Many Shining Moments…
Submitted by Paul Mercier on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 22:36
Preface: Before posting this article, I must first preface with the fact that I had to wait until now (2:00 P.M. EST) to write my recap of the National Championship Game. I wanted my writing to be fully filtered from the lingering emotions of last night. With that said, I still failed to do so.
Well over 72,000 college basketball fans packed themselves into the narrow concourse hallways of Ford Field last night. The rich, the poor, the young, the old, the famous, and the average, all found a way to get what was probably the hottest sports ticket in Detroit since the World Series, and maybe even a bit hotter. Magic Johnson and Larry bird brought the game ball, the great Michael Jordan was honored along side of John Stockton and other basketball greats at halftime, Bill Russell walked so close to me that I nearly bumped right into the middle of his chest (which was about where the top of my head reached), and more MSU “fans” came to support Tom Izzo’s ball team than I knew existed.
The energy in Detroit was second to none. Sitting in the stands surrounded by green and white, one could literally feel the waves of excitement pounding throughout the seldom excited stadium- energy so powerful that at one point, as I looked around, I literally forgot to breathe. Fans in the student section chanted, “Go Green!” Fans in the stands responded, “Go White!” Emotions were high, anxiety levels were higher, and for a brief few moments, all was right in the city. And then the game started.
Now, we all know what happened during the contest; I’m not going to pretend I have some brilliant analysis. Rather, I’d like to look at this loss from two different angles: A) Michigan State worked damn hard to get there [The National Championship], and B) North Carolina is a damn good team-too good.
Let’s look at the former angle to start: Michigan State worked damn hard to get there. At the beginning of the season, many analysts and talking heads picked MSU to be a team worthy of making it to the Final Four. However, as the season trudged on, I got the feeling that no one really thought the Spartans were going to make it to a championship game. Honestly, I don’t really blame them; The Spartans were never fully healthy until right around tournament time. Even then, Raymar Morgan broke his nose shortly after getting over a debilitating illness. But, that didn’t stop the Spartans from pushing. They broke down their opponents, exposed weaknesses, and capitalized. For that, they should be highly commended.
On the other side of the coin, Michigan State didn’t have much of a chance in this game. North Carolina was way too damn good. I’m not saying it couldn’t have happened, but it would have taken a perfect storm, and North Carolina has survived a few of those in its time. Tyler Hansbrough may be the most intense person I have ever seen live, and Ty Lawson is as quick as any basketball player in recent memory. Compound those with a player like Ellington who got hot in the tournament, and Michigan State was basically playing an NBA caliber team.
Nonetheless, this past weekend was one that many people will not soon forget-this guy included. We lucky ones experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity in our own backyard, and boy, was it fun. One of the scary facts for other teams is that Michigan State may be just as strong, if not stronger next year. Tom Izzo is quickly restoring his basketball program into a national powerhouse. This was seen when thousands of people wearing green and White starting leaving the stadium with 4 minutes still remaining: these people weren’t fans, rather local Detroiters who grasped onto the MSU train as it made its way downtown because that was the cool thing to do this week: be an MSU basketball fan. But that’s OK, we’ll welcome them. The Spartans gained a lot of swagger this year, and they made the state of Michigan proud. It is for that reason; I pray that Tom Izzo stays in East Lansing forever.
