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The home team
“In Gonzaga,” was my answer to the question, “Where do you live?”
My wife and I were at a Vietnam River Boat reunion in Charleston, South Carolina. “Oh I’ve heard of Gonzaga. Other side of the States, right?”
“I’m sorry,” I replied. “That was confusing. Actually, we live near Spokane, Washington, and Gonzaga is our university. I’m sure when you heard its name before it had to do with the basketball team, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the highest-scoring team in the nation - ranked near the top at No. 4 this year. The smallest school to ever be consistently ranked up there with the big universities.
“To tell the truth,” I continued, “we live in Liberty Lake near Spokane but still close enough to claim the Bulldogs as our home team.”
My wife retired from Gonzaga and continues to run all the plays for every game and gives instant counsel to Coach Few. The coach with possibly the highest percentage win over his time as the head coach.
Of course my wife does her coaching through the TV screen in our living room. She still is the embodiment of, “I’m Gonzaga!”
Sometimes I feel the need to be in the far kitchen getting a drink of water when she’s talking through the screen about a flubbed play. If you notice the coach wince after one of those flubbed plays, it’s probably only my wife’s message getting through the Kennel Clubs raucously wonderful behavior.
Larry Connelly
Liberty Lake