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Seven more games left.
Will we endure? Will Wake Forest hoops team win enough of these to convince Joey Brackets we deserve a bid to March Madness?
It’s looking iffy. Why always this pressure? Why can’t our team easily get in and cruise through these last seven games? Why must we endure the uncertainty, the close games? Why do we spend our lives on the bubble? It’s a precarious lifestyle. Wears on us. Jars our nerves sometimes.
Two of the seven final contests are imminent and paramount. At Virginia on Saturday. Won’t be easy. One of the toughest and most disciplined teams to play. How can we prevail in Charlottesville?
It will largely depend on Manny and Parker making three balls and isolating Efton and ACarr down low on the post. This not happening will push us further away from Joey’s Brackets. But it will happen. Watch.
Then next Tuesday we trade punches with Pitt. Won’t be easy. Worthwhile achievements never are. Could lose that one, too; might win. Count on the latter.
Which will make the following game next Saturday against Duke at the Joel important but not life-threatening. Wake’s almost as good as them but won’t win.
Look, this isn’t that important. It’s college basketball. On the other hand, if our team makes the tournament and survives till the Final Four you and me and everyone else in Wake Forest world will go to the Final Four in Phoenix and hang out at hotel lobbies chatting and ordering wings and Shirley Temples and saying “we finally made it to the Final Four.”
It will be as great as – probably better – than when we all rallied in Miami 16 years ago when the football team took us to the Orange Bowl.
It’s fine to fantasize. And hope. This is what we do. Why not? It’s healthy to succumb to urges; not all but many.
Will we make the tournament? I believe so. Because this team has enough talent, competitiveness, and multi-dimensional skill sets. Two big men who can score; two 3-point bombers; a McDonalds All-American in Sallas who can create his own shot; Hildreth who is as admirable in his effort as anyone can be, and athletic, quick, and crafty; and Boopie – he can drive to the hoop and make defenses break down.
Which builds to the crescendo, that being coach Steve Forbes, who specializes in recruiting Burger King All-Americans. This man is charismatic and likable and has proven he can recruit good players. I wonder if he can win big games in February and March. Hasn’t shown a flair for that yet, curiously.
This season he must. Or faith in him will plummet. Now is his time to prove he’s all that, that his clutchness matches his swagger and quips. No more fading when it counts.
I believe he and this very cool basketball squad will come through. They’ll make the field of 68. And advance to the Sweet 16, then the Final Four.
We’ll all get together and party hardy, let loose, get a little reckless. The journey will unfold like this:
Win over Wahoos
Win over Pitt
Loss to Duke
Win over Notre Dame
Win over Hokies
Loss to Clemson.
The key will be the elevated play of Parker “Parking Lot” Friedrichsen. Gosh, his shot is gorgeous. He’ll find ways to get it off, and that’s all he needs. Caitlin Clark’s accuracy; similar physique, too. Both are wholesome Midwestern countenances.
Parking Lot will be key in getting us to Phoenix for the Final Four.
Text Sammy Sportface when you get there. Tip-off is on April 6th. The Deacs, you, me, DJ, all of us. Sportface will be pumping up the party planning.
See you there.
In the parking lot.
In a swish.
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Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
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