The Other Final Four

Despite sub-freezing temperatures, I’ve chosen to sit out on the front porch of the estate to witness the dawn of a new day. Heavy, wet snowflakes are coming down in sheets, creating a beautiful, spellbinding morning in Chicago. Peaceful, soothing; the right way to rejuvenate the spirit and body after a difficult few days of Sports.

Gazing behind me, through the open porch door, the haunting aqua-blue glow of that huge, old JVC Stereo Receiver lights up the darkness. The tail-end of an all-night gospel show is booming out and is a sweet reprieve from the usual Rock & Roll which fills this space…

“How many thankful souls do we have this morning?”

Well, good Lord…me, for one, especially after surviving the weekend just completed.

It was a hellava final four and the powers that be with the NCAA should be happy. At least with the semifinals which turned out to be much more entertaining than the championship game. Fast and furious action moving back and forth, and not fifty feet away from our VIP seating courtesy of a national college sports publication. When you‘re that close, you smell the sweat and taste the blood that accompanies most collisions. There were frenzied crowds and spilled drinks and abundant souvenirs, and for a couple of exciting days, downtown Detroit came alive again.

But wait a minute…we were in Denver, right? At the NCAA Basketball Final Four, right? Or were we?

No, not exactly, and hold on, because here’s a shocker: there’s more than one NCAA Final Four; one which offers just as much craziness and competitiveness, but with a lot less hype and commercialism than the one just played in Denver.

* * * * *

Due to fog, our plane departed about an hour late, causing us to arrive at our hotel in Detroit with just enough time to drop off our bags and pick up the game tickets which the NCAA had left us. Sitting in our suite with only 45 minutes until the opening face-off, we each quickly downed three beers, and made the walk across the street to Joe Louis Arena where the NCAA Hockey Final Four was to be played, arriving at our seats six rows behind the home team’s penalty box. The first game – Colgate vs. Boston University – featured real fans, not the show-biz types that were in Denver for The Event as well as the sport. To sit through what would be six-plus hours of hockey, one has to be a junkie, which, of course, I am. The first game was enjoyable enough, with Colgate winning as expected, but was no comparison for what were about to experience with Game Two.

Boston College vs. Wisconsin brought out some of NCAA hockey’s most notorious fans. With the close proximity to their homeland, some 7,000 Wisconsin faithful showed up, each with Wisconsin red draping across their beer-bloated bodies. These people are pure professionals in the art of cheering, harassing or anything it takes to help the team bring home the trophy. Close contest as it was, there’s no doubt in my mind that these fans were instrumental in Wisconsin’s proceeding to The Big Game.

On Saturday, we pondered the results of the semis and Sunday’s championship match over a number of Cuervo margaritas before agreeing that Colgate should rule the day. And indeed, the finale brought high anticipation, but not the kind experienced when two evenly matched heavyweights are going at it. Despite Colgate being heavily favored, there was much muttering regarding the possibility of an upset. The press, too, was split on what the outcome might be.

Sadly, the game didn’t live up to that of a winner-take-all atmosphere. In fact, at one point, my companion remarked that “it just doesn’t feel like a championship game.” Which seemed to sum up the situation exactly. Neither team really appeared to care during Wisconsin’s surprisingly one-sided 7-3 victory.

* * * * *

After the game, we had a few hours to kill before catching our plane back to Chicago, so we fell into the only bar open in the concrete jungle they call The Renaissance Center. There, we mucked it up with the celebrating Wisconsin fans, most of whom were convinced that their team had just played the game of their lives. Well, the fact is, if the Wisconsin team that stomped on Colgate had shown up in the semifinal against Boston College, Wisconsin wouldn’t have made it to the final game. Gone on Sunday were the ferocious forechecking and the relentless, unbending defense that it took to defeat a stubborn BC team. Sunday’s game was sloppy, chippy and certainly not an appropriate follow-up to the many memorable championship games of recent years.

For every Wisconsin slash, there was a Colgate hack. After Wisconsin exploded out of the gate with four first period goals, it didn’t matter what kind of game they played. Colgate was done. At times, Wisconsin was so dominant that they appeared bored with it all. Colgate, too, looked lazy. That’s when talk of a fix began among the fans surrounding us. I must admit, after this talk began circulating, I started counting the number of times Colgate players had clean shots on net, only to pass or simply fan on the puck. I quit counting those seemingly intentional miscues when I reached eight; about halfway through the third period. By this time, the question in my own suspicious mind was not if the game was being thrown, but who was behind it.

But hold on here…we’re getting off track…and certainly a little harsh. There would never be cheating in NCAA athletics, would there? Then I thought about the UNLV team which would play for the basketball championship the next night in Denver. If they could compete while under investigation for alleged improprieties, then anything was possible.

After giving this some deep thought over an hour’s worth of Molson drafts and tequila shots, I mentioned the possibility to my companion, who jumped back in a panic at the mere mention of such a thing.

“What’ya, crazy? Keep it down! You can’t say things like that, especially in here. We’re surrounded!”

He was right. But ignoring his wise counsel, I expressed my thoughts to some of the Wisconsin fans around our table who didn’t appreciate my suggestion. Initially, they were good-natured, but then began harassing us until I could take no more. I stood up in my chair, challenging them at the top of my lungs.

“Listen, you damn cheeseheads! We’re with the press and have it on good authority that Colgate was paid to throw this game! You didn’t win a thing!”

Fortunately, the few who charged the table were restrained by the ones who were so drunk that they didn’t care what was said about their precious boys. Nonetheless, it was an ugly spectacle, and on that caused my companion to choke and spit up a mouthful of tequila. It wasn’t one of my prouder moments, but certainly looking back, crazy fun. Though, at the time, it was deadly serious and, in retrospect, we were lucky to get out of there alive.

* * * * *

Waiting for our delayed flight last night, I spotted an interesting T-shirt – “Michigan State – 1990 NCAA Champions.” Well so much for wishful thinking. MSU must have thought they had this thing wrapped up and well they should have, playing on their home turf as favorites. Joe Louis Arena had planned the entire weekend around a hometown crowning that didn’t happen, right down to the green bunting. Too bad they were ambushed by Colgate in the semis; a Wisconsin-Michigan State final had grand potential. But in the end, that was only a shattered dream. Because after the upsets and even the accusations, the facts tell us that the University of Wisconsin won its fifth hockey championship in school history, believe it or not.