Courtside cameo

For four years, I've been on a quest to spot my collegiate children on TV as they cheer on their respective men's basketball teams. Could it happen before the clock winds all the way down?

In these modern times—with FaceTime and WhatsApp and a gazillion other technological wonders—I can see my children, with the press of a button, anywhere in the world at just about any time.

But there’s something about seeing them on television that’s been a little project of mine for these past four years. They’re both set to graduate this spring—Maggie Rose from Northwestern and Zach from Indiana—and the clock’s winding down.

The intimacy of spectators at basketball games makes those moments the best shot to spot them on the idiot box—if only I happen to be watching and if only the camera happens to pan to their section.

I wouldn’t call this a Bucket List item. It’s more like a Thimble Thing, a more modest and frivolous achievement on the scale of one of those Monopoly board game thimble tokens.

Anyway, lately I’ve stepped up my surveillance. In all honesty, it’s mostly because I enjoy watching both teams—one’s my alma mater, after all. But a secondary motivation is the Where’s Waldo-esque challenge of trying to spot them in the stands. (I realize confessing this is acknowledgement that my life is not currently brimming with excitement.)

Whenever the camera shows students, whether the fired-up variety or those in some other emotional state, I rapidly scan the faces to see if I can spot my favorite Hoosier or Wildcat.

A few months ago, as Northwestern was playing on the Big Ten Network, I caught a glimpse of Maggie Rose as an injured player was helped to the bench. But it was so brief and so peripheral that it didn’t really qualify in my book.

Then a few weeks ago, as Indiana was in the midst of a huge comeback over Purdue on CBS, I thought I saw Zach going happily berserk front and center on camera. I knew he was at the game—we were texting back and forth—and my heart leapt. But I wasn’t absolutely sure and rewound for another look. Nope—just another of the many Hoosiers who look vaguely like my son.

It was beginning to feel like a Next-Gen Baron Spotting wasn’t in the cards. Then this past Monday UCLA came to Evanston to play Northwestern on FS1. I texted Maggie Rose to confirm she was there and as the game wore on kept my eyes peeled.

With less than a minute to play, NU had trimmed a 14-point deficit to six points and a Bruin was headed to the free-throw line. That’s when, over his right shoulder and all the way beyond the other end of the court, I glimpsed someone who stood out. It was a young person with a familiar frame, shoulders practically duplicating the free-throw shooter’s angle. She was garbed in white amidst a sea of purple-clad students.

Could it be? I snapped this photo:

And this fan wasn’t just casually watching—as the video below shows, she was an active participant, expending vocal energy while waving her hands, to join in the collective effort to distract him. The fact that the player had his back to her and was over 100 feet away? Besides the point.

He missed the shot, helping Northwestern claw to within a point before finally succumbing.

But it wasn’t a total loss. As the game ended, I texted my daughter the photo and asked: “Maggz…that you in white over his shoulder?”

“Yeah,” she responded, “that’s me.”