Shocker Woes II

I'm very discouraged. It has taken me 3 full days to get over that horrific loss to Northern Iowa on Saturday night. Okay, so maybe I'm not exactly over it. I just don't understand. I know I'm not alone in this confusion since every Shocker fan I speak with starts out the conversation the same, shaking their head side to side, that heavy deep sigh, and then.."I just don't get it."

What do we not get? How a team that showed such glimpses of brilliance against the Georgetown Hoyas could get completely run out of the gym in a game against UNI. A game where the entire team looked as if it was the first time they had ever been on a basketball court, at least in the last two minutes of the first half and all the way through the second.

Maybe I got my hopes up with Hannah hitting eleven points right out of the gate. I recognized that UNI was struggling. Deep down I knew that if UNI were hitting, we wouldn't be in the lead. But, I let the wave take me, take me all the way into the rocky shallows where I slammed face first into jagged shells and choked on a gallon of salt water. The worst ride ever.

I actually changed the channel. Something I never do. I never give up. Something my father has always stressed. At the games, if we are behind and we know there's no possible way we will win, we still stay in our seats until the final horn. "You don't let those kids look up to empty stands," my Dad told me once when I suggested leaving early. I believe I was barely a teenager at the time. "You don't give up on them no matter what." So, I guess this continued with televised games. No matter the score, I stuck it out.

Except for Saturday night. It was too painful. I didn't even listen to the post-game show.

So, going into tomorrow against Southern Illinois, I'm discouraged. The Salukis are 0-3, same as us, but it seems they always gear up for games against us and I'm a little worried. Worried that we may begin our season 0-4. Worried that if they lose, those young men may never find the confidence within themselves to save this season. Worried that they will look up to empty stands.