Don Bunce, just because

[garvin]

I stumbled onto this obit by chance today. Nothing new; it's from nine years ago, when Don Bunce died much too young. I hadn't realized that his wife Diana -- I don't know if she was a Stanford student, but they were definitely married when he was the starting quarterback -- died even younger.

He was the quarterback for the first college game I ever watched from the stands, Stanford's home opener in 1971 during my freshman pre-reg weekend. He tore the Ducks apart (38-17, and I think one of their touchdowns was in garbage time) even though their quarterback, Dan Fouts, was far more hyped. Everybody had expected Stanford to collapse without Jim Plunkett -- does any of this sound familiar? -- but Bunce was an all-conference QB that fall and led us to a win in the Rose Bowl.

I remember that day very well, wandering the tunnels of the old Stadium, so mysterious; the crowd, bigger than anything I'd ever been in my life; the team, looking so big and imposing that it was impossible to imagine that these guys would be sitting in classrooms with me the next week. Nine years later, I still find it impossible to believe Bunce is gone.

http://articles.latimes.com/2003/apr/17/...me-bunce17