beast of the east
Active member
A very strange phenomenon occurred as I was watching Saturday's game.
The car was packed and my wife and I were going out east for dinner and an overnight. With a few minutes left it appeared we were on the verge of pulling away, and then Georgetown stormed back. My wife, in our days as students and for a few years after we were married, used to attend every game with me. However, we had a long drive ahead of us and she started bugging me to get going. She was packing some last minute things and kept poking her head in to watch the progress of the game, and at some point, her pleas to leave got softer and softer until she sat down and started rooting through the last couple of minutes and then two overtimes.
I found myself not getting pissed at each error. Yakwe lunging at a 3 point shot with poor control of his body. Amar also fouling a 3 point shooter. Missed free throw - I mean who tries to miss a free throw? Even as time wound down, I knew as the announcers discussed a 2 shot foul vs. giving upa 3 point shot was a big gamble. it stops the clock, and if they made the first and missed the second who knows what happens. In any event, the shot was launched probably with 5 seconds or so left on the clock, leaving all those possibilities open.
But instead of getting upset as the game slipped away, I found myself just exhorting these guys, not for a win for me as a fan, but for these guys - for their pride and dignity as athletes to break the slide. "Come on guys, hold on. Step up. You can do it"
I heard the announcer say that Ponds proclaimed before the game that he was stepping it up and would carry the team to a win - I was hoping as he played his ass off that the season could find its legs under those words. He very nearly delivered, and while he may not yet be an NBA prospect, anyone who thinks he is not one of the elite guards in the Big East is nuts - one poster actually said last week that we don't have a single Big East player.
As I got into the car and started driving, I was thinking how easily I was discarding this tough loss, but for these guys, who practiced every day the previous week in preparation, and who left it all on the court, the loss wouldn't be so easy to shake.
I started reading the post game posts here later that evening, and thought how silly it was to reduce Mullin to a no talent jerk as a coach, to St. Jean as a know nothing neophyte, and even proclaim that recruits that Matt has worked on for a year or two or more building a sincere relationship would somehow fall away. The barrage of insults heaped on players who failed.
Then I thought of how phony all of US are, that when WE meet any player or coach, that to a person no one who writes negative crap here, WE faun all over them and glow in their presence.
I'm comfortable with just feeling much worse for these kids, than for me as a fan. I'm starting to think that maybe after 40 years of season tickets, (with one interruption when Norm was signed for year 6 but I still bought tons of game tickets) I've finally started rooting FOR the team, and not for me. I don't know, it's just a thought, but I don't think feeling horrible in this tailspin, and dumping on our coaches, players, or administration is very productive. It's certainly not rooting for our guys, no matter what you think.
The car was packed and my wife and I were going out east for dinner and an overnight. With a few minutes left it appeared we were on the verge of pulling away, and then Georgetown stormed back. My wife, in our days as students and for a few years after we were married, used to attend every game with me. However, we had a long drive ahead of us and she started bugging me to get going. She was packing some last minute things and kept poking her head in to watch the progress of the game, and at some point, her pleas to leave got softer and softer until she sat down and started rooting through the last couple of minutes and then two overtimes.
I found myself not getting pissed at each error. Yakwe lunging at a 3 point shot with poor control of his body. Amar also fouling a 3 point shooter. Missed free throw - I mean who tries to miss a free throw? Even as time wound down, I knew as the announcers discussed a 2 shot foul vs. giving upa 3 point shot was a big gamble. it stops the clock, and if they made the first and missed the second who knows what happens. In any event, the shot was launched probably with 5 seconds or so left on the clock, leaving all those possibilities open.
But instead of getting upset as the game slipped away, I found myself just exhorting these guys, not for a win for me as a fan, but for these guys - for their pride and dignity as athletes to break the slide. "Come on guys, hold on. Step up. You can do it"
I heard the announcer say that Ponds proclaimed before the game that he was stepping it up and would carry the team to a win - I was hoping as he played his ass off that the season could find its legs under those words. He very nearly delivered, and while he may not yet be an NBA prospect, anyone who thinks he is not one of the elite guards in the Big East is nuts - one poster actually said last week that we don't have a single Big East player.
As I got into the car and started driving, I was thinking how easily I was discarding this tough loss, but for these guys, who practiced every day the previous week in preparation, and who left it all on the court, the loss wouldn't be so easy to shake.
I started reading the post game posts here later that evening, and thought how silly it was to reduce Mullin to a no talent jerk as a coach, to St. Jean as a know nothing neophyte, and even proclaim that recruits that Matt has worked on for a year or two or more building a sincere relationship would somehow fall away. The barrage of insults heaped on players who failed.
Then I thought of how phony all of US are, that when WE meet any player or coach, that to a person no one who writes negative crap here, WE faun all over them and glow in their presence.
I'm comfortable with just feeling much worse for these kids, than for me as a fan. I'm starting to think that maybe after 40 years of season tickets, (with one interruption when Norm was signed for year 6 but I still bought tons of game tickets) I've finally started rooting FOR the team, and not for me. I don't know, it's just a thought, but I don't think feeling horrible in this tailspin, and dumping on our coaches, players, or administration is very productive. It's certainly not rooting for our guys, no matter what you think.
