Luka’s Corner

When I look at the schedule of the Sweet 16, only one game really sticks out to me. Only one game on the schedule for tonight has so much at stake and could prove so much to basketball fans around the globe. Only one is worth watching above all its competitors. That game is Cornell versus Kentucky in the Carrier Dome, home of the Syracuse Orange. However, not surprisingly, it is not the Orange-Bulldogs matchup earlier in the night that should be watched, but the Big Red-Wildcats pairing instead.

Why, you ask? Well, there are so many storylines that go along with the game. They actually make the game more than a game, like every potentially great sporting event. It is not only Cornell versus Kentucky. It is also an Ivy League school versus a big-time basketball school. It is an ultimate underdog versus an ultimate favorite. It is an experienced, solid team versus a young, flashy team. It is an ultimate team versus a collection of individual stars. It is the four-year student-athlete versus the one-and-done pro-bound player. So, it is also the college game versus the NBA game in a way. Going deeper and deeper, it is a white-dominated team versus a team with mostly black players. It is a contrast of race. It is the hard-working high school student who also plays basketball versus the highly-touted AAU star who lives for the game. Catch my drift? I could go on and on about the contrasting styles exhibited by these two teams. They are complete opposites in every way possible, starting from the head coaches to the star players to the actual schools in question.

However, the only way this game will ever be remembered ten years from now for all of these storylines and contrasts and intrigue is if Cornell wins. If the Big Red somehow upset the Wildcats, it will propel the team into the history books. Then, all of these storylines can continue to be discussed ten years from now and fifty years from now. If the Wildcats win, as they are favored to do, then this game will fall under the what-if category, leaving us all wondering what could have been. It will just be another favorite restoring parity in the NCAA tournament. So, it is up to either the Cornell Big Red to win the game or the Kentucky Wildcats to choke the game away if we are to continue talking and analyzing from afar.

What is my opinion? Well, I am just going to let the game do the talking from this point on. At around midnight, we will all know whether it was worth even talking about this matchup before the game. It will all be decided on the court at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. But, do not get me wrong. I will be rooting for the underdog to take down Goliath. For tonight at least, Cornell is my team. Why? Well, let’s just say that I want March Madness to become even a little bit madder.

To me, basketball is everything. It is a collection of excitement, intensity, love, hate, and competitiveness. It brings out the best in individuals and the unity in a group of people. It serves as a representation of life as it is. It shows people’s true character and strength as they are placed in different situations. It offers us these different situations, placing us in winning environments, losing atmospheres, and painful experiences, be it due to injury, loss, or underachievement. Basketball is everything.

It cannot be overstated how similar basketball is to the real world and the lives people live off the court. If one wants to become a better basketball player, they have to work at it. They have to put in the hours, the sweat, and the suffering that goes with the rewarding success and feeling of fulfillment. To me, this is everything. Putting in hard work to become better at something is the foundation of life. Whether it is working out in the weight room to become stronger, working on passing to become a better passer, or working on lateral quickness to become a better defender, the idea is the same. Working on the jump-shot is the same as practicing playing the piano or writing an essay. Basketball is applicable to so many other activities because the goal of playing basketball is the same as the goal of doing anything else. That goal is to become better to experience that feeling of fulfillment and achievement after the work has been put in.

Basketball is so valuable to me because it shows exactly how tough I am, how effectively I cope with new situations, if I can show both skill and intelligence, and if I can pull through when it matters most to prevail. It shows more to me than if I can just hit a pull-up jumper or drive to the basket. The game reveals who you really are. It shows what kind of person you are.  Are you a winner? Are you tough, mentally and physically? Are you reluctant to engage your peers or do you embrace sharing your success with others? Being tough in the low post is the same as being tough when dealing with financial problems and trying to support a family. Being unselfish by passing to an open teammate is the same as helping out a person in need or complimenting someone else when they need words of encouragement. All of these questions are answered on the basketball court. Because they are, basketball is more than a game. It is more than a group of people running up and down a court together. It is life.

The great thing about basketball that, no matter what level you are playing on, these questions are answered and the value is the same. There is absolutely no difference between a pickup game at the local YMCA and an NCAA tournament game between Kentucky and Ohio State. There is no difference between a high school game and an NBA game. The bottom line is that one individual is trying to prevail over the other, while one team is trying to prevail over the other. Even if only Joe Joe is trying to score over Bob Bob at the YMCA, that competition is exactly the same as the competition that John Wall faces while trying to score over Evan Turner. The names do not matter. It is the lifelike struggle that means something. Be it Joe versus Bob or James versus Bryant, one player is simply trying to lead his team to victory. The power of basketball is universal. It is valuable for all who play it. This is the power of the game.

Sometimes, sports can just be too difficult to explain. Why is it that strength can be so deceiving, and so unimportant? Why is it that the strongest athletes sometimes act like the weakest? Is faking, flopping, and falling so integral in sports? These questions are both amusing and necessary for a fan to ask themselves. Whether it is basketball or soccer, or any other popular sport for that matter, “flopping”, or exaggerating contact in any way, is a huge part of the game.

When people think about the NBA and its toughest players, who do they think of? They think of Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett, to name a few. But, even these three use the flop to their advantage. If he is guarding Carmelo Anthony or another star who uses his body to create contact, “Ron Ron” flails his arms and falls backwards to draw offensive fouls on the man he is guarding. He flops to both get the call and frustrate his opponent. Kobe Bryant does the same. When attacking the hoop or pump-faking his defender, the “Black Mamba” flails his arms more than anyone. The artist who approaches the art of the flop differently is Garnett. The “Big Ticket”, widely regarded as one of the best defensive players of his time, talks trash to his opponent and waits until they react. If his opponent responds by either talking to or pushing Garnett, the intimidating and intense Garnett steps backwards, puts his arms up, and flails them to act like he is actually innocent.

In the end, the flop is used by even the toughest players in basketball to achieve or receive something. In their minds, the end justifies the means. Artest falls and flails to force the referee to call an offensive foul and to frustrate the opponent, Bryant exaggerates contact to get to the free-throw line, and Garnett steps backward to get the opponent thrown out of the game for starting the fight. The funniest aspect of all this is that these three are considered to be the toughest, grittiest, and most intimidating players that professional basketball has to offer. Yet, they flail and flop when the game is on the line. They ignore their strength and physicality and resort to the flop.

The same can be said about soccer, which is notorious for the flopping associated with it. As with any sport, flopping is so difficult to explain in soccer. To illustrate is unexplainable side, I put forth two words: Gennaro Gattuso. Considered one of the world’s most hard-nosed, physical, and relentless footballers, “Rino” relies on an unexpected skill to get him over the top. That skill is using his bulky, powerful frame to exaggerate contact in midfield. In other words, he flops. Although Gattuso tackles with reckless abandon and uses his powerful frame to push around his opponents while defending, he resorts to flopping when he has the ball. When opposing defenders do the same work defending the ball as him, Gattuso falls to the ground, even with minimal contact on the play. In his mind, if he can get the foul call, flopping was worth it. In this way, “Rino” is no different from “Ron Ron”, the “Black Mamba”, or the “Big Ticket”. The reasoning behind the flop is the same.

So, do not be deceived by the athletes you watch on TV. While they may seem built-up and physically superior, they are not all that. The time that they spend in the weight room working out is negated when they make the decision to flail their arms, fall on the ground, and fake the impact of any possible contact. Keep that in mind when you watch a basketball game, soccer match, or any other sporting event. No matter how strong they get, athletes still try to act as weak as they can. Their goal is to become stronger, but to act weaker.