Still Bad assed after all these years

[mike 301]

Jerome Lane's rim-rattling, glass-breaking dunk still a grand slam 35 years later

Jerome Lane, a player who dominated Big East backboards for two seasons, said his legendary slam was “just another dunk.” The only difference? “Just the glass coming down,” he said. Oh, is that all? The dunk occurred Jan. 25, 1988, in Pitt’s Big East game against Providence at Fitzgerald Field

triblive.com

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

Jerome Lane's rim-rattling, glass-breaking dunk still a grand slam 35 years later

Jerome Lane, a player who dominated Big East backboards for two seasons, said his legendary slam was “just another dunk.” The only difference? “Just the glass coming down,” he said. Oh, is that all? The dunk occurred Jan. 25, 1988, in Pitt’s Big East game against Providence at Fitzgerald Field

triblive.com

I don’t know how accurate or deeply researched that piece was, but it seems unlikely there were just the few instances of backboard breakage over the many decades that were listed in that article? And a couple occurrences not even during actual play. I definitely remember the Dawkins dunk. But really none other than Jerome’s. So perhaps it really is so rare?

I am always bummed I wasn’t at this game, though I definitely watched it on TV. had just gotten my Pitt BS and registered but had not started at Katz for my MBA at that time, so no basketball tickets for that brief period (I then had them for several years after, up to the switchover to the Pete, after which my buddies stopped getting tickets because we rarely made it to mid week games).

This event was a milestone of that heady time…fun to remember. It is weird but seeing the clip (or others from the era) makes it regrettable that Pitt and Sean Miller couldn’t have eventually continued on in a coaching situation. Yes I know his dad seemed to be a d-bag that caused trouble, and what a creep SM went on to be at Zona. Pitt’s sports admin was toxic and incompetent (a familiar refrain) as well so can’t be blameless. I certainly am glad we had the Jamie years, too (though given the different uniforms, colors, and his abrupt departure and immediate descent into the crap we’ve been since, it’s almost like those years never happened…or happened to an entirely different school).

But “in an alternate universe” maybe it could have gone differently for all of us.

 

[pittdan77]

I don’t know how accurate or deeply researched that piece was, but it seems unlikely there were just the few instances of backboard breakage over the many decades that were listed in that article? And a couple occurrences not even during actual play. I definitely remember the Dawkins dunk. But really none other than Jerome’s. So perhaps it really is so rare?

I am always bummed I wasn’t at this game, though I definitely watched it on TV. had just gotten my Pitt BS and registered but had not started at Katz for my MBA at that time, so no basketball tickets for that brief period (I then had them for several years after, up to the switchover to the Pete, after which my buddies stopped getting tickets because we rarely made it to mid week games).

This event was a milestone of that heady time…fun to remember. It is weird but seeing the clip (or others from the era) makes it regrettable that Pitt and Sean Miller couldn’t have eventually continued on in a coaching situation. Yes I know his dad seemed to be a d-bag that caused trouble, and what a creep SM went on to be at Zona. Pitt’s sports admin was toxic and incompetent (a familiar refrain) as well so can’t be blameless. I certainly am glad we had the Jamie years, too (though given the different uniforms, colors, and his abrupt departure and immediate descent into the crap we’ve been since, it’s almost like those years never happened…or happened to an entirely different school).

But “in an alternate universe” maybe it could have gone differently for all of us.

It was pretty well into the 90's before most programs had more than one guy who could dunk with regularity. I remember when PSU struggled to recruit a guy that didn't need a full run up to get above the rim. That's probably why it was so rare. Most high schools didn't have break-away rims for a long time. So yeah, I think it was pretty rare. Fortunately, they figured out how to mostly prevent it although I did see a HS kid shattered a backboard a few weeks ago.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

I'm in that picture! LOL! Well, maybe a little blurred. But I was at that game and was sitting at an angle where the shot in the picture would be in a sight line to where I was sitting in Fitzgerald. That was a fun game!

 

[upj87]

I don’t know how accurate or deeply researched that piece was, but it seems unlikely there were just the few instances of backboard breakage over the many decades that were listed in that article? And a couple occurrences not even during actual play. I definitely remember the Dawkins dunk. But really none other than Jerome’s. So perhaps it really is so rare?

I am always bummed I wasn’t at this game, though I definitely watched it on TV. had just gotten my Pitt BS and registered but had not started at Katz for my MBA at that time, so no basketball tickets for that brief period (I then had them for several years after, up to the switchover to the Pete, after which my buddies stopped getting tickets because we rarely made it to mid week games).

This event was a milestone of that heady time…fun to remember. It is weird but seeing the clip (or others from the era) makes it regrettable that Pitt and Sean Miller couldn’t have eventually continued on in a coaching situation. Yes I know his dad seemed to be a d-bag that caused trouble, and what a creep SM went on to be at Zona. Pitt’s sports admin was toxic and incompetent (a familiar refrain) as well so can’t be blameless. I certainly am glad we had the Jamie years, too (though given the different uniforms, colors, and his abrupt departure and immediate descent into the crap we’ve been since, it’s almost like those years never happened…or happened to an entirely different school).

But “in an alternate universe” maybe it could have gone differently for all of us.

the difference with the Lane shattering dunk compared to the others is that it had every box checked for a great dunk even before the rim came down...Shorter guy getting way up which is much more impressive than some seven footer...Posterizing someone (really bad in this case) while doing it. Rafferty and the play by play guy were going Oh! Oh! before he even reached the rim..

 

[upj87]

It was pretty well into the 90's before most programs had more than one guy who could dunk with regularity. I remember when PSU struggled to recruit a guy that didn't need a full run up to get above the rim. That's probably why it was so rare. Most high schools didn't have break-away rims for a long time. So yeah, I think it was pretty rare. Fortunately, they figured out how to mostly prevent it although I did see a HS kid shattered a backboard a few weeks ago.

It was pretty well into the 90's before most programs had more than one guy who could dunk with regularity.... uh, no..signed Phi Slama Jama, 82 Tar Heels, Unlv Runnin Rebels et al.

there was a reason that breakaway rims were invented in the mid 70's..

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

I'm going to set a "Where was I when it happened " scene, hopefully without providing too much detail that reveals my identity. I was assistant to the city manager. Ray Brooks (Delray's father) was the fire chief. There was a city council meeting in progress. Somewhere, somehow, Ray had the game on (how I don't know, as this was before the widespread availability of cell phones, much less the technology to pull up sporting events on them). Ray knew I was a Pitt alum, as we had had many conversations abut Big East basketball. Ray came into the room, walked over to me, and said "you won't believe what just happened". I guess he was OK with it as long as his son hadn't been victimized on the dunk.

 

[pittdan77]

It was pretty well into the 90's before most programs had more than one guy who could dunk with regularity.... uh, no..signed Phi Slama Jama, 82 Tar Heels, Unlv Runnin Rebels et al.

there was a reason that breakaway rims were invented in the mid 70's..

Key word there was "most".

 

[upj87]

Key word there was "most".

none of the division 1 college teams in the 80s were lacking guys who dunked at the same rate as they do today...key word "none". Smith and Lane and Porter and Martin probably more so than today's Panthers..