My Illini Hangover...
I can honestly say I never gave up. I got nervous, I got sad, but I kept saying that we could do it. My brother, my mom, Wisconsin J and my grandma were all here watching it with me. My two week old son slept through the entire event, even through the screams (silent supporter I am sure!).
With 3:53 left to go and my grandma clearly in give up mode, I said, "There is still a lot of time left. We can still pull this out." Maybe part of that was to help convince myself to stay with these guys. I rubbed my lucky Illini socks (unwashed for luck this season), clinched my Illini shirt and wished for the unthinkable.
As the comeback happened, there were lots of yells...clinched fists, wringing of hands. At some point I tore half of my fingernail off as I lept from the chair in celebration. Blood was flowing from my wounded appendage, but I was still in the game...I couldn't leave now.
I had been saying that all we needed was for Dee to get into the flow and cause some havoc. His well timed steal was a watershed moment as the team believed and the crowd came back to life. Luther Head was amazing. No words can capture how much I admire my favorite player on this team.
After Deron hit the three and the game went to overtime, the only thing I could say was "Oh My God!". Two phone calls before overtime, I am still not sure who might have called because all I could tell them was "Oh My God!"
Overtime starts and my finger is still bleeding. I wipe it on my Illini socks, another battle scar from a long season. I know now there is no way we are losing this game. You can see the fire in the eyes of the Illini and the fear in the eyes of the Wildcats. Salim has no answers, Lute is without words. When victory finally came, it was sweet and it was loud in our residence hall apartment. All I could think to do was to run to my window and screech "Oskee WOW WOW!!!" out of the window until my already hoarse voice could take no more. Then, it was time to celebrate...Bud Lights for a trip to St. Louis, cold and refreshing.
Ladies and gents, this was the finest basketball game I have ever seen. My loyalty as an Illini fan may cloud that judgement, but at the very least, it is a comeback for the annals. I spent Saturday leafing through a book my mom had brought up on the 100 years of history of the Illini basketball team. Many of the pages were amazing game summaries. None of them will hold a candle to this victory in Chicago. This is the finest moment in Illini men's basketball history.
We now have the chance to continue the magic. The Final Four was our initial goal. Now that we are there, we have to focus on the big cookie, the championship. I like how we match up with Louisville. Augie should have a big game on a team with no inside presence and our guards match up and exceed the Louisville backcourt. After that I have no doubt we will meet UNC in the title game. I don't know what will happen, but I do know that the Illini have played UNC each of the past two seasons, and we match up very well. I as always, will leave you with a rousing:
OSKEE WOW WOW!!!!
With 3:53 left to go and my grandma clearly in give up mode, I said, "There is still a lot of time left. We can still pull this out." Maybe part of that was to help convince myself to stay with these guys. I rubbed my lucky Illini socks (unwashed for luck this season), clinched my Illini shirt and wished for the unthinkable.
As the comeback happened, there were lots of yells...clinched fists, wringing of hands. At some point I tore half of my fingernail off as I lept from the chair in celebration. Blood was flowing from my wounded appendage, but I was still in the game...I couldn't leave now.
I had been saying that all we needed was for Dee to get into the flow and cause some havoc. His well timed steal was a watershed moment as the team believed and the crowd came back to life. Luther Head was amazing. No words can capture how much I admire my favorite player on this team.
After Deron hit the three and the game went to overtime, the only thing I could say was "Oh My God!". Two phone calls before overtime, I am still not sure who might have called because all I could tell them was "Oh My God!"
Overtime starts and my finger is still bleeding. I wipe it on my Illini socks, another battle scar from a long season. I know now there is no way we are losing this game. You can see the fire in the eyes of the Illini and the fear in the eyes of the Wildcats. Salim has no answers, Lute is without words. When victory finally came, it was sweet and it was loud in our residence hall apartment. All I could think to do was to run to my window and screech "Oskee WOW WOW!!!" out of the window until my already hoarse voice could take no more. Then, it was time to celebrate...Bud Lights for a trip to St. Louis, cold and refreshing.
Ladies and gents, this was the finest basketball game I have ever seen. My loyalty as an Illini fan may cloud that judgement, but at the very least, it is a comeback for the annals. I spent Saturday leafing through a book my mom had brought up on the 100 years of history of the Illini basketball team. Many of the pages were amazing game summaries. None of them will hold a candle to this victory in Chicago. This is the finest moment in Illini men's basketball history.
We now have the chance to continue the magic. The Final Four was our initial goal. Now that we are there, we have to focus on the big cookie, the championship. I like how we match up with Louisville. Augie should have a big game on a team with no inside presence and our guards match up and exceed the Louisville backcourt. After that I have no doubt we will meet UNC in the title game. I don't know what will happen, but I do know that the Illini have played UNC each of the past two seasons, and we match up very well. I as always, will leave you with a rousing:
OSKEE WOW WOW!!!!
posted by GT at 2:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home