Reflecting On My Favorite Aggie Basketball Team Ever

In Greek mythology, there is the story of Tantalus, who was punished for stealing from Zeus' table (also possibly for cannibalism) by being placed in Tarturus, the deepest part of the Underworld, in a pool of water with an overhanging fruit tree. Whenever Tantalus' hunger drove him to reach for fruit to eat, the branchees of fruit pulled away; whenever he reached down to his feet for water to drink to quench his thirst, the pool became dry. Tantalus' unquenchable thirst and unending hunger was his punishment for infinity. From this story, we get the English word 'tantalize'.

There are many fanbases who seem to view themselves as a modern day version of Tantalus, as fans for whoom the fruit of ultimate victory or the drink of championship success is just out of their reach. Until recently, Boston Red Sox fans and their infamous Curse of the Bambino would have been a perfect example of his phenomenon. Lately, following our second round exit from the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, I have seen a few Aggie fans bemoan our lack of ultimate championship success and claim we are in a group where the ultimate success is just beyond our reach. I think this small but vocal minority is missing the bigger picture, especially with this team.

I have said many tmes that with this particular basketball team, the reason they were so fun to watch was because they played basketball the right way. Donald Sloan, Bryan Davis, Dash Harris, Khris Middleton, Nathan Walkup, David Loubeau, Ray Turner, B.J. Holmes, Naji Hibbert, Derek Lewis, Derrick Roland, Andrew Darko, Shawn Schepel, Marshall Carrell, James Blasczyk; they all played together as a team, unselfishly, each fulfilling their role, not caring who received the credit or who was the star in each game, just as long as everyone did their jobs and the team continued to win. These kids gave it everything they had and left it on the court every time they went out there, and I couldn't be prouder of a group of kids we have ever had represent Texas A&M University.

Donald Sloan, Derrick Roland, Bryan Davis, Shawn Schepel, and Chris Chapman all deserve a great deal of credit as the senior leaders of this team. Davis and Sloan in particular kept this team together after Roland's devastating season-ending injury against Washington; most teams would have faltered after losing their team's best player and team leader so suddenly, but Sloan and Davis stepped into the void and took over the on-court leadership of the team, and kept them moving forward.

Mark Turgeon on Twitter has voiced similar sentments to mine:

I told the team in the locker room last night that I loved them and I never wanted this season to end. They gave me everything they had. 2:13 PM Mar 22nd via Echofon

The 1 thing that is greater than my disappointment over the outcome of the game is my pride in our Sr. Class. They were outstanding all yr. 2:27 PM Mar 22nd via Echofon

My ultimate goal in watching a sports team is seeing team that will give it everything they have every time they go out on the field of competition. I figure if your ultimate goal in watching sports is to watch a championship team, you are going to be disappointed most of the time. Yes, championships are nice, and yes, we all want to see success, but if you ultimate judegment of success is championships, you are missing the point. If you are looking for a national championship for your season to be successful in men's college basketball, you are going to be disappointed a whole lot more than you're going to be satisfied, because winning it all in men's basketball is very, very, very hard. If you see a team go out on the field and play as one, play together as a team, play with chemistry, you're going to see wins happen, but more importantly, you are going to see a team play greater than the sum of its parts; you are going to see a team overachieve. Overachievement is exactly what we saw with this basketball team.

It is important to note when you see teams like this one, because this type of unselfishness and team play doesn't occur often; you seldom see this type of overachievement due to strong leadership and good chemistry, which is what makes it so special. The 1998 Texas A&M football team had that type of winning chemistry, and I think the 2008 texas longhorn football team possessed it, too. As a fan, it makes watching those teams an absolute joy, because you know you are seeing something special every time they take the field or court of competition. The rarity of these teams also makes their last game especially painful, because you never want to see the season end, because you know you will see the end of something special. I have been reflecting on the ending of this basketball season for Texas A&M ever since that last shot by B.J. Holmes fell just short off the rim, because I wasn't ready for this season to be over, I wasn't ready to say good-bye to this great group of kids. This team's belief in each other and unselfishness led to an 11-5 record in Big 12 play and a tie for second place in conference, our second-best conference record ever in Big 12 play. When you look at the fact that this was undoubtedly the strongest year the Big 12 has ever had in men's basketball, it makes what we accomplished all the more amazing.

Our fans who run around claiming that we have Tantalus' fate, that we are starving for championship success, are blinded to the fact that we just experienced a season rarer than winning championships, and in many ways, more satisfying. The 2009-2010 Aggie men's basketball team played the game the right way, the way it was meant to be played, and there is no greater compliment that can be given to them than that.

Davis, Sloan, Roland, Chapman, Schepel, Harris, Holmes, Middleton, Walkup, Loubeau, Turner, Hibbert, Darko, Schepel, and Blaszcyk: Gig'em!! and Thank You.