ised Land, the day before her husband would coach in his 11th Final Four, the coach’s wife headed to a nearby department store with her youngest daughter and youngest grandchild, looking for something to wear. Finding a lovely, floral, St. John knit sweater, one bright with many colors but mostly pinks and oranges over black, she looked at it for too long before putting it down and deciding to leave. It wasn’t Duke Blue. She would not wear it that weekend. They walked back to the hotel.


On the way back, she received an email from her friend Elaine who would be joining the family for the Final Four games just as she had for the games in Houston the previous week. Elaine ended her short email, long on wisdom and insight, with the words, “This time


remember, Mickie, these are the great times.” The great times got greater the next


day with an authoritative win over the talented, athletic, and very well- coached West Virginia Mountaineers and Duke earning the right to remain in the Promised Land for one more game. Bliss, indeed.


And then that final game, a back-


and-forth battle that would leave the basketball world expressing its gratitude to both Butler and Duke for an unforgettable ending to an unforget- table tournament.


In the end, the shot that could have


been the shot left Gordon Hayward’s hands and the coach’s wife was not nervous. It was on line, but it didn’t go in. As for me, I was shaking. And even


175 WORTHY CHAMPS


as the confetti spilled from the ceil- ing and even as the young men I had come to so strongly admire formed their celebratory piles, and even as the coaching staff came together in a group hug, I couldn’t believe it. From my spot a few seats over, I turned to look at my mother, stunning in her pinks and oranges over black. Committing herself to these times’ being “the great times,” she had decided that, in the Promised Land, the coach’s wife doesn’t have to wear Duke Blue and had returned to the store to get the sweater she would wear to the national championship game. She didn’t even know I was look- ing. Looking on at her looking on. In that moment, as in many moments, the coach’s wife was beautiful in her grace. And I thought to myself, “these are the best times.”


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