Number 31 here reporting from Tucson, Arizona. The Owls have made the long trip to Arizona. The weather is perfect and we now await our next opponent, San Diego State.
“Fernando Fuego.” That is the nickname that I bestowed upon Juan Fernandez earlier this year. The best part about having a nickname is when the name actually takes literal form. Fuego, means “fire” in Spanish and on fuego he was. The Temple Owls bench sat with arms linked as the seconds dwindled down. I, of course was in my normal seat in the Parliament watching the proceedings next to Dutch who was literally shaking. Since this is Dutch's first time at the dance he is trying not to step on any toes while he pirouettes, but he still gets nervous. Juan hit the game winner to propel us into the next round. Our hearts were pounding and that ball seemed like it was in the air for hours. When the ball went in all composure was lost on the bench. The Parliament got a nice picture on ESPN showing our reaction. Dutch is shown holding everyone back and boxing out like he never boxed out before, while Jimmy looks like he just saw Richard Simmons in the crowd. I, on the other hand, look like I have no clue what is going on. That is because at that moment when the shutter snapped I was almost unconscious. Dutch, doing his normal flailing about, managed to elbow me right in the chin. My thoughts at the time were, " Take the punch like Rocky did and not like Apollo Creed. Please don't end up on the 'Not Top Ten.' Please. Please. Please." Thankfully, I retained consciousness and was able to run out on the court with my teammates.
If you are a faithful Parliament Blog reader then you will know that I often “space out” and think of things like Juan’s Dos Equis commercials. So, once again I did my normal spacing out and thought of a few different endings for our game versus Penn State. I asked myself, “What if Anthony Lee made the last shot?” I then saw the following scene in my head. First, he would run over to the sideline and jump on the press table. He would then reach in his socks and pull out a microphone and let everyone hear his latest single, “All about the Ring” (you can check it out on his Facebook page, the song is hot).
The other scenario I thought of was about me making the game winning shot. Two words, “Brandi Chastain.”
So the Owls with remain in the desert for a few more days. We have quickly celebrated the victory and are no longer dwelling on it. We look ahead to the next game with coach Dunphy as our fearless leader.
Just as a side note its Brian Scalabrine’s birthday today (personal hero of the parliament). So, birthday wishes go out to an honorary Parliament member.
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