It Finally Happened.

It happened. Its not a dream. Bradley made it to the Sweet 16. They are in Oakland now, probably doing a morning practice now as I write this. Its hard to imagine what those players must feel. The first team to make it this far in 50 years, 50 years! My parents were about 3 when Bradley was in the Sweet 16 last.

I remember back to when I was a freshman, watching basketball with Sam. We missed maybe one game that entire season. It was a tough year for Bradley. One of the last years with Mollinari. I don’t remember what the record was, but it wasn’t good. But going to those games. That was something I had longed for all of high school.

I grew up in a house that backs the University of Illinois. Mom, sister, uncles, close friends. The number of U of I alums was pretty high in my family. So Saturday’s in the winter, you could rest assured that if U of I was on TV, it would be on in our house. I was so jealous of those college students standing on the sidelines, going crazy, watching their team, their team! do the impossible. Win games, bring glory to the university.

Going to Bradley was no different. Being at home for spring break my freshman year, watching hours upon hours of basketball, thinking about what it would be like to be at those games cheering for Bradley, I thought they were just dreams. I never wanted us to go to the NCAA tournament and just lose in the first round either. I thought that would be almost boring. I wanted us to surprise people, show them what Bradley Basketball really meant.

The team this year did just that.

We are a basketball school, and that tradition was starting to fade. I like to think that it was my generation that brought that tradition back to Peoria. Maybe we didn’t have a ton to do with it (we probably had nothing to do with it), but maybe, just maybe, one of us went to a game were we were down by 2 with 30 seconds left, and we screamed extra hard and Sommerville hit that three at the buzzer to win, and maybe it was because he felt that rush of energy. Or maybe its freshman year when Sam and I took white boards to game to have an ever changing sign (that got taken away at the ISU game that year… Oh well). Or maybe it was because I sat on the same spot on my couch last weekend and watched both games wearing my same Tulane sweatshirt. Whatever it was, every student can feel like they played a role in returning Bradley to its former glory.

This is the team that brought fame to the hilltop. Just this morning I pulled up ESPN.com and saw a big thing right on the front. A big picture of Patrick O’Bryant and a headline that read “Tauai holds the team together.” Bradley Basketball is back, and its back in a big way.

Regardless of whether the team wins or loses tonight, they have surprised a nation. Articles in national publications are being written about Bradley. The talk of Peoria is not what decision Caterpillar just made, but what decision Coach Les just made. I’m not saying there’s nothing more important going on in the world, but let me tell you, in our little slice of central Illinois, it sure seems like there isn’t.

Now its time for us to go out, one last time, and go crazy for our team, our team!

And maybe, just maybe, you yelling extra loud at that TV screen will help push our boys to victory.