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Mar 25, 2004
March Madness
I should be watching basketball tonight. But, I don't know if I'll be able to. After Kentucky lost on Sunday, I wasn't able to watch ESPN, listen to sports radio, or check some of my usual websites. I wouldn't call it painful, but it was definately a downer. It's interesting to try and figure out why we react the way we do to sports. Some of it makes sense. Sports are fun, and have elements of beauty and excitement. But somehow team loyalties are kind of odd. How is it that the sucess and failures of guys we never met can affect us so much. But Sunday's loss stung a little more than usual. Why? When Kentucky got the ball back down one with 12 seconds left, I knew they were going to win it. KNEW they would win. There were games like this all season long. And in this situation, they won every time. Literally, every single time. When Fitch shot the ball, I knew it was going in. When it didn't, and Hayes tipped it, I knew that was going to go in. There had to be a foul or something. This years team always wins those situations. Which is why, when it didn't go in, it was such a downer. Plus, I really enjoyed this particular team. I just wasn't ready for it to end. It kind of reminded me of a scene for Pleasantville, when the local high school team lost thier first game ever. So, here are my top 5 worst moments as a sports fan: 5. Kentucky vs UAB, 2004 NCAA Tournament second round. 4. SF 49ers vs NY Giants, 1991 NFC Title Game: Growing up, I was a 9ers fan, really up until it became Terrell Owens team. I can't stand him (which made the whole free agency fiasco more enjoyable). The 49ers were on their way to a 3-peat. The worst part is that the Giants didn't score a TD the entire game. They won on 5 freakin field goals (including one as time expired to win it). 3. SF Giants vs Anaheim Angels, Game7, 2002 World Series: The Giants haven't won a World Series in my lifetime. This would have been the first time I would have gotten to celebrate a WS win. Game 6 would have been more disappointing, but I was on a retreat and didn't see it. 2. Mark Messier becomes a Vancouver Canuck: Granted, this isn't a lost game, but during the early 90's I became a huge hockey fan, and the 94 Stanley Cup really cemented me. Until the Ranger got rid of my favorite player, Messier. I haven't really watched hockey since. 1. Kentucky vs Duke, 1992 East Regional Final: This was an amazing game. and with 2.8 seconds left, Kentucky had the game in the bag. You all know what happens. Mostly because CBS insists on showing that clip over and over and over and over and over (In fact as recently as 2 years ago, in CBS's intro to tournament games, they would show 3 clips. 2 of them were Kentucky losses. Freaking annoying.) Honorable Mention: Kentucky vs Clemson, 1993 Peach Bowl: This one hurt because Kentucky is pretty horrible at football. By some amazing feat, they made it to a Bowl game in the 93 season. And they had a 13-7 lead in the final minutes, buy Clemson was driving down the feild. They got the the 20 yard line, when Marty Moore intercepted a pass on about the 3 yard line. Kentucky won, right . . . except he began to run and was hit around the 10-15 yeard line and fumbled the ball. Clemson recovered and scored a few plays later, hit the extra point, and Kentucky went on to have a 1-10 season the following year, then eventually went on to lose 2 more bowl games and end up on probation. posted
by Unknown @ 5:02:00 PM |
