March 28, 2008

Will Bryan on Will's World:

This trip started at 4 a.m. this morning when I, along with at least 400 other students, rolled out of bed, threw some clothes in a bag and made a zombie-like exodus from Sentelle, Cannon, Watts, Little Belk and Senior Apartments over to the Baker Parking Lot to board the famous "free buses."

Local news was there to chart the famous boarding. They were here when we de-boarded and the AP already wants some quotes on how it went.

Well, it was a bus trip. We slept most of the morning. Watched Remember the Titans in the afternoon. Lunched at a McDonalds in Strasburg, OH and then rolled into Detroit two hours before game time.

But then it got interesting. As we got off the bus a couple blocks from Ford Field, we were met by a staff member who had some t-shirts for us. Turns out, the athletic department splurged for hundreds of red shirts that say WITNESS with the Nike swoosh on the front. It wasn't lost on these Davidson students that the orginator of Nike's Witness campaign, Lebron James, will be in the building tonight. Just a day or two ago he was quoted in a ESPN article saying that Stephen Curry was definitely the most exciting player in the NCAA tournament.

As we students walked towards the stadium, complete strangers on the street started chanting Davidson. A local radio staffer handed out placards with Davidson's logo on it. I've never seen so much Wildcat stuff in my life. The coolets part was seeing my comrades' reaction. We had an idea about how famous we are as a student body, but until you get off campus and see it in practice, it does not seem real. If the Wildcats win tonight, I couldn't even imagine what comes next.

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Feb. 13, 2008 Part III

Will Bryan:

The stars were aligned for Davidson to lose tonight. Greensboro had been underperforming... Davidson had been blowing people out... Sander was on the bench. The Spartans scorched the nets shooting 9-12 from three in the first half. Their intensity and home crowd helped ignite a first half blitz that found Greensboro sitting right below their average offensive output of the last week: at halftime. But Davidson won by five. Their defiance of the basketball gods tonight was extraordinary to say the least.

The heart of this team literally came spilling out on the court tonight. Richards' eyebrow was split open in an ugly way, bleeding all over everything... yet he came back to make the game-winning drive and free throw. Max Paulhus Gosselin recovered from endless "air ball" jeering to make the game-saving steal leading to Richards' drive. Andrew Lovedale overcame foul trouble to bring down the rebound with a scream after Greensboro's late attempt to tie the game. Thomas Sander did not let his sidelining keep him from supporting the team... he was the first one on the court at every timeout and was never quiet on the sidelines even when the Wildcats trailed big. And then, of course, there was Stephen Curry.

Davidson's attitude in the second half was definitely one of a team finally kicking it into overdrive. The several hundred fans in attendance got into a shouting match with Spartan supporters while Davidson was not unwilling to show a ton of emotion on the court. This was probably the first time I have seen Davidson win a game and have the team run out to celebrate in a very long time. It felt like a game one more time.

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Dec. 22, 2007

Will:

The connections that have been forged through Davidson basketball are really quite amazing. I found an old friend that I hadn't seen in years in the arena concourse while the Davidsonian editor from my freshman year ended up sitting right behind me. This basketball team has been the emotional and physical rallying point of Davidson friendships for many years and I hope it will continue that way.

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Dec. 9, 2007

Will Bryan '08 on Will's World (which you should check out in more detail because of his awesome in-game blogs and posts from '07-'08):

Last week, Michael Kruse asked if we were still having fun.

Yesterday, I watched Davidson take on college basketball’s most storied program, and I had seen the Wildcats answer some very important questions. In the first half, they moved the ball, shot it well, found inside looks and attacked loose balls. But then something happened … they started turning it over, making bad fouls in transition and taking bad shots. I thought we had answered our questions. But ultimately, it was just another “coulda” loss to a Top 10 on national television.

Are we still having fun?

The other day, Stephen Curry was walking around campus with a reporter from the Los Angeles Times. They walked into the Lula Bell Houston Laundry where Steph explained how the whole process worked. To many outsiders, Davidson’s free laundry services seems like just another weird quirk to add to this already quirky school. As Steph demonstrated where he would usually drop off his dirty clothes, Carol Belk walked up to him and gave him a big hug and a word of encouragement. The reporter quickly noted this and started spinning a story in her head for how Curry is loved and embraced in such a small community. What this, and so many other stories, don’t mention is that all of us here at Davidson receive our own embrace. It’s not just Stephen Curry that people know. Everyone knows everyone, and we all support each other through that. Davidson is a really special community with special people to keep it that way.

Are we still having fun?

As Davidson jumped out to its 18-point lead yesterday over UCLA, I received numerous calls on my cell phone from rabid Davidson fans watching around the country. As I periodically check my stats for this blog and see the numbers of Google searches that merely say “davidson basketball,” I continue to be amazed at the growing popularity of this team. As my Dad can no longer wear his Davidson shirt around Charleston without having some random stranger ask him something about our basketball team, I know that we have something special. As national reporters continue to call for interviews with a team that is now 3-5, I know that Davidson’s name has become associated with the big time.

Are we still having fun?

Not long ago, I read a post on Davidson’s message board that said that there is no difference between this year and any other year of Davidson basketball. I completely disagree. From one standpoint, I could argue that this year is better because of the attendance numbers, media attention, marketing clout, etc.

But I would also argue that this year is unlike any other year in Davidson basketball because we’re on the verge of replacing fun with a drive for professional success. Davidson fans seem to need that NCAA tournament victory like their lives depended on it. Back in high school, I felt like my life depended on my high school football team winning the first round of the playoffs my senior year. I never played in a game where I had less fun. And of course, we were upset on a last second TD.

There was a time in the past when Davidson players stopped having fun. They were 10-5 in the Southern Conference and did not look like a team with seven seniors. But then Coach McKillop wobbled into practice completely wrapped up in duct tape. “You aren’t playing loose!” he yelled as one of his assistants unwrapped one layer. “You are playing not to lose!” he screamed as they took off another layer. “You aren’t having any fun!” he exclaimed as he ripped through the final shreds of tape, grabbed a ball and nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key. That year, Davidson went on to sweep the tourney and win the automatic bid.

Are we still having fun?

Over the course of the next two days, I have to write my last ever article for the Davidsonian. I am going to take the time to recount how much fun I have had in the last four years. Fun in winning, fun in losing. Fun in being a part of something exciting, competitive, but ultimately noble. Davidson athletics are noble, and that is a part of what makes them fun.

Are you still having fun? I hope so … because I am.

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