« It's Necessary.... | Main apache port 80 softice .exe
March 26, 2007
BGSU Women's Basketball
"I don't even know how to feel right now."apache port 80 softice .exe
- Kate Achterapache port 80 softice .exe
-Liz Honegger
"I've never experienced anything like this in sports."apache port 80 softice .exe
These are just a couple of the sound bites I picked up from members of the BGSU women's basketball team on the bus back from East Lansing following the 59-56 win over SEC tourney champion Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Needless to say, I echo the sentiments of both Liz and Kate, as someone who instantly went from the broadcaster of a 3-time champion, history making Division I basketball team, to an unemployed free agent in just a few ticks of the game clock at the Greensboro Colliseum on Saturday. I could work in this business for the rest of my life, make decent money, and never again call anything as big as the ride the Falcons took me on this season. I shudder to think my career could peak at 22, but if it has, that's fine. Some people wait a lifetime to broadcast events such as these, so I can't complain. It was that huge.apache port 80 softice .exe
The point is to just enjoy this to the fullest while the exhilarating run of the best team in the history of the Mid-American Conference is still fresh in our minds. The games will go on, but a season or a four year run like this will be tough to duplicate anytime soon. Granted, Ali, Liz, Carin, Megan, Amber, and Julie came within a game of the NCAA tournament their freshman year, and officially arrived as sophomores. But a repeat performance is unlikely, even as highly touted the eight incoming freshman for next year are. It seemed so appropriate that upon our return from Greensboro, the dark dreary Ohio winter we left behind had suddenly vanished, giving way to spring, a fitting end to a dream season and a fresh start for BGSU Basketball.apache port 80 softice .exe
Going into the NCAA tournament, it was well documented that the only hole on the resume of this team and coaching staff was a March Madness victory. After the first round win over Oklahoma State I bluntly stated on-air that beating the Cowgirls was the equivalent of going to the Final Four, and beating Vanderbilt would be the equivalent of winning a National Championship. For a school in the MAC, a league that is 7-28 in the tourney after BG's run, that had never sent a team to the Sweet 16, I didn't feel it was an overstatement. The feeling we all shared in the Breslin Center last Tuesday evening after the Vandy win leads me to believe I was, for a change, correct. That's not to say the Arizona State game didn't matter, didn't sting to lose it, or suggest that the coaching staff and players didn't work just as hard to try to beat the Sun Devils as they did the Commodores. But honestly after the second round, it was all bonus. Let's face it, as good as this team was, they weren't going to win the National Championship. We knew it would end in a loss eventually, with bitter-sweet tears of joy and some anguish from the seniors, which is exactly what took place.apache port 80 softice .exe
What I will remember most fondly from this run is not a particular game, but Curt Miller's press conference on Monday following practice a day after defeating Oklahoma State. He spoke of how much he enjoyed just getting at least one more chance to practice with this group of seniors and how he cherished every moment of the Falcons hour or so workout. With Ali and Liz by his side, it was as an emotional press conference that I've seen not involving Dick Vermeil. Right then I realized, it was so much more about guaranteeing yourself at least 40 more minutes with your best friends you've taken on the world with for the last four years, than it was advancing in the NCAA Tournament. Not that the latter wasn't important, as BGSU and tiny Marist College out of Poughkeepsie, New York raced into the Sweet 16 and simultaneously thumbed their noses at a system by the rich, for the rich. Call them Cinderella if you must, but the term "Mid-Major" need not apply.apache port 80 softice .exe
The 18 point loss to end the season wasn't the prettiest basketball BG has played, but it was still a celebration in appreciation of a group of women who represented their university as well as anyone could. We knew this moment would come, as the throngs of BG fans who drove nine hours and slept many fewer to get to Greensboro shouted "WE ARE….BG!" as the seconds ticked away, completely drowning out the cheers of victory from the much smaller Arizona State contingent. The clock may have struck midnight for Cinderella, but that didn't prevent a fairytale ending on the Coliseum floor.apache port 80 softice .exe
Once we returned to BG on Saturday night, Curt Miller thanked Brian Scullin and I for our work as we left the bus. Immediately, we both realized we were the ones who should be doling out thanks. The two of us would have been more than happy to get the chance to broadcast Division I basketball for a bad team, let alone a national power. The timing couldn't have been better, and we both are so grateful and fortunate that I don't even think it has sunk in yet that we've just finished calling three games in an NCAA Tournament. All of the folks at Bowling Green Radio Sports are forever in debt to this team and coaching staff, for the privilege to cover a program with so much integrity at such a high level. We all know what kind of talk the next couple of weeks will bring regarding coach's future at the school, and I'm sure all Falcon fans want what's best for Curt and his family, whatever he believes that is. Having said that, I have one thing to say to Penn State, Michigan, Louisville or anyone else...HANDS OFF OUR COACH!apache port 80 softice .exe
It's always windy in Bowling Green, but seldom are the winds of change blowing through our small, picturesque campus so noticeable. That's just what the springtime brings. In about a month, a whole new crop of proud alums will be faced with much more daunting decisions than whether to go to Junction or Downtown on Friday night. We'll have a new men's basketball coach soon to try to right our struggling program, while football is marred in uncertainty with several new coaches and unproven players. (Not to mention a three game losing streak to the school up north L.) With lagging funds and facilities for a Division I school, perhaps there hasn't been a more trying time for BGSU athletics. But whatever the future holds, we will always have this women's basketball team. All it took was six athletes and four coaches to transform what was a fringe sport with a cult following into the toast of the town. Curt Miller condensed this whole column into one line while being interviewed in the locker room following the loss to Arizona State. "I just hope they realize how special this is, they'll be talking about this team in BG thirty years from now." Judging by the number of restaurant billboards in town that wished the Falcons well throughout their third consecutive MAC Tournament championship and NCAA run, I doubt any members of this team will have to pay for a meal again in Bowling Green for about thirty years.apache port 80 softice .exe
After an unforgettable three-week interruption to my last semester as a BGSU student, I returned to classes and work full time this week, delighted to share stories and memories of an unforgettable season with friends, classmates, professors, and alums. Everyone seems to have their own unique favorite moments from the past season and four years, and this time of year, wild stories of spring break excursions are always mixed in. As someone who spent all four years as a student following every move of BGSU Basketball during the MAC tournament that week, I've always condescendingly asked what makes partying on the beach more attractive than being in Cleveland. The response is invariably always weather related, and after a long snowy winter I understand. However, the way I've always seen it, is for eight months out of the year, Bowling Green has the best weather on earth. The other four, we're playing basketball.apache port 80 softice .exe
-Paul Bravermanapache port 80 softice .exe
Braverman just completed his fourth and final year as a broadcaster for WBGU-FM, the flagship home of BGSU Women's Basketball. Contact him at paulmb@bgsu.edu. apache port 80 softice .exe
Posted by Ziggyzoomba at March 26, 2007 09:17 PMapache port 80 softice .exe