Defense Secretary Gets ‘Realistic’ Briefing on War; USC Stalls UCLA, March 9, 1969

Posted on March 9, 2009 by lmharnisch

1969_0309_cover
 
I got carried away today, but this was one of our huge Sunday papers.
1969_0309_bradley

Councilman Tom Bradley didn’t beat Mayor Sam Yorty–this time.

1969_0309_bradley_02
Bradley continued



1969_0309_hitchcock

Kevin Thomas talks to Alfred Hitchcock and Claude Jade about "Topaz."
1969_0309_hitchcock_02
Jade, continued

1969_0309_hitchcock_03
Jade, continued

1969_0309_sports

The sports cover

 1969_0309_oj

O.J. Simpson
1969_0309_murray

Jim Murray 		1969_0309_ucla

UCLA

Here’s one of those stories that could not happen today.

USC defeated UCLA, 46-44, at Pauley Pavilion one night after the
Bruins needed two overtimes at the Sports Arena to win, 61-55. Both
nights, the Trojans used a stall — they slowed the pace of the game —
which was possible before college basketball started using a shot
clock. It was a classic old-school maneuver to try to upset a better
team. And undefeated UCLA, led by Lew Alcindor, came into the two-game
series as the top-ranked team in the nation.

How rare was a UCLA loss?

UCLA had won the first 51 games played at Pauley Pavilion and won 41
games in a row since losing to Houston in the Astrodome. The Bruins had
beaten the Trojans 17 consecutive times. USC Coach Bob Boyd had never
beaten a team coached by UCLA’s John Wooden.

As for the drama, here’s how The Times’ Dwight Chapin reported the finish:

"With 1:55 to play Lew Alcindor stood there on the free throw line
and dropped in the free throw that made it 44-44. Then USC got the
ball. It had had it most of the night. The Trojans waited and looked,
dribbled and passed until 19 seconds remained and then called time.

"Bob Boyd offered some simple instructions. He told his team to keep
its court balance, set a screen for Ernie Powell, have him drive for it
and ‘put the ball in the basket.’ The seconds dwindled."

Powell got his screen, made his shot and one last attempt by UCLA’s Sidney Wicks fell off the rim.

"And the people were on the court," Chapin wrote. "They were USC
people and their fingers were jabbing the air to signify they — for
the moment at least — THEY were No. 1. It was Trojan Town."

In a sidebar by Chapin, Boyd was quoted telling his players after the game, "They’re dammed lucky we didn’t beat them twice."

Jim Murray’s column was on Wooden and the Alcindor years: "There are
those that sneer that this is a minor feat — winning with Alcindor —
compared to his winning two in a row with a team that slept in
standard-sized beds and didn’t have to stoop over to shave in the
bathroom mirror.

"I don’t think so. I think his three Alcindor years is the more
stupendous feat. I mean, anyone can win with a bunch of well-adjusted
six-footers. With those seven-footers, those last 12 inches are
sometimes all temperament."

–Keith Thursby
Unknown's avatar

About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
This entry was posted in @news, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Politics, Sports. Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Defense Secretary Gets ‘Realistic’ Briefing on War; USC Stalls UCLA, March 9, 1969

  1. Richard H's avatar Richard H says:
    March 9, 2009 at 5:36 pm

    From the March 9, 1969 Los Angeles Times Article on the Mayorial Primary election to be held on April 1, 1969:
    “City Clerk Rex. E. Layton, who earlier had been predicting a 60% voter turnout April 1, now [has] reduced his estimate to the 50-60% range, and it may go even lower.”
    “A lot of people apparently exhausted their political adrenalin in the 1968 presidential campaigns,” explained William King, campaign manager for Rep. Alphonzo Bell.
    “After the partisan battles of last year, this nonpartisan campaign doens’t excite much interest.”
    Doesn’t this sound at least a little familiar? Just change 1969 to 2009 and 1968 to 2008.
    The only difference is in the predicted voter turnout.
    A Los Angeles CIty municipal election with a projected 50% voter turnout was called “lackluster” and “drab” in 1969. 50% is far higher than the voter turnout in any municipal primary in the last 32 years. Definitely higher than the 15% in the last one.
    If there was even a chance at 50% voter turnout in a L.A. City primary election today, a state of emergency would be declared and National guard would be patroling the streets. The local politicians would think an insurrection was happening they would be so shocked. They wouldn’t be wrong.

    Like

  2. Dave T.'s avatar Dave T. says:
    March 10, 2009 at 1:47 am

    During my teens I worked for my uncle who was an LA Times dealer. We built each Sunday paper in stages. Different sections were delivered through the week and my cousin and a friend stuffed them into subsections early Saturday. Then we returned Saturday night and stuffed 2 more recent sections. Around midnight to 1:30 the last main page section arrived and we started tying papers. They were huge often 500 pages, and much bigger in the pre-holiday weeks. At 1 lb per 100 pages it was a lot of work for 5000 units. I remember this specific headline.

    Like

  3. Alois's avatar Alois says:
    March 16, 2009 at 5:20 am

    Thanks for the article about great and unforgettable french actress Claude Jade at her debuts with Truffaut’s “Stolen kisses” and Hitchcock’s “Topaz”.

    Like

Comments are closed.