50 years ago in Expo history: Before the miracle on ice, there was the U.S.-Soviet basketball game at the fair

The second game of Expo ’74’s highly anticipated U.S. versus Soviet Union all-star basketball matchup was nearly cut short after the first half.

The Soviet players took exception to signs in the crowd that protested the treatment of Soviet Jews. The Soviet team “threatened in strong terms not to return to the floor” unless the signs were removed.

Expo entertainment director Tommy Walker held a tense discussion with the players in which he said he could not do anything about the signs.

Finally, a compromise of sorts was reached. A row of folding chairs was placed in front of “the half-dozen quiet protesters,” and the Soviets agreed to play the rest of the game.

The U.S. team of collegiate all-stars – including David Thompson and Quinn Bucker – defeated the Soviet team 75-69 at the Coliseum. It was their second straight win at the venue, following another victory there the night before. From 100 years ago: A burglar stole $22,000 from a safe at the Interstate Fair office, and an investigation revealed it was a cunning job by a “master craftsman.”

Someone had cut two trap doors beneath the grandstand and into the fair office. The doors had been prepared in advance and used for the nighttime heist.

However, police remained puzzled about how the thief got into the safe, “unless he had advance knowledge of the combination.”