My Return, DeMonte Harper, Bill Raftery, Gus Johnson and George Mason

I haven’t written for exactly two weeks. Why? School. Journalism and History, with interviews to conduct and Africa to study.

Looking back on what I have done in years past, I don’t know how I was able to write as much as I did, covering games during finals week, writing daily. Therefore, a two-week hiatus felt like an eternity.

To make it worse, there have been so many storylines this Spring Training, some exciting NBA games, and, now, some crazy NCAA Tournament games.

I wanted to cover Morehead State’s win over Louisville, though it busted that portion of my bracket, but did I have the opportunity to in a timely fashion? No.

I had a history final at 8 the next morning. But now that is finished, and plenty of time to do what I love to most.

There were plenty of dramatic endings on Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament, with three games decided in the final 10 seconds.

Most notably of the three was DeMonte Harper‘s game-winner that pushed the 13th-seeded Eagles past fourth-seeded Louisville, a dagger from the top of the key that sent CBS announcer Bill Raftery into his infamous “Onions!” exclamation.

Harper, who was 2-of-10 from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range prior to that shot, had dribbled the clock down, made his move with six seconds remaining, rose up from 25 feet with the truest shooting form, and watched the ball swish through.

“Pure magic,” said Raftery.

This moment defined March Madness, a potential bracket-busting shot that had fans like me refusing to care that they had picked Louisville to go to the Sweet 16.

Morehead State of the Ohio Valley Conference was the team to root for. Upsets are what make the tournament great, and the unexpected is to be expected.

The game wasn’t over yet. Morehead State had a one-point lead, 62-61, but three seconds remained on the clock. And, given this, there was undoubtedly more excitement to come.

Louisville inbounded the ball, passed upcourt, and Mike Marra had a good look at the basket from beyond the three-point line. He rose up, but Eagles center and best player Kenneth Faried met him and rejected Louisville’s hope of avoiding the upset.

All that game was missing was Gus Johnson. Raftery is consistently tremendous with his call. As NY Times’ Richard Sandomir wrote in 2009, “Raftery sings of onions and nylons, sweet kisses and lingerie, small change and nickel-and-dimers.” He is brilliant, and his nuances never get old. But Johnson can make anything exciting.

Johnson didn’t call a game on Thursday, but certainly did on Friday, first tackling the wild George Mason-Villanova matchup. When filling out brackets, picking between the 8th-seed, in this case George Mason, and the 9th-seed is usually a crapshoot unless you are really familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the teams.

I had no trouble picking a winner, selecting George Mason immediately, though I haven’t seen them play this season.

Why didn’t I hesitate? Because of what they did in 2006, when they made an amazing run to the Final Four and beat UConn and North Carolina along the way.

They don’t have any players from that run, but nonetheless they were picked. And the new crop delivered, bringing the best out of Johnson in the process.

He was his usual excited self early in the second half, putting unnecessary but welcomed emphasis on ordinary made field goals. This adequately built up to the game’s climax, when he completely lost his mind.

He had his sayings, like Raftery, but his exclamations of joy were what made this particular episode of Gus Johnson great. George Mason finished the game on a 15-5 run, and it was fitting that Johnson was there to call the game-deciding burst.

He screamed “Ohhhh!” after Luke Hancock’s three-pointer with 20 seconds left. He yelped “exclamation point!” when Mike Morrison broke away for a lead-cushioning, rim-rattling dunk in the closing seconds.

And he proclaimed “George Mason making the statement, we are back and ready!” following the final buzzer, appropriately pausing after each word as only Johnson can. Each moment summed up what kind of announcer he is and why he is always must-see T.V.

George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga was jubilant after, having a difficult time processing the victory.  “I have no idea,” he said when asked how his team won the game. “Eventually we became aggressive, offensively, defensively, rebounding. And Luke Hancock hit a HUGE three.”

The game-deciding three-pointer, hit by both Harper and Hancock: two shots called with the same energy and pizazz, exemplifying the Madness of March as well as the true greatness of the voices behind them, Raftery and Johnson.