A poem:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Northwestern basketball stinks
I don’t know what else to tell you

The Wildcats (0-10 in the Big Ten)! The Buckeyes (7-4 in the conference)! Valentine’s Day eve! Keep up with North by Northwestern’s liveblog, starting at 8 p.m.

Pregame

The arena looks very Valentine-appropriate tonight, one side dominated by the red-and-white of Ohio State supporter, the other blanketed by purple. Reminds me of a limited edition bag of M&Ms, or maybe a taping of the Ellen show. Suprisingly full though, except the student section. Nothing stunning there.

Funny thinking OSU played in the national championship game last year, but this season aren’t nearly as good, and are actually one of the more likely upset targets the ‘Cats could picture. Not saying they will, but you never know. I expect a very close game.

First Half

20:00 - Hey, need a reason to hate Ohio State, besides the whole always-good at sports thing, the “The” deal and generally being stupid? One knucklehead screamed out “O” during the National Anthem (at the appropriate part), and I’m not uber patriotic or anything, but it’s really annoying. Save it for the game, you slug. Oh yeah, they play basketball, lets get to the game. Coach Carmondy gets serenaded with scattered boos when introduced…yikes, guy better get something right this season.

19:41 - Good start for NU, picking up a loose ball. Juice Thompson gets the offense going right with a big three. But Ohio State responds in kind, hitting a three of their own. I’m telling you this is going to be good. Sterling Williams puts the ‘Cats up by two.

17:44 - Northwestern lets the Buckeyes unleash a monster dunk on them, and then violate the 10-second rule. Ohio State takes the lead. Craig Moore drills a three though, NU back on top. Usually, the Wildcats resemble newborns when shooting lots of three flailing about and missing most of them, but they look solid so far. Where NU isn’t so good? Size. Another Buckeye dunk.

15:22 - Wow, what suprises me most about the young game here so far is how physical it’s getting. The teams are bumping and grinding like a couple on V-Day (bad analogy, but you get it). I’m calling at least two fistfights. Another big shock is Northwestern doesn’t look half-bad so far tonight. Can they keep this going, that’s another matter.

14:52 - NU commits another 10-second violation. Nobody gets called on those. Northwester got two in a five minute span. Just stupid play by NU.

13:01 - Jeremy Nash fouled while driving to the hoop, gets two shots. Sinks them both. Buckeyes nail a three. NU rushes the ball across the mid-court line, to avoid drawing another 10-second violation. Smartest decision of the night, and the ‘Cats look good tonight. Kevin Coble makes his first shot of the night, a pretty one from about the free-throw line. OSU turns it over, Juice scores. Surge by the ‘Cats. The Buckeyes getting to acustomed to taking threes, starting to miss them more.

10:12 - The NU men’s soccer team being honored. Great stuff, but can you believe there is a Major League Soccer team called the Red Bulls? After the energy drink? What a pathetic league.

9:55 - Jeremy Nash just slammed the ball home. Welsh-Ryan goes bonkers, and admittedly so, I haven’t seen someone on purple dunk since…well…I don’t know. And Craig Moore makes the joint even louder by giving NU the lead. OSU hits a three, but this place still feels electric.

7:58 - Am I blind or is this new? An ad panel opposite press row. An ad for the new Will Ferrell movie Semi-Pro glares right into my soul. I’m terrified.

7:49 - The 10-second violation deal has really messed up NU. Everyone in the stands references it, and you can tell the players have it on their minds. Which would explain the ‘Cats wild passes, a panicked reaction to breaking the rule again. NU looks super sloppy now – the crew keeps making ugly passes and putting up Bush-style lame duck shots. Juice Thompson is having a killer game so far. He just hit an NBA-distance three. If only it counted for more. And Jeremy Nash, also playing crazy tonight, leaps up and snatches the ball mid-pass. Gorgeous.

3:33 - HOLY EXPLETIVE JEREMY NASH JUST BLOCKED AN OSU DUNK ATTEMPT AND THAT’S THE NU PLAY OF THE YEAR. Welsh-Ryan went bannanas on that. Nash really showing his mettle tonight. Who cares OSU slowly extends their lead?

2:36 - Kevin Coble gets a shot of his own blocked. Don’t forget, the Buckeyes are pretty gosh-darn big. Coble has been quiet this half. Not so quiet? The crowd, who have been more energetic than at any point this season. I really, really mean that. Shame noise doesn’t equal points. Ohio State hist yet another big three.

0:00 - Welsh-Ryan rocking here as we head into the half. Craig Moore elevated and hit a big three at the buzzer, helping the otherwise-floundering ‘Cats corrall some momentum heading into halftime. One of the better halves of basketball the arena has seen this year, and Northwestern has a chance of…will I really write this…winning (gulp). Stay tuned, NU may get lucky this Valentine’s Day.

Second Half

20:00 - And we’re back, for what may end up being NU’s last chance this season to win a Big Ten game. I really mean this. Craig Moore ignites the placee once again, setting the place off with a three. A one point game, though OSU just buffered thir lead with a few free-throws.

18:44 - NU could be running away with this game if Kevin Coble was playing at the beast-like levels he usually plays at. He isn’t, but NU hangs around. The ‘Cats defense needs to step up though, as the Buckeyes seem to get two each possession.

16:45 - Do I dare say…Kevin Coble actually may be the weakest link for the ‘Cats tonight. He’s not handling the ball well tonight at all. Juice goes to the line after being slammed down a la WWE, and Jeremy Nash, the young firecracker who instantly draws big screams from the crowd comes in.

15:25 - The Wildcats have been relying a lot less on the Princeton Offense tonight, and they’ve looked a lot better for doing it. Their last possession, where they milked the clock down before taking a typically ugly shot, reminded me just how stupid the strategy is. Jeremy Nash steals an OSU ball and lays it up. This kid is TNT tonight, and the student section sounds estatic. Another important note – the refs are doing a very lax job watching action under the basket. The Buckeyes are getting away with some rough offensive stuff.

12:10 - I didn’t know NU basketball fans could get so passionate about this team. Every play, ever action draws some sort of reaction. The place loses it after Kevin Coble is called for traveling. To be fair, he did travel. Not a good night for the big guy, and he actually is hurting the ‘Cats a lot tonight. Still ten minutes to turn it around, though.

11:56 - Traveling on Ohio State. Refs starting to call some on the guys in red now.

11:12 - Kevin Coble scores, showing a good amount of restraint in not trying to force anything. ‘Cats down by three, and Ohio State just got away with a big-time shove. And, of course, they hit a three.

9:46 - This game is starting to unravel a bit for the Wildcats. Ohio State starting to just physically overpower NU (though, I still think the refs aren’t doing a good job with this game). OSU might just be stronger than NU physically. The arena lost a little energy over the past few minutes. Still hope though.

7:41 - Northwestern just can’t grab any rebounds. And it isn’t because they are incompetent at basketball, as is usually the case. The Buckeyes are just…big. Really agrivating and, as OSU hits another three, the main feeling of NU basketball envelops Welsh-Ryan arena, that sinking sense that, regardless of how much you hope, everything’s about to crumble apart.

5:08 - The Buckeyes aboslutely have taken total control of this game now. Northwestern looks like they used everything up in the first half, and are running on empty now. Nobody even cheers the usual clap-worthy announcement NU has the third most assists in the Big Ten. This place feels dead now.

3:49 - Never discredit the power of a free t-shirt. Welsh-Ryan rocking again…for free clothes.

3:20 - If otherwise happy suprise Jeremy Nash has one weakness, it is three-shooting. His distance shots look pretty bad. He could learn something from OSU, who have made roughly a billion threes in a row now. And maybe he did! Nash just got a three! And OSU gets another…

:44 - Students chanting “fire Carmondy.” What horrid fans, at least for tonight. NU hung in their amazingly for a half, and have simply been wiped out by a bigger team. Sports fans may be the most greedy and least understanding people you ever meet.

0:00 - Tonight’s game reminded me, to my great displeasure, of the worst type of infatuation a person can have for another human. You go into the ordeal grimly, knowing nothing you want is ever going to bloom. But you do it anyway, out of dumb optimism or routine or…something. And then, the deadliest feeling of all overtakes you: hope. The situation looks different, feels different. The person (or, in tonight’s case, the team) you love looks at you differently, and for a shining bit, everything seems like it’s going to turn out well, that happy endings do exist. You get excited.

And then the cold truth hits: it just can’t happen, and you’re left empty and downtrodden, realizing everything is going back to normal.

I’ve seen a lot of close games while at NU, and have felt stung by a lot of losses, but this is the only NU loss to make me depressed. Because the Wildcats gave it their all…and their all wasn’t remotely as good as Ohio State’s. Craig Moore shot great threes, Jeremy Nash looks like a stud-in-the-making and Juice Thompson slashed as valiantly as one can to score two measly points. And yet this game wasn’t close. No need to assign blame or seek out a scapegoat – tonight was inescaple universal dissapointment played out on a basketball court. This is what it means to be an NU basketball fan, beliveing so hard in something seemingly impossible.

Happy Valentine’s Day.