I have been really busy lately with school so instead of trying to write a blog post full of critical thought, theology, or, really, anything written with any effort at all, I have decided to write about the remarkable resurgence of the Kansas State men’s basketball team in the past few weeks. Because it has been that awesome.
The text message I received from my dad on Saturday, February 12th said it all: “The year from hell.” I had to agree. K-State had just lost by two points to Colorado because Rodney McGruder’s final second miracle shot left his hand about a tenth of a second too late. You couldn’t argue with the call. The replay official froze the screen when the clock expired and the ball was still clearly on the fingertips of K-State’s sophomore guard. It was a rough moment, the seeming culmination of a rough year.
Though I disputed our pre-season ranking of #3 in the country and #1 in the Big 12--the pathway to the Big 12 championship always runs through Lawrence--I never imagined we would completely fall apart like we did. Our two senior leaders got suspended for taking “improper benefits”, our star recruit from last year left the team, even the 45 year-old Colombian on the team bailed. It was awful. Everything that could go wrong, seemed to go wrong, and then we invented stuff to go wrong and that went wrong too. And the ball on McGruder’s fingertips was just the ultimate example of all of that. We walked into a hostile Boulder crowd, played well, made a miraculous shot, but it left the hands a blink of an eye too late. That was the year. You couldn’t argue with anything. It wasn’t like our football team’s loss in the Pinstripe Bowl when the referee decided it was on him to decide the outcome with a superfluous excessive celebration call. There was no arguing this. We were playing bad basketball (trying to escape Boulder with a win?), our leaders were showing no leadership, Frank Martin seemed to be losing control. And then Kansas was coming to town. It was Valentine’s Day and we were hosting KU on Big Monday after losing to CU less than 48 hours before. Needless to say, I was not feeling a win coming.
But, of course, it did. We played extremely well. Kansas looked flat. We dominated them in every part of the game. Our 7’ center who I could beat in an arm-wrestling match owned the paint against the musclebound Morris Twins. Pullen was shooting like it was a video game. KU was turning the ball over blithely. It was an amazing night.
Then, of course, you are worried about the comedown. You beat number one in a shock the nation type game and then, naturally, you expect to lose to a struggling Oklahoma team. But we didn’t. Pullen didn’t play great and it took us awhile to pull away but McGruder continued to step up and has been our surest hand in this great run. Then there was the final date in Lincoln to take on a surging Nebraska who had just beat #2 Texas at home a few days before. Again, I was expecting it to all come apart. After the year we have had, what else could I expect? But we won that one, too. Despite anemic three point shooting.
Then we hosted #21 Missouri. Pullen had another big game. Nick Russell hit clutch free throws down the stretch and another victory. But perhaps the toast of them all was taking down Texas (#8 at the time) in Austin. It was the Wildcats first road victory against a top ten opponent in 17 years. And we played great. McGruder was unconscious and had ice in his veins as he stroked absolutely crucial shots. Pullen hurt his wrist and kept going. And we reeled it in. It should be noted as well, that I believe it is official that we now... OWN TEXAS!!! I can’t even remember the last time we lost to them in a major sport. Basketball or football, Austin or Manhattan--bring it on, Longhorns.
Now, I don’t know exactly where all of this is going. This could fizz out and we could lose in the first round of March Madness. But we are surging at the right time and it has come out of nowhere. While I was expecting to be disappointed to a certain degree this season, I was not anticipating how bad it did get. Likewise, I could never have foreseen this late surge. And this is one of the million reasons why sports are so much fun and why, despite my literary snobbishness and Indie-music enthusiasm, I will always watch them and love them and get excited and nervous and jump up and down and scream or think words that I shouldn’t scream or think.
The text message I received from my dad on Saturday, February 12th said it all: “The year from hell.” I had to agree. K-State had just lost by two points to Colorado because Rodney McGruder’s final second miracle shot left his hand about a tenth of a second too late. You couldn’t argue with the call. The replay official froze the screen when the clock expired and the ball was still clearly on the fingertips of K-State’s sophomore guard. It was a rough moment, the seeming culmination of a rough year.
Though I disputed our pre-season ranking of #3 in the country and #1 in the Big 12--the pathway to the Big 12 championship always runs through Lawrence--I never imagined we would completely fall apart like we did. Our two senior leaders got suspended for taking “improper benefits”, our star recruit from last year left the team, even the 45 year-old Colombian on the team bailed. It was awful. Everything that could go wrong, seemed to go wrong, and then we invented stuff to go wrong and that went wrong too. And the ball on McGruder’s fingertips was just the ultimate example of all of that. We walked into a hostile Boulder crowd, played well, made a miraculous shot, but it left the hands a blink of an eye too late. That was the year. You couldn’t argue with anything. It wasn’t like our football team’s loss in the Pinstripe Bowl when the referee decided it was on him to decide the outcome with a superfluous excessive celebration call. There was no arguing this. We were playing bad basketball (trying to escape Boulder with a win?), our leaders were showing no leadership, Frank Martin seemed to be losing control. And then Kansas was coming to town. It was Valentine’s Day and we were hosting KU on Big Monday after losing to CU less than 48 hours before. Needless to say, I was not feeling a win coming.
But, of course, it did. We played extremely well. Kansas looked flat. We dominated them in every part of the game. Our 7’ center who I could beat in an arm-wrestling match owned the paint against the musclebound Morris Twins. Pullen was shooting like it was a video game. KU was turning the ball over blithely. It was an amazing night.
Then, of course, you are worried about the comedown. You beat number one in a shock the nation type game and then, naturally, you expect to lose to a struggling Oklahoma team. But we didn’t. Pullen didn’t play great and it took us awhile to pull away but McGruder continued to step up and has been our surest hand in this great run. Then there was the final date in Lincoln to take on a surging Nebraska who had just beat #2 Texas at home a few days before. Again, I was expecting it to all come apart. After the year we have had, what else could I expect? But we won that one, too. Despite anemic three point shooting.
Then we hosted #21 Missouri. Pullen had another big game. Nick Russell hit clutch free throws down the stretch and another victory. But perhaps the toast of them all was taking down Texas (#8 at the time) in Austin. It was the Wildcats first road victory against a top ten opponent in 17 years. And we played great. McGruder was unconscious and had ice in his veins as he stroked absolutely crucial shots. Pullen hurt his wrist and kept going. And we reeled it in. It should be noted as well, that I believe it is official that we now... OWN TEXAS!!! I can’t even remember the last time we lost to them in a major sport. Basketball or football, Austin or Manhattan--bring it on, Longhorns.
Now, I don’t know exactly where all of this is going. This could fizz out and we could lose in the first round of March Madness. But we are surging at the right time and it has come out of nowhere. While I was expecting to be disappointed to a certain degree this season, I was not anticipating how bad it did get. Likewise, I could never have foreseen this late surge. And this is one of the million reasons why sports are so much fun and why, despite my literary snobbishness and Indie-music enthusiasm, I will always watch them and love them and get excited and nervous and jump up and down and scream or think words that I shouldn’t scream or think.
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