Sunday, March 19, 2000
How about those scrappy little Bearcats
BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NASHVILLE — If the team formerly known as Number One wins today without Kenyon Martin, America will be applauding UC's courage and dancing to the beat of its big heart.
If the Bearcats beat Tulsa, their rallying cry will go national: “This Tourney's 4 You.” There won't be a dry shooting eye in the house. For the perceived Bad Boys of the 90s, there will be much love.
“I wouldn't know how to react to that,” Ryan Fletcher said.
Who would? The stereotype, hatched during the Final Four run in '92, has assumed a life of its own. You know: “The team everybody loves to hate,” Fletcher explained. “The bad guys, the thugs from Cincinnati.”
A win today might change all that. America loves a good story. Every year, there is no better story than March Madness. Sometimes, you think the NCAA Tournament is directed by Steven Spielberg, based on a script by Frank Capra: It's A Wonderful Month.
Television caught Martin dabbing his eye with a towel Friday, before player introductions. If UC can get past Tulsa, television will wear out Martin's sad, noble story. And Mr. and Mrs. Hoop Nation will sit up and say, “You mean Cincinnati has players who graduate? That are classy, gracious people? Who don't loot and pillage? Really?”
Huggins' best chance
Martin isn't merely the best player in the country. He is the defining player of Bob Huggins' 11 seasons in Clifton. Martin is who Huggins wants all his players to be: Workers, learners, strivers. Impossibly competitive.
The coach has felt picked upon nationally ever since the '92 Final Four, when it was suggested UC got too good, too quickly to be legitimate. If you want Huggins to boil, compare his program unfavorably to Duke's.
A run now might change that. A little national love for the Bearcats. That would be Mad.
It's funny. With Martin playing, Sunday's game would have been the biggest of Huggins' career. The recent history of second-round defeats, versus the potential of Huggins' best team. A player of the year. At least three sure NBA draft picks. Huggins may never have passed that way again.
Now, UC enjoys the role of second-seeded ... underdog.
America's Team
The players still believe nobody beyond Cincinnati loves them. They pulled into their familiar us-against-them space Thursday. They nestled into the same old bunker, possibly out of habit.
Jermaine Tate watched sports on TV all morning Saturday, and saw no mention of UC. “When Kenyon was playing, we were on every channel,” Tate said.
“Nothing's changed,” Pete Mickeal said. “We're one of the quote-unquote bad boys of college basketball. The Oakland Raiders or whatever.”
Said Steve Logan, “Now they think we'll go out again in the second round. I always think people are against us.”
The UC shoulder-chip grows every year at this time. The later in March, the bigger the chip. As Fletcher said, “We've grown accustomed to it. We're comfortable with it. It makes winning that much more enjoyable. It's one thing to want to win. It's another to want to win because somebody wants you to lose.”
Only that's not how it is now. Anyone who has noticed how magnificently Martin has handled his disappointment would have to pull for the Bearcats.
“A tear, huh?” asked Mickeal. “That's sweet.”
UC: America's sweetheart.
“I'm sure there are some people who would like to see us do well,” Fletcher said. “That could be the positive thing that comes out of this. We're not who we've been labeled.”
Logan summed it up: “You feel sorry for (Martin), because of the kind of person and player he was.”
The secret's out. Cincinnati has players you can like. Occasionally, you might even root for them. Brace yourself, America.
Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at (513) 768-8454.
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