I think we can all agree that being 13 years old is the awkwardest time in a human being's life.
When I was 13 years old, I can remember wanting to associate myself with something. Something that felt cool, something that looks like me, something that was different than what others usually clung too. As a college basketball fan, it meant not aligning myself with the likes of Kansas, UNC or Kentucky. It meant that my heart would go out west to the Arizona Wildcats.
It meant that guys like Miles Simon and Mike Bibby would become heroes. It meant that guys like Jason Terry and Eugene Edgerson would always be cool because of their desires to be different. It meant that Lute Olson would always be my favorite basketball coach. It meant that Arizona will go down in the history books as the only team to ever beat three 1-seeds (Kansas, UNC, Kentucky) in NCAA Tournament history.
Simon Indeed Says Championship.
Related: Miles Simon and Mike Bibby Star In, “Floaters and Foams”
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”
