Spring Break
Moving Past George Mason
Kevin Meacham
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Sports
Two years later, I still think Denham Brown's 3-pointer was going in.
I was a simple freshman, sitting in a crappy, cramped and crowded dorm room in North that day. I was fully prepared to start working out in preparation for flipping over a car the next weekend. Instead, that Sunday, I - and everybody else on campus - was watching one of the most talented college basketball teams ever squander every bit of potential it had.
But there was still a chance. The plucky underdog kept missing free throws, and my team had one last prayer of a chance to win the game.
Brown took a rebound on the left side. He flew up the court, past the 3-point line, and stepped back to take the game-winning 3 as the clock ticked down. It looked right on the money.
Clank.
And then, numbness. I don't even remember hearing Verne Lundquist's goofy play-by-play call - "BY GEORGE!" - as George Mason's Jim Larrenaiga celebrated. Nor did I hear my phone ring, with harassing calls from friends at different schools around the country.
That brick is my last memory of March Madness. It was, I think, as traumatizing as a sporting event can be.
I didn't watch the Final Four that yearyear. It should have been ours. I don't remember a whole lot about last year's NCAA Tournament, either.
But beginning today at noon - and more specifically, Friday at about 3 p.m. - I get a chance at redemption.
It sounds stupid, I know. I'm not on the team, I don't paint my face blue and white before every game, and I don't gain any money if UConn wins. But there's something to be said for loyalty and school pride, as corny as it sounds.
Anyone who's invested hours of time into living and dying with a sports team knows that every win and loss is a bit personal - and moreso when it's time for that team to win a championship.
When that team also happens to occasionally go to classes in the same buildings as you, or eat at the same spot in the Union Street Marketplace, it's something more than personal.
I was a simple freshman, sitting in a crappy, cramped and crowded dorm room in North that day. I was fully prepared to start working out in preparation for flipping over a car the next weekend. Instead, that Sunday, I - and everybody else on campus - was watching one of the most talented college basketball teams ever squander every bit of potential it had.
But there was still a chance. The plucky underdog kept missing free throws, and my team had one last prayer of a chance to win the game.
Brown took a rebound on the left side. He flew up the court, past the 3-point line, and stepped back to take the game-winning 3 as the clock ticked down. It looked right on the money.
Clank.
And then, numbness. I don't even remember hearing Verne Lundquist's goofy play-by-play call - "BY GEORGE!" - as George Mason's Jim Larrenaiga celebrated. Nor did I hear my phone ring, with harassing calls from friends at different schools around the country.
That brick is my last memory of March Madness. It was, I think, as traumatizing as a sporting event can be.
I didn't watch the Final Four that yearyear. It should have been ours. I don't remember a whole lot about last year's NCAA Tournament, either.
But beginning today at noon - and more specifically, Friday at about 3 p.m. - I get a chance at redemption.
It sounds stupid, I know. I'm not on the team, I don't paint my face blue and white before every game, and I don't gain any money if UConn wins. But there's something to be said for loyalty and school pride, as corny as it sounds.
Anyone who's invested hours of time into living and dying with a sports team knows that every win and loss is a bit personal - and moreso when it's time for that team to win a championship.
When that team also happens to occasionally go to classes in the same buildings as you, or eat at the same spot in the Union Street Marketplace, it's something more than personal.
Be the first to comment on this story