How about those Bluejays?!?!?
By virtue of their impressive victories over North Carolina State and Baylor in the NCAA Tournament this past weekend, Creighton has advanced to the tournament’s regional semifinals.
Otherwise known as the Sweet 16.
Deep in my heart, I am a Creighton Bluejays basketball fan.
Except when the Jays are playing my beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers.
I have never seen Creighton play ball in the massive arena known throughout its 20-year lifetime as Qwest Center, CenturyLink Center and CHI Health Center.
But I did witness Creighton play a handful of times in the now demolished Civic Auditorium.
The Civic, born in 1954 at 1804 Capitol Avenue in downtown Omaha, held up to 9,000 fans for a basketball game.
My first trip to the Civic occurred on a Saturday night in January 1978.
Five of my buddies and I packed inside my 1970 Ford Fairlane and off to Omaha we traveled.
None of us had ever driven to the Civic before. Our only knowledge of its longitude and latitude? It was somewhere in downtown Omaha.
My best buddy, Darrell Walla, believed he knew the proper route to find the Civic.
The only problem?
Darrell was blind.
His belief was that I venture east on Interstate 80 and then travel north on Interstate 680.
“I believe that route will get you to the Civic Center,” he assured.
I followed Darrell’s directions.
10 minutes later, we knew we were lost.
We found ourselves somewhere in northwest Omaha, a good distance from our destination.
I gambled and traveled on dark residential streets and found my way back to semi-familiar territory.
We eventually found the Civic.
Moments before we entered the auditorium, Darrell blurted, “Now I remember! I should have had you take Interstate 480, not 680!”
Nearly a year later, we traveled the proper route to watch Creighton host my Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Creighton won the game, but the contests’ highlight was NU head coach Joe Cipriano charging onto the court.
Standing at the center circle screaming at an official for not calling a foul on a missed Jack Moore layup, the official slapped Cip with three technical fouls in 11 seconds and tossed him out of the game.
Walking out of the arena, I ran into former Husker basketball announcer Dick Perry. Dick was gracious enough to share a few minutes reminiscing about the night Cipriano was ejected from a NU’s game at Kansas in 1975.
Slippery Joe was slapped with three technical that night, too.
On Saturday, January 20, 1979, it was another trip to the Civic to watch Creighton battle the Indian State Sycamores and their superstar, Larry Bird.
In front of 8,904 fans, the future Boston Celtics star scored 29 points and ISU won by ten points.
My final trip to the Civic Auditorium took place in January 1980.
Small town Nebraska boys Darrell Walla of Touhy and Harry Petrashek of Table Rock were my accomplices that Saturday afternoon.
Following the game, we enjoyed roast duck at Omaha’s famed Bohemian Café.
We decided further adventures were needed, so we drove to Harry’s hometown of Table Rock.
Located in Pawnee County in southeast Nebraska, Table Rock, population 250, wasn’t much of a party town.
However, Humboldt, located seven miles to the east on State Highway 4, offered plenty.
Let’s just leave it at that.
Harry’s parents put us up for the night and fed us a healthy breakfast the following morning.
Then it was a 40-mile trip back to Lincoln and more laughs along the way.
Harry Petrasek died on May 25, 1981, at the age of 25. His lifelong battle with diabetes won out. He is buried at the Bohemian Cemetery in Table Rock.
Darrell Walla died on October 13, 2022, from cancer and dementia.
He is buried in the St. Vitus Catholic Church Cemetery in Touhy.
A Creighton Bluejays garden flag placed at his grave proudly waves in the Saunders County breezes.
My list of recollections of Creighton Bluejays basketball is shorter than my list of memories for Nebraska Cornhusker basketball.
However, the memories are just as powerful, vivid and meaningful.