The New Orleans Buccaneers

 


The New Orleans Buccaneers was my team.

They played their home games at the Loyola University Field House during their first season, just down the street from my house at 2035 Palmer Avenue, on the corner of Palmer and Freret. The Bucs only averaged 2,337 fans per game at the Fieldhouse, but I went to every game I could.


Being somewhat small and extremely precocious, I could and would sometimes jump through the opened windows on the ground floor and run into the crowd when the security guards would holler at us.


I say “us” because I remember going to different games with different friends such as Billy Cahill, John Farrell, Timmy Verlander, Chris Peneguy, and sometimes Billy Bryan.


Our favorite players were Doug Moe, Red Robbins, Larry Brown and Jimmy Jones, all who played in the ABA All Star game. Babe McCarthy coached the West team in the game. Larry Brown was the Most Valuable Player of the inaugural ABA All Star game and led the ABA in assists that season en route to being named Second Team All ABA. Doug Moe was named First Team All ABA and Jimmy Jones made the ABA All Rookie Team.


The Buccaneers finished that season in first place in the Western Division with 48 wins and 30 losses, putting them two games ahead of the Dallas Chaparrals and three games ahead of the Denver Rockets. The Buccaneers then defeated the Denver Rockets 3 games to 2 in the Western Division semifinals, then defeated the Dallas Chaparrals 4 games to 1 to win the Western Division championship. The Buccaneers then advanced to the first ever ABA Championship series, facing the Pittsburgh Pipers. The Buccaneers and Pipers split the first six games, but the Pipers won the decisive seventh game 122-113 to win the 1968 ABA championship.


My family moved from Palmer Avenue in 1969 to Cleveland Place, in Metairie.  In 1970, I started following Pete Maravich and the Atlanta Hawks. In 1974, he joined our new NBA expansion team we called the New Orleans Jazz.


© 2022 Jeffrey Pipes Guice

My Wonder Years: A Book

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