I'm not a huge fan of the participation trophy, but I see this as being very different.
These are the young men who stayed through a very difficult season, when they were given every encouragement by the NCAA. The right to participate in the post season was taken away from them, though they did nothing wrong, by an out of control bureaucracy that had to change the rules to punish them, that used old data for which the institution had already been punished, and refused to look at the current data that would have allowed them to play in the post season.
They stayed knowing that they'd be without their Hall of Fame head coach and instead would work under an untried assistant who wasn't even given a full year contract. They went on the road and were taunted as cheaters, and as poor students, even though they are neither. They did so while their conference was being eaten alive and while there university was slighted and left in an uninspiring group of leftovers, fillers and has beens.
They were undermanned at the post and so started every game at a very significant disadvantage, and yet they found a way to win. They endured injury after injury on their undermanned team and yet they found a way to win. They did so without hanging heads, and without complaining. They did so in manner that energized the fan base of an institution that has had an unimaginable string of bad news and disappointments.
I suppose that life tends to push us all to cynicism as the ideals of youth are bruised by the stark realities of the real world. But sometimes, you get to see something special. You get to see people doing the right thing under challenging circumstances and doing it in a way that make you proud of their accomplishments. For me at least, this season was one of those times. I hope that I never get so jaded that I can't recognize effort and character when it is so starkly displayed.
