Don Owen: Christmas Eve a time for memorable gifts, including biggest upset in college hoops history
(This column was originally published on Dec. 23, 2019)
Christmas Eve is always my favorite day of the year. For many reasons. For several decades.
From trying to figure out how Santa Claus and his reindeer would land on the rooftop, to driving around the area looking at the various holiday displays. Sneaking down the steps to see my parents putting gifts underneath the tree. Spending time with family and friends. Christmas Eve is a special time, then and now.
My all-time favorite college basketball memory also occurred on a Christmas Eve. Of course, it depends on if you go by the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone or Eastern Time, because that moment occurred around 2 a.m. (EST) on Dec. 24, 1982.
That’s the night Chaminade stunned the college basketball world by defeating top-ranked Virginia in Honolulu.
Technically, the game tipped off on Dec. 23, 1982, in Hawaii. But by the time Chaminade — then an NAIA program — had pulled off the gargantuan upset of previously unbeaten Virginia and All-American center Ralph Sampson, it was early morning of Dec. 24 back here in Northern Kentucky.
What I recall is this: We’d only had cable television for about a year in Newport (MetroVision cable provided Newport’s service at first, then Storer obtained the franchise), and I was fascinated by a channel called the UPI ticker that constantly ran text-only updates — and college basketball scores — 24 hours per day.
At that time, I was a teenage college basketball junkie. I couldn’t get enough of it. Street & Smith’s and The Sporting News college basketball yearbooks were always within arm reach. I even knew a bit about Chaminade before they met Virginia. Why? Well, because Chaminade had played LSU a month earlier and gave the Tigers a decent battle before losing. I loved college basketball in those days.
But I never imagined what was going to happen on Dec. 23/24, 1982.
I remember going to that UPI ticker channel very early in the morning and seeing “Chaminade 77, Virginia 72” listed among the scores. I thought it had to be a typographical error. But I’d never seen a mistake on that newswire before, so I started to wonder. Could that score be correct?
The early afternoon of Dec. 24, 1982, brought unseasonably warm weather to Northern Kentucky, and I recall going outside with friends to play basketball. I even looked it up before writing this, and sure enough, the high temperature recorded in Greater Cincinnati that day was 65 degrees.
Yes, very unusual weather for Christmas Eve in Northern Kentucky. And an even more unusual sports story for any time of the year — or century.
While driving to the outside basketball courts near the Fort Thomas Armory, we heard the score reported on radio: Chaminade 77, Virginia 72. Most didn’t even know the correct pronunciation for Chaminade that day in 1982, myself included.
I rushed home afterward and grabbed the afternoon newspaper, The Kentucky Post. In the sports section of the Cincinnati Post edition, there was a photo of Chaminade players celebrating and a plug at the top of the page, noting the gigantic upset that had occurred several hours prior.
Thank goodness for the late deadlines of afternoon newspapers in those days. Remember, there was no such thing as the internet in 1982. And the idea of a smart phone would have been considered science fiction.
“We were dumbfounded,” Mees admitted of Chaminade’s stunning upset. “Nobody had heard of Chaminade then. I asked them to double-check it.”
Even after reading the score on the air around 2:30 a.m., Mees still had concerns.
“Usually I would bolt for the door to go home and get some sleep, but that night I went back upstairs and called someone in Honolulu,” he said years later. “If I was going to read something this momentous to the country, I wanted to at least make sure I'd been right.”
When the score and story moved on The Associated Press wire around 2 a.m. EST, several newspapers called the New York office to verify the copy.
“Which Virginia did they beat?” one desk editor asked, thinking it might have been Virginia State, Virginia Union or some other school with a similar name.
But the initial reports were correct. Chaminade had indeed pulled off the biggest upset in college basketball history. The Silverswords — coached by Merv Lopes — became a worldwide sensation overnight.
Virginia — which had already beaten Georgetown (D.C.) and Patrick Ewing earlier in the season, not to mention owning a win over Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma led by Hakeem Olajuwon — fell flat against NAIA powerhouse Chaminade.
Meanwhile, 6-foot-1 Chaminade guard Tim Dunham soared above 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson for an alley-oop dunk that ignited the upset. Sampson, of course, ended his career as the three-time College Player of the Year and was the No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft.
There were no highlights shown the next day on television. Despite being ranked No. 1 in the nation, Virginia’s game with Chaminade was not televised. Some footage of the upset did surface from local stations in Hawaii, but not until a couple of days had passed. None of that changed the fact an NAIA school had upset top-ranked Virginia.
For a college basketball junkie like me, it was an early Christmas present. A gift I clearly remember and deeply appreciate 37 years later. After all, the biggest upset in college basketball history only happens once.
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While on the subject of Christmas gifts, here are a few I’d like to see underneath the tree on Dec. 25 for local college sports teams:
•A completely healthy roster for Northern Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn. NKU begins Horizon League play this Saturday at home against Milwaukee, but the Norse are missing both Jalen Tate (broken hand) and Dantez Walton (chest injury).
Tate is NKU’s best defender and arguably the top all-around player in the Horizon League. He’s missed the past nine games for NKU, which is 8-4. In Tate’s absence, Walton (18.4 points per game) emerged as a leading candidate for Horizon League Player of the Year honors. The Norse need both back in the lineup if they are to repeat as Horizon League champions.
•Another player to emerge as a scoring threat ASAP for NKU. You can only ask Tyler Sharpe to score so many points. Sharpe has poured in 63 points the past two games. He might need to score 40 or 50 if NKU is to defeat Milwaukee.
Sharpe is an outstanding player and one of the most fierce competitors to ever wear an NKU jersey, but he can’t be expected to almost singlehandedly outscore the opposition. In the loss at UNC Greensboro on Saturday night, NKU managed a total of 14 field goals. Sharpe was responsible for 10 of those makes. Someone else needs to step forward this weekend and help Sharpe offensively.
•A lot of patience for Thomas More women’s basketball head coach Jeff Hans. After finishing 33-0 and winning the NCAA Division III national championship a year ago, Thomas More is in its first season competing in the NAIA. Hans has currently guided the Saints to a fine 11-3 record with two talented freshmen (Zoie Barth and Courtney Hurst) in the starting lineup.
Thomas More is now a member of the Mid-South Conference, which features powerhouse Campbellsville — which is ranked No. 1 nationally in the NAIA poll— and Shawnee State (No. 7 in the NAIA poll). Moving to the NAIA is a major step up for Thomas More in every sport, and it will be interesting to see how the Saints women’s basketball team progresses with two freshmen playing key roles.
•Murray State and Western Kentucky on the NKU’s men’s basketball schedule. The Norse already play Eastern Kentucky and did have a series with Morehead State until the Eagles backed out after losing three straight times to NKU. As silly as it seems, it’s probably a long shot at best to expect either Murray State or Western Kentucky to agree to play NKU (politics and egos) in a home and home series. But since Christmas is a time for wishing for gifts, how about that one?
•The University of Cincinnati fulfilling its contractual obligation to play NKU at BB&T Arena next season. Former NKU head coach John Brannen is now at Cincinnati, so you’d think playing the game would be no problem. Let’s hope so.
•A game with either NAIA power Georgetown (Ky.) or NCAA Division I newcomer Bellarmine next season at BB&T Arena. When asked about games against UC Clermont and Midway (Ky.) earlier this season, Horn explained scheduling is a challenge and that getting home games in November is difficult.
Horn also mentioned in the future he would like to play more competitive games if NKU were to schedule non-Division I foes in the future. Enter Georgetown (Ky.) and Bellarmine, which will be in its first year of transitioning from Division II to Division I athletics. Bellarmine also has a good following and always brought sizable crowds to The Bank of Kentucky Center (now BB&T Arena) when NKU was a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
•As for Georgetown (Ky.), yes, it’s an NAIA program. But the Tigers also won the NAIA national championship last season and always feature a roster loaded with talented transfers. This season, former Scott High School star and Western Kentucky transfer Jake Ohmer is in the Georgetown starting lineup and averaging double figures. He will be a senior next season. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see Ohmer playing at BB&T Arena in a game in which his team would be big-time underdogs?
And, please, make it a regular-season game for both teams. Nothing looks worse than one team (Division I) counting the game, and the other (non-Division I or NAIA) saying it’s an exhibition. During the past 15 years or so, many non-Division I/NAIA head coaches will play Division I opponents with the condition it doesn’t count on their record. Talk about self-preservation.
Thankfully, Merv Lopes didn’t adhere to that less-than-fearless scheduling philosophy while coaching Chaminade of the NAIA in 1982.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
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