INCREDIBLE

So the weather got a little better yesterday. But still wet and still too cold to do much outside. That was no problem. Illinois basketball and SIU football were on tv. It's rare that I get to see two of my favorite teams and schools play.

In the basketball game, it's 18-7 when I turned it on. Illini on top. Then it's 18-16. I should have known. Illinois deserved to lose and they did. In OT. But when your big guy Pruitt can't figure out who his big man to guard is and lets him go weak side on him about four times for dunks, well... And when you shoot 22 free throws and make 10, well... And when with two seconds left in the game and AZ having no time outs, yet one of their brilliant guards tries to call time out right in front of the official and he forgets how to blow his whistle, well... I went Hulk.

Actually I'd gone Hulk sometime after the 18-7 cushion coughed up by the Illini. I didn't turn green, but I turned mean. That's right; I was transformed into a stupid fan yelling at the tv. Some of the brighter comments: "They're free throws. Free. You're supposed to make 'em." "Oh yeah, call the walk now, you goon." "Find somebody to guard. Anybody. Just move around; maybe the ball'll hit you."

It only got better in the SIU game because I had put off moping the floors long enough that I missed most of the game after the Dawgs jumped out to a 10-0 lead. What I did see unnerved me enough to tell the refs the game was being played in Carbondale. Naturally I called for blitz after blitz. I highly questioned a third down call, but overall I thought Delaware a better team, so my Hulk had turned a lighter shade of pale as the 60's song said.

By the time the Suns took the court, I gave them warning. "I'm 0 for 2 today, so the Suns better watch out for the trifecta." Sure enough, the coach played his usual 8, sat capable subs and on the last day of a five game road trip, lost to the worst team in the NBA. I love our coach, but I can't figure out why he can't find more minutes for some of the Suns. So that's about all I yelled at as I watched the good guys get out rebounded and out hustled.

Sports too often bring out the green monster in me. Not just the Hulk. But jealousy. You see, I'm jealous of the success of the AZ basketball program, all the titles the Patriots have won, and the Lakers' following. I'm ready for more successes for my teams. Who only seem to come in second.