Today the University of Massachusetts finished the regular season at 21-9, while the University of North Carolina defeated Duke to finish at 29-2. Not too bad for the almae matres. Obviously Carolina is well on their way, but things also look good for the Minutemen after a painfully long absence from the NCAA tournament. Latest RPI rankings have UMass in the top 40, which should place them back in the Big Dance, although a win or two in the A-10 Championship couldn't hurt.It has now been 12 years since that magical Final Four season for UMass and 7 years since I last stepped foot in Chapel Hill.
Amazing how time flies. I can still remember marching from Southwest campus to the Mullins Center each and every game to watch Coach Cal lead Marcus Camby, Donta Bright, Carmelo Travieso, Edgar Padilla, Dana Dingle, Tyrone Weeks, and the one and only Rigoberto Nunez. I nearly got in a fist fight with Jerry Tarkanian and Mike Jarvis; lost my cool once or twice to the refs; went mudsliding after a huge win outside Mullins, scrapes and bruises included; waited in ridiculously long lines at 5 in the morning for tickets; sold my final four tickets for $3100, resulting in the purchase of the Geo Storm; got into a Sports Illustrated photo of Camby v. Duncan; and of course, received five stitches during a half court contest at Midnight Madness, which also earned me a new pair of Nike shoes.
2 comments:
DAAAAY-VAAAAHD-BEEEEYYAAAAL!
LETS GO UMASS!
-sebttdfu
now the $3100 I do remember . . . especially coming out to Amherst to pick it up at midnite so it could get into the bank . . . but getting into Sports Illustrated I did NOT know about . . . and what's this about 5 stitches . . . why did I NOT know about that ! ! !
Post a Comment