44 Years Later, She’s Still Coaching Me

Week 4 lessons on patience, fandom, and the mom who shaped my Saturdays.

My Mom loved Saturdays in the fall. Whether it was high school games, at Pitt, coaching at USC, or a game broadcast–she never missed a snap. I can still see her in our living room, moving up and down between two steps, coffee in hand, giving her opinion on zone coverage, the passing game or my tie of choice. She was always coaching up the craft. That’s why back in college my Dad and I nicknamed her “Coach.”

This past Saturday night, on my flight back West from Madison after calling a game at Camp Randall—my first ever NBC broadcast, and my first time experiencing Jump Around—I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if she was still around. I imagined a post game phone call, and if I didn't answer she would call every 20 minutes until we connected. For all of us kids out there, I’m imagining you can relate.

This past Saturday was my 44th birthday and thinking back to what she might have been thinking 44 years ago to the day was what had my focus in pre-game in Wisconsin.