How much fun it is to root for a college basketball team. I mean really root. It has been a long time. See back in the day I was one of those break remote controls, curse at the referee kind of fans. I would like to think the fact that I have a wife, house, son and other adult things to concern myself with has mellowed me as a fan. It probably has but the biggest factor is all my favorite teams have sucked. Knicks, SJU and now finally the Mets. In fact the last time I can honestly say the outcome of a sporting event meant more to me than it should have ended with Carlos Beltran looking at a curve.
Which brings me back to tonight's game. While the Knicks have been fun to root for again, 82 games make it easy to not be as heavily invested in each game. With college basketball 30 regular season games make each game feel like a must win. Which is why college basketball and SJU has always been my favorite team to root for. Going crazy over SJU games has been a part of my life from 10 years old until the Ohio ST game in the elite 8. While I enjoyed watching Mo Hatten, those teams were just not the same for me as a fan. I just couldn't commit to those teams. Then came the dark time and Norm. By the end I was actually hoping for losses so that he would be fired. I wasn't proud of it nor of the constant griping I did on these boards. The only thing I can say is at least I tried to be creative in my bitching, unlike most of you.
All of that however doesn't matter. For the first time since Schoonie Penn broke my remote control I found myself really rooting for a college basketball team and getting lost for two hours. I am still not sure where this season will end and I still feel we are a little short on talent. But regardless of what happens I will remember this season as the season when the old feelings of being a fan came all the way back.
GREAT WIN. Go ST John's!