Win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
Let me explain.
I’m here today because of your game on December 4, 1988. Remember that one? You beat Louisiana Tech with a final score of 106-98.
What you may not remember, however, is that my soon-to-be parents were cheering you on in your Carrier Dome. It was because of that game, their first date, that my sister and I are around to cheer for you today.
(My sister and I cheering for you at the ACC Tournament in 2014)
As many great love stories go, their meeting was unexpected. A mutual friend told both of them that they just had to meet each other. The downside was, at first, my mom wasn’t all that interested. The mutual friend told her that my dad was an accountant, and of course, we tend to stereotype. The upside though was she also said my dad had good seats. So, naturally, knowing my mother, she asked her friend, “How good are the seats?”
Thank the Good Lord my dad had good seats or else I wouldn’t be writing this article now.
To my mom’s surprise, my snazzy dad walked in wearing a leather bomber jacket. You know, the type of jacket Tom Cruise wore in Top Gun? Not the stereotypical accountant get-up.
The date went just how you would expect. My dad picked up my mom in his new silver Pontiac Grand Am, he introduced my mom to a few friends, they talked about the game, and they even went out for burgers at Bennigan’s after the fabulous win. Where, I might add, had Kenny G music playing in the background, which my mom commented on. My dad had a Kenny G tape ready for her when they met for their next date.
To top off everything that happened that night, my dad had to drive what would normally have been a 45-minute drive after dropping my mom off, in a near blizzard. This was Syracuse, after all.
So what does this have to do with you winning the NCAA Men’s National Championship? I’ll tell you.
I want to see you succeed. The last time you won the Championship was back in 2003. Do you know how old I was in 2003? I was 6. Hardly old enough to cheer you on while actually understanding what was happening. I want to proudly eat an abundance of salt potatoes in celebration, please and thanks.
While it would be really cool for you all to win the title this year with it being Jim Boeheim’s last season, (and yes, he was the coach back in the day of my parents’ first date) I’m willing to be patient.
Just know, there’s a girl out there, even though she may be in the south now, who is alive because of your team and is constantly cheering you on. I’ll always have ‘Cuse pride flowing through my veins no matter what happens. Win or lose. Nothing changes the important, life-changing role you played in my family’s lives.
From a girl who is around because of you, I want to see you show the world what I see. A timeless, kickass Upstate New York basketball team with the power to not only defeat, but to make real dreams come true.
Sources:
https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/03/07/syracuse-ncaa-violation…
http://originalorange.syr.edu/otto/otto-through-the-years/
http://www.tradingcarddb.com/GalleryT.cfm/tid/166/Syracuse-Orange
http://studentsectionsports.com/the-top-three-dome-games-of-2016-2017-ba…