I’m a huge snacker. Whether its after breakfast, before dinner or as I’m getting ready for bed, there’s usually some relatively unhealthy food item down my throat. It’s to the point where my wife knows when I don’t feel well, because I’m not stuffing my face with chips, cheese or cookies at 10:30 p.m. as we’re winding down.
Well, either I don’t feel well, or Marquette is playing.
It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, or what month the calendar reads, when tipoff is near, I lose all my appetite and turn into a bit of a nervous wreck. Again, this is as true as it is for Duke as Duquesne. I also get a bit of a cough, that my wife likes to call a nervous tick and start shedding layers as my inner body temp rockets up and I start sweating.
Marquette’s Twitter handle has a running gag going back to 2011, when there’s a close game late and blood pressure’s start spiking for relatively sedentary men and women.
That’s me, only not just in clutch time, but rather most of the game.
And I love it.
No other team in the world, save Mexico at the world cup, has ever given me this kind of physical reaction each and every game. It’s probably not healthy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The next level is the level
But not all games are the same, of course.
While my stomach still flared as tipoff approached vs Southern in November, it paled in comparison to what I was being put through just a week prior against Purdue, with the Maui Invitational title and No. 1 ranking in the nation on the line.
And as gut wrenching as that was, it still can’t touch the nerves March Madness evokes. And this one will be nothing but pain.
Losing always sucks. Losing big games sucks more. Losing in the NCAA Tournament is soul crushing. I can still feel the agony of sitting in my seat for almost 45 minutes after Marquette’s loss to Michigan State last season. It’s a finality for which there is no recourse for over half a year.
But with Marquette’s next loss, we are losing a piece of program history. I talked a little bit about it before Senior Night, but that was with the final goodbye still a few week away.
It’s here now. The next time Marquette loses will be the last time we will have seen Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro on the court in the Blue and Gold. It will mark the end of the beginning of Shaka’s program building. Those 2 left footprints so massive, I have trouble believing anyone can ever fill them.
And I want them to be forever remembered in the best way. And the only way that happens is with multiple wins in the NCAA Tournament.
Pressure and Pleasure
Joe Madden famously told his 2016 Cubs team, don’t let the pressure exceed the pleasure. It was a reminder to enjoy the moment, and not to let the expectation to eat you alive.
And thinking about the big picture, that Cubs team bore more than 100 years of futility on its shoulders, if that’s not pressure, I don’t know what is.
But as an avid Cubs fan, I can also say this is what makes the NCAA Tournament so much more dramatic. The Cubs had a horrendous start to the World Series, going down 3 games to 1 before roaring back to win the series. Marquette will not have that luxury.
One loss changes the trajectory of so many legacies. And though I want Marquette to win because I’m a fan and that’s what I always root for, I truly want this for them.
For Tyler Kolek, to have an additional feather on his already brimming cap, and make the roar to retire his number in the rafters audible in the Al.
For Oso Ighodaro, who never quite gets the individual accolades that he so deserves for being the most integral part of this team’s success.
For Shaka Smart, who despite already coached in a Final 4, hasn’t gotten to the second weekend since, and has seen his reputation as one of the elite coaches in the game undeservedly falter.
For Stevie Mitchell, who has given up his body this season in a way I don’t remember any player doing.
For Kam Jones, who was snubbed of an All Big East team recognition and is not given appropriate praise nationally.
For David Joplin, who continues to evolve his game on both ends of the court and willingly accepts to star in his role.
For every other player on that team who has clawed through the ups and downs of the past two seasons.
For us, the fans. We don’t “deserve” a thing. We have been given 2+ seasons of incredible regular season play by fun, likable players. No result will change that.
But it will.
It may not be fair, but that’s the truth. If this team doesn’t at least get to the Sweet 16, the next 2 decades of reminiscing will feel like there was so much meat left on the bone. Just ask the 3 Amigos.
As the ball tips and my stomach churns, I will cheer and yell and get sad and happy based on the ball going in the rim more often for us than them. The pressure will greatly exceed any possible pleasure for at least this weekend.
Don’t think I’d have it any other way.
Paint Touches 
Shaka’s first year we were surprised we made it to the dance, and immediately got our toes stepped on.
His second year, we couldn’t believe what the team was doing (“is this offense!?”). Call it Tex Winters meets Nevada Smith. But, when the levee cracked sidewalks (and a Hauser showed up), the dam burst.
And now we’re here. We saw what this team could do when playing nearly perfect basketball against Kansas and Purdue (except a half-court shot!) and we know that’s been hidden away from the national spotlight while our team has overcome several different challenges.
It almost feels like destiny that the dragons we haven’t slayed could be on the path (MU’s ties to WKU, Shaka’s ties to Florida, Bucky badger 0-3, Purdue waiting at the final four, and Hurley at the top of the mountain). Maybe it won’t happen that way, but it would make for one hell of a championship DVD – do they even make those anymore…?
Either way, sign me up.