The rest is just noise

The 1979 NCAA National Championship attracted the attention of all NBA scouts.

Louis is one of the earlier scouts to track Indiana University. Although Bird has been selected by the Celtics, he can still participate in the draft again.

His progress in his senior season was eye-catching, and the praise of "once in a century" was not an exaggeration. The dazzling title of "Great White Hope" also fell on him.

After watching a few Mountain Men games, Louis believed that if this team wanted to win the championship, it could only rely on Bird alone.

The overall strength is too poor.

In the Elite Four, they faced the DePaul University Demon Hunters with a luxurious lineup.

DePaul is led by future No. 1 pick Mark Aguirre. Five players on the team scored in double figures, while Indiana State University only had two.

This was Bird's last game before entering the Finals. Celtics general manager Auerbach came to the scene in person. He hoped that Bird would return to Boston with him as soon as possible after losing.

Bird solemnly told him: "****! We will not lose!"

In the end, they narrowly defeated by 2 points and advanced to the finals to meet the Michigan State University Spartans led by "Magic".

This is the most watched college basketball game in history.

One side is led by the "Great White Hope", and the other side is led by a magician with a smile as bright as the sun. Whites and blacks, this is the most sensitive subject of our time, hitting the G-spot of American society. Audiences across the United States are incited.

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It seems that the black and white duo will take the lead in saving the NCAA before saving the NBA.

In fact, the word rescue is not accurate. In 1968, when Evan Hayes led the team to break UCLA's undefeated myth in the "Greatest Game", college basketball entered the media's attention; in 1974, "The Greatest Game"

"Walker" led North Carolina State University to once again break UCLA's monopoly on the national championship, thus creating the concept of March Madness.

Long before the black and white duo, college basketball had been saved by the seniors. What followed was years of accumulation of strength. The stage had been laid, just waiting for the right protagonist to appear on the stage, leaving behind a legendary epic to rush to the top.

Magic and Bird are the best opponents on this stage.

They are to the NCAA what Jordan was to the NBA in the 1990s. In a battle where "Bird must be killed to win the game," the Spartans' strategy against the Mountain Men reminded Louis of 2019

In the last game of the Finals, everyone on the Raptors surrounded Curry and allowed the rest of the Warriors to take open shots. As long as they could not make open shots, the game would be won.

Bird's teammates, like Curry's teammates, can't make open shots.

The magician thus dominates the game.

This is not an entertaining game, but it is indeed the most watched basketball game in history.

27 million Americans watched the game live.

Louis didn't have as strong a sense of involvement as the Americans in attendance, sitting next to Trail Blazers general manager Stu Inman.

He met Inman last month because Inman wanted to meet the youngest scout ever.

Louis naturally also hopes to expand his network of contacts. At first, he thought Inman was an idiot, but after contact, he discovered that Inman was not an idiot.

"Compared to Larry, Earvin Johnson's future is more worth looking forward to." Inman sincerely hopes, "I hope he will not be selected by the Lakers."

Louis joked: "Why worry about this? You are not even willing to wait for Larry for another year."

"Lu, I'm not shirking responsibility, but I'm not the only one making decisions." Inman said bluntly.

Louis knows a lot about the Trail Blazers. They have a strong head coach who leads the team's recruitment and transactions. Inman can only provide advice most of the time. There is also an owner who cares about the team.

Moreover, he is unwilling to take risks.

Sometimes, the outrageous actions of professional teams are not the subjective wishes of the management.

Louis has seen similar sorrows and difficulties in many teams. Even Auerbach had the experience of being cheated by his own boss. If it weren't for the support of the Boston people, he might have gone to the Knicks.

At Boston's most desperate moment, a taxi driver reasons with Auerbach while waiting at a red light. Restaurant patrons interrupt his dinner break. The radio host implores him to reconsider. In Boston, he goes everywhere

Some people begged him to stay.

Then he stayed, assuming owner John Y. Brown left.

Brown's partner Harvard Mandrian bought Brown's shares and became the owner of the team.

This is the fourth owner of the Celtics since the beginning of the 1970s.

The team's ownership changed frequently, and Louie was just an inconspicuous member who found a good player in this world-famous college basketball finals.

The Spartans' sophomore forward Jay Vincent (Jay Vincent), who has strong athletic ability and has reached the standards of a modern forward, has diverse scoring skills and is willing to stay away from the lights. According to Louis' later understanding, he

He is the only person on this championship team who has no problem with Magic having the spotlight all to himself.

At the end of the game, colorful pieces of paper rained down in the arena.

Inman lamented: "This is a game that cannot be surpassed."

But Louis didn't pay attention to things that had nothing to do with the game at all. He concentrated on writing down what he had just observed.

Inman noticed him working and asked curiously, "What did you find?"

"I'm wondering, will Ervin be as comfortable in the NBA as he was in college?" Louis said as he put away his report.

Inman's answer is like all conservatives: "No way, he can play guard in college, do you dare to let him play guard in the NBA? He will be knocked to the ground by rough forwards, and if he doesn't master the shot as soon as possible

, I think his future in the NBA is bleak."

Is this the general manager who will miss Jordan for Bowie in the future? Louis said to the insider: "Well, I think so too."

Louis originally wanted to go back to the hotel to polish his scouting report, but was invited by Inman to attend the party tonight.

This is a party hosted by Inman, and there will be many scouts and management from all over the country attending.

Not one to miss an opportunity to expand his network, Louis agreed.

He met many acquaintances at the banquet, including Jack McMahon of the 76ers, Jon Lindberg of the Lakers, and Michael Hanks, a Clippers scout who sells scouting reports everywhere.

Knicks owner Sonny Werblin was the heavyweight of the night, and everyone wanted to please him.

Werblin is known in the industry for his generosity and generous spending. The salary he paid to Joe Namath in the 1960s shocked the sports world and created the concept of sports stars. After the merger of the AFL and NFL, Namath led

The Jets won the Super Bowl, which was the first time an AFL team won the Super Bowl. This also proved Werblin's vision.

Louis did not take the initiative to please Weblin because there were too many people trying to please him.

There were rumors that he had sex with all the female stars who were active in New York in the 1960s, and Louis actually asked him to confirm this.

This was very "rash", but Weblin replied with a smile: "I'm sorry, I can't answer your question."

They opened up each other's switches on this topic and had further communication.

Werblin was surprised that there were such young people working in the sports industry, and he was even more surprised when he heard that Auerbach thought highly of Louis.

It was an interesting night. Louis got to know many big names in the industry. The reputation of "The Kid" became more and more famous. Other teams invited him to join. But the salary they offered was similar to that of Boston. There was no reason for Louis to give up his job in Boston.

He had a smooth start to his career and connections, so he politely declined.