sometimes muttered sarcastic jibes: Ibid.
“This is the big fourth quarter…”: Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks, WC AU Radio, Philadelphia, March 2, 1962. (Copies of this audiotape were obtained from the Hershey Community Archives, Hershey, PA, and from Al Attles’s personal collection.) The quotations from Bill Campbell’s play-by-play call during the fourth quarter are drawn from this tape recording. Many of the game details from the fourth quarter also are drawn from this tape and from coverage in the Philadelphia newspapers.
CHAPTER 13: MESCHERY
Frank clearly is absolutely awed by Wilt: Tom Meschery interview.
he willingly submitted to his teammate’s chase: Ibid.
“The Warriors are keeping the defense honest”: Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks, WCAU Radio, Philadelphia, March 2, 1962.
a dance with Ted Luckenbill at a Polish-American: Tom Meschery interview.
they’d bought a used TV for thirty bucks: Frank Radovich interview.
His intensity on the court was, to Attles, scary: Al Attles interview.
“like a cock-eyed wild man”: Darrall Imhoff interview.
“That Meschery is going to be a real terrific player…”: “People on Their Way Up,” Saturday Evening Post (December 3, 1961); cited in Philadelphia Daily News (December 7, 1961).
get the ball to the Dipper and then … watch: Tom Meschery interview.
CHAPTER 14: GUERIN
I cannot wait to get out of here!: The Sporting Life, ESPN Radio. In this interview, Guerin told host Chuck Wilson, “My honest recollection was, I couldn’t wait for the game to get over with.”
Meschery would see him in a New York bar late: Tom Meschery interview.
“Anatomy of Basketball,” had described the game’s: Christgau, The Origins of the Jump Shot: Eight Men Who Shook the World of Basketball, 13.
“The flexing pronators are attached…”: Ibid.
Budd stood in front of Chamberlain, Buckner behind: Dave Budd interview.
“There’s no way you can stop him…”: Jim Heffernan, “Warriors Riding High on Wilt the Stilt,” Sporting News (March 14, 1962): secton 2, 2, 4.
“Wait until he learns his way around…”: Ibid.
If Wilt wants to stand in my spot: Dave Budd interview.
There’s a code of honor in sports: The Sporting Life, ESPN Radio.
This was not earning it: Ibid.
“I’m just trying to get a job!”: Cal Ramsey interview.
CHAPTER 15: ATTLES
It’s like the nose on my face: right there…: Al Attles interview.
he even took possession of the keys: Ibid.
“We’re going to Dutch it”: Pluto, Tall Tales, 326.
Guerin play years before on Channel 9 in Newark: Al Attles interview.
These baskets are like sewers: Ibid.
Red playing another head game, reverse psychology: Ibid.
“It’s the best shot in basketball!”: Ibid.
“Imagine a guy getting seventy-five points…”: Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks, WCAU Radio, Philadelphia, March 2, 1962.
CHAPTER 16: IMHOFF
Stay with him. Pin him in: Darrall Imhoff interview.
passing a ball between his own legs and Imhoff’s: Ibid.
He slathered Firm Grip, a sticky: Johnny “Red” Kerr interview.
Lovellette will pat you on the ass and say: Darrall Imhoff interview.
knee in the Dipper’s upper thigh or buttock: Ibid.
“He’s broke the all-time…”: Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks, WCAU Radio, Philadelphia, March 2, 1962.
Harvey Pollack notified Zinkoff that Chamberlain: Harvey Pollack interview.
“Ladies and gentlemen, a new scoring record…”: Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks, WCAU Radio, Philadelphia, March 2, 1962.
CHAPTER 17: THE DIPPER
“Luck plays a big part in scoring streaks…”: Philadelphia Daily News (December 22, 1961).
“I believe I’ve just about reached my limit”: Ibid.
“The only way to stop Wilt…”: “Unstoppable,” Newsweek (February 5, 1962).
“We couldn’t put our hands around that spot…”: Johnny Green interview.
he might be perceived as a gunner: Warriors Weekly Round Table: The Night Wilt Scored 100, KNBR-Radio, San Francisco, March 2, 1993. On the game’s thirty-first anniversary, a one-hour retrospective, hosted by Greg Papa, featured an in-studio interview with Al Attles and telephone interviews with Wilt Chamberlain, Darrall Imhoff, Joe Ruklick, Bill Campbell, and Harvey Pollack.
“We want one hundred!”: Philadelphia Inquirer (February 18, 1955). Also: Vince Miller and Dave Shapiro interviews.
“Okay, Wilt, we’re going for the record”: Cecil Mosenson interview.
“Don’t shoot anymore”: Dave Shapiro interview.
“We could run up the scores”: Cecil Mosenson interview.
“Chamberlain might have hit 100…”: Philadelphia Inquirer (February 18, 1955).
“We were disappointed…”: Dave Shapiro interview.
Mosenson waited to hear how Frank McGuire: Cecil Mosenson interview.
“See there, Wilt doesn’t know where to go”: Philadelphia Daily News (January 18, 1962).
“I start a play in the pivot, end up…”: Wilt Chamberlain as told to Tim Cohane, “Pro Basketball Has Ganged Up on Me,” Look (March 1, 1960): 52.
“I would have to set such a record…”: Ibid., 54.
CHAPTER 18: RUKLICK
“Joe Ruklick’s beautiful hook shot apparently…”: Philadelphia Daily News (October 18, 1961).
“Whatever happened to the Joe Ruklick fan club?”: Philadelphia Daily News (November 28, 1961).
a mighty and swollen example of what the Dipper: Joe Ruklick interview.
plucking bird eggs from a tree limb: Ibid.
visceral thrill of a Mickey Mantle homer: Ibid.
would look like a marionette out there: Ibid.
“When I feel like I’m doggin’ it, I snap them…”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 19: ONE HUNDRED
Donovan biting his lower lip: Sam Stith interview.
“You won’t care if I hop over this…”: Earl Whitmore interview.
This might be the best chance anyone: Jim Heffernan interview.
“You’re a bum, Richie!”: Ted Russ and Jim Hayney interviews.
moving the ball slowly in a Z-pattern: Donnie Butcher interview.
“Will somebody hit him! Hit him in the nuts!”: Sam Stith interview.
“But I’ve got five fouls…”: Ibid.
Nothing strategic, no screens: Tom Meschery interview.
performed the constables’ nightly check out at the farms: Gabe Basti and Bud Miller interviews.
calling them “cows”: Larry Wagner, Kerry Ryman, Reul Ryman interviews.
There had been more than a few Friday night fights: Gabe Basti interview.
frightened and hiding in the bushes: Bud Miller interview.
Don’t put up any more crazy numbers: Johnny Green interview.
This is going to take forever: Pete D’Ambrosio interview.
If someone walked into the arena: Paul Arizin interview.
he now had the shooter’s can’t-miss feeling: York Larese interview.
Butcher grabbed him around his waist: Donnie Butcher interview.
He had twenty photos to a roll: Paul Vathis interview.
Jacobs, perspiring, removed his jacket: Larry Jacobs interview.
Every last one he’s earned: Paul Arizin interview.
“When are you going to stop him, Richie?”: Ibid.
Guerin called out to Frank McGuire: Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks, WC AU Radio, Philadelphia, March 2, 1962.
Donovan, a gentleman, never would embarrass: Darrall Imhoff interview.
“YOU’RE A BUM, GUERIN!!!!!”: Ted Russ interview.
“What … did … you … say?”: Ted Russ and James Hayney interviews.
as if to say, “Let’s get this over…”: Ted Luckenbill interview.
Ruklick saw Guerin bearing down on him: Joe Ruklick interview.
heard the Dipper call out, “Woo!”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 20: CELEBRATION
Kids poured onto the court: Philadelphia Daily News (March 3, 1962) and Kerry Ryman, Jim Balmer, Dave Damore, and Michael Larkin interviews.
ass-whupping time: Sam Stith interview.
He made a beeline to the scorer’s: Joe Ruklick interview.
“And why are you even wearing…”: Ibid.
He wanted it duly recorded: Ibid.
“I aint’ done nuthin’”: Jerome Holtzman, No Cheering in the Press Box (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973), 103.
The Dipper shook it: Kerry Ryman interview.
casually stepped in front of that man, blocking: Jim Balmer interview.
figured he would simply take a shot: Dave Damore interview.
“They’ll never catch him”: Earl Whitmore interview.
passed the carousel, The Comet roller coaster: Kerry Ryman interview.
He would talk to the chief constable: Gabe Basti interview.
“Wouldn’t it be something if…”: Earl Whitmore interview.
“Wilt, I’m dumping”: Joe Ruklick interview.
“you’re trying to influence the outcome…”: Ibid.
“Ruh-da-lick, after the game you take…”: Ibid.
typed “Pick-up X copy”: Harvey Pollack interview.
What if Wilt only scored ninety-eight points?: Ibid.
“makes your teammates enemies”: Sam Stith interview.
“We tried everything we could”: Harrisburg Sunday Patriot-News (March 4, 1962).
ball passed around the room was being signed: Jeff Millman and Larry Jacobs interviews.
“How about if we write ‘100’…”: Harvey Pollack and Paul Vathis interviews.
It’s always this way: Tom Meschery interview.
“It was a wonderful tribute to the team”: Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (March 3, 1962).
“I never thought I would ever see it happen…”: Ibid.
called for defensive goaltending twice: Philadelphia Inquirer (March 3, 1962).
“It wouldn’t even have been close…”: Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (March 3, 1962).
“Big Fella, what’s the matter?”: Al Attles interview.
Gola only wished the game had been televised: Tom Gola interview.
Mosenson always knew that Wilt Chamberlain: Cecil Mosenson interview.
“I found the Knicks”: Jerry Izenberg interview.
Not one head turned: Ibid.
Chamberlain climbing into the driver’s seat: Bill Campbell interview.
“The Blue ’52 That Runs Like New”: Ernie Accorsi, Jr., interview.
“I’ll let you talk to him”: Ibid.
“Wasn’t that amazing and unbelievable…”: Eliot Goldstein interview.
He only heard Guerin make a passing remark: Ibid.
alone, in the midnight darkness, driving through: Willie Naulls interview.
It raced past eighty-five toward ninety: Ibid.
Knicks would have beaten the Warriors’ butts: Rev. Willie Naulls, “Still Water Runs Deep,” Common Ground Broker (August 1999). Newsletter of Willie Naulls Ministries, Laguna Niguel, CA and Gainesville, FL. (The Rev. Naulls’s personal collection.)
Dipper counted receipts at halftime with the promoter: Ibid.
Chamberlain talked freely about tax shelters: Willie Naulls interview.
talked about the nicknames they loathed: Ibid.
he would win his NBA championships: Ibid.
“You’ve got to give it back”: This scene is drawn from interviews with Kerry Ryman and Lucille Poorman Ryman.
“The ball goes back where it belongs”: Reuel Ryman interview.
The Dipper would finally fall asleep at 8:00 A.M.: New York Post (March 5, 1962).
“Did you hear about Wilt?”: New York Post (March 4, 1962).
“Basketball is not prospering because…”: New York Daily News (March 4, 1962).
“plays the guitar and bass fiddle, sings folk…”: New York Times (March 4, 1962).
source of the information was Wilt Chamberlain: Ralph Bernstein interview. As Associated Press sports bureau chief in Philadelphia, Bernstein, on the day after Hershey, wrote the AP story about Chamberlain that appeared in The New York Times and other papers.
“Impossible? Sure it was impossible”: Philadelphia Daily News (March 3, 1962).
“Not one of them was tainted”: Ibid.
“Yeah, Pops, but look at the competition…”: Tom Hawkins interview.
“How about this: He’s the world’s worst…”: Johnny “Red” Kerr and Dolph Schayes interviews.
dismissed it as a game that must have raged: Bob Cousy interview.
“He’s playing against nobody”: Red Auerbach interview.
“The Big Fella finally did it”: Tom “Satch” Sanders interview.
CHAPTER 21: THE LEGEND GROWS
living in Nevada and writing about stamp collecting: Philadelphia Daily News (January 16, 1993). Also see: Philadelphia Inquirer (January 22, 1993).
“way beyond the call of duty”: Associated Press, February 28, 1987.
Must be Wilt Chamberlain time: Darrall Imhoff interview.
“In all honesty I was annoyed…”: The Sporting Life, ESPN Radio, March 2, 2002.
“They passed Wilt Chamberlain the ball…”: Marge Donovan interview.
“The game was not a fluke…”: Willie Naulls interview.
“I break out into a rash”: Darrall Imhoff interview.
“spend twelve years in Wilt’s armpits”: Los Angeles Times (March 2, 1987).
“the man who held Wilt Chamberlain…”: Rod Hundley interview.
“Wilt only got eighty-five off me”: Sonny Jurgensen and Rod Hundley interviews. Jurgensen attended the celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.
“I wasn’t a great player, and feel privileged…”: Darrall Imhoff interview.
“The game was a farce”: Ibid.
A telegram for Darrall Imhoff arrived two days: Ibid.
he was slow and lacked stamina: Chamberlain and Shaw, Wilt, 152–53.
“Let’s run ’em tonight, Wilt”: Ibid.
“As the time goes by, I feel more…”: Warriors Weekly Round Table: The Night Wilt Scored 100, KNBR-Radio, San Francisco, March 2, 1993.
“How many of you would want to play…”: Al Attles interview.
his estate would bequeath more than $6 million: Seymour (Sy) Goldberg interview.
A chauffeur driving Chamberlain’s new Bentley: Cal Ramsey interview. Ramsey joined Chamberlain at the March on Washington.
“Wilt wasn’t a guy that existed…”: Harry Edwards interview.
would later say that Nixon cynically exploited him: Chamberlain and Shaw, Wilt, 242.
“I’m just as aware of the injustices done to the black…”: Ibid., 64.
“Wilt would vacillate between feeling exempt…”: Lynda Huey interview.
keeps folded in his wallet a yellowed newspaper: Ted Luckenbill interview.
so often he had it laminated: York Larese interview.
heard for a while on NBA Commissioner David Stern’s office: Bill Campbell interview.
“It’s like Babe Ruth leading the league…”: Pluto, Tall Tales, 326.
movie business; his parents and several siblings lived: Chamberlain and Shaw, Wilt, 232.
“The West Coast was more Wilt’s style…”: Nate Thurmond interview.
Dipper and Russell met 142 times: Jan Hubbard, ed., The Official NBA Encyclopedia. 3d ed. (New York: Doubleday, 2000), 32–33.
“We might’ve won one with Wilt”: Bob Cousy interview.
“I mean I had the big ego, too”: Red Auerbach interview.
picking up a photographer’s wooden
stool: Philadelphia Inquirer (April 2, 1962).
“Mendy threw the game”: Tom Gola interview.
telling his friends at home he was “going to S.F.”: Deford, “Eddie Is the Mogul,” 43.
the Mogul charged him $25: Joe Ruklick interview.
Ruklick wore his “Phila 17” jersey: Ibid.
drowned in the swollen night waters: The Tacoma News Tribune (June 8, 1965).
“You’re asking ‘How close is close?’”: Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (December 8, 1979).
“What’s the single greatest historical sports…”: Jim Trelease interview.
five-story drainpipe that made a splendid antenna: Ibid.
merged this tape with the earlier Dictaphone tape: Todd Caso interview.
“You can hear Dave Zinkoff’s voice…”: Ibid.
“Remember, if I can…”: Tom Meschery, “Mourning Wilt The Day After His Death.” This poem was written in October 1999. Tom Meschery personal files.
“Wilt had rung the bell of freedom…”: Rev. Willie Naulls, “Still Water Runs Deep,” Common Ground Broker (August 1999). Newsletter of Willie Naulls Ministries, Laguna Niguel, CA and Gainesville, FL.
“The ride and the fellowship on the night…”: Ibid.
in Portland, where he went to buy waders: Darrall Imhoff interview.
“Always glad to see you, Ruh-da-lick…”: Joe Ruklick interview.
“Eddie put on a circus…”: Ibid.
“Gola would have gone to Gottlieb…”: Ibid.
“As we got older, the more we liked…”: Videotape of Wilt Chamberlain memorial service. Joe Ruklick personal files.
“People would never be happy…”: Frank Deford, “Doing Just Fine, My Man: At 50, Wilt Chamberlain Has Finally Mellowed,” Sports Illustrated (August 18, 1986): 62.
To Al: Who Did All the Right Things…: Al Attles interview.
Gola spoke of his enduring appreciation: Tom Gola interview.
The Dipper embraced her and pushed her wheelchair: Paul Arizin interview.
“Wilt, I’m in your debt”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 22: THE BALL
Ryman worked a fifteen-ton remote control: Kerry Ryman interview.
Wow, what a treasure: Mike Blouch interview.
“Mike, that ball’s not worth a damn…”: Kerry Ryman interview.
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