This morning’s hangover was easily the worst I have ever had and I have had some bad ones: five Mifflin block parties, a weeklong bender in PCB and South Padre, and endless Thursday nights at Johnny O’s. I know hangovers and today’s has been my worst. No swift jog or Advil could cure my pain. This hangover was not from last night’s alcohol; it was from Kirk Cousin’s improbable Hail Mary pass that fans only dream about.
Heading into last night’s game, everyone I spoke with thought it would be a somewhat easy win in East Lansing. However, the entire week I was on the verge of a heart attack whenever the game was brought up because I knew it could be our BCS buster. Half way through the first quarter, it looked like my friends were right and the fourth best defense in the country could not touch our offense. But then the Badgers imploded.
Most of you know I like to have a drink every now and then but when the punt was blocked, my cup slid from my hands and I did not have another sip of alcohol until Russell scampered into the end zone for six at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The surge the Badgers had at the end of the game only made this morning’s hangover that much worse because we had hope. Russell Wilson did what he had to do to get us back into the game and I was sure he would lead us to a victory in overtime.
Then, my heart stopped beating by an event that took the life out of Will’s North Woods as well as crushed the hearts of every Badger fan across the country. DID HE REALLY OVERTURN THAT CALL?!?!? Can you 100% confidently say that the ball crossed the line? Because that is what you need to overturn the call on the field.
The next two hours were some of the darkest hours I have had as a passionate sports fan and I have had a lot: the loss at the Rose bowl (TCU), Aaron Boone (Redsox Fan), Manning to Plax (Pat’s Fan), and Nick Bonino (Scored in double OT in my HS state championship game). However, this feels worse. The last thing I wanted to do last night was go to sleep because I never wanted the morning to come, I did not want to see the aftermath.
I woke up at 7:45AM not being able to go back to sleep as my mind played last night over and over. Pain was racing throughout my body and it was not from the consumption of alcohol the night before. This pain stemmed from the utter disbelief of last night. Walking around my house, stepping over passed out badgers, all I could do was shake my head. I walked straight out of my apartment into a desolate Chicago street. It was a beautiful day, however, it was almost as if you could hear a pin drop on the ghostly and empty streets. It felt like there was a continued silence from the bar last night. The silence triggered by the ref and his two hands in the air signaling Michigan State’s touchdown. It was eerie and a perfect setting for this morning’s nightmare.
The pain is still unbearable and will not subside anytime in the near future. It took me about a week to recover from my alcoholic hangover after the Nebraska game a couple weeks back. This one will take years. It will take until we get another shot at the BCS title game. This was our year, this was Russell’s year, this was the Badger’s coming out party. Now because of one play, we will not have a shot. That is why this is so painful; we are the better team and can play with anyone in the country. But it is the computers who think differently. Now we go back to being the team with no respect when we could have had it all.
What to do now? Drink our sorrows away with Jameson? While that may seem like the ideal solution according to my college buddy, Travis Topp (aka Topp), the rest of badger faithful needs pick ourselves up just like the players are going to do starting tomorrow. We need to keep supporting the team, keep cheering, keep downing the Diaz before the games and inhaling brats at half time. In six weeks we will most likely be on the national stage again with the Spartans and this time at a neutral field. Although a Rose Bowl berth means nothing compared to the NCG, the seniors deserve it and so does Russell. So next week on Halloween weekend, I’ll be wearing my jersey instead of a costume in support of our boys. But it’s the pain of last nights game that will linger longer than any hangover I’ve contracted from the first Sunday in May.
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