"The Bucking Bronco"
"The conventional wisdom is wrong". A #7 seed can't win the NCAA Tournament. I guess someone forgot to tell UConn. Madness? Absolutely. Kentucky, starting 5 freshman and getting to the final.
Also madness.
Let's take it down a notch...
SCU's "madness" was losing to Gonzaga twice in the final seconds - I still have acid reflex syndrome over it. I'm sure Kerry and the players are still seeing the "ghost" of David Stockton.
For many of our fans, it's not just madness, but maddening...We get to the precipice of earning some legitimacy and we just can't quite finish the job - well - not since a Steve Nash lead team decided to torpedo Kansas, who probably didn't believe they lost to us until they were at the airport going home.
NCAA madness is over - but is ours just beginning?
For SCU, the madness is to dare to contend. "We're not in Kansas anymore". In a season of real disappointments, we also got a "taste" of what might be and what we would like it to be. Our appetite is larger, our hormones are raging, and our expectations are for bigger and better.
We hope that the The President's Commission Report is a call to action and can be our menu for success.
Our five course dream gourmet meal?
An "amuse bouche" of the promise of Emmanuel Ndumanya, followed by an appetizer of Jalen Richard distributing the ball, a mixed salad of maybe Nate Kratch or Evan Wardlow* hitting a kick out three pointer, then, of course, the MAIN dish, Jared Brownridge "shredding" the nets, and ending with the sweet stroke of Brandon Clark nailing free throws at crunch time.
AND...making Gonzaga pick up the check!
Unfortunately, there's going to be lots of madness, chaos, angst, before we dine...The expectations for everyone involved in Men's basketball will be REAL. Money will be spent, goals set, measurements tracked, and performance evaluated. Some patience will be needed. Like many 5 star rated Zagat restaurants, reservations take time to get.
*Evan Wardlow is a signed SCU recruit.
Next Up: My early season conversation with Head Coach Kerry Keating
