That...Was Beautiful

What can I say about Saturday night's game? It was so amazing there are no words that can describe it adequately. It was better than anything I could have dreamed. As one of my coworkers put it this morning, those first fifteen minutes of the game were absolutely "magical."

In case you missed it, for most of the first half our team looked like men against the boys of UNC. The North Carolina players had that "deer in the headlights" look like they had no idea what to do or how to stop the bleeding. In true Roy fashion, Williams refused to call a timeout to slow down our momentum until they were already down by like 28 points. Although North Carolina made a run to pull within four points in the second half, our Jayhawks showed some amazing intestinal fortitude and determination. They not only held off the run, but also regained an 18 point lead by the end of the game.

I have to say that after watching that game, I think "Psycho T" is pretty overrated. He may deserve some acting awards for all of his fake flopping and other theatrics, but I hardly think he deserves to be the player of the year. I think this picture I found this morning by Matt York of the Associated Press says it all.

Here we have Sasha playing perfect straight-up-and-down defense, with Hansbrough causing contact with a forearm to the chest, all while screaming and acting like he's getting mauled. Pu-leze. I think he was shocked that all his drama in the lane didn't give them the edge this time, even though the refs clearly gave him all sorts of calls that other players don't get. Thankfully, despite a few bad calls to Tyler's advantage (even Jim Nantz and Billy Packer admitted when he got away with a walk), the better team still prevailed. If you want to read the entire recap, you can check out the Lawrence Journal-World.

It was such a thing of beauty. It all came together for our incredible Jayhawks at just the right moment. Beating Roy in an almost humiliating fashion was nothing short of spectacular. Yes, I'll admit it: I'm one of those people. I'm one of those people who loves to see Roy lose. I'm one of those people who dislikes him with ever fiber of my being. I'm one of those people who can't seem to forgive him for leaving after he said he wouldn't. Now that I "know" and love Coach Self, I am obviously very thankful that Roy left, but I can't quite get over the feeling that he rejected us when we needed him. Of course, it's obvious now we didn't need him at all. :)

I thought this article in yesterday's LJW described the Roy-Hating phenomenon perfectly. For those of us who were Roy apologists for 15 years, it still hurts to know that we were wrong all along about his "dadgum" demeanor and aw-shucks persona. Insiders will tell you that he's pompous and self-important. I had coworkers who knew Roy telling me for years that he wasn't a very genuine guy--and I refused to believe them. I loved Roy so much that I put his picture on my wall every basketball season (in college) and defended his Deputy Dawg routine as completely real, only to find out it was all a big shtick. Call me a childish grudge-holder, but I think I have every right not to like him anymore. I will therefore openly admit that I love this picture my friend Brenda sent me yesterday. :)