I was born in New York and lived there until I was 4 -- my earliest sports memory was owning a Wesley Walker #85 Jets jersey. We moved to Houston though in 1977 and a few years later I would be swept up into Earl Campbell and 100 mph fastballs from J.R. Richard and Nolan Ryan.

I was an Oilers and Astros junkie. The Houston Rockets? Not really. I wouldn't even call it a distant third -- it just wasn't in the race for me.

In 1982, my older brother started following the University of Houston basketball team. "Phi Slama Jama", they called them. They had a bunch of scorers and athletes and one big soccer goalie from Africa named Akeem Abdul Olajuwon, so I started watching games and reading the papers.

At my young age, basketball seemed boring to me, but this jamfest was an exciting brand and Olajuwon drew me in. I was hooked, and so was much of the city.

Those who saw Dream back then know what he did in college. He went from being a defensive player to an attacking terror on both ends, and it resulted in 3 trips to the Final Four for the Cougars.

When he opted to leave after his junior season I was crushed, but there was a chance he was staying in town. The #1 pick in the NBA Draft came down to a coin flip between the Rockets and Portland Traiblazers, who had drafted Olajuwon's college teammate Clyde Drexler the year before.

Anton Chigurh asks Portland: What's the most you ever lost in a coin toss?

Portland brass called "tails". The coin came up "heads". The Dream would continue in Houston, and I've been all in on the Rockets ever since.

My story isn't unique. Olajuwon put the Rockets squarely on the sports map in Houston. He brought in thousands upon thousands of new fans to the Rockets and their Dream-fueled run through the playoffs in 1986 created a "Luv Ya Blue" equivalent for basketball in a town where football reigned supreme.

I don't know what year it was that we got a VCR, but once we did I would try to record everything, filling up VHS tapes with any Houston-related sports game, clip, video or highlight that seemed like something I might want to watch again.

I recently made a trip back to Boston, where my family lives now, and found some boxes of tapes (God bless my mother -- she kept everything). I started going through them and sure enough, there was the original recording of the Rockets-Lakers Game 5 of the West Finals in 1986 and all of the local post-game. Sure, other things I found, such as recordings of all of the local news broadcasts of Billy Hatcher being traded to the Pirates for Glenn Wilson, did suggest that I had an illness, but there was enough good stuff to hint it might be a bit of a treasure trove for a Rockets fan of the 80's.

So without further delay, here are some clips you may enjoy.

1986 Rockets-Lakers Game 5 Post-Game Locker Room Interviews
CBS aired the NBA games back then, so local Channel 11 took over once the national broadcast ended. Chip Moody and Steve Mark were in the newsroom and Giff Nielsen was in LA broadcasting from the locker room. Here are the interviews, broken into two parts: Mitchell Wiggins, Ralph Sampson, Jim Petersen, Hakeem Olajuwon and coach Bill Fitch in Part One while Part Two has Lewis Lloyd, Robert Reid, Allen Leavell and Rodney McCray.

Highlights

• 1:33 mark -- Oh yeah, Wiggins knew that shot was going in. All the way.
• 2:13 mark -- It always cracked me up how Giff intercepted the high-five that Ralph was giving Wiggins.
• 3:09 mark -- "Is this the biggest moment of your career?" Hmm, a third-year player just hit an insane shot at the buzzer on the road to knock out Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and the World Champion Lakers and send his Rockets team to the NBA Finals. Toughie.
• 3:43 mark -- The "Ivory Tower" in the house.
• 4:44 mark -- Enter Dream.
• 5:22 mark -- "I couldn't help it," says Hakeem, referring to throwing a punch that knocked out Mitch Kupchak. Awesome.
• 6:20 mark -- Steve, Chip ... who cares?

Highlights

• 0:20 mark -- Jim Foley, a Rockets classic. Foley has been with the Rockets for 36 years and recently underwent bladder surgery -- all our best wishes to the Foley family.
• 0:59 mark -- How high is Lewis Lloyd right now?
• 1:07 mark -- Imagine what would happen today if a player shoved a referee away from an argument, as Lloyd does here when he's mixing it up with Michael Cooper.
• 1:28 mark -- I think Giff was looking for a smoother transition from Lloyd to Robert Reid right there.
• 1:30 mark -- Shirtless with the entire city of Houston watching? This is the moment that Billy Dee Reid has been waiting for all his life.
• 3:10 mark -- How corporate and canned has the NBA become? Well, look no further than this clip for a stark contrast as assistant coach (and future Rockets GM) Carroll Dawson climbs up a stepladder and sticks his ass right in the middle of a live sports broadcast. Think that would happen today?
• 4:48 mark -- Rodney McCray, the Shane Battier of the '86 Rockets. Never got the credit he deserved. McCray knocked the ball from Worthy in the final minute, which allowed the Rockets another chance from three (which this time, Reid made). McCray shot almost 54% from the field that season. That was one serious frontcourt that the Rockets had.

Olajuwon's "Unbeatable" Catch Phrase
Early in the 1985-86 season, McDonalds started airing a local commercial that showed Dream doing a juke move and dunking a McNugget in some sauce. Then he uttered the word, in his thick accent, that became forever linked to him: "Unbeatable"

On May 22, 1986, less than 24 hours after Sampson's stunner to send the Rockets to the NBA Finals, the team arrives at Houston Intercontinental Airport. This is Hakeem delivering his "unbeatable" catch phrase to the thousands of fans waiting at their gate.

"You know it's tough when L.A is your name"
A fan parody of the Cheers theme song, illustrating how tough of a time the Lakers had with Olajuwon and the Rockets. This was aired on Channel 11.

"All I need is a miracle"
Craig Roberts and "Hockey Bart" (Bart Enis) -- Channel 2's "Sports Sunday" show was the cant-miss sports show in Houston every week. They did this Rockets video to the tune of "All I need is a miracle", by Mike & the Mechanics.

Got to love how the Lakers Kurt Rambis summed it up at the end.

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