Rozner: Loyola fans will find getting to the Final Four is not enough
It's all a big hoot.
You get off the plane in a warm clime, look for the nearest golf course and feel secure in the knowledge that you've already busted 99 percent of the brackets.
That's how it feels to root for Cinderella. With each step forward, you believe you're satisfied. You keep telling yourself it's great just to get that far.
That's how I felt when NIU busted the BCS and reached the Orange Bowl five years ago.
The flippin' Orange Bowl. Still crazy to even write those words.
I traveled to Florida for a good time. Play some golf, watch a few horses at Gulfstream, see some old college buddies at a party and celebrate getting somewhere we never expected to be.
That was the first 24 hours. And then came the unexpected.
Within sight of Sun Life Stadium, it ceased being only a party. When you see your school name on banners draping the stadium, your school colors on half the bunting, it becomes much more than just a good time.
It's a football game. A real football game. And a big one at that. It's New Year's Day. It's a bowl game on New Year's Day.
Just that quickly, the adrenaline kicks in and there's a serious desire to win the game — not just show up, not just compete.
No longer is it a thrill to be invited. Pregame is not a slugfest. You want to be coherent for the actual game.
You think about the possibilities, what it would mean to win the game.
You watch Florida State run onto the field and start warming up and you marvel at their size and speed. Yikes.
Once they flip the coin, it's real now. The month leading up has been a celebration. Now, it's real.
But the Florida State defense is just too much. NIU stays in the game and is down a score late in the third with the ball in FSU territory. A turnover kills the drive.
It's a two-score game with 11 minutes left, and again on FSU's side of the 50 a turnover ends the game.
Heck of a run. Heck of a night. Heck of a season.
Thrill of a lifetime because it was so unexpected.
The Final Four in San Antonio will be like that for any Loyola fan thinking it is just enough to get there, that a great night on the River Walk and a tour of the Alamo will be sufficient.
What you'll find is it's not enough to just get there, that crashing the ball seems like the coolest thing ever until the second half of the semifinal game when you have a chance to beat Michigan and advance to the championship game.
Just that fast, it's not enough to be invited. You grasp the magnitude of it all, and then winning is all that matters.
Loyola's story is a great one, and a loss in either game will not diminish this incredible feat or the dream season.
But finishing it off matters to those who live and die with the team. Prepare yourself for that moment and embrace the tension of something grandiose.
You just never know if you'll get another chance.
brozner@dailyherald.com
• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.