Agriculture. In 1966, Gardner toppled Cooley by a shocking 13-point margin to represent a district that included Raleigh as well as his home in Rocky Mount and he was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of North Carolina in 1968,1972, and 1992. In both 1968 and in 1992, he won the Republican nomination, but lost to Democrats Robert W. Scott and Jim Hunt, in 1972, he lost the nomination to Jim Holshouser, the first of only two Republican governors of North Carolina of the 20th century. In 1988, Gardner defeated Democrat Tony Rand and became the first Republican elected lieutenant governor since Charles A. Reynolds, Gardner served from Jan.1989 to Jan. 1993, during the term of Republican Governor James G. Martin. In September 2011, Gardner endorsed the 2012 candidacy of Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley for lieutenant governor. In January 2013, Gardner served as master of ceremonies at the ceremony for newly elected Gov. Pat McCrory, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. The ceremony celebrated the return of Republicans to the office for the first time since Gardners defeat in 1992. Forest also became the first Republican Lieutenant Governor since Gardner, at age 79, Gardner came out of retirement when McCrory appointed him chairman of the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission in 2013. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
16.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
17.
Houston
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Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
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Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
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The current Lieutenant Governor is Dan Forest, a Republican. As of 2008, the offices of the Lieutenant Governor are located in the historic Hawkins-Hartness House on N. Blount Street in Raleighs Government District. The Lieutenant Governor also maintains an office at the nearby North Carolina State Legislative Building, at one time, the Lieutenant Governor had an office in the North Carolina State Capitol. The office of Lieutenant Governor was created by the North Carolina Constitution of 1868, the position is now a full-time job. From 1868 through 1977, the lieutenant governor, like the governor of North Carolina, was limited to a single four-year term, in 1977, the North Carolina Constitution was amended to allow both the governor and the lieutenant governor to serve two consecutive terms. The Lieutenant Governor is the first official in line to succeed the Governor of North Carolina and this has occurred five times in the history of the office, four of the first six lieutenant governors were promoted upon the death, impeachment, or resignation of the previously sitting governor. Lieutenant Governors have often run for Governor, but few have been successful, jim Hunt, elected governor in 1976, and Beverly Perdue, elected governor in 2008, are the two most recent exceptions. This has happened twice in North Carolina since the 1977 constitutional amendment, once from 1985 to 1989, the most recent death of a former lieutenant governor of North Carolina was that of Robert W. Scott, on January 23,2009. The most recently serving lieutenant governor to die was James C, office of the Lieutenant Governor NC History Project
19.
Piedmont Triad
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The Piedmont Triad is a north-central region of the U. S. state of North Carolina that consists of the area within and surrounding the three major cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group or triad of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the United States, the area of the triad is approximately 5,954 square miles. The metropolitan area is connected by Interstates 40,85,73, the Triad is not to be confused with the Triangle region, directly to the east. As of 2012, the Piedmont Triad has an population of 1,611,243 making it the 33rd largest CSA metropolitan area in the United States. However, for all intents and purposes the region still functions as a metropolitan area. The area also has its share of scientific museums, such as SciWorks, the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, the Wake Forest Museum of Anthropology. The North Carolina Zoo, the worlds largest open-air natural habitat zoo, is located just outside the Randoph County city of Asheboro, the economy in the Piedmont Triad is a mixed economy. The Triad area is notable for large textile, tobacco, the Triad remains a national center for textile manufacturing, represented by corporations including Hanes based in Winston-Salem, and International Textile Group, based in Greensboro. Numerous furniture manufacturers are also headquartered in the Triad area, especially in the cities of High Point, Thomasville, the furniture and textile industries have in turn spawned large trucking, logistics, and warehousing businesses in the area. Popular brands like Thomasville and Lexington are derived from the names of these cities, recently, however, many furniture and tobacco factories have been closing and/or laying off workers across the region in response to escalating industrial globalization. After many of the old industries in the area began to die out, Dell, Inc. in the early 2000s struck a deal with local officials allowing for the construction of a new computer assembly plant near the Triad city of Kernersville. However, Dell pulled out of its contract with the city, upon full build out of the project, it is expected to be housed by two 75-acre campuses, employ approximately 2,000 people, and generate $50 million per year to the Triad economy. LabCorp, one of the largest clinical laboratories in the world, has its corporate headquarters, four major Interstate highways and numerous secondary Interstate routes and US routes serve the region, Interstate highways I-40, the primary east-west route across the region. In the eastern Triad, it is conjoined with I-85, the two routes split in Greensboro. I-40 Business, runs through Kernersville and Winston-Salem and it is a former alignment of I-40. I-840, part of the Greensboro Urban Loop, currently under construction, when complete, I-840 will be the northern half of the loop. I-73, the primary route across the region, much of which has yet to be constructed. This portion was designated as I-40, with the current
20.
Research Triangle
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A2013 Census estimate put the population at 2,037,430, making it the second largest metropolitan area in the state of North Carolina behind Charlotte. The Raleigh–Durham television market includes a broader 24-county area which includes Fayetteville, the Triangle name was cemented in the public consciousness in the 1950s with the creation of Research Triangle Park, home to numerous high-tech companies and enterprises. Most of the Triangle is part of North Carolinas second, fourth, depending on which definition of the Research Triangle region is used, as few as three or as many as 16 counties are included as part of the region. All of these counties when included hold a population over 2,167,000 people. S. S, Census Bureau divided the region into two metropolitan statistical areas and one micropolitan area in 2003. Some area television stations define the region as Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville, Fayetteville, North Carolina, is over 50 miles from Raleigh, but is part of the Triangle television market. Other larger systems in the region include Durham Public Schools and rapidly growing Johnston County Schools, the North Carolina Tar Heels, NC State Wolfpack, and Duke Blue Devils are all members of the ACC. Rivalries among these schools are strong, fueled by proximity to each other. Adding to the rivalries is the number of graduates the high schools in the region send to each of the local universities. It is very common for students at one university to know many students attending the local universities. The four ACC schools in the state, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, all four teams consistently produce high-caliber teams. Each of the Triangle-based universities listed has won at least two NCAA Basketball national championships, other colleges in the Triangle that field intercollegiate teams include Campbell University, Meredith College, and William Peace University. The region has one professional team of the four major sports. Since moving to the Research Triangle region from Hartford, Connecticut, they have enjoyed great success, with only one top-level professional sports option, minor league sports are quite popular in the region. The American Badminton Academy is also located here in a facility with seven permanent courts. The Academy is unique among U. S. badminton facilities in that it hosts an international player development program run by Dennis Christensen, anchored by leading technology firms, government and world-class universities, medical centers and schools, the areas economy has performed exceptionally well. Significant increases in employment, earnings, personal income, and retail sales are projected over the next 15 years, the regions growing high-technology community includes such companies as IBM, SAS Institute, Cisco Systems, NetApp, Red Hat, EMC Corporation, and Credit Suisse First Boston. In addition to high-tech, the region is ranked in the top three in the U. S. with concentration in life science companies. Some of these companies include GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen Idec, BASF, Research Triangle Park and North Carolina State Universitys Centennial Campus in Raleigh support innovation through R&D and technology transfer among the regions companies and research universities
21.
Reynolds Coliseum
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William Neal Reynolds Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the campus of North Carolina State University. The arena was built to host a variety of events, including agricultural expositions and it is now home to all services of ROTC and several Wolfpack teams, including womens basketball, womens volleyball, womens gymnastics, and mens wrestling. The university named the court in Reynolds Kay Yow Court on February 16,2007 with the assistance of a donation from the Wolfpack Club. That same night, the Wolfpack women upset #2 North Carolina, NC State Alumnus David Clark originally petitioned for the construction of the arena in 1940 after rain had ruined a North Carolina Farmers Week meeting held in an outdoor facility. The North Carolina General Assembly approved plans for the coliseum, a steel shortage threatened to delay the construction of the coliseum. However, because the proposed coliseum was also to be used as an armory, the foundation work and structural steel support system was completed by 1943 but construction was stopped due to US involvement in World War II. After the war the university was preoccupied with the building of housing and classroom facilities, the arena was completed the following year and named in honor of William Neal Reynolds of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This was accomplished by expanding the structure at each end and it was the largest arena in the Southeast for many years. The first mens game was played on December 2,1949. NC State defeated Washington and Lee, 67-47, not all the seats had been installed at that time and many fans had to sit on the cement tiers. The first womens basketball game was played on December 7,1974, mens basketball moved to the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena in 1999. The Wolfpack men have played a December regular-season heritage game at Reynolds Coliseum in recent years, Reynolds Coliseum was the original site of the ACC mens basketball tournament from 1954–1966, the Dixie Classic tournament from 1949–1960, and the Southern Conference mens basketball tournament. It has hosted the NCAA mens basketball tournament as a Regional site eight times and it has also hosted the womens basketball tournament eleven times, only one of which was a regional site. The ACC Womens Basketball Tournament was held twice, in 1979 and 1982. March 1982, in fact, was a busy month for the arena, it hosted the ACC womens tournament, NCAA mens subregional. Reynolds Coliseum was considered to be one of the toughest places to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, when ESPN asked contributors who played college basketball to identify the toughest arena they ever played in, Jay Bilas and Hubert Davis chose Reynolds. Reynolds was configured much the way as Cameron Indoor Stadium, but the end zones were much deeper. Reynolds was loud, edgy and intense and it was so hot and loud that your head would spin
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Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. With a 2015 estimated population of 241,218, it is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and the fifth largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is home to the tallest office building in the region,100 North Main Street, formerly the Wachovia Building, Winston-Salem is called the Twin City for its dual heritage and City of the Arts and Innovation for its dedication to fine arts and theater and technological research. Camel City is a reference to the citys involvement in the tobacco industry related to locally based R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Companys Camel cigarettes. Winston-Salem is also known for its traditional furniture company, many locals refer to the city as Winston in informal speech. The Dash is referenced from the hyphen between Winston and Salem and was popularized by the nickname of the minor league baseball team. In 2012, the city was listed among the 10 best places to retire in the U. S. by CBS MoneyWatch, the city of Winston-Salem is a product of the merging of the two neighboring towns of Winston and Salem in 1913. The origin of the town of Salem dates to January 1753 and he called this area die Wachau named after the ancestral estate of Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. The land, just short of 99,000 acres, was purchased from John Carteret. On November 17,1753, the first settlers arrived at what would become the town of Bethabara. This town, despite its growth, was not designed to be the primary settlement on the tract. Some residents expanded to a settlement called Bethania in 1759. Finally, lots were drawn to select suitable sites for the location of a new town. The town established on the site was given the name of Salem chosen for it by the Moravians late patron. On January 6,1766, the first tree was felled for the building of Salem, Salem was a typical Moravian settlement congregation with the public buildings of the congregation grouped around a central square, today Salem Square. These included the church, a Brethrens House and a Sisters House for the members of the Congregation. For many years members of the Moravian Church were permitted to live in the settlement. This practice had ended by the American Civil War, many of the original buildings in the settlement have been restored or rebuilt and are now part of Old Salem Museums & Gardens
23.
Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum
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Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum was a multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The arena, which opened in 1955, held 8,500 people and was replaced by the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 1989. It was home to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons mens basketball team from 1956 to 1989, the Cougars were a regional franchise, playing home games in Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum, Greensboro Coliseum, Charlotte Bojangles Coliseum and Raleigh Dorton Arena. Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown began his career with the Cougars in 1972. Billy Cunningham was the ABA MVP for the Cougars in the 1972-73 season, despite a strong fan base the Cougars were sold and moved to St. Louis in 1974. The arena also hosted the Winston-Salem Polar Twins when they played in the Southern Hockey League, in addition, it was the site of the MEAC Mens Basketball Tournament from 1980 to 1982. Here are some games at the old Coliseum, February 12,1962. The two teams resumed the game on February 23 with State taking a 101-75 win, February 15,1969, Charlie Davis scores a school record 51 points in a game against American. December 17,1985, Tyrone Muggsy Bogues ties a record he set earlier in the month for the most steals in one game,8
24.
Indiana Pacers
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The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first established in 1967 as a member of the American Basketball Association and they play their home games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The team is named after Indianas history with the Indianapolis 500s pace cars, the Pacers have won three championships, all in the ABA. The Pacers were Eastern Conference champions in 2000, the team has won nine division titles. Five Hall of Fame players – Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Alex English, Mel Daniels, in early 1967, a group of six investors pooled their resources to purchase a franchise in the proposed American Basketball Association. For their first seven years, they played in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, in 1974, they moved to the plush new Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis, where they played for 25 years. Early in the Pacers second season, former Indiana Hoosiers standout Bob Slick Leonard became the head coach. Leonard quickly turned the Pacers into a juggernaut and his teams were buoyed by the great play of superstars such as Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Mount and Roger Brown. The Pacers were – and ended – as the most successful team in ABA history, in all, they appeared in the ABA Finals five times in the leagues nine-year history, a feat that was never bettered by any other ABA franchise. The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA–NBA merger in 1976, for the 1976–77 season the Pacers were joined in the merged league by the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs. The league charged a $3.2 million entry fee for each former ABA team, as a result of the merger, the four teams dealt with financial troubles. Additionally, the Pacers had some financial troubles which dated back to their days in the ABA. The new NBA teams also were barred from sharing in national TV revenues for four years, the Pacers finished their inaugural NBA season with a record of 36–46. Billy Knight and Don Buse represented Indiana in the NBA All-Star Game, however, this was one of the few bright spots of the Pacers first 13 years in the NBA. During this time, they had only three non-losing seasons and only two playoff appearances, a lack of continuity became the norm for most of the next decade, as they traded away Knight and Buse before the 1977–78 season even started. They acquired Adrian Dantley in exchange for Knight, but Dantley was traded in December, while the Pacers second-leading scorer, the early Pacers came out on the short end of two of the most one-sided trades in NBA history. In 1980, they traded Alex English to the Nuggets in order to reacquire former ABA star George McGinnis, McGinnis was long past his prime, and contributed very little during his two-year return
25.
Golden State Warriors
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The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The team was established in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1962, the franchise relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and was renamed the San Francisco Warriors. In 1971, the changed its geographic moniker to Golden State. Since 1972, the home court has been the Oracle Arena in Oakland. The team is nicknamed the Dubs, the Warriors have reached eight NBA Finals, winning four NBA championships in 1947,1956,1975 and most recently in 2015 when they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden States four NBA championships are the fifth most in history only the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls. Wilt Chamberlain and Stephen Curry have both named the NBAs Most Valuable Player while playing for the Warriors, for a total of three MVP awards. Golden State holds the NBA record for best regular season with 73–9, the Warriors were founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, a charter member of the Basketball Association of America. They were owned by Peter A. Tyrrell, who owned the Philadelphia Rockets of the American Hockey League. Tyrrell hired Eddie Gottlieb, a longtime basketball promoter in the Philadelphia area, as coach, the owners named the team after the Philadelphia Warriors, an old basketball team who played in the American Basketball League in 1925. Led by early scoring sensation Joe Fulks, the won the championship in the leagues inaugural 1946–47 season by defeating the Chicago Stags. The NBA, which was created by a 1949 merger, officially recognizes that as its own first championship, Gottlieb bought the team in 1951. The Warriors won its championship in Philadelphia in the 1955–56 season. The Warrior stars of this era were future Hall of Famers Paul Arizin, Tom Gola, in 1959, the team signed draft pick Wilt Chamberlain. Known as Wilt the Stilt, he led the team in scoring six times, quickly began shattering NBA scoring records, in 1962, Franklin Mieuli purchased the majority shares of the team and relocated the franchise to the San Francisco Bay Area, renaming them the San Francisco Warriors. Prior to the 1963–64 NBA season, the Warriors drafted big man Nate Thurmond to go along with Chamberlain, the Warriors won the Western Division crown that season, but lost the 1964 NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics, four games to one. In the 1964–65 season, the Warriors traded Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer, Paul Neumann and $150,000 and won only 17 games
26.
Seattle SuperSonics
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The Seattle SuperSonics, commonly known as the Sonics, were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington. The SuperSonics played in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific. After the 2007–08 season ended, the relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Sam Schulman owned the team from its 1967 inception until 1983 and it was then owned by Barry Ackerley, and then Basketball Club of Seattle, headed by Starbucks chairman, president and CEO Howard Schultz. The sale was approved by the NBA Board of Governors on October 24,2006, home games were played at KeyArena, originally known as Seattle Center Coliseum, for 33 of the franchises 41 seasons in Seattle. In 1978, the moved to the Kingdome, which was shared with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. They returned to the Coliseum full-time in 1985, moving temporarily to the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington, the SuperSonics won the NBA championship in 1979. Overall, the franchise won three Western Conference titles,1978,1979, and 1996, the franchise also won six divisional titles, the most recent being in 2005, with five in the Pacific Division and one in the Northwest Division. The SuperSonics franchise history, however, would be shared with the Thunder, on December 20,1966, Los Angeles businessmen Sam Schulman and Eugene V. Klein and a group of minority partners were awarded an NBA franchise for the city of Seattle. Schulman would serve as the partner and head of team operations. He named the SuperSonics after Boeings recently awarded contract for the SST project, the SuperSonics were Seattles first major league sports franchise. Beginning play in October 1967, the SuperSonics were coached by Al Bianchi and featured All-Star guard Walt Hazzard and NBA All-Rookie Team members Bob Rule and Al Tucker. The expansion team stumbled out of the gates with a 144–116 loss in their first game, Hazzard was traded to the Atlanta Hawks before the start of the next season for Lenny Wilkens. Wilkens brought a strong game to the SuperSonics, averaging 22.4 points per game,8.2 assists per game. Rule, meanwhile, improved on his rookie statistics with 24.0 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game, the SuperSonics, however, only won 30 games and Bianchi was replaced by Wilkens as player/coach during the offseason. Wilkens and Rule both represented Seattle in the 1970 NBA All-Star Game, and Wilkens led the NBA in assists during the 1969–70 season, Schulman also threatened to move his soon-to-be ABA team to Los Angeles to compete directly with the Lakers. The Oscar Robertson suit delayed the merger, and the SuperSonics remained in Seattle, early in the 1970–71 season, however, Rule tore his Achilles tendon and was lost for the rest of the year. The following season, the SuperSonics went on to record their first winning season at 47–35, for the 1972–73 season, Wilkens was dealt to Cleveland in a highly unpopular trade, and without his leadership the SuperSonics fell to a 26–56 record
27.
Doug Moe
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Douglas Edwin Moe is an American former professional basketball player and coach. As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association, born in Brooklyn, New York, Moe was a star player at the University of North Carolina where he was a two-time All-American. However, his career ended in controversy when he admitted to being associated with a point shaving scandal. Moe received $75 from fix conspirator Aaron Wagman to fly to a meeting in New Jersey, arranged by Moes friend conspirator Lou Brown, there is no evidence that Moe was ever involved in a fix conspiracy, but his ties to the scandal blemished his reputation. He garnered ABA All-Star honors three times in an injury-shortened five-year professional playing career, Moe became a head coach in 1976–77, after serving as an assistant coach for the Carolina Cougars. Moe worked behind the bench for 15 years, ten of them with the Denver Nuggets and he also had stops in San Antonio and Philadelphia. Moe began his career with the Carolina Cougars in the ABA as an assistant coach to his UNC teammate. He then followed Brown to Denver, where they coached the Nuggets from 1974 to 1976, during those two seasons, the Nuggets were 125–43. They advanced to the ABA Finals in 1976, but lost to the New York Nets in six games, after the ABA–NBA merger in 1976, Moe served as a head coach for the San Antonio Spurs for four seasons, leading them to a conference finals appearance in 1979. He returned to Denver in 1980 to take over the coaching reigns from another UNC alum Donnie Walsh. From 1980 to 1990, Moe compiled a 432–357 record and led the Nuggets to the postseason nine-straight years—advancing as far as the Western Conference Finals in 1985 and he guided the Nuggets to two Midwest Division titles and a franchise-record 54 wins in 1987–88. He was named NBA Coach of the Year that same year, under Moes direction, the Nuggets high-octane offense led the league in scoring in six of his 10 seasons in Denver. He is honored by the Nuggets with a banner that read 432 for his amount of wins as a Nugget head coach, Moe also served an unsuccessful stint as a head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers, with his son David Moe as an assistant coach. In 1979, he led the Spurs to the conference finals and his overall NBA head coaching ledger stands at 628–529 and his wins are the 19th-most in NBA history, though he is not in the Hall of Fame. Moe used a run-and-gun offense which had his team shoot before the defense had set up. He ran almost no plays, instead relying on ball movement, screens, players were not to hold onto the ball for longer than two seconds. The movement of the ball was predicated on what the defense allowed and you cant diagram it, you cant put a pencil and paper to it. If you do, youre doing an injustice to the system, Moe simply said, The passing game is basically doing whatever the hell you want
28.
Billy Cunningham
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William John Billy Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the NBAs Philadelphia 76ers, Billy Cunningham was born in Brooklyn, New York. His fame began while he was playing at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and that year, he was the First-Team All-New York City, and a member of the Parade Magazine All-America Team. Cunningham then went to the University of North Carolina, where he excelled. He once grabbed a record 27 rebounds in a game vs. Clemson on February 16,1963, Cunningham also set a single-game North Carolina record with 48 points against Tulane on December 10,1964. In his UNC career, he scored 1,709 points, upon graduation, his 1,062 rebounds were the best in North Carolina history and he held seasonal records for most rebounds and rebound average. Cunningham was a member of the powerful 1967 Sixers championship team, after Chamberlain left the team in 1968, Cunningham became the 76ers franchise player. After that season, he earned the first of what would be three straight All-NBA First Team selections, in 1972, he joined the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association. In his first ABA season, Cunningham averaged 24.1 points per game,12.0 rebounds per game and he led the Cougars to the best record in the league and was selected to the All-ABA First Team and was named the ABA MVP. During the post-season, the Cougars defeated the New York Nets in five games in the Eastern Division Semifinals to advance to the Eastern Division Finals, in the Division Finals the Cougars lost a tight seven game series to the Kentucky Colonels,4 games to 3. In the 1973–74 season Cunningham and the Cougars finished third in the Eastern Division, after the 1973–74 season, Cunningham returned to the 76ers, where he played until he suffered a career-ending injury early in the 1975–76 season. For his career, Cunningham scored 16,310 points and grabbed 7,981 rebounds in both the NBA and the ABA and he reached the 300, and 400-win milestone faster than any coach in NBA history. He led Philadelphia to the playoffs in every year as coach, upon his retirement, his 454 wins as a head coach were the 12th best in NBA history, he holds the third best regular season winning percentage in league history.698. In 1987, Cunningham replaced Tom Heinsohn as the color commentator for CBS NBA telecasts. Cunningham left CBS Sports the following season to join the Miami Heat expansion franchise as a minority owner, Cunningham was subsequently replaced on CBS by Hubie Brown. Barkley normally wore the number 34, but switched to 32 in honor of Magic Johnson, list of National Basketball Association single-game playoff scoring leaders Billy Cunningham statistics
29.
Mack Calvin
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Mack Calvin is an American former basketball player. Calvin was born in Fort Worth, Texas and attended Long Beach Poly in California, a 60 point guard from Long Beach City College and the University of Southern California, Calvin was a 14th-round draft pick of the NBAs Los Angeles Lakers in 1969. The victory also ended UCLAs 51 victories in Pauley Pavilion and he played seven seasons in the now-defunct American Basketball Association and four seasons in the National Basketball Association. Calvin began his career with the ABAs Los Angeles Stars. The following season, he averaged a career-high 27.2 points for The Floridians, in the setting the ABA records for most free throws made. Calvin also played for the ABAs Carolina Cougars, Denver Nuggets and he also briefly coached the Squires during the 1975–1976 season. During his ABA career, he tallied 10,620 points and 3,067 assists, Calvin joined the Lakers for the 1976–77 NBA season but saw a sharp decline in playing time. He was able to match the level of production per minute he reached while in the ABA. He coached Virginia Squires in the ABA for six games and Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA, career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference. com
30.
Brooklyn Nets
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The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its games at Barclays Center. They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City, the other are the New York Knicks, the team was established in 1967 as a charter franchise of the NBAs rival league, the American Basketball Association. They played in New Jersey as the New Jersey Americans during their first season, before moving to Long Island in 1968, during this time, the Nets won two ABA championships. In 1976, the ABA merged with the NBA, and the Nets were absorbed into the NBA along with three other ABA teams, in 1977, the team returned to New Jersey and played as the New Jersey Nets from 1977 to 2012. During this time, the Nets won two consecutive Eastern Conference championships, but failed to win a league title, in the summer of 2012, the team moved to Barclays Center, and took its current geographic name. The Brooklyn Nets were founded in 1967 and initially played in Teaneck, New Jersey, in its early years, the team led a nomadic existence, moving to Long Island in 1968 and playing in various arenas there as the New York Nets. Led by Hall of Famer Julius Dr. J Erving, the Nets won two ABA championships in New York before becoming one of four ABA teams to be admitted into the NBA as part of the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. The team then moved back to New Jersey in 1977 and became the New Jersey Nets, the Boston Celtics were once rivals of the Nets during the early 2000s because of their respective locations and their burgeoning stars. The Nets were led by Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin, while the Celtics were experiencing newfound success behind Paul Pierce, the rivalry began to heat up in the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals, which was preceded by trash-talking from the Celtics who claimed Martin was a fake tough guy. Things progressed as the series started, and on-court tensions seemed to spill into the stands, celtic fans berated Kidd and his family with chants of Wife Beater. in response to Kidds 2001 domestic abuse charge. When the series returned to New Jersey, Nets fans responded, referring to a night club incident in 2000 in which Pierce was stabbed 11 times. When asked about the fan barbs being traded, Kenyon Martin stated, Our fans hate them, rondo was suspended for two games in the aftermath, while Wallace and Kevin Garnett were fined. The story was revisited on December 25, when Wallace grabbed Garnetts shorts and this move was billed as a merger of the two Atlantic Division teams. Celtics announcer Sean Grande said Its almost as if you found a home for these guys. You couldnt have found a better place and these guys will be in the New York market, theyll be on a competitive team, theyll stay on national TV. Its funny, because the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so with Celtics fans feeling the way they do about the Heat, feeling the way they do about the Knicks, the Nets are going to become almost the second team now
31.
Kentucky Colonels
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The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the leagues nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels, the Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the leagues history, but the team did not join the NBA in the 1976 ABA–NBA merger. The downtown Louisville Convention Center was the Colonels original venue for the first three seasons before moving to Freedom Hall for the seasons, beginning with the 1970–71 schedule. The Kentucky Colonels were only one of two ABA teams, along with the Indiana Pacers, to play for the duration of the league without relocating, changing its team name or folding. The Colonels were also the major league franchise in Kentucky since the Louisville Breckenridges left the National Football League in 1923. The Louisville-based Colonels started their time in the ABA as a colorful franchise, among the things they were known for was their mascot Ziggy, a prize-winning Brussels Griffon dog that was owned by original team owners Joe and Mamie Gregory. Some fans of the Colonels believed Ziggy was the owner of the club. Ziggy went to meetings and had a front row seat for games. The dog was even part of the logo for their first seasons. They were equally famous for publicity stunts, their most famous coming in 1968 when Penny Ann Early, the teams performance on the court was understandably overshadowed. Perhaps it was deserved, as they were mostly an average team and they were among the best long range shooters of their time, and benefitted greatly from the ABAs three-point line. Carrier spent 5 seasons with the club, while Dampier was a Colonel for all of their years, the early color of their franchise began to wane during the 1970–71 season, when they signed another Wildcat star in All-American Dan Issel. They also dropped the green uniforms in favor of a Blue. Issels signing helped the Colonels become well known as a basketball team. In spite of a record in the regular season, they made a serious run at the 1971 ABA championship. They fell just short, however, and lost to the Utah Stars in 7 games and they proved to be even better in 1971, with the signing of ferocious big man Artis Gilmore. Gilmores signing would help make the Colonels a legitimate powerhouse for years to come, the Colonels won 68 games in his rookie campaign under coach Joe Mullaney, their record turned out to be best in the leagues entire history. Yet, in the playoffs, they were upset by the New York Nets in the first round, Kentucky recovered and made another championship run during the 1972–73 playoffs, but lost a physical series to the Indiana Pacers in 7 games,4 games to 3
32.
Piedmont Crescent
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The Piedmont Crescent, also known as the Piedmont Urban Crescent, is a large, polycentric urbanized region in the U. S. Residents commonly attribute development of the Crescent communities to the Indian Trading Path, the Trading Path was also used by European traders, and later by settlers entering the backcountry regions of the piedmont of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Forming the shape of a crescent in North Carolina, the region is located in the central Piedmont area of the state and this region has undergone sustained population and economic growth since the late 19th century, a trend that has accelerated since the late 20th century. It is notable as the fourth-largest manufacturing region in the country, as well as a center of banking and finance, textiles, biotech. It is home to almost two-thirds of North Carolinas population and its three Combined Statistical Areas have a total population of about 6 million people, together representing over 63% of the states total population. The Piedmont Crescent name is thought to have been coined when the North Carolina Railroad company first laid tracks through the area in 1855-56, the railway, which was named the Piedmont Crescent Railroad, brought extensive growth to the communities along its route. These evolved to comprise todays interlinked urbanized region, although the freight and passenger rail corridor remains of critical importance, the regions Interstate 85 and Interstate 40 freeway system serves as its primary transportation link today. Charlotte Raleigh Greensboro Durham Winston-Salem Cary High Point Piedmont
33.
Interstate 85
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Interstate 85 is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its current southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama, its northern terminus interchanges with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia and it is nominally north–south, but physically mostly northeast–southwest. While most interstates that end in a 5 are cross-country routes, I-85 is mainly a regional route, I-85 begins as a fork off I-65 in Montgomery. From there, I-85 parallels U. S. Route 80 until the highway nears Tuskegee, at Tuskegee, I-85 leaves US80 and starts to parallel US29, which the highway parallels for much of its length. I-85 also passes near Auburn, Opelika, Valley and Lanett before crossing the Chattahoochee River into Georgia, I-85 will soon be rerouted southward just east of Montgomery, where it will intersect with I-65 just south of downtown Montgomery. Future I-685 will be the new designation for the route of current I-85, in Georgia, I-85 bypasses West Point before coming into the LaGrange area. East of LaGrange, I-85 intersects I-185 which connects to Columbus, in the Atlanta area, I-85 intersects I-20 and merges with I-75 through the downtown area. North of Atlanta, I-985 provides a link to Gainesville before heading through northeastern Georgia, due to a bridge collapse on March 30,2017, parts of I-85 in Atlanta were closed. I-85 provides the transportation route for the Upstate of South Carolina, linking together the major centers of Greenville. In Spartanburg, BMW has a manufacturing plant near the highway. In South Carolina, I-85 bypasses Clemson and Anderson on the way to Greenville, beginning at Anderson, I-85 widens from four to six lanes. Near Powdersville, US29 joins I-85 and they run concurrently until they cross the Saluda River, I-85 bypasses just south of Greenville, but provides two links into the city via spur routes I-185 and I-385. I-85 also bypasses Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport, which serves the Greenville–Spartanburg metropolitan area, I-85 then bypasses the city of Spartanburg to the north where its original route is now signed as Business Loop 85 and was approved by AASHTO on April 22,1995. Near mile marker 70, I-85 intersects with I-26, the exits are signed as exits 70A for eastbound traffic and 70B for westbound traffic. North of Spartanburg, I-85 narrows from six lanes back to four lanes and bypasses Gaffney, much of the terrain between Spartanburg and the North Carolina border is rural in nature. In North Carolina, I-85 enters a rural area near Kings Mountain before entering the Gastonia. North of Charlotte, the passes near Concord, Salisbury, Lexington. At Greensboro, I-85 shifts away from downtown I-85 Business Loop, from Durham, I-85 turns northeastward and heads through Oxford then Henderson toward Virginia
34.
Loose Balls
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Loose Balls, The Short Wild Life of the American Basketball Association is a sports book originally published in 1990 by Simon & Schuster. The book, a history of the original American Basketball Association, was written by sportswriter Terry Pluto, although much of his writing is limited to introductions, most of the dialogue is from former players, league executives, and journalists, among others. Almost the entire book is told by former players, executives, the book covers the entire history of the ABA, from the leagues founding in 1967 through the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. Loose Balls at amazon. com Long Shots at amazon. com
35.
St. Louis
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St. Louis is an independent city and major U. S. port in the state of Missouri, built along the western bank of the Mississippi River, on the border with Illinois. Prior to European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. The city of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur traders Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, in 1764, following Frances defeat in the Seven Years War, the area was ceded to Spain and retroceded back to France in 1800. In 1803, the United States acquired the territory as part of the Louisiana Purchase, during the 19th century, St. Louis developed as a major port on the Mississippi River. In the 1870 Census, St. Louis was ranked as the 4th-largest city in the United States and it separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its own political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics, the economy of metro St. Louis relies on service, manufacturing, trade, transportation of goods, and tourism. This city has become known for its growing medical, pharmaceutical. St. Louis has 2 professional sports teams, the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the city is commonly identified with the 630-foot tall Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis. The area that would become St. Louis was a center of the Native American Mississippian culture and their major regional center was at Cahokia Mounds, active from 900 AD to 1500 AD. Due to numerous major earthworks within St. Louis boundaries, the city was nicknamed as the Mound City and these mounds were mostly demolished during the citys development. Historic Native American tribes in the area included the Siouan-speaking Osage people, whose territory extended west, European exploration of the area was first recorded in 1673, when French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette traveled through the Mississippi River valley. Five years later, La Salle claimed the region for France as part of La Louisiane. The earliest European settlements in the area were built in Illinois Country on the east side of the Mississippi River during the 1690s and early 1700s at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, migrants from the French villages on the opposite side of the Mississippi River founded Ste. In early 1764, after France lost the 7 Years War, Pierre Laclède, the early French families built the citys economy on the fur trade with the Osage, as well as with more distant tribes along the Missouri River. The Chouteau brothers gained a monopoly from Spain on the fur trade with Santa Fe, French colonists used African slaves as domestic servants and workers in the city. In 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, St. Louis was attacked by British forces, mostly Native American allies, the founding of St. Louis began in 1763. Pierre Laclede led an expedition to set up a fur-trading post farther up the Mississippi River, before then, Laclede had been a very successful merchant. For this reason, he and his trading partner Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent were offered monopolies for six years of the fur trading in that area
36.
Virginia Squires
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The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976, the tean originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, an ABA charter franchise based in Oakland, California. They moved to Washington, DC as the Washington Caps in 1969 but moved to Norfolk the following year, a regional team, they played home games in Richmond, Hampton, and Roanoke as well as Norfolk. The team folded in 1976, just a month before the ABA–NBA merger, the Squires were founded in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a charter member of the ABA. The team colors were green and gold, an earlier Oakland Oaks basketball team played in the American Basketball League in 1962. The Oaks were owned in part by pop singer Pat Boone, there was a major contract dispute with the cross-bay San Francisco Warriors of the established National Basketball Association over the rights to star player Rick Barry. However, even with Barry the team proved to be a poor investment for Boone. At one point they only drew 2,500 fans per game. Facing foreclosure on a loan from Bank of America, Boone sold the team to Washington, D. C. lawyer Earl Foreman, the team colors of green and gold were retained, but the logo was a red, white and blue rendition of the United States Capitol. They played at the Washington Coliseum, however, for reasons that remain unknown, they remained in the Western Division—forcing them on the longest road trips in the league. Attendance was no better in Washington than it was in Oakland because the Coliseum was located in the North East Washington area, miraculously, they managed to finish four games above.500, but lost in the first round to the powerful Denver Rockets. Merger talks with the NBA were already underway, but a major stumbling block was the presence of the Caps in Washington, baltimore Bullets owner Abe Pollin wanted to move his team to Washington, but did not want the Caps there. The other ABA owners persuaded Foreman to move the Caps for the time in as many seasons. Foreman decided to make the Caps a regional franchise, the Virginia Squires, the team would be based in Norfolk, and also played home games in Hampton, Richmond and Roanoke. However, Roanoke was dropped from the list of cities after only one season. The Squires colors were red, white, and blue, on September 1,1970, the Squires traded Barry to the New York Nets for a draft pick and $200,000. While the negative comments had been a factor to the trade. In spite of the controversy surrounding former player Barry, the Squires finished their inaugural season in Virginia by winning the Eastern Division by 11 games
37.
Salt Lake City
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Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and the most populous municipality of the U. S. state of Utah. With an estimated population of 190,884 in 2014, the city lies at the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo Combined Statistical Area. This region is a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along an approximately 120-mile segment of the Wasatch Front and it is one of only two major urban areas in the Great Basin. The city was founded in 1847 by Brigham Young, Isaac Morley, George Washington Bradley and numerous other Mormon followers, who extensively irrigated and cultivated the arid valley. Due to its proximity to the Great Salt Lake, the city was originally named Great Salt Lake City—the word great was dropped from the name in 1868 by the 17th Utah Territorial Legislature. Today, however, less than half the population of Salt Lake City proper are members of the LDS Church. It was traversed by the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, in 1913, Salt Lake City has since developed a strong outdoor recreation tourist industry based primarily on skiing, and hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. It is the banking center of the United States. Before Mormon settlement, the Shoshone, Ute, and Paiute had dwelt in the Salt Lake Valley for thousands of years. The land was treated by the United States as public domain, the first U. S. explorer in the Salt Lake area is believed to be Jim Bridger in 1825, although others had been in Utah earlier, some as far north as the nearby Utah Valley. Frémont surveyed the Great Salt Lake and the Salt Lake Valley in 1843 and 1845, the Donner Party, a group of ill-fated pioneers, had traveled through the Great Salt Lake Valley in August 1846. The first permanent settlements in the date to the arrival of the Latter-day Saints on July 24,1847. Upon arrival at the Salt Lake Valley, president of the church Brigham Young is recorded as stating, This is the right place, Brigham Young claimed to have seen the area in a vision prior to the wagon trains arrival. They found the broad valley empty of any human settlement, four days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young designated the building site for the Salt Lake Temple, which would eventually become a famous Mormon and Salt Lake City landmark. The Salt Lake Temple, constructed on the block that would later be called Temple Square, construction started in 1853, and the temple was dedicated on 6 April 1893. The temple has become an icon for the city and serves as its centerpiece, in fact, the southeast corner of Temple Square is the initial point of reference for the Salt Lake Meridian, and for all addresses in the Salt Lake Valley. The Mormon pioneers organized a new state called Deseret and petitioned for its recognition in 1849, the United States Congress rebuffed the settlers in 1850 and established the Utah Territory, vastly reducing its size, and designated Fillmore as its capital city. Great Salt Lake City replaced Fillmore as the capital in 1858
38.
Charlotte Hornets
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The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team is owned by former NBA player Michael Jordan. The Hornets play their games at the Spectrum Center in Uptown Charlotte. The original Hornets franchise was established in 1988 as an expansion team, in 2002, Shinns franchise relocated to New Orleans and became the New Orleans Hornets. In 2004 the NBA established the Charlotte Bobcats, which was regarded as a new team at the time. In 2013, the New Orleans franchise announced it would rebrand itself the New Orleans Pelicans, ultimately returning the Hornets name, records, the Bobcats were officially renamed the Charlotte Hornets for the 2014–15 NBA season. In 1985, the NBA was planning to expand by four teams by the 1988–1989 season, the Charlotte area had long been a hotbed for college basketball. On April 5,1987, then-NBA Commissioner David Stern called Shinn to tell him his group had been awarded the 24th NBA franchise, franchises were also granted to Miami, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and Orlando. Originally, the new team was going to be called the Charlotte Spirit, the team received further attention when it chose teal as its primary color, setting off a sports fashion craze in the late 80s and early 90s. The teams uniforms, designed by designer and North Carolina native Alexander Julian. Similar designs by other teams followed, as became a hit. Shinn hired Carl Scheer as the teams first President and General Manager, Scheer preferred a roster of veteran players, hoping to put together a competitive team as soon as possible. Former college coach and veteran NBA assistant Dick Harter was hired as the teams first head coach, in 1988, the Hornets and the Miami Heat were part of the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft. The team also had three draft picks at the 1988 NBA draft, the Hornets first NBA game took place on November 4,1988, at the Charlotte Coliseum, losing 133–93 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Four days later, the team notched its first-ever victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, on December 23,1988, the Hornets really gave their fans something to cheer about, beating Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls 103–101 in Jordans first return to North Carolina as a professional. The Hornets finished their season with a record of 20-62. Scheer left prior to the 1989–90 season, despite initial concerns that the Coliseum was too big, the Hornets were a runaway hit, leading the NBA in attendance, a feat they would achieve seven more times in Charlotte
