Basketball Dan, a 5-Star Life (Part 1)

July 12

The sensitivity of men to small matters, and their indifference to great ones, indicates a strange inversion. ~ Blaise Pascal

[Photo of Daniel G. Brick courtesy of Steve Hansen, c. 1969 – 1972 (the time I was away in the army in Okinawa).]

[This came totally out of the blue. Needless to say, we were gobsmacked.]

Brick, Daniel G., Wed, Apr 19, 2023, 8:25 PM, to me:
Go Go Meeed*, does your TV favor hockey or bball during this time? Sorry to dump my tale of woe, but maybe you can send a rousing version of ‘Rocky Top’ to lift one’s spirits. Less than a month ago, I was still doing 90 minutes a day at the gym, 6 days a week. I had a regular doc appt, and told him my abdomen felt a little ‘distended’, and he did a CT scan, which showed that I had numerous tumors all over my liver (largest one about the size of a softball). Subsequent MRI and biopsy showed that the cancer had metastasized from the colon (even though my last colonoscopy was totally clear only 10 months ago). My energy level started dropping very notably right away, so I’ve turned over my classes to another guy, and sleep/rest most of the day. Fortunately only discomfort more than pain, so I hope that can continue as long as possible. Unfortunately Betty can only cope by having complete belief that “God will provide a miracle”….hence my reluctance to make calls at the present time. Can’t really complain much, as I’ve had 77.5 years of a 5-star life. I learned today that they’re going to try some chemo, which I hadn’t expected….not sure I’ve accepted that reality either. [* Meeed, a sobriquet we long applied to each other, as in we both graduated magna cum mediocre.]

Brick, Daniel G., Mon, Nov 13, 2023, 2:57 PM, to me:
You’d be headed straight north/west, which means I’d need to go entirely across the metro….but as a compromise, you choose between these 2 (and for either, you should make a reservation for 9:30, as Sat mornings would be very busy), Good Day Cafe (in Golden Valley), Longfellow Grill (Lake St and West River Rd).

[And so, on November 18, 2023, we (joined by my brother Cam) breakfasted with Dan at Longfellow Grill. Though we made subsequent efforts to do so again, this was the last time we saw Dan . . . ]

Brick, Daniel G., Mon, May 27, 10:18 PM, to me
A very sad day indeed……I was with you at that Loyola game…..also sad was rafa losing in the first round (after 3 years of injuries) due to the unfortunate draw of zverev.

Brian Kovalchuk, Thu, Jun 6, 5:19PM, to me, Chris Hey, Dan’s just entering hospice.  Hopefully it will be at home.  We think it may be up to a year. Anyway, maybe you can come for a visit.

stevehansen, Thu, Jun 20, 5:56 PM, to me Dan was brought to United Hospital. He may be moved to another facility tonight or tomorrow.
Hans

stevehansen, Sat, Jun22, 11:35 AM Dan died this morning. Just got the word. Libby and I saw him in the hospital yesterday. Sadly we had a very unpleasant encounter with Betty. We hoped to bury the hatchet but that didn’t work. Sad day but a huge relief that his suffering, medical and marital is over. That’s all I know for now. I’ll keep you posted. Call anytime. Hans

Brian Kovalchuk, Sat. Jun 22, 1209 PM, to me News to share. Dan passed away this morning at 10:57. More info later. Do you know how to contact his friend from St. Thomas, Susanne ( I think ).

***

As I get older, I don’t aggressively pursue songs. All the great ones just appear. ~ Noel Gallagher

[Just tossed in here for no other reason than Maggie May was Dan’s all-time favorite song. I don’t know why or how I still remember that. I wasn’t a Rod Stewart fan at that time, though I became one in our respective old ages when he began singing the classics . . . ]

***

My dad always said, ‘There’s only a few great ones,’ and Prince was definitely one of the greats.  ~ Adore Delano

[Why it all began. Why a native of Wichita, Kansas, ended up spending the rest of his life in Minnesota. This is Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, the original home of the Minnesota Twins. After his first two years of college at Wichita State, Dan transferred to the University of Minnesota (the ‘U’) in Minneapolis because the Twins were his favorite team. I was introduced to him by a fellow dormie, c. 1967, who said you’ve got to meet this guy. In his first two baseball seasons in Minnesota he went to every Twins home game – 81 games in each year. And the legend began . . . ]

[Prelude: Although this was previously “published” on my other blog (January 17, 2011), it seems fitting it should be amended as the cornerstone to the Dan’s biography. He arrived in Minnesota over 40 years ago from Wichita, Kansas, and immediately dazzled the locals by never wearing anything heavier than a windbreaker in Minnesota winters. He competed across the country in professional bowling tournaments – then suddenly quit cold turkey, leaving approximately 20 bowling balls instantly unemployed. He served as our tour guide through 30 years of Final Fours, which usually were mere fronts for fine dining across the country. We are forever thankful to him for that. He was eminently successful in his chosen field (statistics professor at St. Thomas University) – a field amenable to his rigorous avocation travel schedule. And he for 30 years hosted an annual Turkey Day (see following photo, also courtesy Steve Hansen) for old friends that generally coincided with the Ohio State-Michigan football game. Such, and the following, are what led his Englander roommate at North Carolina State, where he obtained his Masters degree, to dub him “The Great One.” (This was originally written in February 2005, amended subsequently based on my faulty memory and expected numerical corrections from the lead character).]

I don’t have a ton of friends, but the friends I have are great ones. I don’t have huge family, but the family I have is a great one. ~ Alicia Keys

***

During his post-graduate era, Basketball Dan acquired a near mythical standing on the ‘U’s’ intramural softball fields for his big bat, nimble fielding, and huge hands. It was also during this time that his legend began to grow. We discovered that he attended his first NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four in 1954 – as you may recall, LaSalle, led by Tom Gola, were the champs that year. He also attended the Final Four in 1957, 1970, 1973, 1974, and then in every year since 1976 (when I first joined him to cap Indiana’s undefeated season at the Philadelphia Spectrum) – with the exceptions of 1999 and 2000 for personal and family health reasons. Almost without exception, during each of those Final Four years, he also attended first and second round games (until the advent of satellite coverage and big screen TV’s) and regional semi-finals and finals. I recall one year when there were regional games in both Louisville and Cincinnati – and because of the Thursday-Saturday and Friday-Sunday formats, we were able to see all of the games at both regionals.

[I attended 25 Final Fours with Dan (between1976 and 2010) – below are some sample program covers. I always say I saw the United States (all 50 states) with Dan as my travel guide. (I subsequently saw the world (42 countries) with Ruthie as my travel guide.) Of course this could have never been accomplished without we two guys being single and having the time and wherewithal to do so. I’m not sure when he attended his last Final Four – my last with him was 2010 and then he married seven years ago.]

The great ones are about winning and winning only. ~ Skip Bayless

[My first was 1976.  Indiana beat Michigan for the national championship, the last undefeated team to do so, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.  I missed a few years, here and there, when I was probably performing brain surgery.  We stopped going after 2010 for three practical reasons:  1) It was getting exceedingly difficult to score tickets through the lottery (several times we bought scalped tickets on the street), 2) basketball was not made to be played in football stadiums, and 3) the big screen home TVs.] 

***

There’s not many people – only really the great ones – who realize what they were born to do. ~ Ed Reed

Incredibly, Dan attended a basketball game at every NCAA Division 1 home arena. There are 355 (326 at my original documentation) Division 1 college or university basketball programs (Dan pointed out this number is always in flux because of programs like Longwood, Utah Valley State, and Northern Colorado that are in the process of moving up). If you averaged 10 new schools every basketball season, it would take 35 years just to accomplish that feat. There are 119 Division I football programs – he attended games at all of those schools. Included among the football games was “The Game” between Cal and Stanford (remember Cal did a multiple-lateral kick-off return and scored a touchdown trampling Stanford band members in the end zone as the game ended). And through it all, he was never denied entry into any game he went to see. You must recognize that many of these venues are total sell-outs to season ticket holders – his most difficult entry proved to be at a Gonzaga basketball game; he had resigned himself to finally being shut out, when at the last second a season ticket holder arrived with an extra ticket. Because of the nature of the beast, Basketball Dan was on a first name basis with nationally-known “ticket brokers” (a/k/a, scalpers), and through other interesting people he has met on these adventures was able to score access to Wimbledon tickets, his only venture into international athletics.

A typical weekend for him was thus (here from 2005): Belmont, Troy, Alabama-Birmingham, Southern, and possibly Huntsville in the NBDL, whatever that is. I would venture to say that quartet would not show up on the schedule of any other alleged rabid basketball fan. Northwest Airlines should have sent a limo to his front door for his every weekend getaways. His double secret platinum card with that airline did allow him to escape on the last plane out the Northeast after the big snowstorm in 2005.

[Addendum, by e-mail dated February 2, 2011, from the man himself:  This weekend at Texas Southern, next weekend S. Dak. St, and March 3 at Grambling.   That leaves only Mississippi Valley State (where I got snowed out of in mid-Jan), and where I can’t get back to again this season.  There are 347 (then) D-1 college basketball schools – only Mississippi Valley State is left, giving it recognition far greater than anything else in the school’s history!]

[Addendem II, by e-mail dated February 2, 2011, from The Great One – the list is complete:  “I’m glad you sent the follow-up message . . . I have indeed hit a stadium for each baseball, football, and basketball pro team. However, there are a few new facilities that I haven’t been to:
                                                                          Have Attended                    Have Not
                                                                      ————————————————–
                                                                        Foxboro Stadium                  Gillette Stadium
                                                                        Texas Stadium                     Jerry Jones Palace
                                                                       Shea Stadium                        Citi Field (but will get at this year’s US Open Tennis)
                                                                        The Met,  Metrodome          Target Field

And there are a few new college basketball facilities: at Louisville, Gonzaga, Texas Tech, Oregon (I’ll get that in a couple weeks), Quinnipiac, St. Joe’s (I’ll get at end of Feb) built since I was there last and a few more under construction:  Texas Arlington,  Bowling Green, Troy, Nebraska, that I know of.]

1973

Everybody in the NBA is good. And then you have the really good ones and the great ones. ~ Kyrie Irving

[In February 1973, the first toad trip for which I have photo evidence. Dan is driving us to Chicago from Minneapolis where we were going to see (next photo) . . . ]

I know it’s a team game, but, you know, the great ones can do that – have their team involved and take over a game. ~ Greg Owen

[UCLA beat Chicago Loyola 87-73 at Chicago Stadium. Here Bill Walton wins the opening tip, my only photo of the game . . . ]

The road has taken a lot of the great ones: Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Janis, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis. ~ Robbie Robertson

[We stayed at the Heart O’ Chicago motel right downtown. And here was the view from the John Hancock Building . . . ]

Globe-trotting Hemingways and brawling Christopher Marlowes are the exception, not the rule. ~ Paul Di Dilippo

[Fellow U student Dick Haas and Dan from the Hancock observation floor . . . ]

If I ended up having a big name, I’m still going to keep that fire because that’s what just drives the great ones. ~ Mike Daniels

[The Sears Tower was close to completion. One of my all-time favorite photos . . . ]

I have always liked to play against the great ones. ~ Giorgi Chiellini

[Dan cleaning his glasses . . . ]

1975

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. ~ Noel Coward

[At game lost in the sands of time, Steve Hansen (the aforementioned photographer) climbing the steps to join us at a Gopher football game at the long since deceased Memorial Stadium . . . ]

There’s nothing wrong with you that an expensive operation can’t prolong. ~ Surgeon (Graham Chapman)

[Hans with my Uncle Dick at that game . . . ]

I’ve always appreciated great acting performances, but I’ve even learned to appreciate not so great ones ’cause it’s hard. ~ Zoe Bell

[Uncle Dick giving the OK sign – Gophers must have won?]

They that apply themselves to trifling matters commonly become incapable of great ones. ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld

[And, of course, Basketball Dan at said game . . . ]

1979-80

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. ~ Mark Van Doren

[Back in the day, Dan lived in Minnesota and I lived in Arlington, Virginia (retiring to Alexandria, MN, in 2001). To communicate about basketball in those days, we each had a Betamax, and we would tape games from our locale (he, Gophers and Big Ten; me, ACC and Big East) and mail them back and forth. Seems quite antiquated today?]

1982

Great teaching – just plain old knock ’em dead, get it right, make ’em laugh, make ’em wonder instruction – is always going to be rare. Good teachers abound. Great ones are special. ~ Robert Krulwich

[His famous winter windbreaker – it arrived with him from Wichita State with its famous logo: MTXE (mental toughness, extra effort) . . . ]

I’m sick of following my dreams, man. I’m just going to ask where they’re going and hook up with ’em later. ~ Mitch Hedberg

I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious. ~ Michael Scott (Steve Carrell)

Up Next: There’s a lot more of Basketball Dan to come . . .