If I were to write down all the negative adjectives to describe this trip to Detroit, I would run out of room on this blog. As a UConn fan first and foremost, it is very difficult to find anything positive to come out of this trip. Our travel out here was nothing short of a ride through Hell (see Jess' post below). Our expectations of at least making it to the National Championship were cut extremely short by Michigan State. Now, with snow coming in on Monday into Tuesday, I'm forced to forego sitting courtside for the final game and pay an extra $250 to get home early enough so I don't risk hitting a delay in the airport and miss my flight to Nationals for volleyball early Wednesday morning. Any person in my situation would just sit back and think about how much they hate their life, (as I have been doing since around 8:30pm yesterday) but I have made some attempts to find good in the midst of all this negativity.
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year you know quite well of the financial crisis of the country, and nowhere has been hit harder than the city of Detroit. The car capital of the US, companies here have been cutting costs and laying off workers left and right, leaving more than 1 in 5 residents without a job. Schools are failing, businesses are closing, and people around here are doing their best just to put food on the table.
When cities are struggling and times are hard, everyone looks for some type of hope, a small ray of light through a sky full of dark clouds. For most, this light comes in the form of their hometown sports teams. Although your home team making it to the playoffs or winning a title probably won’t get you a job or put money in your pocket, it boosts mental morale. It gives you something to root for, some hope that a part of you is embedded in that team that is going on to do great things and not all hope is lost. Yet here in Detroit, salt has been poured all over the wounds, as most of their teams have been struggling just as much as their economy…
The Lions were the laughing stock of the NFL (and the whole sports world in general) this past season. They fired their head coach and GM, traded away their #1 receiver, and signed a washed up quarterback who only made them worse. Their 0-16 finish solidified them as the worst team in NFL history. MSU's win over UConn last night in Ford Field was the first win in that stadium by any Michigan-based team in almost 2 years.
After winning the division title the previous 4 years, the powerhouse Pistons seem to finish in the top 4 in the Eastern Conference almost every year. Now 25 games back in the division, they are clinging for dear life on a playoff berth, three games under .500 and three games ahead of Charlotte for the 8th and final spot.
The Detroit Tigers won 95 games in 2006 to clinch a spot in the playoffs, 24 wins more than in the 2005 season. Following a very strong start to 2007, the Tigers just narrowly missed another Wild Card ticket to the post-season. They followed in 2008 with high hopes, only to finish dead last in the AL Central division. One can only hope Magz and the Tigers can make it to October this year.
University of Michigan football, normally a bulldozer in the Big 10 and all of college football, was nothing more than a doormat last season. Under new head coach and alum Rich Rodriguez, the Wolverines finished with just 3 wins last year, their lowest total since 1963, and failed to make a bowl game for the first time in over 30 years.
The only consistency in professional sports to come out of Detroit has seemed to be the Red Wings. The reigning World Champs have been in the running for the Stanley Cup almost ever year for the past decade. Then again, it’s hockey, which doesn’t really matter to anybody who isn’t in Canada or near the Canadian border.
So here we are, less than 24 hours from the biggest game in college basketball. Tom Izzo has done his best with a team full of local players, and has managed to turn them into one of the best teams in the nation. Just over 90 miles from Detroit lies East Lansing, MI, home of the Spartans. The town is split between U of M fans and Michigan State fans, but now, everyone in Detroit is a State fan. This town full of underdogs is now supporting their hometown David in its fight against Goliath. Like the people in this town, the Spartans have been beaten, bruised, disregarded, forgotten about. Nobody said they could take down #1 seeded Louisville, yet they rose to the occasion. Nobody thought they could beat two #1 seeds in a row, especially two #1 Big East teams, yet they stepped up in front of 72,000 strong and got the job done. Now they get ready to take stage in front of a bigger crowd than Super Bowl XL and attempt to do the unthinkable.
Like I said before, being in this situation as a UConn fan is awful. The empty feeling that sat in my stomach when the game clock hit :00 was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had in my life. Yet put yourself on the other side. Picture yourself just for one second as a State fan in Detroit. You’ve had nothing to cheer about for the past few years. You or somebody close to you has lost their job, their car, their home. The teams you have been supporting with all of your heart over the years has been very disappointing this year. Your morale, your self-esteem, your pride is in the gutter, and the light at the end of the tunnel seems a million miles away. Here come the Spartans, the underdogs, just like you. They’ve risen to the top right in front of your very eyes, defeating the best of the best. It gives you some of your morale, some of your pride back. You feel that maybe, just maybe, if State can pull away from it, maybe I can too.
So UConn fans, although we came up short this year, think of some of the positives that have come from it. A small loss for us gives hope to others that far succeeds any we could imagine. Jeff, AJ, Hasheem, Craig, we’re going to miss you guys, and we can’t thank you enough for what you did for this program. But don’t hang your head on the fact that you came up short, because the cards are falling for the Spartans, and maybe soon enough, for the people of Detroit.
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