1 Down, 5 to Go
So I'm pretty busy right now, got a lot to do to get ready for the weekend, but some things can be rescheduled and some can't. That's why I got out of my office at 10:15 to meet my brother down at Busters for food and - more importantly - Arizona Wildcats basketball.
That's right. This is Holy Fortnight. The NCAA Basketball tournament. The greatest 2 weeks of sports in America (what Olympics?), 64 games culminating in the crowning of one National Champion. It's hoops time, Baby! And there's nothing like it.
The beauty of the tourney is that Big Time Schools like Duke, UCLA, Connecticut, and Oklahoma get in, but so do the little guys like Wichita State, Iona, Oral Roberts, and Winthrop (more about them later). All it takes is beating your competition in the regular season. You may know Wisconsin's fight song ("On, Wisconsin"), but how about Bradley U's? I'll give you $2 if you do. Sure, you may know Southern Cal's "Trojan March"... but they didn't make it in. So sorry - not invited this year.
And for two weeks, anything can happen. OK, no number 16-seed has ever beaten a #1. But some 15s have beaten #2s. That's pretty close to anything. (Several years ago, the University of Santa Clara beat Arizona. Sure, they had a genuine future NBA Allstar leading them, but that's not the point; the little guy beat the big guy and that's what it's about. Of course, Santa Clara isn't in this year, and the 'Cats are for the 21st straight time, so there!)
It started yesterday morning (I wore my blue AZCats cap to the office, just out of respect). Since then 12th-seeded Montana broke 5th-seeded Nevada, and #13 University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee knocked down #6 Oklahoma. #15 Winthrop (Winthrop?) took a hot Tennessee team right to the wire before the Volunteers hit the winning bucket with less than a second to go. And today Northwestern State University of Lousiana stomped on Iowa's heart with their own last-second 3-pointer, sending the Hawkeyes home crying while the Purple Demons are laughing all the way to Round 2. That's #14 over #3, and it counts. A lot.
So I sat there with my brother Craig, wearing my bright red Arizona Basketball t-shirt, eating nachos (and hot wings, and spinach dip) and drinking cokes, and cheering for the greatest spectacle in sports - unlimited hope, any team can get in, every band gets to play, every cheerleader gets to smile and shake, no one's too short if he can shoot, you play for all the marbles - everytime - and you get paid nothing: it's for pride and that's all. So when Iowa lost, the guy in the black and yellow sweatshirt at the table next to us got up and left without saying a word, too brokenhearted to even wave goodbye...while we watched the MIGHTY ARIZONA WILDCATS smash the Wisconsin Badgers and celebrated like something great had just happened. Which it had.
One game won, five to go. Bear Down, Arizona.
That's right. This is Holy Fortnight. The NCAA Basketball tournament. The greatest 2 weeks of sports in America (what Olympics?), 64 games culminating in the crowning of one National Champion. It's hoops time, Baby! And there's nothing like it.
The beauty of the tourney is that Big Time Schools like Duke, UCLA, Connecticut, and Oklahoma get in, but so do the little guys like Wichita State, Iona, Oral Roberts, and Winthrop (more about them later). All it takes is beating your competition in the regular season. You may know Wisconsin's fight song ("On, Wisconsin"), but how about Bradley U's? I'll give you $2 if you do. Sure, you may know Southern Cal's "Trojan March"... but they didn't make it in. So sorry - not invited this year.
And for two weeks, anything can happen. OK, no number 16-seed has ever beaten a #1. But some 15s have beaten #2s. That's pretty close to anything. (Several years ago, the University of Santa Clara beat Arizona. Sure, they had a genuine future NBA Allstar leading them, but that's not the point; the little guy beat the big guy and that's what it's about. Of course, Santa Clara isn't in this year, and the 'Cats are for the 21st straight time, so there!)
It started yesterday morning (I wore my blue AZCats cap to the office, just out of respect). Since then 12th-seeded Montana broke 5th-seeded Nevada, and #13 University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee knocked down #6 Oklahoma. #15 Winthrop (Winthrop?) took a hot Tennessee team right to the wire before the Volunteers hit the winning bucket with less than a second to go. And today Northwestern State University of Lousiana stomped on Iowa's heart with their own last-second 3-pointer, sending the Hawkeyes home crying while the Purple Demons are laughing all the way to Round 2. That's #14 over #3, and it counts. A lot.
So I sat there with my brother Craig, wearing my bright red Arizona Basketball t-shirt, eating nachos (and hot wings, and spinach dip) and drinking cokes, and cheering for the greatest spectacle in sports - unlimited hope, any team can get in, every band gets to play, every cheerleader gets to smile and shake, no one's too short if he can shoot, you play for all the marbles - everytime - and you get paid nothing: it's for pride and that's all. So when Iowa lost, the guy in the black and yellow sweatshirt at the table next to us got up and left without saying a word, too brokenhearted to even wave goodbye...while we watched the MIGHTY ARIZONA WILDCATS smash the Wisconsin Badgers and celebrated like something great had just happened. Which it had.
One game won, five to go. Bear Down, Arizona.
posted by David Hardesty | 12:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home