A drink called ‘Kir’ and Jimmy Valvano

Jerry Tarkanian

Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 | 11:44 a.m.

I’ve been asked about some of the big and memorable games we had in the Big West, and one of the big battles we had was with Fresno State.

They had a great coach in Boyd Grant. They were really good and had a great following. It was a big rivalry. Every time we played in Fresno, it was their biggest game.

People would wait in line, do anything they could to get a ticket to the UNLV-Fresno State game. It became a big, big rivalry. It was one out of respect. I always respected Boyd Grant.

I remember Cal State Fullerton, too. God, especially that year we were No. 1 in the country for a couple weeks. We were undefeated. That was the season Danny was a junior. It was 1982-83.

We open the season with Oklahoma. The Sooners were really tough. They had Wayman Tisdale. They were picked to finish way ahead of us. We weren’t even in the Top 20 going into the season.

I was out with friends before that game and I had a glass of ‘Kir,’ -- sounds like cure -- which is Creme de Cassis and Champagne. Felix Kir, the mayor of Dijon in Burgundy, popularized it when celebrating the end of the Second World War with friends and visiting delegations.

Then we upset Oklahoma at home, 65-54.

Sidney Green was a senior. Larry Anderson was a senior. We won our next 23 games. For two weeks, we were No. 1 in the country. It was the first time UNLV had been that way.

Before every game, I had a glass of ‘Cure.’

We went to play Fullerton. We were 24-0, No. 1. Danny was sick with a stomach flu, so he couldn’t play. We lost, 76-71. After the game, I remembered – I forgot to have that drink of ‘Cure.’

Then we flew to Morgantown, W.V., to play West Virginia on national television.

A group of boosters traveled with us, and I told them how, god darn, I forgot to drink ‘Cure’ before the Fullerton game and how that cost us.

When we got to Morgantown, those boosters rented a limo and we hit every bar in the city. Nobody knew what ‘Cure’ was. And we got beat in West Virginia, too.

We were 24-2 after that. Danny played in that game, which was incredible. He was so sick.

We went to the NCAA tournament and got a bye in the first round. We had to play North Carolina State in the second round. I didn’t know Jimmy Valvano well then.

We had to play them in Corvallis, Ore. Jimmy got to be one of my closest friends after that. He beat us, 71-70. We led the whole ball game.

In the last few minutes we made only two of seven free throws. They kept fouling us purposely. Still, we had a one-point lead with 40 seconds to go. They had the ball and were stalling.

They wanted Dereck Whittenburg to take the last shot. We defended him perfectly. He liked to drive to his right, so we switched Larry on him and Larry defended him perfectly.

Dereck missed the shot. Elridge Hudson, who had a bad knee, went up for the rebound and mistimed it. He was coming down when the ball bounced off the rim. He jumped too soon.

He was down when Thurl Bailey came flying through the air to tip it in with two seconds to go.

They beat us by one. It was one of the most painful losses I had, but I got to be great friends with Jimmy. He got to be one of my closest friends.

Next time, I’ll tell you more about Jimmy Valvano, and I’ll tell you about that fireworks show and some of my players who didn’t make it in the NBA.