This weekend 35 years ago – Sonics and Affirmed

The year was 1978 – the third weekend in May.

A special time for sports fans in Seattle and horse racing on the national scene.

On that Saturday (May 20, 1978), Kentucky Derby winner Affirmed, with Steve Cauthen in the irons, held off Alydar to win the Preakness Stakes.

Three weeks later Affirmed would win the Belmont Stakes and become the 11th Triple Crown winner. That would be the last Triple Crown as Orb went down to defeat yesterday at Pimlico as the big favorite.

The next day, May 21, 1978, the Seattle SuperSonics hosted the Washington Bullets in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

The game started at noon and was played in front of a sell-out crowd of 14,098 at the Seattle Coliseum.

The Sonics rallied from a 19-point deficit in the final 14 minutes to stun the Bullets 106-102 for their 21st straight home-court triumph.

Downtown Freddie Brown led the Sonics with 30 points, including the final two baskets for the home team. Seattle outscored Washington 33-18 in the final stanza.

Game 2 would be played in Landover, Md. four days later (Thursday).

Sonics on a roll! – 35 years ago

The Seattle SuperSonics tackled the Portland Trail Blazers in a 1978 Western Conference semifinal match-up.
Regular season records: Seattle 47-35; Portland 58-24 (best record in the NBA)

Results of the 1978 playoff series

Game 1 – Seattle 104, @ Portland 95
Game 2 – @ Portland 96, Seattle 93
Game 3 (April 23) – @ Seattle 99, Portland 84
The Supes had six players score in double figures – Freddie Brown 18, John Johnson 18, Marvin Webster 16, Gus Williams 15, Dennis Johnson 12 and Paul Silas 10. Seattle outscored Portland 55-41 in the second half to take a 2-1 lead in the Best of 7 series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Game 4 – @ Seattle 100, Portland 98
Game 5 – @ Portland 113, Seattle 89
Game 6 – @ Seattle 105, Portland 94
This would be the first time the Sonics advanced to the Western Conference final in their history that began in 1967-68.
Blazers C Bill Walton was injured during the regular season (Feb. 28) and missed the final 24 games of the regular season.

 Walton returned to play in the first two playoff games against the Sonics. He didn’t play in the final four games because doctors discovered a broken bone in his left foot. Walton was named the NBA MVP in ’77-’78 averaging 19 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
The Blazers had won the NBA championship the year before.

18th Emerald Downs opener tonight!

Emerald Downs starts a 75-day race season tonight with first post at 6:45 p.m.

Hard to believe that the track opened 17 years ago on June 20, 1996.

Slew of Damascus dazzled 20 years ago at Yakima Meadows

Remember when Yakima Meadows, the Central Washington racetrack, was up and running?

Well, 20 years ago this weekend (March 28, 1993), one of the fastest Thoroughbred races took place in the Pacific Northwest.

Slew of Damascus, making his stakes debut in career start No. 15, cruised around the dirt oval with Gary Baze in the irons, crushing his rivals by 7 1/4 lengths in the Yakima Mile. The 5-year-old finished the $50,000 race in 1:33 flat.

That recorded 1-mile time was the fastest ever run at YM – the old record was 1:35 1/5 set by Turbulator in 1970. Sky Jack in 2003 tied the 1:33 mark (fastest in state history) in the Longacres Mile held at Emerald Downs.

Slew of Damascus paid $4.60 to win for trainer Tom Bevan. Sneakin Jake finished a distant second and Total Tempo (8/5) rounded out the top three.

The Tennessee-bred was owned by the partnership of George Losh of Gig Harbor, Edris Harbeston of Bellevue and Vic Naccarato of Yakima. They paid $4,500 for the horse that broke his maiden in his second career start at Longacres in 1991.

That was just the beginning of an amazing career by a runner who started his racing in Washington.

Slew of Damascus would shine 12 times in stakes races held up-and-down the West coast (1993-97).

His signature victory came in the Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup on July 2, 1994. ”If I lived another 100 years and owned another 1,000 horses, I’d never find another one like this one,” Losh said before leaving for (the Gold Cup) California.

Craig Roberts was the trainer of Slew of Damascus for the $750,000 race and was ridden by Gary Stevens. Slew of Damascus (8-1), whose silks were yellow, with red Washington apples, controlled the pace for a ¾ length front-running score. The Wicked North (3/5 favorite) checked in a distant fourth.

He ended his career winning 16 races from 48 starts with nine seconds and earned $1.4 million in purse money.

He won stakes races at Yakima Meadows (1), Golden Gate (3), Del Mar (1), Bay Meadows (4), Hollywood Park (2) and Emerald Downs (1).

Sweet 16 tips tonite – not so sweet for Washington state schools

The Sweet 16 gets under way tonight with four games.

How have the four in-state universities fared in the round of 16 you ask? They are a combined 4-15 and all four schools lost the last time they had a chance to reach the Elite 8.

Washington Huskies (2-5) – You must go back 60 years (1953) to find the last UW win.

Washington State Cougars (0-1) – Creamed in only appearance (2008).

Seattle U. (1-5) – Faced and lost to John Wooden and UCLA (1964) the last time.

Gonzaga (1-4) – Four straight losses since shocking Florida in 1999 by a single point.

Sweet 16 matchups:

WASHINGTON HUSKIES (Lost 5 straight)

1951 – Washington 62, Texas A&M 40

1953 – Washington 92, Seattle U. 70

1984 – #10 Dayton 64, #6 Washington 58

1998 – #2 Connecticut 75, #11 Washington 74

2005 – #4 Louisville 93, #1 Washington 79

2006 – #1 Connecticut 98, #5 Washington 92, 2OT

2010 – #2 West Virginia 69, #11 Washington 56

WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (Lost only game)

2008- #1 North Carolina 68, #4 Washington State 47

SEATTLE U. (Lost most recent game)

1953 – Washington 92, Seattle U. 70

1955 – Oregon State 83, Seattle U. 71

1956 – Utah 81, Seattle U. 72

1958 – Seattle U. 69, San Francisco 67

1964 – UCLA 95, Seattle U. 90

GONZAGA BULLDOGS (Lost past 4)

1999 – #10 Gonzaga 73, #6 Florida 72

2000 – #6 Purdue 75, #10 Gonzaga 66

2001 – #1 Michigan State 77, #12 Gonzaga 62

2006 – #2 UCLA 73, #3 Gonzaga 71

2009 – #1 North Carolina 98, #4 Gonzaga 77

Pac-12 Tourney Primer

The 2013 Pac-12 Tournament starts today in Las Vegas with the championship being played Saturday.

Pac-12 Tournament Factoids:

MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS – Arizona 4, UW 3,

UCLA 3, Oregon 2, Stanford 1,

USC 1, Colorado 1, Cal 0, Oregon St. 0,

Washington St. 0,

Arizona St. 0, Utah 0.

UW CHAMPIONSHIPS

2005 – #2 Washington 81, #1 Arizona 72

2010 – #3 Washington 79, #1 Cal 75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2011 – #3 Washington 77, #1 Arizona 75, OT

HOW #1 SEEDS FARED

Champion – 6

Won two, lost one (Runner-up) – 3

Won one, lost one (semifinal loser) – 2

Lost first game – 4

UCLA AS A #1 SEED

1987 – Champion – Beat #3 UW 76-64

2006 – Champion – Beat #3 Cal 71-52

2007 – Lost first game – #8 Cal 76-69, OT

2008 – Champion – Beat #2 Stanford 67-64

WASHINGTON STATE IN TOURNEY

Highest seeds – #2 in 2007 and #3 in 2008

The Cougars have never won two games in one tournament. They are the only team besides Utah (one appearance) to never make it to the semifinals.

WSU finished tied for last in the Pac-12 standings – the Cougs have now finished in the cellar eight times in the past 16 seasons. Next up is Oregon State (tied Cougs for last this year) with 4.

#6 SEED

Colorado (2012) is the only team to win four games in one year to win Championship.

2003 WAS CRAZY

#1 Arizona and #2 Stanford both lost in the opening round (quarterfinals), so did #4 Arizona State. The final was won by #5 Oregon over #7 USC 74-66.

HUSKIES VS. COUGS IN TOURNAMENT

2007 – #2 WSU 74, #7 UW 64 (Quarterfinal)

2011 – #3 UW 89, #6 WSU 87 (Quarterfinal)

TOURNAMENT RECORDS

MOST POINTS – Reggie Miller, UCLA , 1987 – 83 (3 games)

THREE-POINT FGS – Chamberlain Oguchi, Oregon, 2006 – 14 (3 games)

REBOUNDS – Andre Roberson, Colorado, 2012 – 41 (4 games); Phil Zevenbergen, UW, 1987, – 37 (3 games)

ASSISTS – Isaiah Thomas, UW, 2011 – 30 (3 games)

SINGLE GAME RECORDS

MOST POINTS – Klay Thompson, WSU vs. UW, 2011, 43

WASHINGTON NOTES

The Huskies had their regular season conference top 3 finish streak stopped this year as they went 9-9. UW had finished 1^st twice and 3^rd twice the past 4 years. They also had a 4-year run back in the 80s (1984-87).

60 YEARS AGO TODAY – Washington beat Seattle U. in a NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal played  in Corvallis, Ore. Bob Houbregs scored 45 poingts in leading UW to the win.

Ziggin’ and a Zaggin’ – another WCC Championship

Gonzaga beat St. Mary’s 65-51 in the final of the West Coast Conference Tournament this evening in Las Vegas.

The Zags have now won the WCC Tournament 12 times dating back to 1995!

Let’s look back at this amazing run:

The first one - 1995 – #4-seed Gonzaga 80, #2 Portland 67

Gonzaga’s John Rillie drilled 20 of 28 threes to lead the Zags in the three tourney wins. Rillie scored 96 points in the three games.

They won four straight between 1999-2002 - Dan Dickau scored 27 points in the second half as the Zags beat #1-seed Pepperdine in the 2002 Final 96-90. In 1999 the Zags won by 21, 13 and 25 in the Final. Matt Santangelo was named MVP. Gonazaga reached the Elite 8 in 1999 – the only time.

Gonzaga won four more in a row – 2004-2007 – Adam Morrison went for 30 in the 2005 championship against St. Mary’s, Zags won 80-67 and beat the Gaels in the championship for the second straight year. In ’06 Gonzaga hosted the tourney and beat Loyola Marymount in the final 68-67 – Morrison led the nation at 28.1 points per game.

The #1 team in the country also won in 2009, beating who else, St. Mary’s 83-58; and 2011 it was St. Mary’s again by the score of 75-63 and now another win in 2013.

Next up! The NCAA Tournament!