Flowers bloom as a season ends

I originally planned to write this blog on Sunday, but I procrastinated. Then I found out on Monday afternoon that a friend from college had died. So this blog topic  is oddly appropriate, and in a way, a tribute to her.
RIP Stefanie.

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Well, I’ve had a lot going on since OSU’s hard-fought loss to top-seeded Pittsburgh in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. That’s why I didn’t write this sooner.

Normally, I get over season-ending losses pretty quickly, but I got really worked up and excited and dreams of the Sweet 16 danced in my head until late in the game and it’s kind of hard to come down from that without a thud.

You kind of have to put the end of the season into the context of the seven stages of grief. For example:

1. Shock and denial: (OSU is  down eight points with 17 seconds to go…) ::final buzzer:: “Are you serious? That’s it?… But they played so hard… What about the seniors? What about Byron Eaton and Terrel Harris? And Anthony Brown??”
2. Pain and guilt: “Ugh…. this sucks!! If only I had gone to more games, maybe I could have cheered them to more wins. Gallagher-Iba was so empty this year.”
3. Anger and bargaining: “Maybe they can send the tapes of all the non-calls to someone at the NCAA. The refs were awful!!!”
4. Depression, reflection and loneliness: “Sigh… Only seven months until the new season. What will I do until then? All my other teams suck.”
5. The upward turn: “Well, it was a hard-fought season… Look at how improved they are from two months ago. Keiton Page is just a freshman, and he will only get better with time. And what a great ending for Travis Ford’s first season, to turn around a team that had lost in the first round of the NIT three straight years. Oklahoma State will be a force in 2009-10.”
6. Reconstruction and working through: “What’s this? An email about fantasy baseball starting up again? Wow, didn’t realize it was that time of year already. That’ll be a nice distraction.”
7. Acceptance and hope: “Oh well. At least the Cowboys went down with a fight. A moral victory, I guess. And I hear they have some decent recruits waiting in the wings. I’m especially proud to wear orange after this postseason.”

So, in this postseason, winter is over and spring is here (although there’s a chance of snow later in the week).  It became apparent a couple days ago that those ugly plants by our front door are daffodils. I like them (and their yellow flowers) now that I know what they are. And I’m thankful for all the rain we have gotten, too.

A very good Friday: OSU beats Tennessee

Just watched my alma mater, Oklahoma State, beat Tennessee 77-75 in the most evenly matched basketball game I have seen in a long time.

The teams were like mirror images of each other. Tennessee can hit 3s, but the Vols also went ice cold on shooting late in the first half, continuing into the second half. Bad Tennessee looks a lot like bad OSU.

But enough about bad OSU. When Byron Eaton drove to make it 76-75 OSU, I about lost it. Nice way to end the first NCAA tournament game of the senior’s career.

I really thought the Cowboys would dig themselves too far into a hole with foul trouble, but somehow they pulled it off. I began mentally preparing myself for a loss when James Anderson picked up his fourth.

Really, the only thing that kept me thinking OSU could win were two very interesting stats that our OSU beat writer, Jimmie Tramel, dug up.

1. Tennessee usually wins when it turns the ball over MORE than its opponent.
2. Tennessee nearly always wins when it outshoots its opponent, and it nearly always loses when it doesn’t.

The final stats? Vols 11 turnovers, Cowboys 12. FG percentages: Vols 42.9, Cowboys 56.6.

So Pitt is next (assuming). I picked Pitt to win it all in at least a couple of brackets. Don’t know much about them, but I am looking forward to the game anyway.

Speaking of brackets, mine are all blown up. I filled out about six because I kept getting invitations, and I thought, why not?

My brackets are like snowflakes this year: Each is unique.

I got way too cute with upsets, even I though I myself said there wouldn’t be too many this year.

One good one I did get away with was Western Kentucky over Illinois. I almost got away with Utah State over Marquette, and I picked North Dakota State over Kansas in five of my brackets. I saw virtually nothing of that game, but the score atop the screen indicated it was pretty close most of the game.

But enough about brackets. They are kind of like fantasy teams; no one cares about yours, just their own.

And while it’s fresh on our minds, let’s talk about the flippin’ sweet OU game last night. If you haven’t heard or seen the flip yet, watch any game today. I guarantee it is mentioned at some point.

For the record, a Morgan State player flipped Blake Griffin over his back, WWE style. Griffin just popped up and smirked after coming dangerously close to having his neck broken.

Obviously, that kind of thuggy behavior and lack of self-discipline has no place in the game. But I have to admit as cheap and dirty as the foul was, it looked kind of cool. (Obviously I can only say that because Griffin appeared OK, for the most part.)

I know a lot of people are tired of Blake coverage and were secretly glad to see a cheap foul like that, but 1) it only gives him more air time (literally) and 2) makes him look like a saint for not retaliating. So there.

Well, I have to run some errands before I go to work today. I am slotting, but the only real late thing we’ll be waiting on is the Tulsa-Auburn NIT game. I really wish it was on TV.

Mike Singletary: Man on a mission

Wow!! Texas Tech just overcame a 22-point deficit to beat Texas A&M in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. Mike Singletary led the Red Raiders with 43 points, breaking the tournament scoring record of 38.

The game ended about 40 minutes before deadline. Go figure the best game of the night is the late game. My heart goes out to my colleagues at work tonight.

I have to admit this game was only on because we were too lazy to change the channel after OSU’s win over Iowa State. That was a good game too, although it was too close for comfort most of the game.

I’m really impressed by Marshall Moses. Finally, OSU has some kind of inside presence. I’m pumped for Bedlam III tomorrow.

You know what they say, it’s hard to beat a good team three times.

P.S. It’s Byron “EE-tawn”. Not “Ea-TAWN”. Stupid announcers.