Jonathan Burdick

Connie Hawkins had a choice to make. He’d been kicked out of college, shut out of the NBA, joined a failed startup league, and after four years on the road with the Harlem Globetrotters, he’d hung up those shoes too. It was 1967 and, now in his mid-20s, he also had a family to feed. Maybe this opportunity with the Pittsburgh Pipers would provide short-term stability, if nothing else. Besides, Hawkins had absolutely no clue what else he could even do.

The history of Pennsylvania's Oil Region is as enthralling as it is deeply layered. Locations such as Titusville, Oil City, and Pithole along with people such as Edwin Drake, Coal Oil Johnny, and Ben Hogan have been immortalized into the region's historical canon. It's a history brimming with quirky characters, intense rivalries, and a perpetual conflict between order and chaos that rivaled western counterparts like Deadwood and Dodge City.