It was a year of Afros, shaggy cuts, and go-go boots-not that most of us remember 1976- but it was also the last year of the outlaw, American Basketball Association.
The key merger between the NBA and the ABA helped shape the modern game of basketball. While the ABA is seldom mentioned today, it pioneered staples of the game including three-point shots and slam dunks. The ABA was infamous for spontaneity and unruly court conduct which drew notable crowds throughout its nine year life. In fact Utah had their very own ABA team, the Utah Stars.
The ABA has long since been absorbed into sports history, but "Semi-Pro" is digging up the past and bringing some of the lost flavor of the ABA to the big screen. Will Ferrell stars as Jackie Moon, Owner, Trainer and Coach to the Flint Tropics, in this comedy. Moon stages some outlandish stunts to intice fans including a panacake handout, wrestling a bear and a live camel and firecracker night.
Moon's team name, Flint Tropics, is likely derived from the town of Flint, Mich. near Detriot where a portion of the movie was filmed. A sizeable portion of the movie was also filmed in the gym of the Los Angeles City Fire Dept. Training Center as well as in Los Angeles. It may be possible to differentiate the cities throughout the movie.
The movie is scheduled to open Friday, Feb. 29 and is rated R for language and some sexual content. Judging from the trailers, I'd imagine this is going to follow in the footsteps of most Ferrell movies. But it is nice to see the ABA getting some exposure after more than thirty years.
To find out more about "Semi-Pro," watch scenes and the music video "Love me Sexy" you can check out their website.
3 comments:
I can't wait to watch that movie. My grandpa was a season ticket holder of the Utah Stars back in the day. I'm told that the decision to move the Stars to Utah came down to a coin toss between the SLC and Albuquerque . The best thing to ever happen to the Beehive state is bringing the Stars to town. The move demonstrated that Utah is capable of supporting professional sports. I think the entire area owes the Utah Stars a debt of gratitude for bringing the Jazz and the Olympics to the region.
Let me know what you think of the movie. I was oblivious to much of the Stars' background before writing this. Crazy what can happen with a coin toss, huh?
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