Y’all Bad (a Shout Out to the Lady Wildcats of the U of A)

Y’all Bad – (A Shout Out to the Lady Wildcats of the U of A)

by Ernie McCray

Wow, what a season
you Lady Wildcats had.
Y’all bad!
Champions of the WNIT!
So honored to be
in your family
as a Wildcat
great-grandaddy,
both literally
and figuratively.

I mean I, too,
once played hoops
for the red and blue
and I grew up
bleeding red and blue –
going back to the 40’s
when I was but a little boy
sitting in the cheap seats
at Wildcat ball games,
paid for with money I had made
shining shoes or mowing lawns
or selling scrap metals and bottles
or getting up early on a Saturday morn
to take the bus to Marana
to pick some cotton…
I’m talking days,
like your season,
that will never be forgotten,
as what you did
is memorable,
how you took
your game
to a higher level,
never giving up
or complaining,
“Bearing Down,”
with all your might,
showing that your
wonderful coach
had taught you right.
“Arizona! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

What a delight!
A beautiful sight!

Y’all bad!

Man, I wish
I could have enjoyed
moments like you’ve had.
My teams
“Fought Like Wildcats”
but it didn’t show in the stats;
we tried to
“Go! Go! Wildcats! Go!”
but we couldn’t
get into a rhythm
or a flow
that could get us to where
we were trying to go
but everybody needs to know
we were
“All Hail Arizona”
from head to toe.

So over the years
I’ve lived vicariously
through the rise of U of A
basketball to the status of celebrity
and I can’t say how indescribably
fulfilling that is for me.

And that’s been
mostly about the men –
but seeing you women
ascending,
making names
for yourselves
and seeing a community
come out to see you
strut your stuff,
the way Tucson,
my hometown, did –

Well, I hope that love,
and the feeling of what it’s like to win,
energizes you next season
as fans like me
can’t wait
for the cheering
to begin again.

Cuz, again:
Y’all bad!