Erasing the pain of 1997

I'm so proud of this Stanford team. The loss in the championship game takes absolutely nothing away from what they've done (which was nothing short of mending my little broken basketball heart, which was crushed into tiny pieces in '97 and had never fully recovered until now).
Shannon Cotterell, WBBALL, 4/18/08

Shannon said it for me. For those of you who have read my book "Boosters Always Win" or those who experienced the Final Four of 1997 in person--it's been a long eleven years.

The late 90's were a difficult period for me--for more reason than basketball--and much of the pain was focused around the timing and events of March.

While I've loved our Stanford teams and players since, there was something special about the 1997 team. And our hopes were so high. Ask any long time supporter, "Which is the worst loss ever?" and the answer is the semifinal game against Old Dominion during the Final Four in Cincinnati, Ohio. This loss has become a standard for evaluating the degree of devastation of other losses. Years later many fans and players still looked sad and turned their heads to avoid eye contact when I interviewed them for my book. It is likely that the loss to ODU will retain its status of worse loss ever.

En route to Tampa, I was so very nervous as I sat on the airplane. My first Stanford Final Four attendance since 1997, and I was afraid of being hurt again. I relived the many emotions of March, 1997. Yet I had enough confidence to attend, and my faith was rewarded. (Of course, it's hard to get off the plane when you're in flight!)

This season's loss to Tennessee was sad, and even a bit embarrassing, but being in the Final Four again and beating two higher seeds to get there erases much of the basketball pain of 1997. I also got to experience again the pride of watching a Stanford player honored at an awards banquet--Kate Starbird at the Kodak dinner in 1997, and Candice Wiggins at the Wade luncheon this year (above,Don Anderson's photo).

I'm proud of this team of 2008.