April 4, 2021: Instant Classic

I feel like this term gets thrown around too loosely… “instant classic”. Every great game we witness, we want to label it that way; it’s the same with players we see play. This guy is the greatest of all time. This was the best game ever in this sport’s history. This was the best World Series of all time. We have to remember that there were 1000s and 1000s of games that took place before we watched that game. How many instant classics are there really? Well, after watching the UCLA Gonzaga game from start to finish on Saturday night, I don’t think I’m overstating it; that game WAS an instant classic.

I think of other great college basketball games. I was too young to remember it, but the game where MJ hits the game winner for NC vs Georgetown… that has to be up there, right? Those two schools, the game winning jumper in the national title game… I think of other ones too, like some of the Illinois games over the years. I think back to the Flying Illini and the regular season game against the Hoosiers in Indiana; that was pretty good. And how about the Dee, Deron, and Luther Illini, and the comeback against Arizona in the tourney? Didn’t Villanova hit a game winner against NC in a recent title game? I think back to the first one I remember… Louisville vs Duke; that was a good game right? And then Indiana vs Syracuse the next year. The Kansas Memphis one was pretty good with Derrick Rose and the Tigers losing in OT. I’m sure there are many, many more. Go ahead and add UCLA Gonzaga 2021 Final Four to the list.

What a fricking game. We’ve been watching UCLA in this tourney. Honestly, when I went to bed in the First Four, I thought Michigan State had eliminated them; I was wrong. From there, UCLA played their asses off. I really liked that team. Juzang sounds like (and played like) a damn super hero, while Jaiquez reminded my father in law of Carlos Santana, and their point guard reminding my son of a Roblox character with his hair. I was rooting for them in this one. I was hoping to see the undefeated Zags go down. I know they haven’t won a title ever, and UCLA has a ton, which most times would cause me to be on the other side, but not in this one. I really thought the Bruins could win this game; they almost did.

My son stood up to watch the whole game, and when Gonzaga hit the prayer to win it in OT, he ran around celebrating; he had them moving on in his brackets. It was an ironic matchup; UCLA, the school my wife wants my son to eventually go too vs Gonzaga, the team my father in law has been talking up all year. He had on his UCLA t-shirt, but just opened up his gift from his grandfather which was a Gonzaga t-shirt. It just added to the classic nature of this one in our household. I told him as the game got later, that whoever won, this would be a game we would never forget. This one will probably be one of the first ones my son will really remember, celebrating a victory for Gonzaga on the night of his birthday. It was a lot of fun. Surely, Gonzaga would cruise against Baylor in the title game…