After reading Whelliston's article, I feel dirty. I've been a Pac-10 (okay....teams that fall outside of California) fan for quite a while but just may have to give that habit up now out of principle.
I do root for some Mountain West Conference teams and really have a hard time putting teams like Utah, Air Force and Wyoming in the same category as Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Duke and North Carolina. I feel no shame for rooting for the Utes, Cowboys and Cadets.
Re: Pac-10 I'll continue my support for Arizona State U (used to attend games while living in AZ) and Washington State U as they both may have well been junior college programs up til the last 2 or so years. My sister and many friends are fans of U of A so I mean no disrespect by saying this but there are a lot (not all fans....I'm not making sweeping generalizations here....it's not like I'm posting on ASU or U of A basketball on azstarnet.com or azcentral.com....check these out some day if you want to see what happens when unbridled fan passion meets internet posting unaccountability) of Cats fans that have grown spoiled and unrealistic in their expectations after years of success. Yearly final four appearances seem to be some kind of birth-right to some in Tucson. But that's not what always happens and it's exactly why I love college basketball. Northcentral Podunk State will always have a chance against the bigs in college basketball, particularly tourney time, regardless of the appalling sports department budget discrepancies. Whelliston said in his article that 91% of the time, the upper echelon will prevail. Yup, that's how it goes and it's a pittance of positive results in my mind but the other 9% of the games are what keep me coming back.
NAU connection to this topic: I liked Ben Howland when he coached at NAU. Seemed like a nice guy when I met him on campus. Jacks had some great success under him. Obviously a fantastic coach and motivator. I wish him well on a personal level and respect that he seems to run clean programs wherever he goes and his players bust their rears but the next day that I root for UCLA, or team of such ilk, will be the first and last time.
No matter how many times my heart is ripped out I will continue to root for the Gonzaga's (dad and cousin are alums), Southern Illlinois University's and Butler's that are able to compete year in and year out regardless of lack of respect or a fair chance (i.e. home and home series) versus the bigs.
On that note .... I may as well be crackhead, bat***t delusional here and say that I'm eagerly anticipating that NCAA opening round matchup between NAU and UCLA. Stranger things have happened, no?
Go Jacks!
I do root for some Mountain West Conference teams and really have a hard time putting teams like Utah, Air Force and Wyoming in the same category as Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Duke and North Carolina. I feel no shame for rooting for the Utes, Cowboys and Cadets.
Re: Pac-10 I'll continue my support for Arizona State U (used to attend games while living in AZ) and Washington State U as they both may have well been junior college programs up til the last 2 or so years. My sister and many friends are fans of U of A so I mean no disrespect by saying this but there are a lot (not all fans....I'm not making sweeping generalizations here....it's not like I'm posting on ASU or U of A basketball on azstarnet.com or azcentral.com....check these out some day if you want to see what happens when unbridled fan passion meets internet posting unaccountability) of Cats fans that have grown spoiled and unrealistic in their expectations after years of success. Yearly final four appearances seem to be some kind of birth-right to some in Tucson. But that's not what always happens and it's exactly why I love college basketball. Northcentral Podunk State will always have a chance against the bigs in college basketball, particularly tourney time, regardless of the appalling sports department budget discrepancies. Whelliston said in his article that 91% of the time, the upper echelon will prevail. Yup, that's how it goes and it's a pittance of positive results in my mind but the other 9% of the games are what keep me coming back.
NAU connection to this topic: I liked Ben Howland when he coached at NAU. Seemed like a nice guy when I met him on campus. Jacks had some great success under him. Obviously a fantastic coach and motivator. I wish him well on a personal level and respect that he seems to run clean programs wherever he goes and his players bust their rears but the next day that I root for UCLA, or team of such ilk, will be the first and last time.
No matter how many times my heart is ripped out I will continue to root for the Gonzaga's (dad and cousin are alums), Southern Illlinois University's and Butler's that are able to compete year in and year out regardless of lack of respect or a fair chance (i.e. home and home series) versus the bigs.
On that note .... I may as well be crackhead, bat***t delusional here and say that I'm eagerly anticipating that NCAA opening round matchup between NAU and UCLA. Stranger things have happened, no?
Go Jacks!
