Rollie Massimino (1934-2017)

Yesterday we got the sad news that Rollie Massimino had died at the age of 82.

2010 Phungo #10 Rollie Massimino

I am not originally from the Philadelphia area but I will always remember the 1985 Villanova Wildcats championship team. Winning that game made me a fan of the team for life.

I never expected to live in the Villanova community, but life's twists & turns brought me to a place where I reside less than five miles from the campus. The team has now returned to prominence and it is fun to be able to follow the local team.

March Madness 2009
I have gone to the opening rounds of March Madness when it has been hosted in Philadelphia several times. In 2009 I was checking out the lower level prior to the game and talking to a friend when Rollie Massimino passed right in front of him. We mentioned to Rollie how much we enjoyed the 1985 Championship team. He was congenial said thanks, shook our hands, posed for a picture and signed our tickets - the smudge and the fact that it is signed upside down are my fault.

Regardless it is a cool memory to have and one of the more fun artifacts in the Phungo museum.

Phungo Card
The picture I took made it onto a Phungo card back when I still made them. This is pretty early in the Phungo canon so we have a pretty vanilla design with the text being a snapshot from an excel spreadsheet. Pretty primitive, but considering my minimal graphic arts skills at the time, I am pretty proud of the finished product.

Rollie Massimino Index
2007 Donruss Extra Edition #65 (February 2016 Villanova reaches #1 for first time since 1985) 
2010 Phungo #10 (25th anniversary of 1985 Championship)
Game Report March Madness 2009


Wiki
I have a posted a few dozen of my photos to Wikipedia, this is the first of those pictures.

Sources and Links
Sports-Ref

NCAA Championship: Go Villanova Wildcats - Paul Arizin 2001 Fleer GOTG

Phungo HQ is located less than 5 miles from where the Villanova Pavillion, the building the Schools basketball team calls home.

Tonight the team will try and knock off basketball powerhouse North Carolina for the 2016 NCAA championship. In support of the Wildcats we are posting a 2001 Fleer card of Basketball Hall of Famer Paul Arizin.

2001 Fleer Greats of the Game #61 Paul Arizin

Paul Arizin is a member of the Villanova class of 1950, His senior year he was a consensus All-American and was named Sporting News Player of the Year.

Following graduation he was drafted by the then local Philadelphia Warriors. He played 10 seasons for the club and was a member of the 1956 Championship team. Arizin led the league in scoring twice and made the All-Star squad in each of his 10 seasons.

Arizin is noted as one of the pioneers of the jump shot, a skill that no doubt helped him win those scoring titles and maintain a 22.8 ppg scoring average which still ranks 23rd all-time. 

Post career accolades include his Basketball Hall induction in 1978 and being recognized as one of the NBA's 50 greatest players as part of the league's 50th anniversary celebration in 1996.

The Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame made Paul Arizin a member of their inaugural class in 2004.

2001 Fleer Greats of the Game #61 Paul Arizin (b-side)

The text on the back of Arizin's Fleer card mentions his Sporting News Player of the Year award and notes that his 735 points scored in 1949-50 was just shy of the single season record.

Looking forward to 9:19 PM tonight - Go Wildcats!

Sources and Links
Phungo Philadelphia Sports HoF class of 2004 Index
Philadelphia Sports HoF
NY Times
Google Maps
Basketball-ref

Villanova Wildcats #1

For the first time in 30+ years Villanova's Hoop team is ranked #1.

2007 Donruss Extra Edition #65 Rollie Massimino

The last time the Wildcats were atop the NCAA rankings was in 1985 when they shocked Georgetown in the NCAA final. The head coach of that team was Rollie Massimino who we have featured here in a Donruss mixed sports issue from 2007.  The A-sides of the cards are all pretty uniform and don't really clue us in to the repped team.

Flip

2007 Donruss Extra Edition #65 Rollie Massimino (B-side)

However the flip side is done up in some nice VU colors. Nice blurb on the 1985 National Championship, and a couple of quick hits regarding Rollie's career accomplishments (500 Career D1 Wins, 11 NCAA appearances w/ -Nova)

We are such big fans of Rollie around her we even put the ocach onto a Phungo Card in the 2010 set.

Tonight the Cats host St John's in PrimeTime, well sort of prime time - they are on CBS-SportsNet, which I can never find. If your a Philadelphia FiOS customer, I believe that is 594 on your dial. 

Source and Links
Villanova

Happy Anniversary 1985 Villanova Wildcats

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the Villanova Wildcats Upset of Georgetown in the 1985 NCAA Men's Basketball Final.

2010 Phungo #10 Rollie Massimino

It doesn't seem like that long ago. I was a senior in High School then and thoroughly enjoyed what was one of the biggest upsets in the history of sports. The game made me a lifelong fan of the NCAA tournament. It's one and done format creates opportunities for an underdog like Villanova to beat a powerhouse like Georgetown - Even if they have to play a "Perfect Game"

The photo from the above Phungo card was taken prior to a 2nd round game at last years NCAA tournament. Rollie was in the house to see the 2009 version of the Wildcats in the tournament. I arrived at the venue early and was checking out the shoot around when a friend spotted Massimino. He walked right in front of us and was gracious enough to pose for this picture and sign autographs while making some quick conversation.

For more information on the 1985 NCAA championship click here for the Wikipedia entry.

Farewell Scottie Reynolds

I don't think I have ever gotten more attached to a college athlete than Scottie Reynolds. Reynolds is the exciting point guard who led the Villanova basketball squad the last three years. Despite the disappointing finish to Scottie's senior season, History will likely view Reynolds as one of Philadelphia's Sports Heroes.

Scottie Reynolds burst on to the local basketball scene late in his freshmen year scoring 40 pts on UConn in a single game. He wouldn't do that every night, but he became more than a scorer. He became a basketball player. Reynolds has several shortcomings that will likely keep him from being an impact player at the next level, but he does possess some skills, a lot of heart, and high degree of basketball intelligence that should allow him to play professionally in some capacity.

I sincerely hope that Reynolds has a basketball future, and look forward to following it, regardless of it's magnitude. He led the 2nd wave of the return of Villanova Wildcats basketball, and it was always wonderful to watch him play.

This card is from the Original Phungo Cards released in 2009. The game was played in the legendary Pavilion over Thanksgiving weekend of 2008. Villanova beat Towson that night. It was one of about a half dozen times that I was able to catch Reynolds playing live. The games I saw included a couple of NCAA tournament games that Villanova won last year in route to their 2009 Final Four appearance.

Tonight the NCAA tournaments continues without Villanova and Reynolds. I still love March Madness and will be watching but the 2nd weekend will not be the same as the last couple of years when the Wildcats gave everybody in Philadelphia a rooting interest.

March Madness Opening Rounds - Philadelphia

Posting some Pictures from the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament

Tip off to American U v Villanova.

Philadelphia Hosted six games for the first two rounds of this years NCAA tournament. The participating teams were BYU, Texas A&M, American University, Tennessee-Chattanooga, U Conn, UCLA, VCU and local favorite Villanova.

The always popular Cheerleaders!!!


UConn Monster Big Man Hasheem Thabeet. >>>
















The Head coach to the 1985 Champion Villanova Wild Cats Rollie Massimino.

The NCAA Tournament is always a fun event, if an opening round comes to your area and your a hoop fan I suggest you try and find your way to a session.

Phungo Cards - Scottie Reynolds, Villanova Wildcats

2009 Phungo #23 Scottie Reynolds

Tomorow Villanova plays their first game in the 2009 NCAA tournament. Scottie Reynolds will be leading the Wildcats at the point guard position. Above is the sole basketball card in the Phungo 2009 collection. Scottie Reynolds is the featured player, he is a point gaurd (PG) who has an outside chance of making it into the NBA. I chose Michael Jordan's number 23 as the basketball card number for the Phungo Set. The card is bordered in dark blue to match Villanova's team colors.

The picture was taken during a game at Philadelphia's historic Palestra. The Palestra is the Home for Penn Quaker's basketball and several big five/city six contests between the six Philadelphia college basketball teams; Nova, Penn, Temple, St Joes, La Salle, Drexel. If you're a basketball fan and you have the opportunity to see a game at the Palestra it is truly worth the effort. It is one of the oldest basketball gyms in the world and has been the site of many a great game. The list of notables that have played games there include Dr J, Allen Iverson, Oscar Robertson, Bill Bradley, Rick Barry, Billy Packer, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Ralph Sampson, Jerry West, and of course Wilt Chamberlain.