I can't believe it is the last regular season game of the year. I don't know if anyone else noticed it, but there seems to be a palpable difference in mood now that March is here and we are quickly approaching what has in the last few years been a bitter-sweet time of year.
I hope though that all of us die-hard fans can put all the past heartache and end-of-season finishes aside, and enjoy every single last minute of this year's Villanova Mens Basketball team. As others said in another thread, this is truly a GOLDEN AGE of Nova hoops. To think back in 2012 after failing to even finish .500, we are looking at our 3rd opportunity in a row of getting a top seed in the NCAA tournament, a 3rd Big East regular season title, and a chance to repeat as back-to-back BET champs. When that entire statement is coupled with the truth that we do not have the most talented or athletic team in the country by any stretch, it is just an amazing testament to our coaching staff and players for really achieving EXCELLENCE. Not many people can say that, and we are pushing it 3 years running.
The Georgetown game is HUGE...as big as any game we have had this year. I don't say that because GTown is great, but winning it keeps us in line for a 1 seed, and losing could raise the currently small chorus of people questioning how good we really are. The SOLD OUT arena needs to be ROCKING. I hope everyone gives frequent and loud ovations for Arch and Ochefu. This is their swan song, and we want them going out in style!
Thinking past GTown and even the BET, the NCAA Tourney as we all know is going to create all sorts of nervous feelings for the fans, the coaches and most assuredly the players. They know what's at stake. However, I want to call out that this anxiety and emotion we all feel is what makes college basketball so damn amazing. The players, and Arch and Ochefu in particular, need to first and foremost enjoy it! For us fans, we will find more games to be anxious over, but for these players, it will never get bigger than this. Once you get paid to play the game, a certain part of the magic is lost. Arch and Ochefu get to experience their last run at it. I hope they focus only on playing their hardest and playing for each other. The rest of it needs to be forgotten for those 40 minutes.
So it comes back to the title of this thread: Enjoy The Ride. Things could have gone so much differently in a bad way for Nova hoops 4 years ago. But we got lucky with Arch, Ochefu, Hart, and all the players who wanted to play for our favorite team. Jay could have bailed. None of that happened. Instead we get another chance to watch our team play fun, hard-nosed, better than the sum of our parts basketball. For those lucky to be at their last games this year, scream as loudly as you can when the moments call for it. Let them know how proud you are of them.
Go Nova!
