This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jim Matheson picked up a shift at his old college job this week.
The Utah congressman, who graduated from Harvard in 1982, was back on WHRB's airwaves, where he called the play-by-play for Crimson football and basketball games in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Back then, Harvard had gone more than 30 years without an NCAA Tournament appearance, and it would be another 30 before the Crimson's time would come.
"When I was there, Harvard was not the worst basketball team, but we certainly were not the best," Matheson said. "Penn and Princeton were clearly the class of the league."
Matheson, who joined the halftime show at his old college radio station, couldn't have been happier to see Harvard win its first-ever tournament game, beating New Mexico in his hometown of Salt Lake City.
"It's a great story, in my opinion," the Democrat said.
Matheson, who flew from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City on Friday, said he did not think he could make the Crimson's third-round matchup with Arizona on Saturday. The congressman has to attend two different events.
Much has changed since Matheson's time in Cambridge. The school hired Tommy Amaker, who Matheson called "a big-time coach." Harvard has moved to the bigger, better Lavietes Pavillion and added a couple of NCAA Tournament appearances to the banner that hangs there.
One thing that hasn't changed? Matheson's comfort on the air.
"It was just like riding a bike," he said.
Twitter: @aaronfalk —