Just so you know where I’m coming from, I was raised in a house where we had a hat on display that read, “The Lord is my shepherd, but Bobby Knight is my coach.”
What a turn around for IU’s five seniors: Verdell Jones, Tom Pritchard, Matt Roth, Daniel Moore, and Kory Barnett. They capped off a regular season by sweeping Purdue for the first time since 2005 – 2006, and made up for three years of futility. After three losing seasons, they finished this regular one at 24-7; beating teams ranked #1, #2, and #5 along the way.
Some commenter mentioned that the time in the wilderness really makes Hoosier fans appreciate being relevant again. Probably true. And, now it’s time for the Big 10 tournament – which could justifiably be its own region of an NCAA bracket all by itself. Then, at long last, back to the NCAA tournament itself. Glad to have some excitement in March again.
My son gave us his tickets for this game, since he had an unavoidable conflict — poor him. I only get to go about once a year, so it was treat to be there for this special one. The playing was great, the five seniors gave touching good-bye speeches and all seniors — team members, band, cheerleaders and fans were honored by Tom Crean for their persistence. I sat next to a young man who brought his grandmother, who I would estimate was in her 80s. She probably didn’t see a thing as the crowd was on its feet so much and she could not rise. The young fellow used his camera phone to take their picture together. When I told him how nice it was he brought her, he said, “I try to bring her to the best game each year, because one of my memories from when I was growing up was my grandma bringing me to IU games.” Wow, that just added to my enjoyment of the evening.