I couldn't possibly string together any kind of rational thought about the game. No chance. So I'm listing random shit from the night, bullet-style baby.
- I'll start with giving some propers to the Carolina fans. I have quite a few of them, and every one of them showed a lot of class in defeat last night. (Side note: just so everyone doesn't think I was ignoring them, I made the conscious decision to not answer a single texty once the game started. It's one thing during baseball, where there are plenty of breaks in the game, but I didn't want my face buried in my phone during a basketball game. Then after the game was over, I didn't answer anything because I was too busy trying to decide which article of clothing to set on fire or which car to tip over next. (Side note to the side note: going through my inbox this morning was hilarious. I could've been stranded in the African Congo, with nothing but my phone, and I would know EXACTLY how this game went down, from the unreal start, to the scary second half, to the final run at the end, to the conclusion. Awesome work kids.))
- Also some heavy propers are due to Lane. Sasha Kaun has always been Lane's boy, and we have a little bit of a friendly rivalry due to the fact that my boy Darnell Jackson stole his starting spot. Anyway, before every game, Lane always tells me, "Look for Sasha to have a big game tonight." See the comment section from the previous post for an example. At the beginning of the year he was completely serious, he always thought Sasha would have a huge game. Once I told him that I had turned it into a running joke, trying to predict the exact time he would call me and tell me, that kind of ruined it, because now obviously he says it for comedic purposes. ANNNNYWAY before the game starts yesterday, Lane does his Sasha routine, then drops this one on me: "You know who might be our MVP tonight? Cole Aldrich." To which I replied something along the lines of "Jesus, shut the fuck up Lane." Well holy shit he couldn't have been more right. It was awesome, and hilarious, to the point where everytime Cole did something good, Lane was absolutely mobbed by everyone around him. So sometimes it does pay off to have blind faith in big, slightly uncoordinated white dudes.
- Random note on Cole Aldrich: he is about 6'10 or 6'11'', and a few months ago we saw him in Chipotle, and his girlfriend is shorter than Alex. Chew on that.
- Also some propers to Schne. Back in January he said "You know what? KU is really, really good this year. They are going to the Final 4, and I wanna be in Lawrence when it happens." So he bought a plane ticket right then and there, and KU made it, and that is turning out to be the greatest plane ticket he ever bought.
- It was nice to see KU play to its potential last night. The question with them this year hasn't been COULD we play well, but WOULD we play well. They just get inside their own heads so often, instead of just going out and playing basketball. To come out and play so aggressive, yet loose, at the beginning of the game was nice to see.
- I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the bar, probably in all of downtown Lawrence, that wasn't comfortable at 40-12. Partly because I'm a naturally pessimistic sports fan, partly because I knew Carolina was gonna make a run at some point. Well, they made a run, all right. If Carolina comes back and wins that game, given KU's tortured recent history, that it was a Final 4 game, that it was against Roy, that's gotta be one of the all-time toughest losses in sports history, right?
- Speaking of watching at the bar, I had never been a giant fan of that. In the past, I would much rather watch at my place, with a few buddies, drinking beer, whatever. Well that was because I never lived here before. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with 150 other people cheering just as hard as you are, sweating your ass off, living and dying with shots, booing and flicking off Roy and Hansbrough every time they showed him on screen, and then pouring out into the streets afterwards to celebrate....unreal. My advice to all my friends is that if and when your team goes to the Final 4, go to the hometown of that school. Durham, Chapel Hill, whatever. Just go there.
- Roy. Ol' Roy. Last night's game was pretty therapeutic. I have to say that my hatred is a bit diminished since we got that out of our system. When we were on the huge first half run, the greatest moments were when they showed a shot of Roy on the sideline. We went ballistic. Clearly the goal is to win the title, but I do have to say that I can be a little more objective about Roy since we beat him that badly.
- Speaking of winning the title, I don't have too much to say I guess, pregame. Maybe I will tomorrow. Basically both teams are playing their best ball right now. I am glad we play Memphis, because I have a little residual fear left over from UCLA from last year, and I. HATE. MEMPHIS. Almost as much as Duke or Carolina. And this hatred is more of a legitimate hatred. I hate Duke and Carolina for obvious reasons (and as we talked about a few days ago, they are kind of biased and unfounded reasons); and I hate them every year, just because. Well, I hate Memphis because I actually dislike their coach and their players. I think they are a team full of punks, and I am excited to play those bitches tomorrow.
- Except for Chris Douglas-Roberts, he's kinda cool. He reminds me of this guy in the Grand Am tournament we played in a few years ago. We were all in our prime, 21, 22 years old, and we're playing a team of 40 and 50-somethings, so we're pretty relaxed. Well this one guy with gray hair probably dropped 45 points on us. Scoring from every possible spot on the floor, using all kinds of crazy dips and scoops and different release points on his jumper. He dropped the entire old-man arsenal on us, and we lost by about 20 to bunch of Dads. That's who CDR reminds me of, and I have respect for that.
- Slide down the bench, Marquette Semifinal Game From 2003. I've got a new all-time favorite KU basketball moment...hopefully until tomorrow night.
- God bless google. When you google images for "KU final four" here's some of the pictures you get:
Word up, Jesus. It IS cool to love you...but how should I feel about the KKK and Lindsey Lohan in a two-piece?
