Nor did Georgia head coach Dennis Felton ever let the tantrum mentality set in. Indeed, life was unfair to the Georgia Bulldogs, because those tornadoes were the reason the team had to play two games between sunrises. But those tornadoes also were unfair to others in the Atlanta area, two of whom lost their lives in the storms. The weather is uncontrollable, whereas a single basketball game was within the power of this team. (Although, well, judging by that 13-16 record, they had difficulty with that as well.)
At one point in the first half, the 'Dawgs had a 30-11 lead. The miraculous run looked to be over as the Hogs cut that deficit to 56-53 with under 4 minutes remaining, but again, Georgia didn't whine and moan that the insurmountable lead they built had been practically overcome. They'd clearly been through enough to blow it at this juncture, and they hung on down the stretch to win the trophy.
Besides, the tournament wasn't completely unfair to them. They were in their home state and had a noticeable majority of the fans were wearing red and black.
So after a whirlwind of storms and emotions, Georgia was rewarded with a 14 seed in the NCAA championship tournament, joining the ranks of mid-tier conference champs Cal State Fullerton, Boise State, and Cornell. Their first opponent will be Atlantic 10 alpha delegate Xavier — no easy task. Again, a win is stacked against their odds, because like the Colorado Rockies bullrush through the National League, the team now must sleep for multiple days before playing a game again. If the game was tomorrow, I might say Georgia could ride the adrenaline and beat the Musketeers.
Of course, perhaps that's not being fair to them. But, given what we learned this weekend, it's not like it would affect them either way.
(Photo credits: Phil Coale/AP, Dave Martin/AP)
Article comments
1 - nicolas
well THAT was an awfully sudden reference to the rockies.