RIP: Jerry Tarkanian

[cartman]

The great college basketball coach passed away at the age of 84.

Former UNLV and Fresno State head coach Jerry Tarkanian has passed away | CollegeBasketballTalk (http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/11/former-unlv-and-fresno-state-head-coach-jerry-tarkanian-has-passed-away/)

[MacroGuru]

There must be a nasty basketball game coming up in Heaven for Tark and Smith to go (I know they were both old, just had to throw this out there)

RIP Tark..

[BillJasper]

I'm not a big basketball fan, but his Runnin' Rebels teams sure were fun to watch.

RIP.

[Izulde]

:(

I mean, it's not surprising considering all the health issues he's had recently... but damn it. This is hitting me harder than I thought it would.

[cartman]

I still find it amazing he had teams that scored 100 points in a game before the introduction of the shot clock and three point shot. He was definitely an innovator.

[ColtCrazy]

Loved watching UNLV play. Kentucky's team has nothing on those 1990-91 Running Rebel teams.

[Izulde]

People have been leaving memorials at the Tark statue all day. I took a towel when I got back from class.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/Basketball%20Stuff/tarkstatue_zpsvuc03dih.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/Basketball%20Stuff/tarkstatue_zpsvuc03dih.jpg.html)

My towel is the plain one in the bottom middle of the image. Set it between some flowers. Evidently there was a memorial vigil earlier tonight, but I missed it because I had to teach on the other side of town. When I get there, a handful of people were still there, and I saw others trickling in as I left.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I totally forgot about the towel thing. Need to search the Internet. I'm sure there's an article out there somewhere about preparing the towel each game and how many he would go through in a season.

[Izulde]

Why superstitious Jerry Tarkanian was always chewing on a towel | The Dagger - Yahoo Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/why-superstitious-jerry-tarkanian-was-always-chewing-on-a-towel-004042485.html)

(Hat tip to JiMGA for finding it to answer to a question a friend of mine had. I was asleep at the time.)

[miami_fan]

Tark along with Big John Thompson had a major impact on how I believe basketball should be played. Smothering defense, uptempo offense. Athletes all over the floor.

RIP Tark

[Izulde]

There's a campaign to dim the lights on the Strip in his honor. So far Stratosphere and Palazzo have agreed. Would be for 90 seconds, in honor of his 1990 national title.