Air Ball (1976); Slam Dunk (1972)

[Fritz Juengling]

In a message dated 8/24/02 2:49:25 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
laurence.horn at YALE.EDU writes:


> >
> The first time I remember the issue coming up was several years
> earlier.  Kareem Abdul Jabbar, who was then still known as Lew
> Alcindor, was in his freshman year at UCLA the same time I arrived as
> a grad student, in '66.  The NCAA decided to ban (what we now know
> as) the slam (dunk), many at the time believing the goal was to slow
> down Alcindor's expected dominance of the college game.  The upshot
> was that he developed a full repertoire, including his patented sky
> hook (most certainly coined OF, if not BY, Alcindor), and dominated
> the college game anyway; his legendary coach John Wooden always
> claimed that "Lewis's" skills were helped by the ban and how it
> forced him to work on his game.  Anyway, it might be useful to check
> the L.A. Times issues around '66 (possibly in Jim Murray's columns)
> to see how the slam was then described in articles and columns
> relating to the NCAA ban (which was, eventually, reversed).  Maybe
> "slam dunk" wasn't used, but "slam" was?  I can't recall.

Yes, the ban was the best thing for his game.  However, I had season's
tickets to the Trailblazers forseveral years back in the early 70's and do
not ever remember the phrase 'slam dunk.'  Early on, we heard and referred to
it as 'stuff', as in 'Chamberlain stuffed it!!"  Then I remember hearing
'dunk' and THEN 'slam dunk'  several years after that.  It seemed to me that
'slam dunk' came some time later--when b-ball became so much more of a show
thing.  maybe I just wasn't paying attention or we pre-Blazermaniacs just had
a different term???
While we're on b-ball lingo, here's one that has has always puzzled me.  When
the ball goes out of bounds and I am the last to touch it (but still in
bounds), someone will say, "it's out ON you."  Why 'on'?  to my mind it
should be 'off.'  "The ball is out off you" seems to make much more sense. I
do remember some folks saying that, but the 'on' folks seem to have won out.
Is this usage the norm in other parts of the country (it is in OR and
MN)--for those of you who play (pick-up) hoops?
Fritz