On October 12, 1999, Wilt Chamberlain died. 

The following tributes were made by members of Cyberzahm:

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Subject: The Gwod
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 11:34:10 -0500
From: Gabes 

Wilt Chamberlain had many nicknames during his playing days, but the one
I always liked the best was the one a guy named Murph called Stilt
during my freshman year in Zahm.  To Murph, Wilt was "The Gwod".  Murph
was a senior from the east coast and he lived next door to Sobo in
Zahm.  He was passionate about Chamberlain.  He and his room mates would
argue for hours over who was better, Russell or Gwod?  I thought then,
and still think now, that Murph had it right. Chamberlain was better,
hands down.  In fact, the only guy possibly better than Chamberlain in
the history of the sport is MJ, and even then, you could build a good
case for the Gwod.

Chamberlain's records are mind boggling.  He scored 100 points in a
game. He had 55 rebounds in a game.  He had an NBA record 23,924 career
rebounds.  At different times he led the league in scoring, rebounding
*and* assists.  He scored 4,029 points, played 3,882 minutes, and
averaged 50.4 points per game (all NBA records) in one season (61-62).
They changed the rules of the game because of him and he still dominated
the center position more than anyone else in the history of the game.
Yes, Murph was right.  You could argue that Russell was a better team
player, but the Gwod was, without doubt, the best player or his time and
possibly any time.

Chamberlain was also the first athletic 7 footer to play the game.  He
had the wing span of an Andean condor and yet looked perfectly
proportioned for his size. Some say he was one of the strongest men of
all time. In high school he ran the high hurdles in track and put the
shot.  He played volleyball professionally for a time and those who
watched him play said he was "heads above" anyone else on the court.  He
ran the Honolulu marathon in his late fifties and ran a 50 mile race in
Canada.  When he posed with Muhammad in a boxing photo, you could see a
look of terror on Ali's face as he looked at Chamberlain's reach.

Perhaps most remarkable of all is the Gwod's claim that he bedded 20,000
women.  20,000?!!  We're talkin' 1.2 women a day, EVERY DAY, from the
time Chamberlain was 15!  From the stories, there weren't many coyotes
either. In Chamberlain's own words, "the average Joe would have proposed
to most of the women I dated on the first date."  Wilton Gwod
Chamberlain...him was a man!

Gabes

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Jack wrote:
>
> Gabes,
> You will remember that Richie Murphy called him the "Big Gwod"!  Murph was
> from the great state of New Jersey
> Great Zahm memories.  Last I knew, Murph was an actuary in NYC.
>
> Last night, I saw Dick Schapp talking about Wilt and indicated he could speak
> bits of 15 different languages.  Schapp said one time, he took a good looking
> Swedish dish to a bar near Harlem that Wilt owned and that as soon as they
> arrived, Wilt started speaking Swedish to the girl.  Schapp said he never saw
> the girl again.

She was probably one of those 20,000.

Gabes

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Subject: RE: The Gwod
From: "Sobo" 

Gabes-

great memory- both of the Gwod and Murph!

Two more Gwod-isms that put his achievements into perspective:

- his playing time in the 61-62 seasons averaged 48.5 minutes per game.
tough to beat with today's 12 minute quarters.

- Larry Brown relates a story when one night, one of his players scored 50,
and was all excited.  Some trivia freak mentioned it was the 257th time
someone OTHER than the Gwod hit that number....tying the rest of the world
with the Gwod!!

Gary