HAIL TO THE VICTOR[ldots].OVER THE PAST year, we have enjoyed twitting our company's Marketing/Research Manager Bill Campbell, for his romance with his alma mater's (Michigan) teams, particularly in basketball. It is Go, Blue! from November to the Final Four in April. But he never loses his perspective about his madness. He is much too civilized to begin blaming a coach or God for a loss[ldots] or maybe two. We'd have to call him the dream alum alum (ăl`əm), any one of a series of isomorphous double salts that are hydrated sulfates of a univalent cation (e.g., potassium, sodium, ammonium, cesium, or thallium) and a trivalent cation (e.g. . And that is why we were surprised to learn why he had chosen to go to Michigan. We'd have assumed it was because of Michigan's great business school. Not so. It was because of Michigan's great basketball player, Cazzie Russell Cazzie Lee Russell (born June 7, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former pro basketball player and coach. Russell played college basketball at the University of Michigan, where he led the Wolverines to three consecutive Big Ten Conference titles (1964-66) and to Final Four . We laughed when he told that to us. We were sure he was kidding. He wasn't. He had grown up in Michigan, he had been a basketball player, and he had worshipped Cazzie Russell. O.K., we thought, such things happen. But you get over it, the way you get over measles, mumps, and Marilyn Monroe. Bill had gotten over measles, mumps, and even Marilyn Monroe; but not Cazzie Russell. And so, last winter, when he learned that Cazzie had come to town with Savannah Savannah, city, United States Savannah, city (1990 pop. 137,560), seat of Chatham co., SE Ga., a port of entry on the Savannah River near its mouth; inc. 1789. College basketball College basketball most often refers to the American basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. History
Hunter's Sports Plex was no Crisler Arena Crisler Arena, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the home arena for the University of Michigan men's and women's basketball teams. Constructed in 1967, the arena seats 13,751 spectators. It is named for Herbert O. , but the price was friendlier (no charge). Cazzie, an ageless wonder, coached his Division III
Division III (or DIII) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association of the United States. kids with the same verve and enthusiasm that had distinguished him as a player. When it was all over, Bill quickly got down to the floor and charged out into the hall to corner Cazzie. "Cazzie," he said, "can I interrupt you for a minute? I am a Michigan alum who has always been a big fan of yours. Would you mind autographing my Michigan Diploma?" He then returned the pen and Bill told him, "You know, I went to Michigan because you had played there." Cazzie looked down at the document. He read it, then took the pen offered to him, and scrawled: "Cazzie Russell, Go Blue!" across the top. Cazzie smiled broadly, "You mean you didn't go there because it was such a great educational institution?" It was Bill's turn to smile, "Of course not." |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion