Forgiven

Gerry McNamara

The boys were celebrat'n at the Pagel house this weekend. It's official, we're suffering from Orange Fever! Syracuse University won the Big East Conference basketball tournament on Saturday, securing an NCAA tournament bid. It was an improbable feat, one that no one expected. Consider these facts:

• The Big East is the toughest conference in the country.
• Syracuse had lost their last three games coming into the tournament, including getting beat by DePaul (a team that didn't even make the Big East tournament) by 39 points! By the way, Jason went to that game in Chicago and saw Jim Boeheim's worst defeat ever!
• It was generally accepted, even by Coach Boeheim, that Syracuse had played themselves out of a spot in the NCAA tournament.
• Syracuse had to play the University of Connecticut in the second round. UConn just happens to be the #1 team in the nation and had already beaten Syracuse twice during the regular season.
• No team had ever won the conference tournament without receiving a first round bye. Syracuse became the first team to win four games.
• Syracuse could have easily lost all four games. Come from behind victories and three point shots at the buzzer made for heart-stopping drama.
• Just days before the tournament, Gerry McNamara, the senior team leader, was criticized for being over-rated. Even the Syracuse Herald newspaper joined in the criticism. All Gerry did to answer his critics was to hit a tournament record 16 three point shots, win three games at the buzzer, and be named tournament MVP!
• Syracuse went from being out of the tournament to a number 5 seed in just four short days.

You have to love the underdog. And you can't help feel their joy when they come out of no where to exceed everyone's expectations. That's what's so thrilling about March Madness. In one brief moment in time, an improbable hero is born and an unlikely victor is crowned. For a short moment in time, the tears of victory erase all the memories of the past. In one moment in time, all can be forgiven.