End of the Road
The morning after is always the worst. Last night I convinced myself that I was happy to have just been there. It was an amazing
April 2, 2023
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The morning after is always the worst. Last night I convinced myself that I was happy to have just been there. It was an amazing
This is for Rick Barry, the hometown hero and honorable veteran Tim James, and Darius Rice. This is for Johnny Hemsley, John Salmons, James Jones,
“And then there were eight.” It sounds so surreal, but our beloved Miami Hurricanes are in the “Elite Eight,” for the first time in the history of the school. To say that I am proud of these boys is a major understatement. This is the kind of March Madness run that I always dreamed of for my alma mater, but if I am being honest, I never thought that I would actually live to see it. The University of Miami was a football school when I attended it. Even though the football program has fallen on hard times recently, it still is a football school through and through. The 5 national championships that we have won and 2 that were stolen from us made sure that football was engrained into our school’s DNA. You feel the weight of that football tradition the moment you step onto that campus in Coral Gables.
Before the game tipped off, Charles Barkley told us that he was “nervous.” He looked visibly concerned about the matchup problems the Miami Hurricanes presented for his beloved Auburn Tigers. At halftime he looked even more shook though his alma mater had rallied back from being down by 9 to make it a 1 point game at halftime. Now we know why. Although curiously unranked all season, this 2021-2022 Canes team is for real. Chuck also stated that if Auburn won, he might take his shirt off. I want to personally thank Coach Larrañaga and the boys for making sure there was no chance any of us would be forced to witness that visual.
It was a tough hard-fought battle between two talented teams, but unfortunately in March Madness, only one can come out victorious. On Friday that was the Miami Hurricanes. The wise Pat Riley who made his bones in Los Angeles but now runs the show in Miami once famously said, “there’s winning and there’s misery.” That’s the binary opportunity that sports awards those who participate. It’s an emotional duality separated by a razor thin line. Winning is joyous. Losing is misery. In between is the competitiveness that makes sports stressful yet fun. When the clock read zero and the deep three launched by Drew Peterson ricocheted off the backboard, clanked off the rim, and felt harmlessly to the floor, the Miami Hurricanes bench celebrated victoriously while the Southern California Trojan bench were engulfed by the sudden onset of misery.
