I Am An Old Man

I guess I’m turning into an old man. I spent all of yesterday waiting for last night’s Washington State-Gonzaga matchup. When 10pm rolled around, I turned on the game and started watching. It lived up to every expectation. I was as mesmerized as I would have been while watching a team from my fair state. And then it happened–I fell asleep sometime in the second half.

Now, staying up until midnight, while something that I don’t normally do, is something that I should be able to do occasionally, particularly when a game this compelling is on. But I couldn’t stick it out. But I gave in to the temptations of my super-comfortable bed. I felt like my dad, who hasn't seen 9:30pm in years. Sometimes I don’t even know who I’ve become anymore.

Of course, falling asleep during the game also means that I didn’t finish my game notes last night, so I’ll just leave you with two quick thoughts that I can’t seem to shake from my head:

1) It’s weird having Andy Katz working as part of a broadcast team for a game, since you normally only see or hear him in his role as “college basketball insider” for ESPN, where he gathers nuggets of info for Sportscenter, etc. Last night I, every time he talked I was waiting for him to say things like “Sources tell me that that last assist to Daven Harmeling came from Kyle Weaver.” It’s not that Katz is bad or anything, it’s just that his role is so clearly defined that it’s jarring when he does something different.

2) The second half began with David Pendergraft, a crafty, pasty-faced redhead running a gorgeous back-door cut to score a layup for Gonzaga. That, my friends, is the essence of the Washington State-Gonzaga game. Slightly above-average guys doing phenomenal things.

Enjoy your weekend. It’s a trip to Madison on Saturday for me to watch the big Wisconsin-Marquette showdown. Pre-game thoughts tomorrow on that if I have time, but more than likely, I’ll just end up commenting afterward on my favorite annual contest.