Denim Millward
Sports Editor
The day this issue of the Bengal is printed just happens to be my birthday (if you see me, feel free to wish me a happy birthday, tell me I don’t look my age, give me gifts or throw a handful of confetti at me).
The convergence of my birthday and the rapidly approaching end to my time as Sports Editor of “The Bengal” caused some reflection on every opportunity I’ve been lucky enough to have afforded to me by virtue of my position.
I’ve sat in the press box and covered a college football game at a Division I stadium.
I had the best seat in the house over the course of an entire season to watch the triumphant resurrection of the Idaho State football team to Big Sky Conference relevance, something that hasn’t happened since I was fresh out of high school (and I’m really, really old, so that’s saying something.)
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing and writing about Idaho State alumni, have plumbed the depths of ISU sports history and lore to uncover some well-hidden, yet incredible history and I’ve loved every last minute of it.
I almost feel like a petulant child who is throwing a fit because he only got 29 presents on Christmas when has asked for 30, but I do have one regret.
One event, which I always hoped against hope would happen during my time as a student at Idaho State, the hopes of which doubled after I became Sports Editor, sadly never came to fruition.
It was my dream to cover a basketball team that made it to the NCAA Final Four Championship tournament.
It was always a long shot, I know.
The men’s team hasn’t been back to the tournament since I was but a wee lad of three (that was in 1987, in case you were wondering).
Even that appearance in 1987, which ended unceremoniously in the first round after being thumped by Jerry Tarkanian’s UNLV Rebels, broke a 10-year tournament drought. Though talented teams have since come and gone, I quickly realized that this wasn’t a reasonable possibility for the men’s team.
The women’s squad, on the other hand, gave me plenty of justification for my unyielding optimism that I would have the opportunity to cover a national tournament contest.
The women’s team had made the national tournament as recently as the 2011-2012 season, and were borderline guarantees to at least make the Big Sky Conference tournament every year: the same couldn’t be said about the men’s team.
Heck, there was still an active player on the team this season that was on the last ISU Conference Championship team, Rebecca Schrimpsher.
My hopes were stymied when the Bengals snuck in the tournament after ending the season with back-to-back losses.
They took another hit when the Bengals would be facing the number one seed Montana Grizzlies in their first conference tournament game. They were all but extinguished when the Bengals yielded a 16-0 lead and scored zero points in the first minutes of the game. Then, almost cruelly, my hopes were resurrected after the Bengals erased a 21-point deficit and were within a hair of sending the game to overtime, before ultimately falling 69-67, bowing out of the tournament in the first round and taking my dream with them.
I have zero to complain about, but I can’t help but feel like this opportunity never coming to fruition will be the one “what if?” that sticks with me.
Essentially, I’m Uncle Rico, and covering an NCAA championship tournament game is my equivalent of being put in the championship game back in 1982.
