ron merrrcerrr.........for threeeeee

I hate it when they lose. Most of these boys are younger than I am (a scary thought...) They have such pressure on them - the pressure of an entire state that thrives off of 3 things: bourbon, horse-racing, and basketball. 23,000+ in Rupp, with thousands and thousands more watching, expect these guys to be capable of seemingly impossible things. Not to mention, everyone in the nation is out to get them on the road. Basketball is everything; they must win. And almost always, they do. But when they don't?... Then I stay up at night worrying about them; I just want them to be ok, to not be too upset. I just want them to win next time.

Luckily, alongside all of the pressure comes lots and lots of love. No other place in the country is this obsessed with basketball. No other fans could possibly love their players this much.

My lucky number is 33; it has been since I was in elementary school. Most people just accept that and don't ask questions; why would anyone care about my favorite number, anyway? But I'm about to let you in on a little known secret. I made that my lucky number because it was Ron Mercer's number, and Ron Mercer was awesome. So a year and a half ago when it came time to choose a Twitter name (yes, I have a Twitter), I made it katsmith33. Because 33 was Ron Mercer's number. Obviously.

At the time, I knew next to nothing about Ron Mercer except that he was good. It didn't necessarily have to be him; it could have been any of them. It, essentially, could be any of them now. What is it that makes a seven year old girl, of all people, become so infatuated with a college basketball player that she would make his jersey number her lucky number? That's a bit scary. But let's get real. They were canceling class in SECOND GRADE so we could go to the cafeteria and watch the March Madness games. So what do you expect?

The picture at the top was taken at this year's Penn game, but it's the same as when I went in 1996. I can still hear the announcer. "Ron Merrrcerrr..... FOR THREEEEEEE." Once you hear that, there's no turning back.