My Big Ten Tournament Experience
December 17, 1988. If memory serves correctly, that was the last time I had been to an IU game in person. I’ve watched countless games on TV (no thanks to the Big Ten Network this year), but I’d only been to one actual game before.
My uncle managed to get some tickets to the Big Ten Tournament in Indy this past weekend and they had an extra ticket. They knew I had a busy weekend, so they called my brother to see if he wanted to come. He called me and said, “Are you sure you don’t want to go?” To make a long story short, Christy and Kevin convinced me that I really should go. The IU vs. Minnesota game tipped off at 9 p.m. It was 7 before I could leave home. The drive was about an hour and 15 minutes. I got there in time to see the end of Illinois upsetting Purdue in overtime. That meant that if IU beat Minnesota, the Hoosiers would play a beatable Illini team instead of a formidable Boiler team (so we thought).
Oh, if only an overtime Purdue loss was the end to the drama. But no – it had to get much more interesting.
Kyle Taber, ready to go!
We had phenomenal seats. Fifteenth row. Directly behind the IU bench. I found out halfway through the game that I was sitting beside Eric Gordon’s uncle. I had a good time talking with him. There were Wisconsin fans behind us. Before the game started, they leaned up to us and said, “Don’t take it personal, but we’re going to be cheering for Minnesota.” And who could blame them? On paper, Minnesota looked like a much easier future match-up. “I don’t blame you,” I said. “Although, the way they’ve been playing, you might be better off rooting for IU.” In the words of the great Dr. Chris Rollston, “I was only half joking.”
It was an overwhelmingly pro-IU crowd. With it being in Indianapolis, that’s to be expected. Of course, the Illinois, Michigan State, and Wisconsin fans were all pulling for the Hoosiers. It was still over 50% red and white, though. In the middle of the sea of red, the Gophers and their yellow shirts definitely stood out:
And with approximately 10 seconds left, Eric Gordon went to the free throw line with two foul shots with an opportunity to take the lead.
He missed.
I turned to Jason (my cousin), “If he makes this shot, this place is gonna go nuts!” So I switched my camera to video mode.
So, DJ White, Mr. Big Ten Player of the Year and Mr. Second-Team All-American was at the line with a chance to clinch a win, pulling out a victory from the jaws of defeat.
I could see it. This video would be posted on YouTube as soon as I got home and all Hoosier fans would celebrate with me online. Unfortunately, that excitement was short-lived.
Approximately 1.5 seconds.
Here’s what happened next…
Yeah. It hurt. Real bad. It hurt because I was there. I’d seen many painful losses on TV before. IU vs. Maryland in the ’02 championship game. Walter McCarty hitting that game-winning three to give Kentucky the win. Losing to Kansas two or three times in a row (including during the tournament). I had the unique opportunity to see such an amazing shot live and in person. Unfortunately it was against my team.
Yeah, it hurt.
It also hurt because of how far the team had fallen in such a short time. Things were going so well. There was discussion of a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Some people even believed they were going to make a Final Four run…or maybe deeper. I think they were drinking some Cream & Crimson Kool Aid or looking through some Crimson-tinted glasses, but that’s not my point. IU had become part of the national discussion. They had the Big Ten Player of the Year and the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. They posted the best record since the ’92-’93 team (all the way back to the Calbert Cheaney era…yes…that long ago!).
And then the wheels fell off.
Now, I doubt they’ll even make it out of the first round.
That being said, I’m very grateful for the opportunity to go to the game. I’m thankful that Kevin and Christy convinced me to go. I’m thankful that my uncle had the tickets and that it was all able to come together at the last-minute. It was fun. And although the loss was painful to watch, I’d go back again.
Hopefully it won’t be another 20 years before I go back! If I can swing it, I’m going to try to take Aiden (and Christy & Alyson if they want) to a game next year. We’ll see!
*Some of the coding was messed up when I transferred this blog over to wordpress. Instead of embedding the videos, I’ve converted them to links.*
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