Sitting here watching the “first four in” opening games of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and thinking about my Dad. It is these last two weeks of March each year that I miss my Dad the most. He was a big basketball fan. He loved playing the game and watching the game. He especially liked college ball. He did not care much for pro ball.
For as far back as I can remember, we watched this tournament together. Even when I lived in Texas, Alabama and Nashville and could not be with him at his house to watch the games, we watched the games together. The last few years of his life, I printed out the brackets and we talk over the long distance phone lines about the games we watched.
He pulled for the Iowa and Illinois teams in the Big Ten. He pulled for Tennessee and Kentucky in the SEC. He liked the rivalry games of Duke and North Carolina. He respected Coach K but also liked to watch Coach Summit lead the Lady Vols. The Tennessee women’s teams were among his top 5 favorite schools to cheer. Dad was a big cheerleader at the free throw line. He said, “If you can’t hit your free shots, stay on the bench.”
He would be excited to know that Illinois is a number one seed in this year’s tournament. They play their first game tomorrow afternoon (Friday). I say “first game” because I will be pulling for them to make it to the Final Four. They won the Big Ten Championship Tournament. I guess I will have to order the t-shirt. But I might have to get the one for the Lady Vols: the only women’s team to make EVERY NCAA tournament!
Big Daddy stayed in school an extra three years following graduating 8th grade just so he could keep playing basketball for his little school in the Leonard community of Clay County, TN. They were all one or two-room school houses in his day, with all the grades meeting together. He played similar community schools like: Mt. Vernon, Milestown, Laurel Bluff and Hermitage Springs. Of course, part of the charm was that his brother, Milt, was on the team with him.
After he left school and started to travel around the region playing music with Bedford Davis and His Playmates and other groups, he stopped one day to watch his Alma Mater play ball at the Leonard school. He noticed all the boys were wearing worn out shoes that flipped and flopped all over the feet. He and his band put on a show and raised enough money to buy all the players a new pair of basketball shoes.
Thirty plus years ago, my brother James created a basketball jersey for Dad. The front side reads: “Class of 35” and on the back “Leonard TN”. Mother wears it now. She tries to watch the games with me and is learning more about the game. She has even yelled at the screen a time or two.
Miss you, Dad! Go Fighting Ilini!
