[NU Sports] Re: Holy Orange............

[NEONRye at aol.com]

John,
 
I had a similar experience, watching parts of the game during Regulation,  
and getting hooked down the stretch and through the 6 OT sessions.   However, as 
hard as I was rooting for 'Cuse (as my daughter graduated from SU's  fine 
Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2007), I think the Refs had to  rule 
the way they did.  The ball did seem to still be in Eric Devendorp's  hand (or 
resting on his fingertips) when the game clock struck 0:00.   Anyway, if they 
had let the shot stand, we wouldn't have been treated to the  most amazing 
hoops game (college or pro) I have ever seen, with inspired  performances by 
exhausted student-athletes.  I thought Jim Boeheim  outcoached his eminent 
counterpart, Jim Calhoun, on the defensive side.   SU's 2-3 zone was incredible 
(although their rebounding was on a par with our  beloved 'Cats), especially in 
the last two or three OT's.  They were  constantly behind in all but the last 
OT, but kept playing the tough "D", so  that the game would not get away from 
them.  And in a very un-'Cuse-like  performance, the Orange were incredible from 
the Charity Stripe.  They will  probably get blown away by West Virginia 
tonight, from sheer exhaustion, in a  semi-final game nobody could have predicted. 
 The Big East is one tough  conference (in hoops, not with the pigskin)--when 
a Georgetown can be booted in  the first round.  The marquee matchup tonight 
at MSG is 'Nova-'Ville (at 7  p.m.), but the emotional pairing is the second 
game.  If 'Cuse gets off to  a decent start, I predict that the Garden will be 
rocking real hard and real  loud, as NYC is in many ways home turf to the 
University from our Northern Snow  Belt.
 
I would absolutely LOVE it if somehow NU could make it to the Final Four of  
the NIT, so we could paint MSG Purple and rock the Garden.   It would  be a 
fitting sendoff for President Bienen, who is from the area, and who  definitely 
loves his b-ball (I remember bumping into him at NU v. Seton Hall a  couple of 
years ago at the Meadowlands Arena (now called Izod Center; then  called 
Continental Arena), when we ended up winning a particularly pathetic game  down 
the stretch.
 
Paul Levinson
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