Anyways...Sunday was senior night for the MSU basketball team and I saw something that reminded me why I love sports so much. I have never really been a huge college basketball fan. In high school I used to only watch March Madness and got more into it after going to college at a school that had a great basketball team. Over the years though, I have come to appreciate NCAA hoops a lot more. While there are still many things I don't like about it (35 second shot clock, most players suck, can't shoot, 3 point line is too close (though it's changing next year)) there is so much about it that is basketball at it's best.
Oftentimes in the NBA the 'love' gets lost. Players forget that they get to play basketball for a living and make more money than would ever be necessary. People decide that they are going to turn down a 3-year 27 million dollar contract because that's "not enough money to feed their family." They lose the love and claim that their 'heart is in their chest' and not with a team and leave a beloved team and city for more money with a rival. They bicker about every single call or no-call to the refs and argue with their coaches.
College basketball is different. It is people playing basketball because they love it. Because they love to be on a team and compete. Sure winning is important but it's not everything. At least to most schools. If you aren't a top tier school, the odds of even making the tournament are pretty slim given the number of D1 schools. People play because they love the sport. They respect the other teams, the other coaches and best of all, they go 100 percent on every single play. You never see people walk up the court getting back on defense or play lazy, partly because they have a short schedule but mostly because they want to play hard.
So at senior night on sunday, en route to blowing out 12th ranked Indiana by 30, Drew Neitzel and Drew Naymick played their last games at home for the Spartans. I remember when they were both freshman and talking about how good we were going to be with Neitzel and while we haven't won a championship we got to the final four under him. It was sad to see them go because they always played their hearts out and on their way off their home court for the last time they each kneeled down and kissed the "S" at center court. It was a pretty touching moment I think for any Spartans fan and hopefully for basketball fans in general. They loved the game so much and appreciated every second on the court so much that they kissed the floor of a gym where they spent 4 years working their asses off for free. That's why I love basketball and that made me love not only the Spartans, but basketball in general a whole lot more.
Anyways, that's all for now. Go big...
-M, p, z & shredder
oh ps - if you know what's good for you, you'll go buy Vampire Weekend. Best cd I've purchased in a long time. For realz.
No comments:
Post a Comment