For many years, it’s been known as “The Shot.”

It happened on March 28, 1992 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia when Christian Laettner made a shot from just above the foul line to give Duke a 104-103 overtime victory over Kentucky in an East Regional Final

In this week’s version of my Yesterday column – a look back at sports and pop culture events from the 1960s. 70s, 80s and sometimes beyond - I will remember some of the more colorful college basketball players from that era as well the tidbits and trinkets that touched our lives in some ways.

Do you recall where Allentown Central Catholic’s Billy McCaffrey finished his college basketball career? Do you know which show from the 1970s was named after a bird associated with a Christmas song? How about a slugger who had an extremely brief career with the Phillies? We’ll touch on all those subjects in this week’s version of Yesterday.

Bad Boy ... Laettner made his game-winning shot when he took a nearly full-court pass from Grant Hill who was inbounding the ball from under his own basket. Kentucky chose not to guard Hill and tried to double-team Laettner, who managed to catch the pass, quickly turn, and hit the shot. Laettner’s competitiveness and his smug personality wasn’t a big hit with fans and he was once voted the “most hated college basketball player” in an ESPN poll. Laettner’s pro career never quite matched the glory of his college days. He was drafted third overall by Minnesota in 1993, and played for six teams in his 13 years.

Skywalker ... Growing up in the late 1960s and 70s, it was a real treat to watch Saturday afternoon college basketball on NBC from the traditional college powers down south such as North Carolina, South Carolina, and North Carolina State.

I will always remember David Thompson “The Skywalker” from NC State who led the Wolfpack to an undefeated season and national championship in 1974. Back then, the same dunk was outlawed in college basketball due to the “Lew Alcindor” rule that was in effect from 1967 to ‘77.

That NC State team had some more memorable characters such as 5-7 guard Monte Towe, 7-2 center Tom Burleson, and 6-8 power forward Tim Stoddard. They all were perfect role players around Thompson. There also was little-used reserve Matt Moeller – no relation – but you knew it was big to have a player with your last name when you were 14.

Small but Mighty ... Who could forget 5-3 Muggsy Bogues, who played for Wake Forest back in the mid-1980s and also was the shortest player to play in the NBA. Speaking of “little men” in the game, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Niagara’s 5-9 Calvin Murphy, who was more known from his days with the Houston Rockets. Murphy scored more than 17,000 career points, and he easily would have scored more had the three-point line been in effect during his heyday.

Area Player Makes it Big ... Central Catholic’s McCaffrey is mostly remembered for his role on the outstanding Duke teams during that era. But how many of us can remember that McCaffrey played the final two years of his college career at Vanderbilt after spending his first two years at Duke.

Irish Glory Days ... With head coach Mike Brey recently retiring after more than two decades at Notre Dame, I thought it would be a good time to look back on Irish basketball well before the Mike Brey era began. Maybe the greatest player in Notre Dame history was Austin Carr - one of the game’s most prolific scorers. In addition to Carr, some of the more famous Irish players from that time frame were forward Adrian Dantley - who could drain those foul-line and long jumpers - and post player John Shumate - who could dominate the paint.

Did you know that ex-Phillies reliever and spot starter Ron Reed holds the Irish rebound average for a season with a 17.7 clip in 1963-64? That was a little before my time, but I was aware of his hoop presence.

Something else I’ll always remember is that on the telecasts from Notre Dame, it always appeared like a crammed gym floor with little space on the sidelines, and there were those deep camera shots from the corners.

The most colorful Notre Dame coach of all-time was Richard “Digger” Phelps, who seemed to be always donned in green and yellow with those plaid sports jackets Did you know that Phelps began his head coaching career at St. Gabriel’s High School in Hazleton.

Upset in Easton ... One Notre Dame basketball fact that some people may not recall is Lafayette - coached by the legendary Butch van Breda Kolff -upset Notre Dame on Jan. 4, 1988 before a packed house at Lafayette’s tiny College Hill court. Notre Dame was led by Phelps and All-American guard David Rivers. Notre Dame was 7-2 at the time while Lafayette was 3-4.

I happened to cover that game for an area newspaper, and it was one of the loudest and wildest sports scenes I have ever attended. Who was calling the play-by-play for Chicago TV station WGN that night? It was the legendary Harry Kalas, who would do his share of college basketball game before switching over to baseball when spring training began.

Those Famous Birds ... Beginning in 1956 and stretching periodically until 1986, NBC used the Peacock as its logo, and it became synonymous with the network. There also is the three-chimed musical piece that we all know well. The network originally unveiled it in 1956 to promote its color programming.

On March 23, 1974, ABC’s “Partridge Family” ended a four-year run on the network. The opening scene was a partridge busting from an egg with the song “C’mon Get Happy.” Even though some of us probably don’t want to admit it, we all watched the show with David Cassidy, Danny Bonaduce and Susan Day.

Thank You For Your Support .. In the early 80s, we were all enamored by two older gentlemen sitting on a rustic front porch trying to see a wine cooler in their commercial.

Bartles and James became a popular drink pitched by two men who usually had an anecdote about a holiday or popular topic. One man told a story while the other worked on a craft.

The commercial ended with their popular slogan, “Thank you for your support.”

Another Classic Game ... With the rush of “electronic” games in the early 70s, “Dr. Dunk” added to the list.

It was a handheld game with a basic premise to try and create a variety of dunks. I never had this game, and really don’t recall it. Yet, maybe some of you owned or played it.

Memory Lane ... Every week, I will look back at a former player, coach, manager, or media personality from our yesterday.

Do you remember the Phillies’ Danny Tartabull? If you blinked, you may have missed his very brief Phillies’ career of three games. Tartabull, who was battling injuries late in his career, hit 27 home runs with the Chicago White Sox in 1996 and was a free agent after the season.

The Phillies signed him to a one-year, $2 million deal with incentives, topping his only other offer from the Reds’ at $500,000. Tartabull’s injury woes continued, and he appeared in just three games with four strikeouts in seven plate appearances.

Tartabull retired after the season.