Silly Putty

Wouldn't you know it--biggest game of the year and I forgot my glasses.

I was prepared to a "t" for the Briggs Athletic Center invasion of the Duke Blue Devils last night. Ate a healthy dinner, spent extra time combing my hair. Even wore a jacket and tie for the occasion. After all, it isn't every day that a top-20 powerhouse comes to play the local heroes.

You know the punch line by now. When I took my courtside seat I discovered that though I was dressed to kill, I probably couldn't pull off the crime due to my basic lack of vision.

I soon discovered the decided advantages of my forgetfulness. In my blurred eye, the contest surpassed basketball to become an epic struggle in dream-like quality. Two armies jousted on the court in that hazy texture so familiar from TV. dream sequences.

When Duke forward John Smith took a pass down low and jammed it home for the first hoop of the game, his move became an act of classical athleticism. And when Crimson Co-Captain Keith Webster squeezed in a dipsy-do-lay-up, it had the flavor of a Renoir.

Viewed from this vantage point, or rather lack-of-vantage point, the game was stripped of mere score and time constraints (I couldn't read the scoreboard, anyhow). Instead, good battled evil in a decidedly uneven match-up.

Harvard was giving away about four inches and 30 pounds at every position. Crimson sophomore Mike Gielen gave it his usual all-out performance--even taking a charge with five seconds remaining and all faint hope of victory extinguished--but at 5-ft., 10-in. he was simply too short to perform effectively in traffic.

Duke was the NCAA runner-up last season, and its skill and prowess is realistically the main reason that a bang-out crowd of 3000 showed up at Briggs. Still, Harvard did itself proud with a gutty performance.

"I told the guys at halftime that a lot of the things we've been doing this year have had nothing to do with talent," Harvard Coach Pete Roby said, and he was exactly right. Opponents have consistently come away from Crimson games mumbling about Harvard's unparalleled hustle.

Combine Duke's skill, Harvard's determination and my diminished eyesight, and you've got the perfect ballgame. The sleek and the valiant stood out, while the errant passes and air-balled hook shots could be overlooked mercifully.

Still in the picture was the tough play of Harvard freshman big man Malcom Hollensteiner, who filled a season-high nine minutes with quality play. Still, there was Co-Captain Arne Duncan's 20-points-worth of smooth shooting, Tedd Evers' 17 as he fearlessly threw himself at the Duke tall trees time and again, and Kyle Dodson's 14.

The Duke highlight film from last night was even brighter, topped without question when super-leaper Billy King soared through--or rather, above--the lane to slam home a rebound.

Not everything was beautiful at the ballet, though. Seven-ft. reserve Duke center Martin Nessley got most of his game-high 25 points just by being big. Of course, he was bigger than anyone else in the house, so maybe he deserved it.

Anyway, the dream sequence ended right on key. After Gielen drew the offensive foul, the ball was in bounded to Duncan who let fly a 22-ft. three-pointer. The shot sliced gracefully through the nets as the final buzzar sounded, completing the whole epic masterpiece.

All of which, you'll have to admit, is a lot nicer than a 12-point loss.