Untucked, a guest essay from Steve Rushin

Most of you know Steve Rushin for his inspired work at Sports Illustrated where his "Air and Space" column was required reading for nearly 20 years. One of his most memorable SI columns was his take on the Warriors' run to the 2003 Final Four.

Steve remains a prolific writer and dedicated Marquette hoops fan. As the team enters the home stretch of the season Steve was gracious enough to author a personal reflection on the basketball program for Cracked Sidewalks, a gem we'll call "Untucked." Steve, thanks very much.
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UNTUCKED

As Catholic school kids in the 1970s, my buddy Mike and I passed the time in class sketching basketball uniforms to replace the ones our 7th-grade team was forced to wear – the ones with "B.V.M." sewn across the front, the monogram of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Mike's dad had gone to Marquette and the dream jerseys we drew up were always some variation on the Warriors': Untucked and untuckable, the way we wanted to wear our uniforms – school and basketball uniforms – at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Though mine was a hockey family, I was influenced by those '77 Warriors in ways I wouldn't realize until later. Al McGuire seemed to have, even for that era, an extraordinary number of buttons on his vest and suit jacket. And then there was that poster from '77, of all those Warriors in pastel prom tuxes spilling out of a Packard convertible. To a 10-year-old, those tuxes said, "You've arrived." Precisely where you had arrived dressed like that – eleven men piling out of a single clown car – was a question I hadn't yet entertained.

In 1983, when my Dad was driving home from 3M headquarters in St. Paul, he heard on Sid Hartman's radio show that a local high school sports star – Tom Copa of Coon Rapids, Minnesota – had signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Marquette.

"You should apply to Marquette," my Dad said. I thought of basketball warm-up pants and tuxedo ruffles and nine-button suits, and I instantly agreed with him. I had never been to Milwaukee.

Only then did I begin to follow Marquette basketball. From this remove, a quarter-century later, those days are a blur of hairdos. In 1984, when I arrived on campus – not in a Packard convertible, alas, but in the back of my Dad's Buick Regal – Marquette basketball was in transition. The magnificent jheri curls of Terry Reason were yielding to the eventual flat-top of Tom Copa.

There's a famous episode of "The Simpsons" in which Grandpa Abe is watching Super Bowl III: The flowing locks of Joe Namath are about to vanquish the buzz-cut of Johnny Unitas, both in the game and in the culture at large.

"Johnny Unitas," says Grandpa Abe, middle-aged and out of touch. "Now there's a haircut you can set your watch to."

Twenty-five years ago, Marquette basketball was going precisely the opposite way – the bohemian, Samsonian locks of Reason making way for the regimental 'dos of Copa & Co. Players tucked in their jerseys. Rick Majerus, of all people, wore a blazer and tie. The MU sports information department couldn't find room in its budget for luxury automobiles or large-scale tuxedo rentals. And the Warriors suffered for these sins.

It was no coincidence that Notre Dame beat us eight times in four years, led by a point guard – David Rivers – whose listed six feet of height included a full four inches of 'fro. Style matters.

And so to me, it wasn't Dwyane Wade or Tom Crean who ultimately signaled the return of Marquette basketball. To me, it was the introduction of the powder blue uniforms that said Marquette had arrived again. Arrived in a metaphorical Packard, wearing a lime-green tuxedo.

My daughter was three last spring when I bought her one of those jerseys. It remains way too big, so she wears it like a dress.

Which is to say, untucked.

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Steve Rushin graduated from Marquette University in 1988 and promptly joined the staff of Sports Illustrated, where he was a writer for 19 years. Among his many accolades, Rushin was named the National Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in 2006. Rushin also delivered the commencement address at Marquette University in 2007. For more information please visit SteveRushin.com.