Skip to main content

The Road to the Final Four . . .



It's our own March Madness right here in Saugatuck - but it's happening in November. Should we call it November Delight??

I cannot help, throughout this past month, thinking of the movie "Hoosiers". The basketball team depicted in the movie was an underdog from a small town who got to play in the state championship in the big house. On the way to many of their games, the team bus was followed by a plethora of fan cars driving through the rural areas and small towns of Indiana. As the victories mounted, the number of cars increased. This was a team that was loved by its town.

All of you Saugatuckians - does that ring true or what??? We have driven through many a small town and rural farm land on our way to playoff games against St. Joseph, North Adams and Climax Scotts - and even in the regular season to teams like Bloomingdale and Lawton. At each playoff game, the number of cars driving these rural routes has increased and our stands, the visitor stands, have always been full. Often outnumbering the 'home' team.

I don't know if they keep stats of attendance at these playoff games, but yesterday's game Saugatuck easily outnumbered Fulton by double. There were men and women in Saugatuck letter jackets from many years past - how cool was that! And people came to see the Indians from distances across the state!

After each victory, there has been a moment or two of stunned disbelief. As though we're thinking, "Did we really just win conference/district/region?" The euphoria on the faces of the fans, however, does not come close to the euphoria of the players!!!! At games' end, they're elation is unparalleled! And there have been tears of joy - mostly from the parents, but also the players; each victory is a little more surreal and a little sweeter.

We played St. Joseph Catholic at Waterviliet - since the St. Joseph field was under construction or something. We drove the back roads to get to the stadium that was full of Saugatuck fans. The band, in full uniform, arrived and played our way to victory. We weren't projected to win. But we did!

Climax Scotts was an hour and half away and we drove through some back roads to a stadium with small visitor stands full to the brim with Saugatuck fans. More than before at Waterviliet.

On the way to North Adams, which was truly in the middle of nowhere it seemed, there were signs of support for their team. They dotted the road leading to the stadium (I use that term loosely here) and apparently the team bus was greeted by taunts and jeers as they drove through downtown (again a term used loosely here). The Saugatuck fans kept coming and we doubled- maybe even tripled - the number of home team fans. We love our Indians.

Yesterday's state semi-final was beyond imagination. The cars, the fans, the spirit for this team that is truly a Cinderella story. They have won not only more games but fans along the way!

After each victory, the team bus has been greeted by the town's firetrucks and police cars and lead through both Douglas and Saugatuck on a late-night parade. Many cars followed along, honking horns and cheering for our Indians. And Friday night prior to the big semi-final, the town held a parade. In this town that loves parades, it was the biggest yet and included floats and decorated vehicles. And the band that has come to each of the games.

This road to the final four may be reminiscent of "Hoosiers", but it feels a whole lot bigger. Could be because I am intimately involved in this tale - with #53 Matthew Piggins on the field playing his heart out!

And now the Final Four is down to two - these record-blowing, dream-creating Indians against Mt. Pleasant Catholic Central. I know the pundits will write that we are outmatched - they've done it before in fact for each of previous playoff games - since Mt. Pleasant is undefeated. But I think these young men will once again play a good game with their hearts of gold and unmatched tenacity.

The story is still be written. And I am proud to be part of it - and even more proud of my not-so-little Indian, Matthew.

Comments

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

When being negative is positive and other wonky 'things' in the time of Covid

The world is upside down and back ass-ward. Know what I mean? I was chatting with a cousin the other day and her potential exposure to the corona virus. I wrote, "I'll say prayers for negative results for all. Don't like negativity but these days negative is a positive." Back ass-ward. Remember when we first went in to shut-down mode in mid-March? We were told that it was to flatten the curve of hospital admissions so that our ICU's didn't run out of capacity and to ease the virus' spread. It felt then like we were in this together, all of us were going to help beat this virus and stay home. (Aside from the run on toilet paper!) We were committed, or so it seemed, and our closets were going to be cleaned, our junk drawers were going to be a thing of the past, our garages/basements/and other yucky places were going to gleam. We were going to read "War and Peace" or "Hamilton" or other weighty tomes that we'd always wanted to read. We...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is that a wagon in the distance?

I fell off the wagon. Well, that might sound a little accidental. When in reality it was more like, "I'm getting bored with this wagon ride, so I think I'll just get off here." And then I kicked the crap out of that wagon until it was but a distant dot down the road. In this case the wagon was my commitment to that silly Wii Fit. I got tired of hearing that stupid trainer say things like "you seem a little wobbly today" (to which I would say something classy like "No shit Sherlock!") or for the scale to move ever so slightly - and ever-so-slightly wasn't  enough to keep me motivated. I needed more!!! So, I jumped off the wagon. Makes a lot of sense, right? WRONG!  But justification is a powerful thing and something I've nearly perfected these many years losing, then gaining, then losing, then gaining . . . the same 40 pounds. Heck, you could say that by now I have a PhD in Justification.  And here's the thing, that wagon is st...
Post a Comment
Read more
My aunt recently commented about my blog that I do a  "great job of sharing things very personal without them being morbid, too dramatic, TOO personal". I am about to let her down . . . It's been a tough week.  We learned that a man we knew from treatment at UofM, with a similar cancer, passed away on Tuesday. We knew that just after the treatment at UofM concluded, that his cancer had meta-sized to his lungs and other treatments (including one at John's Hopkins) did not help. John Cleasby was only 57. In my mind, I can see his face in the chemo infusion room at UofM - coping as all the patients were. He was a quiet and gentle man - who happened to be married to a former co-worker of mine. While sitting next to each other in the infusion area, it seemed a blessing that I found a long-lost friend in the chaos that was the UofM Cancer Center and hospital. Bonnie Cleasby and I shared so much and had such similar outlooks. "We are going to beat this thing", ...
1 comment
Read more