Don't tell me that at times you hadn't given up hope. Don't tell me that you weren't disappointed, frustrated, aggravated and very pessimistic at least several times. It's okay, we all know it's true.
Yet here we are. I can't believe it. The mountains we have had to climb, the injuries and sicknesses, the public doubts, the streaks ending unceremoniously due to unthinkable losses, the headlines that read "UCONN Routed". Somehow they persevered. They carried on, pushed through, used all the tools in their shed just to still be in it and then..... it started to get fixed, to reawaken, to be recast, to be reborn.
It didn't stop there though. Their star player with hardware in her leg, having a legendary performance in a double overtime game that has made people who never even thought of women's basketball in March, suddenly become fans. Yet it just wouldn't end. No great high for this team without a corresponding low. More adversity; a horrible injury to a beloved big man.
But tonight we go for the brass ring. I am very sanguine about the game. Sure, I will be screaming at every perceived bad or missed call, every experimental and nausea producing new camera angle by some wannabe Spielberg cinematographer masquerading as a cameraman, just about everything really. It is not just about the game anymore for me though. As heroic as sports can be at times, this team truly is. They have been brave, tough, determined, and undeterred. They have taught us all.
They are just a bunch of kids really in objective terms, but they have all become role model worthy young women in the process. I guess you could say they became UCONN women. The kind that are unafraid, a little different, a little more poised and confident, that have that certain je ne sais quoi. That is why I am more relaxed about tonight than I should be. Because I know that this is only the beginning for all of them, even for CW, Liv and Evina.
No team has ever gone through what they have and gotten here. What an incredible job our coaches have done this year. Looking back, maybe I should have believed all along because we have Geno and they don't. Either way, I am relishing every moment now and will never forget this season and this team. True love lasts forever.
Yet here we are. I can't believe it. The mountains we have had to climb, the injuries and sicknesses, the public doubts, the streaks ending unceremoniously due to unthinkable losses, the headlines that read "UCONN Routed". Somehow they persevered. They carried on, pushed through, used all the tools in their shed just to still be in it and then..... it started to get fixed, to reawaken, to be recast, to be reborn.
It didn't stop there though. Their star player with hardware in her leg, having a legendary performance in a double overtime game that has made people who never even thought of women's basketball in March, suddenly become fans. Yet it just wouldn't end. No great high for this team without a corresponding low. More adversity; a horrible injury to a beloved big man.
But tonight we go for the brass ring. I am very sanguine about the game. Sure, I will be screaming at every perceived bad or missed call, every experimental and nausea producing new camera angle by some wannabe Spielberg cinematographer masquerading as a cameraman, just about everything really. It is not just about the game anymore for me though. As heroic as sports can be at times, this team truly is. They have been brave, tough, determined, and undeterred. They have taught us all.
They are just a bunch of kids really in objective terms, but they have all become role model worthy young women in the process. I guess you could say they became UCONN women. The kind that are unafraid, a little different, a little more poised and confident, that have that certain je ne sais quoi. That is why I am more relaxed about tonight than I should be. Because I know that this is only the beginning for all of them, even for CW, Liv and Evina.
No team has ever gone through what they have and gotten here. What an incredible job our coaches have done this year. Looking back, maybe I should have believed all along because we have Geno and they don't. Either way, I am relishing every moment now and will never forget this season and this team. True love lasts forever.
