Aggie trip to the NCAA nothing to be ashamed of
On March 16, the Aggie’s played their first and last game in the 2006 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Washington Huskies. The game, which followed a heart-wrenching, “please, oh pretty please, please” invite to the big dance, ended with a score of 61-75 Huskies.
NCAA.com describes this game as a “mauling” as well as many other biased, negative expressions. The “game recap” I read at NCAA.com focused mainly on degrading us as chumps and putting Washington on a sort of Boy Scout pedestal. Our mistakes made us kids in a candy store and Washington’s mistakes made them, quote: “scrappy.”
The “game recap” also concluded with a paragraph about the personal life of one of our players. I won’t go into detail because it’s as inappropriate in this article as it was in the article by NCAA.com – suffice to say that this player has proved himself as a great Aggie and although I do not know him personally, I have a great deal of respect for him.
The reason I say all of this is because now that our time on the dance floor is ended, it is easy to feel disappointed, especially with the great abundance of negative blather that follows these games. People who said we didn’t belong are sitting back in their chairs with a smug look on their faces thinking, “neener neener neener.” However, we cannot let these recent lows overshadow our accomplishments or alter our perspective.
For example, in our first year in the WAC, the Aggies were the second-best team of the conference and disproved many critics by still receiving an invite to the big dance.
Also, my personal favorite, Utah State was the only Utah team to play in the NCAA tournament: not BYU, and not even the almighty University of Utah. Not to mention the barrage of awards and honors for Aggie players and coach “Stoooooooooooh” Morrill.
After all, isn’t it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all?
We didn’t win; that’s OK. Technically speaking, we were never supposed to. In 13 trips to the first round of the dance, we’ve lost 12 times. Out of 64 teams in those pretty little brackets, 63 will lose. We were one of them, the buck stops there.
On a national level, people don’t pay much attention to Utah, and on a Utah level, Aggies often take a backseat to the events and accomplishments of the other universities.
In many ways we are expected to fail, to be defeated and are easily forgotten. But year after year, we prove that we are a force to be reckoned with. Even though our giant leaps turn into small steps for mankind, we get a little farther as time goes on.
The school pride at USU is unlike any I have ever seen. My friends at the Y and the U constantly grumble about their various educational circumstances, but here under the glow of the A, albeit a few minor grievances, Aggies love their school.
And we love our team. When the game ended on Thursday night, I was bleeding just as much blue as when the game started. To Stew and the boys: good job, you did your best and you made us proud.
We will dance again.Utah State, hey, Aggies all the way.
Comments or questions can be sent to bcwood@cc.usu.edu.