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An Unprecedented Season

  • Writer: Kyle Fairfield
    Kyle Fairfield
  • Mar 20, 2020
  • 2 min read


It has been a crazy week to say the least, in the world, America, and in sports. The corona virus has taken away many things that we as Americans were looking forward to. One thing that the whole sports world was looking forward to was the NCAA college basketball tournament. The NCAA tournament or March Madness as it is popularly called is what makes March so exciting. To have it taken away along with so many other things in my life is just devastating. To think how sad the fans are they won't be able to watch this year, just imagine how the players feel.


These players have worked day by day to become the great teams that they are and to try and reach their goals of becoming a National Champion. To have all of this hard work put in seemingly just go down the drain has to be a gut punch for all the players. It will hurt more than anyone for the seniors, a lot of whom would be getting their first chance to play in March Madness, but it was not to be.


My favorite team if you couldn't tell from previous posts is Illinois. My Illini were poised to make it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in ten years. We had an incredible season racking up 21 wins and finishing just one game out of first place in the Big Ten. To have this great season and all of the hard work they put in taken away and to not even count as going back to the tournament is a terrible feeling.



Another team I want to focus on is the Bradley Braves. The hometown Peoria team had just done it again by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. They were riding high after making it to the tournament for the second season in a row, hoping to pull an upset this season. Their roster was filled with seniors such as Darrell Brown and Nate Kennell, these guys were hoping for one last chance. Unfortunately, no one got the chance this season.


As an Illini fan it hurts the most for me that I won't be able to watch my team finally make it back to the big dance. What hurts more is knowing that our star player, Ayo Dosunmu will most likely be leaving for the NBA Draft and that we never got to see him ball out in the tournament. Many Illini fans share this same sadness knowing how special of a player he was and how many clutch shots he made. One could only imagine how many he would've made in the NCAA tournament. Although sad, Illini fans will always be grateful for Ayo coming to Illinois and turning our program back to what it used to be.


Overall it sucks for all basketball fans and really all of America. This situation is not fun in the slightest and it is something that we have never seen before. As a basketball fan it really stinks thinking about going another year without watching my team and all of the other great teams compete again. Safety is the top priority and even though taking this away sucks for all of us, staying healthy is number one.

 
 
 

1 Comment


Alexis Qualls
Alexis Qualls
Mar 30, 2020

I've never really followed basketball, but I'm well aware how passionate its fans can be. My Papa in particular loves the Illinois team as well. Whenever we go to visit him, there's a large chance he's wrapped up in his big blanket with an orange 'I'. Hopefully the crisis will be resolved soon and the season can be reinstated! Until then, stay safe and healthy!

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