Mother Knows Best

One of the fun things for me about our new Pac-12 schedule is that we play Colorado in Boulder almost every year (9 out of 10!). My 85 year-old mother Rita lives in Boulder. She and her friends from her water aerobics class, the “Water Lillies,” circle our game on their calendars. On game day my mother says that she feels like she is coaching because everyone is telling her “Good luck,” “Hope the team plays well,” and “Have a great game.”

My mother gets ready for the game by coming to practice. She loves seeing the members of our team and staff. She joins our team for our pregame meal. She contributes to the scouting report by reminding us that the Buffalos are “tough.” Coach Rita knows the top players for the CU team. She has attended several of the CU women’s games, reads their press clippings and has attended “Buffalo Belles” (a booster club) events. She has even confessed to me that she gets nervous before our games.

During the day we had a chance to visit. We caught up on all the family news. I saw all of the pictures she had on her iPhone of her holiday activities. My mother doesn’t let any grass grow under her feet. She has a lot of energy and enthusiasm! I really admire her zest for life!

Just when I thought it was time for a pregame nap she had another idea! She wanted my help in booking her flight to the Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle. She told me “all my friends are going.” She pulled out a newspaper advertisement that listed Frontier flights from Denver to Seattle for only $179! I booked the flight for her!

While I was working on the flight I had to laugh to myself. Is this the same woman who told me when I was 15, “Basketball will never take you anywhere!” Of course when I was young we didn’t have a high school team like our players do now. We did play a couple of games and my mother came to watch. Later at home when I was slow with doing the dishes my mom told me, “You sure move faster on the basketball court than you do in the kitchen!”

We had a great visit. My mother had so much fun she went to the Colorado v. Cal game 2 days later! Now she is telling me what to do against Cal! On top of that she is SO excited because she has the Pac-12 Network. She watched our men beat WSU. I better warn Coach Johnny Dawkins!