By
Ryan Finley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
'Mrs. O' a class act
I never met Bobbi Olson. Apparently, I was one of the few Tucsonans who didn't. But I found out this past week that you didn't need to know Bobbi Olson to respect her, to know what kind of a woman she was and what kind of an impact she had on UA basketball, the University of Arizona, and the city of Tucson.
The city of Tucson fell in love with Mrs. Olson, the happy-go-lucky wife of UA head basketball coach Lute Olson. Her charm lured players to Tucson and earned her an army of friends. Few who met Mrs. Olson would ever forget her - even her doctors said that in her final days, Mrs. Olson would always ask about their families.
Sure, Bobbi Olson never designed a last-second play. She never hit a game-winning shot or drained a clutch free-throw. But Mrs. Olson meant more to the UA community than any national championship.
When Mrs. Olson died at 12:01 a.m. on New Year's Day after a lengthy battle with ovarian cancer, Coach Olson lost his best friend, confidant, life partner, and wife.
The UA community lost someone who was as much a part of UA basketball as her husband's navy blue blazer.
It was Mrs. Olson, not Lute, who would pull prospective Wildcats aside and promise them that UA would soon become a basketball powerhouse - that her husband actually knew what he was doing.
And the players came. Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Damon Stoudamire, Khalid Reeves, Kenny Lofton, Reggie Geary, Miles Simon, and Jason Terry all went on to have successful Arizona careers.
It was Bobbi Olson, not Lute, that won prospective UA recruits over with her trademark apple pancakes and cured slumping players with little more than words of encouragement.
Pancakes were the Olsons' way of combating the allure of Los Angeles and the beauty of Northern California to recruits. Go to UCLA, and recruits would get Hollywood. Come to Tucson, and they would be taken care of by a woman that embraced each new player as a new member of the family.
In an age in which style often means more than substance, Mrs. Olson seemed to have both. While her shopping sprees at local malls were legendary, so was her generosity.
It's hard to believe that despite her dedication to her husband and UA basketball, she was also first-class mother of five and grandmother of 13. Being a mother of five children when daddy is on the road for extended periods of time is an accomplishment in itself.
She was a true partner with her husband, relishing the school's lone national title in 1997 as much as anyone on the floor. Mrs. Olson will always be remembered as the woman who embraced Coach O following the Wildcats' stunning upset of Kentucky in the 1997 NCAA National Championship game.
In college basketball, a sport that can ruin men -Bobby Knight comes to mind- Mrs. Olson was Coach O's calming influence. At a memorial service held this past Sunday in McKale Center, speakers told of how Mrs. Olson would allow her annoyed husband just one hour to get over the loss.
She was that good, and the UA Athetic Department noticed. Just prior to her memorial service on Sunday, UA Athletic Director Jim Livengood announced that "Lute Olson Court" at McKale Center has been permanently renamed "Lute and Bobbi Olson Court."
The court is the least the school can to thank Mrs. O, a woman who was content to stand in the shadows while her husband took most of the credit.
Mrs. Olson was every bit as much a part of Arizona basketball's success as her husband was. As they say, behind every good man is a good woman.
They must have been talking about Mrs. O.
