March May Have Ended But the Madness Lasted Just Long Enough
I previously remarked about my sadness at seeing West Virginia and Gonzaga lose in the tournament, but my team has always been Florida. Every year, I pick them to go all the way on my bracket. I always fear the day they’d go all the way and I hadn’t picked them. I guess this year it really paid off. In past years, it was always a little self-indulgent to put them down as winning it all. This year it seemed like something that could really happen. I’d seen them play well in the SEC tournament. I’d watched their good games and their bad games. They were getting hot going into the SEC tournament. Humphrey was getting back to his normal form after his injury and things seemed to be starting to click. As my dad pointed out, you can really see how they play as a team. Last year, there were guys who seemed too interested in their stats and profile for getting to the NBA. This year, whether you like Noah or not, you can’t say he doesn’t love his team and want to win. He’s got passion for the Gators. And it’s like that with every player. They wanted to win. Not because it got them a shot at the NBA, but because it was the team thing to do. For me, it was the probably the 3rd best sports moment in my life. First would have to be the Gators 1996 Football National Championship. Second would have to be the Braves 1995 World Series win. Sure there are a lot of other great moments but I am so glad that watched it all happen.
Also have to give some kudos to CBS for using Toby Mac’s “The Slam” for some of the highlights for the game. It was a bright spot in their coverage. And video game creators could learn a few things from this too… that you can use Christian music for something like this and have it work. I don’t want to buy driving games for Grayson (who’s just five now) and have to worry about what the lyrics of the background music might be saying.
Oh yeah, back to the Gators win. I really like this article about their victory because it emphasizes the SEC quite a bit as well as providing some cool insight on the Gators.
Shame on all of us. And by “all” we mean the basketball elitists who blathered on about mid-majors, UConn, the ACC, Adam Morrison and J.J. Redick all season.
The real story of this season is how this oblong league won the national championship, got two teams in the Final Four and won the NIT.
In a year when Kentucky was down.
And no one noticed.
And by no one we mean the zero coaches who voted for Florida’s Billy Donovan for SEC Coach of the Year. All he did was lead a team that won its six tournament games by an average of 14.3 points, including the 16 UCLA fell by Monday night. That’s the largest margin in a championship game since 1992.
And another point that is missed here (but only slightly) is that Florida’s win was good for basketball. Having UCLA another championship (they have won 11 which is 4 more than Kentucky) would be like having the Yankees win the World Series again in baseball. How appropriate that Florida beat UCLA for their first championship. The variety is healthy.
Also have a look at this article about the quality of the Mid-Major conferences.
Technorati Tags: Gators, basketball, ncaa, Toby Mac, SEC
April 6th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
I enjoyed Toby Mac’s song too. Most people probably didn’t notice that it is a Christian song. My 15 year old likes Toby Mac. I also heard it in previews for the movie “The Transporter 2″.