My first night of Spring Break was spent wishing I were back in Athens. Sitting in front of my television at home, I buried my face into a throw pillow, shaking with excitement and nerves. My dad, a proud Ohio State fan, and I, who will bleed green until I die, watched as the Ohio University men’s basketball team beat Michigan in the first round of the NCAA tournament, 65-60.
Growing up in an Ohio State family, I was trained from birth to hate Michigan. So when the Bobcats beat the Wolverines, I had never been prouder to be an Ohio University student. Twitter exploded with #InCoopWeTrust and Facebook stopped confusing us with the Charlotte Bobcats. Ohio University was not only going on and busting brackets, but our students showed the world just how big our hearts are for this team and this school.
Led by Coach John Groce, who was recently announced as the new coach for the University of Illinois, the men’s basketball team went on to the next round to play South Florida. They won 62-56 and once again, social media went crazy with praise for our men. Ohio University was on their way to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1964. Spring Break was no longer just about relaxing, it was dedicated to celebrating the talents of Walter Offutt, D.J. Cooper, T.J. Hall, Nick Kellogg, Jon Smith, Ivo Baltic, Reggie Keely, and the entire men’s basketball team.
The odds seemed to be against us playing the University of North Carolina, but our pride and heart could not be shaken. Nerves ran high the first ten minutes of the game, but when our boys began to focus and learned how to play against UNC it became clear that this was going to be an amazing game. I’ll never forget the look on UNC Coach Roy William’s face while our team took the lead in the 2nd half. UNC was visibly shaken as it looked like the No. 13 seed team was going to take them down. The boys from Athens, Ohio took the No. 1 seed team into overtime, but ended up losing 73-65
We may not have won that game in points, but the men’s basketball team earned the respect and recognition of the nation. No matter how heart breaking it is to lose, we love this team and are incredibly proud of how they played.
Walking down Court Street this first week back, it’s hard to ignore the window displays of “Michi-gone” and “Sweet 16!” College Bookstore has a variety of new shirts, hoodies and buttons for fans to proclaim their Bobcat pride. (My favorite being “Cinderella wears green.”) The men’s basketball team has put Athens, Ohio on the map. Next year, we won’t just be going to the Sweet Sixteen. With this amazing group of men and the Bobcat Nation behind them, there’s no telling what they’ll achieve.
Plus, now when family members ask what school we go to, they won’t think we go to OSU.
Source: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/195/ohio-bobcats
Photos:
http://woub.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/GR_2012-02-26-86…
http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/imgs/media.images/1937/ou_sflorida_ncaa.w…
http://media.cleveland.com/startingblocks/photo/10717531-large.jpg
http://cdn2.sbnation.com/photo_images/6151871/20120323_tjg_sr6_047.jpg