If you're a fellow Boilermaker you get it.
But those people we all know... those friends... who didn't go to Purdue. Who didn't go to a major University. Who don't know what it's like to bleed for their alma mater. They don't get it.
Why does it wreck my night when we lose a game we're supposed to lose? Why am I annoyed when a friend calls my house in the final minute to say, obnoxiously, "Hey, good season, man."
Shut the F up.
Seriously. I don't want to hear it. And don't be pissy when I am not in the mood for stupid-ass, smarmy comments. Because you just don't understand.
Do I think it's logical? Do I think it's reasonable? No, of course not. Not when I'm in my logical frame of mind. But when you live for a program... when you attended a place and then see that place emblazoned across the chest of some talented hoopsters, well, I don't know. I just don't know. I can't explain it. But if ever there was something that being a fan of truly makes sense and isn't just, as Jerry Seinfeld once put it, "cheering for laundry," it's being a fan of a school you attended.
I'm proud of the guys. I really am. They never quit and they never backed down or acted in awe of UConn. They lost by twelve but had it down to three a number of times, with the ball and chance... and couldn't catch a break, or a roll, or a bounce... and that happens. At Purdue, it seems to always happen.
So yes, you just don't understand, those of you who aren't "one of us." So back off. Don't make jokes. Don't minimize our sadness. Just leave it be.
Truth is, I'm not as bummed out as I might usually be. Because we'll be back.
This is just the beginning.