LETTER: Team provided a good semester

Editor,

Every spring semester my life gets turned up side down for about three months for only one reason: basketball mania. Being in the pep band, I do everything I can to get to the home games, and I have only missed one in two years. Basketball games are a truly unique experience and we are so fortunate to have such an awesome team so we can enjoy winning as well. As crazy as my life gets, I love every minute of it – even the two minutes it took to lose to Pacific, and the last 10 minutes it took to lose to Arizona in the tournament this week.

Walking back to the hotel on Thursday I realized how much I owe to the team for making my life wonderful during the season, and then BAM! Spencer Nelson is walking down the hall toward me. My opportunity to thank one of them for all they do, but how can you think of the right words to express this in the 13.7 seconds it takes to pass him in the hall? Coming up blank, I did the generic “Hey Spence! Nice game,” (partly out of lack of time, and partly due to the fact that I can hardly breathe when he’s around). He, on the other hand, gave a heartfelt, “We appreciate you guys,” making it even harder to think.

A few days later, I read a heartbreaking article about Spencer in a newspaper. It talked about how devastated he was and how he blamed himself for the loss Thursday. My friend and I wanted to cry and I wanted to do something even more to let them all know how awesome they are. This is the best I can do, boys, and I hope you all read this and feel good about what you’ve done. This has been the best semester and you guys went out with a bang. You have nothing to be disappointed about, you rocked the Taco Bell Arena and your school is proud of you. Thank you … for everything.

Wendy Gabbert