This is the first post of a series I’d like to call, “Great Sports Games I Attended.” Last night’s big upset of Gonzaga for USF inspired me to think about some great games I witnessed over the years. Tonight’s installment features one of the greatest college basketball upsets ever. Now, it doesn’t include any teams I’m particularly attached to, but a couple of years ago, I made the trip up to Reno, Nevada to catch the Nevada Wolfpack take on the then #2 Kansas Jayhawks. I went up there with a friend of mine who was a huge Jayhawks fan. I, however, had a lot of friends from high school attending UNR at the time. The Wolfpack, led by future fugitive, Kirk Snyder, pulled off a huge upset of Wayne Simien and the second ranked Kansas Jayhawks in 2003. Kansas not only had Simien, but also Keith Langford, Aaron Miles, JR Giddens, and Reno native David Padgett. Padgett caught a lot of heat for going to play for Kansas instead of Nevada, which didn’t sit well with the local fans. He struggled to a six point finish, and the Wolfpack won by a final score of 75-61. It was a definitely a thrilling game to watch from the stands. Ultimately, because my friend was a Kansas fan, it led to a big falling out between the two of us, as the loss put him in a terrible mood. Nonetheless, it was a great game that I’ll never forget.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:33 am
I played against David Padgett in a Reno tournament back in high school. He was a beast, but only due to his size. The team he played for (I think Reno High) had a really good point guard though. He was the one who impressed me. I think we lost by 30-40 points that night. Our center was 6’2″.