where's the foul?

my blogmate always teases me about my episodic bouts of sports fanatacism. she has a point: for the better part of the year i'm only vaguely interested, but come play-off time suddenly i become some sort of glued-to-the-TV maniac.

the difference between me and the true fan became clear to me as i talked my good friend dwtacc (down with the ACC... she rejected "friend#1" on account of it wasn't personal enough) off a ledge monday after the illini failed to capture the NCAA title. i'll admit, it was a painful game to watch, what with the offense seemingly being played from half-court and passes bouncing off the backs of unsuspecting teammates who were looking the wrong way (in the final minutes of a 3 point game). now, i don't claim to know much about basketball, but you know something's wrong when you ask yourself, "hey, why is he running in the wrong direction?"

in any case, i really was a little worried about dwtacc as she went right through the yelling and swearing phase (surprising coming from the girl who ordinarily isn't much of a potty-mouth... unless she finds herself at a 22,000 person race hoping to serendipitously run into her friends who are holding her race number while said friends are still standing on the el platform like idiots), and directly entered the stern, silent phase. i didn't think she disliked anyone more than her creepy ex-boyfriend who keeps calling her (over and over and over) but it turns out that her new sworn enemy is sean may (oafishly big tarheel who was the clear sweetheart of the game and is the child of an important hoosier, for those of you who don't know... like me before last night).

so i think we should all bow our heads in a moment of silence, mourning the illini's loss of the NCAA title... at least in solidarity with my devastated friend.