25 year ago today ...

I remember being in seventh-grade Earth Science, first hour, the following morning and being so shook up I didn't know if I could make it through the day. I didn't understand this then, but it was the first time I grasped that young people can die, too.

I saw a kid die in a game live a couple years later, and it didn't even rock my world to the degree Gathers did.

 

LMU was my beat. I was courtside. I thought the pass from Lowery was going to hit the wall above the EXIT sign, but Hank went up and got it. Westhead ran out, pointed to me and said, "Chris, call 911." I have a thousand memories from that night. They did have a defib on the bench. The doctor ordered them not to use it right there on the court because he felt it might be too alarming to some of the spectators. The second-round victory over Michigan was the greatest game I saw in my 44-year newspaper career.
I'll stop crying here in a minute and continue on with my day.

 

The 1990 NCAA tournament, holy crap:
- LMU's run
- UConn advances on Tate George's shot, only to lose the next game on Laettner's first tournament buzzer-beater.
- Georgia Tech beats Michigan State when Kenny Anderson (maybe? maybe not?) beats the buzzer.
- UNLV bodyslams Duke by 30, still the biggest rout in title game history.

 

Oh yeah, that was the best tournament. You also had North Carolina knocking off top-seeded Oklahoma in the second round, a bunch of crazy games involving teams like Xavier and Dayton, a great run by Ball State (the only team that whole tournament that had a chance to beat UNLV), and a ton of close games going into the 80s and 90s.

The NCAA record book used to have a table (probably still does but I haven't seen a book lately) of the close finishes and upsets in each tournament. 1990 was the runaway all-time winner.

 

The Sweet Sixteen game between LMU and Alabama was a great one.

Alabama played the slow-down game, but lost 62-60 when Robert Horry's shot went off the rim at the buzzer. Might be the greatest game Wimp Sanderson ever coached.

 

WOW. Could the defib have saved his life?
Adds to the sadness that LMU hoops was never the same again.

 

Wow. I can't even imagine. What a horrible thing to see.

 

I always thought he was aptly named: Wimp. He wimped out against LMU. He had 3 NBA players on his team and he chose the slowdown when he had 3 of the 4 best players on the court. He bought into the LMU mystic and paid for it. He also had a 60-52 lead with about 3-1/2 minutes to go and didn't score again. LMU closed the game on a 10-0 run.
Another memory. In the tourney opener against New Mexico State, Kimble got his fourth foul before halftime ... and played the rest of the game without fouling out.

 

What ever happened to head coaches in loud, plaid sportcoats?

 

Makes you wonder, what if? And would so even make that same decision today to wait, and lose a few precious minutes.

Such a sad story. And those LMU teams were the most fun teams I've ever watched.

 

They assaulted their secretaries and got shitcanned.

 

Kimble shooting free throws left-handed was a powerful sight every time he stepped to the line.