"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Sunday, March 16, 2008

1980 ..... remember way back when?


1980 ....remember way back when? The United States hockey team pulled off the miracle of all miracles in Lake Placid while our Summer athletes boycotted the Moscow games. Ronald Reagan was elected president of the US. Interest rates and unemployment were horrific, gas lines often lasting more than an hour. Mt. St. Helens blew her top, John Lennon was murdered, two nations in the Middle East named Iran and Iraq started a war, millions watched Dallas to see who shot JR, the Empire Strikes Back was the highest grossing movie, the fax machine was introduced, and Pac Man became a hit at the arcade.



Cost of a new home: $76,400.00
Cost of a new car: $7210.00
Median Household Income: $17,710.00
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.15
Cost of a gallon of regular gas: $1.25
Cost of a dozen eggs: $0.91
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $2.16
Dow Jones: 1000 high and 759 low
Unemployment 9.8%
Interest Rates: 13.5%
Tom Crean turned 13 years old
Sergio Garcia, Albert Pujols, Macaulay Calkin, Hank Blalock were all born
Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Sellers, Steve McQueen, and John Lennon all died
#1 song was "Please Don't Go" by KC and the Sunshine Band
#1 album was "The Wall" by Pink Floyd










Why bring this up...well 1980 was also the last time Marquette made the NCAA tournament three straight years. That's right, 28 years. The Hank Raymonds led club was the last to accomplish this feat capping a 13 year streak of NCAA invites (MU turned down the 1970 bid but was invited).

Congratulations to Marquette, Coach Crean and the players for bringing MU back to the big time and on a consistent basis.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't believe it has been that long. Some great commercials from 1980.

Kevin Buckley said...

I am watching tonight's Tom Crean show .. in the first minute, he says "Mike Broeker told me that .. this is the first time since 1980 that MU has made it to the NCAAs 3 years in a row."

Hmm. I wonder where he got that stat!

.. As Krusty the Clown would say "If this is anyone other than Steve Allen.. YOU'RE STEALING MY BIT!"