Xavier Nation Magazine Feature: Tales From the Road

When Danny O'Malia (Xavier '69) was an undergraduate, the men's basketball program was mired in a 22-season NCAA Tournament drought; by the time his brother, David ('73), was a senior, the Musketeers were 3-23. "We almost certainly would have been last in the RPI, had there been one," Danny O'Malia says.

So Danny and a friend from high school and Xavier, Charlie Brunette, made a pact: Whenever, wherever, Xavier made the NCAA men's basketball tournament, they would go.

From 1983-2016, Xavier played in the NCAA Tournament 25 times. O'Malia and Brunette made good on their vow. "I did miss the '61 NCAA trip," Brunette says. "I was in eighth grade. My dad wouldn't let me have the car."

They're among a dedicated group of Xavier super fans, who miss home games only in extreme circumstances—"Weddings, funerals, baptisms and blizzards," O'Malia says – and are as big a part of road trips as continental breakfast and GPS.

Omaha or Philadelphia, Rhode Island or Paradise Island, Atlantic City or New York City, they follow their Musketeers, and their efforts do not go unnoticed back on Victory Parkway. "I'm not sure you can measure it, but it's part of the fabric of what makes Xavier special," Athletic Director Greg Christopher says.

Xavier Nation caught up with Bob Ryan, 68, of Mount Lookout; Martha Schueler, 63, of Anderson Township; Greg Theisen, 65, of Indianapolis; Brunette, 68, of Indianapolis; and O'Malia, 68, of Carmel, Ind. Truth be told, Xavier Nation probably could've caught up with any number of other road warriors, and so this story is for all who've braved miles over icy roads, withstood the ire of opposing fans and represented the X in unfriendly arenas and watering holes.

YOUR ROAD CREW

O'Malia: "A regular foursome going to Cincy – Tom Feeney ('58), Jim Alerding ('67) and my brother Dave O'Malia ('73). Others on the road – Charlie Brunette ('69), Kokomo Ed Lopke (XU parent), Greg Theisen ('72), Joe Ford ('72). I would be remiss if I didn't mention the late Bob Kolbus ('58)."

Theisen: "In the early days it was Danny and David O'Malia, Jim Alerding, Bob Kolbus and Joe Ford. All these guys are Lew Hirt Society members. In the middle years it was Danny, David, Jim, Joe and Tom Feeney. In the last 10 years it has been my wife Tricia and two kids, Kathleen and Patrick."

Ryan: "Family and friends: Chris Ryan, Tim Ryan, Gene and Helen Duwell, Tom and Carol Albers, Dave and Sue Hellkamp, Pank and Sue Goulet, Mike and Pam Frey. Andy MacWilliams, Bill Daily, Tom Smith, Jim Gudmens, Lenny Kopowski, Tom Finn and many others. (My wife) Chris is a UC grad but a convert to Xavier."

Brunette: "Since she retired, my wife, Chris, goes to a lot of the games, including the NCAA games. But the BIG EAST tournament we try to keep a guys' thing."

Schueler: "The last year or two, the same group: Diana Klinedinst, Barb Smith, and our gentleman friend, Bill Dunlap, 87. A couple years ago I had to get a new minivan. They tried to put me in a red one; I said, God forbid. I got navy blue. I call it the Xaviermobile."

FAVORITE CITIES TO VISIT

Schueler: "I always loved Philadelphia when the Atlantic 10 tournament was there. Now with the BIG EAST in New York, that's always a fun place to go. And Chicago."

Ryan: "This is a tough question. But New York City, Philadelphia, Washington and Indianapolis are our favorite destinations."

O'Malia: "Probably the best time I ever had was the '84 (Midwestern City Conference tournament) in Chicago. Too much fun to describe."

Theisen: "I got a kick out of going back to Chicago, especially in the MCC days. I also enjoyed Evansville because they were so rabid and our games were usually really competitive."

Brunette: "One of the most exciting days is when the schedule comes out for the non-conference away games and tournament games so I know where I'm headed. I'm already looking forward to Colorado, Las Vegas and Maui. When Pete Gillen was the coach, we always told him, 'Pete, Maui Classic, Maui Classic. Can't you imagine 1,000 Xavier guys on the beach?' And he'd say, 'That's what I'm afraid of.' "

FAVORITE ROAD VENUES

Schueler: "When Xavier played at Madison Square Garden when Skip (Prosser) was the coach, and we played Mississippi State. It was such a dump! Then when we went there (after a $1 billion renovation was completed in 2013) for the BIG EAST tournament, we were like, 'This can't be the same place.' "

O'Malia: "Being an Indy native and growing up with Butler, it's gotta be Hinkle Fieldhouse."

Ryan: "The Hoosier Dome, Market Square Arena and Hinkle in Indy. The Spectrum in Philly. Century Link in Omaha, MSG."

Brunette: "Vanderbilt, with the coaches behind the baselines. The Philadelphia Civic Center for the first Atlantic 10 tournaments."

Theisen: "(Evansville's) Roberts Stadium was always awesome. I loved the early A-10 games in Philly, getting to know the fans from Temple and Rhode Island. The Cable Car Classic in '89 was awesome. USF's gym is smaller than my high school gym."

FAVORITE ROAD GAMES

Ryan: "The 1990 NCAA win over Georgetown at the Hoosier Dome to reach the Sweet 16. (And) 2004, defeating St. Joe in Dayton when they were No. 1, in the conference tournament."

Schueler: "The 2004 and 2008 NCAA (Elite Eight) runs. I was there for both."

O'Malia: "Beating UC at the Shoe (in 1996): 'No. 1 in the country; No. 2 in Cincinnati!' "

Theisen: "Lenny Brown's jumper against UC. Some UC (fan) was giving Danny and me a bunch of crap all night and he disappeared as the ball went through the net. … The game at Marquette when Jamie Gladden keyed the miraculous last-minute comeback. The Marquette fans were so nice to me – until we pulled off the incredible finish."

FAVORITE ROAD MEMORIES

Schueler: "When Skip (Prosser) was the coach, we played in a tournament (in Puerto Rico) that Kentucky was in, too. If we both would've won, we would've played each other, but we lost. On our way home, we were waiting in the concourse with all the Kentucky people, and here comes (former UK coach) Tubby Smith, pushing his mother in a wheelchair. This was when my husband (Rob) was alive, and he was never bashful, so he goes up to Tubby and starts talking to him. I'll tell you, Tubby could not have been nicer. I'll bet we talked to him for a half hour. He was so complimentary of Skip and Xavier."

Ryan: "The preseason trip to Ireland and England in summer of 1997. Holiday tournaments at Atlantis resort (in the Bahamas), St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and Orlando. The 1996 trip to Philly during the big snow. The team and a few fans walked to the Palestra for practice in 3 feet of snow."

O'Malia: "The first time we made the (NCAA) tourney, in '83 in Dayton (vs, Alcorn State). All the Sweet 16 stuff, especially in '04."

Theisen: "The postgame parties in Chicago on Rush Street after a couple of MCC Tournament wins. The incredible feeling I got when we beat Texas to go to the Elite Eight game. The fun we had in Orlando that same year when we won the Sweet 16. Xavier's first NCAA victory in '87 was in Indianapolis. Then we beat Georgetown in Indy in '90 to make our first Sweet 16."

Brunette: "I don't know why this one stands out, but Eastern Illinois on a Saturday night over Christmas break. There was nobody in the gym, and you could hear everything. There was another Lew Hirt Society guy, Tim Keener from Ohio, and he's yelling at every call. Well, the calls kept getting worse and worse. Finally I got up and went over to him and said, 'Tim, the calls are just getting worse, would you just shut up?' "

FAVORITE HAUNTS

Brunette: "Most sports bars during the NCAA work out pretty well, wherever you are. Even in Boise, we found things to do. There was this observation point for hawks along the Snake River."
Schueler: "In the 2010 NCAA in Milwaukee, there was a group of us hanging together. There was a whole block of Irish bars, and it was over St. Patrick's Day, and there were a lot of Xavier people in town."

Ryan: "McGillins Olde Ale House and the Vesper Club (thanks to Dennis Riley) in Philly are great places."

O'Malia: "Quatman's Cafe before our sojourns to Cincinnati."

Theisen: "Quatman's is by far my favorite pre-game stop. Back in the day I'd eat at Don Mattingly's restaurant in Evansville and The Billy Goat in Chicago. Binkley's in Indy is great before Butler games."

ROAD HORROR STORIES

Schueler: "Marquette, the year before last, we drove up the day of the game. The snow started on I-74; you couldn't see anything. By the time we hit 465, there's no lanes marked. The highways are covered in snow. Anyway, we finally get up to Milwaukee, and we play horribly, and we're thinking, 'We went through all this to watch them play like that?' "

Ryan: "NCAA Tournament in 1997, The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Xavier team and fan hotel was the Hilton. There was no hot water for two days. But we weren't planning any fine dining. We were there for the basketball."

O'Malia: "Providence for the Rhode Island game. We might have been the last plane out of Philly. The game was a horror story, too. "

Theisen: "In 1991 we drove through tons of ice in Indiana on our way to Minneapolis where XU beat Nebraska in the first-round game. The next day, my nine-months-pregnant wife calls me to say she thinks she's about to give birth. I told her to hang on for one more day. Ray Allen and UConn beat the crap out of us in the second round, and I drove the six of us home immediately after the game. We got back to Indy at 10 a.m. and our daughter was born the next day. Tricia held on, and my mother in law was not real happy! Our daughter Kathleen received her BS and MS from XU, and she says she would have done the same thing as me."

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