Captain lou albano young pro#

In keeping with the free-market embrace of the Reagan ’80s, the Los Angeles Olympics turned a profit a New York real-estate magnate entered the national conversation via his crass capitalism and his ownership of a pro football team (Trump was his name). Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, at last, met in the NBA Finals, to the delight of the new visionary commissioner, David Stern.

It was as good a metaphor as any for the transformation of sports - and American culture - that occurred that summer, which is the focus of my new book, Glory Days : The Summer of 1984 and the 90 Days That Changed Sports and Culture Forever. Jordan didn’t just have a Nike shoe contract a signature model was in production, bound to pay him far more than the $550,000 the Bulls were offering him as a rookie contract. He wasn’t just the third selection in the NBA Draft he was selected by the Bulls, a team in a prime media market. Olympic team roster he was undeniably the star, who shone as they won the gold medal. One night, he sauntered into the Edgewood High School senior prom, held as it was at the same facility where Jordan and the other players were staying.īy the end of the summer, Jordan was somewhere else entirely.

Captain lou albano young movie#

When he wasn’t training, he would traipse around town, ordering a smoothie by himself, playing mini-golf, heading to the movie theater affixed to the College Mall. Marooned in the sleepy midwestern college town, Jordan cut a restless figure, projecting no air of celebrity. Jordan wasn’t yet an NBA player either, as the Draft wasn’t till June and the season wouldn’t start until October. With great ambivalence, he had just renounced his senior year at North Carolina to turn pro. Jordan spent weeks in Bloomington at the behest of the team’s dictatorial coach, Bob Knight. And he had come to my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, to audition for - and then train for - the U.S. Photo: The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Cyndi Lauper and Lou Albano, two parts of an unlikely tag team.