The Day the BBall Died

I am not a huge sports fan but the exception is basketball season. It is the only time of year that I actually care about the sports page of the newspaper and even go so far as to schedule my day around games. I’ll make sure I get my work done in time to be in front of the t.v. before tip off. And, watching basketball games with friends of mine have become one of the staple social activities around here. There is no good reason to watch a game alone if you don’t have to. Cook-outs, tent parties (I’ll explain that one later), pre-game outings to the Q-Shack have all been a part of the basketball rituals around here. And then of course there is the watching the game excitement… even among the most holy individuals, you never know what is going to come out of someone’s mouth while cheering for their team.

As of last night, all this joy has came to an end. College basketball season is over (and in my mind the NBA doesn’t count… it is not like they are really playing, just showing off). I will not read the sport page again for months. My roommate and I are actually thinking of canceling our cable subscription to save money because without basketball does anyone really NEED all the cable channels?

When all was said and done last night neither the regular season top ranked Duke men’s or women’s teams ended their season with a national championship. While both teams had talented players, great coaches and offences that could make the game look easy; neither team could hold it all together when it really counted. Duke men lost in the sweet sixteen to LSU two weeks ago and Duke women lost last night in the NCAA championship game to Maryland. The women’s loss was especially painful considering that fact that Duke was up by as many as 13 most of the contest. And they were just a good, well-rounded team that you just couldn’t help but be behind them.

So, I guess, I go back to whatever life was like before all this mania began in November. (I’m not sure what that was like, actually). The gang around here will just have to find other things to do instead of enjoying the great pleasure of yelling to pictures displayed in a box and hoping that this year would be Duke’s time to finish with a national title. There’s always next year.