Watching the Baseball Hall of Fame inductions this morning and feeling a little ceremonial. While no speech is going to be as exciting as, say, watching Rickey Henderson float from home to third on a triple, seeing the accomplishments recognized of guys who played at the top of their leagues is super-satisfying.
The University of Washington has only retired the numbers of two basketball players from their entire history: Bob Houbregs, a Husky great from the early 1950s, and Brandon Roy, last season. While honoring only two such players in this way has kept the achievement from becoming watered down, the school has the opportunity to pay tribute to two deserving Dawgs in one fell swoop next season.
First and foremost in the minds of most fans will be seeing that no Husky ever wear Jon Brockman’s #40 again. Imagine the scene if, midway through next year, J-Brock comes back for a celebration of his great career.
But, retiring Brockman’s #40 isn’t so simple for the school, because it’ll also need to retire Christian Welp’s #40. Welp, a member of the Pac-10 Hall of Honor, is the Huskies all-time leading scorer and shot-blocker. He was the key player on their last two Pac-10 title teams until last year (in 1983/84 and 1984/85).
It’d be a bit dubious to honor Brockman while ignoring Welp. But, in a year that we hope to win back-to-back titles for the first time in 25 years, let’s rectify the whole thing with a big double-retirement ceremony before a game this season.
It would be understandable for the school to be a little concerned about overshadowing either legend by combining the honor, but that could be solved by making sure to give equal time to both of them. Sure, it begs the question of why the team waited this long to honor Welp. But, so what? In this case, all’s well that ends well.
Let’s hope the school doesn’t let these concerns stand in the way of doing right by these luminary Huskies and the fans. Bring both men back and hang two #40 jerseys in the rafters at Hec Ed, feeling confident that the UW has appropriately recognized a pair of Husky basketball legends.
Agree? Think I’m crazy? Let me know in the comments section…
And, hey, thanks for coming!
Tags: Bob Houbregs, Brandon Roy, Christian Welp, Jon Brockman, Rickey Henderson
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I agree…although I have to admit that I was not aware of the “other” #40, as my Husky fandom roots are not that deep. Its interesting to think that only two players in the history of Husky hoops have ever had their numbers retired.
I would say that they should take another step: retire Nate Robinson’s jersey as well. Just because B-Roy happened to be there at the same time as Nate, that doens’t mean he wasn’t instrumental in A) putting Husky hoops on the national map B) getting the Huskies to the Sweet-16.
Brockman is a no-brainer for this in every way. I would not be opposed to every Husky wearing number 40 jerseys for the next 40 years to honor the #40 that I loved watching the last 4 years. Hustle, heart, power, fercocity, and toughness — and two of the greatest pair of hands in the history of sucking up rebounds in NCAA.
On that note….who the hell is going to get on the boards next year? Please don’t tell me its Bryan-Amaning!
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Nate, huh?
I’m not sure. It should be a pretty tough honor to achieve, and I wonder how many players contributed on Nate’s level over the years — probably a lot.
I agree with you! Let’s really honor #40 and have everyone wear the number. At the very least it would confuse the hell out of the refs…
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