THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Missing the memories of March Madness
Those of you with tickets to the NCAAs this Thursday and Saturday at the Spokane Arena, I feel for you.
I’ve been there — well, not exactly there, but somewhere, for the first and second rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Many times.
Roughly 30, per my fading memory.
That first weekend of March Madness has been dubbed by many the greatest weekend in sports. And if you’ve been to any of them, you know why.
A four-game smorgasboard on the first day, followed by a day for you (and your backside) to recover, then two more games the next day.
And if this was to be your first taste of the NCAAs, I hope you get another chance real soon.
OVER THE years at the NCAAs, I’ve been fortunate to see:
• A younger coach John Thompson of Georgetown prowling the sideline in Pullman, while on the court a junior (junior!) center, Patrick Ewing, helped his Hoyas survive a 37-36 battle with Jon Konkak (Jon Konkak!) of SMU, and go on to win Georgetown’s only national title.
• A brash point guard with a funny haircut (Steve Nash) lead his No. 15-seed Santa Clara Broncos (of the then West Coast Athletic Conference) to a stunning first-round upset of No. 2 Arizona in Salt Lake City.
• The only college season, as it turned out, of Shawn Bradley, BYU’s 7-foot-6 stringbean shotblocker. He left on a two-year LDS church mission after his freshman season, then opted for the NBA rather than return to Provo.
• A subregional in Boise for the ages — legendary coaches Bob Knight of Indiana and Dale Brown of LSU. On the court, you saw a rather large man in Georgetown senior (senior!) center Alonzo Mourning. At least, you thought that was large, until later that night, when LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal took the floor and pretty much blotted out the paint.
• Tyus Edney go coast to coast in 4.8 seconds to lift top-seeded UCLA past Missouri in Boise in the second round. Edney likely saved coach Jim Harrick’s job, and UCLA went on to win its first national title in 20 years.
• Brent Musburger and Billy Packer of CBS chillin’ at a media table during one of the early first-round games in Salt Lake City. That was back when CBS showed just one (one!) game from the first day, and it aired on tape delay (on the West Coast) at 11:30 p.m.
• Dean Smith, after North Carolina had won its first two games in Salt Lake City, walking out the back of the Huntsman Center, to the waiting team bus.
“See ya in Seattle,” my friend Bruce said to the legendary Tar Heels coach.
Dean paused — “Oh, yeah,” he said — and continued walking.
We did see him the next weekend — at the West Regional at the Kingdome.
• Fennis Dembo and Wyoming, beating Virginia and UCLA on the opening weekend in Salt Lake City in 1987.
• The NCAA tourney debut of Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble at Loyola Marymount, when the Lions outlasted the aforementioned Fennis Dembo and Wyoming 119-115 in overtime in a first-round game in 1988 in Salt Lake City. Never mind that LMU got backdoored to death by North Carolina two days later in a 123-97 loss in the second round; the Lions would be back two years later to take America on an emotional ride all the way to the West Regional finals.
AND IT’S not just the basketball games that make the memories.
It’s the friends you haven’t seen for a year or more.
Or the city you’ve never seen before.
Exploring all the historical places in Washington, D.C.
Remembering the Alamo in San Antonio.
Knowing the way in San Jose.
And on and on.
One year in Boise, our group went out to eat after the second-round games on March 17. While we waited for our table, we sat in the restaurant bar.
“Excuse me — do you have any St. Patrick’s Day drink specials?” one of us asked a female server.
“Oh, no,” she replied innocently. “Not today.”
A COUPLE more memories:
• No. 15 Hampton upset No. 2 Iowa State in Boise. What’s better, you got to see the quite-entertaining Hampton band (and cheerleaders), not only at the BSU arena, but on the night between games at an Idaho Steelheads game.
• A then-neophyte Gonzaga, as a No. 10 seed, introduce itself to the college basketball world by beating No. 7 Minnesota and No. 2 Stanford in Seattle, then come within a game of the Final Four.
The Zags’ “seeded upsets” would continue for a few years, until they were upsets in seed only. In recent years, the Zags pretty much took over the building in their first- and second-round games, especially on the West Coast, and you can only imagine what the scene would have been like at the Spokane Arena this weekend.
That’s the unfortunate part. You can only imagine.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.