Sports: Spartans Find Ways to Watch NCAA Win
In April, Spartans around the globe found very creative and resourceful ways to watch MSU win the NCAA “Final Four” in Indianapolis.
We have gathered stories from letters, emails, posts on web message boards, and anecdotal accounts at MSU events. It seems clear that Spartans everywhere went to great lengths to not miss the final game—whether they were in cruise ships, in remote places halfway around the world, couped in a closet in France, or even under dire circumstances in a hospital emergency room.
In Ireland, James Young, ’89, persuaded the Black Raven Pub in Skerries, 12 miles north of Dublin, to obtain a special license allowing it to stay open till 2 a.m. The pub had satellite TV reception. He invited a dozen or so MSU friends to watch the semifinal game with him. When the Detroit Free Press asked Young what would happen if the game went into overtime, he responded, “This is Ireland. I don’t think they’ll throw us out.”
Halfway across the world in Phuket, Thailand, an alumnus convinced a woman to open up an Internet Café near his hotel early in the morning so he could follow the game. “The only Thai words I knew at the time was ‘luuk,’ which means ‘son,’” writes the fan, obviously blessed with good luuk of some kind.
A similar but less forlorn experience was reported by Bob, ’73, and Shirley Beardslee, ’75, who found themselves in Rouen, France, visiting their daughter Abbey, an MSU sophomore who was spending the semester in a Study Abroad program. The Beardlees contacted the Armed Forces, the American Embassy, and CBS about television availability—to no avail. But they persisted. On Monday night, they persuaded their hotel to allow them access to its “only phone line with analog Internet access.” From 3 a.m. to 6 a.m., the Beardslees ensconced themselves inside a closet by the hotel’s lobby and followed the game via a written play-by-play report updated every 30 seconds on the web. “The anticipation was excruciating,” they recount. “It was great and we felt the satisfaction of showing our true mettle as Spartan fans!”
Meanwhile, Larry and Bonnie Balli, who have lived in Indonesia for 22 years, had to re-schedule a softball practice so they could watch the game on television at 10 a.m. in a middle school library, along with 15 others, including both MSU and Michigan fans. In 1979, the Ballis had been forced to listen to MSU’s win over Indiana State via shortwave radio. “We had to sit in the top row of the bleachers at the school swimming pool to get the best reception,” they report. “But it was fun.”
Several Spartans had, lacking foresight, arranged for cruises during the Final Four. I.C. Shah, M.B.A. ’64, of Rochester, NY, a former member of the MSUAA’s National Alumni Board, found himself in a Caribbean cruise with members of the Buffalo Bills football team. A very resourceful entrepreneur, Shah nudged some contacts within CBS Television for the satellite coordinates of the game’s telecast. He and his Bills friends were able to watch the game aboard the ship.
James C. Epolito, ’78, president and CEO of the Accident Fund Co., and recent winner of the MSUAA’s Distinguished Alumni Award, was in Sydney, Australia, hosting a group of 250 people—many of them Spartans. Not one to be denied, Epolito took over Hart’s Pub at the ANA Sydney Hotel, had it decorated in green and white, and watched the game live at 11:30 a.m.—just before the pub’s lunch crowd. (They first had to cheer for an Australia-England cricket match to end, so that Fox Sports would telecast the game.) Lynn Uroda, ’76, executive vice president of the Accident Fund, had the foresight to pack Spartan paraphernalia and was able to outfit the fans with MSU shirts, hats and flags. By game’s end, reports Amy Huntington, ’91, there were about 100 fans cheering the Spartans on to victory.
A Spartan in Marbella, Spain, had to arrange for a 3 a.m. wake-up call. On the island of Roatan, off the coast of Honduras, four Spartans (and two Wolverines and two Badgers) gathered to watch the game at Rick’s American Café. They had no trouble getting the bar to show the game, since the bartender reportedly hailed from Okemos.
Closer to home, in Canada, Wayne Bryan and his family were vacationing in Banff and had no trouble watching the game in a bar. Their problem was that a huge group of Wolverines, decked in maize and blue colors, also attended. “They kept shouting “Go Blue’ during the game,” recounts Bryan. “It did not totally ruin my day but it was a little annoying. I had to keep reminding them that we were the national champs and they were not.”
Scott A. Van Arman, ’85, had planned on watching the game at home in Pittsburgh, PA, but 15 minutes before tipoff, his 16-month-old daughter Greta fell and sustained a concussion. He and wife Susan were able to watch parts of the game in a hospital emergency room. “Greta already loves Spartan basketball,” reports Scott. “She didn’t mind watching in the exam room, at least by comparison to having her head strapped for a CAT scan.”
A Spartan in a remote cabin in Norwood, MI, reports having to buy 50 feet of coaxial cable to elevate the television antenna high enough to receive a “snowy” signal from Traverse City.
John Banister, ’92, flew to East Lansing from Washington, DC, to watch the game in the Breslin Center.
Also returning to campus for the event were former MSU classmates Dave Bazini, '92, of Detroit, Shawn Ballin, '91, of Chicago, and Scott Brown, '92, of Minneapolis. “We stayed for the long weekend,” reports John, “and had a great time, eating at all our favorite places and seeing our favorite sites. What better place to celebrate the championship than the MSU campus and the city of East Lansing?”
A good question. Certainly, every Spartan has a story to tell. Many took advantage of the MSU Alumni Association’s regional club organization and gathered with fellow Spartans throughout the country. We have received reports and photos of such activity ranging from the desert in Arizona to the rolling hills of Wisconsin. Monday, April 3, 2000, was an unforgettable day for many Spartans around the globe, who found ways, however inconvenient, to bask in the glorious achievement of MSU’s national championship basketball team.