Marvin Webster dead

I remember him from the first Knicks teams I watched. RIP.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30112700/

 

The Human Eraser, damn.



And man, how simple were SI covers back then?

 

Once upon a time in the early '80s, there were two freshmen big men on a JV high school team in Brooklyn. One was gangly, but had a great shooting touch. The other couldn't shoot a lick, but could block everything in sight. The coach, a huge Knicks fan, nicknamed the other guy Mr.Bill and called yours truly Webster.

RIP Marvin.

 

I wondered if you were named after him.

 

I figured he was a good speller.

 

In 1980 I was covering a women's pro basketball team that was visiting Madison Square Garden to play the New York Stars. The security guard didn't like my out-of-town press pass and was giving me a hard time, and then one of the players I covered wandered in and said to the guard, "It's OK, he's with us." Guard looks at her and says, "Yeah? And who the fuck are you?" Anyway, eventually he lets us in, and down the hall we can spot a large man walking toward us. The woman grips my arm. "Holy shit," she says. "It's ... it's ... The Human Eraser!" Like he's Spider Man or something. I'm never going to forget that. He was injured at the time and was just visiting. Marvin smiled and waved and went on his way. RIP.

 

As bad as I feel for Webster's family, I feel much, much worse for Frank. Covering pro women's hoops in 1980? Oh, duuuuuuuude. No, dude!

 

It's like finding out your mother was in a porno to pay her way through college.

 

I can't believe a security guard hassled people anywhere, never mind a women's basketball game in 1980. That's so Yankee Stadium circa 2009.

 

Really, it was a fun job. I was younger (20) than any of the players and they treated me great. It's the only beat I ever had, including preps, in which the players seemed happy to see reporters. That spoiled me a bit, and by the time I started covering men's pro sports, I couldn't believe how badly the writers were treated.

 

I think the answer to the cover question was "No," but I enjoyed watching him try at MSG.

 

I think it says a lot about both my insensitivity and my obsession with "Midnight Run" that my first reaction was "Marvin! Marvin! Look out!"