Gus Mahler
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Thanks for the post. Love your last sentence. I like to think of it as "Flight to Quality."Growing up in CT meant getting only the top games for UCLA, but Gail Goodrich was a big favorite early on, and you could always tell how well the Bruins were coached. And there were just so many name players like smooth Silk Wilkes and the deadly corner shooter Lynn Shackelford, but the most memorable events came during those rare times when things went askew, as when Alcindor got sick in the regular season showdown with Elvis Hayes' Houston team for a narrow defeat and the cover of SI trumpeted "Big EEEEEE over Big Lew," months before the semifinal tourney match in which UCLA would destroy Houston by more than 30.
As a young guy at the time when the Vietnam War was raging and much of what was going on in the USA seemed incomprehensible, it was nice to know that your Bruins would always come through for you in the safe world of the NCAA tourney. And as an old guy in a world that still often seems incomprehensible, it is nice to know that the Huskies will always come through for me in the safe world of the NCAA tourney.
I think the parallels between UCLA then and UCONN now are remarkable.