The Lion King
Senior
Posts: 394
Reg: 11-21-04
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03-03-07 03:50 PM - Post#32025
Clem Labine was a Woonsocket boy, and the most interesting thing in his obituary was this sentence: "He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1949, and after retiring from baseball he launched a second career designing and manufacturing men's outerwear."
I never though of RISD as a baseball powerhouse, but I'm sure the Fightin' Aesthetes had great uniforms, at least. Can any of you Rhode Island guys think of any other professional athletes who went to RISD? This seems miraculous somehow.
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penndulum
Freshman
Posts: 96
Age: 86
Loc: Greater Boston
Reg: 11-22-04
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Re: Clem Labine
03-03-07 06:01 PM - Post#32026
In response to The Lion King
To quote a line on the RISD web-site, "Sports are not the focus of campus life...."
"Yearbooks and alumni reveal the RISD Student Association funded basketball teams throughout the 50's and 60's and were called the "Nads." An ice hockey team formed soon after using the same name, "Nads."
In 2000, a new basketball team was formed under the name, "Balls" to complement the ice hockey team, each with their own slogan: "When the heat is on, the Balls stick together" and "Go Nads."
Listed as prominent alumni in addition to Clem Labine are:
Martin Mull, famous comedian
but even more impressively:
Kurt Wenner, famous glass-blower and
Dale Chihuly, anamorphic street painter
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Old Bear
Postdoc
Posts: 4000
Reg: 11-23-04
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Re: Clem Labine
03-03-07 06:12 PM - Post#32027
In response to penndulum
Gotta love it.
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The Lion King
Senior
Posts: 394
Reg: 11-21-04
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the glory days of RISD basketball
03-03-07 07:00 PM - Post#32028
In response to Old Bear
As you’d expect, RISD’s basketball team has always been strongest in the paint--though when Jackson Pollock was coach, he placed more emphasis on dribbling. In-game adjustments tend to be difficult; whenever the coach draws up a play, the team spends the rest of the timeout criticizing the composition and use of color. On the other hand, RISD’s game films are widely praised for their innovative editing and non-linear narrative techniques, though old-timers still cringe at the memory of coach Warhol, whose films showed the team sitting on the bench for two hours watching the game. As for the RISD band, it reached its height in the early 1970s, when David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Tina Weymouth, who would later form Talking Heads, were students. Whenever the referees made a questionable call, the band would shout in unison, “Qu’est-ce que c’est? Fa fa fa fa fa, fa fa fa fa fa.”
But the high point of RISD’s long and storied hoops history occurred in the early 1920s under coach Marcel Duchamp and his assistant René Magritte. In their legendary “Dada offense,” the point guard would stand between the circles, hold the ball over his head, and shout, “ceci n’est pas un basketball.” At the same time, the power forward painted a moustache on the center-court insignia and the shooting guard climbed a ladder, sat on the rim, and read randomly selected passages from the Encyclopedia Britannica backwards. Meanwhile the center stood in the backcourt setting screens against non-existent opponents as the small forward rode a unicycle around the perimeter and juggled tranquilized hamsters. Opposing coaches had great difficulty figuring out how to defend against this set, and while there is no record of RISD ever scoring any points with it, it is said to have been a major influence on Pete Carril.
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Old Bear
Postdoc
Posts: 4000
Reg: 11-23-04
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Re: the glory days of RISD basketball
03-03-07 07:38 PM - Post#32029
In response to The Lion King
Did Carril ever attend the RISD fashion program?
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stump
Sophomore
Posts: 187
Reg: 01-23-05
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Re: the glory days of RISD basketball
03-03-07 10:07 PM - Post#32030
In response to The Lion King
Thank you TLK. I enjoyed that.
If there is anyone else out there considering submitting pieces of work such as TLK's, please hold them for the off-season. I need something to tide me over until next autumn.
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penndulum
Freshman
Posts: 96
Age: 86
Loc: Greater Boston
Reg: 11-22-04
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Re: the glory days of RISD basketball
03-03-07 10:46 PM - Post#32031
In response to The Lion King
TLK: You need professional help.
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Old Bear
Postdoc
Posts: 4000
Reg: 11-23-04
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Re: the glory days of RISD basketball
03-04-07 03:10 AM - Post#32032
In response to penndulum
Halston also a RISD grad. Well done TLK.
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dperry
Postdoc
Posts: 2214
Loc: Houston, TX
Reg: 11-24-04
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Re: Clem Labine
03-07-07 01:18 AM - Post#32033
In response to The Lion King
Quote:
Clem Labine was a Woonsocket boy, and the most interesting thing in his obituary was this sentence: "He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1949, and after retiring from baseball he launched a second career designing and manufacturing men's outerwear."
I never though of RISD as a baseball powerhouse, but I'm sure the Fightin' Aesthetes had great uniforms, at least. Can any of you Rhode Island guys think of any other professional athletes who went to RISD? This seems miraculous somehow.
Obviously he must have kept his alma mater a well-guarded secret during his baseball career, or he never would have survived the humiliation.
Also, the few attempts to have professional fashion people do sports uniforms have actually tended to fail badly. Witness the original Charlotte Hornet uniforms, which introduced the twin scourges of teal and pinstripes to professional basketball.
David Perry
Penn '92
"Hail, Alma Mater/Thy sons cheer thee now
To thee, Pennsylvania/All rivals must bow!!!" |
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