Tuesdays with Torbee
Well don’t I feel like a horse’s ass.
I spent the better part of the basketball offseason telling anyone who would listen how the upcoming Iowa season was finally going to be different. That this time the players were in place to finish strong and legitimately compete for a Big 10 title and potentially a Final 4.
This team was going to be tougher, stronger and focused in on big time goals like no other.
Heck, a little over a month ago in this very space, I wrote a starry-eyed piece about how fun it was being the fan of a true contender.
I apologize if I got anyone’s hopes up. Clearly, I’m a perpetrator of irrational exuberance.
Despite having the heavy frontrunner for National Player of the Year, the guy with the 4th most made three pointers in Big 10 history and more four-star talent on the hardcourt than has been seen in Iowa City in years, this year’s team is no different than any of the others that have broken our hearts over the decades.
I shouldn’t have been foolish enough to think that Fran McCaffery and company were talented enough to overcome the Iowa Basketball Curse.
You don’t even need to talk about the Curse in full sentences. Iowa fans know it by shorthand: Ronnie Lester’s knee. Andy “F-word” Kaufman. Chris Street’s death. Assembly Hall’s falling beam.
Now we add “Fran’s February Fade.” How droll.
What hubris inspired me to think that even the indomitable Luka Garza could overcome such supernatural shenanigans?
Watching imaginary three-point line defense, head-scratching substitutions and a head coach who didn’t trust his POTY candidate enough to play through two fouls as a first half lead inevitably dissolved while the big guy sat on the bench at first made me want to blame coaching. But I suspect that the Curse itself must be muddling McCaffery’s usually astute basketball brain.
I suppose it might not actually be supernatural. It does feel kind of like a glitchy, Matrix-style computer program. Hey, Iowa can’t defend! Say, a key player suffered a crucial injury right as the team neared first place! Look, disease/death/destruction forced an unexpected pause in the schedule just as Iowa had a little momentum! Check it out, some scrub just hit seven three pointers in an upset over a ranked Hawkeye team!
I mean, it’s not even creative or interesting anymore.
Some reading this will interpret it as me just piling on. Another disgruntled, fair weather fan just waiting to pounce on the annual “swoon” angle.
But it’s not. I like Fran McCaffery. I enjoy the style of basketball his teams play. I like all the individual players on this team and feel like they are trying as hard as they can.
The truth is, loving Iowa basketball is like having the world’s worst girlfriend. No matter how much love you give, all you will ever get in return is pain and heartbreak. Iowa basketball literally only takes and never gives. It’s a sickness.
And you know what’s even sicker?
There is no doubt I will keep coming back for more.
Follow me on Twitter @ToryBrecht and @12Saturdays