Saturday was a brilliant day for the college teams I love the most. First, BYU defeats Utah in another close football game with an heroic last minute effort. Then, later that night, the Carolina basketball team defeats a very strong BYU team by ten, even though the game, as they say, was much closer than the final score indicates.
I've been a huge BYU football fan since 1971 when Lu Ann and I were freshmen and attended all the games. I used to sleep out in the fieldhouse overnight to get great tickets. That team wasn't very good, but LaVell Edwards was about to revolutionize their passing game with Gary Sheide in the next few years. The BYU basketball was better, playing its first season in the Marriot Center (or as we called it initially, the Big Mac, which didn't go over well with the Marriots, who owned A&W, or the administration). Kresimir Cosic, who should have his number 11 retired by the way, was in his junior year. He and Danny Ainge are the best players who have ever played here.
I've been a huge fan of Carolina basketball since they soundly defeated the University of Virginia (with Ralph Sampson), who had just rejected my Ph.D. application, in the 1981 Final Four. (Virginia, by the way, had defeated Ainge's BYU team to advance to the Final Four.) My Carolina obsession deepened when they won the next year's NCAA tournament, for Dean Smith's first national championship, my first year at Carolina, with James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Matt Doherty, Jimmy Black, and some freshman named Michael Jordan.
Now, with Bronco Mendenhall and Roy Williams being worthy successors to Lavell and Dean, respectively, my loyalties continue to deepen. Check out how gracious and complimentary Bronco was to the Utes and Roy was to the Cougars after the games. Both are class acts.
In short, I root for BYU football and for Carolina basketball--no exceptions.
When someone asked me whether I was pulling for the Cougars or the Tarheels, I immediately responded, "I'd root against the Quorum of the Twelve if they were playing Carolina."
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3 comments:
I laughed out loud at your last paragraph. I'm bummed I haven't run into any Carolina games on TV yet...Wake Forest was as close as I got. Don't tell Hamilton, but he's getting a UNC onesie for Christmas...the size chosen to fit him through March Madness. With Alex as his daddy, though, he'll be rooting for the Wolverines during football season...sorry Cougars.
And Dad, I'm loving your blogs. I've been feeling pretty lonely for my family lately, and they help. :)
I was in such a hurry to finish the blog, I blew the last line. I should have written:
"I'd root against the Twelve Apostles if they were playing Carolina, and I'm talking Peter, James, and John and the rest of the guys here."
Dad your blogs are like a gift from heaven.... I knew that you'd be an animal once you got the hang of it!
I saw the Carolina/BYU game to and was super impressed with the cougs they were all over the place.
I hope Carolina tightens up a bit or that #1 ranking will disapear quick!
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