Basketball Bonding

My father and I were not close for several decades. We were distant geographically and with disparate preferences and interests: home state, politics, sense of humor, choice of music and reading material, education, . . . the list went on. He was a hunting, fishing, and golf guy from Kansas City, and I, well, not.

In addition to a sweet tooth, however, we found two areas of common interest: our dogs and Stanford women’s basketball.

Regarding the latter, my father decided to come to California to play in the fundraising golf tournament I helped run in the mid 90’s (our Final Foursome). He enjoyed the Stanford golf course and loved the players and coaches (photo right). He came again and again to play in the tournament--even winning a prize or two--and asssuring a regular visit with me and an opportunity to discover other common interests. (Our failure to continue to hold these tournaments was a disappointment to him.) With this slim exposure to women’s basketball and our team, he became an avid, long-distance Stanford fan. (Thanks Amy, Charmin, et al.!) Every visit, every phone call, included an extensive update on the team.

Some of you may also remember my father from the Western Regionals in Kansas City a couple years ago (photo left). Although it was hard for him to walk the block from the hotel to the arena, he did because we wanted to see/hear the band send-off at the hotel before the game. The plan was to watch Stanford play and win in Kansas City and follow them to the Final Four in Indianapolis. We drove to Indianapolis anyway, but my father lamented after Stanford’s loss to Michigan State, “the fun is gone out of it.”

When I saw him in Kansas City the week before his death, he, as always, inquired about the team. He wanted all the details about all the players, and he read carefully copies of Bob’s Iacopi’s interviews with our in-coming freshman and other articles referenced on our website. We watched “The Dream Season” and highlight videos together. I brought him a fresh-off-the-press calendar (I travel prepared!).

He told me to tell Tara and the team to get to the Final Four this year, which I am hereby doing.

Stanford women’s basketball helped bring my father and me closer together.

Harry A. Benson (July 27, 1915 - October 23, 2006)