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September 5, 2003

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Dean Tuttle masters fine art of
post-championship celebration

There is a way to celebrate with dignity, and then there is my way.

Over the summer something fantastic happened to me and, uh, San Antonio. Our NBA San Antonio Spurs won the championship.

I was at the title-clinching game, and Trinity Vice Presidents Fischer and White were somewhere in the crowd as well. I also saw Dr. Cooley (from business administration) there, looking quite dignified as always.

You will get to see our champions as part of the annual Residential Life Office “Trinity Night at the Spurs” program this year. We are sponsoring the “Texas Two Step” and will sell tickets for both the Dallas Mavericks game on Saturday, Nov. 8, and the Houston Rockets game on Feb. 24.

I am actually not a super huge sports fan, but I do have a passion for two particular teams: the Green Bay Packers and the Spurs. I even tape many of their games to re-watch during the off-seasons, and I keep the best ones for my archives.

After getting married and having children, I had to put myself on a sports diet, picking and choosing the leagues and teams I would follow. Otherwise, it would be easy to sit in front of the television all weekend and watch game after game – but why do that when you can do meaningful things, like clean the bathrooms.

So there I was, Game Six, decked out in my lucky Spurs gear, standing on my seat celebrating as the clock ran down. But I kept my wits about me and made several important decisions. First, I wanted to capture the moment, so I called my voice mail so I would get a message the next day of the crowd and Queen singing “We are the Champions.”

That didn’t work very well, but I also tried it at the Pat Green concert and the next day got a message from my phone of him singing “Carry On.” Most of what I could hear, though, was the guy next to me singing and I think quite possibly asking me if I had any beer.

Anyway, the second decision I made at the Spurs game was to venture as far onto the court as possible, which wasn’t too far. But I did get close enough to high-five some of the players and yell “PJ!! PJ!!! I love you!” at assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo, who I don’t even particularly care for.

And, finally, my last stroke of genius was to stuff my pockets with as much confetti as possible. Sure, people looked at me like I was a fool. But I can tell you this: if you go to Dr. Cooley’s office I bet you won’t find a jar displaying championship confetti. Now who looks like the fool?

So why the big deal?

So there I was, Game Six, decked out in my lucky Spurs gear, standing on my seat celebrating as the clock ran down. But I kept my wits about me and made several important decisions. First, I wanted to capture the moment, so I called my voice mail so I would get a message the next day of the crowd and Queen singing “We are the Champions."

Well, if you follow any sports you know a championship is really hard to come by and can rank as a milestone – just ahead of having a baby. You have to savor every one you get because of the heartbreaking losses you endure. For years I have kept a list of my Top Ten Worst Sports Losses. (The loss has to have led to either tears or lack of sleep to make the list.) Those losses include, among others, any Packer playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the 1988 RAvenge coed football championship loss to “Body Fat,” and the collapse of the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 7, 1982.

So join me in savoring this championship year. Mark your calendars for Nov. 8 and Feb. 24.

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