When I think of "Anticipation", my thoughts immediately go to the old Nintendo game of the same name. Dubbed as "The First Video Board Game", it was very highly anticipated, no pun intended, when it came out. I was 9 years old -- in other words, in the first of two times in a person's life when board games are permissible entertainment. Man, that game was like a bastardized hybrid of Win, Lose or Draw and Trivial Pursuit.
As the quote-unquote "Highly Anticipated" 2006-07 season gets underway tonight with the first exhibition tip against a powerhouse EA Sports team, I thought of that game. I know it seems a strange thought process, but stay with me. That summer of '87, my buddy Doty who lived next door got it for his birthday, and I actually stopped shooting baskets in the driveway to go play him in it. We recruited my younger brother, just six at the time, and Pete, the 11-year old kid down the street. We were all so excited to play "The First Video Board Game!".
I remember it like it was yesterday, the anticipation to play Anticipation. I remember too the discovery after only a couple of hours that we'd already seen all the possible drawings. This was, of course, followed by the subsequent banishment of the Anticipation cartridge to the "Played Out" list with John Elway's Quarterback, Captain Skyhawk, and other games we got upset with and stopped playing.
Still, I was happy to finally have beaten my brother in a video game. He and Doty generally kicked my butt in most NES games. I'd exact revenge on the driveway with my 30-foot bombs, but to beat them at anything on the NES was still a pipe dream. I don't want to hear about the inherent unfairness of beating a six-year old in a game requiring knowledge. It'll ruin the memory, so don't.
Our anticipation for playing Anticipation was met with disappointment, although there were some good memories of those 90 minutes before we ran through all the puzzles. I hope that isn't a parallel of what's to come this season.
As this season approaches, I've been trying to figure out why it was, exactly, that I didn't seem to share in the "Anticipation" of the new season. Does it have something to do with being burned by that game almost 20 years ago? I don't think I'm THAT much of a dork, so I certainly hope not.
No, I think it has more to do with growing up in northwest-Iowa, cheering for the Twins and the Vikings, two teams just 3 hours north who for different reasons didn't reward optimism with winning. The Vikings do just enough to make people think this is the year, only to take a dump in the big game. They're the Red Sox or the Cubs of the NFL, its just that nobody has ever written a book chronicling their epic chokes and romanticizing them with made-up tales of curses.
You know what anticipation and optimism get you when you root for the Vikes? They get you a dropped TD as time expires in the 1987 NFC title game. They get you Denny F'n Green taking a knee to go to overtime at home in the 1998 NFC title game. And they get you the 2000 NFC title game, which I refer to as 41-doughnut. That's what anticipation and optimism get you.
So you can see why anticipating what might happen in an upcoming season is something I've been conditioned against. Mind you, I'm not a fatalistic fan by any means; I just hesitate to get ahead of myself with grand predictions of things to come. Maybe this Jays team will win 27, 28 games, and make a deep run in the NCAA Tourney. I sure hope so. But I'm not going to anticipate it until I see them play a few games.
They've surely assembled the pieces to do just that, though, haven't they? I tell you what, there is some talent here.
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After the heartbreak of the Miami loss in the NIT last March, Creighton then sat and watched the MVC break through in the NCAA Tourney. Arguably the team that had helped build the foundation for what happened last year, along with Wichita State and Southern Illinois, was the only team of that group not present when all they'd worked for came to fruition. It hurt.
And as news trickled in that Nate Funk was going to be back 100%, people began wondering out loud if Creighton could make it back to the NCAA Tournament. When news of the improvement of stalwarts such as Anthony Tolliver and Dane Watts made it our way, the grumblings over whether this team could not just make the tourney but make a deep run began growing louder. And when Dana Altman and company began assembling, one by one, what would become the best recruiting class in school history, even casual fans began wondering what might be. Anticipation.
There's an old saying that claims a guy who gets stood up at the altar has a hard time giving his heart away to another. I've been burned so many times by my teams, I find it increasingly hard to allow myself to look forward to what might be, before a team ever even plays a game. I just can't do it. I've been burned too many times.
That said, Creighton's gonna go 28-4, keep their Top 25 ranking all season long, and go into the NCAA Tournament as a Top-4 seed before crashing the Elite 8. To hell with trying not to look forward to how dominant this team will be. I can't suppress it anymore. This is the year. I can palpably sense it. The 12,000 season ticket holders can sense it. The national media who gave them a #23 preseason rank can sense it. The Valley beat writers who picked them to win the league over talented sqauds from Southern and Wichita can sense it. This will be the greatest Creighton Basketball season ever.
And it begins tonight with our first glimpse of game action against the mighty EA Sports All-Stars. Its almost tip time. Go Jays!
(How's that for a quick-turn of opinion? I don't know about you, but I think I have whiplash.)
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