Thursday, March 29, 2012

Wilt the Stilt Could Do It All

Before the Man became the Myth, he dabbled in just about every sport there is.  He was good at all of them.  Like a 49.0 440 yard dash and under 2:00 for 880 yards.  Like 6' 7" high jump. Like third in his High School League Cross Country Meet.  Like 22 feet in the Long Jump.( He won the 1957 Drake Relays College High Jump at 6' 6".)

He then went on to a fairly good basketball career.  My favorite part of that was when reporters started badgering him about his lack of passing ability.  The next year he led the league in assists. The only big man to ever do that. Following basketball, he played pro volleyball for ten more years.  And all that while sports were what he was second best at!  We all miss you, Wilt.

Watch Wilt high jump in this video celebrating his leaping ability.

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 30, 2012 at 6:29 PM

    As an 11 year old boy, I was in Hershey Park Arena that night. My oldest son has 2 ticket stubs and a program. glf

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  2. skwilliMarch 30, 2012 at 7:11 PM

    No kidding? There weren't many there that night! You are the first one I've ever met, other than Wilt himself.

    I was at a Sixers game in the early 70's at Hersheypark. It was the year they set the record with just 9 wins. They sold 118 tickets! Steve Mix was their "star". I sat in the stands with Rick Barry, who was injured. Could not believe how tall he was (6' 9") Saw Nate Thurmond catch a ball headed away from him with one hand. Very cool. Yours is even cooler!

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  3. skwilliMarch 30, 2012 at 7:11 PM

    Take a photo of the tickets and program to embellish the blog post!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. Keep up the good work! (Try to mention others to encourage them to comment too!)