Mike O'Connell

Seriously?

That was like if at 3 a.m. this past November 9 it somehow magically came true that Hillary won the election in overtime after Trump blew a 25-point third-quarter lead.

Guess I’d rather have the Patriots win it again than I would the Clintons though.

For sure.

April 2, 1990: the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels defeated the Blue Devils of Duke 103-73 in the most lopsided championship game in NCAA Tournament history.

That was the first title game I watched with both anticipation and interest. I taped it that night, and in the years that followed I saw it probably 300 times. I had every word of play-by-play memorized.

It happened to be the final game at CBS for legendary broadcaster Brent Musburger, though the name and voice meant nothing to me at the time.

Last night I watched Kentucky beat Georgia in overtime on ESPN, with a 77-year-old Musburger on the call. Twenty-seven years after that “final” broadcast he was giving his real final broadcast, and this time the name and voice sounded to me like broadcasting manna.

In an era of who can be the loudest on air or in 140 characters, the voice and style of Brent Musburger is a refreshing oasis. Classy to the end, Musburger’s final sign-off last night hit all the right notes. “The Frank Sinatra of broadcasting,” he was called by his EPSN colleagues. That’s not a term I through around lightly, but yeah, that’s pretty much how it is.

I think the best summary of Musburger’s work I heard last night went something like this: You know it’s a big game when Brent Musburger’s on the call.

Yup, that’s it. And last night’s game between Kentucky and Georgia—one-sided on paper though it was—did not disappoint. It’s going into overtime was just God’s way of saying He wanted five more minutes of Brent Musburger.

Just five more minutes, please.

I think that was my excuse to watch that game back in ’90 too.

Last week I said that our local sports teams were “finding their groove,” and I’m happy to announce that not only has this trend not been jinxed, in fact it has accelerated. Heading into the all-star break the Capitals of hockey have the most points in the NHL, following last night’s 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils. That the Caps scored five goals is about as surprising as the sun’s rising these days.

Similarly, the Wizards of basketball have won nine of their last eleven games, and are poised to move within a half game of fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a win tonight over the Atlanta Hawks.

You heard it here first: Caps, Wiz, then Nats. This is the year for D.C. sports.

Dear Dad,

It’s been 10 years since we last got to talk. There hasn’t been a day since that I haven’t thought of you, and I find myself speaking of you often even to those you never got to meet.

First things first, I have some good news: almost three years ago I became a dad myself. I’ve got a little boy named Franklin and he’s the most adorable child ever. Also he can also drive you nuts. For Pete’s sake I hope I didn’t cause you that much grief when I was his age. We get to have so much fun together, though, that it’s all worth it. I’m remembering now things that you and I did 30 years ago I can do with him and it makes me smile. Things I had long ago forgotten are coming back to me. Remember when I used to jump on your bed and we’d play the game “crash”? Okay, it’s not really an actual game but Franklin loves to climb up on me and crash down to the mattress like I used to. He’ll jump on the bed and look at himself in the mirror and I’ll call him a little monkey and it’s 1985 all over again. Mom and Dad and monkey on a late Sunday morning.

I met my wife about a year after you passed. It wasn’t long after I met her that I knew we’d marry and have a family. I remember once asking you how you knew that Mom was the right person for you and you didn’t really have an answer, just that somehow you knew. Yup, that’s how it happens. My wife’s name is Leia and she is my greatest companion. She is my constant encouragement and the best mother a little boy could have. She knows a lot about you, of course, and she sees you in me every day.

Five years ago I left Binghamton, a move I know we’d discussed many times. Yeah, Binghamton just wasn’t doing it for me anymore and Leia and I decided to move closer to her family. We live in Northern Virginia now and though they’ve got the usual group of morons here there are many people who are genuinely nice and I think it’ll be a good place for Franklin to grow up. Honestly, though, I don’t think you’d like it: everyone here is a terrible driver.

Not long after we moved I started another journey that’s now near its completion. I’m becoming a public school teacher, Dad, endorsed in middle and high school English and social studies. High school English teacher. Real original, I know. Well, over the last 10 years I’ve just become more and more and more like you and I thought I’d make the transformation complete. I started out by teaching kids at our local community center during the summer, then became a substitute teacher during the school year, then a teacher’s aide, and now I’ve just received my official teaching license from the state of Virginia. You and I both tried a few things before we found our calling to be teachers but we found it eventually.

I don’t think I ever told you, Dad, but over the last 10 years I’ve realized more and more how much you meant to me. It’s too bad you had to leave when you did, because I think we were just beginning to have an actual mature, adult relationship. There have been many times over the past decade I wished I could have asked your advice about something but of course you weren’t there. But somehow you were there and I’ve been able to sort of piece together the things we would have talked about and the advice you would’ve given me. Something sunk in and somehow I was able to figure it out, even with you not here. I remember what you said in that last meaningful conversation we had, just a few days before you were gone, that things were going to happen I didn’t expect or plan on, and I would have to deal with them. There have been plenty of such occurrences and your advice has been most appropriate.

I’m sorry I didn’t listen more attentively to all your other advice before that, when I was a teenager and probably didn’t think it was so important. Somehow, though, I can hear your voice 20 years later with something that I would have ignored and see now its wisdom. I find myself saying things to Franklin you would have said, or doing things you would have done. It’s scary sometimes, but not in a bad way. Turns out that I turned out just like you: husband, father, teacher. I wasn’t any of those things 10 years ago, yet here I am.

You’re my greatest idol, Dad, and I guess it’s hardly any coincidence that we ended up so much alike. Remember when I was a kid and said I wanted to be like Joe DiMaggio or Frank Sinatra? Over the last 10 years I realize the person I wanted to be was you. I had no better teacher and no better person to emulate than the man who lived right in my own house. I was lucky to have you for a role model even if I didn’t realize it at the time. I wish I had told you then but it took me a while to figure it out. I did, though, and that’s all that matters. You taught me so many wonderful things and somehow you’re still teaching me. How to be a good husband, a good father, generous, fair, honest, and faithful. Franklin’s going to hear all of it, too, of course, because that’s what being a dad is all about.

I learned from the best. Thanks, Dad.

Mikey

Even with Monday’s embarrassing overtime loss in Pittsburgh, the Washington Capitals still finished the day with the most points in the NHL (since tied yesterday by the upstart Blue Jackets). Yes, yes, we’ve seen this narrative before, but ya gotta love a team as hot as the Caps in your hometown.

And don’t look now, but the Caps’ Verizon Center roommates have gone on a bit of a streak as well. Our hometown Wizards have won seven of their last ten and are now holding the fifth place in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

High-scoring wins have brought excitement to D.C. and a flurry of 50% off days at Papa John’s.

Nice to hear some good news coming out of Washington for a change.