The first post I ever wrote on this blog chronicled how I remembered nearly every moment of Kerry Wood's 20-strikeout game May 6th, 1998. I could tell you what I was wearing, where I was, and the most minute details of that cold afternoon when I was home sick from school.
Now I can add March 12, 2009 to a list of dates I'll remember the rest of my life.
A six overtime, 70-game minute basketball game that started just after 9 on the east coast and ended after 1:30 AM on March 13th. My alma-mater, Syracuse, beats arch-rival UConn in the Big East Tournament 127-117.
To digest this game fully really is impossible right now. As I write this post it's after 1 AM here in Chicago. This was a game that was so action packed, and so unbelievable, that it's really hard to put into words right now. The superlatives are endless. The heart palpatations were plentiful.
The 40 minutes of regulation basketball was great. Even when Eric Devendorf's buzzer-beating attempt (correctly) didn't count.
Each five minute stanza of overtime, all six, incredibly compelling every possession. The swings of emotion, the back and forth. The fact that Syracuse trailed by six at one point and stormed back to tie it and force another five minutes.
The fact that Syracuse didn't lead in an overtime until the last one, yet continued to force more and more. They didn't even win the opening tip of any overtime until the sixth.
This is the type of game you tell your kids and grandkids you saw. For those privileged members of the Madison Square Garden crowd, you were lucky to have been there Thursday night. Many of my friends attended tonight's game. And while I could call them now, at 2 AM eastern time, (I know they're still up), I'll wait until tomorrow to give them time to digest it.
Because like I said, there's no way to really digest everything that's happened right now. I can't even recall all the specifics right now. All I know is, this is one of the greatest moments of my life as a sports fan. Maybe the game didn't mean as much as others, but the feeling I have right now compares with any elation I have ever felt watching sports.
What an amazing night.
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Sensational post about an amazing game!
ReplyDeleteWell put Jordan as usual. And to think that Syracuse actually hit most of their free throws and they were playing with walk on players in the last OT. And the sweetest part is that they did it to UConn. It has to rank as one of the best college basketball games in the history of college basketball, no matter who you are a fan of. The heart and passion of college sports dwarfs the professional games by leaps and bounds. I wish had been there but I will never forget watching it. Great post!
ReplyDeleteONIONS!!!
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