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Between games of the South Region semifinals in Houston, the McCarthey brothers changed into red shirts and moved to another section of the stadium.
That's a possible preview of how they would have treated the two halves of an Elite Eight meeting of Gonzaga and Utah two days later. As it turned out, only Gonzaga advanced from the Sweet 16 that night, so the loyalty dilemma — one that Tom and Phil McCarthey would love to have dealt with — was averted.
The McCartheys, of Salt Lake City, eventually departed Houston after absorbing the abrupt endings of two outstanding seasons, thanks to Duke, in each case.
Even so, the convergence of Gonzaga and Utah in the same venue at that stage of the NCAA Tournament was rewarding for three generations of McCartheys, major benefactors of each school. The scene reminded the brothers how much they've loved college sports throughout their lives. The former owners of The Salt Lake Tribune also believe journalism plays a healthy role in the scrutiny of athletes and organizations in college and pro sports. Emmy-winning sportscaster Bob Costas will address that subject Saturday at Rowland Hall in the McCarthey Family Foundation Annual Lecture Series in Praise of Independent Journalism.
Costas is NBC Sports' longtime host of the Olympics, another of the McCartheys' loves. After watching an Olympic steeplechase event, they once created a course in their backyard, using homemade hurdles and a wading pool for the water jump. More recently, they funded Utah's new track and field venue.
Having grown up watching Utah play basketball at the old Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse, the McCartheys enjoy the family bonding and relationships with players that they've developed. Interviewed last week, they were recovering from the emotional investment of their teams' NCAA Tournament runs — while recognizing that when they were Gonzaga students in the 1970s, any thought of being disappointed about falling short of the Final Four would have seemed silly.
"There's just a certain aura about the college game," Phil McCarthey said. "We also know what it has done for schools like Gonzaga, with applications and enrollment. What I worry about is the way television has taken over so much of the sports, with the Power 5 conferences. … Will there always be some place for schools that don't have big-time football? That's a little bit troubling."
Yet Gonzaga has succeeded in creating a brand name in college basketball, with the family's backing. Tom McCarthey likes to tell the story of "expensive ham sandwiches," summarizing the day they visited the campus in Spokane, Wash., and pledged to help build the school's arena, now 10 years old. The 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center provided Gonzaga with a modern facility, while retaining the cozy feel of the former gym and giving the Bulldogs a huge home-court advantage.
BYU ended Gonzaga's 41-game home winning streak in February. If it was tough for the average Utah fan to handle the convergence of Utah's loss to Arizona and BYU's upset that night, imagine being the McCartheys. Because of other obligations in Salt Lake City that Saturday, the brothers went to Spokane for a Thursday game, then their daughters represented them on Senior Night while they attended Utah's last home game. The family suffered two narrow defeats, about an hour apart.
In December, however, they enjoyed two victories over BYU in Provo. And they went to Houston with the hope that either Gonzaga or Utah would advance to the Final Four.
Their favorite teams once met in the 2000 Maui Invitational. In that case, the brothers were committed to cheering for Gonzaga — until the Utes took the court and the mixed emotions hit them. They moved to a neutral section of the gym to watch the Bulldogs win 71-52. The schools played a home-and-home series on New Year's Eve in 2007 and '08, splitting close decisions — including the Utes' 66-65 upset of a No. 16-ranked team.
The Utes made the NCAA Tournament that season, then returned to that stage only this year, when the McCartheys enjoyed two victories in the round of 32, commuting from Seattle to Portland. Their season then ended in Houston, leaving them wishing for one more week of basketball.
Bob Costas lecture
Emmy-winning sportscaster Bob Costas will speak Saturday in the McCarthey Family Foundation Annual Lecture Series in Praise of Independent Journalism. He will address "Journalism's Role in the Changing Perceptions and Policies in Collegiate and Professional Sports." The 7 p.m. event at Rowland Hall's Philip G. McCarthey Campus (720 Guardsman Way) is free. Doors open at 6 p.m.