it's a special time of year

Gina is going back to Illinois this weekend, so I'm home alone without much of a plan. But I do have options:

1) Bike if the weather permits
2) Watch some tape delayed FA Cup at Brugge
3) Celebrate the 17th Anniversary of Wesclin's State Championship in basketball (bottom of page).

I think you know which one I'll choose.

For my Indiana readers, I just want to point out that Purdue assistant coach Paul Lusk (nickname: Goose) was a leader for that 1990 Wesclin squad, and was quite possible the best high school basketball player that ever existed, short of only Lebron James (slightly better than Kobe and Greg Oden).

There's a chance I've written about this before, but I'll do it again, because it's that awesome.

I was in eighth grade when my whole family traveled to Campaign, IL for the finals of the state basketball tournament. In the state final, Wesclin were on the verge of losing when Prairie Central's Guy Who's Name I Can't Find On The Internet was fouled and given the chance to win the game from the free throw line. He missed, and the game went through two overtimes before the Warriors were crowned state champions.

The 1990 state championship team has become a bit of an ongoing joke in my circle of friends... I'm sure I bring either the team or one of the players up at least once a month. I attended a New Year's Eve party in St. Louis two or so years ago, and a former member of the team, Matt Brandemeyer (Nickname: Chewy), was in attendance. After the guests had settled in, my friend Josh turned to me and said "Did you ever think you'd get to go to a party with Chewy?"

But in all seriousness, those guys deserve praise for what they accomplished; they created a memory that still burns in my mind, and gave two little towns (Trenton and New Baden, IL) in the middle of nowhere something to talk about. Even 17 years later.

Awesome: Cahokia Conference Wiki.

What the fuck is this shit... how are you gonna have Gary Tidwell (Prairie Central) on this roster without Goose? I remember Cuonzo Martin (East St. Louis Lincoln), that guy was good. BUT HE WAS NO GOOSE.

True Story: Paul Lusk Senior (Goose's dad) was a PE teacher at Wesclin... I once wrote a letter to the school paper about the inability of the school principle to handle adversity, but Mr. Lusk somehow misread it and thought I had written about him. He brought me into his office and laid into me, saying "I think when my sister died, I handled that pretty well". He had the biggest hands I've ever seen on a man. I briefly considered not typing that story because I'm still scared of him.