Elite Eight

I

am, first and foremost, a football fan... BUT HOW 'BOUT DEM BRUINS! They play Gonzaga, one of the best teams in the nation, and they are down by as many as 17 points in the first half. At half, it was 42-29. In the second half, every time UCLA seemed to creep closer, Adam Morrison--the leading scorer in the NCAA and 70's porn star look-a-like--would make a clutch shot to get some separation again...

Since the game was not shown locally--I hate the fact that CBS, with no cable affiliates, shows the NCAA tournament--we went to our local watering hole, Glory Days. Once Gonzaga was up 9-5, it was all downhill. We couldn't make a bucket if our life depended on it. But the final minutes were pure nirvana. We were down by 9 points at the 3:13 juncture, but the score for these last few minutes was UCLA 11- Gonzaga 0. I was hootin' and hollerin' at the bar. M usually gets embarrassed when I make such a scene, but she was just as excited as I was.

"Shinjirarenai (unbelievable)," was all she could say.

"Un-shinjira-ble" I repeated.

When the game ended UCLA 73 - Gonzaga 71, Morrison was crushed. He had been talking trash at the Bruins all game--C'mon, Afflalo, he said as if he wanted to play a more challenging opponent--literally collapsed on the middle of the floor and cried. [See video here.] Indeed, he had already started crying with 2 seconds left in the game when they lost the ball to UCLA. Even though they had the in bound pass, I wasn't too concerned. If he's crying, he's basically already admitted defeat. But after a few hugs, Bruin players Collins and Afflalo went to center court to help Morrison up and comfort him on a game well played.

That's just a sign of a great program and great people," Morrison said. "They had enough guts as a man in their moment of victory to pick another man up off the floor. That's more than basketball and I would thank them if I could.

If you could? Ahem, I think they were in the locker room next door. Oh well, I think the Bruins showed a lot of class, something that I should maybe pick up on. (>_<)

Anyway, it is now on to the Elite Eight and Memphis, Saturday 7 PM EST. Go Bruins!