Pre Final Four Musings
This past Sunday at around 4:30 another one of my team’s seasons came to a screeching hault. The Jayhawks dropped to the 11th seeded VCU Rams. Oh the memories are still fresh from just over a year ago when Ali Farokhmanesh took that ill-advised three-point shot from deep – splash… all of Lawrence Kansas cringed as did I. And with that, the 2010 Jayhawks season came to a chalky tasting bitter end. Similar to this year, KU was flat out-played and out energized by the upstart “FIRST FOUR” Rams from Richmond, Virginia – who somehow boasted two sweet 16 teams and sent one into the coveted Final Four. Quite an evolution. Jay Bilas ate crow, I sulked along with a large demographic of the Sunflower State. Shaka Smart broke it down on the sidelines of the Alamo Dome…the Dougie was looped on ESPN with those wretched Final Four hats being sported all crooked and uncouth… Really I’m over it…
This one was a bit different…at least for me. As an admittedly obsessive compulsive sports fanatic, this one didn’t sting as bad. Was it the fact that Kansas was not the “overall #1 seed”, or that they got out of the Round of 32 this year without punishing dissapointment? Maybe. This is how I saw it errr rationalized it… There are times as a fan when you cannot accept a loss: 1) The Stage - The Superbowl of accomplishments. Your team has made it to the promise land, the final challenge, the gates of Mordor. Just reaching that feat gives you some false sense of accomplishment. A foregone conclusion. Your team has a 50/50 shot to reach sports euphoria. For me this was Superbowl 42 - as Plaxico Burress caught an over-the-shoulder TD from Eli to cement a monumental (yet should-have-seen-it-coming-upset). Or this past summer when Kobe and the Lakers capitalized on the absence of Kendrick Perkins and showed up in the 4th to earn another title and to reaffirm Phil Jackson’s soundbite that the Celtics choke it up in the 4th Quarter. 2) Pre-Ordained Greatness - KU as an OVERALL #1 – Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrichs’ final season in Jayhawks gear with a diaper dandy Freshman Xavier Henry and a strong supporting cast. Drink the Kool-Aid, accept the hangover, and move on.
This had a different feel. After halftime when KU went on a big run to close the gap to two points, the fist pumping and cheers felt good. The sting from last year was still palpable, but it couldn’t happen again, could it? Oh yes, my friend, it could. Stats don’t lie. When a team goes something like 2-21 from 3-point land and the opposing team goes something like 12-21 from the same continent, you’ve got issues. And from the charity stripe you’re barely over 50%, I’m sorry…you don’t deserve it. You have to swallow some pride, accept defeat, and move on. Forget talent. Forget power-conference reputation. Forget a National Title three years ago. Forget the “re-load” vs. “re-build” recruiting pedigree of a blue chip program. Forget it all. You got beat. You got out-coached, out energized, out-everything’d. It still stings, burns, you hate it… but it somehow feels more acceptable.
Thank God (if you swing that way) for Opening Day tomorrow and Friday. A new season breeds the belief in a renewed chance for that same coveted sports euphoria…
