Adam Morrison

I watched the Gonzaga vs. Xavier game tonight a #3 vs #14 seed. Xavier really sucked it up and came to play. They gave Gonzaga a hell of a game.

But Adam Morrison stood in their way. Adam Morrison outside of being a star player has one thing very much in common with me. He is a type-1 diabetic. You can read more about this disease here, it’s not just for fat kids.

Because you have some extra insulin (not mention adrenaline) running through your body it really easy to reach a ZERO (or coma level) blood sugar level when playing sports; should you even reach a 70… you become discombobulated. Twenty minutes on the stairmaster tanks me out. Can’t imagine 40 minutes on the court. I have trouble with the intensity of Dodgeball, Scrabble and walking to the Rite-Aid.

Gonzaga was supposed to walk all over Xavier, but with the game near over Gonzaga still found themselves eight points out. Their last lead was forever ago.

But Adam Morrison stood there unafraid, a sidedraw gunslinger with an insulin pump and a man boy moustache. And this young man played with nothing but passion. Almost as if he was the only guy on the court. Sinking three’s, making his foul shots. A crackpot with a can do attitude, the last fifteen minutes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid… without Butch Cassidy.

Composed.

Intense.

Fierce.

His composure almost got away from him as his intensity banged the ball against his head when the momentum shifted. Taking a BGS test at this point never crossed his mind. I miss that kind of freedom. I miss that kind of confidence.

And single handedly he quashed the threat. The “healthy” people didn’t.

With less than a minute to go, he sank the shot after shot he needed to make. And when Xavier blew their last chance, he motioned to a fellow teammate… “gimme me the ball”

Winners always want the ball. He dribbled with time running out. I expected some kind of showboat chuck the ball into the stadium kinda bullshit. The buzzer went off the ball fell to his feet. Then casually shot it. It was a cross between 4^th grade playground and he suddenly remembering that “this was the first game”

While he is an underdog, the team isn’t. Gonzaga still has a lot more playing to do if they want to win this thing.

Ahh to be young, fearless and indestructable.

I respect that.