Re: Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Inherent Vice’ a Must-Read

[Dave Monroe]

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:02 PM, Robin Landseadel
<robinlandseadel at comcast.net> wrote:

>> http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-7964-thomas-pynchonrss-lsinherent-vicers-a-must-read.html
>
>        . . . .The year: unclear until page 113, when we find Doc
>        watching a Milwaukee Bucks game on TV, and Bucks star Lew
>        Alcindor has changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, so it
>        must be 1971.
>
> 'cept that it's 1970—see the final playoff game [ . . the Lakers would lose
> Game 7 of the finals to the Knicks: Friday, May 8, 1970.. ]
> Somebody—Pynchon?—either has their dates scrambled, or this is all happening
> in a parallel universe, one not all that different from the one I've been in
> for the last 54 years. Those that can remember the early seventies . . .

"Doc was home watching division semifinals between the 76ers and
Milwaukee, mainly for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whom Doc had admired since
he was Lew Alcindor ..." (IV, Ch. 8, p. 113)

April 3, 1970
Eastern Division Semifinals
Milwaukee Bucks 115, Philadelphia 76ers 106

It is a shame that Milwaukee didn't get to fully celebrate the
franchise's first playoff series victory. It culminated with this
milestone victory in Madison, where the team played its first-round
home playoff games in 1970 and '71.

Rookie sensation Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) poured in a
game-high 46 points to carry the Bucks past the 76ers ...

http://www.nba.com/bucks/features/MB_090519.html

1969/70: Lew Alcindor would make an immediate impact winning the
Rookie of the Year 28.8 ppg and 14.5 rebounds per game. The Bucks
would go on to finish in 2nd place with a solid 56-26 record, a 28
game improvement over their inaugural season. In the playoffs the
Bucks would dispatch the Philadelphia 76ers in 5 games to set up a
match up with New York Knicks in the Eastern Division Finals. However,
in the East Finals the Bucks would fall in 5 games.

http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/milwaukee/bucks.html

On May 1, 1971, the day after the Bucks won the NBA championship, he
adopted the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, its Arabic translation
roughly "generous (Kareem), servant of (Abdul) the mighty/stern one
(Jabbar) [i.e., of Allah]."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareem_Abdul-Jabbar#Milwaukee_Bucks

Help!  Thanks!