Not what I expected.

We’ve all had those experiences in which we expect a situation to happen a certain way and things turn out differently. Ever gone into a meeting, situation, whatever expecting things to go badly and been pleasantly surprised? Raise your hands if you’ve experienced that one. (I think we all have.) What about going into a situation thinking it’s going to be absolutely awesome and life-changing, only for things to go really badly, leaving you heartbroken and confused? Dab your eyes and say “Amen!” if you’ve experienced that one. I know I have, more times than I’d like to count and it never hurts any less.

Well, last night, that kind of happened again. I say this in a somewhat joking manner, because the disappointment came in the form of a basketball game, which I realize is just a game, but still. My alma mater, Mizzou, played arch-rival Kansas last night. Let’s just say that I hate Kansas. You can’t really leave the University of Missouri with love for Kansas in your heart. These people who drive around with those divided house license plates denoting a Missouri fan and a Kansas fan as spouses aren’t really fans. (OK, I am joking. Partially. One time, I saw a cute guy at the gym. . .and then I saw his Jayhawk shirt and walked the other way.) I mean, they call this game the Border War for a reason. Mizzou and KU don’t like each other one bit.

I knew that Kansas was the better team. Who’s going to deny that? But I also know that while young and unproven, Missouri is a good team that is often underrated and ignored. And if you’ve ever seen an MU-KU game, you know that anything can happen, no matter how high they’re ranked or how “bad” Missouri is said to be.

But last night we played Kansas at Lawrence. In Phog Allen Fieldhouse on a court named for the inventor of the sport. If you’ve never seen a KU game at Phog Allen, you can’t even imagine the intimidation factor. I knew that winning against Kansas in Lawrence was HIGHLY unlikely, but I had hopes that Mizzou would come out, play to their potential and show the college basketball world that they need to pay attention. I knew that Mizzou really doesn’t have any big guys who can deal with the likes of Aldrich. But I also thought they’d come out ready to play, ready to play the “40 minutes of hell” they’re known for and put up a good fight.

That really didn’t happen. Mizzou took an early lead, but that didn’t last long. They couldn’t make shots. We’d get all these turnovers from KU and were then unable to convert them to points. They played a little out-of-control. Kim English didn’t play much in the first half, but still, he’s usually a top scorer. And he came into the second half with zero points. At halftime, MU was trailing by 20 points. 20 points!

At that point, I called my parents. Here’s a little replay of part of that conversation: Mom: Hello? Me: This game blows. Mom: <laughter> I know. I wanted them to play better. . .

So, of course, Mizzou lost. Badly. Losing to Kansas always hurts, but it would have been nice to lose in an all-out battle to the buzzer and not what happened on the Naismith Court last night.

Hopefully, things will be different when KU comes to Mizzou at the end of the season. Hopefully, Mizzou will get their acts together and gel better on away games. Hopefully, we’ll find a way to deal with big guys like Aldrich.

That game wasn’t what I expected. But just as in all situations that didn’t live up to my expectations and I’ve walked away brokenhearted and confused, hope still springs eternal.