Death of the College Basketball Fan

It's November and that means that it is college hoops season! I'm excited! But am I the only one? Amongst everyone I know, I can say that I know about three "real" college basketball fans!?! WTF?! I know that I am using a lot of exclamation marks, but I tend to do that when I first realize that something really surprises me. I mean, we are talking about the best game ever invented¹. That's indisputable. I won't go into all the reasons why that is the case on this post, but if anyone wants proof I will write a long dissertation on the subject². We are also talking about a segment of the game (college) that has more merit than its professional counterpart. College ball has its flaws³, and its governing body clearly has very unintelligent monkeys running it; but the positives far outnumber the negatives. College basketball players play the game for the love. These young student athletes still love the game that they grew up dreaming about, and they know they have reached the zenith. 90 percent of them know that their playing days will be over after these special four years⁴, so why not have fun doing it? That attitude shows with the passion and sacrifice that they leave out on the court. These are some of the reasons that I am so surprised that no one watches or cares about my beloved game anymore. If I slow down and think clearly⁵, then I will realize that in this day and age college ball is not the same game that I grew up watching. I started watching and falling in love with the college game when Christian Laettner, Alonzo Mourning, Billy Owens, and Shaquille O'Neal were ruling the game. These guys were household names. Many players stayed at a program for at least two or three great years. Now the best players leave after one good year⁶. The main problem is that humans don't care about you unless they know who you are. We don't know who the stars are anymore. That's not a good formula for a game that's star driven. So, in a last ditch effort to familiarize my peeps with some stars/teams...here is a list of players and their respective teams to look out for this season......Cody Zeller/ Indiana; Mason Plumlee/ Duke; Otto Porter/ Georgetown; Kyle Wiltjer/ Kentucky; James Michael Mcadoo/ North Carolina; Doug McDermott/ Creighton; Phil Pressey/ Missouri; Tony Mitchell/ North Texas; Nate Wolters/ S. Dakota St; Isaiah Canaan/ Murray St.....Enjoy these guys and these teams this season, and next time you are choosing between watching Kentucky vs. Indiana or the Wizards vs. the Bobcats, choose the bluebloods son. Tradition and passion always trump lazy millionaires who blow.


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¹ Thank you, James Naismith.
² Just take my word on it...only real college bball heads would want to read that book
³ short 3 point line, mediocre talent sometimes, hypocritical governing body...etc.
⁴ I know I knew
⁵ Rarely happens
⁶ I am excluding last year's Kentucky team...that was a great year...one for the ages.


-tshurn