Saturday, March 25, 2006
Guest Blogging And Basketball
Mrs. Blogotional has decided to chime in today:
Those of you who visit Blogotional regularly know that basketball is a BIG topic here. It?s woven in the warp and woof of everything about Indiana, and of course John is from Indiana. During our marriage I have learned that often times, the good times and bad times of basketball cause an ebb and flow in my husband?s moods. I?m mostly an onlooker, a fan following a fan, but have not the depth and breadth of basketball knowledge of a true fan. So it was with amazement I found myself deeply disturbed when I watched the last half of the Gonzaga-UCLA game and watched Gonzaga go down to a heartbreaking defeat, not just any defeat, defeat in the last minutes after leading the entire game. What I pondered has caused this depth of emotion? Why was I deeply sad that a team I follow only sporadically lost?
I?m from Washington state. For the last few years when John and I filled out our NCAA brackets I have realized that Gonzaga is edging up. Gonzaga was at first not taken seriously, but gradually they have earned respect. I found myself placing them higher and higher. So this year, I put Gonzaga as the champs, number one. Oh I know, it was a long shot, but I just had a feeling. And they proved me right at first.
Now fast forward to the fateful Thursday and the match up was Gonzaga and UCLA. Gonzaga led the entire game (at least that?s what the announcers said when I tuned in) I felt pretty confident, they had a large lead. But gradually that lead disappeared and was whittled away. My heart started to sink. This team, a long shot from an Eastern Washington farm community was not going to make it. In the minutes I had been watching the game I had connected with my past, my Washington childhood. Washington in recent years has been all about Seattle and Starbucks, Bill Gates and Microsoft. That?s not the Washington where I grew up. Most of the people we knew were only making enough to get by and had nothing extra. Working for manufacturers or doing hard physical labor were the jobs that put the bread on the table of my family and most of my friends? families. There was not a lot to cheer about and we certainly weren?t in the big leagues as far as colleges and universities. UCLA and schools like it inhabited another universe than the one where we lived. So now, for me, the idea that a small college from Washington could actually play in the tourney and beat UCLA was the stuff of dreams, dreams long forgotten.
You know how it ended, UCLA won. I found myself profoundly sad. The small school against the big school didn?t pull it off. And as I?ve perused the Internet, the comfort I?ve found is other people with the same reaction. It was a game that didn?t just end the Zags run for the title, it broke hearts. I?m not sure where I?ll recapture the dream. Maybe I?ll have to wait for Indiana to hire a new coach and make a come back. I know that would be a great day in the Schroeder household, stay tuned.
Related Tags: college basketball, Gonzaga, Indiana, Mrs. Blogotional, NCAA Tounrnament
Ruminations on Basketball from the Non-Expert in the Schroeder Household
Those of you who visit Blogotional regularly know that basketball is a BIG topic here. It?s woven in the warp and woof of everything about Indiana, and of course John is from Indiana. During our marriage I have learned that often times, the good times and bad times of basketball cause an ebb and flow in my husband?s moods. I?m mostly an onlooker, a fan following a fan, but have not the depth and breadth of basketball knowledge of a true fan. So it was with amazement I found myself deeply disturbed when I watched the last half of the Gonzaga-UCLA game and watched Gonzaga go down to a heartbreaking defeat, not just any defeat, defeat in the last minutes after leading the entire game. What I pondered has caused this depth of emotion? Why was I deeply sad that a team I follow only sporadically lost?
I?m from Washington state. For the last few years when John and I filled out our NCAA brackets I have realized that Gonzaga is edging up. Gonzaga was at first not taken seriously, but gradually they have earned respect. I found myself placing them higher and higher. So this year, I put Gonzaga as the champs, number one. Oh I know, it was a long shot, but I just had a feeling. And they proved me right at first.
Now fast forward to the fateful Thursday and the match up was Gonzaga and UCLA. Gonzaga led the entire game (at least that?s what the announcers said when I tuned in) I felt pretty confident, they had a large lead. But gradually that lead disappeared and was whittled away. My heart started to sink. This team, a long shot from an Eastern Washington farm community was not going to make it. In the minutes I had been watching the game I had connected with my past, my Washington childhood. Washington in recent years has been all about Seattle and Starbucks, Bill Gates and Microsoft. That?s not the Washington where I grew up. Most of the people we knew were only making enough to get by and had nothing extra. Working for manufacturers or doing hard physical labor were the jobs that put the bread on the table of my family and most of my friends? families. There was not a lot to cheer about and we certainly weren?t in the big leagues as far as colleges and universities. UCLA and schools like it inhabited another universe than the one where we lived. So now, for me, the idea that a small college from Washington could actually play in the tourney and beat UCLA was the stuff of dreams, dreams long forgotten.
You know how it ended, UCLA won. I found myself profoundly sad. The small school against the big school didn?t pull it off. And as I?ve perused the Internet, the comfort I?ve found is other people with the same reaction. It was a game that didn?t just end the Zags run for the title, it broke hearts. I?m not sure where I?ll recapture the dream. Maybe I?ll have to wait for Indiana to hire a new coach and make a come back. I know that would be a great day in the Schroeder household, stay tuned.
Related Tags: college basketball, Gonzaga, Indiana, Mrs. Blogotional, NCAA Tounrnament
