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I remember a year after I moved out here looking at the Shocker baseball schedule. Probably reading The Wichita Eagle (yes I had a subscription and they sent me a daily copy to the desert - lol but seriously.) On the schedule was showing Wichita St. at Grand Canyon University. What??? Who??? I asked around and nobody...nobody knew who Grand Canyon University was. Lol.
Finally out at the pool at my then apartment I strike up a conversation with a guy a few years older than me. We get to talking sports and he tells me he writes for the Arizona Republic. So of course I ask him if he's ever heard of Grand Canyon St. thinking it must be somewhere here in AZ. He says yeah it's a little school just down the freeway in Glendale. Well cool I say! Why he asked. Well my team is playing them in baseball next week and I will have to go now learning its just down the freeway a few miles. Who's your team? Wichita St. I say! He looks at me like "no way". Then on cue...all the required Dorthy and Toto jokes flow from this guy. Yeah yeah laugh it up buddy I smirk. Anyways...he then tells me he's a Saluki from Chicago so of course we're best friends now talking up the Valley. Much respect about Wichita St.'s past (at the time).
The next week me and a old friend from Wichita go see our Shockers play Grand Canyon St. Felt like we were pulling in to a high school baseball field. Get out of car making our way to the "grandstands" and lo and behold....a whole bunch of Shocker fans. Outnumbered the Grand Canyon fans 5 to 1 no shieeet. Lol Had a great spring day watching our Shocks beat up on this then little unknown. Even got a chance to have a good conversation with catcher Doug Mirabilli's parents. Best guess is there were between 1,000 to 1,500 Shocker fans there. Good memory for me....hope you don't mind the little story.
Finally out at the pool at my then apartment I strike up a conversation with a guy a few years older than me. We get to talking sports and he tells me he writes for the Arizona Republic. So of course I ask him if he's ever heard of Grand Canyon St. thinking it must be somewhere here in AZ. He says yeah it's a little school just down the freeway in Glendale. Well cool I say! Why he asked. Well my team is playing them in baseball next week and I will have to go now learning its just down the freeway a few miles. Who's your team? Wichita St. I say! He looks at me like "no way". Then on cue...all the required Dorthy and Toto jokes flow from this guy. Yeah yeah laugh it up buddy I smirk. Anyways...he then tells me he's a Saluki from Chicago so of course we're best friends now talking up the Valley. Much respect about Wichita St.'s past (at the time).
The next week me and a old friend from Wichita go see our Shockers play Grand Canyon St. Felt like we were pulling in to a high school baseball field. Get out of car making our way to the "grandstands" and lo and behold....a whole bunch of Shocker fans. Outnumbered the Grand Canyon fans 5 to 1 no shieeet. Lol Had a great spring day watching our Shocks beat up on this then little unknown. Even got a chance to have a good conversation with catcher Doug Mirabilli's parents. Best guess is there were between 1,000 to 1,500 Shocker fans there. Good memory for me....hope you don't mind the little story.
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