MEMORIES OF DUDLEY T. BOKOSKI: "In March 1972 my dad asked me if I wanted to go see a Carolina Cougars game. The company he worked for had good seats at the Greensboro Coliseum. I wasn't that much interested in going. But when I found out that the opposing team was the Memphis Pros I decided to go, because Johnny Neumann (the 19 year-old "next Pete Maravich") was playing for Memphis. The game turned into a run-and-shoot affair. What was unusual was that Larry Miller had about 19 points for the Cougars after the first period. Miller was a former North Carolina Tarheel star and local favorite. He was a decent scorer, and it wasn't that unusual for him to start on a streak. Miller was described in the Carolina program as a "Lochnivar in Lowcuts", which is a nice way of saying that he got a lot of attention from women. In fact, one of the biggest Cougar promos of the year was the "Win a Date with Larry Miller Contest," which turned out to be rigged when his girlfriend won. All that aside, he generally hustled (on the court) and was a model of consistency. He seldom was great, but rarely had an off night. Anyway, during the second quarter Miller continued his hot shooting. He repeatedly hit his usual spot up jumpers, but also began driving around Johnny Neumann the way a car moves around a cow in the road. At the half he had about 30 or so points and the crowd loved it. By the third quarter the Cougars had the game well in hand, and all the Cougars players began feeding Miller (even Joe Caldwell, who sometimes forgot how to pass the ball). At the time, the ABA single-game scoring record was 63 points (Zelmo Beaty) and I remember that the PA announcer even made reference to the record in the third quarter. By this time, Miller was having some trouble shooting, probably from sheer exhaustion. But he had about 50 points by the end of the third quarter. In the 4th, it became a race between the clock and Miller's scoring. As I recall, he hit the record with a couple of minutes to spare, got up to 67, and was removed to a standing ovation. Neumann got about 19 points and didn't appear to be at all bothered by being outscored. He had made the night memorable, just not in the way I had anticipated."

MEMORIES OF HARVEY LIPSKY: "I saw many Nets games in the late 1960's and early 1970's. An opposing player who I remember was Jumpin' Joe Caldwell. The first time I saw him play for the Carolina Cougars, there was a question (right up to the game) whether he would be playing at all. Caldwell had jumped from the NBA from the Atlanta Hawks and the Hawks were trying to get him back. Rumors flew around all day that he was going to be served with an injunction, preventing him from playing in the ABA. But somehow Caldwell won the battle and ended up staying with the Cougars. In another game against the Nets (it probably was a different game than his first in New York - I'm not sure) he provided a moment of pure comic relief. Caldwell, the "old pro" in a league with mostly inferior talent at that time, went to shoot a free throw and missed everything. Not missing a beat he turned to the crowd, smiled, and gave a big wink. It was one of the most hilarious moments I ever saw in the middle of a game."

MEMORIES OF DON THORNTON: "I remember a playoff game in 1973 between the Carolina Cougars and the Kentucky Colonels. It was held in Greensboro, NC. I was fortunate enough to get tickets in the first row, directly behind the Kentucky bench. Midway through the third quarter, with the Colonels nursing a slender lead, "Pogo Joe" Caldwell broke free (after a steal, I believe) and crossed mid-court with the ball on a breakaway. There was only one minor obstacle standing between him and a resounding dunk: Artis Gilmore! I can still see the picture today as Caldwell left the court from near the foul line and *dunked* the ball over the top of the waiting Gilmore! In all the 30-some years I've watched basketball, it was the most impressive dunk I've ever seen. The crowd actually sat in stunned silence for about 3 seconds, before erupting in an ear-splitting roar...it was vintage ABA!"

MEMORIES OF KEN NEESE: "I'll never forget the first ABA game that I went to. It was the Cougars against the Colonels in Charlotte on November 25, 1972. I was just 14 at the time but I remember there was a big crowd on hand that night and the Coliseum was filled with great anticipation. The game featured some of the best players in the league - Billy Cunningham, "Pogo" Joe Caldwell, Mack Calvin, Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, Louie Dampier, and Rick Mount. It was a very exciting, close game but Kentucky came out on top. There was a lot of running, dunking and shot blocking. The crowd loved it. Billy Cunningham always seemed to be driving and slashing to the basket--either making those one-handed runners or hitting a cutting Caldwell with a bounce pass. Calvin ran around like crazy and scored at will. Gilmore and Issel were also unstoppable in that game. Every time Gilmore got the ball down low he seemed to dunk it. Too much for Ira Harge, Ed Manning and Tom Owens to handle I guess. On the Kentucky side, Issel and Mount just bombed away. After the game, my uncle and I walked down on the court where some of the players were signing autographs and doing interviews. I'll never forget standing next to Artis Gilmore. I was in complete awe. He had this huge afro which just added to his physique. I remember thinking that this giant was just too strong - nobody can beat his team. Two of the most vivid memories that I still have of the ABA are the size and strength of Gilmore and seeing the red white and blue leaving the hands of shooters like Rick Mount and Gene Littles. If you were a Carolina fan during that time, tuning in a Cougars game with Bob Lamey doing the play-by-play was something special. Every possession was exciting."

MEMORIES OF ANDY HALL: "I went to my first professional basketball game on January 5, 1973. It was at the Greensboro Coliseum, where the Carolina Cougars hosted the Virginia Squires. I was in the ninth grade and I went to the game with one of my best friends and his father. I had heard about Julius Erving and actually got to see him play, as well as Billy Cunningham, Joe Caldwell, Tom Owens, etc. The Cougars won in a 135-118 blowout, and I was hooked as a Cougars fan. From that point until the Cougars moved out of Carolina, I began reading, watching and listening to everything Cougars. I would lie on my bed at night and listen to their games on the radio, with Bob Lamey calling the action. Some of their road games were televised, and I was thrilled to see games from Indianapolis, Louisville, Salt Lake City, etc., with Gene Overby doing the play-by-play. Caldwell had a weekly local TV show that I watched religiously. I went to the school library to read two-week-old ABA news in The Sporting News. People have to remember that ESPN and the Internet didn't exist then, and the ABA got very little coverage compared to the NBA. I would read little scraps here and there about players like Ralph Simpson, Willie Wise, Ron Boone, etc. But I rarely got to see them on TV. One of the saddest days of my life was when I heard that the Cougars were leaving Carolina. I wanted the ABA to succeed very badly, but knew deep in my heart that it wouldn't. Today, I welcome the opportunity to talk to anyone about the ABA. I loved it!"

MEMORIES OF STACEY ANN (HOY) YONGUE: "My mother, Margaret Soots Hoy, brought the Carolina Cougars mascot, "Shuffles the Cougar", to life between 1971 and 1974. She loves to tell about her stint as Shuffles and her frequent halftime antics, etc. She especially likes to talk about the close calls she had with Kentucky Colonels fans during away games--they didn't like Shuffles too much. Lots of can throwing, she says! One thing that sticks out in my mind is taking center court during halftime with Shuffles and Stacey Caldwell (Joe Caldwell's daughter ) and dancing. We twirled our pinned-on "Cougar tails" in front of a packed Greensboro Coliseum. What a blast! One of my mom's most memorable moments is having to "share" a locker room with the late Arthur Ashe. Apparently, a tennis expo was going on during basketball season at the Coliseum and Ashe had to use the same dressing room as my mom. Ashe was seated with 2 other people and Shuffles told them she'd "never dressed in front of an audience before." They laughed and she went to the other end of the room, out of sight, and got into costume. My mom is a wonderful, enthusiastic, animated person; in my opinion, no one but she could have brought so much vitality to Shuffles!"

MEMORIES OF JOEY BLAND: "What I remember most about the Carolina Cougars is how the players were always willing to give autographs. And it wasn't just the Cougars players (like my hero "Pogo" Joe Caldwell, or Billy Cunningham). I can remember players on other ABA teams, like George Gervin, who were willing to stand on the floor of the Greensboro Coliseum signing autographs until all the kids were gone. Although my dog chewed up my autographed red, white, and blue mini-ball long ago, I still think fondly about the ABA players and their willingness to connect with a little 7-year old boy. It meant a lot to me."

MEMORIES OF KYLE HARRISON: "I grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I remember seeing the Carolina Cougars "traveling road show" a few times during '73 and '74 when it came to the old Winston-Salem Coliseum. Sometimes I wonder exactly how many cities in North Carolina the team really played in -- it wasn't always Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro. My favorite players from the Cougars were Tom Owens, Mack Calvin, and Billy Cunningham. North Carolina was a really tough market for pro basketball back then. I remember that the Cougars were always struggling to get fans' attention away from the local college teams. At the time, college basketball took a back seat to nothing -- this was during the time when NC State had David Thompson and they were on their way to a national championship. The ACC was extremely competitive; there were very big rivalries between UNC, Maryland and NC State - not to mention very good TV coverage. I had an old AM radio that I would use to search for broadcasts of other ABA teams, and sometimes I could find a Virginia Squires game. I never liked the NBA. The NBA had a boring game, dull players, and owners who thought they were God's gift to organized sports. The ABA was excitement. When the Cougars franchise closed, I found myself searching for those Squires games on my AM radio a lot more often. The late 60's and early 70's was a great time to be a kid - the ABA, the Apollo space program, Sid and Marty Krofft's shows on Saturday TV, and a thousand other things that are stuck in the memories of the 30-something crowd."

MEMORIES OF DENNIS TUTTLE: "I grew up in a small town just north of Winston-Salem and my brother often took me to the games at the Greensboro Coliseum. There was a promotion through an ice cream shop that gave you a big discount on a ticket if you bought one at full price, so we often used that method of getting into the games in Greensboro. I would sell pop bottles or do yard work to raise money for going to the games. I became a very familiar face with the Cougar players over their last three seasons. After the games I simply wouldn't allow my brother to leave until I got ALL the Cougars' autographs. Security was very loose and fans could actually get down on the court after the game. I would buy a program for that night and wait right next to the door of the Cougars' dressing room. The players got so used to seeing me that they would say something like, "Little man, I just signed one for you the other night." And I would say, "Yeah, but not on THIS program." I was not beyond chasing the players out the door. One "chasing" incident I remember involved Artis Gilmore of the Colonels. My brother took me to Game 2 of the 1973 ABA Semifinals in Greensboro. It was a Saturday afternoon and the game was nationally televised on CBS. The Cougars completely destroyed the Colonels (125-105) and Gilmore played terribly. Now, Gilmore was the most awesome human specimen I had ever seen. I was a kid and he was 7-2. I don't think I came up to his waist. Gilmore had that big head of hair and those porkchop sideburns. He wore this full-length black coat and a big, wide-rimmed hat. He was about the most intimidating person I'd ever seen. Well, my stepfather could not believe the size of this man, and he knew I was a brassy kid. So he dared me to get Gilmore's autograph. Gilmore had had such a terrible game that he just rushed right past people once he got outside the visitors' dressing room. He went out the side door--with me right behind. He didnt stop walking, and didnt turn around. I kept saying, "Mr. Gilmore...Mr. Gilmore...." He went out onto the street outside the Coliseum, through a gate, and into the parking lot (I have no idea where he was going because the team bus was just outside the players' gate). I must've chased him through five or six rows of cars, calling his name. Finally, he stopped. He turned to me and never said a word. I held the pen and program up to him. He never flinched. Never bent down. Never uttered a sound. He scribbled his name across the program in a manner that looked like a giant "A" followed by a long, curvy line. It was completely unreadable. Anything, I suppose,to get rid of this pesky kid! But I got him to sign it. To this day, whenever talk around my parents' house comes up about the ABA, my brother and stepfather bring up the day I chased Artis Gilmore halfway around Greensboro."

MEMORIES OF MAC BLYTHE: "I was a pretty young kid in 1973 or 1974 when San Diego came to Charlotte to play the Cougars. The main attraction of the night was the Conquistadors' new coach, Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt had recently left the NBA Lakers to become coach of the Q's. You have to remember that Charlotte was more of a backwater city in those days. So the thought of seeing Wilt Chamberlain in person was about as exciting as it got. Much to our chagrin, Wilt was nowhere to be found during warmups and still hadn't arrived when the game started. We were all but devastated and wondered where the heck Wilt was. Finally, sometime in the second quarter if I remember correctly, Wilt the Stilt walked slowly into the arena and took his spot on the bench, to the sarcastic cheers of the Carolina fans. I doubt he did much coaching, but my friends and I were beside ourselves just to see him. I think my dad told me that Wilt had "overslept.""