Wednesday, March 02, 2005

a long, cold summer.

Wow. The season is over. I can't believe it's already March. Six months goes pretty fast, I guess.

Our men's team had its final game on Monday night in what could be a harbinger of the future in the Mid-Con tournament. Oral Roberts may have won this game, but we may see them again. That could be a stellar game. IUPUI doesn't have the inside game it had last season, but it is a quick, quick team with deadly outside shooting. I hope they bring their A game to Tulsa.

For me, the last game of the season is always bittersweet. I always feel like I'm just getting into the swing of things with announcing just as we shut it down. it's always a privilege and an honor to work the table. We keep bugging the SIDs for our own page in the media guide. Alas, they have held steadfast in their denial of our hopes and dreams.

Senior Night is always an anomoly because we have TONS of announcements to rip through. Overall, it went pretty well. Unlike a couple seasons ago, I've learned to relax and not grip up if the timeline needs to change on the fly. I'm getting better at being an instrument of the game. Still, I need to always remember to focus. You'd think, after nine years of doing this, that I'd not get freaked out by the sound of my own voice over the P.A. You'd be wrong.

My favorite thing this season was, without a doubt, the pep band announcement. We have several boilerplate announcements that I have all but committed to memory; such is the case with the pep band announcement, which goes a little something like this (feel free to read aloud to achieve the full effect):

The IUPUI Intercollegiate Athletics Department would like to thank the IUPUI Music Department for their sponsorship of The Bend Band. The Pep Band is comprised of IUPUI students under the direction of David Copeland.

Twice a game I read that. This year -- I don't recall which game -- I switched it up a bit and said, "...under the expertise of David Copeland." Later on, expertise gave way to expert tutelage. I don't even know how or why it started, but it became a thing where I'd alwys key on Dave's name. I think it all started when I called him "Diamond Dave" Copeland. Throughout the season he was, among others:

* misunderstood genius, David Copeland
* billionaire playboy, David Copeland
* under the ironfisted regime of David Copeland
* ...of David "don't call me Doc Severinson" Copeland
* evil genius, David Copeland
* under the P. Diddy-esque direction of David Copeland
* David "Chocolate Thunder" Copeland (makes me laugh to this day)
* The next American Idol, David Copeland
* J. Lo's new husband David Copeland

The list goes on and on and I honestly don't remember them all. Half the time I made it up on the fly. But now, I've started a thing so I've got to start keeping a list for next season.

My favorite part of that is it got the band into it and some of the folks in the crowd. I'm not one to over-do it on yucking it up, but I do think you can be funny if you're clever and well-timed with it.

The David Copeland segment was my favorite all season long.

I already miss this season. It's a long, cold summer to basketball season. How long to November?