Former Buffalo Brave & Buff St Grad Randy Smith died

[Beerball]

Pollock remembers

[Lori]

Pollock remembers

Love the story about Smith faking Clyde Frazier out of his Pumas.

[Nervous Guy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDmxZRrZKcw...PL&index=44

[The Dean]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDmxZRrZKcw...PL&index=44

 

 

That'll be Danny, some day.

[K-9]

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.

 

Great post! You and I must have gone to different schools together.

 

To this day, the mere thought of John Y. Brown makes me sick to my stomach. Why did Snyder have to sell the team to him in the first place? Sorry.

 

Peace, Randy.

[Spun]

Great post! You and I must have gone to different schools together.

 

To this day, the mere thought of John Y. Brown makes me sick to my stomach. Why did Snyder have to sell the team to him in the first place? Sorry.

 

Peace, Randy.

 

Last night, I pulled up a chair in a San Diego sports bar. I was wearing my Bills hat. The guy next to me commented about my hat. He is a Dolphins and Hurricanes fan while I am a Buckeye and of course, a Bills fan. This guy has never accepted the Buckeye win over the Canes in the BCS a few years ago. Instead of dropping the gloves, he bought me a beer. He asked whether I was there to watch the playoff game. I explained that I was there for the other playoff game (Wings and Pens). The place was crawling with Laker fans and one of the bartenders is a Clippers fan. The conversation led to my take on basketball. Great sport to play, watch and follow. But rip a kid's franchise away and you lose loyalty to an entire sport.

 

The only thing I liked about John Y. Brown was his wife, a former Miss America, Phyllis George.

 

The guy sitting next to me at the bar is a standup comic. There was this lady sitting on the other side of him. They started talking, drank a couple of shots and ten minutes later, while the lady was in the restroom, he tells me in a concerned voice that the lady just asked him to take her back to his place. He sounded very unsure of what to do as she seemed a little unstable and certainly quick. I looked at him and I said "material just falls in your lap". Literally. The lady returned to the bar and not two minutes went by and the two were out the door. Sorry to work this into a thread about Randy Smith but it was funny.

 

To finish this post on Randy and to add a little more humor, read this article about Randy in the Buffalo News:

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/695174.html

 

The part about the head shaving was hilarious! Can you imagine watching that? The story about Clyde's shoes (from Beerballs' link to Chuck Pollacks article) also was great! I wish we could see footage of that!

 

Thanks Nervous Guy for the YouTube video. I forgot how smooth Randy was when he would pull back and pop his jumpers. The Braves eventually became very good while we had them. Randy Smith has to be Buff State's greatest athlete. Great memories!