Things looking Rosey for BYU hoops

Honestly, when I walked into the Marriott Center early Wednesday evening I expected to hear a lot of grim news about how difficult Dave Rose’s life was going to be over the next few months. I was expecting to hear how he had chemotherapy or radiation treatment awaiting, and maybe even more surgery ahead. I expected to hear how he planned to wrap all of his basketball coaching duties around all of the medical hardship that awaited. So you can imagine how nice it was to hear that all Rose needs is a few more naps. That’s really the kind of news I like to hear.
“We should all take a nap once in a while,” Rose pronounced.
In a nutshell, the surgeons at Las Vegas’ Spring Valley Hospital did such an amazing job of removing all of the malignant cancerous tumor in Rose’s pancreas and spleen, that there’s no evidence of any cancer remaining. As Dr. Scott Samuelson so clearly pointed out, that’s no guarantee that cancer cells are not hiding somewhere in Rose’s body, but right now they can’t be found, which means they can’t really be treated until they are evident and found.
Not only was it pleasing to hear the optimistic prognosis on Rose’s future, and that he will be around for all of BYU’s basketball events this season and probably many more to come, it was impressive to see a man who was visibly showing the enthusiasm of getting a second lease on life. He wants no pity. But he does want everyone who knows him to share in his growth from the experience.
“Everything that you go through in life helps you to become a better person, and this experience will help me become a better person. It will stretch me and make me appreciate things more,” Rose said.
He displayed appreciation and humor that was contagious. It’s already rubbed off on me. I expect it’s going to rub off on the fans, other coaches and players. I can’t wait to see Rose in action again, because I expect to see a coach who even appreciates those who write almost daily about the job he’s doing daily. I suspect there’s just going to be a lot more smiles surrounding BYU basketball this coming year.