On the Hot Corner
Brian Churney
Twenty guys crammed in a small section lounge on the edge of our seats.
Our eyes were glued on the television; our brows were full of sweat, our mouths were silent. What had begun as the four of us watching head basketball coach Matt Doherty's debut, not expecting to win, but just hoping to look respectable, slowly evolved into the scene that took place. The intensity was something that we haven't felt in a long time, something that comeback wins over Navy and Oklahoma couldn't provide.
The ball was inbounded and jogged up the floor. Was 12 seconds too long to hold your own breath? We were about to see, because no one wanted to breathe. The seconds ticked down. It appeared as if the team was confused, in disarray, unaware of the clock. As five seconds approached, no shot was in sight.
"Shoot it!" yelled a fan in the corner, breaking the silence. "Don't run out of time," screamed through my head. "I've seen that enough this year!"
The ball went to David Graves. He dribbled to his left, lost it and got a shot off. A collective gasp came as the section lounge crowd rose to their feet, fingers clenched, mouths wide open.
Pandemonium!
The lounge turned into a pile of guys jumping on the couches, hugging, pounding the ground. There was yelling and screaming, but the most dominating noise of all wasn't a noise at all. It was a quiet understanding among us all.
We're back! With one shot Graves erased from our collective memories the pain and agony we've had to endure at the hands of five other football teams this year. That one shot finally gave us something to cheer about, finally gave us what we've been craving for three months.
That one shot finally announced to the world that we're back.
Coach Matt Doherty preached it since the day he arrived on campus. He's visited virtually every dorm, often foregoing dinner and time with his family, to plead us to come. If we come out and support our team, making the JACC the difficult place to play that it used to be, he'd put a product on the floor that would make us proud. If we got a little crazy, he'd provide results.
Little did we know that his promise would come true in reverse order. Graves's shot turned Doherty's statement upside-down. He's put the product on the floor already, now we have to respond and get a little crazy.
The game tonight against Siena in the JACC is the perfect opportunity to show the college basketball world what the new Irish basketball program will be like. It's the perfect opportunity to announce to the Big East that they have a new member this year. The "Old Notre Dame" left with coach John McLeod and the "New Notre Dame" arrived with coach Doherty.
In case you didn't notice, this team is good; this team works hard; this team is exciting. Did anyone else see Troy Murphy leap through the air, catch the alley-oop from Jimmy Dillon and shake down the thunder Murphy style? Did anyone else see Graves and Martin Inglesby stand outside of the three-point arc and knock down threes causing many of us upperclassmen to ask, Keith Friel who? Did anyone else see Harold Swanagan taking charges, battling for rebounds, and shooting fearlessly over one of the best shot-blockers in the nation?
Sure we had some mistakes. We can't continue to turn the ball over 25 times and hope to win. We can't get out-rebounded as bad as we did and hope to win.
We can't expect to win every game. It's way to soon to call this season a success because of one huge upset. The beauty of the "new" Irish is that they won't. They expect more from this season than just a few upset victories.
But as fans, we owe it to them to show our appreciation for their performance last Tuesday. Join the bandwagon. No one cares if you're there solely because we are good this year. We only care if you're there, period.
Let yourself go crazy. If not for the sheer enjoyment of having a good team to root for, use it as some sort of therapy for a football season-gone-terribly-wrong.
Discard your excuses! No more having too much work. No more wanting to go out later. No more, "I'm not going because the basketball team isn't any good!"
The Notre Dame men's basketball team's victory over Ohio State Tuesday night just took away any convenient excuses you had for not attending tomorrow's game.
Be there. You won't want to miss it.
The views expressed in this are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, November 18, 1999
