Nothing smells more like defeat than scanning the scoreboard and noting that your team, attending a seminar in the fine art of 3 point shooting, faces the prospect of spending the final three quarters of a game with 2 remaining time outs while The Professor has all 5 in his pocket. And to experience a famished fan base, in this foreign land, delirious for the taste of canis lupus de la mer? That smells like defeat too. Oh, and Sparky McPuriefoy, scolded by zebras, needing to reacquaint himself with a folding chair? Odorous. Rarely has a 12 point halftime deficit seemed so insurmountable.
I overheard Coach Pikiell tell his players (okay, he screamed it) that they were going to win the game, and that they had a plan! I took comfort in noting that the university hospital was adjacent to Patrick Gym. Just in case, I thought… But something about Coach’s delivery shook me from my slumber and gave me goose bumps, and I wistfully thought of my Tommy Brenton jersey sitting on the wall at home. “I could use that right now”, I thought….”Wait, what?!” I gingerly tapped my head to clear my thoughts.
As the 2nd half began, Chris and I hid behind the end line, mumbling the day’s mantra: “keep chipping away, boys, keep chipping away”. There would be no “chipping away”. Instead, a demolition. Somehow, impossibly, the team sprinted; 32-6 turned a 12 point deficit into an 11 point lead. An explosion had my adrenaline kicking in; or was that the 3rd cup of coffee from breakfast?
No, our guys were now lecturing on “Courage and Conviction in the Second Half: Herculean Efforts to be Demonstrated”. Deshaun, in the role of hero du jour, scored 16 second half points! And Trey, not to be outdone, put up 15 more. And Ray and Trey celebrated the Feast of the Four Fouls with what seemed like 10 minutes of game time remaining! And, oh, yeah, Mr P.O.Y. Warney, doing what he does and scoring 24. Just another day for him; leading the nation with 22 double-doubles, as is his want. LEADING THE NATION, I said! And the team scored 50 second half points. Five-Oh!
But taking ownership of Patrick Gym during a playoff game? Priceless! The band and cheerleaders were at their unequaled best! Cued by the team, they picked up the charge and dominated the sound and passion in the old place for 10 full minutes. Stunned silence befell the rest of the hall, but our students Would. Not. Quit! They dominated, as they do better than anyone, anywhere. “And Our Cheers Shall Reign With Impunity!” What a moment.
But give Coach Pikiell and his staff the game ball. Adversity, not content with visiting the doorstep, had broken through and stepped inside. Coach was having none of it. This wasn’t just inspiration, though. It was a management seminar. Pikiell was the pilot in the flight simulator given an impossible situation: “your left wing fell off, land the plane”. And he did. And today there is A Mounted Cat on the Basketball Office wall. And we will forevermore remember this day as it happened in Vermont. The day Coach Pikiell convinced a team to create and perform in “The Miracle of the Two Time Outs”.