IU Basketball History: It's Personal                                                March 29, 2002

            It is the day before the Final Four and Indiana plays Oklahoma tomorrow at 3:00 our (California) time. My church team plays at 1:00 and that will give me time to come home and psyche up for it. I am supposed to do a paper and an article review based on a sixty page economic article on monetary and fiscal policy in Latin America before the end of the semester. I have read half the pages (stats laden) and am psyching myself up for that as my daughter recovers from RSV, stopping us from going on a three day trip to San Felipe, Mexico.

            I am compelled to write this, maybe to stall the economic work, but also to contain some of my thoughts and angst for Indiana basketball. Here goes.

            Allow me to jump back to the spring of 1981. This was my fourth grade year and I was attending a small public elementary school about three blocks from the Indiana University campus. Most of my classmates were related somehow to the university through their parents. Jake, one of my best friends and closest neighbors, was the son of an Indiana professor, which was typical for our neighborhood. Even while living eight blocks from campus next to a large factory, our family's neighbors were closely tied to the school. Mr. Zeller next door would go to campus by bike or on foot, with his professorially looking hat and tweed jacket. Mr. Hoole across the street taught there as well. Later I would deliver the local Bloomington paper three blocks away to the IU baseball coach's house. Although my parents were not Hoosier alumni, (my Dad attended a little while before becoming a full time electrician), they owned a copy shop in the heart of IU's campus which served Indiana students and most likely some teachers as well.

            I will say that 1981 was the turning point for my love for Indiana basketball. It started out by what I perceived as something I was missing out on. Indiana had a legendary team in Bob Knight's second championship year. Isaiah Thomas led a very talented team to the NCAA Final Four in Philadelphia. The final game was almost delayed due to the assassination attempt on the newly inaugurated President Reagan, but the game went on in the city of the Liberty Bell the same day. Reagan was OK.

            The next day at school was fun, celebrating such an event, but it didn't really hit me until I talked with Lance Allen. It turns out that Lance was able to storm campus following the victory. His retelling of people running between Showalter Fountain (a landmark in Bloomington like the Arc D'Triumph in Paris) and downtown Bloomington captured my imagination. The fact that I wasn't a part of that inevitably wore on me over the years. Especially when I discovered how rare a feat it would become. So now, may I recount the more trying times. Let me add that following Indiana basketball in Southern California is not always an easy proposition, but it has been worth it wherever I have been.