Ever since my father slammed the basement door in a fury, storming out of the living room during 'Cuse is in the house!, I have come to HATE losing by three points, or not hitting three pointers, or missing three point field goals, or only scoring THREE points!
Really? LJ who? So much for being potty trained. Perhaps Priest needs to spend a little more time with our friend and teach him how to actually use those 100 yards to get into the end zone. Or is the vaunted Bills defense too much to handle?
(okay - post Texans note - he redeemed himself. I guess a team rushing record is okay. But it was only after I yelled at him.)
If I ever had to see Nick Lowery send it wide right in Miami, or see Jerod Haase clank another shot I think I would have gone insane. It is only Kirk Hinrich who saved me in the end. It is sad that I should know how well Cuttino Mobley shoots and how poorly Aaron Miles does. And no, he is not better than Jacque Vaughn. Vaughn is Magic-esque, Aaron is muggle through and through.
And thank God for graduation. (after damning him some praise is owed). Without it, I would still be watching Johnny Beck's unheralded pathetic career. Who gave this kid a scholarship? How many extra points do you have to miss before someone says, "eh, uh, he can't kick."
And then there's the Granddaddy of them all. 1997. March. Sweet Sixteen. 34-1. Vance Lassey, who became fast friends with Raef LaFrentz after pushing him into a vending machine (after the Virginia loss in 1995 - oh, yes - involving threes - Harold Deane and KU season lows in three-pointers made) happened to be hanging out in Memphis for the regionals, as one does. He came across some rather tall, Arizona clad basketball players. Vance, as he does, was wearing his KU t-shirt and Bennett Davison took it upon himself to inform Vance that Arizona was going to beat KU. Did Vance tell Raef? No. Did he remember the history of the THREE??? No. Vance would later have his revenge in 2003, fittingly. He borrowed the used ticket of a girl leaving the West Regional so he could go watch KU play Duke. She was the girlfriend of an Arizona Wildcat. He sat next to Salim Stoudamire. No joke. Stoudamire was injured and Vance conjectured perhaps they would not beat Kansas. Of course, KU did win, but then lost on a THREE to Syracuse in the National Championship. But even THAT is too much. (And I won't mention Roy Williams winning a National Championship on his THIRD trip to the final game.)
So poor little Raef, who no one really ever feared, went into the game unarmed with the knowledge that he was about to lose, by three, to a team that would go on to be the only team to beat three number one seeds in the tournament (Kansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky.)
Mr. Bibby, the son of former UCLA star Henry Bibby, who won three college championships himself as a player, showed no mercy and the 'Hawks were soon down. With THREE-and-a-half minutes left KU trailed 75-62, but they started to score. Threes. Billy Thomas, say what?, scored and Paul Pierce of NBA stardome scored. Pierce started it all with a dunk after a Bibby, what else, three pointer. That dunk gave him 27 points, which can be divide by three, the last points he would have in the game. He also scored in double figures for the 30th consecutive game and led KU in scoring for all six of his postseason games. Divide by three!
KU had one final posession. Down by three. No less than three players took a shot at the basket. It would have been four players if Vaughn had taken the WIDE open three he had instead of passing it off. We all know what happened. They lost. By three.
So Larry, try a little harder, would you? And Trent, not so many interceptions. Three was quite enough.
If I ever had to see Nick Lowery send it wide right in Miami, or see Jerod Haase clank another shot I think I would have gone insane. It is only Kirk Hinrich who saved me in the end. It is sad that I should know how well Cuttino Mobley shoots and how poorly Aaron Miles does. And no, he is not better than Jacque Vaughn. Vaughn is Magic-esque, Aaron is muggle through and through.
And thank God for graduation. (after damning him some praise is owed). Without it, I would still be watching Johnny Beck's unheralded pathetic career. Who gave this kid a scholarship? How many extra points do you have to miss before someone says, "eh, uh, he can't kick."
And then there's the Granddaddy of them all. 1997. March. Sweet Sixteen. 34-1. Vance Lassey, who became fast friends with Raef LaFrentz after pushing him into a vending machine (after the Virginia loss in 1995 - oh, yes - involving threes - Harold Deane and KU season lows in three-pointers made) happened to be hanging out in Memphis for the regionals, as one does. He came across some rather tall, Arizona clad basketball players. Vance, as he does, was wearing his KU t-shirt and Bennett Davison took it upon himself to inform Vance that Arizona was going to beat KU. Did Vance tell Raef? No. Did he remember the history of the THREE??? No. Vance would later have his revenge in 2003, fittingly. He borrowed the used ticket of a girl leaving the West Regional so he could go watch KU play Duke. She was the girlfriend of an Arizona Wildcat. He sat next to Salim Stoudamire. No joke. Stoudamire was injured and Vance conjectured perhaps they would not beat Kansas. Of course, KU did win, but then lost on a THREE to Syracuse in the National Championship. But even THAT is too much. (And I won't mention Roy Williams winning a National Championship on his THIRD trip to the final game.)
So poor little Raef, who no one really ever feared, went into the game unarmed with the knowledge that he was about to lose, by three, to a team that would go on to be the only team to beat three number one seeds in the tournament (Kansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky.)
Mr. Bibby, the son of former UCLA star Henry Bibby, who won three college championships himself as a player, showed no mercy and the 'Hawks were soon down. With THREE-and-a-half minutes left KU trailed 75-62, but they started to score. Threes. Billy Thomas, say what?, scored and Paul Pierce of NBA stardome scored. Pierce started it all with a dunk after a Bibby, what else, three pointer. That dunk gave him 27 points, which can be divide by three, the last points he would have in the game. He also scored in double figures for the 30th consecutive game and led KU in scoring for all six of his postseason games. Divide by three!
KU had one final posession. Down by three. No less than three players took a shot at the basket. It would have been four players if Vaughn had taken the WIDE open three he had instead of passing it off. We all know what happened. They lost. By three.
So Larry, try a little harder, would you? And Trent, not so many interceptions. Three was quite enough.
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