RIP Dr. Jack Ramsay

Just heard that Dr. Jack Ramsay passed away overnight - died in his sleep at 89.

Curious for any Dr. Jack stories here. I met him a handful of times from 2000 to 2006 and found him to be an incredibly nice man. First time was at ESPN in the cafeteria - we talked about Blazers and his eyes were full of life. I was probably much more nervous as I read "Breaks of the Game" as a kid and appreciated all of his contributions. When our paths would cross in NBA arena in later years, he was always kind and appreciative of his informal role as an ambassador to the game.

What impressed me most... Ramsay's energy at age 75. He was full of it. A live well lived.

 

Link:

http://nba.si.com/2014/04/28/jack-ramsay-dies-trail-blazers-coach-espn/

 

At my first paper, our NBA writer had some kind of feud with him dating back to when Ramsay was in Portland. He would rant all the time about how only a complete dick would call himself Dr. Jack when he had a doctorate in Phys Ed or whatever it was. My co-worker (still a well-known NBA writer) was a complete dick himself, so I took it with a grain of salt.

I dealt with Ramsay once for a story I did on Bill Walton and he was very good. We were doing stories on the greatest athletes of the century and Walton was one of the ones I did. The main reason I was assigned the story was because our NBA guy refused to do it. I think he had problems with Walton and Ramsay. I found Ramsay to be a nice guy. Easy to get on the phone and he gave me a lot of time...

RIP

 

Dr. Jill Biden has no idea what you are talking about.

(BTW, they both have/had Ph.D.s in Education. Ramsay's was from the University of Pennsylvania. Biden's is from Delaware.)

 

One of the best there was: coach, color commentator, fashion maven.

 

On Dr. Jack's 89th birthday, Terry Stotts wore a Ramsay-style jacket in tribute. I hope the next game he wears Ramsay-style pants.



I had very limited dealings with Ramsay, but he was nothing but great. As a college reporter, I was able to walk up to him after a preseason Pacers practice, grab him, and talk one-on-one for 30 minutes. So many athletes or coaches would big-time you, but he treated me like I had just flown in for the New York Times.

 

The writer implied that Ramsay made people call him Dr. Jack. I have ZERO idea is that was true. Like I said, the writer is a complete asshole, but has covered the NBA forever.

 

Yeah, but we're talking about a guy who had a bug up his ass about something that happened in the 1970s, and this guy routinely would freak out over stuff that wouldn't make anyone else blink.

 

Why don't we ask Dr. Michelle Obama (Juris Doctor, Harvard, 1988)?

 

It must be exhausting to live in your bubble.

 

I'm not the only one who thought of Dr. Biden:

Chris Kenny ‏@ChrisPKenny 1h

@jmartNYT Before there was Dr Ben Carson or Dr Jill Biden, there was Dr Jack Ramsay: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10851047/former-nba-coach-dr-jack-ramsay-led-portland-trail-blazers-77-title-dies …

 

He made the Braves a lot of fun to watch back in the day. One of the first to recognize that Randy Smith from little Buffalo State had serious game.