Ivy Hoops Save Far From Heaven Break

Having spent parts of the last five months with Ivy League basketball on my mind, spring break presented itself as not only a break from school, but also from a season that has been hard to cover as a journalist and hard to stomach as a fan.

Balking at the opportunity to act like a college student and celebrate when there is nothing worth celebrating, I packed my bags last week for Washington, D.C., and spent my break being interviewed and pounding the pavement on Capitol Hill, looking for a job. I assure you, there were no MTV crews in sight for the hullabaloo that never did ensue.

I am sure many of you stayed up all night because some nicely tanned member of the opposite sex from Florida State wanted to dance or play strip poker. I, on the other hand, was up all night because the DC Metro Police were setting off what they called "flash-bang" grenades all night to prevent a man who had driven a tractor into a pond near the Washington Monument and my hotel from falling asleep. Why they didn't borrow a tranquilizer gun from the National Zoo is beyond me, but that is neither here nor there. Frankly, this entire introduction is neither here nor there.

The point of this column is that basketball saved my spring break. Believe it or not, Ivy League basketball saved my spring break.

On Thursday afternoon, in the men's room in the Southwest terminal at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport I saw a familiar face. At first I thought that maybe it was someone I knew in high school or a family friend, but then I realized it was none other than Earl Hunt.

The first team All-Ivy guard, fully decked out in an ugly brown warmup suit, wasn't alone. In the terminal, fresh off a 89-73 loss to Virginia in the first round of the NIT, was the entire Brown basketball team, huddled around a small television, watching the NCAA tournament while waiting for a flight back to Providence. This was my wake-up call that my break was over, the stars had re-aligned, and I was back on a collision course with Ivy League basketball.

We watched the first half of the NC State-California game quietly before I boarded my plane to Hartford and left the Bears to enjoy the buzzer-beater that would come an hour later as I was touching down in the former insurance capital of the world and the Bears were about to board their plane. Between games and this chance encounter, I have seen Earl Hunt seven times in my life, and although I wouldn't last 30 seconds in Ivy League basketball, I felt like I saw an old friend. Hunt and I share the knowledge that Ivy League basketball offers purity unrivaled anywhere. I carry a hope that the excitement he and his teammates brought to Providence this year can be topped in the not-so-distant future at Columbia.

If you have seen the movie Far From Heaven, you might think you know Hartford, despite the fact that none of the movie was shot there. That movie title, however, aptly conveys my level of excitement over spending the end of my break in the Hart-beat.

Although far from heaven for much of the two days there, while I was still thinking about my imaginary friend from Florida State, I took a step closer to paradise for two hours of my stay, when to my surprise I learned that CBS had allotted the Penn-Oklahoma State game to the viewing public in the Constitution State.

Watching Ugonna "Eat That" Onyekwe drop 30 points against a team from a power conference that was ranked in the Top 10 at points in the season answered any doubts about whether he has NBA potential, but the team's balanced performance in a deceptively close 77-63 loss accentuated the level of success that is possible within the Ivy League.

The excitement visible in the entire crowd--not just among the Penn fans--as the mid-major school with no scholarships took on a legendary program with Final Four aspirations was invigorating and should be the goal we strive for here in Morningside.

Our basketball program is clearly in a state of flux, and despite the emotions connected to jettisoning the leader of Levien Loonies for the past eight years, these are exciting times for Columbia basketball.

Upon returning to campus and beginning to hear names of potential candidates to replace Armond Hill, I knew that break was over. But I'm excited to be back, and, like the rest of campus, I am excited to see what outcome the coaching search arrives at. After a season where fans filled Levien to support a team that provided little cause for cheer, I only hope that the search committee remembers how exciting Ivy League basketball can be and honors the aspiration of bringing that atmosphere to Columbia by hiring a coach who can, either through his background or passion for Columbia, immediately infuse the community with a sense of enthusiasm.

In Your Fayce appears alternate Wednesdays. Send any comments to sports@columbiaspectator.com.