Gonzaga, Rev, and other thoughts

Dear Coach,

Let me begin by stating that I fully recognize that this is a big weekend for you and that you probably don't have the time to read over a full-length letter, so I'll try to keep it short.

My name is Tim Walsh, and I went to my first Pilots game (a 79-76 win over USF) when I was seven years old, in 1994. But I come from one of those really old Catholic households, and my family's been involved with the university in one way or another for about half of its existence. My point is that while my friends grew up as Ducks, Beavers, or Bulldogs, I grew up as a Pilot. It wasn't easy. There was a stretch of about three seasons where I never once saw a Pilot win - and I went to 3-4 games a year. The principal at my grade school went to GU, and she loved nothing more than to comment about the bi-annual spankings my Pilots got from the Zags.

Coach, I'm e-mailing you because I'm missing the Gonzaga game for the first time in ten years. I don't live in Portland anymore and getting to the game is just too hard. I've never seen UP beat the Zags. For nine years, I've seen half the people eating at the pasta buffet wearing red and blue. For nine years, I've put up with half the Chiles Center cheering every time Matt Santangelo or Dan Dickau or Blake Stepp or Adam Morrison takes the floor. For nine years as the clock is winding down I've heard the Kennel Club chanting "THIS IS OUR HOUSE" in our arena. Every year it makes me want to throw up. But every year I keep coming back because I know that one day . . .

And now I'm missing it. What I really want you to know Coach, is that there's a group of people out there - sure it's small, but it's there - for whom the Pilots are much more than a team. They represent every little guy who's taken on the playground bully and gotten the crap beat out of them but came back for more. And more and more, because he knows that at some point the bully's finally going to wear out. I think it's about damn time that this bully wore out.

I might not be writing very coherently right now - I am a college student and it is very late at night - but please just know that you can pull it off on Monday night. We're down, they're pissed after losing to SMC, and they're playing a virtual home game in an arena where Mark Few's never lost a game. But miracles still happen.

Just believe. I do.

Sincerely,
Tim Walsh

Tim,

Thanks for the email you sent prior to the Gonzaga game. I enjoyed reading then and enjoyed reading it again now.

In short, I know what you are saying. And, we do believe. We did not get it done this year but it takes time. Not too much time, but more than one year. All I really can say is, we will get it done.

There will be a time in the near future when it won't be so hard to be a Pilot fan. And you will be able to let your principal know about it.

Keep the faith,
Coach Rev

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:"Only for reference, like..."

And there will come a day when everyone here can say, "Of course I'm a Pilot fan. I was there back in the Rob Chavez years." And then the person you are talking to will raise his eyebrows, his eyes will get big, and eventually, after processing what he just heard, he'll say, "Wow. Really?" Kind of like there are "old" and "new" Gonzaga fans.

up7587 wrote:

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:"Only for reference, like..."

And there will come a day when everyone here can say, "Of course I'm a Pilot fan. I was there back in the Rob Chavez years." And then the person you are talking to will raise his eyebrows, his eyes will get big, and eventually, after processing what he just heard, he'll say, "Wow. Really?" Kind of like there are "old" and "new" Gonzaga fans.

Or, "I was there back in the Jack Avina years."

athleticjames wrote:Thanks for that article up7587. I guess the idea of playing against Howard University in Howard Hall would have been more realistic in Avina's coaching days since there were actually games there. Man, what a career... That's a nice slice of history.

As long as we're posting about coaches and players of old, which coach did Anstett play for? He taught some of us at Bellarmine Prep once his playing days were over...