before we learn our fate later today, here is something to think about:

Too often we neglect our journey in our eagerness or anxiety about reaching the goal.

The goal for this team has become making the NCAA tourney. While most fans (including myself) and the players will be preoccupied today with finding out whether this goal comes to fruition, let's not forget about the journey this team has taken. The squad began the year incredibly inexperienced, and in its early games, really struggled with its defense and half-court execution. However, the players worked hard, were unselfish, and never gave up, even when facing large double-digit deficits in games. A sign of their is effort is that despite playing four perimeter players (of which three were freshman) and a less-than-dominant center, the team ended up with the #2 rebound differential in the pac-10. the team now plays solid team defense and is back in the upper echelon of the conference. its senior leader emerged as one of the premier players in the country, and the young players have given us numerous flashes of brilliance. While the program is still far from where it would like to be, i certainly can't complain about the attitude of any of the players on the roster. I enjoy and appreciate watching them play this year.

Oh, and who wrote the passage quoted at the beginning of the post? Coach John R. Wooden (naturally).