Illinois lost Saturday night in the Final Four to UConn.
My take: The loss stunk. Illinois missed a lot of threes. Some of the calls were questionable.
I’m grateful.
Grateful because Illinois was in the Final Four.
Grateful because there’s nothing like being an Illini fan. Did you see the number of people who showed up for an open practice on Friday? What kind of other crazed fanbase would do such a thing.
Back in 2018 at my senior year Marching Illini banquet, I said to the entire band in my speech that
I was thankful Illinois lost 63-0 to Iowa. Thankful because I kept cheering until the clock struck zero. It’s easy to keep cheering for the university you love.
I said something along the lines that it must be “terrible” to be an Alabama fan. If Alabama doesn’t make the College Football Playoff — at that time only a four-team tournament — then the year was a failure. How ridiculous!
I think the same logic could be applied today to UConn. Now that the Huskies have made three title games in four years, the next time they miss the championship showdown, the season will likely be considered a failure.
It’s not like that at Illinois.
While Brad Underwood has the program obviously pointed in the right direction, it’s no sure thing Illinois will ever get back to this stage. Even though Keaton Wagler and a cast of characters won’t be in the orange and blue next season, Underwood will build a team we’ll learn to love — and hate, I’m sure — and we’ll cheer them on to the bitter end.
And while I wasn’t in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy on Saturday, how lucky are we to have had a group of reporters and photographers covering the FINAL FREAKING FOUR in person? The experience of a lifetime. Grateful for them to have had this opportunity.
Meantime, I was with my parents and my fiance, all watching the game on a laptop in an Airbnb in Miami.
The perfect vacation to me.
The ending was inevitable. It’s always meant to end this way.
However, I’m grateful.
Until next season. I-L-L.
