Chamberlain's 100-point game proves some things better with age

Dave Zinkoff -- or simply: The Zink -- was perhaps the most distinctive public address announcer in sport when, years ago, he called games in Philadelphia

Frank Deford | Feb 29, 2012

Chamberlain's 100-point game proves some things better with age /

Dave Zinkoff -- or simply: The Zink -- was perhaps the most distinctive public address announcer in sport when, years ago, he called games in Philadelphia --especially for the city's NBA teams. Just his declaring that there were two minutes left in the quarter made you feel that never mind that quarter -- doomsday was but a 120 seconds away.

But nothing The Zink cried out was so resounding as when Wilt Chamberlain would make an emphatic slam. "Dipper dunk!" he would holler.

And so it was exactly 50 years ago on March 2 when The Zink was there in an old hockey arena in Hershey, Pa., screaming "dipper dunk" again and again as Wilt Chamberlain was on his way to scoring 100 points.

It's often difficult to measure the quality of an individual achievement in a team sport. Yes, on that March 2, 1962, Wilt's Warriors were playing the Knicks, at the time the worst team in the league, whose starting center was injured, in a meaningless game; but still and all: 100 points in any game in the NBA! In all of Division I college ball, only one guy has gone for a century and that was Frank Selvy of Furman University ... and that was in 1954 -- 58 years ago.

Yet curiously Chamberlain's accomplishment needed time to become accepted for the wonder that it is. There were maybe four thousand people in attendance, and many of those had primarily come to see members of the Baltimore Colts and Philadelphia Eagles scrimmage at basketball in the preliminary. Chamberlain averaged 50 points a game that season, and his act seemed old. Scoring 100 points didn't even merit the front-page in New York newspapers, and didn't evoke much more attention in the Philadelphia dailies. Chamberlain was often dismissed as just a "goon," as tall players were called then.

The greatest public certification you could receive in 1962 was to be invited to appear on the "Ed Sullivan Show" on CBS. Chamberlain was accorded that honor, but unbeknown to him, only to be made a fool of, when a dwarf named Johnny Puleo was assigned to run out and pretend to bite the giant's leg. Scoring 100 points? The audience only roared, mocking the big freak.

How ancient that game seems now: no TV, barely a photograph. The Warriors' publicity man, Harvey Pollack, scratched out the number "100" on a piece of paper, Wilt held it up in the locker room, and that primitive picture is about all we ever see from the game. I was with Chamberlain a couple of times, years later, when pandering fans would come up and tell him they saw him score the 100 ... in Madison Square Garden. Chamberlain didn't bother to call them out. "Thank you, my man," he would politely reply.

History isn't even sure how he scored the 100th point. Wilt was so strong he was afraid of hurting opponents. He really didn't slam the ball down all that much, generally preferring the dainty---- what was called his "finger roll." Some witnesses remember that he took a pass and merely laid the last basket in. Others swear it really was The Zink screaming "Dipper dunk." Imagine not knowing about the ultimate basket in basketball.

But then, it was, after all, so very long ago when the late Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in an NBA game in Hershey, Pa. Even in sport, some things get better with time.

Published Feb 29, 2012

FRANK DEFORD

Frank Deford is among the most versatile of American writers. His work has appeared in virtually every medium, including print, where he has written eloquently for Sports Illustrated since 1962. Deford is currently the magazine's Senior Contributing Writer and contributes a weekly column to SI.com. Deford can be heard as a commentator each week on Morning Edition. On television he is a regular correspondent on the HBO show Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. He is the author of 15 books, and his latest,The Enitled, a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball, was published in 2007 to exceptional reviews. He and Red Smith are the only writers with multiple features in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century. Editor David Halberstam selected Deford's 1981 Sports Illustrated profile on Bobby Knight (The Rabbit Hunter) and his 1985 SI profile of boxer Billy Conn (The Boxer and the Blonde) for that prestigious anthology. For Deford the comparison is meaningful. "Red Smith was the finest columnist, and I mean not just sports columnist," Deford told Powell's Books in 2007. "I've always said that Red is like Vermeer, with those tiny, priceless pieces. Five hundred words, perfectly chosen, crafted. Best literary columnist, in any newspaper, that I've ever seen." Deford was elected to the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Six times at Sports Illustrated Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review. Deford has also been presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles; a Christopher Award; and journalism honor awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University; and he has received many honorary degrees. The Sporting News has described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and the magazine GQ has called him, simply, "The world's greatest sportswriter." In broadcast, Deford has won a Cable Ace award, an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award for his television work. In 2005 ESPN presented a television biography of Deford's life and work, You Write Better Than You Play. Deford has spoken at well over a hundred colleges, as well as at forums, conventions and on cruise ships around the world. He served as the editor-in-chief of The National Sports Daily in its brief but celebrated existence. Deford also wrote Sports Illustrated's first Point After column, in 1986. Two of Deford's books, the novel, Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life Of A Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis, have been made into movies. Two of his original screenplays have also been filmed. For 16 years Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport, CT, with his wife, Carol. They have two grown children – a son, Christian, and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University, where he has taught American Studies.