I'm kind of playing these by ear. Made a list of thirteen or fourteen great memories yesterday, but haven't gone through and ranked them all the way just yet. Still, this one is a good fit at Number Ten.
War of the Crawfords
Who in their right mind would tailgate college basketball games in the Midwest? Well, nobody. But that didn't stop five or six of us with season tickets for last year's ill-fated IU Basketball team from showing up hours early for several games before it all fell apart. Noffke, Alli, Tim 'Shark' Transon, Zach 'Sandman' Sandler, and myself (note: not sure if anyone else was there, if I missed you, be sure to yell at me) arrived at Assembly Hall in some fairly cold early-December conditions with delicious crock-pot chili and lots and lots of libations. We played hillbilly golf. We drank from Solo cups. We debated whether an IU squad missing both starting guards, Eric Gordon and Armon Bassett, could handle Kentucky and Patrick Patterson. As game time rolled around, we made our way in to a packed Hall (I narrowly avoided being flagged down by several police officers wandering around the main concourse looking for drunks) and to our 8th row (!) seats by the south end goal. I think Noffke and Co. were farther up. It's all a little hazy.
Anyway, the crowd was very seriously hyped by the time this one tipped off. And for 15th ranked IU, what a game it was. Freshman Jordan Crawford matched up against his senior brother Joe for the first and last time, and all by his lonesome, the kid showed everyone which Crawford was indeed the real deal. Jordan dropped 20 on big bro, and the crowd loved it, howling "JOR-DAN'S BET-TER" over and over as their family looked on and Joe seethed on court. He was seriously pissed off - at one point the bro's went at each other. This was not a close game. IU, which at this early point in the season was looking like a shoo-in for at least a 4 seed in the tourney, crushed Kentucky 70-51. Beloved Indiana superstar DJ White went over 1,000 points for his career with yet another double-double. Between his play and Crawford's, it might have been the most enjoyable game of the season for me personally. No Eric Gordon crashing into the lane to be double teamed and either fouled or turn the ball over? Oh yes. I can't tell you how many times I watched this happen. But not this game. This game was perfect. Most of what I remember is jumping up and down and hollering at top volume. I was hoarse for at least a day.
Sadly, this season ended up going seriously downhill. Thanks, Kelvin Sampson. But for a few shining months, we got to experience Hoosier Basketball at its finest. And oh man, was it great.
EDIT: About to head to the Iowa-Indiana game. $5 Balcony Seats, sweet!
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