March Madness



Vern's return to the T&M in March 2007

 Basketball was a big part of our life right from the very beginning. Vern was a high school basketball coach when we married in 1969 and he coached all of the years we lived in Michigan.  I kept stats for him, even bringing Jeremy to the games in his car seat where he would sleep in the midst of all the cheers.  When we moved to Nevada in 1982, he coached the first year at a tiny school about an hour outside of Las Vegas. It presented some major challenges, with road trips to comparable-sized schools taking many hours each way. I think we figured out he made less than 5 cents an hour coaching that year.  He was able to transfer to a school in town the next year and he gave up coaching to work at the new Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV evenings and weekends. Basketball remained an important part of our lives, as we followed our Runnin' Rebels to the NCAA championship in 1990. Such fun times and some great memories.

Vern's favorite sports were college football and college basketball, but there weren't many sporting events shown on tv that he didn't watch. I got used to the tv being on constantly and during the cancer battle I spent a lot of time watching sports with him. He enjoyed it and it gave us some nice times together. I wanted to get him back to Columbus so he could see his beloved Buckeyes play in The Horseshoe, but he just wasn't strong enough for that long plane ride. Instead, we were able to see Ohio State play USC in the Coliseum in September 2008. It was a real struggle getting him into that old stadium and maneuvering the many stairs, but he was so excited to be there. Well, that was before the game started.  Yes, we were there for that big blowout 35-3 loss.

Since Vern passed I haven't watched any sports on tv. I'm comfortable with the quiet. But now that it's 'March Madness' time I'm thinking I may need to watch some games. If it's allowed up in Heaven, I know Vern will be watching along with me!