Alec meets Tubby Smith

Alec is a long-time Gopher fan and really, really likes Tubby Smith, the Gophers head coach.  Matt and Molly gave Alec a super Christmas gift:  attending a Gopher basketball practice.  Practice was to start at 8:00 and run until 10:00 at Williams Arena.  When we arrived, there was a sign telling us that Coach Smith was running late from a recruiting trip and that there were no players practicing in the morning.  Instead, we were welcomed to return in the afternoon.  (We did and saw a practice that ran just under two hours.)





So, Alec got a two-fer:  we had a Continental breakfast and then Alec went on the court to shoot and see what Williams arena looked like from the floor.  Here are some photos at the event

After about an hour, Coach Smith arrived and chatted with fans, posed for pictures and then there was a 30-minute Q&A.  Tubby was really interesting and much more candid and open than I would have expected.  (I wrote a brief report for the local fan board:  GopherHole.com.  Click on this link to read it:  article and you'll get a sense of what I mean.)

And here's Alec's prized possession: