The college basketball season is in full swing, and life is good in the Bay Area. Not only are the Cal Bears ranked No. 23 in the country, but our local St. Mary's Gaels have cracked the top 25, grabbing the 25th spot in the ESPN/USA Today poll. St. Mary's, which is a tiny college five minutes from us, sits atop the West Coast Conference, the same conference as the annual March Madness darling Gonzaga (not ranked). St. Mary's features an Australian Olympian and one of the country's leading rebounders, and appears poised to make a run deep into March.
We planned to go to the first home game of the conference schedule last Friday. We forgot that a team that plays in what amounts to a mid-sized high school gym is likely to sell out its games, especially when playing so well. I discovered too late that the game was indeed sold out. We missed a dandy. The Gaels beat local rival Santa Clara with a three-point basket with 2.6 seconds remaining in the game. We need to get over there to be a part of the great atmosphere that comes from a good college basketball game, especially in a small gym; there is little in the world of spectator sports that compares.
I can't help but notice that among the victims of St. Mary's 15-1 start is a little school called the University of Oregon. Interestingly enough, before Ernie Kent returned to his alma mater to coach the Ducks in 1997, he spent seven years coaching ... St. Mary's. How do you like them Gaels now, Ernie?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Just as long as you don't mention the University of the Pacific.
Post a Comment