There is a glut of college basketball and the regular season is meaningless, but if you weren't into UConn-Cincy you are not a sports fan. You can't grow up watching sports in Connecticut without living and dying with the men's team. I don't follow as closely as I used to because my chosen profession almost demands emotional detachment. Not objectivity, big difference. I don't cover the team so I can take a reserved rooting interest. But, quite unexpectedly, I am downright giddy right now.
There have been bigger wins in UConn history, this one isn't even a blip, but I am not sure Jim Calhoun has ever felt better about a regular season win. 84-83, rallies from 12 down in the final 5 minutes on the road. You see how excited he was shaking hands?
Too often in the last two years, and in three of their 5 losses, they play like this and fall short. Confidence is fragile, and until you win a game like this, it is hard to do it. Memphis, Georgetown, Gonzaga, all those games were encouraging yet heartbreaking. This one would have been maddening.
The atmosphere was sensational, the play spirited, and the drama heavy. That is as good a regular season basketball game as you will ever see. Loved the intensity. Both teams played like there was something on the line. For UConn, it may have been its season. You get no credit for losing close games on the road to good teams. Moral victories are for losers. The team is so fragile, they needed to win a game like this.
So, take a breath Puppies, all is not lost. After a season and a half of just not watching, apathetic and even arrogant in my dismissal of the team, I sat down to just check out the score Wednesday before I flipped on my beloved Celts and ended up watching every second of the Pups and yelling at the TV.
Oh no! I am hooked back in, living and dying with every shot, technical, and bad officials call (which are numerous). There was a pit in my stomach the entire second half. I have felt that way before. Incredible highs, and crushing lows.
The rush is why we watch.
For much of the last two years I haven't had anything near that. I just didn't care. I needed a text message Sunday to remind me UConn played Marquette.
Who would have thought? A random weekday game in an 85 percent full Cincinnati gym would fire me up. What was different? Don't know. You never know when the sickness is going to come back. No matter how hard you try to beat it out of you, at least for a night, the Mania returned...and I loved every second of it.
Kind of nice to feel this way, I feared I may have outgrown it. A loss on Saturday to Indiana and I will be miserable.
That's how it should be.
P.S.
Quiet on recruiting for football. Guess we'll see where UConn stands on Feb. 6th.
1 comment:
Couldn't agree with you more. The whole game was great, in what can be a turning point for these kids, coming back from down 12 and a questionable technical to Calhoun on the road. AJ Price is the catalyst, his foul trouble lead to the run by Cincy and the pups are finally hitting FTs! Now they have to go to Bloomington and stop Eric Gordon and DJ White. Of interesting note, though, UConn is the last non-conference team to beat Indy at home, two years ago they are 18-0 in that span.
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