Michigan vs. Louisville NCAA Tournament Game 6 Open Thread

Once more unto the breach, dear friends....

Not only keeping with the front page style, but I feel that way. I'm pretty live and let live on threads. But I might have fought someone for this one tonight. I'm taking no chances.  I even had subs tonight. Because I bet it's going to get crazy. Liveblog is up on the front page, so if there are zero posts in this thread, that's fine. It exist. (Oh, and you can check out the Gameday open thread till this game really gets started).

It's funny how 2 and a half hours, plus commercials, can bring such misery or joy, over how a ball bounces.  Both teams here have accomplished a lot. But only one gets to go home happy.  For every person who loves this team and thinks "we're due" there's a Louisville fan thinking the same.  Programs, recently overshadowed by their in-state rival, trying to win their first national championship since the late 80's, with a coach trying to set a historic personal milestone and prove their ranking among the elite. And someone is going to end very unhappy.  So it's time to seize the day. Better them than us.

Because one of these opportunities may not come along for awhile.  It doesn't have to be 20 years of darkness to not get back to this point; it's really hard, and you can be good for a good long while and not have the perfect mesh of players who come together in the right year, the right amount of chemistry and luck in big Tournament games, and things belong your control like some opposing team who is just better than you that year.

Is Louisville that team?  We'll know before the night is done. But we should try and enjoy every player and play tonight, because we have no idea how many of these guys will be back.  And while I expect we'll always be good under John Beilein, there's no guarantee we get back this far, even fielding good team after good team.  If you had told a young me that after going 3 out of 5 years and back to back that we wouldn't be back till I was 20 years older, I don't know that I'd have believed it. We were Michigan. And we will be; a new generation will get to experience that from this day forward. I just hope they also don't have to experience the agony of losing one of these things. There's not much in sports worse. But only with great risk can come great reward.......

We are here. Louisville may be the better team, but we have the better players; and while Pitino does a great job when you consider recruiting and everything, I think we have the better X&O coach.  One day to prepare. Time for them to shine in the short turnaround. Play for 40 minutes, leave it all on the court, and have no regrets.  And bring home the ring and the banner, and fire up the pep rally and parade. I want to watch One Shining Moment and be happy. 5 down, only 1 to go.  Let's do this. Go Blue!