Season in the Sun

April 5 , 2005

What a ride!

What a joy!

What a privilege!

What a blessing it has been for me to be a fan--of these young men, of this coach, of this team, and of all of you, who, like me, whistled, screamed, moaned, cheered, prayed, cried, and then, finally, stood quietly last night for a frozen moment, not sad that we had come up a few points short of our ultimate ambition—but sad for knowing that these young men, this coach, this team might wrongly believe that they had let us down.

Not true!

Never true!

Never, ever true!

These men have given us a Season in the Sun.

Right now, we are still so close to that light we might believe this amazing year was about a game called basketball--about percentages from beyond the arc, points in the paint, smothering defense, the three-guard offense, “The Bigs.” Right now, we are still so close to the light we might mistakenly believe the year was about winning and losing.

These guys—these comrades--know it wasn’t. A long, long time ago, in a simpler era, they used to say, “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.” And that’s exactly right—it was how they played the game.

Fifteen passes in 35 seconds at Northwestern. That’s how they played the game! Dee calling Deron the best point guard in the nation. That’s how they played the game!

Deron, not caring that his own scoring would drop so he could shut down Salim Stoudamire. That’s how they played the game! Luther, with almost no fanfare, leading his teammates in scoring. That’s how they played the game! James and Jack, Rich and Nick, Warren and Shaun never getting the national respect they deserved—and not giving a damn about it. That’s how they played the game!

And Roger, his finger pointing ever-skyward to the almighty! That’s how these young men played the game—and that’s why it was not only a game.

What you, I and people all around the country, what even Digger and Dick finally came to realize in the last days, was that these boys were playing not to win but for the pure joy of doing their best every day for each other and for a cause bigger than any one of them. When I saw Dee dive out of bounds at Purdue, save the ball to James, who dove to get the ball to Deron, who passed to Luther for a slam dunkl, I knew I was seeing not a game but the fruit of people pursing perfection for the joy of perfection.

So when our Season in the Sun is more distant, when Deron, Dee, Luther and all the others are gray-haired and returning to cheer and cry for a new Illinois team, I hope we all remember this from our amazing ride: Doing the best you can do, achieving for the joy of it--not for awards or money or fame—doing your best for one another, for your family and friends, community and country--for a worthy cause-- is the secret of life.

That’s what this team knew. And that’s what they taught us.

It’s how they played the game that wasn’t a game.

So thank you, men-- from every one of us, to every one of you.

You didn’t let us down. You lifted us up.

You taught us how to play the game.