Written (but stuck in my drafts and never published) 1.5 years ago:



There was exactly one Mississippi fan happily picking up confetti after Notre Dame's stunning victory in the Women's National Title game. She was the same person who excitedly responded to my somber "We need to go" after Arike Ogunbowale with a "Yay! We get to go on the escalator again." She was my companion for the Final Four game a couple days before, where Mississippi State was the lucky winner against Louisville. She had just gotten into basketball (every day I was asked who won the previous, who was playing tonight, who I was rooting for and who was going to win) and even filled her first bracket (96% of people entering an ESPN bracket finished with a better bracket than her). She is my nearly 5 year old daughter Lucy.

I knew Mississippi State was going to win. The strange stuff that all came together to make it happened seemed too perfect.

1) They were playing 10 minutes from my house
2) They had a dramatic win over Uconn last year before losing in the title game
3) They were returned all their key players and had one of the best teams in the country
4) They won a dramatic game (needing a 3 pointer and two point blank misses by Louisville) in the Final Four
5) The best team in women's basketball (Unconn) lost to a good (but statistically not as good) Notre Dame team....which meant State went from being a huge underdog in the title game (if they played Uconn) to a 2 point favorite
6) Lucy - she was at the right age. A year ago would have been too soon and it would have been difficult to sit through an entire basketball game. This year at this age was close to perfect. She didn't fully understand what was going on (it didn't help that our seats were literally in the last row), but was attentive and cheering with me

I knew Mississippi State was going to win going into the game, at halftime when they were up 13, with under 2 minutes to go when they were up 5 and even at the end when it was tied. There was no way I could have expected to see what is easily one of the greatest shots in basketball history. I have watched the video too many times and each time I can't believe it actually goes in. We had seats in the last row on Notre Dame's side (for the second half) and could see the ball stay in the air for much longer than a normal shot and then fall in. The worst thing about having seats in the last row is that there is a moment where you don't fully know if the ball actually went in or if your eyes are deceiving you. At that moment, I looked around and started to see Notre Dame's players celebrating and it finally sunk in. Mississippi State lost.

In the end the game didn't go as well as expected, but still this will be one of my favorite memories with my daughter. She was a wonderful fan and I am thrilled I got to experience this with her.