Rose becoming poster

I ran into BYU hoops coach Dave Rose at a BYU football practice last week. He looked good, said he’s feeling good, and acted quite chipper as we talked about concerts we’ve both attended this summer. I was trying to make him feel bad for missing the Paul McCartney show, but he fired right back with “I went to the Rush concert.” But we both know that he’ll never keep up with me when it comes to concert attendance. Rose at least has a good excuse, though. He’s quite busy at his new unofficial job as spokesman for college coaches in their campaign to raise cancer awareness and research funds. His battle last summer and fall with pancreatic cancer seems to make him the right guy to be the coaching fraternity’s voice. This unofficial role actually comes because Rose is too nice to tell people “no” when they ask him to help their cause. But there’s a big plus to his new designation, and that is he’s getting to play a lot more golf. Almost all of these cancer groups raise funds through charity and celebrity golf tournaments. Rose played in UNLV coach Lon Kruger’s event in Las Vegas in May, and is helping with the Huntsman Classic this week at Thanksgiving Point and in Driggs, Idaho. Next month he’s going to Spokane to help out with Gonzaga coach MarK Few’s event. His final fall duty, which doesn’t include golf, at least I don’t think so, is when Rose testifies in front of Congress in late September about the need for more cancer research funding. This gig is actually part of the Coaches vs. Cancer movement and the organization was wise in recognizing that Rose was a perfect guy for the duty. But, from what I understand, he won’t be alone there as others will also testify.
One little note on the Coaches vs. Cancer thing, which I wrote several months ago, but I still hear people talking about. BYU fans seem shocked that the Cougars are not playing in that tournament in mid-November at Madison Square Garden. The Cougars did not get an invite because, an official from the tournament told me a few months back, the invitations and contracts for the four teams involved – Maryland, Illinois, Pittsburgh and Texas – had already been sent out before Rose was diagnosed with cancer. Don’t be surprised, however, if the Cougars end up playing in Madison Square Garden in December 2011.