In my mind today I am thinking about March Madness. Oh, I absolutely love this time of year. My sweet husband and I were so ready for November but March is when it gets heated. Waiting to see if our favorite team made it into the big tournament is so stressful! Believe it or not, the Memphis Tigers was our first date. He asked me to come over and watch the game with him and his children. We watched and went to games throughout our marriage. From Coach Finch to Coach Hardaway and all those in between, I have so many wonderful memories.
This year it was so hard to watch without him but Ben and I watched almost every game or at least a part of them. They did not disappoint. As we watched this year, amazing memories washed over us. The Tigers are forever an underdog. That’s okay because the victories are so much sweeter. Being a True Blue Tiger fan is not for the fair weather fan, especially if you are faint of heart. Ken and I were true to our Tigers and my sweet husband is in the spiritual world pulling strings for them, I just feel it. He has to be because we were IN without being on the bubble before our conference tournament! Then, we WON the conference tournament! We are dancing with the big boys and it feels so good.
It’s going to be different from now on without my husband. I am trying to continue to look for the sun even on cloudy days. The team this year is a special group. Ken always kept the family up on the latest Tiger news. Watching them win the AAC tournament gave me so much joy and inspiration. Every win this year was a battle. Every loss was an affirmation for the critics to leave us out of the NCAA tournament. These players have so much heart and grit. Many have a father figure for the first time in their lives. Finally a positive person to guide them and want the absolute best for them, not just something from them. I was in tears watching them enjoy the spotlight. Then when Coach Penny Hardaway said, “It’s a God thing.” I cried. Then he looked into the camera and told Memphis, “I love you.“ The tears were flowing. Penny was one of the greatest to come out of Memphis and he was coached by Larry Finch. The wheel has turned and Penny is giving back to His city. He humbly and quietly leads this vivacious motley crew of survivors and is teaching them much more than they even know. He identifies with them. He was there once not long ago. Thank God for his leadership and heart for a city that has more bad said about it than good. I still believe in Memphis, the city, school and teams. Thank you Coach Hardaway and Congratulations Memphis Tigers!
Sarah Anderson Alley
Sal the Tiger Loving Gal
Quotes for the Day
Self praise is for losers.. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.
John Madden
Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as a Punishment. And see that’s the difference. Lou Holtz
With few exceptions, it is always the underdog who wins through sheer willpower.
Johnny Weissmuller
showtunessal 