It has been a quick start to the basketball season as both teams have already played two conference games and THE BIG GAME is already on the horizon.
There is something special about the Hardin-Simmons and McMurry games. Not only is it a strong rivalry with all four teams having quality programs there is just something different about the two fan bases. McMurry fans get louder and at the same time, even when things are going good, Hardin-Simmons has had a more reserved crowd. That tends to lead to a view from the HSU fans that McMurry fans are loud and crude and the McMurry fans think that HSU fans are stuck up or uppity.
I don’t think either is the case. It is part of what makes this game such a different game than almost any on the Division III level. There is pride and passion on both sides and both teams will do whatever it takes to win.
When I first arrived at Hardin-Simmons in late February of 2000 I was totally oblivious to what Division III was all about. Honestly, I had never heard of McMurry and I even misspelled it the first release I wrote (who knew that there was not an a in the name). However, I got indoctrinated into the rivalry early on. I think it was the second week I was here we played McMurry in the Sweet 16 and the Mabee Complex was packed. I came from a place that did not support women’s basketball at all and to actually see a packed house was a shock to me. It was the fourth time the two teams had met that season and I found out quickly that both schools didn’t like each other (at least on the court).
Not every game has been as intense as that one, but for the most part they have been. McMurry made great strides in their women’s program and we made great strides in our men and now a series that was once dominated by the HSU women and McMurry men has again become the fierce rivalry because the teams are competitive. You can’t tell who is going to win the games with 95 percent certainty before the game.
This year there is another interesting story line. McMurry’s women are coached by Veronica Snow, who played at HSU and for the last five years has been a professor in the P.E. department. Veronica and I have had a good relationship, and I am even teaching her former class next semester. She was always nice to me and the fact that her office was right close to mine made our talks about athletics even more frequent. It is going to be different looking down to that McMurry bench and actually see someone that I like and respect. In fact, I want here to do well at McMurry except for when we play of course.
The men’s game will probably be another knock-down drag-out. If there is one thing that I can take away from Ron Holmes’ teams is every time they step on the court they play hard. The talent levels have varied, but every team that he has produced will play extremely hard. I expect that Saturday you will see his team play even harder than I have ever witnessed. With two straight losses on its home court, those boys from McMurry will be foaming at the mouth to get on the court against the Cowboys. Coach Howard’s team will have to be ready to respond.
It is only Tuesday and I am already amped up for one of my two favorite nights of the school year.
I am going to start ending my blog with an update on a former Cowboy or Cowgirl. This week’s update is Beth Ulrickson Jillson. Beth is in her first season as the head coach at Texas Woman’s University and is off to a 1-3 start. Beth had been an assistant for Julie Goodenough at Charleston Southern and prior to that was the Director of Basketball Operations at Oklahoma State. Beth is married to former Cowboy footballer Zane Jillson.
If you are a former athlete and would like to let me know what you are doing these days or you have something you would like to see covered in this blog or you just want to say hi please e-mail me at cgrubbs@hsutx.edu.
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