stuckincincy Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Very sad news. Randy was my favorite Brave as well. Remember he was a great soccer player. Sure was. He and a fellow named Jean Tassey lead a fine Buff State soccer team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevyVanMiller Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Add me to the list of 70s kids who had Randy Smith as their favorite NBA player. R.I.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todzilla Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I am a few years too young to remember watching the Braves play, but I collected basketball cards and had a McAdoo and Randy Smith. One of the guys across the street would tell me about the Braves and for whatever reason, Randy was my favorite. Neat to read the memories on here. RIP Randy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous Guy Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I saw him play all the time when I was a kid... Now I learn that he was living about 20 minutes from my house...worked at a local casino, I think Ernie D works there too. http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=37310e69-a6f6...c7-4967909eaa57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 The All-Star game I mentioned earlier. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDmxZRrZKcw...feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billfan63 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 R.I.P. Randy When I was a kid my father worked a second job in the evening cleaning offices and buildings. One day after cleaning the Braves practice gym he came home with a pair of Pumas with R. Smith written on the back, he said the were being thrown out, although a little big for me I wore them till I grew into them and then until the damn things fell apart. What was better than a Randy Smith breakaway reverse slam dunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I saw him play all the time when I was a kid... Now I learn that he was living about 20 minutes from my house...worked at a local casino, I think Ernie D works there too. http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=37310e69-a6f6...c7-4967909eaa57 I believe you are referring to Ernie No-D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous Guy Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I believe you are referring to Ernie No-D. indeed...Thank you Mr. Clutch. I stand corrected as well...Ernie D works at the rival casino, a few miles down the road. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/02/sports/s...a-new-game.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 indeed...Thank you Mr. Clutch. You got that right, Nellie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 indeed...Thank you Mr. Clutch. I stand corrected as well...Ernie D works at the rival casino, a few miles down the road. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/02/sports/s...a-new-game.html I have a carton of Winstons just next to my monitor. Delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 R.I.P. Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsiepierski34 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 The guy lived a few blocks from down from me on West Ferry near Elmwood Ave in the late 70's. Very pleasant man. RIP. I used to play in the Randy Smith summer basketball league every summer down at Martin Luther King Park. What an atmosphere...they would roll out 4, 6 foot speakers and put each one at each corner of the court, connect them to turn tables where a DJ would start mixing, and then they had a play-by-play guy on the mic pumping up the crowd and giving all of the players nicknames...This is in the late 80's, early 90's, LONG before you see what you see on the And 1 Mix Tape Tour on ESPN where Rafer Alston got his start, but same idea.... I specifically remember a man nicknamed "Hammer" who was 1/4 homeless, 1/4 special-needs, 1/4 wine-o, 1/4 crack-head that would come out during the halftime break and do the Running Man in the jump-ball circle to MC Hammer's "Let's Get It Started..." Of course the crowd was screaming "Go Hammer, Go Hammer, Go hammer" in unison the entire performance...this was a lot to handle for a young white kid from Williamsville, but it sure was fun to watch...The best was that Hammer would show up every weekend and do the same exact thing...the refs would have to drag him off the court to resume play. Randy Smith would be there every weekend and would man the hot dog grill...the man was in incredible shape! It does not surprise me to hear he was on the treadmill when it all ended. He was always willing to sign autographs, and I don't believe he was taking money for the food he was grilling... A good man, and a great basketball experience I will always remember.... RIP Randy Smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBobinPA Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I watched Randy play BB against us at Geneseo when I was in college and got to see him play as a Brave. RIP and may God provide your family with comfort and strength. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewPort71 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 RIP Randy Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I saw him play all the time when I was a kid... Now I learn that he was living about 20 minutes from my house...worked at a local casino, I think Ernie D works there too. http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=37310e69-a6f6...c7-4967909eaa57 My brother and me used to literally chug cartons of Dairlea milk, just so we could send in the proof of purchase coupons, to get free Braves tickets. My dad would always flip out "Who drank all the goddam milk"? We would go to, normally, about 7 or 8 games a year. I saw a lot of the great NBA legends from that era, but really didn't care, I just wanted to see the Braves... growing up, I always loved the Sabres and Bills, but the Braves were #1 in my book. Likely, becuase, despite playing all the team sports, basketball was the only one I was ever any better than average at (only cuz I was tall for my age), so I loved watching it. A few weeks ago, I was going to post this question, but never did... but does anyone here remember Randy Smiths' hit record? I believe, it was called "McAdoo", or maybe "Big Mac". It was pretty bad, but they used to play it on WBEN, WKBW, and WGR all the time...it was the year that the Braves had the classic series against the Celtics, in the playoffs...I remember Brent Musburger (god he has been around forever) doing a pre-game segment about what great buddies Mac and Randy were, off the court. It was McAdoo's MVP season. If anyone had a recording of this, I would trade you something nice for it! I am a sucker for anything from that era...my happy childhood days. Of course, I didn't think of them as happy at the time, but, compared to now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seq004 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 That's very sad news indeed. RIP Randy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I used to play in the Randy Smith summer basketball league every summer down at Martin Luther King Park. What an atmosphere...they would roll out 4, 6 foot speakers and put each one at each corner of the court, connect them to turn tables where a DJ would start mixing, and then they had a play-by-play guy on the mic pumping up the crowd and giving all of the players nicknames...This is in the late 80's, early 90's, LONG before you see what you see on the And 1 Mix Tape Tour on ESPN where Rafer Alston got his start, but same idea.... I specifically remember a man nicknamed "Hammer" who was 1/4 homeless, 1/4 special-needs, 1/4 wine-o, 1/4 crack-head that would come out during the halftime break and do the Running Man in the jump-ball circle to MC Hammer's "Let's Get It Started..." Of course the crowd was screaming "Go Hammer, Go Hammer, Go hammer" in unison the entire performance...this was a lot to handle for a young white kid from Williamsville, but it sure was fun to watch...The best was that Hammer would show up every weekend and do the same exact thing...the refs would have to drag him off the court to resume play. Randy Smith would be there every weekend and would man the hot dog grill...the man was in incredible shape! It does not surprise me to hear he was on the treadmill when it all ended. He was always willing to sign autographs, and I don't believe he was taking money for the food he was grilling... A good man, and a great basketball experience I will always remember.... RIP Randy Smith. Great story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greybeard Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 In 72 or 73 I knew the guy who played back court with Smith at Buffalo State. He said several times, that if you put Smith along side any player in the NBA at the baseline and throw the ball to half court, Smith would be the one getting the ball. As it turns out, if that wasn't the truth, it wasn't far from the truth. He was a great athlete. RIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderweb Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Disclaimer: Long post, but I tried to make it worth the read.... I have lived everywhere in my life. But, for one year, I lived in Buffalo as a supposed 1st grader, specifically on Highgate (street or avenue, I have no clue, and I don't care). That year was a "welcome to the real world" year for my sorry ass 7 year old existence. These were the days of "take 1 smart white boy and 1 smart white girl and bus their asses downtown because their example will set the tone for the rest of the black kids". I was the elementary "example" to be followed. (I can just see Kelly TFBD and the rest of the Obama lap dogs saying: why oh why did we send this idiot?) Answer: This is what happens when we let dumbass liberals "go wild". You think I'm kidding? Check out the theory of "inclusion" right here. Look, even an idiot understands that in 1978 a little, skipped a grade, d-bag like myself was not going to get all the black kids in the school to start taking an interest in doing math. Especially not Montessori math. And this was way before I was even kind of good at sports. We had just moved from Korea and all I knew was soccer....poorly. And there was this OJ guy.... As a necessity, I suddenly took on a strong interest in learning how to fight. I became, and for the rest of my life, really, really good at it, to my and my subsequent opponent's, great displeasure. But also, I found out that I could only whip the entire class so many times. I was suddenly "enlightened". I realized that I watched Randy Smith play basketball....the same as the rest of the boys. I realized that the only way I would ever have anything in common with anybody at that school was by talking about sports. More importantly, I realized that if us boys were talking sports, all the girls were told to STFU and get out of the way. Girls, then as now, were the root cause of most of my troubles. Mostly this had to do with my "peers" singing the Buffalo Braves song, which would always mean we would play with our pretend basketball, and they would have to step aside. For the youngins, you were cool if you could sing this song while you made a decent "move", with the "ball", to the basket: Buffalo...(bump, bump, bump).........Braves Buffalo...(bump, bump, bump).........Braves Just imagine Randy Smith pulling a power move on the "Buffalo" part, then pulling back to get the D help out of position on the "bump, bump, bump" part, shooting, and the ball going in on the "Braves" part of the song. And then they would "automagically" put up his stats on the screen. Swear to God, Randy Smith, in his own way, did more for me than is fathomable for most people...unless you were ever a "magnet kid". (My dad went to Bishop Duffy with Calvin Murphy....but that is another story.) I never knew the man, and I still don't care. But, my eternal interest in sports, and the value I place on being able to talk sports with anyone, anywhere, all started with Randy Smith. RIP Brother. Your ability and the theme song kept me out of more serious trouble that year...until we moved to Cleveland. R Pitiful. Can't even leave the politics alone to honor Randy. Classless..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spun Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 It is with great sorrow and disbelief that I heard of the loss of Randy Smith. For those who are a little younger and or don't remember, there was a time when Buffalo had an NBA team that was very good. There was a time in the mid seventies when the Braves, Bills and Sabres were all in first place in their divisions with players among the best in their respective leagues. In 1970, Buffalo began franchises in both the NBA and NHL with the Braves and the Sabres. I can't recall that ever happening before, two new franchises in one city, in one year, it is very rare. It was a great time. Although I had the early bedtime in 4th grade, I defiantly had the Sabres games on one radio and the Braves on the other. For a developing sports addict it was the best. As a kid, the newspapers provided the comic fix until sports kicked in. And kick in it did. Having two papers with generous sports coverage was great. And that included Buffalo college sports. Not only did Randy Smith of Buffalo State play in the NBA but also Bob Lanier of Bennett High and St. Bonaventure, Calvin Murphy of Niagara and Mike Macaluso of Canisius. If you ever get the chance, visit the microfilm section of the downtown Buffalo library and catch a glance of that era. I used to also collect those ticket coupons off the Dairylea milk cartons. Unfortunately, I was never able to use them as money and rides were always an issue. I did see a few games live. The first was aginst the Lakers in I believe 1971. The game ended in the Lakers favor 131-118 and was significant in that a collision between Bob Kaufman and Jerry West led to a very bad knee injury to West. I also once saw McAdoo score 52 points. I still have scrapbooks of newsclippings of the Braves, Sabres and Bills from those days. And of course, I still have my Braves pennant. It is ironic that we lose Randy during the aftermath of the last days of the Aud. I believe Randy was at this past Fall's Aud auction. It is fitting that Randy (and Bob McAdoo) were enshrined in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. I do think it would be very cool if both Randy Smith and Bob McAdoo had their numbers raised to the roof of HSBC possibly with a tournament featuring WNY college basketball teams. I know the Braves never played at HSBC but that time (although way too short) was indeed sweet. I never recovered from the Braves leaving Buffalo. It was handled very poorly. The NBA owners had their hands in the franchise leaving. The NBA lost me as a fan. Clippers. Not. I never liked franchise shifts. Especially looming ones. My condolences to Randy's family, friends and fans! Rest well Randy Smith. Thanks for the memories! Everybody, live today like it is your last. 60 years old is way too young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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