Fans help soften landing
Having trouble dragging yourself out of the dumps after Gonzaga men’s basketball team collapsed in the NCAA basketball tournament Thursday night?
Eight-year-old Olivia Byers, still taking baby steps in her life as a Zags fan, took a giant stride toward recovery Friday afternoon.
After Olivia’s night of tears and interrupted sleep, her parents Tod and Shelly Byers took their four kids to Gonzaga where they joined about 150 others outside the McCarthey Athletic Center to welcome the team home from Oakland, Calif. After seeing the players and coaches up close and collecting a few autographs, young Olivia seemed to be snapping out of her basketball blues.
“It’s a life lesson for our kids,” said Tod Byers, whose two daughters and two sons range in age from 11 months to 8 years old. “She (Olivia) had a hard time with it. We wanted to show her things will be OK. It’s hard for them to understand at this point, it’s not always a win.”
The Bulldogs’ season came to an abrupt end when UCLA staged a 73-71 comeback win, after trailing by nine points with 3 ½ minutes left. A win would have put the Zags back into the tournament’s Elite Eight (quarterfinals) for the first time since 1999 and the second time in school history.
“It was more of a heartbreak than any other year,” Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth said. “They’re such a special group of players and coaches. It took a while, throughout the night, to process it. Even into this morning, still realizing that we’re done.”
But a dose of love by their fans – cheering and waving the familiar “Go Zags” posters – always helps.
“It’s wonderful to see these people pick us up and make the guys feel special. But these guys are special,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “But that’s what’s so great about Spokane and Gonzaga.”
Some of the fans showed up more than 45 minutes before the team arrived – like Becky Oswald, a super fan who tapes all the games for repeat viewing.
“It was an awesome game, but a crummy loss, there’s no other way to put it, and not just for them, but for everyone,” said Oswald, who also attended the team’s send-off to Oakland. “But they showed character the way they handled themselves after the game.”
When the players arrived, they hung around and signed autographs, chins up, behaving like pros with pens. Adam Morrison, his image last seen on TV sprawled face down on the court, was mobbed. He signed autographs until he was escorted into the athletic center.
“I don’t think they slept real well, I know I didn’t from the standpoint of just going through it,” Roth said.
While younger fans went for autographs, the seasoned fans, like Carol Nielson, just wanted to offer a few words.
“You make winter in Spokane bearable,” Nielson said, as the team disappeared into the athletic center.