Ode to the 2012-13 Indiana Hoosiers

The Greatest Indiana Hoosiers Basketball Season I Ever Saw
© 2013 by Mark Newman
Indiana University Alum

Cody, Victor, Christian, Jordy, Yogi, Will, Remy,
All you guys who brought back the magic
Big Ten Champions Outright
Winter into spring a true delight
Final 60 seconds, your warrior fight
Losing to Syracuse was not so tragic.

My Dad, he loved the Kentucky Wildcats
His ashes are on their 50-yard line
That's what he wanted us to do
His closet was filled with only blue
I am like that now with my red gear, too
I understand his passion, and now it is mine.

"Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers!"
I said it several times a day
I said it on Twitter and Facebook
I said it at home and I got that look
I said it every single chance I took
Where it originated I cannot say.

Opposing fans rushing onto their courts
We made them do that and who else could?
When you play a team like this
When you shoot and mostly miss
When you stare into the Btown abyss
The return of Indiana U. is understood.

I saw Oladipo miss an alley-oop dunk
And it is still the greatest thing I ever saw
I saw Hulls rain threes and don a vest
I saw Sheehey at Purdue and he beat his chest
I saw us win at Columbus and knew we were best
The Zeller gene is so amazing it should be against the law.

Dominating Hoosier teams I have seen plenty
They were perfect when I was a teenage boy
We won with Isiah when I was a student there
We won in '87 and no shot could compare
We all loved them and we all had to share
But not until 2012-13 have I felt such joy.

Top-ranked again like back in the day
Pride resurfaced and stripes we showed
No Knight team ever had this style
No Khalif Wyatt could maintain his guile
No more basketball for just a while
Tom Crean and Indiana will just reload.

I had 2 tickets for the East Regional final
Today I sold them to a Syracuse fan
I'm not distraught about it at all
I'm handling it well, this wait till fall
I just witnessed Hoosier Basketball
It is one of the greatest thrills in the life of this man.

They say the test of a human being
Is how one handles adversity and not success.
We went from the top to the bottom
We recruited with hope and we got 'em
We were the team to watch last autumn
Thank you for the greatest season and God Bless.



Photo property of Indiana University. Anyone in this picture who I did not mention in the poem above, like senior Derek Elston and Jeremy Hollowell (you were clutch), I want to thank you as well. You all were the best team I've been privileged to watch.