I know, it's a pipe dream. So let's jump on the Road to the Final Four and Get On The Same Page, where every game is a Must-Win and Cinderella's Glass Slipper is so often lost, found, shattered and repaired. Let's see whether we can find that Light At The End Of The Tunnel. Let's see how many puns we can make about The Big Dance - just glance at a couple of Donna Summer CDs for multiple options. Apparently first used by a velociraptor, this phrase has morphed through the ages, through the lips of Aretha Franklin and Rodney Dangerfield, all the way into the year 2000.
Players never get tired of saying it.
No one gets enough respect, players think - not even No.1 seeds. It is the Official Phrase of College Basketball. Count on it several times this weekend at the ACC tournament and several hundred more times in the NCAAs. But before we start disrespecting Dick Vitale in this column, look at that guy over there. He Came To Play.