When Tom Hanks said, "There's no crying in baseball!" in A League of Their Own, I assumed that people knew that applied to all sports and not just baseball. Apparently no one informed the players of Pitt and Cincinnati this weekend of this little tidbit however.
This weekend there were a lot of upsets in the March Madness tournament which made bracketologists scratch their heads. Obviously VCU beating Purdue was an insane game and now there's a Cinderella story in the midst of the tournament.
Syracuse losing to Marquette was somewhat of an upset but for people who follow 'Cuse know they haven't been playing to their potential. The other big upset was Pitt losing to Butler.
For those who have read my previous entry know I had Pitt in the final four along with Notre Dame who was also upset by Florida St. I currently have pinned my hopes against Duke who is the only team I have left in my final four.
I might not win the pool in my office or the one I have on Yahoo! but do you see me shedding a tear? No way.
I was watching the UConn game in my neck of the woods at The Toasted Owl in Northampton on Saturday night and had to do a double take at the screen when I saw members of Cincinnati crying over losing to a number three ranked team.
Guys, get a grip. It's just a game and to have the honor of playing in the third round of the March Madness tournament should be a feather in your cap nonetheless.
Coming from an athlete who has played in championship tournaments, I could never understand crying over a game. Hold your head high and be proud of the way you played.
When I saw this I thought it was an isolated incident but then I caught Pitt's Nasir Robinson's interview on ESPN, and there it was again... crying. I know he might have blew the game for his number one seeded team in the biggest tournament of the year but keep it together, Nasir.
Obviously his foul at the end was an important factor in his team losing, but allowing the 8 seed to be that close to you in scoring throughout the game was also their downfall.
No one factor can be the deciding nail in the coffin when it comes to basketball, it is a culmination of inconsistancies.
So for future reference fellas, in the Sweet Sixteen just bring your game not your tears and be proud of how far you've gotten in this tournament instead of how your team will not be announced as champions.