2012 NCAA Tournament Championship (Personal) 2
The scene is set. It’s March of 2012 and the NCAA March Madness Championship is about to start. There’s game food on the counter; wings, fries, and pizza galore. Two diehard Wildcats and two diehard Jayhawks are about to attempt to watch the game together. My dad and brother are decked out in UK gear and my mom and I in KU gear. We have set our ground rules and soon they will all be broken; no insulting each other or each other’s teams, no personal attacks towards favorite players, and no taunting.
By tipoff time rules two, three, and four have been broken. Nonetheless the mood of the house is eager and excited. And so, the first half begins. The score remains close the first few minutes, 2–0, 2–1, 2–3, 5–3, 5–5, 5–7, 7–7, and so on. Then all of a sudden UK goes on a hot streak and the score is 17–25 Wildcats at the midway point in the first half. My mom and I are cursing the Wildcats and our defense while my dad and brother cheer. As the game continues KU can not get anything to fall and continues to give up points on the other end of the floor. By half-time the score is 27–41 and the game we’re watching isn’t living up to the battle that the first six minutes depicted. We don’t admit it but by this point my mom and I are worried about the fate of our Jayhawks. The boys are unbearable at this point and everyone is yelling at each other, the tv, the players (who can definitely hear us)and of course the officials who are only human. The mood of the house is now one of intense competition with a dash of anger mixed in. So my mom and I decide to be the bigger people and go watch the game in the other room on the smaller tv.
As the second half begins the Wildcats maintain their lead and continue to dominate the boards. KU has missed so many free throws I can’t even count them. At one point in the second half the Jayhawks force the Wildcat lead under 10 but then the wildcats aren’t going to let go of their lead easy. With 1:11 left on the clock and a deficit of 5 the Jayhawks begin to foul. My mom and I are nervous and hopeful with a possible comeback in sight but the Wildcats squander our hopes. They annoyingly make their free throws and maintain the lead. The game ends with a sad score of 59–67 Wildcats. Of course the boys come running to the back bedroom where we were watching separately and begin to boast. My mom and I are seeping with anger and disappointment and my little brother is asking to get socked. But at the end of the day, family is more important than the game so we all apologize for breaking the ground rules, decide to love eachother again, and all agree on never watching a KU vs. UK game together again.
