30 years ago yesterday

Rumeal Robinson tickles the twine with 2 free throws to bring Michigan our only NCAA BB Title.

I was going to post about it yesterday and forgot.

The other thing I remember vividly is that the game wasn't over and Seton Hall had time left for a shot. They got a halfway decent look but clanged it.

What a tournament.

Didn't Sean Higgins save our ass with a clutch shot v Illinois in the semis?

He did. It was actually a rebound and quick put back from about 5 feet. It may have even been an air ball he rebounded. Illinois had beaten us twice during the year. They had an outstanding team that year.

Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle, Kendall Gill, Stephen Bardo, Lowell Hamilton, Marcus Liberty.

Anderson 13 years, Battle a few years, Gill 15 years, Bardo 2 years, Liberty 4 years. All played in the NBA. Hamilton was a McDonalds All American who didn't play in the NBA.

This Illinois team was LOADED.

My memory of the final four game against Illinois. My wife and I went to DC to celebrate our first anniversary and we were sitting in a nice restaurant on the evening of April 1st and my wife noticed my distraction and turned to see that I could see the TV in the bar. She asked if it is always going to be like this on our anniversary. I said I hope so.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

My memory of the final four game against Illinois.  My wife and I went to DC to celebrate our first anniversary and we were sitting in a nice restaurant on the evening of April 1st and my wife noticed my distraction and turned to see that I could see the TV in the bar.  She asked if it is always going to be like this on our anniversary.  I said I hope so.

Outstanding response!

fishgoblue22 wrote:

My memory of the final four game against Illinois.  My wife and I went to DC to celebrate our first anniversary and we were sitting in a nice restaurant on the evening of April 1st and my wife noticed my distraction and turned to see that I could see the TV in the bar.  She asked if it is always going to be like this on our anniversary.  I said I hope so.

Which one of you picked the wedding date?

joe wrote:

fishgoblue22 wrote:

My memory of the final four game against Illinois.  My wife and I went to DC to celebrate our first anniversary and we were sitting in a nice restaurant on the evening of April 1st and my wife noticed my distraction and turned to see that I could see the TV in the bar.  She asked if it is always going to be like this on our anniversary.  I said I hope so.

Which one of you picked the wedding date?

The Marine Corps picked the the date. Graduated boot camp on Friday March 25th and married Saturday April 2nd on a plane to school Monday April 4th.

Last year the championship game was on our anniversary.

joe wrote:

He did.  It was actually a rebound and quick put back from about 5 feet. It may have even been an air ball he rebounded. Illinois had beaten us twice during the year. They had an outstanding team that year.

Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle, Kendall Gill, Stephen Bardo, Lowell Hamilton, Marcus Liberty.

Anderson 13 years, Battle a few years, Gill 15 years, Bardo 2 years, Liberty 4 years. All played in the NBA. Hamilton was a McDonalds All American who didn't play in the NBA.

This Illinois team was LOADED.

Actually, Joe, it was a rebound---of a 3-pt shot by Terry Mills (that's right!).  Higgins afterward commented on how [then-interim] coach Steve Fisher pounded it into their heads: "Long shots usually produce long rebounds."  Sean got BEHIND one of the Illini jumping jacks and the rebound came his
way...he put it back up and in.

Still, as superb as the NCAA title was (with an interim coach!), no game, not even the above or the OT final over Seton Hall, made me as happy as the Sweet-16 win over the team I hated most: UNC and Dean Smith. They'd eliminated us from the previous two NCAA tournaments. And with Glen Rice absolutely shooting the lights out (something like 8/12 three-pointers, 35(?) total points), we took them down 92-87.