Glass to the past, eye on the future

Hold hands, deep breaths – let’s get hysterical.

That’s right, Hoosier fans, as though you needed me to tell you it was coming: It’s Hoosier Hysteria time again.

Time to blast off on another year of ruckus and roundball down on 17th Street.

It always feels like New Year’s Eve in this part of the country when this time comes upon us, a time to take stock of another year gone in Hoosier basketball lore with a
new one just through the tunnel.

Why, it was only a year ago that the economics of this wonderful hysteria were at record highs for the first time since 2002. Coming off a 20-plus win season with depth, skill and this kid named Gordon, the program was soaring in just its second year under then-coach Kelvin Sampson.

It wouldn’t last, of course.

Those false indicators gave way to speculation and worry just two days later, when Rick Greenspan announced Sampson had again violated NCAA regulations, as well as the sanctions placed upon him from his previous stop at Oklahoma. Little did anyone realize at that moment the events of the previous Friday night had been the last, all-too-brief moment in which all was well.

But there was no stopping the train, as the IU basketball season, team and program plummeted gradually, then, suddenly, through the once-impassible floor faster than the Dow average.

To rehash the last 12 months would bore me more than it would bore you, so I won’t.
But reflecting on the year that was at Assembly Hall, I pose to you this simple question: It makes you think, doesn’t it? I mean, really, to go from hero to zero so quickly and so completely, it’s got to be hard to just wrap the mind around – like choosing between one or two Fuji apples at the grocery store or watching the Colts or “Crimson Tide” next Sunday afternoon.

Friday night, many of you will fill seats at Assembly Hall, presumably clad in Cream and/or Crimson, and scream your lungs out for a group of soon-to-be-not-so-faceless candy-striped hoopsters. With a duo of exceptions, they will not, as they say, be your brother’s Hoosiers.

I’ll give you a few tips – yes, Tijan Jobe is much taller in person. Yes, there are that many walk-ons. And no, Roshown McLeod is not allowed to suit up.

But make no mistake, there is no Eric Gordon. The dunk contest will be far more subdued. The hysteria won’t be quite so this year.

So bring ye goods in cans and donations for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. Clothe yourself in the colors of your fine University. Rest that voice in great anticipation.
But enter this season the way it seems few approached the last one – with eyes wide, wide open. You won’t miss the details, and you might see the beginning of something quite special.

You might not; I can’t see the future. But by all means, for one brief, golden moment, get hysterical.

See you Monday.