After an especially soul-sucking off-season on this board, even by its lofty standards, and at a time when it has often occurred to me that there just might be more to life, many thanks for the uplifting thread on the best and worst moments in Pitt basketball. With that, and a couple games this week, a stirring introduction to the next great basketball player—Ben Simmons—who can’t shoot and needs to get stronger but, no pressure, looks like a taller and more athletic Magic Johnson, and stumbling upon an Oklahoma-Kansas game that was so good that not even Brent Musberger and Dick Vitale together could ruin it, when each alone has ruined scores of games for decades ("You’re looking live"; "Not anymore"), and just like that it feels like basketball season.
Two things made the thread so meaningful for me. The first was that there were just so many memorable moments, high and low. Over and over again, my reaction was, "Yep. Can’t leave that one out." The second was how many of these moments I shared with members of my family, something to consider on the question whether there really is more to life.
So, let me add to the excellent list already compiled a few that hold a special place in my heart. Because the recent era has been covered so thoroughly and well, let me start with some older ones:
--Watching in a hospital room with my father in late November 1991, the night before the cancer surgery from which he recovered, as Pitt went into Rupp Arena and blew the doors off Kentucky.
--A year later, my three year old son jumping into my arms as Garrick Thomas nailed a bomb to beat 7th ranked Seton Hall and Terry Dehere.
--To really go back, though, requires a trip down Fifth Avenue to the Bluff, the team of my childhood, again with my father:
--the night at the Arena when the Dukes held the magnificent Austin Carr to 13 for 36 and upset Notre Dame in overtime.
--the heroic comeback against North Carolina and Charlie Scott in the Eastern Regional of 1969 that fell one point short, 79-78, with the Tar Heels shooting 33 foul shots to 17 for the Dukes.
That latter memory is an example of what, for me, is one of the very best things: a game that is both one of the sweetest memories and one of the saddest. Here are two more:
--the 2002 Big East Final against UConn.
--the 2004 Big East Final against UConn.
There is just something about watching your team go out on its sword. Even with no shortage of heartbreaking exits, Pitt has never quite done this in the NCAA’s, although the Kent State and Villanova games were a lot closer to that than many would care to admit.
The heroic loss is not the apex, though, at least for me. Instead, it is the heroic victory. In that spirit, I offer these, like the others, shared with family:
--Levance Fields corralling a loose ball in the backcourt and finding Sweet Ronald Ramon open in the corner for the three that put away Georgetown for Pitt’s fourth win in four courageous nights.
--Finally, and still number one in my book, without question: the night in March 2003 my 14 year old son jumped in my arms again, when Brandin Knight exploded across the screen to steal the ball UConn rolled in as Pitt was blowing open a close Big East Final.
It’s basketball season. Life begins again. Happy New Year.
Two things made the thread so meaningful for me. The first was that there were just so many memorable moments, high and low. Over and over again, my reaction was, "Yep. Can’t leave that one out." The second was how many of these moments I shared with members of my family, something to consider on the question whether there really is more to life.
So, let me add to the excellent list already compiled a few that hold a special place in my heart. Because the recent era has been covered so thoroughly and well, let me start with some older ones:
--Watching in a hospital room with my father in late November 1991, the night before the cancer surgery from which he recovered, as Pitt went into Rupp Arena and blew the doors off Kentucky.
--A year later, my three year old son jumping into my arms as Garrick Thomas nailed a bomb to beat 7th ranked Seton Hall and Terry Dehere.
--To really go back, though, requires a trip down Fifth Avenue to the Bluff, the team of my childhood, again with my father:
--the night at the Arena when the Dukes held the magnificent Austin Carr to 13 for 36 and upset Notre Dame in overtime.
--the heroic comeback against North Carolina and Charlie Scott in the Eastern Regional of 1969 that fell one point short, 79-78, with the Tar Heels shooting 33 foul shots to 17 for the Dukes.
That latter memory is an example of what, for me, is one of the very best things: a game that is both one of the sweetest memories and one of the saddest. Here are two more:
--the 2002 Big East Final against UConn.
--the 2004 Big East Final against UConn.
There is just something about watching your team go out on its sword. Even with no shortage of heartbreaking exits, Pitt has never quite done this in the NCAA’s, although the Kent State and Villanova games were a lot closer to that than many would care to admit.
The heroic loss is not the apex, though, at least for me. Instead, it is the heroic victory. In that spirit, I offer these, like the others, shared with family:
--Levance Fields corralling a loose ball in the backcourt and finding Sweet Ronald Ramon open in the corner for the three that put away Georgetown for Pitt’s fourth win in four courageous nights.
--Finally, and still number one in my book, without question: the night in March 2003 my 14 year old son jumped in my arms again, when Brandin Knight exploded across the screen to steal the ball UConn rolled in as Pitt was blowing open a close Big East Final.
It’s basketball season. Life begins again. Happy New Year.
