Rogers Brings Rain, Ends Drought Rogers Brings Rain, Ends Drought
by Cortney Basham
I traveled to Mobile last week to see WKU capture the Sun Belt Championship. And, I must admit, I was fearful of writing about it. I am not an overly superstitious person, but I was very encouraged by our sticky defense and our ability to blow past North Texas, stymie UALR, and hold MTSU at arm’s length without playing great offensive basketball. My optimism swelled when we got a 12-seed and drew Drake. Now, I believe Drake is as good or better as the other 5-seeds in this tourney (Michigan State, Notre Dame, Clemson), but I liked how our strength (perimeter defense) matched their strength (perimeter offense). Yet, I remained silent and somewhat fearful. Surely, some fateful Topper luck awaited this team. What would it be? Courtney Lee sprains an ankle stepping off the bus? Brazelton gets food poisoning at a Tampa seafood joint? I was just waiting for it. The 13-year drought without an NCAA tourney win had made my throat and many a Topper throat parched. Through the Kilcullen spiral into the abyss; through Felton’s rebuilding; through Chris Marcus’ and Todor Pandov’s injuries; through Patrick Sparks’ transfer; through the transition with Darrin Horn; through Courtney Lee’s broken hand in the 2006 Sun Belt title game; through this year’s missed opportunities against Gonzaga, Tennessee, and Southern Illinois; there have been lots of wins tempered with disappointing ends to a lot of good seasons that had baked our minds and charred our dusty bones to the point of not remembering what it felt like to drink at the well of victory. The Topper faithful were beginning to see mirages in the desert, scrambling with hope but always seeming to wind up drinking sand. But, today, we all can drink our fill of cool water and rest from the heat. In a microcosm of what it means to be a Topper fan, WKU built a commanding 16-point second half lead over 5-seed and favored Drake, only to watch the Bulldogs erase that lead with a barrage of 25-foot jumpers in the last eight minutes. Even a critical stop at the end of regulation to force overtime only seemed to prolong the inevitable Topper disappointment. What, in the first half, looked like a cool, watery oasis in the dry, fervent heat of this Desert of Letdown had turned out to be yet another mirage, as Drake took control of the game and took the lead in overtime. Topper luck had struck yet again, and we collectively fell face-down into the sand to bake in the eternal off-season until next year’s crawl to the next mirage to drink yet more sand. Oh, but something strange happened. Something wonderful. It was hard to recognize at first, but the familiar cool droplets on our face soon triggered old memories of when instead of looking ahead on the distant horizon for comfort and sustenance, we looked above us, right where we stood for our oasis. Indeed, the 30-foot rainmaker from the hand of Ty Rogers opened the floodgates and ended the drought, washing away the dust of 13 years of wandering in the wilderness. WKU plays on with a mighty good chance of finding out not only what the water tastes like, but how sweet (16) the fruit of this oasis can be. |
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