SPOKANE -- A lot of people here in Spokane are true to the core Gonzaga fans, but we found an elderly Spokane woman who just might be the Zags' ultimate fan!
Kay Barbieri has spent most of her life rooting for the Bulldogs, rarely missing a game. So when she realized her 90th birthday fell on the day the Zags would be playing in the WCC Tournament, she told her family the celebration would have to follow her to Las Vegas. "Oh, that's why they had to go down there because I was going to the tournament," she jokes.
Mrs. Barbieri met her husband, Lou, back in 1935 at a Gonzaga mixer. The couple followed their team everywhere. And even though Lou passed away several years ago, for Kay, the tradition of tagging along after the team continues.
"That was the way to celebrate a 90th birthday," Kay says, while looking at pictures of her and her family from the Vegas trip.
Back in Spokane, Mrs. Barbieri's home is just a stone's throw from campus, and she still likes to walk it every day.
Now, she's dragging the family to Buffalo, New York to cheer on the team in Round One (and hopefully two) of the NCAA Tournament.
And while the action in Buffalo may be a little bit different than the Las Vegas experience, Mrs. Barbieri says it doesn't really matter where the game is being played just as long as she gets to see it.
