How/When Did You Become An MU Fan?

[Phantom Warrior]

Just curious how/when posters on this site became MU fans - how the connection got started? Are most on this site alumni of MU? Are/were most of the posters from the Milwaukee area? Were parents fans? Etc.?

I started following MU hoops in 1957-'58 when I was in sixth grade. I used to listen to games on WISN Radio. The announcer and play-by-play guy - I think it was Tom Collins - really captured the excitement of the game, made it come alive. I loved listening to him describe Mike Moran making a left-handed hook shot or Walt Mangham skying for a rebound or Jimmy Kollar making a pass on the fast break for an assist or Jim McCoy nailing an outside shot. I remember how excited he was about a young player named Ron Dibelius.

I remember being fascinated that McCoy and Kollar and Mangham were all from Pittsburg and wondering how/why they came to Marquette.

But it wasn't just the excitement of the games and the players. I loved the name Marquette. It was so much cooler than the names of other schools they played - Detroit, Dayton, Xavier, Loyola, Creighton, St. Louis, etc. And the nickname was even cooler - Warriors! Yeah. Loved it. So much better than the Ramblers or the Flyers, or the Blue Jays, or the Billikens, whatever the hell that was.

Marquette Warriors just had a certain coolness that other combinations did not have - were nowhere close to.

And the, of course, there were the chants - You could hear them on the radio: "We Are.....MARQUETTE!" And "Ring Out Ahoya" captured the heart of an 11- 12 year old boy trying to survive a frigid, snowy Milwaukee winter. I also liked the Badger fight song, but MU's was just so in line with the kind of revolutionary rhythms that Elvis and Buddy Holly and the other young, fledgling pop singers were sending over the air waves and putting out on 45s. Just so much hipper than Perry Como and Doris Day.

That was the start of my love affair with MU hoops, basically 60 years ago. I was a UW fan as well, but for some reason Marquette basketball and its culture captured my heart a little more passionately than did Badger hoops.

And that's the rest of the story.

(This trip down Memory Lane was brought to you by certain cathedral bells - the ones on Jefferson and Wells - as well as by Northwest Orient Airlines.)

[Goose85]

Just curious how/when posters on this site became MU fans - how the connection got started? Are most on this site alumni of MU? Are/were most of the posters from the Milwaukee area? Were parents fans? Etc.?

I started following MU hoops in 1957-'58 when I was in sixth grade. I used to listen to games on WISN Radio. The announcer and play-by-play guy - I think it was Tom Collins - really captured the excitement of the game, made it come alive. I loved listening to him describe Mike Moran making a left-handed hook shot or Walt Mangham skying for a rebound or Jimmy Kollar making a a pass on the fast break for an assist or Jim McCoy nailing an outside shot. I remember how excited he was about a young player named Ron Dibelius.

I remember being fascinated that McCoy and Kollar and Mangham were all from Pittsburg and wondering how/why they came to Marquette.

But it wasn't just the excitement of the games and the players. I loved the name Marquette. It was so much cooler than the names of other schools they played - Detroit, Dayton, Xavier, Loyola, Creighton, St. Louis, etc. And the nickname was even cooler - Warriors! Yeah. Loved it. So much better than the Ramblers or the Flyers, or the Blue Jays, or the Billikens, whatever the hell that was.

Marquette Warriors just had a certain coolness that other combinations did not have - were nowhere close to.

And the, of course, there were the chants - You could hear them on the radio: "We Are.....MARQUETTE!" And "Ring Out Ahoya" captured the heart of an 11- 12 year old boy trying to survive a frigid, snowy Milwaukee winter. I also liked the Badger fight song, but MU's was just so in line with the kind of revolutionary rhythms that Elvis and Buddy Holly and the other young, fledgling pop singers were sending over the air waves and putting out on 45s. Just so much hipper than Perry Como and Doris Day.

That was the start of my love affair with MU hoops, basically 60 years ago. I was a UW fan as well, but for some reason Marquette basketball and its culture captured my heart a little more passionately than did Badger hoops.

And that's the rest of the story.

(This trip down Memory Lane was brought to you by certain cathedral bells - the ones on Jefferson and Wells - as well as by Northwest Orient Airlines.)

I like the "brought to you by" portion of your post. Classic.

As a kid I followed MU from 1970 on, and have been a fan ever since. Not a bad time to start following MU hoops either. Having those memories sure helped get me through some of the tough years, as I knew how great MU hoops could be.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

I was a casual Marquette fan growing up. My Uncle Mike went there, as did my cousin (who was dubbed the "Marquette Mohawk" by Milwaukee Magazine). I would say Kevin O'Neill was the first coach I really remember and when I started to follow them, but moreso as a local team than a diehard fan. After I got my Associate's at UW-Waukesha, my Uncle convinced me to give Marquette a look. I toured campus and never looked back. I grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee and this city has always felt like home to me. It made Marquette an easy sell. Probably didn't hurt that my first year at MU was also Wade's first year on the court. A Final Four the next year solidified what was already a strong bond.

[Gato78]

I have phases:
1. My Dad's first cousin got a job at the Milwaukee Journal when AL McGuire was hired and he covered MU. We got the Journal tickets many times and had some locker room access post games. Was into Tom Flynn then George Thompson. Became a big fan.
2. Went to MU and was a junior for 1977 Championship. Took it up another level. Knew guys on the team.
3. Steve Novak grows up across the street from me and Mrs. Gato. Took it up yet another level. (My brothers and I wished he would have waited to announce after home visits. We wanted to tailgate).
4. 2003 Final Four with DWade and the kid across the street got us up to another level.

It is now impossible to rid ourselves of the MU love.

[MUfan12]

Grandpa is an alum, and took my Dad to games growing up. Dad decided to give it a try with me when I was three. I was hooked. He bought tickets the next year, and kept em until I started at MU.

It's crazy to think about how many of my good friends I met waiting in line for games as a student. And it might not have happened if Dad didn't bring me to that first game.

[TulsaWarrior]

In the mid and late 1960s, I’d listen to Marquette on the radio and sometimes walk downtown to see a game. I’d come early and watch the freshman game. Things really kicked in for me during the 1968-69 season. Detroit came to town ranked in the top ten and the arena went crazy when Joe Thomas and Ric Cobb we’re able to shut down the All American.

That season Marquette almost made it to the Fina Four. It all came down to a Rick Mount last second overtime shot from downtown. The scene was the old field house in Madison and I had a corner seat in the balcony.

Over the years the fandom just grew – George Thompson, Dean Meninger and then the arrival of Jim Chones sealed it. Working around the country in broadcasting it was tough to follow the team in the 70s, 80s and even the 90s. Having access to an AP machine and early satellite dishes helped. TVS and ESPN were Godsends.

Younger fans don’t understand the days prior to the Internet when newspaper clippings from home and trips to libraries to sift through weeks old papers were the only way to find news. I still remember the smell of those libraries in Minnesota, Massachusetts, Virginia, Texas and Oklahoma.

These days I can sit on the Oregon coast and watch most every game.

[Nukem2]

Like Phantom, I started following MU in the late 50's when my Dad took us kids to a couple MU games and saw Mike Moran and company. Just grew from there as I went to MUHS and then MU graduating in '68. Mostly followed by radio and the Journal and Sentinel newspapers during those years as I worked a lot outside of school to pay for tuition. Became a season ticket holder in the early 70s and have been since except for 12 years when I was well out of town for my job (did get to miss the Piano Man years). My youngest brother and I were at the 77 Final 4 as I got Final 4 tickets for that year as well as 78 and 79. That was quite the experience in Atlanta in 77!! As Tulsa notes, it was really hard to get info back in those days though Al and Hank were on the radio talk shows often and were not held back by the NCAA rules about talking about recruiting prospects. Always remember going along press row at courtside to look for names of prospects visiting. Had a lot more in season visits back then.

[IWB]

I like the "brought to you by" portion of your post. Classic.

As a kid I followed MU from 1970 on, and have been a fan ever since. Not a bad time to start following MU hoops either. Having those memories sure helped get me through some of the tough years, as I knew how great MU hoops could be.

As a younger brother I followed the same path. When Gato got to MU our parents started getting season tickets and Goose85 and I often used them. They would drop us off at Gato's apartment and we would head to the game. Gato & Co. full of swampwater, Goo & I just fired up for hoops. I lover Lloyd, Earl & Co. Gato always took is down to locker room post game so I could get autographs and I wish I still had them all.

Never looked back, have been an MU fan since.

(I did not go to MU)

[Markedman]

I grew up in Milwaukee during the Al years......remember listening to games on the radio with Jeff Sewell, Allie and Pat Smith when I was a kid. When they won in 77 I was a freshmen in college at UWM and I became a fan for life. The Wade years took it to another level along with the internet making it easy to connect with other MU fanatics like myself.

[TedBaxter]

Had read about Marquette games in the Superior (WI) Evening Telegram when Meminger was a senior, but really got interested and became an instant fan in the fall of 1971. This article was the clincher.

https://www.si.com/vault/issue/43157/56/2

[MUAlphaBangura]

Been a fan since the late 60's. One of my friend's Dad worked for Golden Guernsey in West Allis and often got tickets to the games as they were a big sponsor back then. He would generally take a couple of the neighborhood kids to the games along with his son. There were some pretty craptacular years when I was in grad school(1983-87) but I never missed the games. Have missed 3 home games since my freshman year of grad school in 1983. Like most here, there are certain things that bring you close and keep you close to the program. I've been blessed to have many of those things.

[pbiflyer]

Became a fan when Marquette offered me a scholarship to attend a month before school started. While I had heard of Marquette and knew who McGuire was, I did have to ask the person on the phone where exactly it was located.
I was however a lifelong hater of all things Norte Dame, so when I arrived on campus, I knew immediately I was in the right place.
Oh, and when people talked about Glenn Rivers, I thought they were talking about a town in Wisconsin, not a fellow freshman.

[MU Viking]

I rooted for MU in their Sweet 16 run in 1994 when I was in high school. I committed to attend MU in 1995 and followed them heavily that season too until my freshman year in 1996. I missed 2 non-break home games in seven years as an undergrad and law student (and then very rarely after that while we lived in Wisconsin). Would watch or listen to every road game.

I was a huge Gophers fan growing up, and I could tell the tide had turned big time when I made the road trip through a blizzard to the Barn with a crammed car for the NIT final eight game in 1998. I badly wanted MU to beat Minnesota and we almost did in that raucous little arena. That Minnesota team still had some great players from that Final Four team that was later invalidated due to the academic scandal (Sam Jacobson, Quincy Lewis, Eric Harris, etc.) and ended up winning the NIT that year. We lost to them by 2 with a shot to win the game at the end. I still say Marquette would have brought home the NIT title that year had that 3-pointer (John Cliff, I think?) gone down.

[mufan2003]

My father got his master's degree at MU. I grew up in SE Wisconsin, a northern suburb, cheering for MU is all I ever knew. I specifically remember Kevin Oneill's teams and the win over Kentucky in 1994 to go to the Sweet 16. I went to MUHS and then to MU. Played soccer at both. I was at MU during the 2003 Final Four....a great, great time. I definitely bleed blue and gold. My fanaticism has probably become even stronger since graduating (following the team and recruiting). In addition, my dislike of all things Badgers was created upon going to MU.

[Phantom Warrior]

MUFAN2003,

Out of curiosity, did you graduate from MUHS in either 1999 or 2000?

[mufan2003]

MUFAN2003,

Out of curiosity, did you graduate from MUHS in either 1999 or 2000?

No.

[pbiflyer]

MUFAN2003,

Out of curiosity, did you graduate from MUHS in either 1999 or 2000?

A small tangent. I have a facebook friend, completely unrelated to Marquette, located on the other side of the country, in a completely different context from college or basketball. Looked at his profile and under friends, it listed a common one - one IWB. They were MUHS classmates.
I am not sure they know each other well, as he speaks very highly of IWB. :p

[IWB]

We know each other very well. He is also one of the attorneys in the high profile "monkey selfie" suit.

[pbiflyer]

We know each other very well. He is also one of the attorneys in the high profile "monkey selfie" suit.

The case of "Monkey See, Monkey Sue!"

[TheSultan]

My dad was a big Al McGuire fan and went to a lot of games in the 60s and 70s. We moved to Madison in the mid-70s, and he rooted for Marquette and Wisconsin. (He still does.) My earliest memories of MU basketball was the 1977 championship, and I rooted for them ever since. And to be honest it wasn't all that hard in those days. UW was terrible. More people cared about hockey. The odd thing is that I never considered actually attending Marquette until I received a random mass mailing when I was a junior. (Like many Madison kids, I just assumed I'd go to UW.)

[ValiantSailor]

November, 1964. I, a freshman from SoCal, was in the lounge at Noonan Hall watching TV, when someone popped in and said he had a free ticket to that night's game. I took it. Was totally hooked for the next four years.

VS