Boyhood dream realized at Madness

Column by Austin Schmitt

Every Christmas, TBS runs the famous 1983 movie, “A Christmas Story” for 24 straight hours. It is a staple of my family’s household every Christmas to catch little clips of the movie while flipping through the channels trying to find something else to watch.

In the movie, the main character, Ralphie, dreams of the Red Ryder BB gun as the perfect Christmas present.  Coincidentally, every step of the way he sees somebody who tells him, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”

That didn’t stop Ralphie from getting his Red Ryder BB gun. And on Christmas day, when he ripped open the wrapping paper and saw his dream come true, he became the happiest kid in the world. It brings to mind the phrase, “You’re as happy as a kid on Christmas morning”

On Friday night, I was Ralphie on Christmas morning.

By some stroke of fortune, I found myself sitting on the bench at Big Blue Madness. This column is not enough space to describe the experience I had, but I can certainly try.

Growing up in Kentucky, it’s every little boy’s dream to play basketball for the Wildcats. I certainly had that pipe dream as I put on two shirts, one long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, a winter coat and a toboggan just so I could go out and shoot hoops in the bitter, Kentucky winter weather that usually dips into the teens.

I was that kid who would shoot from my halfcourt driveway with the mental image of a buzzer going off and the national championship on the line thinking I was a member of the UK basketball team.

As I grew older, I wised up and realized that I was only 6 feet tall with no jumping ability and a decent jump shot. I wasn’t exactly getting calls from Tubby Smith everyday.

But one can always dream. I remember staying up late and watching the national championship games in 1996 and 1998, dreaming of the day when I would get my opportunity to cut down the nets.

The dream never came true, but sitting in that arena on Friday night with that atmosphere took me back a few years. It took me back to my backyard where I shot countless jump shots, learned how to shoot a left-handed layup, attempted to slap the backboard, played endless one-on-one games with my older brother and imagined my own Final Four moment.

I have a younger brother who is 11 years old. I see it in his eyes when he talks about wanting to play for UK in the future. Every time I hear him say those words, I think back to my dream when I was his age. I always just smile and tell him he can do it, knowing when I was in his shoes, at that age, I wanted to be a Cat, as well.

As cliché as it sounds, my dream came true on Friday night and it didn’t disappoint. The memories of shooting basketball in the backyard ran circles through my mind as I sat on that bench and watched those players on the court living the dream of every little Kentucky boy. I had written the last chapter of my lifetime of memories in my mind on Friday night and closed the book on my basketball dream.