The Brandon Paul Game

Tuesday's IL-Ohio St. game didn't start until 8 PM. I was telling myself that I just couldn't go because it was too late. I get so keyed up during games that I wouldn't be able to go to sleep until really late so I needed to do the smart thing and stay home, watch the game, and try to go to sleep quickly after. I mean we were probably going to lose by a lot right? We didn't have much of a chance.

BUT

I just couldn't get it out of my head that they had a chance. This year's team is young and have been in almost every game so far. I knew they'd get up for this and what if they played the game of their lives and I stayed at home to go to bed early??!? I've been saying all year that we'll win some we're not supposed to win and lose some we're not supposed to lose. So far, that hadn't held true but it might that night. I'm always pretty positive about IL sports so I tend to always think they have a chance and that optimism certainly paid off. I just didn't want to regret it. So I didn't. I threw my hands up and said, "I'm going." Doesn't matter, I'm going. I might be tired but if they win it will be worth it.

And it was. By the end of the game, I couldn't even hold the camera still enough to take a decent picture.




When BP air balled the first shot, I turned to my friend who came with me and told her that wasn't a good sign. If there was going to be a person on this team who was going to carry us to a win, it had to be him. DJ was hurt, ML was going up against Sully, and no one else has that kind of star power. Thankfully, though he figured it out. In person, I just kept looking at the scoreboard and thinking "He's almost got half our points!? Can this keep going? Is this even possible?" Yes it was. It was amazing. I'll never regret it. I didn't get to sleep until after midnight. t was tired the next three days but you couldn't wipe the smile off my face. If I needed a little extra energy, I just thought about the game. It pumped me up and woke me up pretty darn fast. My great friend did manage to get these clear pictures for me though. Her hands weren't quite as shaky.





Never been a more proud Illini fan.