This is a big one. There is no doubt about it. I spent all day at work covering Wisconsin High School Basketball post-season action, forcing me to miss the Marquette-Georgetown game live. Thank god for DVR.Â
I did everything in my power to avoid the internet and ESPN which is a difficult thing to do when you work in a sports department. I have four voicemails and eight text messages that I have refused to look at because I am sure they, in some way, are about the game. It really is hard to avoid finding out the score of a game for an entire day, but I have managed to do just that.Â
It is 1:40 a.m. on Saturday night/Sunday morning and I am ready for a Big East battle. Anticipation is eating me alive. I had a few libations after work so excuse my brash thoughts as I watch the game.
-Screw Duke/N.C. State! Thanks for going long and not even having the Dukies lose. It’s 12-10 Marquette, 14 minutes to play when the game finally comes on. Gus Johnson is doing play-by-play which already means my viewing pleasure is increased ten fold. I have watched the Gus Johnson YouTube clip of last year’s Ohio State/Xavier game a couple times this week to get me ready for the tourney. “We’re going to overtime! (pause) In Lexington! (pause) HA HA!â€
-Clark Kellogg just made an analogy that Marquette wants to play like a microwave and heat things up quickly while Georgetown is like a crock pot, taking their time. That is one of the dumbest analogies I have ever heard during a basketball game.
-Who do you think Doc Rivers is rooting for in this game? (note: Doc played for Marquette while his son, Jeremiah is on Georgetown.)
-I think this is the first time I have ever actually seen Gus Johnson. He kind of looks like a frog. I wish I would have fast forwarded past that scene.
-Gus just said that Doc told Jeremiah to do one thing, “Beat them.â€Â Sell-out! And yes, I am on a first-name basis with all three of those guys.
-Make a free throw! I have a feeling that may come back to hurt us.
-Wow! If Wesley Matthews can hit three-pointers like he has on the past couple possessions, our guard play would be filthy! Where has this Wesley been the past three years?
-Do they really call Fitzgerald “Left Corner†Dan? I have never heard that before. I think Gus just made that up. As least they don’t call him “Crock Pot†Dan.
-Wesley has 15 points, the Hoyas have 12 turnovers, and Jerel McNeal has zero jump passes at the half… but we’re only up four. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or not.
-Does John Thompson the third ever change his facial expression? I would not want to play poker with that man.
-Don’t tell Tom Crean, but I have Diet Coke, not Diet Pepsi in my fridge.Â
-Roy Hibbert just picked up his third foul. Dwight Burke hit two free throws. We’re up 11. I like how this is going.
-And then DeJuan Summers throws down a nasty two-handed dunk. I totally just jinxed us.
-Burke has done a nice job on Hibbert, who is the only player in college basketball that still uses a hook shot.
-Paging Lazar Hayward. Would Lazar Hayward please report to the Bradley Center to play a basketball game.
-Ousmanne Barro=worthless today
-Marquette 55, Georgetown 54, four minutes to play. My facial expression has been as stoic as JT3’s for the past eight minutes of game time.
-Gus Johnson officially has a man-crush on Dwight Burke… and after that put back dunk, so do I. Never mind, he can’t hit a free throw.
-Ewing Jr. just missed the second free throw!!!! Now, Wesley has to make his!!!! Exclamation points!!!!!
-That a boy Wesley!!!!
-NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh… Dom just fouled Wallace on a three with 2.8 seconds left. Get those big goofy heads working student section.
-And we’re heading for overtime… In Milwaukee… (No HA HA though)
-Okay. Feel free to edit this Paul, but SHIT! My DVR has eight minutes left for a five minute overtime which means I’m not going to get to watch the whole thing. And I DVR’ed it for an extra 30 minutes to be safe. I can’t tell you how pissed off I am right now. Damn you Jonathan Wallace!!! Our free throw struggles really did kill us.
(no censorship needed here. In our coverage here at TSB, we don’t just “push the envelopeâ€â€¦we sometimes lick it.†–Paul M. Banks)
-Wallace just banked in a three as the shot clock was expiring to tie it at 66 with 3 minutes to play. Really? REALLY?
-Gus just gave us an “Overtime…Bradley Center in Milwaukee.â€Â He’s the best.
-I really wish I was making this up, but my recording just stopped with the game tied at 66, 1:59 left to play. Life is cruel. All my hard work avoiding all avenues of finding out the score has gone for naught. Time to check ESPN.com for the final score. This really is not fair.
-EXPLETIVE! EXPLETIVE! EXPLETIVE! After reading the play-by-play, do you realize that up until Burke’s put back dunk with :31 left on the clock, our only field goal for the last twelve-and-a-half minutes of regulation was James’ breakaway dunk. I’m chalking that up as a good sign, I guess. Still, Marquette let that one slip away. Hopefully, they’ve learned their lesson because I certainly have. I am DVR’ing every Marquette game for an extra hour instead of just thirty minutes. It’s 3:19 a.m. and I have to try to go to bed. Great!
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