My Gonzaga Basketball fandom is in a weird place this year. The team is unexpectedly good after four starters and currently holds a number 1 ranking. I've been able to watch several of their games so far, but I've probably missed at least half of them. I admire the team's makeup and effectiveness and yet I also feel like I take their success for granted and don't fully appreciate them like I should.
As good as Gonzaga is this year, the incoming 2020 recruiting class is arguably their most talented set of guards ever. With the team we should have coming back next year I'm pretty confident we'll be able to make a real run at the national title. And that's certainly a possibility this year as well if we can stay healthy through conference play. Intriguingly the WCC as a whole seems to be on the upswing with Pacific and Santa Clara joining BYU and St. Mary's with records above .700 and 13+ wins. Based on that alone I will be shocked if the Zags manage to get through league without at least one loss.
But despite all of this season's success so far I haven't watched as many games as I usually do. Sometimes it's not possible on Thursdays because of my basketball coaching and family schedule, but often I just haven't thought about it in a while. I really like this year's team and the way the players are playing, but I kind of miss having one or two dynamic personalities like we've had in the past. Perkins drove me (and a lot of other Zag fans) crazy over the years, but I absolutely miss what he brought to the team. I think Timme and Watson1 could be those type of guys in the future when they crack the starting lineup (and next year's recruiting class has a ton of swagger and personality as well), but right now as great as this team is it's missing that for me.
So long story short, I guess I'm a jaded fan of an awesome but unassuming team, and I'm not happy about it and what it says about me.
Who has been hampered by a should injury that I'm guessing will require off season surgery to fully correct, but has still tried to fight through the issue and contribute.