Tonight was a very disappointing and anti-climactic end to a great Tar Heel season. After watching one of the worst first halves I’ve seen us play in a while, then make a comeback to come within five, then lose, I was completely tired out and equally let down.
I always hate this part of the tournament, when your team doesn’t go all the way, especially when they had fantastic season, and I don’t have much to offer except being bummed out and saying “we had a fantastic season and man, that was a bummer of a game.” Marshall posted a season wrap up with much more perspective that reminds me what a great year it was.
It’s never fun to watch your team lose, especially when it’s at a bar beside a table of people not-that-into the game, checking hockey scores on their Blackberry’s, and one girl from accounts management beside you keeps dropping her jaw and shaking her head every time your team falls further behind, all while saying, “Wow, they can’t hit anything.” Yes, I know. We can’t. I’m sure you’re a great person in real life, but under the circumstances I’d love for you to unwiden your eyes, dive into that chicken finger sandwich, and continue not watching the game and commenting on it like you just were a second ago. Are those onion rings?
Still I’m sure that if the Heels would’ve been pulling ahead, Accounts Management Exec (Exec? Really? When did you get that promotion? Last week, huh? Well congrats. Finish your sandwich.) wouldn’t have bothered me as much and I’d be excited to face up to Memphis.
I will say that these emotions and the fact I got several text messages when we left tonight - from Mom and Dad: “Sorry KU was tuff”, and from Colin, who usually texts me to tell me we’re gonna lose: “At least Psycho T will be back next year probably” - remind me why I think this is one of the greatest sports tournaments around. Fans are brought together (even hockey fans with Blackberry’s checking their brackets) and fans of different teams find ways to cheer for other teams in the madness. Yes, Northeast US, I know MLB Opening Day is a really nostalgic event for Spring and marks the beginning of Summer ball, but the fact that this tournament allowed Davidson to give Kansas a strong run for their money is awesome and is the reason I love March Madness, and find other things hard to compare.
(I also got another text from a friend saying: “66 - 84 KU. My deepest sympathies”, written completely in jest. I didn’t send a reply back because, YEAH, I KNEW THE SCORE, but also because I couldn’t remember how to text back a roundhouse kick to the face. JESS.)
So, I will don the Jackie Manuel shirt less often in the coming months, but I’ll look forward to next season and remember all the times this season when I jumped up and screamed about how Psycho T was nasty and how Ginyard and Lawson were my boys. They really are.
I’m not really used to posting this long here on the Stache and I’m sure you’re not used to reading it. I’ll be sure to post a picture of a cat or something simple soon to get you used to the old format.
UPDATE: Jess let me know that her text was not in jest, but actually genuine because of her distaste for KU. I apologize for judging your text Jess, and for saying I’d try to roundhouse kick you through a text message. That was wrong. No one should abuse SMS messaging that way.
