Memories Of the Way We Were

So what got me going on this? Well I will tell you.

A few days ago I received a message from my old pal and BBL legend Eric Burks. Eric wanted to know if I had any of the old games on tape and whether I could send them to him.

I went into the garage and the first box I went to had tons of papers with about 10 or 12 VHS tapes at the bottom. I spotted what I thought was a game tape which said Bullets v Leopards 96-97.

How could this be the 1st tape that I lay my hands on?

I put the tape into the player and boy was I surprised by what I saw. It was the SKY Game 1 of that season and I will give you a quick recap.

The game was at the NIA Birmingham and there was a massive crowd in the house.

Andrew Castle was the host with Suzanne Dando as court-side reporter. The guest was Alton Byrd, however, he was stuck in traffic on the M6 and I joined Andrew at the top of the programme.

I have now watched the whole of this game and what an eye opener it was.

Amazingly, this was Game 1 in this country for Fab Flournoy who recently celebrated his 541st appearance. It was also the 1st game in the country for the previously mentioned Eric Burks.

I have taken some screen grabs to show you some of what went on. The quality is very poor but I thing you’ll get the idea. This was obviously before widescreen, before High Definition and before 3D.