To be perfectly honest, I never really thought much of Russ besides the fact that he and Peyton Siva were probably the two people in college basketball that wanted to beat Kentucky the most. They had their chance in the Final Four in 2012, but came up short. However, they had their day in the sun in 2013 and not only beat Kentucky in Louisville, but also won this little tournament in Atlanta.
But what I will remember from that Louisville run a year ago was Russ's reaction to seeing his teammate Kevin Ware go down with that horrific leg injury (which I still have not seen video of, thank you very much). In the moments after Kevin's injury, you can see the emotion on Russ's face and being an emotional guy myself, I could not help but be captivated by his body language. While a great player, Kevin Ware was not pivotal to Louisville's title run. Russ, Peyton, Luke Hancock, and Gorgui Dieng were just fine in that role. Nevertheless, you can see how devastated Russ was to lose his fellow soldier in such a way and I challenge anyone to show me a moment that captures the bond between teammates better.
Competition is a funny thing. You do everything in your power to win and those that challenge you quickly become your mortal enemy. You wish struggle, pain, and suffering on them just to capture a moment of weakness that puts you #1 and them #2. But somewhere along the way you understand that they have as much on the line as you do, they have sacrificed just as much to be there, and in all seriousness, you have much more in common than you might think.
I remember the moment I first understood this concept. It was almost 25 years ago watching WrestleMania VI with my brother. Laugh all you want, but I was 7 and Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior were a big deal in my life. Moreover, the main event that April was to pit two beloved juggernauts head-to-head (the first time in WWF history mind you) in what would become an instant classic in the annals of Pro Wrestling. Watching this back and forth with my brother, we never wanted it to end because we did not want to see one hero win and the other lose. But competition must declare a winner and The Ultimate Warrior finally got his 1-2-3 count on Hogan.
Then magic happened. In a gesture that transcended that single moment in Toronto, Canada, these two titans faced each other as equals and embraced as respected adversaries. Much the way the thousands of fans felt in that arena, my brother and I were captivated by that moment, which no words could articulate. This is by no means the only example of this kind of moment, Larry and Magic have had their moments, McEnroe and Borg theirs. But this is when I understood that to compete with a rival is to respect them and I respect Russ.
So now that Russ has driven to the basket in dramatic fashion for the last time, hit his last 3 with that s*** eating grin, I can say good bye, good luck, and good riddance......but thank you.
Just my thoughts
Match Unleaded
