As the minutes ran off the clock and the Valdosta State Blazers watched their season come to an end at the hands of the Crimson Hawks of Indiana University (PA) in the Elite 8 of the Division II NCAA tournament, I realized that for the most part sports leaves fans dissatisfied and disappointed.
There are over 90 million sports fan in the United States and the majority of them are disappointed at the end of every season. That is what I am right now. I am disappointed.
I am not at all disappointed because the Blazers fell in the Elite 8 of the tournament to IUP. The Crimson Hawks had only lost twice this whole season and they are a good team that very well could head on to the championship game and possibly win it all. That is not why I am disappointed.
I am disappointed because two VSU players, All-American Tyrone Curnell and B.J. Dibble, decided to break the university athletic policy which resulted in them being kicked off the team the day of the biggest game in school history.
I am disappointed because I bought into a team that heard all season long that this was their year to win it all and yet two of their top players didn’t buy into us, the fans, and that they didn’t buy into the fact that this was the season for them to win it all.
With sports we shouldn’t have to feel this way. We shouldn’t have to be disappointed because of our sports teams losing or people making bad decisions. That is why we have politics. Sports should be the release of all of our disappointment, yet we find ourselves even more disappointed because of them.
I know that we, VSU fans, have every right to be disappointed because of what has taken place with our basketball team.
I just think we should never have been put in this situation. Over 2,500 people were there when the Blazers knocked off then No. 1 ranked Augusta State on Jan. 18 and we felt the high of that win. Now Blazer nation we are feeling what disappointment feels like.
After all, VSU has only four players returning next season and their odds of returning to the Elite 8 are slim, since this season marked the first appearance for VSU in the Elite 8 in their 50 plus year history.Now that the season has come to an end, I, and the rest of the Blazer nation, have the entire off season to get rid of the disappointing taste that currently sits in our mouths.