his isn't exactly a news flash, but I'm not the most responsible person in the world. According to the Gallup Strengths Finder, its one of my bottom five strengths, in fact, along with Deliberative. This means I do not enjoy routine and structure, and I do not take psychological ownership of what I say I will do. Simply put, I'm a free-spirited irresponsible dude.
Also, this means when I say I will be in Des Moines at 2pm on Saturday, what I really mean is I'll leave Omaha at 2pm and get there at 4pm.
Oh, I had intended on being there at 2, but things happened. Things like Double Overtime in the Southern Illinois-Wichita State game, which I stayed and watched to its conclusion before leaving. The Colorado was outside warming up as regulation ended, but it sat out there running for another 30 minutes as two overtimes played out. By the time I went to the bank and got gas, it was 2pm before I got on I-80 to Des Moines.
I felt sorta bad about it, but my attention was soon diverted by severe spillage of my beverage.
***
I stopped at a gas station off of I-80 and got a 20oz'er. In my haste, I drove off without opening it up. Two miles down the road, I reach for it and try to twist off the cap one-handed. Going 95 MPH in the fast lane, mind you. The entire bottle is just twisting in the cup holder, so the cap is not budging. I stick it between my legs to create a makeshift vise-grip, which worked. Too well, as it turns out. The cap comes off, and just as it does, I have to shift my leg from the gas to the brake. Bottle squeezes, cap goes flying under the seat, no less than 4.2 ounces of Diet Pepsi go splattering every which way but loose, and I've made a mess.
Good lord.
***
Unfortunately for me, this would not be the only Diet Pepsi-related incident on the day. At dinner, we're at this joint called Mustard's on University. The breaded pork tenderloin was tasty, by the way. Anyway, we're getting ready to leave and I have half my 32 ounce glass left, so I get a brilliant idea: I'll guzzle the rest, or at least as much as I can, in one suck of the straw. No breather!
I got 'er done, but I paid the price. Headache, gut ache, and more headache. Turns out straws ain't meant for guzzlin'.
***
The reason for my trip to Des Moines was the Creighton-Drake game. As you know, I'm one of the biggest Jays fans anywhere, and since I missed the Dayton game here at home earlier, I had to make up for it by going to a road game. Des Moines is the closest trip, plus I've got a buddy there to meet up with at the game. You bet.
Even though Drake has a friendly, docile fan base, general protocol at a road game still applies. Subtle team color apparel, no obnoxious behavior, and no fervent rooting against the home team. We get inside the Knapp Center, and its quickly becomes abundantly clear that the usual rules will not apply. There's more CU fans than Drake fans, particularly in our section. In fact 9 out of 10 people in the area behind the basket are CU fans. Some even had signs that said "Go Jays" or "Welcome to Qwest Center East".
Personally, I was just mesmerized by the giant plastic Zeppelin that periodically flew over our heads. It was dropping stuffed animal Bulldogs, which because of coloration, shape and lighting, looked suspiciously like bags of illicit street drugs...I got some dirty looks from those around us when I pointed this out, pointing to the Zeppelin and saying in my Rob Schnieder voice "You put your weed in there!"
Speaking of those Bulldog stuffed animals, for some reason the Drake cheerleaders threw a bunch of them into the CU section. Way to pay attention. Some of the guys behind us started a "Throw it back!" chant. How awesome would that have been, to throw back a giveaway?
The Dog Pound! I have to say, the Drake students were rowdy, loud and tough. The rest of the fans, not so much...
Drake used to be pretty good in basketball, once upon a time. My dad went to Drake in the 70s, so I heard all the stories. I used to think "If I have to hear about how they went to the Final Four in 1969 and almost beat the UCLA dynasty one more time, I swear...". Except now I know that someday when I have kids they'll think "If I have to hear about how CU went to the Final Four in 200x and almost beat Duke, I swear..."
And if that doesn't happen? There's always Terrell Taylor's double-OT buzzer beater to upset Florida in the first round in 2002.
***
As for the game itself, just a great, fun college basketball game. Creighton stormed out to a 14-2 lead. Drake stormed back to tie it and ultimately lead by 7 at the break. Out of halftime, the doggies built the lead to 15. Then CU went on a run, got a lead, and the teams fought back and forth until a frantic final minute.
Literally 20 feet in front of us, great drama unfolded. With 49 seconds left in a tie game, CU calls timeout. The crowd is nuts -- probably 3000 each of Creighton and Drake fans yelling -- and out of the timeout, CU runs clock. With the shot clock at 10, Johnny Mathies drives the lane, passes...and is intercepted. Timeout Drake, 25 seconds left.
After calming down, I turn to my buddy John and tell him what my strategy would be: the Mike Holmgren Super Bowl XXXII strategy. As you'll recall in that game, he let the Broncos score intentionally from the 1-yard line in a tie game with under a minute left so his team could get the ball back with enough time to drive for a score. I would have fouled them, and given myself time to get a shot to tie or win. Or let them score a layup. Trusting your guys to play defense for 25 seconds is tough -- that's a lot of time for a breakdown.
Of course, the Jays played it straight-up, and after 15 seconds of tenacious defense, the Dogs finally got the ball inside. They had a great look, but the shooter plowed Dane Watts over on the way to the hoop. Charging! They called him for charging at home! Unbelievable! Jays couldn't get a shot off, and it was on to overtime.
The Legend, Dr. Tom Davis -- the only word to describe the man is legendary, honestly, he won 20 games every year for 15 years at Iowa! -- was not upset. It was a good call. It was a charge. And it was overtime.
In the OT, both teams went 3 minutes without scoring. Finally Dane Watts hits a three, gets a steal, and generally just wins the game single-handedly. Of course, with 20 seconds left nursing a lead, he turns the ball over on an inbounds play just to remind us all he's not a player without faults.
But a 71-67 OT win on the road is stellar, and nicely done.
You bet.
***
$5.50 for a beer? For a Bud Light? Way overpriced, Champps at Jordan Creek. Seriously, $5.50? OK.
And since my name is not Peter King, I will now shut up.
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