As Uconn fans, we are truly blessed to have experienced so many great moments over the years. If you think of all the things that a college basketball team can do to put a smile on a fan’s face, the Huskies have delivered many times over. Whether it’s signing a big time blue chip recruit, watching a 2/3 star recruit blossom into a star, watching players get drafted and then thrive in the NBA, beating a top ranked opponent, achieving a #1 national ranking ourselves, winning conference titles (regular season and tournament), reaching the final four, and of course above all winning a national championship – we’ve done all of that, multiple times, and in recent memory. Wow!
For me personally, no single achievement or point in time will ever trump the final moments of 77-74 in ’99 - like your love life, the first time you go all the way will always have a special place in your heart. But aside from that one exception, I put this feeling, right now, up there at or above all the other great moments that a fan can have.
Let me try to explain, though I’m not sure I even understand exactly what I’m saying because I am so pumped right now and possibly not thinking straight. I am not claiming to be satisfied or suggesting that everything is gravy from here on out. I desperately want to win tomorrow and then again on Monday. If we do, I will be overwhelmed with a combination of joy and pride, and will have another great moment seared into my memory that will bring smiles to my face for as long as I live. And that’s awesome. But I also think that this feeling, this current mix of emotions, is what life (or at least sports fandom) is all about. There is already some joy and pride in there, but also a mixture of hope, excitement, expectation, doubt, fear, hope, anxiety, stress – you name it, I’m feeling it. And these feelings are only going to keep intensifying from now until tomorrow night, and maybe through the weekend. How awesome is that!
These are truly special moments for a sports fan, and notwithstanding how spoiled we’ve been over the past 15 years, they don’t come around that often. So enjoy it while it lasts.
I'll stop rambling now - but does any of this make sense to the rest of you?!?
For me personally, no single achievement or point in time will ever trump the final moments of 77-74 in ’99 - like your love life, the first time you go all the way will always have a special place in your heart. But aside from that one exception, I put this feeling, right now, up there at or above all the other great moments that a fan can have.
Let me try to explain, though I’m not sure I even understand exactly what I’m saying because I am so pumped right now and possibly not thinking straight. I am not claiming to be satisfied or suggesting that everything is gravy from here on out. I desperately want to win tomorrow and then again on Monday. If we do, I will be overwhelmed with a combination of joy and pride, and will have another great moment seared into my memory that will bring smiles to my face for as long as I live. And that’s awesome. But I also think that this feeling, this current mix of emotions, is what life (or at least sports fandom) is all about. There is already some joy and pride in there, but also a mixture of hope, excitement, expectation, doubt, fear, hope, anxiety, stress – you name it, I’m feeling it. And these feelings are only going to keep intensifying from now until tomorrow night, and maybe through the weekend. How awesome is that!
These are truly special moments for a sports fan, and notwithstanding how spoiled we’ve been over the past 15 years, they don’t come around that often. So enjoy it while it lasts.
I'll stop rambling now - but does any of this make sense to the rest of you?!?
