Fly Williams and the Governors

I was reading about James "Fly" Williams, who went from Brooklyn to Clarksville, Tennessee and back again. Apparently, APSU retired his jersey number 35 last year and his former coach passed away about thirty days later. Now Fly works for the City of Brooklyn Dept. of Recreation.

When I was a young teenager, Sports Illustrated did a story about this freshman basketball player at Austin Peay, where both my parents went to college. Fly was from Brooklyn and had somehow been recruited to play for Austin Peay. In his freshman year, he was fifth in the nation in scoring percentage and lead the Governors to their first appearance in the NCAA's (March Madness). They actually won the first round game against Jacksonville, then lost in overtime to Kentucky.

I remember listening to the APSU-UK game on the radio. I think that may be the only time I pulled for the other team against Kentucky. Fly had 26 points in a loss.

The next year, they played in the opening round against Notre Dame and Adrian Dantley and got beat. Afterward, Fly had enough of playing in Clarksville and was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in the ABA, later going to the St. Louis Spirits, where he encountered a young broadcaster, Bob Costas.

Apparently, the ABA in those days was quite a wild affair. I always liked the ABA because they had a team in Louisville and Indianapolis. I still don't understand why the Kentucky Colonels didn't make it in to the NBA. Maybe the same reason they couldn't keep a major league baseball team in Major League Baseball.

I had a pair of red, white and blue adidas basketball shoes back in those days and actually found a red, white and blue ABA ball. As Cindy says, I am a contrarian. If everybody liked the NBA, I liked the ABA. When everyone was pulling for the Colts in Super Bowl III, I was pulling for the Jets. It was all about Joe Namath, but what I didn't know at the time was the Jets had a defensive coordinator from Washington and Lee: Walt Michaels. That would have clinched my love for the Jets. I hope they win next week against the Colts.

I would like to meet Fly Williams some day. I don't think I will fly up to New York to see if I can find the recreational facility in Brooklyn. Maybe we will find our mutual ways to Clarksville some day.

By the way, another good player on that APSU team, Percy Howard, later found his way into the NFL and caught a touchdown pass for the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl. How about that for touches of greatness?

By the way, the student's chant during basketball games in those days? "The Fly is open; let's go Peay!" How about that for a cheer?