Today in 1978, a pro basketball player didn’t just lend a helping hand, he lent both arms to help a dolphin caught in an odd situation.
This was Clifford Ray, who spent a decade playing for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls.
He stood 6’9”, plenty tall enough to drop a ball right into the basket or to block someone else’s shot attempt.
But those long arms came in handy off the court too.
When he was playing for Golden State, Ray got a call from Mary O’Heron, publicity director at Marine World.
While workers there were cleaning the dolphin tank, a bolt came loose from a piece of their equipment.
A dolphin named Mr. Spock saw the bolt floating through the tank, mistook it for a fish, and ate it.
Marine World took Spock out of the tank and tried to remove the bolt before it ended up in a spot where it might hurt the dolphin, but veterinarians soon realized that the bolt had made its way just a little too far into Spock’s innards for them to reach.
O’Heron figured, maybe it wasn’t out of reach for an NBA player she knew.
Ray’s team was scheduled to fly to Washington for a game, but the needs of Mr. Spock the dolphin outweighed the needs of the Golden State Warriors.
They delayed the flight so the player could head over to Marine World, put on some surgical gear, reach into a dolphin and pull out a metal bolt.
Mr. Spock was bolt free, Clifford Ray was free to return to pro basketball and Marine World, which had cameras rolling during the procedure, had a story for the record books.
It also had some gifts for its temporary vet tech: Marine World gave Ray a plaque and a lifetime pass to the park, which he did use.
He said later that every time he dropped by the dolphin tank, Mr. Spock would swim right over, as if to say, “I am – and always shall be – your friend.”
When you think of hot sauces, shouldn’t you also think of… classic video games?
A company called Sauce Shed has partnered with Atari for a line of hot sauces inspired by (or at least sharing graphic design with) games from the old 2600 console.
Because who among us hasn’t yearned for a Yars Revenge-themed sauce?
Ray’s Flipper Saved a Dolphin (New York Times)
Atari Sauce Hot Sauces (The Awesomer)
Backing our show on Patreon doesn’t cost an arm or a leg (or even a bolt)