-Greatest "zags" memory you have, that you witnessed IN PERSON-

[maynard g krebs]

1)Dickau going off for 25 in the 2nd half v. Pepp in the WCC title game at the Slim Gym, and the flop/takedown of Jimmy Miggins.

2)The banker v. OSU at the Key

3)the Huskies missing 23 shots straight at BOA

[Colbyspapa]

My best "lived it" Gonzaga basketball memory was the night that John Rillie shot the Zags into the 1995 NCAA Tournament - the first Gonzaga Tournament ever.

To quote GSBA President, Stefan Weitz, "From the Campus, there erupted a scream..." Students rushed from every part of campus into the quad, then to the traffic circle by DeSmet Hall. It was a mid-terms Monday night at near-Midnight, but it seemed like every student on campus dropped whatever they were doing and congregated for a spontaneous bonfire over by the DeSmet traffic circle. Students stormed the library, the AD Building, and study lounges to drag uncooperative bookworms out to join the party that lasted for hours. That amazing, positive energy kept the Gonzaga community on a natural high for days...until Maryland crushed the Zags in a 14-3 seed mismatch a few days later.

Yes, there was a time when a WCC Tournament title could erupt into a spontaneous bonfire on the Gonzaga campus.

I was one of 10 GU Juniors that jumped into 2 cars and drove 17 hours straight to Santa Clara after JR shot us into the title game.

Fr. Tony saw us outside before the game and walked us into the arena and sat us in the front rows. Other then the 10 of us, there were only 4 or 5 other students at the game who weren't part of the staff. It was midterms. I'll never forget the look on the players faces when we walked in. 10 KC shirts all fired up.

In the final, John shot his second free throw left handed with 30 seconds to go in the game after winking at the 10 of us.


I remember getting a pretty upset call from my mom a few days later asking if I skipped my midterms. (she had seen us on tv) Luckily, Fr. Coughlin sent a note to our profs asking if we could have an extension on the tests until that Friday.

It was my favorite GU basketball memory from my time there.

Non basketball related - Search, GSBA, Chris Rock almost getting us in GSBA kicked out of school. Desmet 2nd floor snowball fights, SYRs and other such good times.

[gozagswoohoo]

I was one of 10 GU Juniors that jumped into 2 cars and drove 17 hours straight to Santa Clara after JR shot us into the title game.

Fr. Tony saw us outside before the game and walked us into the arena and sat us in the front rows. Other then the 10 of us, there were only 4 or 5 other students at the game who weren't part of the staff. It was midterms. I'll never forget the look on the players faces when we walked in. 10 KC shirts all fired up.

In the final, John shot his second free throw left handed with 30 seconds to go in the game after winking at the 10 of us.


I remember getting a pretty upset call from my mom a few days later asking if I skipped my midterms. (she had seen us on tv) Luckily, Fr. Coughlin sent a note to our profs asking if we could have an extension on the tests until that Friday.

It was my favorite GU basketball memory from my time there.

Non basketball related - Search, GSBA, Chris Rock almost getting us in GSBA kicked out of school. Desmet 2nd floor snowball fights, SYRs and other such good times.

LOVE IT, thanks for posting this.



Let's hear some more!! This is really great.

[Just_An_Old_Zag]

1976 Overtime Loss to the Cougs in the Colesium

Was a close game all the way, we would sit down and then jump up and cheer our heads off.

My room mate was suffering from appendicitis or something like that and every time he jumped and yelled he would double over in pain..it was an awesome display of stupidity..

Maui this year was great too, we stayed on the same floor as the team and watching Foster have to duck just to walk in the hallway was an reminder of how much of a curse being that tall can be...Bobby S just weaved his way down the hallway so he wouldnt hit the fire suppression sprinklers on the ceiling...lol

[zag67]

Mine go WAY back.

My first was Frank Burgess when Gonzaga played an exhibition game against the Harlem Globe Trotters. He made some shots and passes that were unbelievable. Including his pattened play of holding the ball in both hands and fake a pass by taking both arms and hands over the players head. He then would bring it back as the player turned around looking where the pass went. He would then swish the shot.

The other was a game between Gonzaga and university of Idaho. Idaho had a player named Gus Johnson, who had a gold star in the middle of this middle tooth. Gus took a rebound off the defensive board and before he touched the floor, threw a behind the back pass the full length of the court and hit one of his teammates for a layin. It was an unbelievable pass.

[ZagInTexas]

Great thread BTW.

One of my all-time favorite games was Dan Dickau going nutting in the second half against PEP in the Slim Gym of the 2002 WCC tournament finals (one of the most entertaining games I had seen in a really long time). He had something like 29 second half points. Dude was unconscious. He couldn't miss from behind the line. Really high level basketball being played. Pepperdine still made the NCAA Tournament that year. I think the final score was 96-90 so there was definitely lots of action.

[75Zag]

Greatest Zag Memory

My greatest Zag memory is seeing the cute and sexy "rear end" of the lovely Mrs. '75 as she was walking down the hall with her girlfriends on the 2nd floor of Catherine-Monica in October of 1971. Wow, Wow, Wow. We will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary this August unless she dumps me before then.

My strongest Zag memory is sitting in the Oakland stadium watching GU lose to UCLA. Every time I get the flu and puke my guts up, I recall that evening.

Go Bulldogs! Get Bigger!

[pbriz]

This is tough but top 3:

3. Errol Knight coming back from injury and hitting a game winning 3 against USD in 05-06. Then taking laps through CM at a full sprint.

2. Taking classes at UNC the summer after we beat them in MSG. The level of respect for our program was unbelievable across the country.

1. The last GU-UW game when Heytvelt threw down the alley-oop on the opening tip. I don't think I ever witnessed anything louder in my life.

[Zag365]

Greatest memories of in-person games

1. Ammo bank shot to defeat OSU in BIS.

2. 1999 defeats of Minnesota and Stanford in NCAA first round.

3. 2003 beatdown of UW (86-62) at Hec Ed during Stepp's senior season. Absolutely suffocating defense despite half the team having the flu or coming off injuries.

4. 1971 overtime loss at home to Cougars. At the time, the Cougar game was our one and only OOC big game of the year.

[kclubfounder]

As you can tell from my handle, I was there when the KC was started. My memory has faded in the past 26 years, but these are the 2 games that still stand out from 1984, year 1 of the Kennel Club:

The game that started it all: A pre-game party was thrown at our house. We put a couple hand-made posters on campus, and told friends that we would have 2 kegs. Drink for the 2 hours leading up to the game - price of admission - GET YOUR FACE PAINTED. About 40 of us pounded beers for 2 hours, marched down to the game, sat in the 1st several rows with painted faces (I'm quite certain a 1st for GU), and cheered louder and harder than any group of fans GU had seen in recent history. Actually, considering GU basketball at that point in 1984, and its fan support, I suspect it was a record-setter. This game started the tradition. For the rest of the year, every home game was supported by a group of students who prefunctioned at our home. Word spread, the party grew game-by-game, the support at the games grew game-by-game, and the rest is history.

The 2x4 blocks game: This was probably about the 4th game in the history of the Kennel Club. We tried to come up with a theme for each game. Someone came up with the great idea that we should buy a bunch of 2x4 wood blocks, hand them out to everyone attending the pre-game drunkfest, and have everyone bang them together at the game. We took care of our pre-game responsibilities, marched down to the game, sat front and center (small crowds - growing reputation for our crew - these seats were OURS), and started banging the wood together. The sound was shocking - truly hard to believe. The game was delayed about 15 minutes as the officials refused to start the game until every block of wood was surrendered.

[gmo]

this, by a mile... biggest win in Gonzaga's history IMO. Put the team and program on the map, and the seeds were planted for all the ensuing success.

[URL="http://www.guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?p=481249"]

3. "Shot clock turned off.....Calvary.......Hall........8 to shoot........Hall...the runnerrrr......loose ball .....ITS GOOD!!!!.........4.4 to go............Shannon...'Don't want to foul'............Shannon..from the cornerrrrrrrrrr........AND IT'S OVER!!!!!......GONZAGA!!!, THE SLIPPER STILL FITS!!!.....THEY WIN IT 73-72........HOLY COW!!!!" Gus Johnson/Dan Bonner3/99

[kyle dixon]

Memory

I just moved to Seattle from Spokane and landed a job in Feb of '99. Went out on a Friday in March and one of the guys was offering a free ticket to the GU-Stanford game in the Key Arena in the second round of the NCAA's. Thought Stanford would take it to the Zags. Madsen was a Beast, and he has rings (World Champion) that the other self-proclaimed d-bag can only dream about--

Mark Spink. 180 pounds or whatever battled and gave great minutes. Young for Stanford was supposed to be the second coming and Madsen was a great college player. I never could believe the tenacity of the Zags that day. Santangelo bested Arthur Lee (who apparently received his scholarship to Stanford, thank you Arthur for taking that one and giving us Matt). Great win. Sweet 16 and then of course the Elite 8!

Kyle

[MontanaZag]

By a stroke of luck . . ..

I was assigned to work for my company in the bay area for a month. First thing I did was check the schedule, sure enough the zags were scheduled to play in San Francisco at War Memorial while I was there. I submitted a request through the dons website and was thrilled when I got a reply that two tickets would be waiting for me in will call. It was the Adam Morrison tour that year, and the house was PACKED! There were people sitting in all of the aisles and the PA announcer continually was warning that the game could be called off by the fire department. Im sure you all recall that Morrison didnt disappoint that night. Arguably the most "in the zone" he's ever been, one of his three point shots was closer to half court than to the 3 pt line. What I remember most is the crowd everytime the ball left his hands, it was an amazing crescendo of anticipation leading to an eruption when the ball swished through the net. simply amazing! If memory serves me correct he had 28 in the first half and 43 for the game, great experience.

[gozagswoohoo]

As you can tell from my handle, I was there when the KC was started. My memory has faded in the past 26 years, but these are the 2 games that still stand out from 1984, year 1 of the Kennel Club:

The game that started it all: A pre-game party was thrown at our house. We put a couple hand-made posters on campus, and told friends that we would have 2 kegs. Drink for the 2 hours leading up to the game - price of admission - GET YOUR FACE PAINTED. About 40 of us pounded beers for 2 hours, marched down to the game, sat in the 1st several rows with painted faces (I'm quite certain a 1st for GU), and cheered louder and harder than any group of fans GU had seen in recent history. Actually, considering GU basketball at that point in 1984, and its fan support, I suspect it was a record-setter. This game started the tradition. For the rest of the year, every home game was supported by a group of students who prefunctioned at our home. Word spread, the party grew game-by-game, the support at the games grew game-by-game, and the rest is history.

The 2x4 blocks game: This was probably about the 4th game in the history of the Kennel Club. We tried to come up with a theme for each game. Someone came up with the great idea that we should buy a bunch of 2x4 wood blocks, hand them out to everyone attending the pre-game drunkfest, and have everyone bang them together at the game. We took care of our pre-game responsibilities, marched down to the game, sat front and center (small crowds - growing reputation for our crew - these seats were OURS), and started banging the wood together. The sound was shocking - truly hard to believe. The game was delayed about 15 minutes as the officials refused to start the game until every block of wood was surrendered.

Please accept my personal "THANK YOU" for starting what you did. It's gotta be amazing to see what it's turned into!

And the last sentence in your post had me rolling!!! THAT IS AWESOME!!

[Reborn]

1. It was 1966. I remember the first time I ever went inside Kennedy Pavillon. It was toward the end of my Senior year in high school. I went to, and played for, a very small Jesuit high school in Yakima. I was being recruited by Gonzaga. For me it felt like I was being recruited by the Celtics. Outside of trips that my high school teams took, I almost never got outside of Yakima. I grew up in a pretty poor family. My impression of Gonzaga and especially of Kennedy was that it seemed so huge.....Isn't that funny? There were like 125 kids at Marquette High and we played our basketball games in an old Armory. Anyway, meeting Bud Preasley was quite an experience. It was his first year at GU too. He was an unbelievable man with passion for this game that is unequalled I am sure. He had me so fired up that afternoon that I really wanted to go right on down to the gym and play him one on one.

2. It was 1968, my Sophmore season at Gonzaga, when I got to start my first game as a Bulldog agaisnt WSU. It's a special feeling to hear your named called as a starting player in an NCAA Division 1 basketball game, and run out onto the court in front of your home fans, your father and older brother Pat who had always been my biggest fan.. It was a dream come true for a kid from Yakima, Washington.

Washington State had a great team. They finished 2nd in the Pac 10 to UCLA when they had Lou Alcinder (kareem Jabar). They had two starting players from Yakima who I knew fairly well as we played at the YMCA a lot in the summers. They were from Davis, a 4A school, and I was from Marquette, an 1A school, so I never got to play against them until I got to Gonzaga. WSU also had Ray Stein, from Richland, WA, and who was my idol growing up. And I got to guard him. My favorite moment of the game was stealing the ball from Ray and scoring on a layup. I put up 18 points against him and held him to 12.

2. The same year, this time at WSU, I was sitting on our team bus after the game and Coach Harshman walked into our bus. I was sitting in the front of the bus. Harshman asked me if I knew why he had made the trip to our bus. I said no. He said he wanted to personally tell me that the biggest recruiting blunder that he had ever made was not recruiting me. That made me feel pretty good. It would have been probably my greatest dream at that time to have gotten to play with Wierman, Allen and Stein against UCLA and Lou Alcinder and Coach John Wooden. But as it turned out, I am so glad that today I can say that I'm a Zag, whlich is a thousand times better than saying I'm a Cougar or Huskie. It has always felt great to tell my kids, and now grandkids, that I'm a Zag. In our family, and I'm sure just like in all of yours, there is nothing in life compared to being a Zag.

3. I think it was 2006 (My God where has the time gone)? Taking my two sons to watch the Zags, with Adam Morrison, play against Oklahoma St in Key Arena in the Battle in Seattle. After Morrison hit the game winner, the feeling in the Key was just indescribable, but some of you here on the board have done a great job of it...thanks). Of coourse Morrison was our favorite Zag of all time, and to see him pull it off with an unbelievable shot at the end of the game is so great. I will never forget the look in my sons' eyes after that shot went in. Special.

4. It must have been '07. Taking my oldest son, his wife and their oldest son to the Spokane Arena to see the double overtime game against Memphis. The game with all those white towels. The noise in the arena that night was so loud that I thought I was going to pass out a couple of times. It was unbelievable. We all talk so much about the great shot Calvary made against Florida. What about all those games when we lost at the buzzer. I saw this one live, and it's just gut wrenching. They are so ssd. And this was one of them, but it sure was a great experience being there in Spokane.

As someone who played for Gonzaga when we were no where near what the Zags are today, it has been an unbelievable experience for me, and one full of pride, to see what has happened at our wonderful Jesuit school on Boone Ave. Being there in Spokane arena always reminds me of the Miracle On Boone. I try to get back there every year. It has been special to take my kids back there, and now grandchildren and take them over to Kennedy Pavilion where it started for me. What a difference betweeen the Kennel and K2.

Great thread everyone. Thanks Woo hoo.

I must include that it's always a special time for me when I meet some of you from the GUboard in person at a Zag game. It was especially nice for me to meet Bob Zag.