On Saturday, the Ball State men's basketball team will travel south to Bloomington to face the Hoosiers of Indiana University. To many people, this game serves as a chance for the Cardinals to prove that their victories over Kansas and UCLA in Maui were not flukes. To me, this game serves as a turning point, not a turning point in Ball State's basketball season, but a turning point in my life.
I should probably explain myself.
I was born into an IU family.
My grandfather, mother, uncle and many of my cousins attended school there. My grandmother has had season tickets for IU football and basketball for as long as I can recall. I grew up with IU, and as I look back on my childhood, it is pockmarked with IU related memories.
In fact, one of my earliest childhood memories involves IU.
It was March 30, 1987. I was four years old. Everybody on my mom's side of the family, with the exception of my uncle Dave and his family, gathered at my grandmother's house to watch IU take on Syracuse in the NCAA Finals.
The TV room in my grandmother's house was a sea of cream and crimson. My cousin Mia took my older brother Kyle and me into the bathroom before the game and drew the IU emblem on our cheeks with red lipstick. The game was intense, but Keith Smart hit a jumper from the left side as time was expiring to give IU a 74-73 win, thereby crowning the Hoosiers NCAA champs.
I do not know if I have ever seen my family that happy.
After the game, I went home and emulated my heroes by cutting the net off of my Nerf basketball hoop. This did not make my mom very happy, but I was too wrapped up in the moment to care at the time. I was hooked on Hoosier hoops.
As the years went on, the moments involving IU continued.
I remember crying in 1993 when IU lost in the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers were considered to be the favorite to win the title that year, but junior star Alan Henderson got hurt late in the season and could not play in Indiana's final game.
I remember carefully laying out my clothes in a Knights Inn the night before going to a game with my grandmother.
I remember my cousin Clay taking me to go see the Calbert Cheaney (my all-time favorite IU player) play against the Indianapolis Pacers when Cheaney's Washington Bullets were in town.
I remember watching Blue Chips again and again because Matt Nover, a former IU player, had a staring role in it.
I remember checking the box scores in the newspaper everyday to see how former Hoosiers playing in the NBA were doing.
I remember all of this and so much more like it was yesterday.
But that is just it. It is yesterday.
Ball State is where I am today.
And Ball State is the team of today. They have captured national spotlight, and the hearts of sports fans all across this country. They are the players I now watch, write and read about.
So who will this homegrown Hoosier turned collegiate Cardinal be cheering for when the past and present face on Saturday?
Let me put it this way, "Go Cards."Write to Cole at
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