Saturday night was a sweet and sour night if you’re a basketball fan. The sweet was Indiana knocking Michigan from their perch in the polls as they defeated the Wolverines in Bloomington. They are two very good teams. The Michigan crew is one of the youngest teams in major college basketball and did not make very many mistakes, but Indiana persevered and came out on top.
Hooray for Tom Crean and the Cream and Crimson. The bitter part was Indiana State’s inability to beat Drake in Des Moines. It meant the Sycamores could have separated themselves from the herd and put them in a good position for the Missouri Valley Tournament.
It seems there’s a button someplace that Indiana State pushes when they can beat about anybody and then that same button goes untouched and the Sycamores lose games they really need to win. Still, it has been a good season for the Trees and there’s not a senior on the squad, so next year should be even better.
If television viewing is correct, New Orleans should be the scene of every Super Bowl. I mean, everybody who’s anybody was in the crescent city bragging about the people, the good food and the good times. Reminds me of a trip we took to New Orleans (we traveled by train) that was sponsored by a travel agency and the radio station I was working for at the time. The old hotel we stayed in expected 35 for breakfast that first morning and we showed up with 90. Even I grabbed a coffee pot and spent time pouring coffee.
New Orleans is a great town to visit. But I digress. It looked as if the Baltimore Ravens were going to rout the 49ers with the halftime score at 21-6.
Beyonce’s half-time show was spectacular and I’m certain it was a crowd pleaser. The Newtown kids were touching and Jennifer Hudson was great with them. Alicia Keys did a good job on the “Star Spangled Banner” (no lip-syncing here).
Then, being behind at this point in time, the lights went out. As this was being written, the official word wasn’t out as to what happened to the lights. With the score 34-31 and time running out, it looked as if the Ravens were going to fly high with a victory and that’s exactly what happened. Time ran out on the 49ers, their young quarterback, and their young coach. It turned out to be a good football game with enough drama and angst to make it worth watching.
So, all the hoopla and all the hype will be put away until another time when we will add one capital I to the Roman numerals to next year’s Super Bowl. And, by the way, my picking the winning team went awry again as I predicted San Francisco to be the winner.
Ronn Mott, a longtime radio personality in Terre Haute, writes commentaries for the Tribune-Star. His pieces are published online Tuesday and Thursday on Tribstar.com, and in the print and online editions on Saturday.
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RONN MOTT: Super Bowl Weekend
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