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Post by E-Villan on Dec 12, 2022 17:47:47 GMT -6
Tomorrow is 45 years. UE is premiering a documentary by Prof. Joe Atkinson tonight at 7:00
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Post by austinace on Dec 12, 2022 19:23:26 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2022 20:33:24 GMT -6
New footage to me. Quite a powerful program. So long ago yet so fresh in my memory.
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Post by 83Ace on Dec 12, 2022 21:51:19 GMT -6
I remember that night vividly. I was a junior in high school coming home from a church league basketball game with a couple of guys. We all lived close to the airport. I remember the rain and fog, and we had trouble getting home as St. George Rd was closed near Whirlpool. We were told a plane had crashed and later learned it was the Aces. What a sad time. It is an excellent film, I watched it tonight and it brought back a lot of memories.
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Post by ibleedpurple on Dec 12, 2022 23:51:35 GMT -6
I remember that night being one of overwhelming grief and I was just a young teenager and fan. I was in junior high and had gone to bed early to be able to get up for basketball practice before school. My mom came in to my room and told me to come downstairs. I watched the reports on the news and just felt horrible and cried like a baby. I was and always have been a huge Aces fan along with my parents and this is one of those times you never forget.
This short film was very well done and I am thankful we have people who spent the time to make it and keep the memories alive for years to come. Thoughts and prayers go out to all those who had their lives changed forever by this accident.
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Post by austinace on Dec 13, 2022 8:48:35 GMT -6
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Post by acesfan65 on Dec 13, 2022 9:00:02 GMT -6
I was 12, and a huge Aces fan, still remember all of their names, never forgotten!!
wow, what a great video, still brings tears to my eyes, and still want to see this program succeed, Let's go Aces!!
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Post by acescott on Dec 13, 2022 9:33:30 GMT -6
I was 12, and a huge Aces fan, still remember all of their names, never forgotten!! I was also 12 at the time, also born in '65. Have always wondered if I was conceived after a big win in the undefeated season. As difficult as that foggy night was as a fan, it cannot be compared to the families' loss. I cannot imagine. But as a fan, at the time and to this day, I take a great deal of personal pride knowing that I had the privilege and honor to have watched that team play 3 of their 4 games, plus preview games at Eldorado and Tell City. And of course the veteran players in prior years. I have scoresheets, newspaper articles and game programs that I will always cherish. A particularly fond memory is walking up the concrete steps into the cramped, elevated press box with my dad and brother to hear Marv Bates and Coach Watson do the post game radio interview at Hulman Center after ISU and Mr. Bird proved to be too much to handle. We had a habit of hanging around after road games in prior years when Arad's assistant Gary Bliss did the interview. Marv recognized us and made sure Bobby was good with us listening in. He was. We were there for their last game. Final interview. They were gone 3 days later.
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Post by E-Villan on Dec 13, 2022 10:21:46 GMT -6
I was 13, so I was much older than you 12 year olds. Tuesday nights were pretty routine that fall for us. My Dad bowled in a league at Willow and my sister was taking gymnastic classes at Carson Center between 7:00 - 8:00. My mom would drop my dad off at Willow, take my sister to gymnastics, then back to pick him up. I usually stayed at Willow, but I tagged along to Carson Center that night. I had walked down the hall and watched the team practice before, so I walked down to the main gym again. Some guys were shooting around, but it wasn't the team. Somebody in the hall asked if they could help me...told them I was just looking to see if the team was practicing. I don't recall the exact words, but he said something like they had already gone to Tennessee.
We would have been in Carson Center until 8:00 that night. I don't recall anything unusual going on while we were there. On the way from UE over to Willow, the radio was mentioning a crash at the airport, and then on the way home after picking my dad up, we learned it was the Aces.
The documentary was very well done, and brought a lot of memories back. Watching the players introduce themselves was simply heart-wrenching. I will put a permanent link to it in the memories section.
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Post by acescott on Dec 13, 2022 10:34:50 GMT -6
As heart wrenching as their recorded introductions are, thank goodness they were done and still exist. As a kid Aces players seemed so much older, such a different perspective watching that now.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2022 11:58:16 GMT -6
I think the transition from the lost season into the Walters era has always fascinated me because it was comparatively swift in coming. Realizing that finding a competitive team in those days was maybe a bit easier, it's also interesting that people not wholly connected to it could find that success to be their version of the UE story.
People who are attached to UE see this as a lot different from people who observed it from afar. We are always like that. What a shame, but it wasn't my kid ... "thoughts and prayers" every time another 10 young people get gunned down by some weirdo.
The other story that taints this is that the plane they flew was a death trap and the overall apathy about flying out of Dress in those days in that weather -- how naive we all were about airline safety. It's only Murfreesboro. We can make that on one engine.
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Post by 65pointgame on Dec 13, 2022 12:23:48 GMT -6
Mike Blake mentioned that he was going into Roberts Stadium for a high school basketball game when he heard the news of a plane crash. I was at that game as a Freshman at Memorial and we were playing Bosse (they played home games at Roberts) --- at some point during the game I remember hearing the news. When we got home, Dad and I stayed up most of the night watching the coverage on channel 14.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2022 12:50:24 GMT -6
I was a freshman in college and was driving my car listening to WGBF and the disc jockey, Buddy Scott, stated their was a plane crash involving the UE basketball team. I thought this had to be some kind of a sick joke. Then I raced home and turned on the television and found out it was all true - like everyone else my heart just sunk. We had final exams the very next day and the professor came in and said "I know this is incredibly hard. Just take the test and go".
I remember just how excited the community had been about this team, and the sense of excitement and optimism Bobby Watson brought to Evansville. UE was D1 and I was completely pumped. Now all of that was annihilated. But even worse, all these young men and others lives were robbed that evening. Like all of you here, there is not a day that I don't think about it. Any amount of success that UE basketball has in the future should be dedicated to them.
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Post by acescott on Dec 13, 2022 15:12:51 GMT -6
It is probably petty of me to mention this (as I am about mention it) because I think the documentary is excellent and thoroughly researched, but I noticed two possible minor errors. They talk about their first game against Western Kentucky, the text on screen says UE at Western Kentucky but the game was here. When they show Walters' team celebrating MCC championship, footage appears to be of win over Purdue couple years later. Again, even if I'm right, who cares. It's very well done!
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Post by austinace on Dec 13, 2022 15:25:54 GMT -6
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