Stanford Game Was Forgettable, But 'Orange Ice' Will Tell You Different
Flosi Sigurdsson was known as the Human Victory Cigar.
A 7-foot center from Iceland, he never left the bench for the University of Washington basketball team unless the Huskies were safely ahead by 20 points or more — or down by that many.
For four years, he went to practice every day, dressed for games and rarely played much at all.
Sigurdsson helped pull up the rear end of the UW roster and provide a practice player, but he never earned the role he much would have preferred during his college days.
Noah Neubauer is the UW's new cigar. For an instant, somebody lit a match to him.
Noah Neubauer scored his first career points at Stanford.
UW Athletics
In an otherwise dreary game at Stanford in Palo Alto, the 6-foot-4 junior from Seattle's Garfield High School, a player who wears brightly colored, floppy hair and refers to himself as "Orange Ice," entered the 87-69 loss near the end, squared up at the top of the key and launched his first collegiate shot.
Swish.
His first career points — on a 3-pointer.
For finding the scoring column, the UW replayed a video of his shot on Twitter and next a video of coach Mike Hopkins ceremoniously awarding him a game ball back in Seattle.
Redshirt freshman guard Dominiq Penn likewise scored the first points of his Husky career on a 3-pointer at Stanford, too. However, it wasn't nearly as meaningful because he's a scholarship player who should score a lot more before he's done.
Neubauer is one of six guys who fill out the roster without any hope of ever playing significant minutes and are content just to be part of the team. They're almost like student fans in jerseys, but they share in expensive basketball gear and some of them get to travel.
Only previous walk-on player Reagan Lundeen, a 6-foot-6 senior from Santa Ana, California, has a scholarship, with Lundeen rewarded with financial aid for his final season for his loyal participation.
Among the scrubs, only Neubauer and Lundeen have entered a game this season, each drawing a pair of brief stints.
Neubauer actually made his college debut against Arizona last season and came up with a steal. He played a second time in November against Nevada in a tournament game in South Dakota. Stanford was his third college appearance.
All losses.
Just a few seconds here and there.
Entrusted with running out the clock.
But Orange Ice someday can tell his grandchildren about the time he had his personal moment of glory at Stanford, and maybe smoke a cigar while he's doing it.
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