Pickle Classic -- 30 years ago

By Steve Roush
Published in Sports on November 14, 2006 1:47 PM

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For the first time in the brief history of the Pickle Classic, both first-round winners eclipsed the 100-point mark. Unfortunately for Mount Olive, the Trojans were on the short end of the milestone, falling to eventual champion Frederick Military Academy 111-76. The Trojans fell to Southeastern Community College 92-87 in the consolation game.

Reggie Graves represented Mount Olive on the All-Tournament Team. Cy Alexander scored 12 points for the Trojans in the first round.

In the championship game, Frederick Military Academy rallied from a 23-point first half deficit to defeat Louisburg 80-78.

Also in 1976...

News

America celebrates its Bicentennial...Jimmy Carter defeats incumbent Gerald Ford to become 39th President of the United States and first from the Deep South since the Civil War...Jim Hunt elected to the first of four terms (non-consecutive) as governor of North Carolina...Prior to Hunt, N.C. governors served a maximum of one term...Patty Hearst found guilty of armed robbery...Israeli soldiers raid hijacked plane at Uganda's Entebbe Airport, rescuing 103 hostages..."Son of Sam" commits first in a series of murders that terrorizes New York City over the next year...IBM introduces first laser printer...Viking I lands on Mars...Earthquake in Tangshan, China, kills nearly a quarter of a million people.

Entertainment

"Family Feud," "Charlie's Angels," "The Bionic Woman" and "Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell" debut on ABC... "Rocky" makes Sylvester Stallone an overnight success..."The Shootist" is John Wayne's last movie...Remakes of "A Star is Born" and "King Kong" hit the theaters...Also at the cinema: "Bad News Bears," "Carrie," "Logan's Run" and "Taxi Driver" ("You talkin' to me?")... "Silly Love Songs" by Wings is No. 1 song of 1976...Bay City Rollers fall short of hype as the next Beatles...NEED MORE COWBELL: Blue Oyster Cult releases "Don't Fear the Reaper"...Also on the radio: "Disco Duck," "Disco Lady," "Fly Robin Fly" and "A Fifth of Beethoven" (which now closes out every MOC home baseball win)...Captain and Tennille get their own show on ABC (we're not making that up)...Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin reunited after 20 years on MDA Telethon...Elliott Gould announces basketball score at Academy Awards -- "And the winner is...Indiana 86-68."

Sports

Phil Ford, Walter Davis, Scott May lead USA to gold medal in men's basketball at Summer Olympics in Montreal...Gymnast Nadia Comaneci earns the first perfect 10 in Olympic competition (she goes on to earn the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh perfect 10's)...Boxers Sugar Ray Leonard, Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks win gold for USA... Women's basketball debuts as an Olympic sport...Indiana University completes perfect 32-0 season with 86-68 win over Michigan in championship game of NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament...Both Indiana and Rutgers enter the Final Four undefeated...Virginia shocks N.C. State, Maryland and North Carolina on its way to the ACC Tournament championship...Possibly the greatest game in NBA playoff history, Boston defeats Phoenix 128-126 in triple overtime in game five of NBA Finals...New York Yankees reach World Series for first time since 1964, but get swept by Cincinnati...Pittsburgh defeats Dallas 21-17 in Super Bowl X...Oakland Raiders cut 46-year-old kicker George Blanda...Tony Dorsett wins Heisman Trophy and leads University of Pittsburgh to undefeated season...Annual football game between Super Bowl champion and college all-star team discontinued.

Born in 1976

Major League Baseball players Lance Berkman, Eric Gagne, Vladimir Guerrero and Alfonso Soriano...NFL All-Pro quarterback Peyton Manning...actors Sarah Chalke ("Replacement Becky" on "Roseanne" and "Blonde Doctor" on "Scrubs"), Soleil Moon Frye ("Punky Brewster"), Melissa Joan Hart, Freddy Prinze, Jr., Fred Savage ("Wonder Years"), Alicia Silverstone, Amy Smart, Jaleel White ("Urkel") and Reese Witherspoon...rappers Cam'ron and Ja-Rule...WWE "Superstars" Shelton Benjamin and Stephanie McMahon-Levesque (Vince McMahon's daughter and Triple H's wife).