Let’s cut right to the chase. The Penn State men’s basketball team is the NIT champions and they won the game in dominating fashion, 82-66, over Utah at Madison Square Garden, ”The World’s Most Famous Arena” in front of what was essentially a home crowd.
Did I tell you that the NIT stands for “Now It’s Time?”
The NIT Championship is back at Penn State for the second time in less than a decade, which is actually a great accomplishment, considering this team and staff should have been at the NCAA big dance. It would have been easy for them to throw in the towel after being snubbed by the NCAA tourney committee, but they battled back and won big games on the road against Notre Dame and Marquette before dismantling Mississippi State on Tuesday when it seemed like every shot went in. Then of course it was on to the finals.
Now It’s Time to: celebrate Lamar Stevens Most Outstanding Player performance; recognize Shep Garner‘s new record for three point shots (passing former Lion great Pete Lisicky); give a shout out to Josh Reaves who stepped it up in MSG; say thank you and good luck to Tony Carr as he hopefully heads to the NBA; congratulations to Coach Patrick Chambers and his staff; and a big congratulations to all the gritty players that sealed the deal and brought home the hardware.
Now It’s Time to also say goodbye and thank you to the “Team Mom,” Kim Pinder-Garner, although I am sure she will stay in touch with the program. Now it’s Time to say thanks for all the mutually beneficial PR from the presence of Shep’s cousin, rapper Flavor Flav, who brought energy to the arena, especially for the students. Now It’s Time for Penn State basketball to capitalize on this success and take the program to the next level.
So now that I got all of the congratulations and goodbye’s off my to do list, Now It’s Time to tell you my personal story of why the NIT was so important to me and the real reason why I came up with the alternate acronym.
It all started with my 17-year-old son, Ryan, a huge college basketball fan, wanting to go support the team against Mississippi State last Tuesday at MSG. He was dead serious and my wife and I quickly dismissed the thought of taking him out of school for a day and driving into NYC. Not my idea of a good use of time considering I would have had to cancel four meetings and miss a fundraising dinner that Heidi and I had committed to weeks ago.
So we watched the game as a family and were having a blast seeing the guys drain almost every shot and running backdoor passing plays and alley-oops seemingly at will. High fives were flying between Ryan and I and even Barkley the Dog was getting excited.
Now Ryan was more determined to go to the championship game. “Dad, we have to go. It’s the Garden, the world’s most famous arena!” My response was simple: “Sorry bud, but it doesn’t work in my schedule. I would have to cancel a webinar and a meeting Thursday and I need to be in Pittsburgh on Friday for a lunch meeting. It just doesn’t make sense.” Ryan persisted to the point of me raising my voice to say, “Enough!”
The next morning I received a text from longtime friend and rabid Penn State athletics supporter Sam Bernstine with an article about the outcome of the game. So here was the conversation we had following his initial text:
Joe: “What a game, eh?”
Sam: “One more win Joe, one more win!”
Joe: “My son wants to go so badly but I have meetings Thursday and in Pittsburgh Friday, Argh!”
Sam: “Reschedule if possible as you never know when you will have this opportunity with your son again! He will remember it forever, especially if you reschedule. Just my 2 cents…”
Joe: “Unfortunately this meeting in Pgh. has been rescheduled 3 times. It’s with a board member from a Foundation and we are asking him to personally support a project and be the honorary chair to help raise more from others. Plus I have my tax meeting with my accountant on Saturday morning and still need to prep! Timing is everything!”
Sam: “How about Heidi taking him?”
Joe: “Trying to find a bus tour option for him and see if a friend could join him.”
Sam: “You are always at least 1 step ahead of me.”
The texting stopped and I reread Sam’s message imploring me to change my schedule and spend the time with my son. The guilt started building up inside me. I contacted Heidi and told her that Now It’s Time for me to do the right thing and go to the NIT championship with our son. She didn’t hesitate and agreed.
I contacted PSU basketball booster president Paul Tomczuk to see if there were still seats available. Paul’s son Matt and Ryan played golf for State High the past few years and Paul understood my sense of urgency to make this happen for Ryan. Fortunately there was still space on the bus and tickets available with the group.
I informed Ryan and of course he was elated, so I was back in the running for father of the year. Well, not quite but he was psyched.
I texted Sam and said, “Well my friend, at your urging I am joining my son on the booster bus to go to the NIT final. Thanks for reminding me what really matters!”
Sam: “AWESOME! You really are a great father and this will be a special moment that you and your son will always cherish together the rest of your life! ENJOY the game, but more importantly enjoy the time together and especially that father/son time on the bus together….”
Joe: “Thank you Sam! Heidi is staying behind to work and take care of the dog so kudos to mom too!”
Sam: “Joe, this article is long, but given what I know of you and given the discussion we had earlier this morning about father and son, PLEASE read this entire article BEFORE you get on the bus with your son today!”
Joe: “Will do!”
The article, from The Players’ Tribune, was called “The Tree.” Written by former Duke basketball player and assistant coach Jeff Capel, it’s all about his relationship with his father who died this past November after a battle with ALS, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” When I read the article I fought back tears.
Sam was right. You never know what tomorrow will bring. I spent two years away from my family when I was in Buffalo and am not afraid to admit it was the loneliest time of my life. The time away from Ryan was especially difficult as it was his middle school years. I have always felt a certain amount of guilt that I was away during that formative time.
The trip was absolutely awesome and even better because we got to spend time with my good friend Dave Reese and his daughter Christen, Shawn Hinkle and former hockey players Paul Daley and Chris Hastings, a former teammate that I haven’t seen in more than 30 years. Ryan tells everyone those are the best seats he’ll probably ever sit in at MSG, as we were in row 9 at mid-court.
So the NIT championship run ended well for our Nittany Lions and thanks to good friend Sam Bernstine, I was reminded Now It’s Time to be with my son.
