Let It Snow
I'm a snow guy. I get excited when there's a snowstorm approaching. If there's ever snow in the forecast and suddenly the rain/snow line moves to where I'm getting rain and 20 miles north gets snow, I want to move 20 miles north.
My middle son is similar. I probably made him that way. He lives in the mountains of Idaho and I swear that using the snowblower on his driveway is one of his favorite hobbies. They deal with the snow line out there in the late fall and early spring – "snow above 5,500 feet, rain below" – so he's constantly monitoring the snow line forecast hoping it dips to the elevation of his house (5,200 feet).
When I get to walk into the State Farm Center with snow on the ground, it takes me back to so many winters in the past. Walking across campus in the snow to get to the Assembly Hall. Driving up from St. Louis and seeing the big ol' spaceship rising out of the snowy landscape. Snow = Illinois basketball for me.
It even reminds me of when I somehow convinced my parents to let me drive up to Champaign during the 1989 season (I was 16) to see a game. Maybe it was 1990 because I can't believe my parents would have let me drive to Champaign when I had just turned 16. Either way, I drove up with three high school friends to watch an Illini game on a night just after a morning snowstorm. I remember that we pulled off at the Pesotum rest area and they hadn't plowed the lot yet so we did a few donuts before getting back on the highway. "Don't worry, mom and dad, I'll be SUPER safe."
Tonight, I walked into the State Farm Center with snow on the ground. It's been super cold, so Sunday's snow is still around. Seeing that building surrounded by snow will always give me a warm feeling. There's just something about the bitter cold winds outside and then stepping inside this massive warm building that takes me back to so many basketball games from the last four decades.
Which meant that beating Penn State by 39 created this big "Illinois basketball is ILLINOIS BASKETBALL again" feeling for me. I'm not saying that we're now "back" – we returned the moment Ayo shoved Brad Davison out of the way in 2020 – but the snow + Penn State did create a moment for me. Let me see if I can explain it.