In the fall of 1982, the University of Virginia had the number one college basketball team in the country, led by undoubtedly the best player in the country, a talented 7-foot-4-inch center named Ralph Sampson.
In December of that year, the Virginia Cavaliers traveled to Hawaii for a holiday tournament hosted by tiny Chaminade College, with a student population smaller than the trombone section of Virginia’s marching band. The Cav’s no doubt expected to spend some time on the beach, grab a nice suntan, beat the Chaminade team by, oh, 25 or 30 points and go home well rested. It didn’t happen that way. Chaminade won, 77 to 72, in what is considered just about the biggest upset in college basketball history.
Well, a couple of nights ago, my alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa, defeated the number one team in the country, Kansas, and arguably the number one player, Sherron Collins, 69-67 in the NCAA tournament. Kansas made the opening basket, led 2-0 and never led again. Many people, including the president of the United States (and yours truly, I’m sorry to say) picked Kansas to win the whole tournament and the national championship. For Kansas to be knocked out in the second round by a virtual unknown shocked the sports world. But isn't this what we fans love about sports, that anybody could beat anybody on any given day?
Now, I’m not saying that UNI over Kansas ranks up there with Chaminade’s defeat of Virginia in 1982. But it’s in the same category of stunning upsets and it’s a pretty darn big deal, especially for those of us UNI alums who aren’t used to seeing our school make headlines for anything except students volunteering to fill sandbags when the Cedar River floods, which seems to happen pretty much every spring.
It was maybe the most exciting basketball game I’ve ever seen and one that UNI grads like me will still be talking about when we’re old and gray (which, most days, is the way I feel already).
Sorry if you came to this blog expecting to see something about prostate cancer, but I just couldn’t pass up the chance to brag on my team a bit.
Go Panthers!
