When you have wanted something very badly for a very long time, it's rare that when you get it, it is everything you hoped it would be. The letdown is almost inevitable. As the old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for....you just might get it." I'll admit that in the past, when I imagined what it would be like when (if ???) KU ever won it all, the thought creeped into my head that maybe it wouldn't be quite the be-all, end-all that I had built it up to be. But I've gotta say, KU winning the national championship is everything I hoped it would be, and more.
Certain people are just predisposed to love certain things. Sometimes it's because of their parents or siblings or other influences when they're young, and sometimes that's just the way people are internally wired. This is me and sports. My dad is a pretty passive sports fan. The only sport he actively watches and follows is football. I know I was on the couch with him every Sunday when I was 3 or 4 years old, watching the Washington Redskins when we lived in D.C. But that's about it. He never really pushed sports onto me, I just kinda got absorbed in them. When I was about 6, I was into baseball and football about as much as any 6 year old can be into anything, besides picking his nose (and I'm pretty sure I was heavily into that, too.) My parents used to laugh at me and 'show me off' to their friends at dinner parties and such. I was a little bit of a freak show. I may not have been able to pronounce the name Jose Uribe, but I could tell you his batting average in 1987. It was all natural to me.
Then when I was about 7 or 8, I discovered college basketball; KU to be more specific. I don't know what made them my favorite team, probably it was as simple as I was 8 and the first game I watched, they were playing in. Shortly thereafter they made the championship game and lost to Duke. I was crushed but didn't totally understand, I was still young and hadn't yet realized that getting to the Final 4 was incredibly hard. As I grew older and as my obsession grew stronger and the disappointments piled up, I promised myself that if and when it finally happened, I would fully appreciate every moment of it. And now, 18 years later, I am.
Monday night was the final chapter of a story that began a long, long time ago. It's amazing how many bad memories can be wiped out with the creation of just one new one. It is also amazing how clear the distinction between my first and second loves has become. There was never really a doubt in my mind that I loved college ball and KU more than baseball and the Red Sox, but I was unaware how large that gap was until the last week or so.
Monday morning and afternoon was almost unspeakable torture for me, waiting for the game to start. I was sitting in my office with the Hansbrough Face going, eyes bugged out, mouth wide open, my head whipping around in confusion every time someone tried to ask me a simple question. One of my co-workers actually asked me if I was feeling OK at about 3 pm, because she said I looked awful. I wondered what it would be like to hyperventilate, because I couldn't have been that far off. I know I have been worked up for Sox games before, but never anywhere close to that.
Ummmm yep, sorta like that.
Things weren't much better once the game started. One of those games where you know within 5 possessions that neither team is going away. Lived up to the hype, that's for sure. I was feeling unusually optimistic throughout the game, until the 9 point deficit with 2 minutes left. I thought we were done, and was beginning to prepare myself mentally. By "preparing myself mentally" I mean clutching my stomach and trying to keep myself from passing out. Then the comeback began, and I was a complete shell by this point. As everyone around me was yelling and screaming with every made shot and missed free throw by Memphis, it was all I could do to stay on my feet. When Chalmers' shot went in, I just sort of crumpled, recovered, and then basically did my best Thomas Hill re-enactment for the next half hour, as KU cruised through overtime.
This was my facial expression for so long that if my mom was there, she would've told me that my face was gonna permanently freeze like that.
Speaking of overtime, remember when I broke down Memphis right before the tournament started? I mentioned the free throw shooting, but then again, so did everyone other person on the planet Earth, so I can't take credit for that, but my point about how Memphis would respond when things weren't going their way proved prophetic. That team was absolutely FINISHED after Mario's shot. Put a fork in 'em.
Once the game was over and the celebration in the streets began (40,000 people packed downtown, and I probably hugged around 37,000 of them) everything kind of hit me at once and that's where this picture comes in. It'll be hilarious to look at that when I'm 75...which isn't to say that it's not hilarious now. I look like Fredo after the Don gets shot in front of him in The Godfather. Awesome.
I suppose I would've ended up in this position somehow, win or lose.
Here's some more of my other favorites from the night:
Man-hugs were on sale in Lawrence on Monday night. We took advantage.
Jud was blatantly taking advantage of the celebration to kiss Ashley (and random girls.) Vegas had the over/under at 29. Jud is the MVP of aggressive, borderline inappropriate kisses though, so I can't say I'm shocked. You know on shows like Laguna Beach, where every time the gang gets together, even if it's just for lunch, they are all hugging and kissing when they greet each other, like they haven't seen each other for 4 years, and I sit there and yell, "Nobody does that! You just saw each other last night! What the fuck?!?" Well, some people actually do that: Jud.
So anyway now I look forward to being able to just cheer like a normal fan, or at least as normal as it is possible for me to be while watching sports. After a decade and a half of heartbreak, I have officially moved into "spoiled fan" territory. Phil Mickelson has won three majors, the Sox have won two World Series, and the Phoenix Mercury are WNBA champs, haha j/k, j/k. LOL :)
I think Fundy's texty shortly after the game summed it up best: "congrats at least you won't be sleeping on any bridges this year" Well said, Fundy. Well said.
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