'Twas the Night Before Christmas - a Bracketologist’s Tale (2024 Edition)
...a new edition of an old tradition.
Congregation, please…be seated.
…the holidays are here and its always good to call a TO.
In lieu of the usual Higher Post newsletter this week, I’m sending out my version of the classic ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas’ rewritten, of course, to be about our favorite sport. I originally wrote this in 2008, but have made many updates along the way.
Hope you enjoy and happy holidays to all!
’Twas the Night Before Christmas, a Bracketologist’s Tale (2024 Edition)
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the ‘Dome’, Not a student was present since they all had gone home, The Banners all hung from the rafters with care, To remind us of stars who used to play there, The coaches were gone, recruiting they say, To find the next future stars of the day, It’s so peaceful outside, such a beautiful sight, But to visit history inside makes a perfect night, I snuck past the guard and in the back door, I just want to feel what is like on that floor, But suddenly, I felt a chill to the bone, As quickly I realized that I wasn’t alone, With thumps getting louder, I thought, ‘Who is this creature?’ Fearing my life, I hid under the bleacher, But, an image did finally come into my view, Of a little white man, all dressed in blue, I said to myself, I can’t believe what I see, But, the man I fear most, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, He dribbled the rock out to half court, Spun and shot for a three that was five feet too short. With a humble chuckle, he yelled out with cheer, ‘Come on in guys, it's all clear in here,’ Just like that, the room had a-rumbled, As through the team doors, many old players stumbled, There was Manning, and Walton, and Pat Ewing too, Pistol Pete ran in, just to rep’ LSU, Coach K took one bench, and Dean Smith took the other, Jeff Capel was there, but no sign of his brother, Two squads formed quickly and the tip-off began, There was no dribble-drive, old school was the plan, It was my ‘Field Of Dreams’, for which they all came, I didn’t need a program, because I knew them by name, There was, Magic to Jordan, who proved he still flies, That night, Tim Duncan was just one of the guys, There was Hurley to Laettner, like we’re all seen before, Bryce Drew hit his three but no one cared anymore, They slammed-jam-bammed, dipsey-do-dunk-a-rooed, This was an event that which no fan could boo, The best of March past all came down for the fight, Gene Keady even threw a chair at Bob Knight, Then, Coach K said to me, “You have nothing to fear, It is your love for the game that brought us all here. There won’t be a day where you again see this attraction, so, join us out here and be near the action.” I climbed out of my hole, took a seat near Coach Dean, Saying, “No offense Coach, but Argyle’s my scene.” Boeheim preached zone, while Shaka raised ‘Havoc’, Somehow, Tyus Edney still cut through that traffic, Wooden was there, still anxious to teach, Looie C. was remembered with a halftime speech. Red Panda stacked bowls with no use of her hands, After, Kelsey Plum threw some shirts in the stands, When the second half started, LeBron joined the fun, He wasn’t invited, so he was Bronnie’s plus 1. Bill Self arrived late, riding in on his hog, After all, it’s a long way from the Phog. Kareem still dazzled, while his jersey not wrong, ‘Alcinder’ is what he used all along, He still had game and vision through that goggle, Hey, anyone seen Kevin Pittsnogle?? Jon Rothstein broke news, we heard again and again, Starting next year, both teams will join The Big Ten. Take a break, Jon, you’ve been working all day, It’s only December, said Jon, ‘and we sleep in May’. When the buzzer sounded, the players cleared the deck, Paige, Juju and Hannah walked in and yelled, “WE GOT NEXT!” Chris Webber called TO and the refs, they did shrug, While Jimmy V. still looked for someone to hug. I checked the scoreboard, but no tallies were present, There were no winners or losers, that’s not what this meant, To spend the holidays with friends is what this is about, To share passion and fun is what we found out, The bus fired up and the guys packed to travel, I never would have guessed how this night would unravel, As they drove out of sight, all I heard was Dickie V, “Merry Christmas to all, its Awesome, Baby!!
Happy Holidays, everyone!
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If you do those three things, you’ll have a full day. Enjoy your time and see you again in the New Year.