The Run
Thirty-six wins. Last seed in. Nobody circled them. What happened next is the only reason any of this is worth restoring.
41
Vance went for 41 and closed it with a windmill at the buzzer that the Icehouse still talks about.
Lizards leaders
- 41Vance(windmill at the buzzer)
- 18Hale(go-ahead free throws)
SOURCE: R. Dietz, Covington Ledger, box score reconstructed from film
The Stallions had the budget, the building, and the headlines. The Lizards had a freezing warehouse and Gecko Vance. Vance went for 41 and closed it with a windmill at the buzzer that the Icehouse still talks about.
BIRMINGHAM IRON 98, CINCINNATI LIZARDS 96
They took the champions to seven. They lost the last one by two. No banner went up. The team that beat them won the title. The team that scared them got relocated and erased eighteen months later.
SOURCE: Partial reel, Markowitz archive
This is the record we are trying to restore.
If you were there, you already know.