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Frogs
bail at WAC Tournament By Danny Horne
His girlfriend’s mother said at some point in the movie that
she would “rather judge a man by the size of his heart than
his rear.” You see, in sports a man is often judged by the size of his heart. Clearly, not physically, but in the sense that he’s got a way about him that just won’t let him see defeat. A way that just won’t let him accept failure. It’s hard to judge who’s got it and who doesn’t. For that reason, the size of a man’s heart is quite the hot commodity come Championship Week and March Madness. It could prove to be the difference between winning and losing. It’s a shame the Horned Frog men’s basketball team couldn’t unveil a little heart of its own as it bailed out mercilessly in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament to eventual champion Hawaii. It seemed the Frogs didn’t realize they had a chance at the National Invitation Tournament. So many other schools had individuals and overall teams that just wouldn’t be denied the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament or at least the NIT. Who can overlook the play and desire of Florida guard Teddy Dupay? This is a guy who had back surgery in January and returned to the court just 20 days later. In the Gators’ Southeastern Conference quarterfinal game with Alabama, Dupay left early in the first half after aggravating his back, but he wouldn’t let that finish him. He returned less than five minutes later and sparked his Gators to a victory. That’s heart. Staying in the SEC, who can forget the play of the Louisiana State Tigers? They played with just five regulars for much of the season after the team was ravaged by injuries. They could easily have folded in the conference tournament because they really had nothing to play for, or so they were told. Instead, the Tigers upset third-seeded Georgia in the first round and led Arkansas by nine points at halftime of their quarterfinal meeting before ultimately going down to the Razorbacks. I guess it’s tough to play five-deep against Nolan Richardson’s 40 minutes of hell. Go figure. But, for the effort, that’s heart. What about those teams that, for all intents and purposes, needed the stars and planets to align in a particular manner to have a chance at the postseason? You know them as TCU, Baylor, Pittsburgh and Penn State, among others. Who expected to see Baylor get as far it did in the Big 12 Tournament? Head coach Dave Bliss and his team, that’s who. Baylor debatably had a bid to the NIT intact already, but wins in the conference tournament over Colorado in overtime and top-seeded Iowa State sealed the deal. The upset over Iowa State was the upset of the tournament and possibly the upset of Championship Week. When it’s published all over the place that you have no chance of winning, it’s a wonder anyone bothers to play. Of course, there’s always a chance. Right, Dave? Ah, then there’s those crazy Panthers from Pittsburgh who turned the Big East Tournament upside down. Everyone
knows the Big East tourney is always full of surprises, but this
year’s version turned into a murky mess for those who tried
to pick the finalists. Notre Dame? Nope. Georgetown? Uh-uh. Oh,
then definitely Syracuse or Connecticut. Nope and nope. For the record, it should be known that BC was strong all season, but last season the Eagles finished at the bottom of the conference. They got to play all season with people telling them they didn’t belong. They laughed all the way to a No. 3 seed in the East Regional. Pittsburgh however has been inconsistent at best all season, which makes its climb in the conference tournament somewhat amazing. Or maybe not when it comes down to it. The Panthers managed to pull off upsets against Notre Dame and Syracuse before getting blasted by Boston College in the championship. Penn State had lost twice to Michigan State already. Wait, that’s not quite accurate. Penn State had been bombed by Michigan State twice, losing by an average of 22 points. So, come Big Ten tourney time, the Nittany Lions, known more for head football coach Joe Paterno than basketball, had no reason to believe they would pick up a quarterfinal win against the Spartans. Penn State played its way into the NCAA’s with a 65-63 victory against the Spartans, once again setting the Championship Week world on its head. But is it really all that surprising to see these schools, these athletes step up and play like this? I would think not. After all, it’s human nature when your back’s against the wall, you come out fighting with all your heart. TCU must’ve been tired that day.
Associate Editor Danny Horne is a senior broadcast journalism
major from Carrollton. |