THIS is why they call it "March Madness!"

With an improbably 3-point shot Ali Farokhmanesh secured perhaps the greatest upset in recent NCAA basketball tournament history as Northern Iowa University defeated the number one seeded University of Kansas.  Just that fast, 98 percent of the brackets in America were shattered, including the one projected by President Obama. Maybe this is why they call it “March Madness” – because anything can happen.

I have found it intriguing to read the follow-up stories and see the sports broadcasts that have ensued from that upset.  Here are some thoughts that have come to me through the miasma of press these past couple of days:

This "should have been" the title team.

Several sports writers have said that KU was a team all but assured of another title… Really?  According to whom?  I am sure that the teams still in the tournament would beg to differ.  There has also been discussion of whether or not the Jayhawks were too cocky going in to this round.  After the game senior Sherron Collins is quoted as saying, “We were the better team. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”   Whereas an NIU forward said, “We came into the game looking at it like a basketball game. We were confident we could play our own game. There wasn’t really any special emphasis put on who we were playing.”

A title team is not a title team until they have actually earned the title.  My father, “The Colonel” often said to me, “Coulda, woulda, shoulda… potential doesn’t mean a thing in the end.  The only thing that matters is the score on the board when the clock ticks to zero.”  NIU played better basketball, all the way to the final buzzer.  It’s as simple as that.


How you deal with defeat is just as important as how you deal with success.

This team has been under an incredible microscope this week.  Some of the players handled the defeat with grace, lifting their heads and giving the NIU Panthers credit for playing well and dominating the game.  Others did not. 

Upon being named Sportsman of the Year for 2003 by the NABC, professional bridge player Larry Cohen said in his address, “Being a good [team player] is a big part of sportsmanship.  When top level players demonstrate [sportsmanship], the behavior becomes imitated by other players as well.  Sportsmanship is also how you handle defeat.”  He went on to close with humor, “Perhaps next year I can… give my opponents the opportunity to show how gracious and sportsmanlike they are in defeat!”

That is what the Jayhawks need to focus on right now.  How are they going to get back to the tournament next year?  How are they going give next year's opponents the opportunity to demonstrate sportsmanship in defeat?


If you think you’re cursed, you are.

Much has been made this week about the perceived Oklahoma City curse on the Jayhawks.  Several of the past crushing and unexpected defeats KU has suffered have happened in Oklahoma City.  Is it possible that there was that underlying thought running through Jayhawk brains as they played on Saturday?  Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”  Maybe it will take a solid victory in Oklahoma City for this foolishness about a city curse to go away.  The subconscious perception of such a curse could very well have played a factor in the way the KU team played.


It’s just a game. Keeping perspective is important.

The image of KU sophomore Marcus Morris curled up in tears on the court will become iconic, I am sure.  It was a crushing and surprising defeat, and yet, let’s grab some perspective here.  It is not a life threatening situation. No one suffered career ending injuries. No one will lose their home, a child or a limb because of the outcome of this game. For Morris it isn’t even the last year he’ll play at KU.  There will be other shots at a title for him.  It’s a game.  Let’s keep it in perspective.