This weekend, I experienced something that most people never will. My son Nick played in a Division 1 basketball game. He wore #40 for the Michigan State University Spartans and played 2 minutes in a 96-66 win over Eastern Michigan. The Spartans have an excellent team this year – they are currently ranked #2 in the nation after coming off 2 straight Final Fours – yet Nick made the roster as a walk-on.
The most important thing in my life is the success and well-being of my two sons. Most of my life the last couple decades has revolved around them and I often take more joy in their successes than in my own.
I have followed Michigan State sports for even longer. MSU is my alma mater and I have supported and defended her athletic teams through good times and bad the past 30 years.
Friday night in East Lansing with 2 minutes to go in the game, two of my favorite things were mystically combined into a new ultra-super-awesome-mega-favorite thing, that was greater than the sum of its parts. It was like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups times 1,000 – It was my son and my favorite team.
I will never forget the moment my son’s name was announced and he ran onto the Breslin Center court. What he did during those 2 minutes was unremarkable and unimportant. The fact that he was out there, wearing the Green and White and 15,000 fans were cheering for him (none more than this one) is important and remarkable.
I am enormously proud of Nick for the hard work he put into getting here. And I am grateful for this gift he has given me.
f