Julius Erving, helicopter

"Too bad, America, but you missed one of the greatest basketball shows on Earth. Or, rather, one just a few feet off the Earth. That was Julius Erving last week, launching himself from various points on courts in Denver and New York, soaring and scoring, passing, rebounding, blocking and stealing - all in the undeserved obscurity of the ABA championship finals. By Saturday night Erving and his underdog New York Nets had Denver down three games to one, which is what can happen when humans go five-on-one with a helicopter." - Pat Putnam, Sports Illustrated, May 17, 1976

I read this paragraph when it was new. My copy of the May 17, 1976 issue of SI was in my hands, or more likely, lying flat on a clean table so as not to crease the magazine. The imagery conjured by the words, "which is what can happen when humans go five-on-one with a helicopter", was pressed into my head as surely as if my mind had been run through the web press with all those slick magazine pages.

I was trying to think of any writing that I remember reading any earlier than this paragraph. The only things that come to mind are the Bible, Green Eggs and Ham, and a short story by Isaac Asimov titled The Singing Bell. This lone paragraph, and especially the helicopter sentence, made a lasting impression.

Why do I write? For one reason, to craft sentences as fine as that one which, 37 years later, I still recall and recite to friends who never are as impressed as I was. Perhaps it's my delivery.

The original Sports Illustrated article can be read here.