Kentucky will probably win Monday night. (1) Kentucky fans will celebrate and (2) Rival fans from other big-time programs will piss and moan about John Calipari’s methods. By Thursday the sports media and sports public will be focusing on some other bright, shiny gee-gaw du jour.
In the backwash of any “final game” of any sports’ season, I reflect upon the sage question of former Cowboys running back Duane Thomas about the Super Bowl:
“If it is The Ultimate Game, why do they play it every year.”
Why indeed?
“One bright shining moment” is like playing taps at a funeral? Think about it. Someone of whatever importance dies and family, friends and acquaintances come together to pay respects. The usual elements of a funeral service finish with a solo of taps or a well-known hymn then the assemblage disperses to their own lives. The immediate family is alone with their memories and facing the future forever altered. The ebb and flow of life’s tide never stops regardless.
Time and Tide absorb the Winners and the Dead.
OK, Kentucky wins…. Whats for dinner?
Now on to “Will Tiger Win The Masters?”. “Can Tebow make the Jets God’s Team?”….. blah blah blah
Another championship for Kentucky fans will be a big deal for them as it would be for other perennial contender fan bases like UNC, Duke, UConn, Syracuse, Kansas, et al. There will be the usual over-the-top celebration in Lexington. Some numbnutz will use it as an opportunity to riot and commit mayhem. If you live or work around a rabid Kentucky fan, he/she will be obnoxious for a few days just as you are when your team wins.
You will patiently endure the first few days of obnoxious chest-thumping just as your associates do when you are obnoxious. Your tolerance will wear out 36 hours before their obnoxious enthusiasm does.
Face it. The only time that a team winning an annual “ultimate game” really means anything is when it is your team that wins. Otherwise you could not care less and are likely somewhat bitter from sour grapes.
There is the occasional anomaly as in Butler’s ascension the past two years. Everyone in America except for Duke and UConn loyalists were pulling for the brave little underdog Bulldogs in those games.
But Kentucky versus Kansas ???…. Godzilla versus King Kong….. Alien vs Predator….. Alabama vs LSU….. Goliath vs Goliath with no David.
In the board monkey dumpsters of the “other big programs that expect to win” there will be prolonged cud chewing over stoopid coaching moves, uninspired play and, of course, (taa-da) crooked referees. If you are a terminal cud-chewer, may God have mercy on your immediate families and co-workers.
I watched maybe 15 minutes total of Saturday’s two semi-final games. I did not schedule my daily walk or errands around either game. Any high drama would be repeated ad infinitum on a dozen ESPN channels. I will probably have Monday night’s game on in the bedroom. Blondie will commandeer set #1 for Mad Men or Good Wife or some such.
I did not watch a single college basketball game start to finish this year. The two UNC-Duke games and last weekend’s two games from St Louis came the closest. Even those were not must-see TV as they might have been several decades ago. The Dicky V Hype Machine wore thin with me some time ago.
Harrison Barnes is gone. He seemed like a nice kid and he behaved himself for his two years at UNC. I wish him well. There will be other Harrison Barnes. There will always be another Harrison Barnes.
Ultimate games and program saviours….. Duane Thomas was right. There will be another one next year.
What’s for dinner?
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