Averting My Eyes

I love the America East conference. I can get behind even Vermont's truest foes if it is for the benefit of the conference. I always watch the America East championship, no matter what teams are playing. But there is something about this upcoming Saturday's championship between BU and Ver... I mean, Stony Brook, that I just can't bear to watch.

Stony Brook making the tournament would be a good story: they can overcome all of the injuries and the disappointment of last year to make the tournament as the underdog this year. Hell, BU making the tournament would be a good story for America East -- the team picked to win the conference finally proves people right, finally (yes, that is a potshot). Even this homer can admit that Vermont winning the tournament every year (and that only seems to be the perception, it's certainly not the reality), a la Gonzaga, is not in the best interest of America East. Parity is a good thing, so we are told.

But I took Saturday, March 12th off from work over a month ago in anticipation of seeing UVM play in a rocking Patrick Gym while I get drunk off of life (and alcohol) at 11 am CT. I planned on wearing my foam UVM Catamount paw on one hand, wearing a Magic Hat bottle in the other (there is no Long Trail or Rock Art in Texas), and screaming at the top of my lungs at an unapologetic television. I planned on being perfectly comfortable with tears streaming down my cheeks when Vermont's starters check out of the game with under a minute to go, whether they were headed to the NIT or the Big Dance. I planned on staying up all night Saturday comparing Vermont's resume with other 13-16 seeds, pointlessly convincing myself that Vermont might land a 13 or 14 seed. I planned on being okay with Vermont getting blown out the following Thursday or Friday by the Kansas Jayhawks, or the San Diego State Aztecs, or the Purdue Boilermakers.

I did not plan on watching Stony Brook play Boston University. And I still don't.