And another forgettable USF men's basketball season grinds on.
Was it really just a year ago that the Bulls beat #8 Georgetown? On the road? Where Dominique Jones not only had a brilliant game, but taunted the crowd afterwards? "Y'all come watch Dominique Jones play!"
Jones' post-game strutting was the sort of thing that turns a mere upset into something alums tell their children about. It was a moment of not just victory, but pride. No USF basketball player had shown that sort of love for the program since Chucky Atkins kissed the logo at half court on Senior Day.
But it didn't last. It never does.
Two and a half weeks later, USF was blown out at home by a mediocre St. John's team. It was the sort of win a team with our profile had to have, and didn't come close to getting.
Such is the life of a Bulls basketball fan. Even in times of surprising success, mind-boggling failure is always lurking. Last year's team took a painful loss to NC State in the NIT. Seth Greenberg's promising C-USA teams were marred by losses to Wright State, San Jose State, Colorado State, Cleveland State, Utah State, Florida State -- maybe they should have played fewer schools with "State" in the title. Even the great 1992 USF team took a loss to Oral Roberts, and to a bad Southern Miss team in the first round of the conference tournament. They squeaked into the NCAA Tournament at-large, where they drew... Georgetown.
Which brings us back to today's game. USF didn't play too badly in the loss to #4 Pittsburgh. Normally, this would be encouraging, but we all know this team too well. In honor of USF basketball's long-running tendency to produce an awful performance at almost any time, our Queefcore anthem is "Bad Day" by Fuel. It's a whiny song about a woman whose explanation for everything is "sorry, I had a bad day again." And the man in the song seems to accept that. He knows it's part of who she is. And so do we. We get our hopes up every time, but we're never too surprised when USF basketball once again leaves us a note that says "sorry, I had a bad day again." But we'll stick with you, sigh, grind our teeth and keep hoping.