Forever Young

(I apologize if you do not "get" some of the references made in this post.)

I wrote this poem last year right after the 2007 NCAA and the NIT basketball tournaments were done. India had just been ousted from the cricket world Cup (and Sri Lanka were en route to the finals where they lost to Australia). Hardesty refers to David Hardesty, the erstwhile President of WVU; MSG is Madison Square Garden in New York; Nicholls, Young, and Smalligan were players on the WVU basketball team (nickname: Mountaineers); Commish refers to the "commissioner" of the WVU Biology bracket league; John Bielein was the WVU basketball coach who subsequently defected to Michigan.

Now that the rest was won

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,
If the NCAA rebuffs you, win the NIT you must!!

Dreams of making the Big Dance went to dust.
So on to the NIT we went, MSG or bust.
With heads held high, we walked into the fray
Especially Nicholls with his daggers, and Young with many a trey
So what if it's the 2nd tier, we are still ranked first!

Christine's picks matched Ricardo's, oh what a fool!
And by the end of the 1st round, she was taken to school
By the Commish's "associates", a euphemism for cronies
Who hatched this elaborate pool just to take our monies.
But hey WVU won the NIT, so everything's just cool.

So we'll start next b'ball season hotter than a hooligan
And frankly, my dear, what we'll need is a mulligan.
For when we are favored, our teams lay an egg
And the misery we feel cannot be assuaged by simply a keg.
And to compound it all our center will still be Smalligan.

In John Beilein we trust, so said our own Hardesty
And to lose him to Michgan will be such a travesty.
But money is a big factor here, a beguiling mistress
That could probably, for us devoted 'Eers, cause major distress.
If that happens, then we'll barely protect our b'ball modesty.

It's 11:30 at night now, my basketball season is done.
So now I can focus on cricket and have some fun.
But while I was distracted, India did not make the Big Dance
And as for rooting for Sri Lanka, there isn't a remote chance.
So with a deep sigh I can say my TV watching days are done!

Lets Go, Mountaineers!! Fork up every dime.
Pay Beilein what he wants, even if it's a wind chime.
And next year give us the wisdom to not fund the Commish,
Or if he finagles our money, let's ensure he swims with the fish.
I'll stop right now as I'm struggling to find words that rhyme.

CSM, March 29, 2007