Playing In the Shadows No More

After a near upset of Maryland in the first round last year, I would not shut up about a relatively unknown guard for little ol' Davidson. When I thought Davidson, I usually thought Brew Davis or Georgia Yowell or maybe Mr. Fraley, my 7th grade English teacher who was fresh out of Davidson and Dr. Bueno's roomate. (As I remember, Mr. Fraley, who we were never to call Jeff unless we wanted to die, always called me Jeb and vice versa. Jeb was also derided for his love for eating chalk and the BB lodged in the side of his temple like Chas Tenenbaum's hand....ah, memories...) ANYWAYS, I annoyed Whitney to death last year telling her how her beloved ACC conference had spurned the likes of Dell Curry's progeny leaving him to sign with a school along the size of Sewanee and Rhodes that was merely nearby these giant programs. Papa Dell had a sweet stroke like Chuck "the rifleman" Person or Reggie Miller for over 15 yrs in the NBA . As we know now, the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Like an "off broadway" play risen to stardom, Stephen (pronounced Stef-uhn not steven or stef-ahn) Curry charmed the pants of most of America (and my foreign classmates, too) in this year's NCAA tourney. If you didn't watch Davidson play, shoot yourself. Stephen Curry was amazing setting the record for most points scored in a single NCAA tournament (the rest of the top 10 are players that made the finals and usually won). Losing on Sunday to Kansas, Davidson had to settle for the Elite Eight. They were nothing short of elite. Curry was their star, but the team as a whole outplayed their competition. If you watched them, you probably know Andrew Lovedale, their power fwd who over powered the sequoia sized big men from Georgetown, Kansas and Wisconsin (during the regular season, Davidson also played UNC, Duke, and UCLA only losing to the latter by more than 10) On top of lauding the players, Davidson's coach, Bob McKillop, has to get the raise of the century or he is going to end up at a prime time program. He out coached the whole field. His dedication to film and strategy paid off in dividends (clearly). Then again it is not hard to out coach Bill Self, who is a chump and has been exposed countless times while consistently underachieving at Kansas. At the end of the day, the clock struck midnight, and Cinderella lost her slipper. Suck it, Gonzaga. You were never America's team or sweetheart - Davidson owns our hearts. We were all charmed by the little engine that could this year. As the NBA scouts look a little closer, they'll have to wait longer and quinch their thirst with us at next years tourney. Curry is staying in school. He is out of the shadows, and he has taken the spotlight....