a long, long time ago... i can still remember

on a flight from msp to bos. sad flight. was home for the weekend in a trip that should not have happened (long story, but basically ALL the signs were that i shouldn't go. hmm... maybe i shouldn't have...) and the outcome was not as we would've liked. it started out promisingly enough... thursday was an easy day at work, i hopped on a flight from bos to msp (a flight which got UNdelayed, btw, NOT COOL - could've missed it!). no upgrade, but it was fine. landed in snowy minneapolis and saw a very distinctive group of 20-something "men" in warm up suits. very clearly a baksetball team. i asked where they were from and, sure enough, they were from colorado. competition. i was in town to watch my brother, player, play in the ncaa division 2 regional tournament. seeing the enemy made it really exciting.

thursday night, i stayed at my cousins house (thanks, t!) and had dinner with her and her husband. we didnt stay up late and i headed to bed. the next day, i actually had to work, which was fine. i was home alone and just sat at my computer all day. parents picked me up and we drove to mankato - about 1.5 hrs outside of the twin cities. we were staying in a HORRIBLE hotel. actually, HORRIBLE might be exaggerating. it could've been worse. but it was not comfortable. as soon as other people (my other brother and sister in law and family friend hassie) were there and fineish with it, i loosened up a bit. but i still didn't like it.

anyway, none of that really matters. what matters is the game saturday night. i probably can't explain what happened in the game as well as actual sports writers, so i'll post those articles here. in case you haven't figured it out, we didn't win. i dont know why i'm saying "we." i didn't play. the team was not victorious. its sad. i actually felt worse about it on sunday than i did saturday night. i can't imagine what it must be like to be on the team and not win. or, even more so, to be a kid on the team who didn't play up to his potential. (not my brother, as you will see, my brother was a superstar and practically carried the team saturday night - but one man cannot do it alone.) do those kids feel badly? do other players blame them? what does the coach think? this is why i don't play sports. its hard for me to rely on other people. if i lose in a sport (which, to be honest, is another reason why i dont play sports - ha!), then i know its MY fault and i can't blame others. but, its very easy to blame others for saturday night. these are the things that i wonder about, but at the same time.... there are hundreds of games a DAY where people go home not victorious. i guess people get over it and move on. it is only a game, afterall. but its disappointing just the same. anyway, here is how it went down:

U-MARY HOOPS: Marauders lose in Central Region quarterfinal

By CHAD COURRIER Special to The Tribune | Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 11:44 pm

MANKATO, Minn. - When Eric Erdmann came to the University of Mary, the men's basketball team was new to Division II and struggling to get wins.

But four years later, the senior was the Marauders' top scorer in a national-tournament game.

"You saw Eric go to work tonight," Mary coach Randall Herbst said.

U-Mary's first trip to the NCAA Division II tournament ended Saturday with a 78-73 loss to fifth-seeded Metro State in the quarterfinals of the Central Region tournament. A season that featured a 16-game winning streak and a challenge for a Northern Sun championship ended with consecutive losses.

"It's tough to take," Herbst said. "I tip my hat to Metro. They have a nice basketball team. Our team fought and battled for 40 minutes, but we lost it on a couple possessions and made some turnovers. We had our opportunities, but we didn't finish."

The teams went hard at each other in the first half, with U-Mary (23-6) going up eight midway through the first half before Metro State rallied, hitting three straight 3-pointers to go ahead 35-30 at the five-minute mark.

Reggie Evans had 15 points in the first half to pace the Roadrunners, while Erdmann had 12 points and seven rebounds in the opening half, scoring nine of Mary's last 11 points.

"When I first got to Mary, the head coach put me right into the starting lineup as a freshman," Erdmann said. "That kind of surprised me. It's been a learning experience for all of us. We struggled my first three years, but I think we've really turned it around. Hopefully, that will continue."

Metro State shot 60.7 percent in the first half, while U-Mary was at 40.6 percent. The Marauders stayed close by making 9 of 11 free throws, while Metro State was 1 of 6 at the line.

The teams went back and forth for much of the second half, but Metro State started to pull away in the final four minutes. A.J. Flournoy had seven points in the final run, and Metro State held on with 9 of 10 free throws.

Erdmann finished with 26 points and nine rebounds, and Anthony Moody, the region's player of the year, scored 16, though he made only 7 of 23 shots.

"The whole year, there's been different defense against me," Moody said. "I had opportunities to finish, and I couldn't find the basket."

Evans led Metro State with 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Flournoy scored 14.

Metro State advances to the region semifinals against Minnesota State at 7:30 p.m. today.

"These guys are a special group," Herbst said. "When I took this job, the program wasn't as good, and people talked about us like we were an easy win. Once we got everybody together, everything started rolling."

METRO STATE (78): Glenn Miller 1-1 3-4 5, Jonathan Morse 6-11 0-4 12, Brandon Jefferson 3-7 0-0 9, A.J. Flournoy 4-10 5-6 9, Reggie Evans 10-19 4-4 25, Quaran Johnson 3-5 2-2 9, Shakir Johnson 2-4 0-0 4, Paul Brotherson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-57 14-20 78.

U-MARY (73): Eric Erdmann 9-16 5-5 26, Damon Smith 3-3 1-2 7, Anthony Moody 7-23 1-4 16, Jordan Wilhelm 0-4 2-2 2, Cameron Lee 0-3 2-2 2, Jalen Jaspers 4-4 1-2 10, Baley Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Dorr 4-7 2-2 10. Totals 27-60 14-19 73.

Halftime: MSC 39, U-M 38.

3-pointers: MSC 6 (Jefferson 3, Flournoy 1, Evans 1, Q. Johnson 1), U-M 5 (Erdmann 3, Moody 1, Jaspers 1). Rebounds: MSC 36 (Evans 12), U-M 31 (Erdmann 9). Fouls: MSC 17, U-M 16. Fouled out: None. Assists: MSC 16 (Flournoy 9), U-M 12 (Moody 6). Turnovers: MSC 8, U-M 8. Steals: MSC 6 (Jefferson 2, Flournoy 2), U-M 5 (Erdmann 3). Blocked shots: MSC 4 (S. Johnson 3), U-M 1 (Smith 1).

[editors note: here is the credit and link to the article. ironically, i saw the team we lost to at the airport this morning. they looked REALLY sad. at first i thought it was fatigue, but i realize now it was disappointment.]

this is another article i was going to paste in, but now realize it basically says the same thing. check it out if you want.

[yesterday in the car, i heard american pie by don mclean and i thought "all of these lyrics would make awesome rambling titles!" so, expect more in the next few days/weeks...]