Did the 1975 Warriors really get bumped by the Ice Follies?
http://blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent/2015/06/02/did-the-1975-warriors-get-bumped-by-the-ice-follies/
Ive heard the urban legend since I was a kid in the 1980s, and it sounds a little more crazy each passing year. Did the Golden State Warriors, heading into their first and only NBA finals to date, really get jettisoned from their home court to accommodate the Ice Follies?...
The Ice Follies explanation seems like it couldnt possible be true. In any era, the equation is the same: Professional sports title > non-competitive ice dancing. The Warriors getting bounced from an epic playoff game for an ice show is like the Giants having to play in Game 3 of the World Series in Stockton, because Larry Baer booked a Nick Jonas concert in AT&T Park for October. Even if the city of Oakland or the team somehow botched this, I would assume there would be some presidential intervention, like Reagan did with the air traffic controllers....
I did find one semi-useful clue: Our 1975 Chronicle playoff schedule, which is probably still on someones refrigerator, indicated that Game 6 (*if necessary) would have been played in Oakland. Which tells me the team wasnt intentionally blowing off Oakland.
Ill be honest. At this point, I thought the Ice Follies legend was bulls. I even sort of shouted down my colleague (and fellow sports myth sleuth) Sam Whiting when he brought it up in a story meeting a few days ago.