I feel cheated as a basketball fan.
Last night Gonzaga blew a 17 point lead against UCLA and are gone from the NCAA basketball tournament. Duke's done too... they lost to LSU. Both games ended with the two best players in the country sobbing: J.J. Redick of Duke after the realization that his college career was over (or maybe it was the 3 for 18 shooting performance), and Adam Morrison sprawled out after UCLA came back to win. I don't exactly know why I feel cheated, though. Perhaps because I don't mind Duke and Gonzaga, I would have liked them to move on, or more likely, the media building up the "feud" between Redick and Morrison for player of the year.
All year long the media kept fanning the flames of the player of the year argument. It was a really pretentious argument that focused on points per game, the strength of the conferences, and the fact that they play Halo 2 together and talk about basketball. Here's my take on it:
Morrison + Larry Bird comparisons + wispy mustache = Redick + greatest shooter ever + Duke mystique... they should share the title.
But furthermore, the media jumped at the chance to should "irony" last night. Everyone is saying how ironic it is that these two were linked all season, and that they both exited before they should have in the tourney. Well, since the comparison was coming ONLY from the media, I guess it isn't so ironic. The media "convinced" me that I should want to see Duke vs. Gonzaga somewhere in the tournament. All the Larry Bird comparisons of Morrison and the constant sucking up to how Redick is the greatest pure shooter ever was sickening. If Morrison played Redick one on one, he'd win. Redick can't manufacture his own shot like Morrison can.
"Everyone" wants to see the two play each other to settle the score. Duke and their big time conference and all around dominance versus the perennial underdog turned superpower with their one big force. We'll never know, and that's slightly unfortunate. I would definitely watch the game just so that there'd be some sort of closure. Even the bichering sports pundits would be better than this uncertainty. The only closure that resulted from last night were the two stars crying as they walked off the court. This is probably the last time they'll care about anything. Next year they'll be lottery picks and millionaires and in the NBA, and that means that when their teams lose by 35 to the Pistons, they'll get over the losing real quick. It should end a better way.
All year long the media kept fanning the flames of the player of the year argument. It was a really pretentious argument that focused on points per game, the strength of the conferences, and the fact that they play Halo 2 together and talk about basketball. Here's my take on it:
Morrison + Larry Bird comparisons + wispy mustache = Redick + greatest shooter ever + Duke mystique... they should share the title.
But furthermore, the media jumped at the chance to should "irony" last night. Everyone is saying how ironic it is that these two were linked all season, and that they both exited before they should have in the tourney. Well, since the comparison was coming ONLY from the media, I guess it isn't so ironic. The media "convinced" me that I should want to see Duke vs. Gonzaga somewhere in the tournament. All the Larry Bird comparisons of Morrison and the constant sucking up to how Redick is the greatest pure shooter ever was sickening. If Morrison played Redick one on one, he'd win. Redick can't manufacture his own shot like Morrison can.
"Everyone" wants to see the two play each other to settle the score. Duke and their big time conference and all around dominance versus the perennial underdog turned superpower with their one big force. We'll never know, and that's slightly unfortunate. I would definitely watch the game just so that there'd be some sort of closure. Even the bichering sports pundits would be better than this uncertainty. The only closure that resulted from last night were the two stars crying as they walked off the court. This is probably the last time they'll care about anything. Next year they'll be lottery picks and millionaires and in the NBA, and that means that when their teams lose by 35 to the Pistons, they'll get over the losing real quick. It should end a better way.
posted by ML at 4:50 PM
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