April 05, 2005
basketball legacies
Last night the University of North Carolina men's basketball team won the 2005 NCAA championship. They were led by big man Sean May. 29 years before that, Sean's dad Scott lead Indiana U. to the 1976 championship. While a grad student at IU in the 1990s I played a pickup game against Scott May, in the basketball mecca shown above, the HPER (pronounced Hi-Per) -- Health, Physical Education, and Recreation -- building, with 10 courts (in use most hours of the day). I was totally frustrated by the slightly overweight old man (mid 40s), who scored 12 or 13 of his team's 15 points...all against me (in my late 20s). I asked someone, "How can this fool be taking me to school like this?!" When informed that I was guarding a former college star and NBA player, I felt much better. If I ever see Sean on a pickup court, though, I'll just hang up my shoes for the day....
wow walt...i had no idea about this brush with fame, an admittedly humbling brush with fame it seems. i was actually rooting for illinois after watching them come back from being 13 pts down in a little less than 4 minutes (sadly, i can't remember who the opposing team was? w. virginia?). however, i found myself getting increasingly behind n. carolina as the final game unfolded. maybe illinois was a one trick pony afterall--as many commentators have suggested--and its hard to win the big games relying too heavily on the 3 pointer. but, may had a great tournament run and showed a lot of class. and yea, i'm a schmaltzy sucker so when i heard that his dad got super emotional, so did i. and of course...the fact that i was born and raised on iu basketball only added to my maudlin melt-down. now if the hoosiers could only turn things around like the tarheels have...
Posted by: Lori Canada at April 13, 2005 03:39 PM